Chapter Text
He was fuckin' outta breath. Running for so long nearly wiped the wind out of him completely, but thankfully he was still able to make it here. Running for what he only assumed could be his life, Oogami Koga had ducked into the other place he was certain no one would follow him: the Demon's castle. People have forgotten mostly of all the magical, terrifying things in this world, but everyone still believed in this castle, and never went near it. Not until Koga charged down the door's to lock himself of it, hopefully safely. He sighed in relief for now... but this place. It gave him the fucking creeps already.
When he did manage to finally calm, he started to walk around. Cautiously, carefully trying to figure out where he could and couldn't step. His elders always said this place was haunted, that a monster was locked up in it... Honestly. What bullshit- the place just looked harmlessly abandoned. Ominous, but.. abandoned. Koga just continued to walk further in, looking back only once to make sure no one was following him... then continued on. He could.. hide here, yeah?
Vampires were born into darkness, born into a deep hunger from the very first time moonlight graced their eyes. These things were simply a way of living for every vampire. You walked in darkness, hungered in darkness, felt more keenly that other creatures could in darkness, and closed your eyes in darkness to evade the coming light.
Oh, but somehow, that darkness and hunger had become a torture far worse than any he had borne before.
Here in this cold, damp cell in the furthest pits of the castle dungeons, Rei lay prone for uncountable decades. Wrists and ankles bolted by iron and long nails into the ground, his eyes wrapped tightly with a filthy old cloth, and a heavy collar shackled with only just enough length of chain for him to barely raise his head, he had been forgotten, left to rot from the inside out. He was all at once deeply mad, trapped in a haze of agonized hunger and yet keenly aware of how his very clothes decayed against his undying skin.
This was the demon beneath the castle. Hell was truly that very room.
The wave of fresh, pumping blood hit him like a brick in the face. His dry mouth hung open as he strained against the collar to lift his head and get more of the scent. The moment it properly hit his brain, he was thrown into an agonized frenzy.
Hungry, starving, hungry, starving— food.
The sharp pain in his stomach became an inferno as snarls and desperate howls started to leave him, echoing down the empty stone corridors and most certainly scaring off any prey. This was worse. So much worse, to have this tiny hope squirting grease on the fire in his brain.
-- What the hell was that??! Koga nearly jumped five feet in the air when he suddenly heard those agonizing cries and howls echoing through the castle, shooting fear straight up his spine. This place did not sound like that before- that had to be the ghost they said was locked up here-?! Part of him was fearful. Part of him wanted to run real fast, and get away from that noise.. while another part couldn't help but hear the pain mixed into the screams. Like a starved animal that his instinct picked up on, it panged some sort of guilt in him.
Maybe.. something was just trapped here, right? Crying out for help, and people always ran away cause it seemed so scary? Right?? Maybe something needed help- gah.
Like the brave and stupid boy he was, Koga started.. following it. Slowly etching his way down the halls, until he found the dungeons, and then down the deep descent where it grew louder and louder. Bloody fucking hell. This place was so sketchy. Why was he in a horror movie suddenly???
"Hey, hey- hello..? Can ya stop yellin' so I can focu-... ah." And all so suddenly, Koga found what was screaming, and froze in front of the cell bars. What.. What the hell was he looking at here? Koga was stunned.
It was coming closer. Closer. Closer. Hungry, starving, food, please. Please. Just one bite. Just one second of relief. He was so hungry. Starving, hungry, starving…!
Talking.
All he knew was that the food was right there. Barely a few paces in front of his gnashing, snarling teeth. Straining, his entire body pressing against his iron bindings, the mindless beast fruitlessly tried to close the gap between mouth and food.
That... Was a man, right? But he behaved like a rabid animal. Much like when Ojiichan used to take him out to hunt, after checking traps they'd find animals like this. Trapped for too long, hungry, and gnashing out at anything it could to feed that hunger. That's exactly what Koga was reminded of... The time Jiichan caught a mountain lion in a snag, how it hissed and cried out, hungry. It wasn't their meal, so they let the beast go, making sure that that didn't become its meal... Could Koga do the same here? Why was he so much more scared now than before? Because this was a 'man'...? He gulped, dryly, before slowly starting to back away. It hurt to see...
"I.. Hang.." Was all he managed to stammer before clicking his tongue, then turned tail to run.
No.
No. No, no, no no no no no no NO NO NONONONO—
The struggle became more desperate, the howls louder as he sensed his prey running away. That was it. He couldn’t reach. He couldn’t eat. A cry of despair rocked the castle interior before everything fell quiet again. Inside the cell, the beast heaved in exhaustion, head dropping down in complete and total loss, lips dragging across the filthy concrete.
…. Die. Death. Release. Please. Death. Finally . Tired. Hungry. Starving. Pain. Hungry.
Death.
-- That last cry made him flinch. He had to do something-- Koga did not like seeing others suffer. So he decided pretty quickly... He'd get him some food.
Some time passed, and Koga did come back. This time, with something else slung over his back, and the stench of blood following him all the way down to the cellar.
This time, the creature that may have once been a man barely stirred. Even once there was the alluring scent of spilled blood right where the fresh blood had stood, he didn’t have the energy to do much more than bare his fangs.
Hungry… Death… Starving….
…. Release.
