pigeonwhumps

[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 4B

So, this is the first chapter of an alternate timeline that we wrote to the fourth crossover. This diverges from the story at the original chapter 4 (I'll call it chapter "4A" and this is the "B" timeline.)

The first three chapters go the same way, and then in chapter 4, for the "B" timeline, Jim's dropoff with his sister goes without incident, meaning Valen doesn't get burned and therefore does not come back into human territory with Jim. They go their separate ways and don't meet again until years later.

Since Valen does not have the protection from Jim and Liz in this timeline, he ends up getting captured by vampires hunters when he comes back years later--the same ones that took Kane in K+J. Those hunters then get the details from Jim's book mixed up--since obviously Valen would be mentioned in it--and think of Valen as "That vampire from Jim Liberman's book," assuming he's the one who held Jim hostage without really checking the details. They then offer Valen to Jim, who showed up expecting Kane like in K+J canon. So this version would be more of a "caretaker-turned-whumpee" and "whumpee-turned-caretaker" story.

We lovingly refer to this as "the horrors version." What happens to Valen in this AU is much, much worse than what happens to him in canon MMSS.

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Warnings: Blood, aftermath of torture. The usual. Just some real sicko shit.

***

The rest of the meeting at the border is tense, but ultimately goes off without a hitch.  Valen is ultimately happy to be rid of the car and simply runs back home.  They exchanged phone numbers, and Valen calls to leave a message to say he got home safely.

They talk a little bit over the phone over the next week or two, but Valen decides to leave Jim to his human life, and goes back to focusing on his research.  Down the road, he realizes he needs to spend some time on human territory to make it feasible, but by then he hasn't talked to Jim in years and doesn't want to bother him.  That's when the unthinkable happens.

***

They'd told Valen that his victim, Jim Liberman, was coming to pick him up, for revenge.  That he'd get his just deserts.

Valen can't remember who Jim is.  He'd racked his brain, trying to think of all the people he'd ever wronged, and had come up empty.  He's no stranger to tears at this point, but he cried like he'd never cried before that day, salty tears streaming down his cheeks in the same track they'd run a thousand times before, over the bare silver muzzle that had been fused with his melted skin for years at this point.  They hadn't even given him a chance, they'd just assumed the worst about him and used that as evidence that he deserved the worst torture imaginable for years, and now he was going to be given to someone who was going to treat him even worse, and he couldn't even remember who or why.

Then the hunter drags him outside and throws him at the feet of the human who was to be his new jailer.  And he does recognize him.  They met once for a few days, 15 years ago, and Valen's hazy, pain-addled brain can't quite remember what their interaction had been.  Valen found him outside, he remembers, and he'd taken him home.  That was bad, right?  Had he kidnapped Jim?  Maybe that's what they'd been talking about.

That doesn't sound like something Valen would do, though.  Well, maybe it was something he would do now, he has no way of knowing what kind of person he is now.  He does remember he used to be very kind and compassionate, though, and it seems like he wouldn't have hurt a stray human.  But the hunters have been telling him over and over that he's a monster, a leech, a wretched animal that deserves all the pain it's getting, so maybe he did hurt Jim, maybe he does deserve to be strung up in the sun forever with his air cut off.

But still.  Even if he deserves it, it's too horrible to think about.  He trembles on the ground, looking at Jim’s knees with pleading eyes.  Please just kill me.  Please just end this travesty of existence.

All of Jim's nerves and expectations go out the door the second he lays eyes on the vampire the hunter pushed in front of him.

Not Kane. Valen.

Jim looks at him in shock that quickly morphs into horror. He opens his mouth to object, to say you had the wrong guy and even if you had the right guy this would be unthinkable, but the words die in his throat. They're already handing Valen over to him, and only because they think he deserves revenge. He won't say anything that could even potentially jeopardize that. These hunters probably would not approve of him freeing Valen. God, they used the padded cuffs he brought for Kane, but that's a silver muzzle.

"I'll be g-going now." he says shakily to the hunter instead.

"Just give me a call if it's too much trouble and you want to return it." says Chase.

