Chapter Text
The Unholy Masquerade. It should be the highlight of the supernatural social calendar when it came around every few years.
For Viago, the evening had started out splendidly. He’d escorted his love, Katherine to her first masquerade. They danced and applauded as Vladislav finally accepted guest of honour.
But it was just past midnight, and Viago sat on a set of bleachers by himself, his grand velvet purple frock coat with long tails splayed out around him. He wore the frock coat over a pair of modern tuxedo trousers and paired it with snakeskin boots. He’d painted his eyes with purple glitter, but because he couldn’t see his reflection, it had been applied haphazardly.
The community center where the event was being held was still a hive of activity. Every kind of supernatural was in attendance. If it weren’t for the event’s very strict no-infighting rule, there would have been several brawls already. But no one wanted to risk a lifetime ban, considering for many of the people in attendance - that was a very long time indeed. So mummies chatted with ghosts, witches did party tricks for vampires, and werewolves mingled more outside their pack than they usually did.
One in particular approached Viago and sat down on the bench beside him. Instead of being dressed for the occasion, he wore a pair of loose-fit jeans, a t-shirt with a tuxedo shirt printed on it, and a red plaid shirt.
“Why so glum, chum?” asked Anton as he took a swig from his beer.
Viago gave Anton the side-eye. Werewolves and vampires had been on better terms since Stu bridged the gap, but there was still some lingering animosity that was hard to get past. He straightened up, then curled his lip and huffed.
“Come onnn…” drawled Anton as he shoulder-jostled Viago. “This is the night of peace and love! We’re all friends at the Unholy Masquerade.”
Viago curled his lip and twisted a ribbon from his mask around a finger. “My girlfriend left me for a younger man.”
Anton let out a low whistle. “Ooof, rough.”
“I knew the age difference might have been an issue. I mean, she is ninety-six and I am three-hundred and eighty, but I thought our love could bridge that gap.” Viago caught sight of said girlfriend at the far end of the hall. He hissed softly, then dropped his head.
Anton followed where Viago was looking, where an elderly woman was chatting it up with a warlock who looked to be her physical age.
“What em, what happened?”
“Oh, well, she was just turned not too long ago. And for a while things were good, you know. We were making up for lost time. But when you are turned, many things stay the same. And for Katherine, her memory was not so good. She keeps forgetting who I am, and sometimes that she is a vampire. So she walked in here tonight and saw him…” Viago nodded to the warlock, “...who lived in her old building. She started flirting with him right in front of me.”
Anton let out a low whistle. “Wow. That’s rough, man. Truly. But maybe for the best, in the long term?”
Viago wobbled his head. “Maybe. It wasn’t the same anyway. I’ve changed. She’s changed. Perhaps some love isn’t forever.” He sighed dramatically and stuck out his lower lip in a near-parody of a pout.
Anton shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “Hey would you em…like a drink?”
“What? You know I can’t…”
“No no, of me,” said Anton with an eager little smile. “I’m fucking blasted. And if you drink me, you get drunk too, right?”
Viago searched Anton’s face for signs that it was all some kind of a joke, but the werewolf alpha seemed almost painfully genuine. “Yee-eees…”
“Come on, then. Oh, wait…” Anton held up a finger, then proceeded to chug his beer. He belched softly, sat it aside, sniffed, rolled his shoulders and gave Viago an eager look.
Viago was ready to turn him down, but then he heard Katherine laugh from across the room. He worried his tongue over his fangs, then returned his attention to the werewolf. “Well…all right. But not out here. People will think I attacked you and then there will be fights.”
“Right. Right. Good call,” Anton snapped. He groggily looked around and scruffed up his own hair, which stuck up at all angles. “Oo. Here. Follow me. We’ll be like teenagers.” He stood up, glanced around the dark room, then disappeared from view.
Viago stood up and straightened his frock coat, then squinted as he stepped forward. “Anton?”
“Under here!” Anton whispered as he stuck an arm out from a space beneath the bleachers.
Viago stuck his head into the small space. Anton sat there with his hand out. He very cautiously took it, then squatted to crawl under. It was close quarters, but it certainly was out of sight of the rest of the party. “Teenagers like to go in a place like this now? What happened to the balls and teas?”
Anton opened his mouth to say something, then thought the better of it and closed it. Instead, he just murmured, “Kids are weird,” and then shifted to face Viago. He pulled down the edge of his t-shirt. “Go on, then.”
In the small space, Viago could very clearly hear the thumping of Anton’s heart. The rhythm was stronger and more powerful than a human’s and had a slightly different rhythm. Vampires didn’t feed on wolves not because they couldn’t, but because it stirred up a lot of animosity. And a werewolf’s strong scent was generally considered unpleasant. But Stu spent a fair bit of time in their flat, and the wolf pack came around for game nights with Nick, so Viago had lost some of the bad associations he had with the scent.
It was still pretty strong in the small space under the bleachers. Anton smelled heavy and earthy, and like an animal, but…not. He’d never smelled the alpha in isolation, before. It was considerably more pleasant than when a whole pack’s unique scents intermingled. But all of that interesting scent was overlaid with the very present scent of cheap beer, which stripped it of some of its complexity and mystique.
