Chapter Text
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“Caspar, do you ever find immortality boring?”
“Nope!”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Caspar surveyed himself in the mirror. With the ears and tail tucked away, he looked convincingly human. He gave his reflection a toothy grin. His elongated canines never quite reverted to human size. Oh well. No one would be watching his mouth too close in the city.
Humans were funny. Very busy, not very observant. A little stupid.
Linhardt came up behind him in the mirror, putting a light hand on Caspar’s shoulder. Linhardt might not have had a reflection, but Caspar could smell him coming a mile away.
“You pass for human pretty well.” He mused.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” Caspar chirped, looking up at the other man. He stood slightly taller than Caspar, his long hair tied up in a haphazard ball. Linhardt looked sleepy. Not an uncommon sight for him. He yawned loudly, lazily running his thumb along Caspar’s shoulder.
“You can go to bed, you know. You don’t have to see me off every time I go into town.” Caspar said. Linhardt’s eyebrows narrowed.
“I beg to differ. What’s the rule for interacting with humans?”
Caspar groaned, deflating. “Don’t.”
“Correct.” Linhardt patted him on the head. “Do not speak to anyone—I mean anyone. Especially kids. I don’t want a repeat of last time.”
“We were just playing!”
“You hid a gaggle of kids in the woods.”
Caspar shrugged. “They were orphans, no one knew they were gone for a bit.”
Linhardt slapped a hand to his forehead. “That reminds me: don’t touch anything. You’re much stronger than you think.”
“Aw, thanks Lin!”
“That’s not a compliment. If you break something or lift something that shouldn’t be possible, the humans will suspect you.”
“Got it. No wolfy stuff. Promise.”
Linhardt tilted his head with a sigh, smiling wistfully. “You’ll be fine.” He leaned down and kissed Caspar’s cheek. “I’m going to bed. Be back before sundown, won’t you?”
“Of course!” Caspar nodded, the big grin returned and plastered on his face. “See you later, Linny!” He said, and in a flurry of motion swept out the front door, bounding down the familiar hills and ravines. His whole body felt wound up. A smile stayed glued to his face even as he saluted the stag carcass hanging from the branch of a nearby tree, draining blood into a basin below. He’d caught it just last night.
Linhardt gave a little wave after him through the window of their cottage. Caspar waved emphatically and set off, happily humming his way down to the trail.
If Caspar had to guess—because time was very difficult to keep track of anymore—he would say they’ve lived in that cottage for, oh, a very long time. It seemed like just yesterday they were picking out the secret grove to build their home. But if the advancements in town were any indication, he’d really lost his grip on time.
In their grove, the trees largely stayed the same. Some were knocked down in summer storms, the leaves would fall and come back—but trees rarely deviated from that pattern. Towns, however?
The little dogtrails Caspar knew became roads, and some of those roads were even paved in the city center. Little bricks placed painstakingly together, like a pretty mosaic. Shops and schools and houses sprung up where there used to be nothing but tall grass. And lots more people came with them.
“Werewolves are pack animals, I guess.” Caspar confronted Linhardt one day, albeit hesitantly.
“You guess or you know?”
“I know, I guess. That pack we met told me. So…” His lips drew into a tight line. “So maybe you’re fine by yourself, but I want to, you know, socialize. Talk to people.”
If Linhardt was alarmed by this declaration, he didn’t show it. “If you feel that way you should have told me sooner.”
Caspar gulped. “I didn’t want you to think you weren’t enough, because you are. It’s just… Wolf stuff.”
“I’m not upset with you, idiot. Wolf stuff or not, you should do what you want.” He paused, and then added, “Within reason.”
Linhardt never brought up the topic again in the many times he’d gone off to frolic with the humans. He never dissuaded Caspar from going out, as such, just chastised him for getting carried away.
Caspar laughed to himself, scaring birds out of a nearby tree.
“I don’t care what Linhardt says, those orphans had a blast!”
The town was an hour away running on two legs. A leisurely run for him. Around mid-morning the town came into view. He breathed in the city scent. People. So many people, with all their sweat and perfumes. Cattle, pets, cured meats, fresh bread, sugar-frosted sweets— not to mention things he’d never smelled before.
“What’s this?” Caspar asked a blacksmith, smeared and smudged with something dark. He’d been trailing a particularly odious, metallic scent.
“This? Gunpowder.” The gruff man said.
“Ahh, I see. Powder. Thank you.” Caspar nodded in understanding. “What’s a gun?”
The very patient blacksmith spent a while explaining to Caspar how a rifle worked. It was a fascinating machine. Sleek and dangerous. Not that it looked very menacing from the outside with its blunt shapes—apparently all the killing power was on the inside. Made for killing, the man told him.