"That won't be necessary." Jim says curtly, trying to hold back tears. He and the hunter exchange goodbyes, and Jim drops to his knees, eye-level with Valen.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, Valen, holy shit, what did they do to you?" he whispers in horror.

"What did they do to you?"  Just what I deserve, right?  That's what they'd been saying this whole time, so he'd started to believe it.  The alternative was something unthinkable.

Jim reaches to unlock the muzzle- he can try to talk to Valen about the whole please don't use persuasion on me thing later, but it's apparent that Valen won't be able to speak for a bit anyway. "I'm gonna take this off, is that okay?" he asks.

Jim is taking the muzzle off?  That can't be right.  The muzzle stays on was the very first rule the hunters had laid down, because he was dangerous and could use his mouth to hurt in a number of ways, and this burning sensation locked around the lower half of his face had become the only constant in his new life, and the idea that it would go away had never occurred to him as a possibility.  It was part of him now, just as his skin was melted to the silver.

And why is Jim asking Is that okay? like his opinion on anything makes any difference?  What is he doing, talking to Valen like he's a person?  Valen doesn't answer, sitting there with eyes downcast.  Some humans didn't like it when he made eye contact, they said he was trying to use persuasion on them, and that earned him the ultimate punishment: the sun.  He avoided eye contact like the plague.  Even just looking up at Jim earlier had been risky.

"Alright. I'm goin' for it. Sorry that there's no way to do it without it hurting, but that thing on your face can't be comfortable. Sooner I get it off, sooner you can heal, right?" Jim gives his bony shoulder a gentle squeeze. "S'gonna be okay. You're out. I- I'm gonna help you, like you helped me." His tears do fall, then.

He unlocks the muzzle and begins pulling it off. It's melted into Valen's face and almost impossible to remove. His skin tears like wet paper. Jim punctuates his efforts with a sorry every few seconds until it's off, leaving Valen's face a gory mess, lips completely gone and teeth on full display. Jim retches involuntarily at the sight. "I'm so fucking sorry, Valen. Least it's off."

Valen dissociates from the pain, just thinking of Jim’s words.  It's going to be okay?  I'm gonna help you?  None of this sounds right, it clashes with what the hunters had been telling him for years.  Like you helped me.  Maybe Valen had helped this human?  But then why had the hunters punished him?  Helping a stray human does sound more like something Valen would have done, though, in the past, when he'd been a person and not a rabid animal.

Oh, that's right.  That's the answer to what kind of person he is now, as he'd wondered earlier.  He's not a person at all, he's a mindless animal, the kind that would, here still on the hunter's doorstep, immediately bite the metaphorical hand that feeds, in an attempt to turn it into the literal hand that feeds.

Valen's mouth hadn't been free in years, and all he can think of is his primal instincts urging him to take the chance to feed while he can.  They hadn't needed to train the instinct out of him, because he'd had no opportunity to use it.  And Jim is so very full of delicious, aromatic blood, and so soft and vulnerable, and so very, very right there next to his mouth, and Valen is so very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very hungry.

As soon as Jim says least it's off, the gory mess he'd just exposed around Valen's jaw comes to life and snaps shut over Jim's wrist.

Jim freezes, eyes wide and mouth shut tight. He cranes his neck to the side, just like he's supposed to, even though it's covered in fabric and Valen feeds from his wrist. He hasn't forgotten how to behave.

He trembles horribly as Valen feeds, crying much harder, though the only sounds that escape him are quiet sobs.

Until he starts to feel lightheaded. More lightheaded than Kane ever made him, even when Kane overfed.

"Valen, p-please." he whispers through his tears.

Nobody hears him. Valen's stomach is a blackhole that can never be filled, his heart a void that screams to be filled with violence.

Valen, p-please... Valen is gone, there's only this animal that won't stop drinking until he's forced to. He'll kill Jim, but he doesn't care, he can't.

He bites again, getting a bigger mouthful, tearing more skin, sweet, wet blood gushing into his mouth, down the front of his nearly-naked body

Jim knows it's bad bad bad, he'll be punished for sure, but he has to get away or he'll die. He pushes Valen off of him- it's easier than he'd thought it would be. His already-hurting wrist erupts even further into pain, and Jim cries out softly, cowering away from him.

