Diablo

Gregory quickly felt himself frown because… well - that was a complicated request wasn’t it? Not to stay home at night - that itself was… already in theory a rule but the implication behind it. To agree would potentially be agreeing that he should be scared because vampires were something to be afraid of. To resent. And… well Diablo had been bitten by one - so perhaps would it not be logical to agree they were? 

But yet - it wasn’t in Greg’s nature to think that. Even though he was scared. Even though he’d suffered the nightmare on the titanic and even now that Diablo himself had been a victim…. for someone that was working so hard to reverse the Werewolf petition - to agree to that fear would be hypocritical, wouldn’t it? 

‘…Uhm.. I mean I-.. I don’t..’ A pause to shrug his shoulders before he continued. ‘I’m sure it…won’t happen again, y’know? We’re not supposed t’be out past curfew and..I mean I won’t be. But.. I don’t think we should be…scared to walk at night either.’ They’re just trying to live too, right? 

Diablo looked at the floor. “I mean, yeah... I hope so,” he conceded. “But - I mean, I don’t want it to happen to you. I don’t want anyone to hurt you, vampire or not.”

‘…No-..I——I mean not..not in real life. In that Titanic dream I———’ Words were cut off as Diablo jumped up, the panic clear on his expression as Greg flinched slightly with a shake of his head. Honestly it was something he didn’t even think about. Would he be a vampire now?? Would it have already happened if he were? How…How would he even know? 

‘I–.. No. I mean I… I don’t..I don’t know.’ He finally muttered out, reaching out and gently taking his boyfriend’s hand again to give it a squeeze. ‘I…I mean I..I think you would know…if..if you were, right? I..it would have already happened? And…I mean they have to eat, right? So-… so not every bite is going to turn someone or we’d have… thousands of vampires by now.’ 

Or at least that was his thoughts. He really hadn’t any idea. Nor did he really know anyone that would. …Did..Did Hades and Simba know anything about Vampires? They wouldn’t be biased like… say Cruella, but..would they know? ‘Maybe… Maybe we can find out. We..we can ask around and…keep an eye on it. Someone’s gotta know, right?’ 

Diablo quickly managed to calm down. Greg was right, it wouldn’t make sense that every person bitten by a vampire would transform. He preferred to avoid thinking about the possibility that he had somehow been chosen to change.

“Yeah, okay. You’re right,“ he concluded, sitting back down. His eyes were wide, and he was worried about something for the first time in forever, kinda weird, huh?

@featheredxdiablo​

Sora was happily dozing on the beach of the island. Lately he and his friends hadn’t been able to come out as much, their time at the academy taking up most of their time. But they had the summer, and these days were the ones Sora liked the best, sprawling on the beach and messing around. He was just starting to drift a bit when Kairi’s head hovered over his and her voice washed over him, jerking him back to wakefulness. 

“Get up sleepyhead,” she said and he grumbled, getting to his feet reluctantly and looking around for any sign of their other friends. “I was cozy Kiari. Come on,” he whined, though he quickly got over it as the two shoved at each other and stumbled across the beach where Riku was leaning against one of the trees. 

“This mean you’re backing out on our race Sora?” His best friend asked, and Sora was already bristling before the guy even added, “it’s okay if you’re too chicken you know. I’ll just win by default and share that paopu fruit with Kairi.” “Hey! I’m not backing out at all! Let’s go!” Riku snorted at him which Sora elected to ignore. Maybe it was easy to rile Sora up but who cared? He’d show Riku. “Come on Tidus. You want in on this? Bet he can beat you too Sora.” Sora huffed, puffing out his chest a little which was stupid but Riku was always teasing him. He had to prove himself here.

“Oh yeah? If I beat you both you guys’ll have to bow to me for the rest of our time on the island this summer!” Sora insisted, stretching his arms over his head to show that he was getting ready to go. “I’m gonna beat you both.”

“Uh... sure!” he said anyway, because he’d noticed he was a kid named Tidus and it made sense in a weird, dreamy sort of way. So, he dropped the stick he was using to duel with another weirdly-dressed friend and scampered over to the others.

“I’m here, I’m here!” Tidus exclaimed, with Diablo’s curiosity as an engine. What would happen next? “Ready!”

The more DIablo explained, the more confused Greg seemed to get. Nothing about this made much such - especially because the man was right. If danger had presented itself up front? Diablo would have flown away. He wasn’t stupid. But…maybe that danger wasn’t up front. Maybe it was a shadow in the night. Gently, Gregory raised his hand, fingers brushing carefully against the spot upon his boyfriend’s neck, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to discern exactly what it was.