Mmgh. Maybe he should'a cooked it first but Koga didn't think he had time for that, so he approached the cell, dragging along the small deer he'd caught out in the woods. He didn't seem.. as jumpy. Was that good-? Approaching the cell, Koga was shocked to see it... Swing open. Guess whoever guarded this never worried about the door needing to be locked. Still, Koga didn't want to get too close, so he just.. tossed the dear's corpse over to him. Almost on top of him if he has been a few more centimeters over. Maybe he'd eat now-?
The thunk directly in front of his face caused him to flinch but then he remained very still for several minutes after. Blood. Food. Close…. Hungry. Mouth. Move. Not moving. Blood. Hungry, starving, mouth, eat…
"Try, mm… Try eating." Koga spoke through fearful anticipation, wiping the blood from his own mouth. Maybe that'd make him feel better.
Exhausted, the creature stretched his neck out as far as it would go, barely scraping fangs against dead flesh. Close. Food. Hungry, starving, hungry starving pain food hungry..!
Shit-- why wasn't he eating? Koga did not wanna be too close, but by the looks of things-- he hadn't even taken a bite yet. That furrowed his brows in thought, taking a few steps closer until he saw the issue. That weird neck chain was keeping him back.
...
Damn. He was gonna have to get close. At least he was chained down...
Crouching, Koga lifted up the deer's neck. "I'm gonna help, but don't– don't bite me." He grumbled, and slowly lowered the deer down to his mouth. Now he could bite it.
The bound creature could barely twitch a muscle, much less do more than surprise anyone with sudden movement. There were most certainly dust lines surrounding the exact space his body had been occupying for a very, very long time.
Hungry, hungry, starving, pain—
Soft fur met his lips and the creature suddenly felt silence fall upon his pain for the first time in memory. Sinking his teeth into the deer, he made loud slurping noises as he practically choked down as much blood as could possibly be drained from the dead creature. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t the best nutrition, but it was the most amazing thing he had ever tasted in his life. The creature panted in between starved bites, making a massive mess of the meat itself as he drained it of all it had.
That was– oh… That was, uh.. not a normal bite. Koga expected him to rip a piece off with his mouth and chew it like any other person would, how Koga would if he was presented with such a thing, but to see him just... bite into it, and suck? It drained Koga of color too.
Hang on, hang on.
Demon's Castle... Rumored to have a Demon King, a vampire, sealed within, according to his people's old legends... This was the castle, this was the dungeons, he was chained down, starved, drinking blood....
Demon king–?!
Good thing Koga couldn't move now, because he was frozen. Paralyzed by the realization. That old wive's tale, that story to keep kids away from this place- was it true?! No way. And he was feeding him– Aaah…
Aaaaaaaaaah. What the fuck should he do–?!
The vampire finally released the thoroughly drained body, mouth held open to wait for it to be removed. When there was no response but a heavy thudding heartbeat, he simply closed his mouth to press it against the messy pulp of flesh still being held in his face. Like this, the entire lower half of his face was smeared with a disgusting mixture of cooling blood and dirt.
How long had it been since Koga was frozen here? He couldn't tell. He was trying to recall every scary story, every nursery rhyme the elders of his dying tribe had tried teaching children of something they all thought a myth. He looked down at him, the state of his body, the decaying clothes. He... didn't seem all too terrible. But.. but he'd been down here for a long time, right..?
Shit.
After a few minutes, Koga realized he had to move. Backing up with a startle, Koga dragged the deer back, his heartbeat only racing more as he tried to figure out what to do. But... He fed him, right? He seemed okay. He seemed fine... with a gulp, Koga bowed his head, and dragged the deer away to dispose of. Basically turning tail to run so he could better think.
His head slumped right back to the ground when the deer was dragged off. Slowly, the thickest of the fog plaguing him seemed to clear off, his thoughts broadening just a little as the blood slowly circulated through his aching body. Ah, he could breathe a little more easily again as that terrified errand boy ran off…
Aside from the retreating footsteps, he realized it was otherwise entirely silent. No shuffle of armor, no arguing voices, no wailing, no whispering, nothing. All the noise from his last lucid moments no longer sounded out in these halls. It was as if magic had been cast to deafen him, muting the castle to his evil ears. Strange. What a new development.
As for why he had been given just enough blood to barely regain consciousness despite the hunger in his belly still, he didn’t know. He could only assume someone would soon come along to tell in the form of some new or exhaustingly old interrogation tactic. Couldn’t get anything from a mindless stomach with fangs, really.
It probably had been about two days until Koga decided to finally go back down. In all honesty, he had no idea what to do. But he.. also felt partially trapped here. He had nowhere else to go, having run in the first place, so during those two days Koga explored. Checking different rooms and seeing how things were, and when he found the biggest room with the best looking bed, he tried cleaning it up to make it sleepable. He sure did work his ass off but then guilt hit him, as he curled up into the still dusty sheets. He was loitering in someone's home, while they were chained up in the basement, and starving. How fucking rude was that?
Needless to say, after two days it got to him, and he returned. Cautiously, and with a smaller catch this time since he couldn't find anything else so quickly, he approached the cell again. This time, a type of large hare in hand.
"... I got more. Uh, food."
The vampire had just been on the verge of a strange concept when the madness of hunger crept back in to snatch all intelligent thought out of his mind. He had barely had enough two days ago so it was all too easy for the feral need at his core to take over again. It was almost frustrating how keenly he was aware of it now, though.
The return of the same wolf with a different animal in hand had him hissing softly, head slightly turning to try to pinpoint where the words had come from exactly. Nonetheless, the beast opened his mouth demandingly for his food.