Valen hasn't been strong in years. It's easy to push him off, his fangs tearing the skin as they're pulled out. He swallows what's in his mouth desperately, licking the remaining blood off his shaking, chained hands.

He bit, he attacked, he fed, the ultimate thing he wasn't allowed to do. The hunters are all still nearby, they'll surely hear Jim's pained sounds, and then he'll be punished beyond belief. But he needs the blood, he needs it, he can't think of anything else.

Jim holds his bleeding wrist to himself, sobbing.

"I'm sorry, I'm s-sorry, sir." he blubbers. "Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry. Please, I just, I don't wanna die."

Chase comes back out, hearing the commotion. "The fuck! It bit you?!"

Valen cowers when Chase comes back on the scene, his very presence instantly reducing Valen to a submissive, trembling mess. He whines like a dog, the only method of communication that had been available to him for years, and presses himself into the floor. Please don't put it back on, please please please.

Jim snaps out of it with the hunter's call. He's on a rescue mission now, he remembers. He needs to get Valen out of here safe, no matter now terrified he is of him.

"N-no." he lies, unable to stop crying. "This is the vampire's blood. Just, just tryin' to switch muzzle."

"Fuck, I told you it wasn't a good idea. You should've asked. Here, let me put the muzzle back on, it's better with it on." Chase starts to approach, going straight for the discarded silver muzzle on the ground.

Jim kicks the gore-covered monstrosity away. "No, just, use the one I've got." He doesn't want to muzzle Valen at all, especially given how painful Valen's face looks, but there's no way he can drive home with Valen unmuzzled after this. "It's in the car."

"Right, switching. Sure, your call." As Chase goes to grab the padded muzzle from the car, Jim mouths I'm sorry to Valen.

Chase fastens the muzzle onto Valen, too tight. "You good to go? Need anything else?" He assumes Jim's crying is due to seeing his captor again, emotions high.

"I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yes." Jim insists. "I can handle this."

"Alright. Drive safe." Chase heads back inside.

Valen remains a terrified, quivering puddle on the floor, hardly able to believe he'd escaped Chase's check-in without being strapped to the board and set outside in anticipation of the sunrise. He'd swallowed blood, he'd fed, and it's better than he's felt in years despite the raw mess of his face and the new muzzle squeezing him. It doesn't burn, and his stomach has something in it, and any relief from the pain in any amount is welcome at this point.

He rolls over so he's facedown on the ground. He's muzzled again, the way he should be, and that's enough for his brain to remember he's supposed to be submissive and obedient and nonthreatening. He stares straight at the ground, no chance of eye contact

Jim shuffles back over to Valen and reaches out a shaking, bleeding hand to gently rest on his forehead. This way, if Valen lunges again, he can easily push back. Heart clenching with terror, he puts his uninjured hand under Valen's muzzled mouth.

"Please spit." he whispers. "I can't ask the hunter for first aid without letting him know you bit me. I need the bleeding to stop. Please."

Valen looks at what Jim's doing through a haze of pain and confusion. Spit. He knows that one. He has to be obedient.

As best as he can through the bit blocking his mouth, he lets bloody saliva dribble out of his mouth, stringing down into Jim's hand

"Thank you." Jim retracts both hands and rubs the saliva over his wound, thankfully stopping the bleeding pretty quick.

He takes a moment to breathe, trying to calm himself down. "Well, least I don't have to psyche myself up to feed you. Jumpin' right in the deep end." he says nervously. "Do you remember, when you found me? I was dying, and you gave me water. You saved my life. I'll never forget it. I'll make sure you get home safe, too."

Valen doesn't look at him. He can't. But Jim's words are washing over him in waves. Valen had saved his life. Yes, that sounds right. He'll make sure he gets home safe, too. That doesn't. Valen is a dangerous creature, and he'd just attacked Jim, and he was going to be disciplined and tortured.  It'd already sunk in a long time ago that he was going to be imprisoned and in pain for the rest of his life, and there was no way he could let himself believe Jim's words, to open the can of worms to start hoping again, because that was always how he got hurt emotionally. Bitter tears spring into his eyes.

