kittensinboxes | To Be Endlessly Cold Within [Rivalshipping, Vampire AU]

To Be Endlessly Cold Within [Rivalshipping, Vampire AU]

It had taken some time to get used to living a new life as a vampire. For someone who actively decried the supernatural, it wasn't easy to admit that he'd been overcome by some creature of the night in anything outside of a nightmare.

But he had ended up like this nearly half a year ago, waking up hospitalized with what looked like some kind of lesions at the joint of his neck and shoulder. From that point, it was only a matter of time before he shifted to his new reality. Trying to suppress it out of sheer force of will had only worked out so long, and deflecting his thirst onto a natural human cause had nearly ended in him attacking his brother. That was the last straw.

That was when Seto Kaiba gave in and took the first drink.

He had to, of course, curate his inner circle slightly--tell the ones most important to him what exactly his new life would entail. Mokuba...well, while he hadn't fully intuited it, had been concerned about his brother ever since the hospital stay. How could he not be? Seto had gradually lost color, energy, and most concerningly, weight since he'd been discharged. He barely ate and looked discomforted when he did, and drank liquids constantly. Honestly, figuring out Seto's needs had been jarring, but ultimately relieving.

Isono was the only other person who knew. He was the one responsible for acquiring blood for his boss, and he did so admirably. Kaiba never fed from the vein, no matter what. Even when his jaw ached around others, and his fangs itched in his skull, he'd instead bite down on something else. He kept a solid rubber ball in his desk for such occasions, and it didn't feel right, but at least with his bagged alternatives, he was doing alright.

Isono and Mokuba had floated the idea to him of perhaps feeding on small animals, and while the thought of it had made his fangs stretch past his lower lip and made his stomach twist as if he'd been starving for all his life...he declined. He didn't need it. There were other things to attend to.

And so he never really regained his weight despite a regular diet of blood.

But at least the company was running smoothly. Seto fought the urge to take a fully nocturnal sleep schedule, and instead positioned himself between worlds. He'd come into work around midnight, well before the sun rose, and leave once it had set. Work meetings were scheduled past dusk. Probably the most expensive alteration needed was to slowly have his office windows altered with UV blocking, the tinting of which could be controlled automatically with a single remote. He mostly kept the tinting at a lower level, so he could still enjoy the sun's brightness without harming himself.

His acclimations weren't perfect. Sometimes he ended up burning himself. Sometimes, the hunger was triggered by proximity to his employees...but for the most part, Kaiba had fallen into a holding pattern. Not yet fully healthy by vampire standards, but also not withering away.

Today, Kaiba was to be participating briefly in orientation for a very small handful of new hires. Isono would bring them up, to show them who they would be working for and have Kaiba offer a few words as he often did while he judged the merit of the hires individually. He always thought it unnecessary, but what he thought, and what was actually done? Those were two different things.

The first two hires went through their orientation interview without incident. Kaiba wasn't terribly impressed, but they'd do as entry to mid-level workers. Nothing really extraordinary to be brought to the the table.

He taps the logo on his lapel.

"Isono. Bring in the last candidate, and then prepare lunch," he ordered.

"Yes, Master Seto!"

The third candidate...they better be worth something.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yuugi Mutou had a dream.

It wasn't a complicated one, mind, or a grandiose one. He wasn't the sort of man to grandstand, to stand on high and look down upon the world from the mountain peak.

Instead...

He just wanted to make games that anyone could enjoy.

Since he was little, that was all he did: everything was a game, no matter how small or mundane.

Remembering which sock to put on first? A game.

Studying? A game.

Cooking? Also a game.

This was what allowed him to graduate at the top of his class as valedictorian, graduate university with honors, and even make the lifelong friends that helped him get this far. When he channeled fun into things, even the most mundane could have life and joy where they normally wouldn't.

So. He was going to make games.

At KaibaCorp.

And talk to the CEO.

