Chapter Text
Despite being friendly with the Te Aro Wolfpack, Viago didn’t spend too much time with them. So, when Stu had invited him to one of the guy’s birthdays, held at a private room of a club in the city, his initial answer had been no. He meant no harm, especially to Stu, but he was still sceptical about hanging around werewolves on the regular.
Despite his differences with Deacon and Vlad, it was sometimes easier to stay home with them than being around the Wolfpack. But they had got into an argument related to Vlad refusing to vacuum, or was it Deacon who didn’t want to dust? He couldn’t even remember, but there had been screaming and hissing, and he just wasn’t in the mood to be around them. Nick had a date with a vampire he had met online so, Stu was his only option.
Aside from the overbearing stench of werewolves, especially the newest additions to the pack, whose hormones were far from being settled, it was a fun night. He was happy to be there for Stu, and some of the other guys were nice enough to be around. It all was going well until they heard a loud knock on the door, to everyone’s surprise, considering they had tipped the host a good amount to assure they would be left alone for the rest of the night.
A loud push ensued, slamming the door open and a tall, dark, figure emerged from the shadows. At first glance, it seemed to be a man, but as he stepped into one of the dim lights, the green tint of the granular scales that made up his body was revealed. He took off his sunglasses, revealing two white orbs where his eyes should be.
It took him a second, but Viago recognized the creature as one he had seen before in a book, remembering something about them being mythical creatures whose ambiguity often made people confuse them with humans in the night. But before he could confirm with anyone, Anton grabbed Viago’s arm and dragged him behind the bar, pulling him down until they were crouching between the fridges and booze.
“Take off your clothes,” Anton hissed.
Viago raised an eyebrow in disbelief, “Anton, I am very flattered, but I don’t think now is the time-”
Anton shushed him, shaking his head as he began to undo the lace holding his cape together around his neck. “We need to get that vamp smell off of you.”
Viago pushed Anton’s hand away, clearly offended at the commentary, undoing Anton’s work and pulling his cape tighter. “Coming from a werewolf! As if anything can cover the stink of wet dog that’s all over you!”
“That’s the point exactly,” Anton insisted, taking a hold of Viago’s cape lace once again, looking into his eyes as he tried to convince him to do what he said. “The Gorog Ogres may be blind, but they can smell you vampires from a mile away.” He sighed and shook his head, “I’m trying to protect you, will you let me?”
Viago nodded, trying not to think about the rush he’d just got from Anton grabbing a hold of him and telling him he wanted to protect him. He was lucky there was no blood left in his body, or he probably would’ve blushed. As he tried to bury the thought, he let Anton take off his cape, looking down at the man as he fumbled with the cravat. Viago placed his hands on Anton’s when they approached the first buttons of his shirt, undoing them himself as he asked “What now?”
Anton took off his leather jacket, an interesting change from his usual sports jacket and t-shirt combination, getting out of his shirt in no time. He looked at Viago, whose eyes met his as he finished removing his white silk shirt. “Here,” he said, “hurry” he stuttered as he handed him the clothes and quickly looked away. “I apologize for the smell, it was really hot in here all night, but uh, at least it’ll be enough to cover you from the Gorog.” He needed something to wear himself, though, so he began opening drawers, and after checking some cupboards under the bar he came across a box with staff uniforms. He took out a black t-shirt and a cap, putting the former on before placing the latter onto Viago’s head, covering all his hair.
Viago hadn’t said a word, he’d followed Anton’s instructions and put on the clothes he was handed, smelling Anton all over himself. He had been mostly busy putting on the modern clothes, something he wasn’t used to, but had managed to catch a few glimpses of Anton’s body, watching his muscular arms as he reached out into the box of uniforms, making himself look away when his full torso was exposed.
“Stay behind me, okay?” Anton got up and offered Viago his hand to help him up.
He made sure to stay behind him, putting up the collar of the jacket to prevent the Ogre from discovering him among the Te Aro Wolfpack.
“Listen, it’s just us, okay? We don’t want any trouble,” Anton argued with the Ogre, watching the orbs that sat in his eye sockets stare at nothing. He had been trying to reassure the creature that there were no vampires around, that they’d been there, earlier that night, but they had handled it. He was pleading with the creature to go home, and avoid coming into the city to disrupt people’s nights.
With little more than a nod, the creature agreed and disappeared into the shadows as secretively as it had appeared. As soon as it was out of sight and the door had been shut, Anton turned around to face Viago, looking him up and down and gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Sorry about all this, you okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” Viago quickly replied, clearing his throat. “Thank you, Anton. I- uh, I should take back my clothes and go home, probably.”
“Yes, certainly,” Anton hesitated, removing his hand from Viago’s shoulder. “I stuffed your clothes into a uh… bin, earlier, behind the bar. You know, to cover the scent. Let me just fetch them for you.”
He walked over towards the spot behind the bar they had hidden in, putting his arm inside the bin and fishing out Viago’s shirt, completely wet, covered in lime wedges, paper straws and stains in every colour of the rainbow.
“ Scheiße” Viago sighed.
“Sorry about that,” Anton replied, looking around him for something to put the shirt in. “Listen, I’ll get it dry-cleaned and bring it to you.”
“Oh, you don’t have to…”
“I insist.”
Viago looked at Anton, noticing the genuine kindness in his eyes for the first time. He watched the man awkwardly holding his shirt as he tried to put it into a plastic bag he’d found, a small smile painted on his lips. When he finished fetching all the clothes and putting them into a bag, he walked back over to where Viago was standing.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to wear my, uh, smelly wolf clothes.” He said in a tone that Viago wasn’t certain if it was meant as a joke or not.
“Oh! Yes… very smelly ” Viago replied, finding himself unable to tell if it was a joke or not.
“I will get these sorted tomorrow morning,” Anton said, pointing at the bag, “then I can come drop it off at the house in the evening if that works for you?”
“Yes,” Viago nodded, a little too enthusiastically, “that works.”
When he got home that night, he avoided all common areas and ran straight to his room. He stood there, wondering if something was wrong with his sense of smell, because, as much as he knew he should be utterly disgusted by the scent from the leather jacket he was still wearing, he didn’t dislike it at all. He let his hands wander over the lapel, feeling the coarseness of the fabric on his fingertips, and he couldn’t help but think of the juxtaposition of its roughness and Anton’s inherent softness.