As shaken as he is by the bite, Jim remembers what it was like to be so thirsty he'd do anything for water. He gets it, and he can see how terrified and desperate Valen is.

"It's okay. Let's get you in the car, alright?" Jim takes Valen's arm and helps him into the back seat, figuring he might want to lie down.

He's too nervous to take the muzzle off: if Valen bites while he's driving, it'd be very bad for both of them. He does take off both sets of cuffs, though. "Hope that's a little more comfortable. It's gonna be a few hours until we get back to my place, figure you could crash there while you heal up and head home whenever you're ready. I'll take that thing off when we get home, okay?" He gestures to the muzzle. "Don't wanna get in an accident."

Valen watches Jim help him into the car, and take his manacles off, and promise him gentleness, all with wide, uncomprehending eyes. Head home? Head home???? The possibility is too absurd to comprehend. Is Jim being cruel, messing with him? No, that doesn’t make sense. If Valen really had saved Jim's life, maybe this is real?

He lies down in the back of the car, with his wrists free, limply allowing himself to be carted around. He should apologize for biting Jim as soon as he can. Maybe that will earn him less pain.

He stews in that thought for part of the ride before being once again overwhelmed by his animalistic fear, and he starts pawing at the muzzle, trying to get it off, but there's a lock on it. He whines, tears streaming down his face.

Jim hears miserable whining from behind him. "Hold on, lemme pull over and see what's up.”

He does, pulling onto the shoulder and opening the back door. "I know it sucks right now. I'm so sorry. I'd ask what's wrong, but there's a lot. What can I help you with right now?" He's hoping Valen can charade it to him. He doesn't have anything to write with, and Valen won't be able to talk until he heals, muzzle or not.

Valen claws at the muzzle on his face, worming around in the backseat, just wallowing in his desperation

"Hey, hey hey hey." Jim hesitantly reaches out and takes Valen's hands in his. "If I take that thing off you, are you gonna bite me again? I'll take it off if you think you can hold off."

Valen tries to steady himself. Jim is helping him, Jim is trying to help him. Right?

He bit Jim, and it was nowhere near enough blood to sate his hunger, but if he wants the muzzle off, he has to not bite. He can do that, right? He nods slowly

"Awesome. Thank you, I know it's gotta be hard. But you did take enough to make me woozy, so I hope it's enough, 'cause I can't give you more tonight. I only got so much blood. I'll find a way to get you more soon, though, okay?" He can ask people. Liz or Laken, maybe.

Jim unlocks the muzzle, lifting it off Valen's face. "Didn't realize that asshole put it on this tight. I'm sorry, that had to hurt, 'specially with your face. Is there anything else?"

It's off and it'll stay off if he behaves. He can do that, he can behave.  He rolls over and curls up into a ball. He wishes he had something to cover himself, in case the sun comes up. Still hiding his face, he mimes a motion like pulling a blanket over himself

"Yeah, fuck, sorry." Jim should've been thinking about the fact that Valen would want some clothes for the ride home. He came expecting to have to come face to face with his abuser, only to be met with this entire situation, and his brain's on the fritz. He takes his flannel off and hands it to Valen. "Will this work for now? We'll be home in like, two hours, and then I can get you some real clothes."  It’s well before sunrise, but Valen would have no way of knowing what time it is.

Still crying, Valen takes the flannel and wraps it around himself, barely managing to get his arms into the sleeves, like he doesn't remember how to put on a shirt.

Thank you. It's the most covered he's been in years, and if he gets thrown into the sun, less of him will be burned. He wants to say thank you. But no, that's talking, that's bad, he might use persuasion, he has to show he's obedient. Eyes still downcast, he nods, hoping Jim can see his appreciation non-verbally.

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything else. When we get home, I'll get you a pen and paper so you can write. You can take a bath, get into some pajamas, and I've got a bed set up in the basement for you." Jim gets back in the driver's seat and keeps going.

All of that sounds too good for him.  He doesn't deserve a bath, and pajamas, and a bed. He knows that now, the hunters taught him, the hunters taught him he needs to be happy with a concrete floor and a hose and whatever pain they were giving him, because it could always, always be worse, somehow.