"Damn, okay..." Koga mumbled to himself, making his way over to crouch beside the man again. He was gettin' bossier. Holding up the hare, Koga did the same as the deer and pressed it into that open mouth so he could take a bite. His eyes never leaving his mouth, since he didn't wanna bite to slip away into his hand or something.
Up close, the wolf got a perfect view of those sharp fangs being revealed beneath filthy lips to sink deeply into the hare. It seemed like barely a second before the vampire was pulling back with a small gasp, having drained the rodent in one go.
-- That was a lot faster than before. Shit. Koga was almost hoping he would take a bit longer, if only so he could put that damp cloth he had in his other hand to use. Now what??
"Shit-- don't bite me.. yer mouth is gross." Koga mumbled, and tried to veeeery carefully reach down with that cloth to wipe some of the crusted dirt and blood off. That was just nasty. "I dunno what to even do, but I guess I should'a brought two rabbits. But then I thought- what if ya don't even like rabbits? What a dumb question." And he tried his best to clean his face, as long as Rei didn't try to bite. He was poised to be quick to pull away if he did.
What a dumb question indeed. He was chained up, starving, and unable to say no to anything even if he had wanted to. Rabbits were just fine as long as he got to eat something– but that was all they could ever be; just enough to pull his head above water for a little while longer.
Rather than snap at the wolf, the vampire remained perfectly in place to be cleaned up. Why this guy cared what his face looked like, he didn’t know. Perhaps it just smelled too bad. Regardless, he kept silent with lips parted to let this guy do whatever he wanted. Who knew how many decades or centuries of grime there was packed on his skin?
.... Yeah, jesus. Koga actually had to start fucking rubbing the cloth to get some stuff off. But at least he was letting him. So when he thought he did an okay job, or enough in the dark of this place, Koga backed up to sit a foot or so away. Hugging his legs to his chest, and resting his chin on his knees as he watched him, trying to study anything he could.
The beast stayed obediently still even when his skin was more roughly rubbed with that cloth. Maybe this was a new kind of torture, he wondered. There was taking care of prisoners out of cruelty but this was just a little too much. Really. What point—
The cogs slowly started turning right in his head again. Slowly, still barely lubed by the snack, but they were trying to reconnect with his line of logic from just the night before. There was something he had almost realized—
"... Y'know, I don't get it. I dunno why people make up scary stories. This whole place has some of the worst tales 'n rhymes, people avoided it for years. People freak out over anything that ain't normal these days, anythin' "freaky". Y'know- I got scary stories too? Not as bad as yours, but enough to bring me out here. It ain't fair.. An' now that I am here, I can't just leave. I'd be a pretty big asshole, to find ya like this and just.. leave. Right?" Koga groaned, rubbing his face into his knees. Why was he even talking...
"Damn. Maybe I should go get more food. I couldn't find a deer, but if I hunt a lil' further out I probably can..."
Listening to Koga was like a sharp kick to the mechanism. Yes, that was right. Perking up a little, lips pressing together firmly, he realized the truth all at once. This wolf was alone . There was no more army. No more war. He wasn’t being actively tortured, they had given up and left him to rot inside of his mind for all eternity. He’d been thrown away down here. Oh, how funny. Just when he was truly ready to tell them what they were seeking, there was only this lonely pup here by accident to listen to him. Not that he seemed like he was going to stop talking.
Heh. A smirk just barely curled at the recently cleaned corner of his lips as he laid his face down again to hide the expression. He had no clue what they spoke of him in this distant year but there was no doubt that it was even worse than when he was active and alive.
".. I know I can't hunt down south 'cause they might see, but up north shouldn't be an issue. Maybe I can find something bigger. Damn- I gotta hunt for myself, too... I'll eat on the road. One for you, one for me. I guess I also don't gotta worry about you wanting any meat cooked, since you like, suck the blood 'n shit... So that's settled. Grrrah- okay. I'll go get something else to eat, one meal a day is kinda lame anyway, right? Yeah... I mean- what's the harm in feeding you, right? Nothin' happened after the first time, now this... It'll be fine. I'm gonna go hunt again."
And with a huff, Koga rose up to his feet, but he went over to grab the old hare first to take it out with him.
The beast was definitely not going to argue with getting more food within one night. That snack had left him very far from satisfied, not that he expected much even from a heart bleeding as strongly as this guy’s was. He did wonder who he was avoiding, though. It would only make sense that the wolves controlled this area after his fall if he had never been retrieved by his family.
… Right?
Wouldn’t his family have come? If they were alive and able to pass easily into this territory, of course they would have returned to their home. They wouldn’t have forgotten him. Surely, they were looking for him, missing him…
When he heard a step next to him, he realized that he had drifted out of reality already for a moment. Was his cheek wet from the rough bath..?
Wh- What the hell???!
Blinking a couple dozen times, Koga looked down in almost shock when he noticed the new streaks on his cheeks. It was daytime out, so there was some light pouring in that made it a bit easier, but he was still baffled. He did not expect a supposed demon king to be crying..!
"U-Uuhh, shit.." Koga mumbled, crouching down again to wipe his cheek with a corner of the cloth. What got into him? He wasn't actually listening to him speak, was he-? Was he crying over his fate of Koga not knowing what to do with him?? That had Koga sweating.
He jerked back when he felt that cloth reach out to touch his skin again but there was nowhere to really jerk away to so he merely made a bit of noise. Had he truly been crying? How long had it been since he had done something like that, much less in front of someone else? Much less a total stranger that had to feed him like an infant.
