superbitter | Open Post

Diego didn't really remember the mission that turned his life upside down but he did remember waking up with sore gums and a desperate thirst that couldn't be quenched. Father had tried to feed him, tried to keep the thirst quenched but the blood he'd gotten his hands on wasn't enough. Which meant he had no choice but to go to the registry and find a donor.

At least, that's what he told Diego and he was in no mood to question it. As soon as he'd found out that there was a donor in the house, Diego couldn't wait to meet him.

He just didn't expect it to be when said donor accidentally walked into his room instead of his own.

"Are you...?" Number Two takes a deep, shuddering breath. "You smell... so good." He reaches out to touch, stopping barely an inch away. "So good."

"Klaus," he offers his name at the abandoned question, an awkward smile tracing his lips.

"O-oh, um, well, that's--" He leans back when Diego reaches out to touch him, a nervous giggle escaping as he reaches up to gently push the other man's hand away. "flattering? I think?" He isn't a fan of sudden touches from nowhere, mostly because of the ghosts, but he's not sure anyone has figured out that's something he's cursed with yet. Klaus didn't think it was all that important to note, so he just never mentioned it to Hargreeves.

He links his hands behind his back and rocks on his heels a bit. "So, um..." He's so out of his element in this house, it's been a long time since he's been this sober. "Iiii'm not sure if you can feed from me yet. Your Dad was trying to...purify the blood in my system." That sure is a better way to frame detox, isn't it?

Diego pulls his hand back as if he's been burned and he steps back quickly, putting distance between them immediately. His control isn't nearly strong enough to be left alone with someone and he wonders where Dad is and why this man, Klaus, is allowed to wander around the house alone.

"You shouldn't be here. We... we shouldn't be alone together." Because Diego is just so. fucking. thirsty. He's pale and shaky, cheeks sunken and dark rings around his eyes and his gums hurt with the changing structure within them. Mom keeps assuring him it's just his fangs growing in but that doesn't stop them from hurting. "I-I... I c-can't control it."

His eyes widen owlishly at the sudden movement of the other man, surprised and a little confused. There's a flash of understanding when Diego explains, though. "Oh... shit, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was-- that new." But then, wouldn't that make sense, with the way Hargreeves had just snatched him up off the street? Klaus had tried to explain he wasn't on any registry, but the old man just wouldn't listen. He'd made his mind up, and that was that, apparently.

"I'll just-" he makes a vague motion over his shoulder behind him. "go find my room. Sorry for being a temptation or-- whatever." He says that last bit with a much lighter air than it should probably be taken with-- everything's a joke if you try hard enough, though, and Klaus doesn't know any better way to protect himself than with a shield of jokes and sarcasm.

The idea of Klaus leaving is almost as painful as the burning in his throat and Diego’s blocking the door before he even realises he’s thought about doing it. He knows what it must look like, the predator trapping its prey, and he immediately goes sheepish, ducking his head and stepping out of the way once more.

“S-sorry. I’m... still adjusting and everything is... it’s so h-hard.” So hard, in fact, that his stutter is back and he feels like a scared little boy all over again despite not being a child anymore. “I... it’s been three weeks.” Diego is new new to this life. He wonders if dad told Klaus that to begin with; that he’d be a donor for a fledgling vampire.

He lets out a surprised squeak when Diego is suddenly blocking the way out. Not really from fear, although it could easily be taken that way. There's something so incredibly endearing about the way he shies away-- Klaus thinks he's...embarrassed? by the obviously innate and new instincts he hasn't figure out how to keep under his own control yet. He can only imagine how awful it is, to be so driven by something like that.

"Aw, jeeze, man... and I'm just standing here like a fucking temptation." He bites his lip. "Seriously, I can go. I don't wanna like-- fuck you up for, like, existing in your space."

The shakes that Diego has been experiencing only get worse with Klaus in front of him and he knows that he should let the other guy leave before he does something stupid and hurts the guy. But he also doesn't want to let him go.