Valen tries to show he's grateful, but he's just so scared. He can't get his hopes up that this foggy promise of comfort from somewhere above him is real and not something he's imagining. He has a very good imagination.

He stays curled up in a ball, shaking. It's the first time in forever nothing is actively hurting him, and he has something in his stomach, and he feels okay, but all this change is making the entirety of his ordeal hit him all at once, and he can't seem to stop crying and being scared even though Jim is being kind to him. He tries to stay quiet so as not to seem ungrateful, but the tears and sobs occasionally come out in waves all the way home.

Jim's heart breaks for Valen. He has no idea what kind of unimaginable horrors he's been through, but he knows what it's like to be helpless and scared. He's just glad he can do something about it.

When they arrive home, Jim opens the back door and peers in at Valen again. He's nervous, very nervous, to be so close to Valen after the bite. But for the past decade, Valen's been almost like a deity of safety in his mind, the savior who took him from the brink of death and delivered him home. If Valen isn't safe, no one is.

"We're here, bud. C'mon, let's get you inside." he encourages, holding out a hand for Valen to take.

Valen wants to bite again. He really, really wants to. All he'd wanted to do for the past five years was bite the people who were causing him pain, and he is in pain and helpless and scared, and it's like wading through thick fog to grasp what's actually going on and what he needs to do.

Don't bite, the muzzle will stay off if you don't bite. Don't bite.

He gingerly reaches out and takes Jim's hand.

Jim takes him inside, leaving all the restraints in the car. He doesn't plan on using them. "Alright, what do you wanna do first? Bath, sleep, or write? Uh, just hold up one two or three fingers. And I'll get you some clothes."

Valen feels so overwhelmed by the way Jim is talking to him. He has to make decisions? He's too tired to think, drained and exhausted by his hunger and fear. He holds up two fingers. That was for sleep, right? Maybe he wants to just be left alone for a while

"Yeah, I bet you're exhausted. Lemme grab something for you to wear, just hang tight for a second, yeah?" Jim leaves briefly, returning with a set of soft checkered pajamas and a familiar outfit: the clothes Valen gave to Jim 10 years ago.

"I can finally return 'em." Jim says with a smile, handing everything to Valen.

Valen takes the clothes with shaking hands. He recognizes them. He finally remembers taking Jim home and caring for him when he was in need. Just as Jim is doing for him now. He buries his face in the outfit and drops to his knees, crying. He wants to say thank you. But he shouldn't try to talk, that's bad, and he should be good for Jim, who's helping him.

Jim goes down with him, rubbing his back, careful to avoid the half-healed burns. "You're gonna be alright. I've got you. I won't let anything bad happen to you. How about I show you downstairs, you get some rest, and tomorrow you can get cleaned up, get some more blood in you, and if your mouth's not healed enough to talk yet- which, yeah, I dunno how long that'll take- you can write anything you wanna say. Sound good?"

Valen tries to compose himself, sniffling. He's scared, but all he can really do is hang in there and trust that what Jim is saying is true, and that everything will be okay. Downstairs and rest sound nice.

When Jim shows him downstairs, the basement reminds him uncomfortably of his cell at the hunter's compound, although he quickly decides he'd prefer it to the upstairs anyway just because it has no windows and therefore no risk of the sun.

There's a bed, and a blanket, and a pillow. Jim intends those to be for him, right? He'd said he'd set up a bed for him. Right? But it seems so outrageously luxurious, so much more than he deserves or is used to, that he can't bring himself to accept it. He must be misunderstanding somehow, or thinking wishfully. Such things are not for him anymore, and he can't risk seeming entitled and presumptuous. He can hear the hunters' voices: You think you get a bed, leech? That's cute.

No, he can't risk it. He needs to show he'll be happy with whatever Jim gives him. Especially after he'd bitten Jim. There's no way that behavior should be rewarded like this.

He really, really wants the blanket, so maybe if he shows he knows his place, Jim will be kind and give it to him anyway, even though it's too good for him.