"I'll, uh... I'll be right back, yeah? With somethin' bigger." Was all he knew how to say in return, before standing up again to leave. Shit– was he crying over that??? No way was Koga gonna abandon him now, he decided as he went off to hunt.
The vampire could tell that he must cut a miserable figure. Bolted down prone, unable to feed without help, covered in filth, and even crying over nothing in particular. Ah… But he knew what had finally got him. The one thing that he held in his heart, the very reason he ended up here in the first place. Just trying to protect his treasure. His treasure that could be anywhere in the world right now while he was stuck as the object of pity.
Possibly an hour or two later, Koga did finally return with a bigger haul this time! He went up north more, and found a larger buck and doe. He managed to eat one for himself to stay fed too, but hauled back the large buck for the chained up vampire to have. It thudded loudly down the stairs as Koga dragged the giant thing right up to Rei's mouth again.
"Caught a bit one this time- hope it helps. Ate my own before comin' back, so guess we both got a good meal."
He had taken his time alone to try to recollect himself. It wouldn’t do him any good to get emotional, even if making himself so pathetic that he was released was a plan that he spent too much considering. He wasn’t too sure about how viable that plan was so it went out the window. Or, rather, he’d save it for last. The best course of action would be to preserve his energy and try to get out once the wolf had gone to sleep. If he could escape like that, he could totally disappear. Maybe he would even get clues to the state of the world in the meantime…
When the buck was placed in his reach, his reaction was sudden and violent. Now that he was coherent with a smaller meal, he felt enough energy to feed as he normally would— within his tight restraints, at least. The sounds of slurping and gulping were only broken up by soft sighs of satisfaction. Ah, this was much better. Still dead but at least he had much more of it.
"Geez- so ya do like that one.. good." Koga seemed pretty pleased by that. So bigger bucks like this was what he needed to find- alright. He could definitely keep hunting up North to find more like this, if it meant he was getting a proper meal out of it. He seemed to be comin' more and more to life, too. Koga wasn't sure yet if that was good or bad, but... for now he'd say that was pretty okay. It meant he might not be suffering as much.
"Maybe I'll try and save some'a this Buck, too. Hate to waste so much meat. It's still fine to eat after you suck the blood out after all."
Now that was a novel idea. Sharing a meal with a wolf. He would have never thought he would be in such a crazy situation in general but the idea of a wolf eating up the meat left from his feeding was just the cherry on top.
Once he was finished, he lifted his head again and started to snake out his tongue to clean up his bloody lips now that they weren’t absolutely disgusting. He didn’t want to get them all caked up again with dirt in the blood, even if he inevitably had to put his face on the ground again.
Oh good– Koga didn't have to wash his face again this time. Once he was done, Koga started dragging the buck away, but he did stop short of the cellar door. Honestly... he'd only done this a few times now, only fed him the three times really, yet...
"... y'know, y'ain't so bad. Not like those stories. You had a few chances to bite me, and ya never did..." He rambled off, clearing his throat. He better go save the meat on this buck. "I'll see ya tomorrow. Or, later. Whenever." Hmph- shut up Koga. With a grumble, he dragged off thr buck, leaving him once more for the time being.
The chances he had to bite him were mostly when he was lucid, he was pretty sure, and not convinced that a short struggle would end well. Never bite the hand that feeds unless the means of food production are at hand, right? It would do him little good to scare off this guy. Not that he had much control if he had to wait a few days again. Hopefully that guy wouldn’t let his guard down too fast.
The atrocities he did commit, now, those were an entirely different story. Even knowing how it turned out, he wouldn’t do it differently if he had the chance to live it all over again.
With a small sound somewhat in response, Rei settled his head down again to have his first true sleep in so, so very long.
Koga stored that meat away in an empty stone pantry and then went to bed himself. In the Demon King's old bed. Yeah, it was comfy. And the only thing he actually cleaned so far. But anyway.
When the day rolled around again, and since Koga literally had nothing better to do, he went hunting again. This time, he only found one decently large deer. No other bucks or does around for himself, and Koga's stomach couldn't do off small rodent meat. There was the buck he stored up... Or maybe.
When he got back this time, Koga delivered that deer, and moved over to crouch by Rei again. "Moornin'- I got another one.. though, this time, I could only find one, so I'm thinkin' I'll just eat what's left.. Uh-- not that I drink blood, or anything. But the meat is good." Did he even know Koga was a wolf?? He wasn't sure. How the hell did he tell him.
Blearily, he came to realize that there was a fresh corpse in front of him and his new wolf caretaker standing next to him. He must have been sleeping pretty hard to have not woken up the moment he was approached. Not like he could do much if someone had harmful intentions toward him, as was the very nature of his bindings.
So he really was going to share a meal with him. Wouldn’t this guy’s ancestors just riot if they could see this farce? Well, the vampire wasn’t about to pass it up so easily. He was all too happy to sink his teeth into the juicy deer and take his fill. Finally, finally, he could say the hunger had completely subsided. What he wouldn’t do for a fresh, living meal but that wasn’t strictly necessary for the abatement of his long lived agony.
And while he was eating, Koga chose to talk again. Just in case the guy really could listen to what he said.
