Archive of Our Own ^beta

Vampirism is a broad umbrella term, as Ratio will be quick to remind anyone with any misgivings on the topic. The House Vorare, for example, was a sect of Voracity followers said have gained their vampirism from Ouroboros Themself. There are also native blood-drinking species such as Strigari, native to the Lepismat Star System. And that’s only discussing humanoids– non-sentient species were a whole other discussion. Those were some of the most notable examples most discussed in the academic community for their unique biology. For a researcher so interested in Vampirism as a phenomenon, you would think that Ratio would find out that his close friend and colleague was a vampire via that very research.

That was not the case.

He had been researching Avgins not because of any unique biology, but rather, because he had a very unfortunate crush on one. This had led him down a rabbit hole in which he attempted to find any and all credible literature that could greater inform him about the aspects of himself he neglected to share. (Research was his love language, a fact that he was only now coming to realize.)

Avgin culture and history was rarely written about, or if it had been, it was not widely distributed. The majority of scholarship regarding them had more to do with the harrowing political circumstances they were forced into. Avgin biology, too, was rarely written about. Ratio had initially presumed that Avgins were functionally the same as most standard human species, the differences in their eye color being merely cosmetic.

This is why it was all the more shocking when one of the articles he had managed to scrounge up offhandedly mentioned the cultural significance of “blood drinkers”.

…Now that was new.

Further research needed to be done, of course. There was much misinformation about Avgins out there, and he wouldn’t be surprised if this was yet another case of demonizing the tribe to justify the wrongdoings against them. But the longer he looked, the more information he found.

Observation: Ratio has never personally witnessed Aventurine eating. (He had formerly attributed this to poor self-care habits.) He was also unusually strong given his slight frame.

Question: Was Aventurine a vampire?

Research: An estimated 3 out of 100 Avgins born on Sigonia fell under the category of vampirism. Evolutionary theorists guess that this condition evolved as a response to unreliable food sources, leading these individuals to be able to sustain themselves on less calories for a longer time. Within the Avgin culture, this was seen as a blessing by Giathra.

Hypothesis: Not only was Ratio’s close friend a vampire, but he was also possibly a rarely researched subtype.

Experiment: TBD.

Ratio: Are you free this evening? We need to talk. In private, preferably.

Aventurine: Um… yes? Is everything okay?

Ratio: Yes. Why wouldn't it be?

Aventurine: You just said “we need to talk in private”, that feels pretty ominous to me.

Ratio: Why? 

Aventurine: You know what? Nevermind. Drinks at mine?

Ratio: Sounds good. See you soon.

Ratio went straight to Aventurine’s apartment after he wrapped up his lectures for the day, trying not to come across as too wired on scientific curiosity. It only half works– he brings up the subject nearly as soon as he makes it into the door.

“Gambler, how much do you know about vampires? Or, rather, beings with some variety of vampirism.” Expecting Aventurine, of all people, to be completely forthcoming, was a fruitless endeavor. Regardless, it felt a bit more tactful than coming in the door with an outright accusation.

“Not as much as you, I’m sure,” Aventurine replied, raising a curious eyebrow, watching as Ratio hung his coat on the hook. “Haven’t you published work on the subject?”

“I have,” Ratio confirmed with a nod. “Though it was a rather recent publication. I’m surprised that you’ve read it.” A point towards the vampire hypothesis? Possibly. Though he tries to stray from confirmation bias for now.

“I never said I’d read it,” Aventurine replied with a crooked smile. “I was just lurking on one of your fan clubs.” Aventurine meanders to the kitchen, retrieving two glasses as he spoke. “I’ve got to stay up to date on the latest gossip, doctor.”

Ratio sighed deeply. “I thought that I told you to stop doing that.”

“Whaat? It’s fun!” Aventurine protested. “Word on the street is that you have a secret lover in the Genius Society. Is that true? You’d tell me if it was true, right?” He pouted.

“Of course I don’t. Stop trying to change the subject. We were talking about vampires.”

“Okay, fine, fine,” Aventurine gave a dramatic wave of his hand as he popped open a bottle of chambord. “One of your many areas of expertise. But what has this got to do with me, exactly? Something tells me you wouldn’t reach out about project funds off the clock.”

“Correct.” He watches as Aventurine mixes himself some overly-complicated cocktail. (Some subtypes of vampire could drink non-blood fluids, while others couldn’t. Another important thing that he takes note of.) “Allow me to be frank with you.” Ratio walked into the kitchen, silently procuring a bottle of overly expensive red wine from Aventurine’s kitchen. “I have reason to believe that you may have a subtype of vampirism, and I wanted to confirm this assumption.” He spoke calmly as he poured himself a glass of wine. “May I see your teeth?”

Aventurine looked up from what he was doing, confusion written over his expression for a fraction of a second, before he schooled it, laughing. “Me?” He asked, meaning his elbows on the counter. “Now, what gave you that idea, doctor?”

Ratio crosses over to the other side of the counter, cocking his head in curiosity. No outright denial, so far. “An estimated 3 out of 100 Avgins born on Sigonia fall under the category of vampirism. That would be very in line with some of my observations about you.”

“Oh, come on. You’ve seen me out in the sunlight plenty of times, haven’t you? And I promise, this is vodka, not blood.” He takes a sip of his cocktail as if to absolve himself of the accusation.

