Work Text:
Hubert had to admit that being a vampire was not always easy. Yes, he was immortal, and that was very useful. On top of that, not being forced to interact with humans was not bad either. However, after centuries of peace and tranquility, and after finishing the last book on Earth that was worthy of that name, he started to get bored.
It wasn't that he was feeling lonely, absolutely not. The routine was what was killing him, figuratively, of course. He always got up at 7 p.m. and had breakfast half an hour later, it did not matter the season he was in, it wasn't necessary to open the curtain of his bedroom to drink some blood and get dressed after all.
Then he read until 10 o'clock, the hour at which he could get out of the castle in July and August. When he was younger he used to change his routine every month, but he got tired after just a few decades, and settled on a schedule he could follow all year.
He then went outside to tend to the garden and to feed the fish of his pond. He was really proud of his fish, some of his koi carps were over a century old, and one of them had been alive for exactly 214 years and 3 months.
After taking care of everything, he headed to one of the nearby towns to collect some blood. He was a very meticulous vampire: he knew exactly whose blood he should collect to avoid getting caught, and he never went to the same village more than twice a week.
After that, he went back to his castle and climbed on the higher tower. There, he stargazed until 4 a.m., or cloudgazed. Perhaps raingazed. Sometimes he even snowgazed. Really, he couldn't be bothered to change his routine.
At 4 a.m. he went back inside, closed all the curtains and had dinner, keeping some blood for the following day's breakfast. He then read some more until 6 a.m., when he eventually went to sleep.
Now, it was true that his life was not very exciting, but it had not always been like that. He had been a human once and he had tried living like one even after becoming a vampire, but he had soon realised that it was impossible. Lately, he had felt again the sudden urge of doing something different once or twice, but he had not seriously addressed the feeling. That was, until the day he finished the book.
He stared at it, dreadfully, as he processed that it was still 9:45 and he had nothing else to read. He had to break his routine. He put the book back in its shelf, and sat down again. Maybe waiting for 15 minutes without doing anything was his best option. Things probably would just go back to normal.
Silence was something he was used to, after all.
However, the silence was not absolute. From outside, he could hear the loud sound of water hitting the trees of his garden. It must have been raining heavily. So heavily that it took him a while to notice that there was another noise. An unusual one. A noise that he had not heard for many years.
Confused, he got up and walked downstairs. The sound was unmistakable: someone was knocking at his door. He was bewildered: such thing had never happened before, and he considered ignoring the knocking and pretending not to be there. But then he remembered that he had nothing to do anyway, and that his routine had already been ruined.
He did it. He opened the door.
"Excuse me sir, my name is Ferdinand Von Aegir and I am seeking help," said the man who was standing in front of his door, completely covered in mud from head to toe. "My horse decided to drop me and run away after hearing a thunder. I am deeply sorry to be disturbing you at such a late time, but I am in need of shelter for one night. I can pay well."
Hubert eyed him suspiciously. He had never let anyone inside. Never. And he also was in a bad mood already.
"Please? It really is raining a lot and this is the only place I've seen in a hour"
He sighed and let him in. The night was ruined already anyway.
"Thank you very much! May I know the name of my savior?"
What a filthy ruffian.
Interesting.
"Hubert."
"Oh! That's a nice name, thank you Hubert!"
Or perhaps he was just stupid.
He led him to the bathroom and gave him some towels. He didn't do it because he was nice, just because he didn't want the stupid human to get mud all over his place. Then, he changed the dusty covers of the bed in one of his spare rooms, left him some clothes and went back in the living room. The only thing he didn't have in the castle was food; he could only wish that his unexpected, and unwanted, of course, guest was not hungry. He was though. He would soon have to head to the town he had chosen for the day.
"Hubert! I left my clothes in the bathtub, I'll take care of them tomorrow, okay?"
Hubert nodded, finally able to properly see the man who was in front of him and, believe it or not, he had not felt so human in centuries.
"You can use that room over there, I left you some clothes inside."
"Oh that's perfect then! Thank you! See you tomorrow," he said, waving gingerly and winking at him before disappearing in the room and closing the door behind him.
It was then that a gust of air carrying the man's scent reached his nose, and god, if it smelled delicious. Maybe he wouldn't have to leave the castle after all.
He got up, licking his lips, and followed Ferdinand in the bedroom.