No big deal. He could do this. Jonouchi told him he could make friends with anyone, after all, and working in the corporate world would be no different.

He even looked the part today: glasses on his face, lavender shirt with violet vest, and his unruly hair was tied back in a low spiked horsetail.

A soft, timid voice trickled into the room as Yuugi Mutou opened the door and started to step inside:

"Mr. Kaiba, you wanted to see me, sir?"

Kaiba was finalizing an email to his R&D lead when the door opened. He looks up after a moment, appraising the small man who had just entered his office. A mouse, this one. Aside from being diminutive, he seemed not to take much space socially either.

The appraisal is dire...at least for a few moments.

Then it hits like a truck at impact speed, and Kaiba reels back despite himself. This mouse of a man had a scent that seemed to latch into Seto Kaiba's vampire instincts and rip them past the day-to-day mask he wears. Unbidden, his fangs push past his lower lip and his jaw clenches so hard that it nearly makes him wince from the pain of it.

But the worst of it...it wasn't the jaw. It wasn't the fangs he tried to hide by parting his lips.

It's the sound of blood rushing in a waterfall by his ears, pulsing just below the surface of the human's skin. His veins sing a song Kaiba has never accepted the invitation to dance to.

His throat works involuntarily, aching and parched and he wants to sink his teeth into the man, to feel his skin pop and give beneath the prick of Kaiba's fangs.

All of this happens in the span of a moment, but all Yuugi will be able to see is the look on his new boss's face.

It's a look of alarm, mixed with the involuntary swallowing motions that Kaiba couldn't stop. He looks...unwell, to say the least.

"Get...out."

Um.

What?

Yuugi tilted his head to the side, and oh dear, he did have a nice slender neck, didn't he? His skin was unblemished and so soft...

"I'm... sorry?"

Had he heard that correctly? No, he had to be hearing things. Maybe he was just distracted by the fact that Mr. Kaiba looked...pale.

Sick.

Like keeling over on his desk, sick.

"Are you okay? Are you not feeling well?"

Clearly he isn't, but it's rude to just call a doctor on your boss, right...?

"I SAID GET OUT!"

He slams both hands on his desk, forcing himself to his feet, and for a brief moment, those bright blue eyes of his flash like lightning, and he fights to stop himself from vaulting over the desk and leaping at that exposed throat.

He's...he's doing this on purpose, isn't he?! He wants to be fed on--how did he find out? Does he know?

How could he know?! Kaiba kept it under tight lock and key, the only one who should know about this is the perpetrator of his affliction!

Isono hears the racket and immediately enters the office, to see what's going on. One look at Kaiba and he doesn't hesitate to try and snatch Yuugi out of the room. He's not sure what's going on, but he can read a face.

"Whaaa!"

It all happened so fast: it was as though mere seconds had passed instead of the minute or two of explosive awkwardness that... happened?

Did that happen?

Why the hell did that happen?

One moment Mr. Kaiba looked ill, and then... he screamed that.

Gods.

Yuugi clutched his chest tight; his heart was pumping so hard. His breath wouldn’t calm down. Those eyes stared at him, stormy and beautiful in his mind's eye and that scream echoed through his body like a punch.

Fuck.

Shit.

Yuugi was used to people yelling at him, so why did this-- why did this affect him so much?

It was who it was, obviously. Mr. Kaiba had a way about him! That was why he was panting like he ran across the building dressed in his winter's heaviest!

That was all.

That was all!

There's not enough proximity between them, even with the door separating them both. Kaiba can still hear his pulse thundering in his ears, and he tries to cover them, to block the sound out...but it's everywhere.

He hadn't felt the thirst strongly enough to warrant such a reaction before, but now it's as if someone's raked his throat with sandpaper and his stomach feels as if it's gnawing itself apart for want of that blood.

He forces himself to sit, and his hands remain clamped over his ears as he stares at the door, pupils contracting and dilating wildly as he attempts to bring himself back under his control.