Like me, a small part of him whispered. Caspar shook his head. He stamped the feeling down immediately.
Okay. What did Linhardt need?
He counted on his fingers what he could remember. He should’ve let Linhardt write him a list. Who could’ve expected his short-term memory wouldn’t be improved by immortality?
Then again, forgetting something meant he could come back again soon.
Caspar followed his nose to a storefront selling plates of sliced, roasted duck. He chatted with the storeowner (he didn’t want to be rude), who gave him a bag of fresh tangerines on the house. When the cool fruit burst on his tongue, he thought he might cry. Such a shame that Linhardt couldn’t eat food. Just liquids, as far as they knew. Though he didn’t seem to miss it. Even way back then—in the fuzzy memories of before this life—he constantly reminded Linhardt to eat food. Like it was a chore.
What was Linhardt doing right now, anyhow? Sleeping, definitely. But did Linhardt think of him as he fell asleep? It wasn’t often either of them went to sleep alone. Maybe he had trouble falling asleep…
Lost in thought, Caspar thanked the shop owner and walked directly into a beam holding up the front half of the restaurant, dislodging it from the ground completely. He looked up with an embarrassed expression, a cloud of dust and detritus falling on his face.
“Uh oh…”
He grabbed the beam to steady the structure, effectively lifting the building. He grit his teeth. Not good. Panicked, he looked around to see who caught him.
The owner hadn’t noticed. In fact, no one was noticing. Awesome. Humans were great.
Carefully, he wedged the weak beam back into the dirt, trying not to shake the roof down. He gave it a little experimental kick and sighed. This was… Probably fine.
Just when he thought he was in the clear, something flit in his periphery, dragging his attention across the street.
A girl with lavender hair peeked around the corner. When Caspar caught her eye, she yelped and hid behind the wall. Strange. Caspar gave himself a quick pat-down; no extra ears, no tail, no fur. What was she freaking out about?
Sometimes the girls he saw in town did similar actions, though not quite to the manic extent of this one. They’d tuck their chins down and look away quickly, giggling and murmuring to their female compatriots. Luckily for him, his hearing was spectacular. Unluckily, he still had no idea what they were talking about in those hushed tones, behind their painted fans.
“Go ask if he’s single!”
“I could never! Oh, but how cute. He’s like a big puppy…”
“Do you think mother would be upset if we picked up a stray?”
Those remarks had been weird enough, but this girl looked… Afraid.
“Hey, wait up!” He scrambled around the corner and nearly barreled over the girl, who was crouched into a little ball, shaking like a leaf. She looked up at him with terrified eyes. Like a rabbit.
Caspar’s stomach chose that moment growl. The girl blanched.
“M-M-Monster!” She shrieked and jabbed an accusing finger in his face.
“Huh?!”
Heads turned in the crowded shopping district. They narrowed their eyes and murmured to each other in a way Caspar didn’t need long to place. His throat tightened. This is definitely what Linhardt wanted to avoid.
Only one thing to do.
“Maybe you’re a monster!” He jabbed back, poking her in the shoulder. “You don’t know me at all—how can you say that?”
“Uh! That’s uh!” She stuttered, caught in some jittery loop. He’d never seen a human alarm like this— Caspar was worried she was going to pass out. The onlookers were already dispersing. He gave a shrug and very human laugh to them, as if to say hey, I don’t know what’s going on either! Which, granted, he didn’t. Crouching down next to her, she flinched and pulled her hood over her head.
“Miss, I think you’re not feeling well. Do you want me to take you home? If you faint, I can carry you on my back.”
“Madame Petra always said they would come with a silver tongue…” She said through chattering teeth.
“Okay… I guess that’s a no. Just one thing: what gave me away?” He whispered.
Her head whipped up, pupils shaking in disbelief.
“Oh, good, you can hear me.” Caspar remarked as the girl struggled to stand with the knees of a newborn deer.
“I knew it! I was right!” Her eyes sparkled; all fear suddenly forgotten. “I saw your eyes glow. Classic werewolf.”
Shit. That must have been when he was thinking about Lin…
“If you were standing in the sunlight I might not have noticed, but you were in the shade of that restaurant stall. And then, uh, you nearly broke the building. You were like a wrecking ball. Like a human battering-ram. Except, you’re not human…” The blood drained from her face. Again. “Oh crap… You’re gonna eat me now, right? I know your secret so you need to eat me…”
“Eat you?!” Caspar wasn’t sure whether to laugh or vomit. He chose a coughing fit in the end, followed up with, “I would never eat a girl!”