Valen staggers to the corner of the room and slides down onto the ground, lying on the cement floor with the clothes Jim had given him under his head as a substitute for a pillow. He hopes that misusing the clothes that way won't seem too entitled. The voices come back. Oh, you think you deserve a pillow, leech? That's cute. Since you don't know how to use them, might as well take them back.

"Oh, hey, what's wrong? Is something wrong with the air mattress? I know it's not, like, the best thing ever, but I only got... you can use my bed if you want. It's upstairs, but I can close the curtains and you should be peachy." Jim offers. "You can sleep wherever you want. Take your pick."

Oh no, no, this is too hard, it's too hard to try and figure out if it's really safe to accept the air mattress. He wants it so badly, which is the exact reason why he knows he can't have it. That is something they trained into him.  He curls his bony knees up to his chest and cries, unsure of what to do

Okay, Valen is scared. He's just scared. "It's okay. Nothing's gonna hurt here." Jim says softly. "How about you put on your pajamas and get into bed? Can you do that? I'll turn around while you get changed, just like, make any noise to let me know when you're done or if you need help.”

He turns around, hoping this will encourage Valen.

Valen wishes Jim would stop phrasing things so ambiguously, and start just saying what he wants Valen to do.  He is used to commands, not ambiguous suggestions.  How about you put on your pajamas and get into bed could mean anything.  He thinks it means Jim wants him to do that, but he really wishes Jim would just order him to use the bed so he can do it without being afraid that he's doing something he'll be punished for.

But he'd said Nothing's gonna hurt here.  That doesn't seem right.  How will Jim punish him, then, if he won't be using pain to do it?  Unless Jim doesn't think he needs punished?  Maybe he doesn't, if Valen saved him, like it seems like he did forever ago, in another life.  But the hunters had seemed so sure he'd deserved it, so maybe they knew something Jim didn't.

Oh no, if that was the case then maybe there was some danger that Jim could find out what it was that made him deserve pain, and then stop being nice to him and helping him.  His brain runs off in this anxious train of thought, before he tries to ground himself by the fact that Jim has turned around and clearly wants him to get changed.  Just get changed, you can do it, stop using your wild imagination and just get changed.

He drops the mangled, bloodstained tatters that comprise the clothes he'd been wearing when he'd been captured to the ground, then pulls on the pajamas.  They're soft and warm and cozy, and so, so wonderful and that makes him so nervous because surely this can't be for him, this has to be a mistake, right?

Say thank you, say thank you or he might take them back.  He tries to remember how to talk.  You have to vibrate your throat, like a growl, and move your lips, except he doesn't have those right now.  He tries anyway, and it comes out as a strangulated gurgle.  He puts his hands over his mouth.  No, talking is bad, isn't it?  He doesn't know, he'd never been given the opportunity with the hunters.

Jim turns around at the sound to see Valen dressed. "Awesome. You can go to bed now, get some rest. And don't touch the door, okay? It's got silver on it. I was, uh, expecting someone else, not you. The hunters said I was picking up Kane, so y'know, precautions. I'll leave it open, so don't worry about it. You need anything else before I head up?"

Go to bed.  Go to bed, go to bed means go to the bed and lie down in it and close your eyes and go to sleep. Right?  He wants to so badly.  But he is so, so anxious.  He wants Jim to reaffirm that he means for Valen to sleep on the air mattress.  It feels like it's not going to be safe to accept the bed and the blanket and the pillow unless Jim tells him he has to.

He can't look Jim in the eye and give him a questioning facial expression.  He can't ask Are you sure?  Valen is completely oblivious as Jim tells him about the door--he has no intention of going near the door, or trying to escape, escape is impossible and useless to even hope for--he's laser-focused on the bed.  He steps towards it and kneels again, slowly extending one hand out to touch the blanket, whimpering as though he expects Jim to hit him.  Keeping his eyes low, he looks at Jim and pauses with his hand on the blanket, to give Jim an opportunity to either tell him to keep going, or to shoo him away and confirm his doubts.

"Yeah, that's it. Shit, at least Kane let me sleep in a damn bed. Go for it. You're all good." Jim gives him a thumbs-up. "Or, uh, if there's some other problem, I could get something for you to write with after all?"