"So, uh... not sure if you knew already or not, or if you'll freak out too, but seeing as you're you and what you are.. vampire? Whatever. I guess I should tell you, I'm a shapeshifter. Or, a wolf spirit, I guess. And to eat raw meat like this, I sort'a gotta... Well it's fine since you got that blindfold on. But if a wolf ever wanders in here to drop off a meal, don't freak out, 'kay? Its just so I can eat it right after. You'll know it's me, 'cause there ain't any others around here. So ya don't gotta worry." Koga mumbled off, continuing to hold the deer until Rei was done.
Seeing as this was the second and more direct time the wolf had mentioned his identity, he could safely assume that he did have a pretty good idea of who he was. How that didn’t send a wolf screaming to the hills for a lynching mob, he had no idea. Surely he knew enough about what he’d done to be terrified of him..? Instead he was holding up a meal to the mouth of his peoples’ enemy.
His tongue drew a long circle around the wound to lap up the last of the blood before making it clear that he was done. Hm. It was dripping a little too far down his chin to reach with his tongue. Oh well.
-- Not to worry, 'cause Koga caught it. While withdrawing the deer, his thumb casually brushed across the old demon's chin to wipe that stray drop of blood. Why-? He couldn't explain it. Koga should be terrified. At first, he was. He was only ever warned so harshly about this guy, and this entire castle and its vague history, but... that was history, right? And right now, he didn't seem so bad. He'd been stereotyped once before too.. Now look at him.
Before the wolf could pull his thumb away, the vampire was already reaching out his tongue to make sure that no drop of blood would be wasted. Hmm. He could do with washing his paws but Rei couldn’t complain about the taste of living flesh on the tip of his tongue. It had been some time since he’d tasted wolf… But he wasn’t interested in more.
WwwwwwwwwwW-
Koga was both petrified and oddly fucking entranced when he suddenly licked his thumb clean. Part of him thought he was gonna bite him, but he was just licking off the blood-- the hell?! He knew how dangerous his mouth was, and, and... a tongue?!
Needless to say, Koga was blushing as he reeled back. "Wh- careful! Ya don't-- ya don't just lick people's fingers?!" Koga spat in his fluster, but now he needed a moment to compose himself. Kicking off his clothes in a bit of a frustrated way now, almost angrily. Why did it feel weird to strip after that?! He had to look over and make sure he wasn't looking. He couldn't see through that blindfold, right?? Kicking his pants off somewhat near his head.
"... I'm turning! So don't freak out!"
… Well, the wolf’s heart was definitely racing and— he’s pretty sure a pair of pants just got tossed near his head. That was certainly something to get huffy and flustered over. The blood was his meal to begin with, it almost made him grin but he held back when there was a warning.
Ugh. This probably was going to be unpleasant.
-- Right then!!
Since his warning was given, Koga went ahead and transformed. Taking a few more steps away from Rei, a visceral growl of his own, Koga shifted. Barking out from the force it took to change into a wolf, but once he gained control- he whined. Biting into the deer to drag it back into the corner of the cell so he could eat the meat off the bones.
While he always smelled recognizably like a wolf, the scent was overwhelming now in this small space so that his nose scrunched up and a short noise of distaste left his lips. He must have grown unused to it again trapped down here for so long. It didn’t used to be so sharp.
Koga didn't even notice the expression, thankfully, because he was too busy chomping down on what was left of that deer. When he was finished though, he let his own large tongue lick around his muzzle to clean the blood from his fur, before looking back to the prone vampire. Hmm..
Creeping forward, Koga laid down on his belly, and very slowly started inching his way forward. Letting out a low whine just to let him know he was close again. Even poking his shoulder with his nose. Why didn't he just leave? Who knows. Maybe he's more puppy than wolf.
His brows furrowed at the odd sounds that came after the clear noise of grooming. Sliding? Was something being dragged back over? All too quickly, he realized he could feel the warmth of a large body right before his shoulder was nudged. It was no less confusing but it seemed the wolf was nudging him.
Clicking his teeth at the dog, he arranged his head to face in the direction of the wolf. What could he possibly want..?
Well- that was a reaction! And a bigger one than he'd ever received yet. He turned his head to look at him, and Koga's tail dragged across the cement floor when he turned. He let out another small dog like noise, a groan. Something a dog makes when they want to 'speak'. Maybe Koga was more explorative in this form. He didn't know what he wanted either after all-- but part of him thought that maybe, if Koga wasn't the one talking-- he could find out just how responsive he was.
He had genuinely never heard that noise out of a wolf before and had no idea what it could possibly mean. His interactions with wolves were generally violent or power plays if not in human form— and generally it was the same even then. For lack of any better response, the vampire simply inhaled deeply to blow air in his general direction.
Another one! This guy never seemed to interact with him before unless it was to feed from his hands, so this was exciting. Another small noise of approval came from Koga to the blow, and he shook his head quickly, the sound of his ears flapping being apparent. He then nudged him again with his nose, and blew out through his nose on the same damp spot. Maybe it was a game?
What was going on? Was this some part of wolf culture that the war had blinded him to or what? No matter how he tried to think, it just didn’t make any sense. The same guy that didn’t want his thumb licked was rubbing his wet nose all over him. Just to see what would happen, Rei pretended to fall asleep.
... Guh, borin'. Koga tried a few more times, with a low noise in his throat to judge him after he pretended to fall asleep, before he stood up again. Circling the room a bit, watching.. Did he seriously fall asleep?! Koga groaned, flopping down to sit across the room. Watching him. He just woke up– there was no way.
