#jevid

“Death, be not proud - though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, thou art not so…”Monitors beep. Outside, despite the light drizzle which washes the sky a heavy grey and teases the cheery flowers, a bird sings. David’s breath rattles in his lungs, like something’s trying to pull it from him, and he’s fighting to keep it. Jerry supposes it is - either the decay in his bones or the poison they’re pumping into his blood to fight it. Jerry stalks into the room with all the grace of an apex predator - careful, fluid, quiet. A decision precedes every movement - every placement of his foot, even the trailing of his index finger along the rail at the end of David’s bed - it’s all thought out. All the experience - four hundred years of escaping burnings and stakings, four hundred years of hunting - go into each flex of his toe, each twitch of muscle fibre.But he isn’t hunting. Jerry settles on the very edge of David’s bed, feels the hard mattress give beneath his weight, sighing like a disappointed parent. When Jerry takes David’s hand, the skin is cool and an awful shade of pale. Jerry barely suppresses the urge to flinch, to gag, to throw something. He doesn’t. Jerry inhales deeply, shakily, and grinds out the words which haunt the very periphery of his brain - some twisted phantom teasing him. “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men; and dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell…”Here Jerry raises David’s hand, pressing it to his nose like he’s done so many times over the last five years. David smells different now - bitter like ash and sickly sweet with the stench of something Jerry has only ever described as Death. Jerry shudders, his eyes squeezing shut. Over his long, long life, Jerry’s grown accustomed to dying. Humans die - animals and plants die - even vampires, if you’re particularly stubborn. He’s got so much blood on his hands you could probably fill a couple of olympic sized swimming pools with it. This shouldn’t scare him. This shouldn’t hurt him. And yet it does. As he recites what was first scratched into surface some four hundred years ago, Jerry can’t help but wonder how much of his own mutilated existence plays back in those words. Then David stirs. Eyes, once bright but now dozy with pain and medication, blink in the dim, spring-morning light. He smiles, face which was once soft and round now skeletal where sickness has sapped the life from him. David looks tired - tired of fighting, tired of dying. “Hi,” David whispers.“Hi, yourself. How are you feeling?”David shrugs one protruding collarbone. His cardigan - originally one of Jerry’s - and hospital gown slip down his shoulder, revealing skin tainted with bruises and veins. Jerry reaches out, tugging the material back up over to ward off the chill. “I feel the same.”Jerry wants to be sick. He swallows reflexively. “Have you… Are you…”When had he become so weak? Why swell’st thou then?

David blinks, and a tear jumps from his lashes, plunging down his face. Jerry isn’t fast enough to catch it, but he wipes it before David has to. “I’m scared.” David admits. Oh, doesn’t that break Jerry’s cold, undead heart? Here’s a man who’s faced down the end so many times, who’s never once admitted anything close to fear. “I’m here,” is all Jerry can manage in response. “You’ll stay?”“Forever, baby. Until the end of time.”David nods. He leans back into his pillows, and settles with a great sigh, eyes fluttering shut. Jerry squeezes his hand a little bit tighter, before glancing around to ensure no one’s watching. They won’t be though - they’re all on break. “I love you.” Jerry tells David. David smiles. “I love you too.”He doesn’t flinch, when Jerry reaches forward, doesn’t flinch when corpse-cold skin presses into his, doesn’t make a sound when those fangs sink through skin and sinew and into blood. Jerry pushes everything he has into that bite, presses his tongue against the glands above his fangs to milk the venom. All the while, David remains still and sweet and calm. On the monitor - his heart thunders wildly for half a second, before it goes silent. Jerry pulls himself away, wiping off the blood. The wound is sealing already - by the time the nurse gets in here, there won’t even be a mark. Jerry presses the call button, but he can hear feet already, thundering down the hall towards the distinctive sound of a flatline. “One short sleep past, we wake eternally, and death shall be no more…”The nurse pulls Jerry away, people are talking and giving terse orders. Jerry lets himself be hauled out of the room, towards some sort of grief counselling probably. He stares at David’s face until the door slams shut. Beyond that, lies eternity.

Jerry: Don’t do that.

David: What?

Jerry: You think every time you say “Please? For me?” I’ll do whatever you want, well not this time.

David: Please? For me?

Jerry: ......

I meant to get to this last night, then I fell asleep, and then I meant to get to this this morning, but christmas shopping… and… sorry it took so long! As usual I have no idea where I’m going with this, but we’re gonna see anyways. 

“Sorry!”David mumbles out the apology, steadying himself and pushing his glasses back up his nose. He doesn’t know why he keeps them, honestly, it isn’t as if he needs them, but they’re a comfortable weight he can’t bear to part with. The man - taller than David with wide, muscular shoulders and raven black hair - just offers him a one armed shrug and a quick flash of a grin. His teeth are white and straight, save for the slight hook of his left front incisor. David swallows, managing to pull a smile onto his own features. 

