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

"...I could bite you. Just on the wrist."

He says it without thinking, drawing closer still, until he's at the foot of the bed. This close, Yuugi can probably see him breathing hard, even though he had no need to do so. Not that Yuugi probably knew that.

"Then, maybe..."

Kaiba tries to move onto the bed, attracted like a starving wolf to its meal...then he jerks back. Not by choice. There's a flash as the light in the room reflects against a wire pulled taut around his waist.

So he'd prepared for this moment, in case he couldn't control himself. And that was the only reason why Mokuba had let him so close to Yuugi. He could see the wire as soon as Seto walked past him. But now, he's not playing into Seto's nonsense. Instead, he takes hold of the wire and pulls, hard. It's enough to make his brother take a step back, then turn to glare at him--can you even glare with a blindfold?

It sure feels like that's what's happening.

"Bro, get out of here. Please. You're acting stupid. You both are. But when you act stupid, people can get hurt. Is that what you want? You want to kill a guy in your own house, just because you can't control yourself?"

Mokuba knows what he's doing--Seto jerks back from him, and takes a few steps back from the bed at that.

"I'm fine," he insists sharply, but Mokuba only shakes his head before responding.

"No, you're not. You just asked this guy if you could bite his wrist! For months you've been fighting me on the idea of even eating a rabbit, or a dog, or anything at all live that could help deal with this! Now you want to bite him?"

Kaiba grits his teeth, swallowing so hard it's audible. He turns towards Yuugi...then abandons the idea of any response here, since no matter what he said, his brother was right.

He wasn't acting rationally.

He had to leave...

"...For you own good, and mine, you should leave quickly, Mutou."

This time it doesn't sound nearly as scathing, and Kaiba finally decides to leave.

As Seto Kaiba walked away, a gentle pounding rose in Yuugi's head, intensifying with each step he took away from him.

It was him.

He was the source of his headaches.

Why, though? Why was this--

Yuugi let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before relaxing against the pillow. It was like laying a cushion against an open wound, but...

"...In ten minutes I'll head home."

He needed to get out.

Now.

And maybe sleep off this nightmare in his own bed.

The next week or so...Kaiba keeps to himself. Even his normal employees don't see much of him, and that's for good reason. He's pointedly avoiding Yuugi at all costs, trying to get back to his normal life.

...It doesn't work out exactly how he wants it to, because at the end of the day, his normal meals aren't satisfying, and he's frustrated by the inability to sate the hunger Yuugi had awakened in him. He was already thin as it was, and he can't afford to grow any weaker than he'd gotten after being turned.

He's not entirely sure if there are other vampires in Domino, and presenting as anything but a strong face was a terrible idea, both for business, and on the offhand chance that his sire lived nearby.

It was really a miserable week though, he thinks to himself as he answers emails and drinks warm blood from a mug. At least Isono and Mokuba were accommodating his needs as best they could. he had to remind himself to give Isono a raise at this point...

Yuugi had also kept to himself.

...Well, okay, about as well as a socially focused friendly guy with an active social life should. He was a really friendly guy, all things considered, and it had been fun getting to know him as he coordinated his routes around the building with Mokuba.

Ccordinated avoidance. Not exactly on Mokuba's bucket list, but it was better than seeing the poor guy nearly get eaten. Yuugi was on the same page as Seto, which was helpful. There was no Bella Swan level stalking or weird fixations: Yuugi and Seto were two people trying to function the best they could.

Yuugi was a really nice guy with two cats, a huge collection of games, and an impeccable work ethic.

Mokuba had come in to deliver a paper report from one of the departments, but he seemed...distracted.

Almost concerned as he tapped at his phone.

Seto's gaze flicks up as Mokuba enters, and...to be quite frank, the Kaiba-sense between the brothers does go both ways. So even before Mokuba's close enough to turn in the report...

"What's the matter?"

Unlike when he'd been dealing with Yuugi, a total outsider, he was much less cold with his response. Actual concern does exist within the Seto.

Mokuba bit his lip, continuing to quickly type.