And it was in that moment, he could hear the panic. Could hear distant screams, whistles, splashing water. A woman approaching him. He couldn’t picture her face. A blur of motion and suddenly the feeling of being pushed against a wall, the fear and despair settling deep in the pit of his stomach. A sharp pain in his neck. 

Vampires. 

Much like Werewolves, the bad side of them was a problem he’d never actually experienced in his real life, but in Swynlake’s dreamscapes? Both of them had found him, keeping him up at night and sometimes gnawing at that innocence in his mind and making him wonder if all the fighting he did against the discrimination of such Magicks really was naive. 

For a second - this made him question it too. 

Because all Gregory could think was that Diablo had fallen victim to a Vampire in the night on the way back to his apartment. Maybe that would explain the mark… the lack of memory and the insistent confusion on what had really happened. ‘…Diablo I–…’ A pause to swallow back his words again as his hand dropped back to his lap, concern clear on his features. ‘…W-..what if you were bitten by.. by something else. You know..like… like a vampire?’ 

Diablo’s eyes widened. It didn’t explain the memory loss, unless being bitten by a vampire had some sort of toxin that made you think of a made-up dog biting you instead. Come to think of it, that’d be a pretty convenient evolutionary development, wouldn’t it?

“I mean... I guess it’s possible...? I still only do remember that dog,” he conceded. “The only vampire I know is dead, though. And I’m pretty sure everyone related to her is gone.”

The man sighed and looked at his boyfriend. “Have you ever seen a vampire bite? Do you think this is it?”

With that, his eyes widened, and he stood up in a panic.”Wait, shit!! Does this mean I’m a vampire now?!”

Gregory felt himself losing his anger (though it was an anger he wasn’t exactly acting on anyways) and finding himself more and more confused as this went on. Diablo just seemed… so genuine in his own uncertainty and his promise that he wouldn’t just go out and cheat on him for him to be lying. 

However… the uncertainty in knowing what happened was still… concerning. Now he wasn’t sure. Could he have cheated on him? Is that something Diablo would do?? Why the hell was he asking him! 

‘I-… I don’t know, Diablo… I-.. I mean I..I hope not. I… I don’t think so but…’ A sigh slipped from his lips as he finally swiped his hand across his face, gently sitting on the coffee table across from Diablo and frowning softly. 

‘You’re late… and you have this.. thing on your neck…’ A pause to glance at said ‘thing’ upon his boyfriend’s neck. Something that… well, certainly didn’t look like a dog bite, but…looking closely at it now, he wasn’t sure it was a hickey either. ‘…and now you just…aren’t sure what you did.. or what happened. You… you shoulda been coming home from work, right? You…really think you were attacked by a dog?’ 

“Uh - Yeah, for some reason that’s the only thing I remember clearly,” Diablo explained. “The fact that it was a dog bite. I... can’t really explain it, because I don’t even have the image of it happening in my head. It’s sort of like just having the fact there without the footage, if that makes sense.”

Had the bite been so terrible that he suppressed it or something like that? Was that how the mind worked?

“But yeah, I was coming back from work, and that happened after I was walking here. I can’t remember anything before me running to the apartment building a few minutes ago. That’s it.”

It was simply second nature to step back when Diablo clenched his fists. Gregory knew his boyfriend would never hurt him - never even entertained the thought but.. he’d experienced so much negativity from so many different people that he couldn’t help but step back, his gaze drawn to the floor as a breath slipped from his lips. 

‘I-…it looks like a hickey, Diablo.’ He finally admitted, a hand scratching absently at his forearm as he shook his head. ‘..y-..you’re late - and…and it looks like a hickey and..and you say a dog bit you but you can’t remember what it looks like, or how it happened and…and it looks nothin’ like a dog bite and–..and you wonder why I-..I find it hard to believe is…all.’ 

Just like that, Diablo’s fingers unfurled and extended at his sides, and his eyes seemed to grow smaller. He even stopped breathing for a little while, because he could immediately put himself in Greg’s shoes. Before, it looked like he was obsessed over a very trivial animal fact. Now it all seemed pretty clear.

After regaining his breath and staring at his boyfriend for what felt like an hour but was probably seconds, Diablo stepped closer and opened his mouth.

“You’re saying I cheated on you?” he managed to ask. It wasn’t an accusatory question, but rather the weirdest combination of realization and genuine surprise. “I - I don’t go and... and be late on the night we have a date to be with someone else! You - you have to believe me! You do, don’t you?”

Because it was a freaking dog. A dog he couldn’t remember and didn’t even seem real the more he thought about it. But what was he supposed to think? Had he somehow cheated on Greg and then made up a terrible excuse he was actually believing?

‘It’s clearly not a dog bite, Diablo!’ Gregory returned with a small gesture of his hand, disbelief written clear across his features as he tried to figure out just how Diablo could stand so tall in his words and believe that what he was saying was true. 