The clocktower sounded. Already noon.
Caspar frowned. “I haven’t found any of Linhardt’s stuff yet…” He looked to the uneasy girl. She seemed unsure what to do next. “Hey, would you help me run some errands before you go?” He asked.
“Would I—would I what?!” She sank her fingernails into her arms. Caspar scratched his head.
“I mean, you’re a little weird, but I like it. I’d also like to learn what kind of person you are. Just in case you seem like you might tell someone about me. That wouldn’t be good for anyone!” He smiled cheerfully, but the threat was not lost on the ball of nerves before him.
“Hostage situation… Stay strong, Bernie…” She mumbled.
“I’m Caspar!” He held out his hand and didn’t even feel bad when she flinched (well, maybe a little bad). Elation grabbed him as she hesitantly reached back, giving his hand the barest of shakes before retracting it like he was a hot stove.
“Bernadetta. But my friends call me Bernie.” She mumbled, her eyes flitting about as she revealed her nickname. Caspar had the sneaking suspicion she didn’t have many friends to call her that. But before he could think longer on that that, she froze. The words ‘don’t cry’ were ready on Caspar’s tongue when she broke into a thousand pieces. “Waahh!! Why am I telling you my name?! What’s wrong with me? Stupid, Bernie!” She wailed, going back into what seemed like a familiar crouch close to the ground.
Caspar’s eye twitched. A peculiar sensation overtook him. This marked the first time he wanted to tell someone else to calm down instead of the other way around.
“Great, okay!” He took her by the wrist, flying down the cobblestone streets. “Do you know where to find the tea sets? Like, the least breakable kind?”
“S-Slow d-down!”
Later that day, Caspar parted ways with his exhausted errand helper. He decided it would be best to walk home the bundle of goods instead of running lest something shatter. Linhardt’s wrath was not something he wanted to incite the minute he woke up.
It didn’t take long before he noticed the smell of the girl was still largely present. He sniffed his clothes, imagining maybe her scent rubbed off on him. That conclusion didn’t feel right. He stopped dead on the empty trail, his wolf ears popping out and oscillating, listening for anything.
When the wind stilled, he could hear a heartbeat. Faint, but definitely nearby. Perhaps a decent half kilometer behind him.
Caspar didn’t know what to make of it. It could be a squirrel for all he knew. So, he kept on.
When he made it back to the cottage, he was sure it was her, following him at that same distance. More than worried, it made Caspar sad; If she was so curious, she could’ve asked to come with. Although with that reticent personality, she really didn’t seem the type to tag along with scary new pals…
Was he really so scary?
Just as he was about the open the front door, he turned around sharply. The lavender haired girl was there. She yelped, and made a harried leap into the bushes.
Déjà vu…
“Um, this is a new game to me. You should come out and explain it to me.” He called out. After a moment, a blotch of purple came up over the hydrangeas.
“Guh—” She started, and then sprang up, suddenly confident. “I mean—Aha! I’ve followed you back to your den, monster! You never even realized it, but I’m a certified monster hunter! S-Soon the whole town will be here to release you from your wickedness! How scary— for you of course!”
“…You know,” Caspar pouted. “It’s not very nice to call people monsters. I thought maybe since you didn’t have a heart attack and die today, maybe we could be friends.” He knew it probably wasn’t the smartest offer, but he could all but smell the loneliness on this girl.
“Friends?” She echoed, her expression going from fear, to revulsion, to wonder.
“Why not?” He laughed, “Also, hang on, what kind of wickedness do you think we’re doing out here?”
The girl faltered, obviously not expecting this reaction. “I… I don’t know. But my Master will probably have some idea what to do with you!” She marched farther up the hill, closing the distance between them just enough to still feel at a safe distance. Some monster hunter— this girl had no clue what a safe distance was.
Caspar felt a chilling presence behind him. When had the door opened?
“No, go ahead, I’d like to know what you would do. How do you plan on releasing us from our wickedness?” Linhardt’s icy voice leaked from the doorway. The girl was frozen where she stood.
“A werewolf… And a vampire? I don’t believe this...”
“Then don’t.” He spat. “You’d be much better off running away and forgetting whatever you saw.”
She fell to her knees with a sob, hitting the gravel hard. “Oh, God, please don’t eat me!” She begged. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear! You have my word! I-If anyone does find out… They won’t! Don’t worry!”
She went on like that for a while, rambling to an increasingly awkward Caspar. Groveling made him uncomfortable.
“Look, Bernie, I already said you wouldn’t be eaten!” He smiled then. “We’re nice!”