His stomach rumbles, throat closing suddenly when the slight breeze shifts and wafts towards him. Above the stench of sex and sweat and booze, the scent of this man’s blood, rich and thick and healthy, has venom flooding into David’s mouth. He can practically taste the subtle edge of the cologne the man is wearing, something as dark and equally rich, teasing. 

David swallows again. The guy is looking at him strangely, instincts probably picking up on the fact that something isn’t quite right. Dark eyes sweep over David, assessing the small frame and rounded belly, the moustache, the way the strobe lights play across skin that is far too pale to be healthy. The guy looks away for a moment, giving David time to breathe, before saying, “Don’t worry about it, guy.”His voice is quiet, a low tenor laced with something distinctly American. He’s still searching David for something, seeming a little curious. When he shifts, the muscling plays beneath the thin fabric of his teeshirt, practically teasing David. He can hear the man’s heart thudding, slow and solid and sure. The guy grips his beer more securely. It somehow, miraculously, avoided their bumping into each other. “You okay?” The guy asks. David starts, “Me? Yes! I’m fine!”He isn’t sure why the man cares. He receives another grin, and his stomach curls in sudden excitement. David smiles back. “You don’t look like you’re used to places like this.” David shrugs, collecting his own beer, which the bartender set down on the wood just a moment ago, and takes a sip. It’s nothing compared to what he really wants - his body will burn through the alcohol like a kid on a sugar rush - but it’s something to distract his hands which ache to turn to claws, and stop people from looking at his teeth too closely. “I’m not, but I thought I’d give it a try.”It’s taken David decades to get used to lying like this. When he was young, just a fledgling, his lies were made of tissue paper, so thin and transparent he could barely hunt for himself. Now, he’s much better. The guy nods, humming and sipping at his drink.“What about you? You don’t seem too bothered by all these flashing lights.”The guy throws back his head and laughs a little, giving David time to analyze the sharp curve of his jaw, the way his carotid pulses with his heartbeat. David licks his lips. “Nah, just wanted to let off some steam after work, ‘s’all. Clubs aren’t usually my thing either.”“What do you do?”“Night construction,” the guy replies, “My buddies are a bunch of morons sometimes, foreman really let us have it tonight but he let us go early. And so here I am.”There’s a beat of awkward silence, before the guy shifts his beer and extends a hand, “I’m Jerry, by the way.”Gooseflesh races up Jerry’s skin when David takes his hand, the chill bleeding through rough callouses into capillaries, running straight to his heart. David watches as his arm hair stands on end, idly wondering if it’s doing the same elsewhere. Then he scolds himself, because he didn’t come here looking for that. “David,” he says. Jerry gives him a crooked grin, eyes sparking just a little, “Good to meet you, David.”

It isn’t supposed to go like this. David is supposed to charm Jerry, lure him out of the club, and eat him. That’s how it’s supposed to go. It doesn’t. David finds himself pressed back against the side of the guy’s truck, a hot mouth pushing into his while an equally warm hand starts a slow slide up David’s shirt. Those callouses scrape against soft skin, and David shudders. Part of him - that animalistic aspect - snarls that this isn’t what he should be doing, but the rest of him is too focused on the thigh Jerry pushes between his legs. “This okay?” Jerry murmurs, pulling back just enough to find David’s eye. His are dark, pupils blown. Lust races through him and god, David can smell it, just as he can practically see the capillaries in the man’s face and neck dilating, giving him a soft flush. “God, yes.”

Jerry chuckles, “My place isn’t too far from here.”David gets the memo, climbing into the passenger seat while Jerry goes around the side. The truck roars to life, and they practically fishtail out of the parking lot, merging onto the road and heading to a part of this unfamiliar town that David is really unfamiliar with. The house is nice, in a nice neighbourhood - quiet. That kind of quiet though where it isn’t just peaceful, but the sort of quiet that comes when people don’t ask questions. The beast in David’s chest purrs at the thought. He’s too busy resting a hand on Jerry’s thigh, slowly driving him to distraction with careful motions. The human snarls and swears, they jerk to a stop and Jerry hikes the parking break. 