‘I don’t know what happened but I - ..I mean you’d be in the hospital if a dog bit your neck, don’t you think?’ After all, no matter the size of the dog, he’d have to imagine if they bite someone it would leave more of a mark than that. Not that Greg was an expert in that because he’d never once experienced hostility with any animal. He’d seen bites in school though, learned about them.. and they didn’t look like this. 

‘You… - you really don’t think it’s weird?…’ 

Diablo pouted. He tilted his head and clenched his fists at the way Greg was talking. He wasn’t being insulting or anything, but at the same time... All that questioning? Was it really that hard to believe?

Brows knit together even tighter, if possible, and for a moment? Gregory found himself glancing up towards the room - searching for the hidden camera because there was no way what Diablo was saying made any sort of sense in the moment and it all being some big trick? That was the most logical answer right now. 

‘…How do you not know what sized dog it was!’ He found himself saying with a small disbelieving scoff, the younger man pushing himself off from where he’d been perched beside Diablo upon the couch, instead stalking off a few feet before turning back on his heel towards him. ‘If it was a big dog you’d have a whole chunk out of your neck, Diablo. That barely looks like a bite.’ Hands shook lightly as he forced them into the pockets of his sweatshirt, the conversation they’d had after the most recent Harry Potter dream replaying in his head and wondering how his boyfriend could be acting so.. almost hypocritical now. If you were bored you could have just told me. 

‘…Why are you lying to me?’ 

Diablo sat up with a frown. He was starting to get irritated by the whole conversation. Couldn’t Greg see he was tired?

“Why is the size so important to you anyway?! That’s what happened,” the man repeated, before standing up. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and then looked at his boyfriend.

The hesitation scared him more than anything - since Gregory found it… quite hard to believe that someone would.. forget a dog attacking them when it had just happened. Or that..they’d even be uncertain of something like that unless….they were in shock? Maybe that’s what it was. Yet… he seemed fine otherwise. 

It still didn’t even look like a dog bite. It… well it looked like a hickey - and Gregory knew he didn’t give it to him. ‘It…just jumped up. A small dog… Like.. a little dog jumped five feet in the air to bite you on your neck? I’m sorry - you.. that’s what happened?’ 

Diablo groaned. “I mean, I never said it was a small dog,” he replied. “I suppose it was pretty big.” Or was it? Quite frankly, he couldn’t even remember how big the dog was. Or how it looked. Maybe things just went too fast.

“In any case, the bite’s there, right? And I had to run home,” he added. “I’m probably all sweaty. I could probably use a shower later, if you wanna join in. I honestly can’t even remember why I didn’t fly away. Maybe it happened too fast? Yeah, I guess that’s it. So... what do you want to watch?”

Greg’s brows furrowed even deeper as Diablo spoke, the younger man’s finger’s gently brushing against his boyfriend’s skin just below the supposed… dog bite. Though that was… an odd answer. He tried not to show his disbelief on his expression, instead letting his gaze move back up to meet Diablo’s as he nodded very slowly. 

‘…A.. a dog bit you..?’ He clarified, struggling to piece together any sort of realistic scenario such as that in his head. Gregory honestly couldn’t even fathom an aggressive dog, much less getting bit in the neck by one. Not to mention the dog must have been small. Any medium or large sized dog could have taken a sizable chunk out of the man’s neck - even… killed him with such placement. It wasn’t like his boyfriend was short either - the very small dog would have to had leap pretty high in the air and… well - he was no expert (though as a zoology student, he could identify some animal bites) and… that didn’t even look like a dog bite. 

But…Diablo wouldn’t lie…right?

‘…and how exactly did that…happen?’ 

Diablo blinked. How did it happen? It was hazy. Sort of weird, as if he didn’t have a clear image of the situation either, but he could feel it and he remembered the moment nevertheless.

With so much happening lately, Gregory really cherished the quiet nights he spent with Diablo. It always made him feel… less overwhelmed. Less like his plate was cracking down the middle from holding too much, and it felt like…when things were simpler. Like when he’d come home from working at Chapter Three and curl up with his boyfriend and watch dumb TV. Tonight was going to be one of those nights - except instead of Chapter Three, now he was coming from office hours at town hall, expecting to walk right into Diablo’s apartment and collapse beside him. Yet the door stopped him, the young man glancing down at the handle with a frown when he realized it was locked and that he’d somehow beaten his boyfriend home. 

No matter however, perhaps he’d needed to stay late at work. So the man let himself in and made himself comfortable, but after a half an hour he had started to worry. He didn’t want to be overbearing and so he’d resisted shooting the man a text and instead went and laid in the bedroom - staring idly at the ceiling and tapping his fingers against the soft fabric of the comforter. He’d give him another hour, he thought to himself. Then he’d try calling him. 