"It's Yuugi," he said, "He's out sick today."

Some more typing.

A grumble.

"And he isn't responding to any of my texts. I'm worried about him."

Oh. Right. Yuugi. Of course he's worrying about Yuugi, they'd ended up getting along after everything, and Seto would be lying if he admitted that didn't bother him. He's not the kind of guy that likes to share his brother, evidently. Or maybe he's still suspicious of Yuugi in general.

It could be both...couldn't it?

(he's jealous)

"If you're so worried, then I can send Isono to check on him," Seto offered blandly. "People are allowed to call out sick. Maybe it isn't so bad."

He's attempting to comfort his brother, and it's very awkward, because he's not as sympathetic as Mokuba. Thanks Gozaburo, you did a great job raising a monster.

Mokuba wasn't going to even dignify that with a response. Seriously, what use were words on his brother...

When he could just hand him his phone and show him:

It was a photo. Yuugi Mutou, visibly thinner with almost all the color drained from his face. His eyes were bright as ever, and his smile was a radiant little thing, but that could not hide the exhausted circles under them; the visible loss of weight; the drooping of his hair.

Wasn't it weird since he looked so healthy just a week before?

Mokuba had chosen the right move, as he so often did. The photo grabbed at Seto's attention, to the point that he brings the phone closer, really stares at the state of his new hire.

The vitality...it had all but gone from him. The only thing that looked the same was that smile, and those ridiculous, optimistic eyes of his. His skin was sallow, cheeks hollowed, eyes even more tired and darkened than Seto's own.

He looked terrible. Even Seto seems alarmed.

"Does he have a pre-existing condition we weren't aware of?"

It's a fair question, but Seto's kind of dancing around the point they'd come to when Yuugi had been convalescing in one of their guest rooms, which was that he'd admitted he felt better around the elder Kaiba.

Sure, it made Seto feel like garbage, and it sharpened the edge of his hunger like a knife, driven into his own abdomen until he nearly lost himself. But...if this was the result, then...then surely Mokuba expected him to invite Yuugi to the office, just for the proximity, didn't he?

He turns to Mokuba, holding out the phone and searching his sibling's face for some kind of thoughts on the matter.

"None. That was the first thing I checked; Yuugi's the kind of guy who will hide everything if he thinks it'll bother someone else."

Mokuba sighed and pinched his nose. This was a mess, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, literally! Yuugi was trusting as all hell, but he always saw the best in people.

He was the first with a kind word, he restocked the office coffee pot without complaint, and worried over everyone. There was no mask to slip: he was just like that.

They were...friends.

Yuugi was his friend.

But these two brought something out in each other that Mokuba wasn't willing to play with. He couldn't.

So he had to try alternate approaches...

"He is not coming to the office like that," he said. "If you lose control, you could kill him even easier than before."

What could he do...?

"But... he said he felt better around you..."

A pause.

"Seto, hypothetically... what would you do if I dropped some of your laundry off at his place and mixed it in with his stuff?"

Seto visibly flinched where he sat, his eyes widening.

"My--"

No way. No way. Just the thought of it made his skin prickle! Mokuba wants to take his clothes, and put it near Yuugi so that--so that somehow, he could try and benefit from it? By what, sniffing it?

He hates it. He despises it. It feels like a violation of his personal boundaries to do something like that, especially if he wasn't being straightforward with it.

"You're asking too much," he said, a note of alarm in his tone. "Mokuba...how can you even suggest it?"

It's not just a selfishness thing, it's a privacy thing! He doesn't want to!

But then...he can see the look on his brother's face as he refuses, and it makes him squirm too. His brother really did want him to help this nobody, because to him, Yuugi was a somebody, actually. He tried hard, he helped out, and he was kind to Mokuba, enough that they were friends.

"Nngh."

Seto's hands balled into fists on his desk. He actually looked as if he wanted to escape reality right then and there, which included actually flushing. That was always a tall order as a vampire, with no self-oxygenating blood to speak of. The only reason the color that sluggishly rises to his cheeks is lighter than a bruise is because he was in the middle of his lunch when Mokuba came in here.