You should never underestimate how much an exhausted old vampire could sleep— especially when he hadn’t been able to for so damn long. In fact, he started feeling ridiculously tired as he laid there silently listening to the disappointed wolf take up a spot across the cell from him. Was he feeling particularly lonely in this form or was there really some ritual he missed?
That was so disappointing. Koga was looking for a reaction outta him, but he wasn't getting much. Maybe he was just a bit too playful when he was in this form.
With a few barks and snarls, Koga shifted back into human form, and plopped down to sit where he was again. Hugging his knees and glaring at him childishly. Honestly-- asleep!
"At least ya did a lil' something' more... Do you remember how'ta talk at all?"
He almost wanted to laugh at that reaction. Just a bunch of whining. Was he really that disappointed? Maybe if he’d— oh, there it was.
“I do.” He responded simply.
The vampire hadn’t spoken in a very long time, his voice was rough and low from disuse. That was more than he’d spoken since he’d been captured, actually. What a long period of silence…
Koga nearly jumped outta his damn skin!!!! He perked up instantly, looking at him with wide and wild eyes. The hell??! Why'd he fucking sound like that??!!!??
"You- YOU TALK!" Koga barked, excitedly clambering forward without much thought. Was he able to speak this entire time?! Shit- "-- You been listenin' to me too!"
“Is that a question?” He mused aloud. So, he really had been just lonely trying to get his attention.
"Yes??! Do you only answer questions?! Then yes it is a question?!" And now Koga's voice was going to pitch in ways to make every single thing into a question if that meant he was going to answer him. And that damned raspy voice-- definitely not what he expected. He didn't expect goosebumps from whatever he would sound like.
“Just sounded like you only wanted to be listened to.” Rei replied, his body shaking just slightly in his bindings with a short laugh.
Laughing!!!! Koga couldn't help but grin a bit in disbelief. This felt.. like good progress!! Wait– was he laughing at him?!
"Well-- well yeah. But I thought ya couldn't talk! Honestly I half didn't think you even heard me... Ah, shit, you heard me all that time!" Koga groaned lightly, dropping his head between his arms to hang above the floor, since he was pretty much on his hands and knees to be more on his level to chat.
"Then! Shit, I should ask ya stuff... but I dunno? Uhh.. do you want a blanket or anything? I always wondered that."
“You didn’t say anything that embarrassing, at least.” He laid his head the other direction to listen to the wolf better as he spoke to him from such a close distance. “I’d like to get up and sleep in my bed more. “
"Well, yeah, probably. It is pretty dusty, though-- not like I know that?! The entire place is dusty! So everywhere must be real dusty. So dedusting a blanket is easier, said, than.. aah." Koga cleared his throat. Probably best not to say you think you're sleeping in his bed. He did look down at the bindings. Shit.. Koga almost forgot who he was talking to. Demon King . But he hasn't been bad to him?
… If he could see, he would have looked up at him questioningly. That was really specific wording. Hm. At least someone was enjoying his bed, he guessed.
"Honestly.. I'm not even sure how to get these things unlocked. And I don't know a whole lot about.. why… But.." Well, Koga was definitely considering it. "-- but I can get you a blanket to start. Maybe a small one under yer forehead too."
“And I’m sure you wouldn’t want to ask me those questions.” He mused before exhaling quietly. “Very well. I’ll accept some bedding where I am.”
Koga scratched the back of his head, pouting in thought. Did he wanna ask? Maybe not.. but damn. He was curious. But maybe later.
"Maybe another time, yeah-- but yeah! I can bring ya some stuff. And figure out how to..." How to take those chains off. Seriously, there were no keys just hanging around. How would he even start to get him out?
There weren’t any keys, of course. He wasn’t meant to get let out so there wasn’t a mechanism to release him. It would have to be a drastic breaking out.
".... Ah shit." He said, mostly to himself. Then Koga was grabbing his pants left by Rei's head to put back on.
“Not like I can see you walking around naked.” He teased.
"Wh- How'd ya know I was naked then?!" Koga barked back, flustered that he even brought it up. Right!! Now that he was speaking, that meant he was just totally aware of stuff happening. So Koga tied the drawstrings of his pants tightly, and huffed. "S'about decency!"
“Unless you’re wearing two pairs of pants, it’s pretty clear that clothes falling next to my face means that you’re getting undressed. Also, you shifted so you needed to be naked.”
"-- Just cause it makes sense doesn't mean?!" He was right! Shit. So not only was he listening to him all this time, but he was calculating everything he did too! Shit. How dare he make sense.
“Doesn’t mean what? I assure you I am in a much more embarrassing situation, even if I myself can’t see it. There’s no need to be worried about the mere concept of your nudity.”
"I- shuddup! Or- don't shut up. Keep talkin'- but not about nudity!" Dammit Koga, get it right! He wanted him to keep talking, but talking about his nudity was just-- weird! He just had to change the subject.
He couldn’t help how his shoulders shook and jingled his bindings with how he let out a rusty laugh. “It’s not as if I can talk about what a nice sunny day it is. Smalltalk doesn’t quite work here.”
Ah, shit, right. There was only so much smalltalk to be had. Inconsiderate of Koga, honestly. With a low grumble, Koga sat down again, though he sat closer to him. Since they were talking. A sunny day... you could see the sun rays coming in through the partially boarded up window. Maybe he could talk about it..?
"Uh- y'know.. I can't take the other stuff off, but I bet I can tear that blindfold off if you want?"
The vampire paused at that offer.