Self-control is the only control that matters in his life since he'd been turned, and feeling so helpless against his instincts, with fangs aching and jaw burning with the need to bite his new hire...Kaiba's more than a little frustrated.

He lets out a strangled snarl that Isono can pick up, and which both of them hope that Yuugi cannot.

"Mister Mutou, are you alright? Please, come this way, let's get you a glass of water," he says quietly, although his grip on the younger man's shoulders feels a little insistent. They really have to go.

Was that a--?

He had to be hearing things. Yeah; he did not just hear the strangled cry of an animal in the next room. He sure did not hear that.

Nope.

Fuck, why couldn't his heart stop?

... come to think of it, why did he tilt his head like that earlier?

Nevermind.

Nevermind...

Yuugi fixed wild eyes on Isono, almost blown black with... something. He nodded with a trembling smile.

"Yeah, that... that sounds good. Lead the way."

Good thing Isono's wearing his sunglasses otherwise the way his eyes widened would be more telling. This kid looks as much a mess as the boss did! Something happened between them...within just a minute's time? They weren't even in immediate proximity for Yuugi to look like that.

"Of course. Follow me," he responds coolly, taking the lead and releasing Yuugi entirely. He's an employee, not to be dragged around like a piece of meat.

Even if...Isono's pretty sure Seto was looking at him that way. Something tells him this might be a long term problem...he's going to have to attend to the elder Kaiba soon, if he's in such dire straits.

(He is still in pretty dire straits, but the further Isono gets, the easier it becomes)

The further away he got, the more his lungs unclenched in his chest.

One step.

Two steps.

Three.

Four...

Yuugi took in deep breaths to cool the heat in his blood, ease the trembling of taut muscles...

Each step became easier, but why were those eyes still on his mind...?

Kaiba's eyes settle, although he himself doesn't, once he can't smell the newcomer anymore. He's still starving, keyed up, and it looks as if he's dug his claws into the desk just a little too hard.

"Rrgh...what happened...?" he hisses, still very annoyed at his loss of control.

Shaking fingers press to his lapel, and he barks at Isono:

"Get back here, with that! And don't just bring one!"

...You know, Isono really wishes Seto had waited at least 2 more minutes. At this point, he's busy ushering Yuugi into the empty VP office and making good on his promise for water when those words snap out so loud the echo can be heard from outside his earpiece.

"Yes, Master Seto..."

"Uh."

Did he... want to know? Did Yuugi want to know what he meant by that?

Why would he call it "that"? Is that some kind of code? He was already making snarling noises, what else could he--

...

Was he listening in on a fetish thing. Was he asking for sex toys or something? Or like. Some bdsm petplay thing (hey, you do you Mr. Kaiba)?

No, definitely not!

It was probably something else!

That he had to use vague language for!

"Sorry about this..." Yuugi said. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble. Once I calm down I'll go down to my floor right away."

Isono's reaction isn't helping. He stands there awkwardly, scratching at his cheek with one finger as he tries to figure out the right thing to say.

"A-ahhh, don't worry about it! Mr. Kaiba is feeling under the weather. Once I bring him his meal, he'll be fine. He's...he's the kind of person that holds himself back until the situation's a bit tough to deal with, you see."

A pause, then--

"Please don't let any of what you saw, or our discussion here leave the room," he adds, moving to the water cooler located near a bookshelf, taking a cup and stooping to fill it for the new guy. He holds it out to him, and it almost feels like a peace offering.

"Stay here as long as you like. Master Mokuba won't be in for a few hours, and I'll explain when he arrives."

"Oh! He was just hangry?"

He never met a hangry person act like that before, though. And why would he use such vague language when talking to Isono, if it was just food?

Curious.

Was he diabetic, maybe?

"I hope he gets his lunch soon, then."

Siiiiiiiiip.

"...Yes. Hangry."