"Don't...be secretive. If you're going to do it, then--then let him know. He'll find out anyway, our sizes are astronomically different"

He's a full head taller than Yuugi. His clothes would drown the man, at best.

"Just do it as soon as possible, before I change my mind, and don't give him any outfits I like!"

Look, he knew it was weird, all right? This whole situation was weird!

But what was he supposed to do? Let his brother suffer? Let his new friend waste away? He had to do something without shoving them in a room or compromising their safety.

A few shirts was a small price to pay.

"Don't worry," he took his phone back and tapped at his screen. "I'll be giving him a white shirt or two. Nothing you like or will miss."

Will it work?

Who knew, honestly?

"He has pets, so...I don't want to leave anything there that you'll miss."

In case one of the cats got ahold of it.

Pets were the least of Seto's worries at this point. Yuugi...he'd managed to worm his way into Seto's well-ordered life and destroyed his stability like a bull in a china shop.

Avoiding him was difficult.

Running into him by accident was difficult.

Trying not to think about what he might taste like? Very, very difficult.

"Do as you will," he says quietly, before taking up his mug and draining it. "And give me what you have there."

Mokuba had come in with some papers. He'll take them now.

"Yep."

Mokuba set down the papers and made an about-face...

Stopped.

And made quick steps towards Seto as little arms wrapped around his waist; only Mokuba Kaiba could hug his brother and live, and right now it was warranted. He knew. He knew how much Seto is putting himself out for this...

"Thanks, Seto. I owe you one."

---

Around an hour later, Seto Kaiba receives a text from Mokuba:

I had to practically manhandle it on him. He was not happy.

And in the photo...

Is Yuugi Mutou. Dressed -- if you could even call it that -- in Seto Kaiba's white shirt with his hands in his lap.

Seto was right, the shirt did engulf him, even falling off his shoulder to reveal a pale shoulder and slender neck. He averted his eyes shyly, a deep blush on his cheeks.

His color, though.

He looked a little better.

Seto's surprised by how quick Mokuba manages to hug him, but...although he doesn't hug back, he seems to get a little less tense. A hand brushes his brother's arm, a vague gesture of affection. He's very bad at them.

"Hm," is the only sound he offers, but there's something that could almost, almost qualify as a smile on his face. If he has nothing else in the world, and the world is a cold, hard place to live...at least he has his brother.

---

And once his brother had left, Seto had gotten back to work, looking over the reports that had been left for him, then getting in contact with the executive who had put it together to discuss notes.

It's some time after he's finished doing that when he receives the text.

And yeah...yeah that's Yuugi Mutou in his clothes. Perhaps if the photo wasn't so provocative, Kaiba might not have realized that he looked better than in the first picture. Mokuba's theories were confirmed.

But also...the photo is provocative, and Seto's not sure if he's having a physical reaction as a vampire, or as an adolescent male, the way his stomach seems filled with warmth and light. He's not terribly attracted to Yuugi, and yet...he passes his thumb across the bared skin, as if he might be able to touch it.

...And then his stomach growls, despite the fact that he'd eaten only a short while earlier.

Yeah...maybe it's just the vampiric thirst after all.

He sighs, sending a message back.

Fine. It works. Next time don't send a picture with his neck out like that.

He'll never know why this keeps happening, will he?

I'll be late home tonight, and I'm taking tomorrow off.

Someone decided on a surprise visit, and he wants to have dinner over discussing his licenses with the Solid Vision system.

There's only one person that Seto could be talking about, and Mokuba would know. It's the one person Kaiba detests spending too much time with.

Pegasus.

Oh, shoot. My bad, bro.

After a few minutes...

Ugh

Ugh

Seriously?!

Can't he make appointments like a normal person?!

--

"Mokuba, are you... okay?"

"Business partner."

"Sounds like you don't like him much."

"I don't. Neither does Seto."

---

I'll make the necessary arrangements, though, don't worry.

Do you want me there with you?