The girl squeaked. Linhardt hadn’t said anything, but Caspar felt goosebumps form on his skin. Some very cold and menacing aura was curled up behind him, tensed and coiled like snake ready to strike in the blink of an eye. If Caspar didn’t know it was Linhardt there, the danger he felt would have compelled him enough to flee.
He must be really pissed.
“O-Okay, you’re nice.” Bernadetta swallowed, hands clasped together, beseeching. “This wasn’t a good idea… I’m not really a monster hunter, I’m just an apprentice. My Master is the real hunter—b-but I definitely won’t tell her anything about you! Not a word!”
“Wow! You’re kind of bad at your job.” Caspar said. Bernadetta put her head in her hands and wailed. Caspar fidgeted with his hands. “But if you promise, we can’t exactly expect more from you.”
“We can.” Linhardt spoke. “Come here.”
“Huh?” Caspar finally turned around to look at him.
“Huh?!” Bernadetta gasped.
Linhardt had dark bags under his eyes and a blanket hanging loosely around his shoulders. His long hair fluttered with an unknown wind like reeds in a lake; pretty, yet unsettling.
Uh oh. He was serious.
The shadows thrown across his face from inside the house made the bright red of his eyes look all the more alarming and distinctly inhuman. Caspar saw his breath cloud up in front of his face. The summer temperature had dropped rapidly.
Bernadetta complied, a dull expression behind her eyes, like a prisoner on death row.
“I could cut out your tongue so you never speak again, or maybe pluck out your eyeballs so you never find your way back here… What do you think?”
Bernadetta squeaked, obviously not in a state to communicate.
“I thought so.” Linhardt continued. “But that all sounds terribly messy. Instead, I’ll do this.”
Linhardt had her present her forearm, which he took and ran one long line down the length of her arm with his fingernail. He muttered some gibberish Caspar couldn’t parse before dropping her arm without a care.
“I’ve put a vampire hex on you.” He sighed as if the effort of an explanation was the worst part of this ordeal. “If you even try to tell someone, you’ll drop dead just one minute later. Probably.” He said, his tone nearing boredom, but his sneer showing clear disgust.
“Oh wow… I’m a goner. Ha ha ha…” Bernadetta’s eyes swirled like a depressed whirlpool. Linhardt turned on the heel of his foot and stalked off further into the house, the blanket around his shoulders billowing cape-like behind him.
He may have sounded bored, but Caspar could see the tension in shoulders. Linhardt was upset.
Speaking of Caspar, he was completely lost in this exchange. He saw Bernadetta off as she teeter-tottered down the hill in a stupor.
“I hope you don’t die!” He called after her. Somehow, she didn’t seem to appreciate the gesture. She clutched her arm the whole way, alarming once more at the sight of the tree with the stag carcass. Hopefully she’d make it back to town before the wolves came out.
“I didn’t know you could hex people.” Caspar said, coming into the cottage.
“I can’t.” Linhardt flopped on the sofa in a dramatic huff. “I just lied to scare her. There’s no such thing as vampire hexes.”
Caspar blinked. “Oh,” He said, “Are you mad?”
“You led someone here who could very well spell destruction for us, Caspar.” He threw his arm over his face. “Not to mention I was woken up early.”
He wanted to tell Linhardt that it wasn’t his fault— the girl followed him home! But then he would have to explain why she suspected him, and that would only spell further disaster… How to handle this tactfully?
“You’re right, Lin. My bad!” He settled on. Linhardt rolled his eyes.
“You’re lucky she was such a mess.”
“She was pretty fun to hang out with, actually.” Caspar remarked.
“Fun? Where are your priorities? We need to be alive, first of all.” Linhardt sat up to glare at him. “Please tell me you won’t talk to her again.”
“Jealous, Linny?” He teased.
“That’s your schtick.” Linhardt said, not meeting his eye.
“You’re kind of hot when you’re mad.”
Linhardt looked ready to bite his head off. Caspar held up his hands in surrender.
“Sorry! I am sorry, just to be clear.” He quickly followed up.
“You’re forgiven, obviously. I doubt she’ll be any more trouble.” He sighed heavily. “It’s impossible to stay mad at you.”
Caspar smiled, finally feeling back to normal. Well, no. There was one more thing to settle. He hummed thoughtfully, the edges of his mouth quirking up as he looked at the other man.
“Company is always nice but… I’m glad she’s gone.” Caspar said in a low voice.
“Oh? Why’s that?” Linhardt picked up his tone immediately.
“You smell.” He stepped closer, crossing his arms. “Like, that smell.”