Isono is so lost, the colloquialisms of the young go over his head a bit, and that's even with the fact that he's the trusted right hand of a pretty young man, and his even younger brother.

Once Yuugi's been supplied with water, Isono takes a step back and bows politely.

"Please excuse me. I'll need to attend to that."

And...yep. He's just gonna...go. Deal with Seto.

Dealing with him means bringing three bags of blood to Seto's office, kept safely within a duplicate of the usual briefcase with refrigeration built into it.

He imagines that "hangry" is "hungry and angry", which is exactly what Seto looks like when Isono finally provides him with his lunch. He doesn't go through his usual ritual of emptying the bag in a mug and heating it on a hotplate he keeps in his office. Instead, he bites into it, burying his fangs into the plastic and drains it within seconds. The second and third go the same way, though by the third, Kaiba is drinking more slowly, and he looks irate, but not as angry as before.

"...Rerun the background check on that one. There's something about him," he mutters to Isono. The blood still didn't feel like enough, but at the very least he's sated. Still...

"And bring another bag."

"Yes...right away," Isono responds with a nod. "Have you...contacted Master Mokuba?"

"No," Seto responds flatly. "He has enough to worry about without adding this to the mix. He'll be here soon, and then we can brief him on the issue.

Once I've had the last bag, tell me where that worker is. I...owe him an apology for my behavior."

Isono cants his head to the side at Kaiba's insistence there. An apology? Oh, he highly doubts that an apology is the only reason that his boss wants to see Yuugi again.

He's running an experiment, like the absolute hardhead he is. But Isono's not paid to tell his boss he's being foolish and jeopardizing the company by doing this. He's paid to nod and comply.

Well, this was... definitely a first day!

He woke up this morning with a spring in his step, expecting to meet new coworkers and maybe even make some friends. Perhaps even get stuck dealing with a few IT issues.

But this?

Calming his racing heart with a cup of water as blue eyes stared into his soul, his hands shook and his neck ached?

Thinking that Seto Kaiba was...extremely weird, to say the least?

(And hot.)

(And thin.)

(And hot.)

Yeeeaaaaah, that was not on his bingo card for the day.

He sipped the water slowly; why did his throat feel so dry?

The rest of the day transpires with at least some modicum of normalcy. Isono brings Seto another blood bag, he heats it up and drinks it...and he actually does feel better once he's got something warm in him.

For the next few hours, he keeps himself busy with emails, arranging meetings, and checking on the progress of his staff. He keeps his focus mostly off of the one that had caused him problems--Yuugi Mutou, apparently--but from time to time, he checks in.

There's nothing wrong with doing so, it's not as if he's making Kaiba react through a screen. As the day wears on however, and the sun begins to set, he sees his opportunity. The office will close soon anyway, so why not get this over with.

Naturally, when Mokuba had shown up to work, he'd railed against his brother's decision to do this, but at the end of the day, it was no one's decision but Seto's.

So...he prowls the floor that Yuugi is on, minding his own business

(scaring the employees)

and waiting for his

(prey)

new worker to show his face.

Where was this mysterious new worker?

At his desk, mostly helping out other colleagues. It didn't matter that he was new, and still going through orientation; he had a way with the programs that others did not.

He had to help at least two of his neighbors with a buggy build that kept crashing the engine. His specialty was design, not coding!

Still, there he was submitting a code change to fix the engine crashes even if it wasn't his job. He just got K4V up and running; the fuck was he doing fixing the programmers' messes?

Yuugi didn't mind, though.

Even if he was the only one on his floor still working.

It helped him forget the weirdness of earlier...

The new worker will find that his boss is not a patient man.

Kaiba had waited long enough for him to exit his office, but with thirty minutes left to spare, his patience had run out. Annoyedly, he raised a display up from his bracer, using the system to pinpoint Yuugi.

...There. He's found the office where the man was working. Now...why was he working on something that he had no business working on? His tasking should be far less intensve, and yet here he was, working on a build that wasn't even his!