Viago very tentatively shifted forward. The sight of the werewolf bearing his jugular was too much of a temptation, especially since he knew the blood would take the edge off his embarrassment and pain. He pursed his lips, then leaned in and very carefully and gently bit into Anton’s neck. The last thing he needed was to accidentally kill a werewolf alpha, so the bite was exceedingly delicate and careful.
Anton grabbed him reflexively to steady himself as Viago’s fangs bit into his neck. He kept his eyes closed and made a little animalistic noise.
Viago started to pull the blood out of the wound, through a tight seal made with his lips. It was just a sip at first, but it wasn’t long before he was drawing in mouthfuls of sweet, earthy blood tinged with a slight burning sensation from the cheap beer. Curiously, he could feel Anton’s wound closing up around his fangs as the werewolf’s healing tried to seal up the punctures.
It didn’t take much for Viago to start to feel the effects of the alcohol. He felt warm and loose, and a little giddy. He was a cheap date in both his mortal and immortal lives. The alcohol flooding his body made him lose his balance when he shifted forward.
Anton responded by grabbing a little tighter. He growled a deep, vibrating note that shuddered his whole body.
Viago moved his hand, but accidentally planted his palm directly on Anton’s crotch instead of beside him as intended. He felt a substantial bulge pushing up at the denim and against his palm.
Viago pulled back in surprise and pressed his back against the underside of the bleachers. He watched as the wound marks on Anton’s neck healed up, though there were little dribbles of blood that snaked down his neck.
Anton’s eyes were half-hooded, dopy as he was from blood loss and alcohol. But he didn’t seem embarrassed.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…”
And then to Viago’s utter shock. Anton shifted forward, grabbed the sides of Viago’s face and pulled him in for a kiss. It was a hungry, probing kiss and the werewolf draped his full body weight against him.
Viago made a muffled sound of surprise, but the alcohol in his system shaved the edges off his nerviness. After a breath or two, he returned Anton’s kiss with the man’s blood still on his lips.
Anton let out a little giggle of glee when he felt Viago return the kiss. He pressed closer a few more times and rolled their hips together. “Sorry,” he whispered after he came up for air. “That probably came out of nowhere for you.”
“Ah, yes, it em…yes,” said Viago lamely.
“I’ve got a secret, you see,” murmured Anton as he nuzzled at Viago’s neck and took in his scent with a few short, sharp inhales and exhales. “...I think vampires are very fucking sexy. And I’ve had a thing for you for a while.”
It wasn’t unusual for vampires to be someone’s fetish, but Viago had never encountered it in a werewolf. Usually werewolves treated them with contempt and aggression. But the only aggression Anton was showing him was sexual. He gripped either side of Viago’s waist and nibbled at the underside of his neck.
“I had no em, no idea…” Viago wasn’t sure how to process what was happening. He had never thought of Anton in that way, in part because of Katherine, in part because, well, that just didn’t happen between vampires and werewolves. The mutual animosity usually prevented friendships, let alone something more. But now that he felt the werewolf’s weight heavy on top of him, felt his lips on his neck, and felt the warmth of his blood running through his veins, he was coming around to the possibility.
“Sorry, this is clumsy, and I’m drunk. Not exactly…” Anton searched for the edge of Viago’s pants. “Not exactly romantic…” he rumbled just as he managed to find a bare patch of skin. He was warm - warmer than a human, and it was a bit of a shock against Viago’s ice-cold skin. “But I didn’t know when I’d get up the guts to shoot my shot. And since you’re newly-single…”
Viago arched his back and gasped a little. “You will forgive me if I am a little bit in shock. You are very good at….ah…” he was interrupted by Anton pushing his hand further under Viago’s waistband. “...hiding it.”
“Well, we haven’t really spent any time alone together. I…”
“Anton!”
Anton froze and pressed closer to Viago. “Shit.”
It was a woman’s voice coming from a few feet away.
“Who’s that?” whispered Viago. “Is she…”
Anton reached up and pressed a hand over Viago’s mouth. “Shh, shh…”
“Anton! For god’s sake, I know you’re here. I can smell you. It’s time to go!” The woman’s shadow moved in front of the bleachers, but thankfully she didn’t look beneath it.
Anton bunted his head against Viago’s chest and slowly withdrew his hand. “Gotta go.”
“But who…?”
Anton looked sheepish as he sat back and started to straighten his clothes. He wiped at the bit of blood on his neck with the heel of his hand. “My wife.”
Viago’s confusion and surprise gave way to irritation. “Your wife?”
“I can explain,” said Anton, his cheeks turning bright red. “But I promise you, this isn’t a problem.”
Anton leaned forward to try and kiss Viago again, but the vampire leaned away and wrinkled his nose. “Explanations first. Kisses after.”
“Fair,” said Anton with a sigh as he made a cursory attempt to smooth his hair down. “I’ll come by your place tomorrow night?”
Viago opened his mouth to say something, but instead of letting him answer, Anton kissed him again and stumbled his way out from under the bleachers. “Here, Margaret”
Viago just sat there under the bleachers, horny and a bit drunk, and utterly confused about what just happened.