Linhardt blinked. “Ah. How do I keep forgetting you can smell that…”
“You missed me that much, huh? I was only gone for the day.” He smoothed a strand of Linhardt’s hair behind his ear, grinning broadly. Caspar privately thought it was a shame that Linhardt couldn’t smell the arousal on him—not that he needed to. Caspar made it well known (well known!) when the urge hit. He just wanted Linhardt to experience how good it felt to sense it. Like an instant rush of dopamine, straight to the veins, it compelled him from the inside out to find Linhardt and ravage him.
“Sleep was difficult today, that must have been the catalyst. I had a… Let’s say a provocative dream. Featuring you.” Linhardt said. He let Caspar climb on top of him and slipped his arms around Caspar’s shoulders, nuzzling into his neck like he meant to hide there.
“It had to be a very good dream. The scent was really strong, you know.” Caspar’s hands settled on Linhardt’s hips, his fingers sharpening into claws to bite just enough barely into his skin. “If that girl hadn’t been here, I would’ve taken you the minute I came in.”
“And how would you go about that, I wonder.” Linhardt mused.
“Well, I would greet you first, because I’m a gentleman.” He started, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Then I might’ve bent you over the dinner table until I’ve gotten my fill…” He leaned in close, his cheek brushing Linhardt’s. “Then have real dinner, because I’m hungry.”
Linhardt chuckled. He touched his forehead to Caspar’s, a red glow leaking into his irises.
“Dear gentleman, if that’s the case, what’re you waiting for?”
Caspar leaned back with a pout. Linhardt had such an awful talent of twisting the situation with his words. “Because I want you tell me about your horny dream!”
“Okay, okay.” He acquiesced. “I dreamed I was a regular human.”
“A human?” Caspar’s ear twitched.
“Just a normal human. You were still you… But you hadn’t hunted in a long time. I couldn’t stand to see you like that. Just wasting away. And when you changed… You gobbled me up.”
Caspar gulped; eyes wide. Linhardt clutched his chest.
“You devoured every last piece of me. I told you I couldn’t feel a thing, so eating me was okay. But it was a lie. I felt every bite, every lick, every swallow. Even as I died, I felt myself slide past your tongue and down your throat.” Linhardt’s eyes were big and clouded with lust. “It was… Invigorating.”
Caspar let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. The air felt very still.
“Wow, Lin, that’s…”
“Macabre?”
“Hot.” Caspar gave a wicked grin, showing off his lengthy canines. A smile popped onto Linhardt’s face at that, his features lighting up. Taking his face in his hands, Caspar pulled him into a kiss. His tail unfurled to wag happily from side to side.
How nice it was, to be understood.
He ran his tongue eagerly across the seam of Linhardt’s lips. Linhardt opened his mouth immediately to allow Caspar to deepen the kiss, eliciting a small moan from Linhardt as Caspar licked into his mouth.
Linhardt’s hands were under his shirt, dragging his fingers down his chest and past his ribs, delving near his waistband. His stomach tensed. Linhardt teased circles about the sensitive skin with his fingernail, inching further just so, as if incidentally.
Caspar’s breath hitched. He moved to Linhardt’s neck and left a trail of red marks in his wake. Linhardt melted against him.
“Mm, I did miss you.” Linhardt confessed. His gasps fell hot against Caspar’s ear. A burst of joy filled Caspar’s chest with warmth at the admission. Impatient, he pressed himself closer to Linhardt, pinning his frame against the back of the sofa. Effectively trapping him. He lined Linhardt’s jaw with kisses and rocked his hips as steadily as he could muster. He already felt hot. His tail swished about eagerly around the tip, kicking up spots of dust between the floorboards.
Linhardt’s eyes fluttered shut. His hands glided down the curve of Caspar’s back and around his ass, pulling him as flush as possible. Linhardt took a shaky breath before letting his hips rise to grind against Caspar’s. Though in such a tight space, he could do little more than writhe underneath him.
“Caw, caw!”
Just then, they were interrupted by a noise at the window. A crow—but not just any crow… Caspar wanted desperately to ignore it.
“CAW. ”
…Damn it.
“Ugh, Dorothea’s got awful timing.” Caspar groaned, begrudgingly peeling himself away from Linhardt. Linhardt chuckled and went to the window. He smoothed down the shiny black feathers on the bird’s back.
“You think she trained a bird to ruin moods? That… might be something she’d do, actually.” He removed the little note attached to its foot.
“What’s it say? Did something witchy happen?” Caspar asked, looping his elbow around Linhardt’s. Linhardt read the note twice over with a quizzical expression.
“Dorothea needs our help with something. She didn’t say what, though.” He shrugged.
“Yes! You know what that means?” Caspar beamed. “Road trip!”
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