"If it's any consolation, everyone's a temptation." Diego takes a deep breath through his nose and sighs softly, eyes fluttering shut. "Not as much as you though."

Klaus can see the familiar twitch of withdrawal in him and he bites his lip again. He feels for the guy, really, he does. He was only going through the exact same thing himself, but Klaus doesn't know how to help him. Or more specifically, he knows exactly how to, but even someone as largely oblivious as him can't ignore the warning signs, the alarm bells, and the fact that this vampire doesn't know how to keep himself in check.

"Flattering, really. Um.." He takes one step backwards, then two, toward the door. "I'm gonna go lay down and... I'll see you later, okay?" That was the best plan. He shouldn't be alone with Diego on his own. And he was still so exhausted. He just needed to rest, and it would all be better later. Hopefully.

Diego nods but doesn't say anything else because if he does, he may try and argue for Klaus to stay. As soon as he's gone, Diego presses is forehead against the door and just tries to breathe and convince himself not to follow.

---

It was two days later that Reginald finally deemed Klaus ready for Diego to finally feed off of him and the two of them had only just been left alone after a supervised feed and Diego...

... Diego felt better than he had in weeks. There's colour back in his cheeks and he feels less like he's about to keel over and die. Again.

"How do you feel?" He runs his thumb over the dressing on Klaus' arm, concern lacing his voice. "Does it hurt?"

The idea of the feeding process was such a fantasy until today. Sure, he knew it was coming, that was the whole deal, right? But as it drew closer and closer, he got a little more anxious about it. And then it was time and.... honestly? It was pretty fucking painless. Okay, so there was a little pain, razor-sharp teeth cutting your wrist would do that, but... still. It wasn't the crazy horror story he'd worked up into his head. Diego may be new, but he was careful. Considerate. And he was maybe over-cautious, but that probably wasn't exactly a bad thing.

Klaus is surprised that Hargreeves lets them have the time alone after it's done, but... maybe he supposes that the vampire and his living bloodbag might need to know each other. OR maybe it's something else all together. Reginald kind of gives Klaus the creeps, if he's honest. Like the guy looks at everything as a social experiment. It's creepy.

"Hey, lookatchu with color in your cheeks," he grins, but it fades into something softer and his eyes drop down to his wrist, where Grace had wrapped and bandaged it and now Diego's thumb is running over it so carefully, like he might break him if he isn't careful with him. "A little, but it's not that bad. I think you did really good... I don't feel lightheaded or anything, like you took too much or whatever." That's gotta be a good sign.

The feeling Diego has reminds him of when they'd get to have a big roast dinner and cake on their birthday, the kind where afterwards they were full and sleepy and everything felt satisfying.

He also feels warm. He hasn't felt warm since he woke up and Mum told him he was something different.

"I feel warm." It's strange to realise that underneath this gauze is the perfect imprint of Diego's teeth. He wonders if it'll bruise or leave a scar. "Did it hurt when I did it?" There'd been rumours that vampiric saliva had the ability to thin the blood and numb the area for a short period of time but nothing to base it on. "Good. I don't want to hurt you."

“Warm is good... I’m cold all the time, seems like.” He admits with a small trill of a laugh. He has theories on why that it, but he’s never had any way to know if he was right to prove it.

He shakes his head at the question, “Not really. Kinda tingly? And a little bit of a pinch. But nothing to fuss about, really.” But an addict may be the worst person to judge on that sort of thing. “Kind of like a needle when you get a shot, obvious and kind of annoying and you definitely know its there but it doesn’t really hurt much.”

Klaus sweeps his free hand up to brush him thumb across the vampire’s cheek. “You don’t have to worry so much.”

"Why?" He wasn't like Diego, obviously, so the vampire wasn't really sure why he'd be so cold all the time. He doesn't stop his soft tracing over his arm, fingers tracing over his skin above and bellow the bandage.