Gods, Mokuba hated Pegasus so much. There was something about him that rubbed him the wrong way; his vibes were absolutely rancid and he especially hated when the guy spent time with his brother.

But, you know.

Business partner. CEO.

Weirdo with awful drip and even worse taste in TV.

I can handle him on my own. Spend time with Mutou. I'm sure both of you wouldn't mind that.

It's Friday. Mokuba could afford to spend time with someone who he liked, and Yuugi could play the role of babysitter, because Seto's not really interested in having Mokuba around while he's dealing with the inevitable indigestion that comes with whatever Pegasus wants to eat. It's annoying. The man always wants to make their meetings an experience, and today he'd booked a fancy omakase dinner, where inevitably, he'd coax Seto to drink as well.

Annoying. He just wants to ply more time out of his contract, and Kaiba won't allow it!

Once it begins to get dark, Seto dismisses Isono. Generally, he wouldn't do that, but he hates to present anything but an immovable fortress with nothing bolstering it when it came to Pegasus J. Crawford.

That's all it was.

---

And as it turned out, that was not a good move. By the end of the dinner, and their discussions, Seto's trembling. Something didn't feel right. He felt...wrong.

The meal sat in his belly like an immovable stone, satisfying no need at all. Pegasus had been insistent...so insistent that he not leave anything behind. He'd encouraged Kaiba to indulge, because isn't that what young people do?

So he had. He'd had more than two glasses of plum wine at that, and it settled just as poorly as the rest of what he'd eaten.

Despite it, he feels colder than usual, as if it was he who was coming down with something this time, and not Yuugi.

Of course, Pegasus had offered to bring him home. Isono could surely pick up Kaiba's car in the morning, it was no trouble! No trouble at all!

As he's driven to the mansion, Seto's vaguely aware of how his shoulder hurts, as if something had struck him there. He doesn't remember...had he fallen? He was pretty drunk, wasn't he? He felt it.

Despite the quality of the vehicle Pegasus had rented for his time here, every bump felt positively miserable. Kaiba looks miserable during the car ride.

And, well...Pegasus was a gentleman, wasn't he? He accommodates the young Kaiba heir by carrying him to the door, and Seto only offers a quiet groan of complaint, one that's hushed with Pegasus's quiet tone as he cajoles Kaiba to open the door and let him in, to let him carry the young man up to his room, then to his bathroom, where at last, Kaiba can take no more. The nausea is unbearable.

Pegasus seemed to know, of course, what would happen. He often did! That's why he leaves Kaiba alone in the bathroom with the door closed, leaving him to empty his stomach, while he himself takes a seat on Kaiba's bed, his personal bed, as if he belonged there.

He likes it here. There's so many memories contained in this room, isn't there? The encyclopedias. The games. The collectibles. Even the collar stuffed between some books, that Kaiba should have thrown away years ago, but hadn't, as a reminder of what he'd overcome.

When the sounds in the bathroom quiet, Pegasus goes to fetch Seto, cleaning him up and without any real permission, stripping off his shirt. There's a mark on his shoulder, standing out stark on skin so pale, paler than usual. No, that won't do, will it?

He lays the semi-conscious Kaiba on the bed, then presses a lasting, but gentle kiss upon the bruise there, until it seems to lessen into nothing.

"Good boy," he purrs, thumbing Kaiba's forehead with a fondness that, at any other time, he'd balk against. But as Pegasus pushed his bangs back, revealing his entire face, Kaiba only let out a soft groan of pain. "Still trembling, though. Don't worry~ Just remember what we discussed! And we'll talk again in two days, once you've slept it off~"

He strokes his thumb across Kaiba's forehead once, twice, then leaves him to his own devices. So thin...so light. It's a little concerning, Pegasus has to admit. He's nothing like the man he'd seen six months ago. It's a pity.

But as he exits the manor, he thinks to himself: Not a pity for long.

Kaiba falls into a fitful sleep, shivering and curled up above the covers. Sometime around 5 in the morning, he stirs, but doesn't move. He's cold, so cold, and he has no idea why. What had happened?