The wolf clearly didn’t know what he was exposing himself to. It was almost painful how guilty he felt thinking about how he could really just say yes and order the kind soul to try to release him until his fingers broke. It would honestly be too much of a temptation, despite how he didn’t want to hurt him…
“… There’s nothing to look at if I stay down here. There’s no need. You’d only get even more embarrassed that I could see your bare chest—“
"Gh-?!" Could he already see, or did he just remember not hearing Koga put a shirt back on?! Snatching it off the ground, Koga put it on in a rush then. Ah, if only Rei could see how red his face was.
"Fine- then I'll just.. have to start lookin' for bolt cutters!" Koga grumbled, hugging his legs again to rest his chin on his knees. Honestly, the more Koga got to talk to him- why not find out how to set him free? He still didn't know what he did, but.. to him, he wasn't bad right now.
He was totally right, wasn’t he? Knew it. His ears were still sharp. There was nothing he didn’t know, even blinded as he was. “Perhaps a massive pry bar? Or you could always break every bone in my body and decapitate me to wiggle me out. Your choice.”
"Wha-? I'm not gonna do that?!?" Seriously-- what kind of suggestion was that?! Break all his bones and cut his head off– yeah, right. He scrunched up his nose just thinking about it.
"Pass... I'll find some other way. How'bout 'till then- you got a name..? 'Guy in Basement' is sort'a long."
“Do I have to pick another name after you release me?” He joked before falling silent for a moment. Surely he knew his title but it seemed that this was going to be a much more egalitarian interaction. Ah, how long has it been since someone spoke his name..?
“Rei.”
His ears perked to the name, as his head shot up from his knees in attention. Rei... short and simple. Rei... at least now he can call him something other than the Demon King.
"Rei.. heh! S'nice name. My name's Koga then-- I can't remember if I said it already, so just in case."
When he heard his own name from someone else’s lips, it made his heart hurt a little. How odd that one can suffer so much that the most mundane shit like hearing your own name could be so impactful?
“You hadn’t.” Rei confirmed. “If your name was any more straight forward, I could just call you doggy.”
"D-"
What did he say??? He did not just-
"Doggy?! I ain't a dog! I'm a wolf. And Koga got nothin' to do with dogs! My last name's the one that was wolf in it.. but that's besides the point!" Koga was barkin' now, his cheeks just as red as before. Why did he call him doggy, of all things?! He was a fearsome big wolf! C'mon now!
“Oh, your last name does?” He smirked. “I was only saying, I knew about five wolves named Koga and not a single vampire. It’s almost stereotypical, really.”
"Five-?!" He spat out instantly, then bit down on his tongue after. Five friggen others?! Well that was just- hmph! "Well they must'a been pretty damn cool then, to have such a good name like me! 'Cause now I'm the only one with that name and a wolf, so! Now it ain't to common!"
Guess I killed off all but one Koga, huh?
“Is that implying you’re Mr Cool? I bet all the bitches are knocking your door down. I’m so lucky you’d choose to spend time with me down here instead.” He teased mercilessly.
"Y- Yeah! Tons! Just tooons of bitches!" Koga shot back, his legs falling into a crisscross so he could cross his arms over his chest in a huff. This guy-!
"S'why I came here, 'cause there was so many hot chicks chasin' after me I had to hide! I'm just that damn cool!"
“Oh, is that it? You had to run away from them to undress in front of a man?” He grinned wickedly. “I’m flattered. I can hardly move but, if you’re so ready for that sort of experience over women, my mouth is certainly available to please~?”
Wh- whwhwhwhwhwhwhWH-
The hELL-?
"nO? I mean- are you actually implying-?! What the hell!" Oh, Koga was absolutely red. The unfortunate bit was that it actually gave him some sort of a chill. His own body was betraying him by such tempting words. How the hell did he even reply to that--?!
"-- You'll bite my dick off!" -- gah. Loga bit his tongue there too, blushing even more. Why did he say that too!? "I mean- gah! Don't say stuff like that! I'm gonna go hunting to feed us again, you... simmer down! I'll be back soon, Rei!" And to spare himself more humility, he ran off.
Bite my dick off?! Kooga! Idiot.
Rei lost it at that response. Laughed so hard that he nearly wheezed as Koga ran away with his tail between his legs at a little light flirting. It was just way too easy to tease this guy, he took it all much too seriously!
Completely bereft of the promised bedding, Rei just laid his head down with a smile. For dying days, this wasn’t half bad. Who knew a bright spot shone on the other side of madness?
Well glad someone was having a good time!! But as Koga went upstairs in a flustered huff, and he thought about it.. he couldn't help but smile either. He hadn't.. really ever had someone to joke around with or talk to since his jiichan died. So this was nice, really.. Ah, shit. He was getting soft!
Shaking his head to ruffle out his hair, Koga went upstairs to his room, and he did take a little while up there cleaning. About half an hour passed maybe and Koga went back downstairs, taking a deep breath before going in with blankets he washed as best he could in the short time. Silently, he put a thicker one over Rei's body, while he crouched down to gently slide another folded up one under his forehead.
"... Now I'm goin' huntin'."
There wasn’t much to do but listen to Koga bustle around upstairs for a while. He might as well just take another nap, there was nothing else for him to think about other than topics that would inevitably make him sad or even more stir crazy than he was trying not to be.
Just before he could fall asleep, he heard Koga enter with a deep breath to… To actually cover him up with a blanket. That was unexpected. He figured Koga would have forgotten or been too embarrassed to return. The sense of kindness was overwhelming, honestly. Rei didn’t know what to say.