Kaiba hated to admit it, but the initiative was...intriguing. He didn't have many employees so interested in forging bonds and helping effectively.

Still. Thirty minutes til close, no one else should be here but himself, his brother, and Isono. He'll have to put a stop to it.

He makes his way to the office, and the only warning Yuugi gets is a sharp rap to the door, before Kaiba lets himself in. This time he's ready. He's breathing very shallowly through his mouth, rather than his nose, and he's already fed enough during his lunch to prevent the desire to bite.

"Mutou Yuugi," he lets the name roll off his tongue as he makes his approach. He stops a fair distance away however, when the scent starts to creep up into his olfactory system anyway. Sweet and enticing. Unbearable.

Again, he feels as if his throat's been raked bloody with a steel brush, and his heart seems to beat only with Yuugi's. A heart long cold and dead and immobile, it's not really beating, but Yuugi's blood thumping in his temples makes it feel like it is.

"Finish what you're doing," he says, and again he looks uncomfortable and his voice sounds strained, but it's not to the degree that it had been the first time. "Finish and get ready to leave. All employees should be out of the building by 6:45."

There. He managed to get his words out, mostly, before his throat began to seize up again. He swallowed hard, trying to offset the spasms that threatened to take hold. It didn't help much.

But he's trying to maintain control, and it shows on his face how hard that is, regrettably.

Yuugi had just finished submitting another change for another coworker's problem when he heard the rap at the door.

That didn't prepare him for... him.

Look, he'd done a pretty good job in getting those eyes out of his head and that voice out of his ears. It didn't matter that nobody had ever affected him like this before, playing over and over like a song that would not go away.

Something intriguing. Tempting.

But gods, hearing that voice just made it come rushing back.

His hand stilled on the mouse, his cheeks darkened as blood rushed to his face, and--

Nnnngh.

Why did he look so uncomfortable? It wasn't like earlier, and yet...

Did he not like him?

But if that was the case, why talk to him personally about something like this?

It didn't add up!

"O-oh! Good evening, Mr. Kaiba."

Keep it cool. It's fine.

"Sorry. I just wanted to submit a few changes for the team before heading out. I just finished."

"I saw that," he managed to get out. "Don't make a habit of...doing everyone's work for them. I hired them for a reason."

There. Almost sounds normal, he's making this work. Control. He has to remain in control. He has to breathe--

--no. Damn it. Breathing deeply was a bad idea, it's like he's inhaling Yuugi's blood without actually tasting it, the sweet aroma hits and makes his jaw hurt. It's not an ache, it's actual pain as it clenches so hard he can barely tolerate it.

He looks away, the frustration visible on his features. Plausible deniability...he could just be mad about Yuugi being taken advantage of on his first day. That's all.

Why...why does he feel so empty? He'd drank more than his fair share today, should have been as full as an engorged tick at this point! But he still hungered, for this man and this man only.

"Nngh...Mutou, I came in here for a different reason," he hisses. The effort of speaking...it was almost too much. All he can think about is how much he'd love to flash-step to that desk, pull the new guy's head to the side, and bury his aching, wanting fangs in that flesh so that he could feel the rush of life trickling down his throat, swelling him back to full strength, making him feel human again!

"What my brother is trying to say is--he's sorry for the way he acted when he met you."

That voice! Kaiba turns to the source, and finds Mokuba leaning in the doorway, arms crossed. He focuses on him, not as a source of food, but as a source of self-centering. He didn't want to bite his brother. He didn't feel he urge to drain him dry. He didn't want to show him the monster clamoring to get out.

It's enough to make his jaw loosen, and his throat to stop twitching. But only just.

"Come on, bro. It's okay, just let it out."

Seto can't look at Yuugi for long. He'll have to make this quick. Once he feels composed enough, he faces the other man and inclines his head in the only bow he intends to give.