He never got that far though - as within the next half an hour he heard the apartment door push open - and immediately Gregory shoved himself to his feet, gently padding back out to the living room only to see the sad heap that was his boyfriend collapsed on the sofa. ‘…You’re late…’ He countered quietly, moving to gently sit on the edge of the couch by the man’s waist so that he could press a quick kiss to his lips with a frown. ‘…I thought you were gonna be home be —— oh my god, what’s wrong with your neck?’ Greg interrupted himself, blue hues dropping to the older man’s collarbone and looking over the irritated skin there. 

Diablo offered a relieved but somewhat weak smile when Greg showed up. He returned the kiss, and then he took some seconds to process what the other man was talking about.

And then, he remembered! It was hazy, but a dog had jumped out of nowhere and - well, he leapt and bit his neck. Diablo managed to escape, and he ran his way to the apartment. That’s what happened!

That moment that he got to drink was always a little overwhelming. Anthony took a good sip, sucking at the man’s neck and closing his eyes. It was good. It was so damn good. Nothing was quite as good as fresh blood from the vein. And this boy hadn’t done anything to ruin his like some people did.

As always, he had that desperate itch to take and take until he drained the boy. But he couldn’t afford a death on his hands. Not now. Not yet. Anthony needed to get this town to work better in his favor before he got into any such trouble. 

This was why after a long moment he drew away from the man, tongue lapping at the bite before he let it run over his lips. He refused to waste a single drop of blood. “Now that wasn’t so bad was it?” Anthony sighed, feeling the glorious relief of a good feeding. It wouldn’t last long (it never did), but in that moment he felt truly invincible. “Lucky for you, you won’t have to remember this ever happened. Just look at me will you?”

Diablo didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know if he should move. Or even if he could move. It was all so strange and he’d probably never felt as vulnerable in his life. He could always run away or fight back, but this was so... very unusual.

When the man - the predator - stepped back, a chill ran down Diablo’s spine. He didn’t know if he could talk back, but at the next request, the bird man made the biggest effort to look away, because he was sure as hell not about to forget about this.

Ahhh that was much better. Anthony greatly preferred it when he got what he wanted. Then he wouldn’t have to lose his temper and be horrible to his meal of the night. And sure, there were times when he still did and caused his meal a lot of harm, but he tried to avoid that…for the most part.

“There we go. I knew you could be a better listener. Maybe I won’t go find your boyfriend,” Anthony suggested, a cheery smile spread across his face as if he hadn’t threatened anything terrible to this guy and his boyfriend. This would be a fun night. 

He stepped closer, a hand gently stroking through the young man’s hair as he leaned in toward his neck. “You really are a beautiful thing aren’t you. I’d almost prefer to steal you away and have you be my regular supplier. Though I suppose your boyfriend might miss you. Hmm.” He shrugged and leaned in to sink his teeth into this guy’s neck, closing his eyes as he relished the taste of fresh blood.

Usually, Diablo would shoot back some snarky words - and yet, he was frozen there, like an idiot. He couldn’t tell if it was the oddly threatening declarations about his boyfriend, or the man compelling him through some sort of magic, but he still would simply not budge.

It was good, though, that this person seemed to be reconsidering stealing Diablo away. That was a silver lining, right? Even that thought vanished, though, and the bird man flinched when he felt what was happening.

The Magic Isn’t Dead. It’s All Around.

@auntxmagica

Anthony snorted. “Your boyfriend will just have to wait I’m afraid.” He didn’t care if the guy was in a relationship or not. It didn’t matter to him, obviously. Anthony fully intended to take the meal he needed. And this guy was going to give it to him.

He moved so that he was facing the man more directly, eyes focusing on the other’s as a cold smile spread across his face. “Let’s try this again, shall we? Now I don’t have time to waste arguing this out. You’re going to be good and tilt your head for me and hold still. I want to see that neck of yours just right.”

Anthony considered him for a long moment. “Be good or I’ll have to find out who this boy is and make a real mess of him next time. Go on.” The compulsion should do the trick, but if not, he wasn’t afraid of some good old fashioned blackmail to get himself the meal he wanted.

It began to get clear that this man wasn’t just trying to pick up Diablo for the night. His eyes told him just that. But at that point, it was already too late.

See, anyone that knew Diablo would assume that at this point he’d turn into a bird and simply take flight. It so happened, though, that for some reason that thought left his head as soon as the man looked at him.with those eyes.

Instead, his head tilted slightly to the side, as if offering out his neck to whatever this person intended. Even with that, an additional threat came up, and his pupils got a tad smaller from the sole thought.