Why can't he remember anything about the dinner?

As day moved to night, and Yuugi spent more time with Mokuba, color started to return to face. He was still nauseated and suffered from headaches, but he could walk.

He could care for himself.

He could drink broth without vomiting.

That was a win in Yuugi's book.

Mokuba bid him goodbye at close to eleven o'clock, hopping in the car with Isono as a thin, trembling Yuugi saw him off on unsteady legs.

Mr. Kaiba's shirt was wrapped around him, comfortable and safe in a way that his soul understood, but his mind did not. He didn't want to let go of it, or stop wearing it...

He stood at his apartment door for a moment, waiting for Isono's car to go out of sight before he headed inside. It was a nice night, after all... the fresh breeze felt so good.

While Yuugi's condition improved, Kaiba's was in a steep decline. He'd never felt such weakness before, and he had no coherent memories of the night after he'd had a few drinks. It was embarrassing, considering that before being turned, he'd managed to handle much more than that, but with a body bereft of life, he couldn't handle much.

When Mokuba returns home, he finds his brother in sorry condition, but doesn't realize how poor it is until the morning. Generally, after a night meeting with Pegasus, he's too put off to feel focused at work, but this? This wasn't that. This was like Seto coming down with something bad.

Do vampires even get sick?!

Seto spends most of the day sleeping, and when he's awake, he's oddly aggressive, and demands for Mokuba to leave him alone. Even Isono is barred from entering the room with any business.

The one time Mokuba manages to catch sight of his brother, he's alarmed to see that his normally blue eyes were now blood red, with slitted pupils, and that his fangs were half an inch past his lower lip.

That's the last time he's allowed to catch a look, before Seto finally locks the door to discourage it.

By the time the sun sets...Kaiba's shredded his linens out of...it's not really anxiety is it? It's an inability to self-regulate his hunger, really, and that doesn't necessarily constitute anxiety.

It's need. Desperation.

He doesn't want to hurt his brother. He doesn't want to hurt his right hand. But this hunger is like nothing he's ever experienced before, and he's certain he knows the cause.

The one person who had wormed themselves into his life and threatened everything important to him.

Yuugi Mutou.

He was the one who Kaiba needed to take down, he knows it. If he feeds on Yuugi, then...this pain, this emptiness, the bone-deep freeze that has his joints aching, will finally abate.

And of course...he's the CEO of Kaiba Corporation. So, he's known for a very long time where his employee lived.

As soon as the cloak of night falls, he doesn't so much open his window and jump down gracefully as he barrels through it, with the intent to sprint to Yuugi's house and make him pay for bringing him to this level.

...Somewhere along the way, he finds a stray animal--a dog? a cat? he's not coherent enough to really notice--and for the first time, he sinks his fangs into living flesh, draining his prey dry.

It's not much at all, and yet it feels exhilarating! Why had he resisted? Why would he ever resist such a call again? The living blood thrums in his veins, and he'd felt the rushing heartbeat of the animal stir something in his breast, remind him of what it felt to be warm and alive.

It's a heady cocktail, as much as it is a mistake. But certainly it's short-lived, before he's shivering from the ice in his veins again. No. He needs more.

He needs Yuugi.

Yuugi'd tried to sleep that night.

It was another night where he was home from work, and his body still hadn't accepted anything more solid than broth and water without vomiting it up. Even crackers were too harsh for his stomach, but at the very least he could get up and walk around without an issue.

But...

He couldn't fall asleep.

No matter how many times he tossed and turned, and no matter how many times he pulled the shirt close to his nose for its comforting scent (was that weird? That was weird, right), nothing worked. All he could do was roll around, bury his face in a pillow, and...

Fight a strong urge to open his bedroom window.

It was right there, and the breeze would feel good, yeah?

He just needed to open the window and let it in.

The breeze. The air.

Other things that could come in from the outside.

The most he was able to do was keep it unlocked with the smallest crack open in order to let some fresh air come in. Anything more and it would be too open, make him too vulnerable.