"I hate needles. Guess I don't really have to worry about those anymore?" As far as he knew, vampires didn't need to get needles and his blood was useless for donation, if it was even his own blood anymore. "I don't want to hurt you. I know you're here to help me by feeding me, but I don't want to cause you unnecessary pain.

“Um...” he bites his lip. “Well, I dunno if your dad knows about it or not, but I am... a freak,” he scoffs a laugh that lacks the mirth that should be there. “I know it sounds crazy, but... I- I see ghosts. They... they follow me, like, all the time. It’s fucking terrifying. It’s why I was so fucked up when your dad picked me up, um...” another huff of a laugh escapes him, “Guess I’ll just lay all my dirty laundry on the table today...” he shakes his head a little. “I, um— I’m an addict...because of the ghosts. Drugs and booze shut them up, I can’t see them or hear them when I’m fucked up, so I just stayed that way. All the time. And your dad put me through detox from hell and I’m really hoping you guys don’t have any ghosts in the house.” He shakes his head again and looks up properly at Diego. “Anyway! All if that was to give you frame of reference for this theory I have and- uh, well, I mean— I think it’s because of that, you know? I’m connected to the dead... just kind of makes sense to be cold all the time. Like— one foot on both sides of the veil kind of shit.”

He hasn’t told anybody that before. And the only times he ever told people that he saw ghosts, they waved him off as jokester or had him committed to a 72 hour psych hold. So he stopped talking about it. He expects Diego to think he’s crazy, because that’s all he’d ever known. He doesn’t know why it’s so hard to believe, vampires are out there, why not ghosts too? But then... he’s never really met another person like him, either. There’s plenty of scammers pretending to be mediums, sure, but Klaus has proven more than a few of them for liars.

But now that he’s put it all out there, Klaus feels awkward, and his nerves get the better of him as he starts fidgeting. “Sorry. That was a lot. And you probably think I’m crazy. It’s okay, everybody does.”

Edited 2020-06-04 13:53 (UTC)

Diego listens as Klaus tells him all about the ghosts and the drugs and there's a frown on his face but it's not because he's mad at the medium. His heart hurts for him and everything he's suffered through and he wishes he could make it better, ease his hurt.

"I don't think you're crazy. I'm a vampire who could always hold my breath indefinitely and who throws knives with unfaltering accuracy. My sister gets whatever she wants by asking for it and one of my brother's is super strong. We're all weird here." And then a thought occurs to him. "Klaus... when were you born?"

Klaus doesn't know Diego well enough to be able to discern what that look on his face says. Disbelief, maybe? Annoyance at his incessant babble? He can't be sure.

"You don't?" The look on his face at those words speaks volumes. A part of him almost wants to cry at hearing it stated so plainly. He doesn't know what to make of the rest. All of Diego's siblings have weird powers, too?

He frowns, confused and tips his head. "My birthday?" He giggles a little at the randomness of the question. "October 1st, why?"

"No. No one in this house will think you're crazy." Diego's fingers have started tracing the veins up his arms, touch gentle over the track marks that scar his inner elbows. It doesn't make him think any less of him at all.

"October first." There's no inflection in his voice to give away his stance. "So is mine. So is all of ours. We were... an unexplained phenomenon. There were 43 of us in total. We're the ones Reginald Hargreeves got his hands on." A beat. "Maybe you're one of us."

Klaus watches the other's fingers trail across the inside of his wrist and up toward his elbow, and he can't stop the shame that sinks down on top of him. His arm twitches a little under that feather-light touch, a small smile spreading across his lips. He actually... really enjoys stuff like this, that light, almost ticklish sensation of someone's fingers barely grazing his skin.

"Wai- What?" He sounds more than a little bewildered. "You were all born on the same day? That's so weird, what are the chances he'd end up adopting a bunch of kids with the same birthday." There's a part of him that hasn't quite caught up to how intentional that was on Hargreeves' part. "What- what do you mean, unexplained how? What are you talking about? 43 what?" Klaus has never known anything about how he came into this world, all he knew is his mother dropped him somewhere for someone else to find, like trash she didn't want.