"My apologies. I'm feeling under the weather today," he says, and there's a twist in his guts, like someone's wringing any nutrition he may have derived from his meal straight out of him. Empty. So empty. Hollowed out.

He keeps his cool and continues. "You've done good work so far. I expect that to continue."

Yuugi wanted to tilt his head.

Why?

Why did that voice burrow deep into his chest, ringing inside him over and over and over and over--

Breathe. Just breathe. It was okay; this man was apologizing for being weird and even trying to be polite, the least he could do was...

--Sit on the man's lap, quiet and subservient as he kissed up his neck, tonguing the jugular with an approving growl--

Not.

That.

What.

Did they notice his hands tremble slightly? Did they notice his cheeks darken and his head tilt a centimeter to the right?

"Thank you..." He breathed, "For letting me know. And... being so courteous to me."

Airy. His voice was so airy, what--

"I hope you rest well and feel better soon, Mr. Kaiba."

The only thing Kaiba noticed was the incline of Yuugi's head. That centimeter may as well have been a foot, for how it drew him in. His fangs were dipping past his lower lip, enough that he had to part his lips again to try and tuck them out of sight.

A soft, breathy exhale rushes past his lips, the ghost of a groan.

This man was like a lure, baited specifically for Seto Kaiba.

They both seem to miss each other's affected states for what they were. Even Kaiba didn't see the rush of blood to Yuugi's face for what it was. He can only think about what it'd feel like on his tongue.

Mokuba, however, isn't part of this. He can see how his brother's reacting, and how the new hire's reacting, and his immediate move is to reach out and take Seto's hand, squeezing hard. Come back, don't walk that path.

They'll definitely discuss this later, but until then, he has to get Seto out of here.

He... he had to get home.

He had to get home, had to lie down and stick his head in a pillow and scream into it as loud as he could to stop thinking about his aching neck and hot cheeks and tight pants--

Wait.

What.

Tight--

Ooooh no. Nonononono, nope, nope, nope nope--

Yuugi's hand shook as he shut down his computer, but as he did so--

The chair fell out from under him, and he sprawled out on the ground with a cry of surprise. Neck extended, cheeks flushed--

If anyone did any proper study, they might come to the conclusion that vampires were apex predators. Kaiba knew he was an apex predator, but he kept himself firmly under control at most times, despite it.

He didn't give into his prey drive, like some common animal. There was no reason. He was sentient and civilized, thanks.

But Yuugi's scent compels him. His little actions inflame him.

He didn't even realize he was half-hard yet, all he felt was Mokuba's hand squeezing his--yes. He has to get out of here. He can. It'll be fine

Until Yuugi falls out of his chair and hits the ground, like a tripped zebra on the savanna, legs useless, and looking extremely pathetic, if Kaiba's honest with himself.

His entire body tenses, and Mokuba considers letting him go out of fear...but he wants to try and bring Seto around, to stop him from doing something they'd all regret.

"Seto, please don't!" he calls out as he feels his brother prepare to wrench free. "Why are you doing this?"

Kaiba takes several steps forward, dragging his little brother along as he bares his fangs. His eyes flicker from blue to red as his instincts urge him on. He has to...or he might die. He's sure of it.

It was only a few moments, and yet-- that was all it took.

Yuugi's eyes fluttered open, he looked up...

Fangs.

Red eyes.

Fangs.

Red eyes branding him as they penetrate his body with their intense gaze. His eyes dimmed and his body went slack, muscles worthless and lips parted even as his higher functions screamed in the back of his head.

This was ridiculous. He had to move! What was he doing?! He had to move, had to run, maybe move away and change his name and--

Fangs.

He'd seen them before, but in movies or television shows! Nothing real.

Seto Kaiba stalked closer, but Yuugi sat up.

On his knees.

Closed his eyes.

Tilted his head obediently, like someone was telling him to do it. Demanding, insisting, moving his body--

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