Was something going to happen tonight...?

No, no.

He was just being paranoid; he couldn't sleep, that was all.

That was all...

That wasn't all.

The window bleeds out his scent, drawing Kaiba directly to where he needed to be. He can smell...he can taste Yuugi in the air, and he tracks it, like the beast he is, to the source.

It doesn't matter whether the window's accessible or not, Kaiba doesn't need it to be. He's able to find it, smash it in, and land in Yuugi's apartment on all fours, breathing so harshly it leaves his throat in a low growl.

There's an unmistakable metallic scent in the air. It cuts through the peace and calm of Yuugi's living space to the point that even a human could tell that whatever had entered was covered in blood. All that said, Kaiba finds himself frozen in place. He has no idea how to track Yuugi anymore, not when the entire premises is nothing but his scent.

It's decadent, overpowering, and for a few long moments, he's overcome. The growl gives way to a soft groan as he lets the scent curl up into him, stoking the monster within.

But those are only moments. He gets to his feet, bright red eyes scanning every inch of the area. He'll find him. He'll devour him.

The presence that washed over him made it impossible for Yuugi to do anything but fall limp on his bed.

He felt it before the window shattered: pleasant, almost overpowering heat coiling over every muscle and beat of his heart. Invisible hands stole his breath, just as silent blades cut his strings and left him unable to move, think, or speak.

Wide violet eyes stared ahead.

(Kaiba...? Oh Gods, is that blood? What happened?!)

Heavy breaths rattled his weakened lungs.

(I...I can't move! Shit, I can't move!! Kaiba, please, don't do this!)

There.

Kaiba's breathing heavily, the run here was starting to take a toll, and the stray he'd fed on wasn't enough to keep him running forever. But that was fine, because here was the real prize.

Yuugi...the one who had ruined all, just by being who he was.

He closes the distance, crawling onto the bed and glaring at Yuugi with slit-pupiled red eyes, his mouth parted as he loomed over him. There's blood smeared on his face, on his fangs, and he looks...

...he looks awful. Nothing like the man that Yuugi had seen on his first day. His hair was unkempt, his skin sickly pale, and he looked...wrung out was probably the best way to describe it. Something had happened to Kaiba, even if he didn't know it.

"You," he hisses, leaning in close. He can see the blood dancing along Yuugi's veins. He wants it...he wants every bit of it!

"Kai...ba...?"

Effort.

It took effort to be able to move. His tongue was too large for his mouth, throat tight and parched even as his voice came out in an airy whimper.

For a moment, crimson flickered in his eyes.

His heart ached.

This wasn't the man he met all those days ago. This sallow, sickly man with blood on his face and teeth out was almost animalistic -- all traces of blue from his eyes and bearing long gone.

Yuugi wet his lips.

"Kai...ba...wh..."

Again.

"What...h-ha...ppened..."

He'd meant to put his hand on his shoulder. To maybe reach out for his hand or even push him away.

That was not where his hand went.

It cupped the vampire's cheek, gossamer and light.

"T-To you...? Wh-who did...th-this to you...?"

Who hurt you...?

Kaiba's moving in, closer, his eyes like beacons, seeking Yuugi's out, maintaining contact as he prepares to bite--

--but he stops, when Yuugi speaks. He never...speaks when they're like this. At least not the way he's speaking now. He begs, he wants for Kaiba to bite him, and now that he's about to grant both their wishes...that's when he has to ask something like that?!

He flinches back when warm fingers touch his face, his ice cold face, and through that contact Yuugi can feel the way he trembles, barely able to contain himself or hold himself up.

"Y...ou. You did..." he says in a hiss, but he doesn't close anymore distance. "You...took...all of me."

His vision temporarily blurs as his hunger intensifies, because Yuugi's here, he makes Kaiba feel as if he's caving in on himself and he can't help but curl one arm around his abdomen and groan in pain. It's torture! It's out of his hands!

But...hadn't he been hungry, even without being near Yuugi?

Why...can't...he remember...last night?

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