Diego continues to trace his fingers over those marks, even when Klaus twitches underneath him. It's almost like he's trying to make a point that he doesn't see Klaus as any less just because of his addiction.

"Yup, all of us." Diego frowns. "Yeah, that was the point. We're all special and that's why he wanted us." With a soft sigh, Diego gets ready to tell the story. "On October 1st, 1989, 43 women spontaneously gave birth all over the world. None of them were pregnant when they woke up that morning. It's kinda how he was able to get us at all; we weren't planned and our mum's didn't want us so, they sold us to Hargreeves. We all have powers, different ones for each of us, as far as we know. Maybe you're one of us."

He bites his lip and smiles around the action, eyes seemingly glued to the idle patterns he's tracing on his arm. Almost like it's entrancing for him to watch.

"Oh," he blinks, unsure of what to make of that information, truth be told. "Well, maybe my mom missed the memo," he says with a too-high pitched laugh that is so much more self-deprecating than it is humorous.

"I didn't really grow up great. Shipped from one foster home to another til I aged out... nobody could deal with an inconsolable kid who was terrified all the time. And then they didn't want the drug-addicted teenager in their house, so... I just..." he mimes something slipping through his fingers. "slipped through the cracks and foster homes got swapped out for alternating stays in shelters and rehab clinics. And... now... here I am." he lifts both hands up, as if putting himself on display.

A sudden shiver runs down his spine and he wraps his arms around himself in an effort to warm up. "You don't have a blanket around here, do you?"

"I'm really sorry you had to go through that. But you're not there anymore and I won't let you slip through my fingers." Diego smiles softly, leaning forward to brush his lips across the soft skin on the inside of his elbow.

"You don't have to pretend to be anything but yourself with me, okay? But maybe keep the ghosts a secret from dad. He'll want to use that."

Arching a brow, Diego looks down at the bed they're sitting on. "We can get under the covers, if you want?"

He laughs lightly, the most genuine sound he’s made so far, and he squirms a little at the light press of lips against sensitive skin. “Oh, yeah? Is that a promise I can take to the bank, then?” He grins.

“Can’t I be someone else? I don’t really like me, so much...” he wrinkles his nose a little.

He glances down at the bed and then back up to the amazing hunk of a man offering to get between the sheets with him. “I am so not going to object to that,” he says with a wild grin before he shifts out of Diego’s grasp to scramble his way under the blankets.

"Yeah, it is." Diego's never really had anything that was his but Dad had brought Klaus here for him and, while he didn't own him, there was a level of 'his' that came into it and Diego could already feel himself getting possessive of him.

"I like you so far." Diego kisses that little nose wrinkle. He lets Klaus climb under the covers and follows him under, tucking the smaller man against his chest and holding him close.

There's something almost... possessive about that confirmation to what he had said, really, as a joke. But Klaus finds he doesn't exactly hate it; it's kind of a level of I care about you he hasn't generally experienced in his life. Diego isn't over-the-top about it, where it's more of a pressure pushed down on top of him than a gentle protective barrier. That's a nice feeling.

"That makes one of us," he laughs a little and relaxes against Diego once he's under the blankets, pressing his face against his chest. He's comfortable here in a way... he thinks maybe he shouldn't be, with a new vampire, with little control, and all that blood rushing through Klaus' veins so very close to him. "You're comfy," he mumbles softly, one finger lifting up to trace idle nonsense patterns against the material of Diego's shirt.

Diego presses a soft kiss to Klaus' nose because there's a voice in his head telling him to and he doesn't see why he shouldn't. It's just a soft press of cool lips on soft skin and then he relaxed back into his bed and wraps his arms around the thinner man.

"Maybe I can help you to like you too." He lets Klaus trace idly over his chest, his own hand trailing gently up and down the line of the medium's spine. "Am I? I figured I'd be cold."

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