“… Safe returns.” He bid him softly as he rubbed his forehead into the new pillow.
"Mm- see ya, Rei." Koga mumbled, and then bustled out quickly again before he had a chance to start blushing. He had to go hunting!
And he had a great time, honestly. He took the form of his wolf when outdoors, and for a few hours... he was just enjoying being outside. Then he got into some trouble. Those guys again. This time, it seemed they were out hunting too. That was not good news for Koga.
It took maybe 5 hours before Koga finally got back, and when he did, Rei may have noticed the stench of fresh blood. Slowly, and accompanied by shallow breathing, large paws made their way down the cellar stairs, until Koga was back inside Rei's cell. He had a hare in his mouth again, he did catch something, but it wasn't the Hare's blood that was trickling down the concrete. Koga dropped the rabbit to the side, it was still somewhat alive- a fresher catch- but Koga fell to the ground with a loud huff. Panting out for air. There was two freshly stricken arrows in his shoulder, but.. he wasn't sure where else he could go. Some safe return.
The demon king knew the smell of wolf’s blood. He could recognize it from miles away on the wind so it shot cold ice through his veins, jolting him awake, when the stench invaded the caste. What was it? Who could it—
When the steps started to unsteadily descend, he knew immediately who it had to be. It was mixed with some other blood but it was so overwhelming that Rei bared his fangs and gritted his jaw as he strained against his bindings with all his might, jerking and writhing as if he’d gone feral once more.
“Koga— Koga, answer me. What’s wrong?” He hissed.
Koga could only whine, whimpering out from the sharp pains the arrows left inside of him. He couldn't turn back- not with arrows protruding from him. Who knew what it would do, or how the arrows would merge with him. He did look up a bit, seeing him jerking so much with the hazy vision he had. Carefully, Koga crawled forward, until his nose could poke against his shoulder again. Much like before, to say he was there. Then he reached a paw out, laying it on top of Rei's shoulder and shaking lightly. Trying to say something happened to his own shoulder.
Oh, he was still a wolf. He couldn’t speak to explain what Rei couldn’t see for himself. Still, he got the gist of it. His shoulder. There was something wrong with his shoulder. “What kind of injury? I— I won’t bite. Bring it close. Let me feel it.”
Honestly, Koga didn't even expect him to bite. After all, after being injured... He came right down to him. That must have been some subconsciously bonded trust to do that. But he did crawl forward a bit more, and rolled, just enough to let the other feathered end of the arrow brush his cheek.
“… Koga, can you pry up one of my hands? If it’s too hard, give up immediately. This has to come out.” He said, his voice cold with anger and worry. Who the fuck shot him?! He’d tear their asses apart. No one was going to take this guy away and send him back into starving madness.
Get one of his hands..? Tiredly, he looked over to the ground where the chain and bolts were. Surely, he could manage to get maybe one of them free. Right...? These things must rust after a while.
With another whimper, Koga rolled to sit up a bit better, and looked at the bolt. He did start by pawing at it, trying to see how sturdy it was, which turned into him digging at the ground. Prying at cracked concrete, then his mouth latched onto the chain. He was careful to try and not bite Rei, hooking his teeth under the cuff to start pulling at the cuff. Digging and tugging- he didn't want to hurt either of them, but he did feel it pulling out a bit. Felt it coming loose. He was making progress. But he could only dig so much, his shoulder bleeding more from the strain and movement. Growling into the chains as he yanked.
The smell of blood only got stronger as Koga worked on the strip of metal bolted to the floor over his wrist. Just a Little More— Just— he wasn’t going to make it. Gritting his teeth, Rei used every ounce of strength to lock his elbow and drag his whole arm back. It was, in short, an agonizing angle to exert so much effort into that he felt like his shoulder blade would surely shatter but he kept it up as Koga did his very best.
All at once, one corner came up just enough for Rei to jerk his hand out, losing skin in the process but hardly caring about that when he’d been so tortured before and this was so important. “Good boy, you did great. Come here. Right here.” Rei cooed to Koga as he ran his long nails through his fur to find the bases of the arrows.
With what might really only just barely pass for the speed of a vampire, he popped the two arrows straight out before pressing down hard over the open wounds. “There, there, it’s over now—“
Finally- they got it. Koga was just losing his strength when Rei's hand was finally freed, and Koga flopped down to the floor as soon as it was. He was tired, and in pain, so pulling at that impossibly tight restraint was a work and a half, but they did it. Hearing Rei's gentle words, Koga whimpered, and dragged himself in closer, following just where he thought he ought to be when–
Ow!
He yelped, the classic hurt dog kind of yelp when those arrows were yanked out so fast, and pressure applied to his wounds. He squirmed, then laid still. His chest heaving for air against the floor. Two arrows- but it was still a lot of blood for him. Especially running away from those guys after being shot, to get away again. He whined between breaths, but stayed still under Rei's newly freed hand. He was.. happy he helped him, but still too tired to shift back. So, with Rei helping the bleeding, and full trust put into him now, Koga passed out for the time being.
Even though he was pitifully exhausted from this exertion— he? The demon king? Tired after breaking out of one cuff with help to pull out arrows? Unheard of! — Rei did not fall asleep until he was sure that Koga had pulled through. The bleeding had stopped and his breathing was even hours later. Good.
Gently smoothing out the matted fur along his back, Rei laid his head down against a warm body to finally allow himself to rest again.