“That is very true. However,” he steeples his fingers as he speaks. “You prefer gold jewelry over silver-”

“It suits my complexion."

“You never enter buildings without an invitation, be it formal or informal-”

“That’s called being polite.”

“I’ve never seen you eat solid food. Whenever you have to go to business dinners, you always get soup.”

“Oh, so liking soup makes somebody a vampire?”

“Many subspecies can metabolize liquids, even if they derive little to no nutritional value. If one were trying to keep up appearances as a human, it would make perfect sense.” 

At this, Aventurine either runs out of passive-aggressive retorts, or finally realizes he’s been cornered. He chugs the rest of his cocktail, sighs, and puts his head in his hands, whispering, “fuck.” Ratio’s brows furrow a bit. Was he too forceful? It hadn’t been his attention to upset Aventurine, but his words and his intentions didn’t always align as well as he would have liked. “Have I ever told you I hate how smart you are, doctor? I should have known I couldn’t keep it from you for long.”

“...I assure you that I haven’t told anyone, if that’s your concern.”

“Yet,” Aventurine laughed bitterly. “Well, if you were trying to expose me, tough luck. Jade already knows. She’s half the reason I’m able to get enough blood to survive without drinking from live people.”

“I’m not trying to expose you, gambler. I thought you knew me better than that by now.”

“I thought I did too. But why else would you be here, huh? Why did you come all the way here? Just to sate your curiosity? Well, forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”

“I want you to drink from me,” Ratio replied, bluntly.

Aventurine stares at him. His mouth opens and closes several times in a feeble attempt at forming a reply. Finally, he settles on: “...what?”

“I’m writing a paper on differences between types of venom in subspecies of vampires. I want to determine if Avgin vampirism has a venom, and if so, to determine the general chemical makeup.”

“...Let me get this straight. You want me to drink you literal blood…for science?”

“Well, yes,” Ratio deadpanned. “That’s what I just said. Direct extraction would be the easiest method on my part, but that is known to be exceptionally painful, so I never perform it on live subjects. Not to mention, you would be helping me in doing so, so I thought it would only be fair that you got something in return. A win-win, if you will.”

“...You’re serious, aren’t you?” Aventurine raises his eyebrows, before letting out an incredulous huff of laughter. “Right. Of course you are. Is this seriously what the Guild pays you for? To let yourself get bit by vampires?”

“I already told you, this is a special case,” he narrowed his eyes. “With the lack of existing specimens or recorded anecdotal evidence, this will be the most straightforward first step in the process.”

“So… what, you just want to do this right now?” Aventurine asks.

“That would be preferable, yes.”

“This is so weird, doc. Even for you.” Quite the statement, considering his… eccentricities. “But I guess it’s far from the worst thing that could be happening, so…” Aventurine begins to walk back to the living room, while Ratio follows. “Come on, then. I’ll bite you for science.”

Ratio takes a seat on the couch, while Aventurine stands awkwardly in front of him.

“...I usually drink from people standing up, you know,” Aventurine says.

“I’d rather not faint,” Ratio retorts. It was a concern, what with the blood loss, and he didn’t exactly want a concussion.

“You know what? Sure. You made this weird, first. I don’t know how much weirder this is going to make it,” he says. Ratio nearly asks what he means, but he doesn’t manage to before Aventurine climbs fully into his lap, straddling him. Ratio tries to keep his arms stiffly to his sides, shoulders tensing slightly. “You know, the more tense you are, the more it’s gonna hurt.”

“I’ve never had my blood physically sucked from my body before, so you’ll have to forgive me for not being the picture of tranquility,” he huffed in reply. While his height normally allowed him to glare down at Aventurine, this was one of the very few cases in which he had to glare up at him instead.

“You asked for this,” Aventurine reminded him, smugly. “Are you backing out now?”

“Did I say that?” He retorted. 

“Just wanted to give you one last chance to back out,” Aventurine shrugged. He leaned in, his breath cool against the heated flesh of Ratio’s neck. “Relax,” he whispered. “It’ll only hurt for a second.”

And then he bites.

Ratio hisses, inhaling through his teeth as the sharp pain seemed to move through him, from the neck down his arteries like a strike of lightning. And then, as soon as it came, it began to dull to an ache, then to a gentle, throbbing tingle. He tried to focus on what he could observe, rather than the… related distractions. Likely a blocking of Sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 9. Oh gods, he could feel his tongue against his neck. Effect on heart rate is indeterminate– quickened heartbeat could be due to adrenaline. Could be due to the fact that Aventurine was sitting in his lap right noe. Seemingly no effect on motor function. Why was this so hot? Was it supposed to be sexy? Was it an aphrodisiac? That had to be it.

After a moment that lasted simultaneously much too long and not long enough at all, Aventurine pulled away, grinning and licking the blood from his lips. Ratio’s blood.

“I have a follow up question,” Ratio said, breathlessly. “When you feed from live specimens, do they typically exhibit signs of sexual arousal?”

“Nope,” Aventurine snickered lightly. “That’s all you, doctor.”

“...Ah. I see.”

There is still a taste of his own blood in Aventurine’s mouth when he leans in. Aventurine kisses him, fangs nipping lightly at his bottom lip. He can’t bring himself to complain when the skin slices open slightly, if only for the way Aventurine licked across his lips.