The rain comes down in buckets, sleuthing through his clothes and washing down the streets in streams. Cars go whipping past, uncaring of the pedestrians which inhabit the sidewalks and end up blown over in the spray. David pulls his collar up more tightly, trying to keep out the wet and chilly wind which whistles through the skyscrapers on this miserable summer day. With each passing second, the grey of the sky grows darker. Street lamps start to flicker to life, one by one, like sentries coming to life and falling in line to light David’s way home. Combined with the neon of signs and stoplights, the soft yellow light bleeds into a ruddy mess which reflects in the storm water and paints concrete a strange colour. Normally, David might stop to admire the architecture. He fell in love with this city for it - old facades and brand new buildings - but today he just wants to get home. At the junction of Fifth and King, he becomes aware that someone is following him - footsteps masked by the patter of rain and the roar of traffic. Every time David rounds a corner, he sees a distinctive flash of black coat with a silver stripe. Initially, he tries to play it down, but with each consecutive twist and turn the man matches David stride for stride. Fear starts to tingle, lighting like a match in his heart and beginning to spread, making him warm and tingly, making him forget that it’s cold and wet and his feet slide around in his shoes on uneven sidewalks. David picks up speed, hurrying forth, walking straight into the coming nightfall. Get home, get home, get home, David thinks. He’d call for Jerry, normally, but some ass of a stranger knocked it into a puddle earlier and it won’t turn on now. Get home, get home, get home. 

Hi! Thank you! Hope your day is also wonderful! I have no idea where I’m going with this, so apologies for it being short. 

“I think this is the part where someone carries the other over the threshold.”Jerry laughs, a bark of a thing which used to startle David. But he’s used to it now, that short and sharp sound, all razor sharp canines and a twinkle in coal black eyes. Jerry grins still, as the sound goes echoing out into the mountain and valley around them, grins wide and bright and happy. “I think that would be you, doll, unless you wanna try carrying me.”

Even as he speaks, teasing David, Jerry swoops forward and snakes powerful forearms around David’s shoulders and under his knees. He gives the human time to protest, or to stop him, hovering for just long enough before sweeping David off his feet as if he weighs nothing at all. Jerry nudges the door open with his knee and carries David across the threshold before kicking it shut behind them. David barely has time to register his surroundings before his new husband ducks his head and presses a kiss to his mouth, starting soft and quickly becoming something more. David groans when those teeth, just a little too sharp to be human, nibble at his bottom lip. It stings a bit, sending thrills like shivers up his spine.“You’re a tease,” David murmurs, but there’s no heat, only anticipation and excitement because forever suddenly means something different. Jerry laughs again, a little softer, grin widening.“Your tease,” Jerry affirms, “Forever.”“Forever.”

Hey! Sorry I didn’t get to this yesterday! Thank you! I hope this was as fun for you to read as it was to write! Kudos to @wanderingnork for granting me the idea of Jerry being a giant puppy.

Jerry’s a chewer. 

David learned this early on in their relationship. The man chews on basically anything he can get ahold of; pens, earbud wires, straws, toothpicks. It’s like he’s teething, and David just can’t understand. Almost every pen in their house has teeth marks on it, pencils with paint dented and scratched. David has lost more than one set of headphones to the vampire, and he’s taken to hiding them. “Why?” He asks, holding up Jerry’s latest victims; this set of earbuds is barely two weeks old and already dying, a distinctive set of nibble marks in the wire. Jerry drops his gaze, guilt playing across his face, and shrugs. He won’t give David a verbal answer - he never does.David just sighs.

There’s a snap and a squeak, yanking David’s attention away from his laptop and to Jerry, who sits at the kitchen island. Ink drips down over his lower lip, making streaky trails over alabaster skin to drip all over his sketch. Jerry’s eyes go wide with shock, half the pen still in his mouth.

David raises an eyebrow. He can barely withhold the laugh that wants to burst forth.

“What did I tell you about chewing on things?”

Jerry just huffs, spitting out the rest of the pen and wiping his face. He gets up off the bar stool, going to the sink to wet a cloth. David only finds himself thankful that its marble counter and the ink won’t stain.

“Let’s go on a date.”“Pardon?”When Jerry sits on the end of the mattress, it dips ever so slightly. A water droplet leaps from his still damp hair and plunges to his shoulder, before rolling down pale skin. David follows the line it leaves, until Jerry wipes it away with his towel. “A date,” Jerry says again, blinking at David as if wondering why on earth the human should ask such a question.“A date,” David parrots. Jerry hums and reaches up to towel at his hair, the muscles in his arm and pectorals contracting and bulging with the movement. It leaves David a little breathless at the sight, and he has to swallow around the sudden dryness in his mouth. Attraction is a strange and powerful thing, he thinks. “Yeah. Are there any movies you wanted to see? Something you wanted to do? It’s been a while since we went out.”Jerry says it all so off-hand, as casual as shooting the breeze with a stranger in an elevator, instead of his mate and husband. David blinks again, setting his book down on his stomach and then glances out at the gathering darkness. Flakes of snow, thick and soft and fluffy, flutter past the window. An idea springs to mind, although David isn’t quite sure Jerry will like it.“Let’s go skating,” he says.