Valen nods at the suggestion, and holds his hand out, trying not to cry.  Why did this feel so hard?

"Alright, one second." Jim heads upstairs, coming back a moment later with a pen, paper, and a cutting board he grabbed just for a hard surface to put the paper on. He sits on the air mattress, handing Valen the materials and patting the space next to him. "What do you wanna say? It's alright, you're safe now."

Valen doesn't get up onto the bed next to Jim.  He stays kneeling on the floor and takes the materials from Jim.  His hand is shaky, and he fumbles with the pencil, crying as his hands struggle to write, something he hasn't done in years.  Eventually he manages to get out a message in messy font:  I don't deserve a bed.

Jim sighs sadly. "Yeah you do, man. You deserve a bed. Promise. Look, I don't know all of what those fuckers did to you, I can't say I know how you feel. But I do know what it's like to have to learn how to be a person again after being told over and over again I'm not one. You're a person. You deserve nice things, and you deserve to be safe, and you deserve a bed. Okay?"

Finally, finally that's enough to make him feel like he can take the bed without being anxious about it.  It sounds like it's safe for the blanket and pillows too.  Tears still rolling down his cheeks, he crawls into the bed underneath the blanket, balling up and tucking himself away.

"There you go. Feel free to come up and get me if you need anything, alright? Up the stairs, down the hall, first door on the left. Hope you sleep good." Jim pats him on the shoulder before getting up, turning the lights off, and heading upstairs. As promised, the door remains open.

The feeling of softness around him still feels wrong wrong wrong, after so long  on hard floors, but he weeps with joy at the luxury.  He falls asleep truly comfortable for the first time in years.  Maybe, just maybe everything is going to be okay.  He doesn't try and get out of bed, especially not to leave the room; he isn't convinced he could make it up the stairs anyway. But he doesn't even want to. He doesn't want to escape from the luxury of having a blanket.

***

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[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 13

Part thirteen of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Domestic violence/spousal abuse

This is the last chapter of this story! HOWEVER, like we mentioned at the start, this AU actually has two different timelines. So keep an eye out for Part B, which is coming next :)

***

The intervening months have been peaceful and uneventful, even with Kane there.

Until one day, Valen doesn’t come home.  Again.

Jim is going absolutely out of his mind with worry. The last time Valen went missing, it was the worst thing imaginable. The only thing worse would have been his death. He and Liz have been calling around to hunters, but no one's seen him. It wouldn't even make sense: Valan should have gone straight from Liz's district to vampire territory, and Valen is friendly with the local hunters, though Liz and Laken have been interrogating everyone anyway, as well as searching the area up to the border.

Jim can't sleep. The thought of Valen going through that again, or turning up dead, or never turning up ever again, has him hysterical. Kane tries his best to comfort him, but he's sick with worry too: he knows how cruel hunters can be.

And if it's not hunters... what else could have happened?

This drags on, with no word about his whereabouts, for weeks. Until one day, Jim gets a phone call, and when he answers, Valen's panicked, tearful voice is on the other end. "Jim!"

"Valen!" Jim screams. "Oh my god, you're alive! Where are you? I'll come get you, I'll bring you home, where are you?"

Kane is immediately at rapt attention, listening in.

Valen lets out a series of heartbroken sobs. "Jim, I'm at the Kithrara estate. My husband happened to find me when I came to vampire territory and forced me to come back. He's not letting me leave, he's not leaving me alone for even a second. This is the first time I've had even a minute alone to make a phone call and he's going to come back any second. Please, Jim, I don't know what to do, please help me."

Vampire territory. Valen is in vampire territory, Jim can't get him there. His heart clenches with despair, his eyes filling with tears. "W-what do I do? I can't even get there." He sobs, horrified that Valen is stuck with that monster again.

"I can get him." Kane says, determined, his chains tinkling as he moves closer. "I can bring him home."

"Jim, if-" Valen cuts off abruptly, but he can still be heard breathing heavily, and a man's voice distantly, talking menacingly. "Yes, sir," Valen's voice says far from the phone, and the line goes dead.

Jim cries out in anguish as the line drops. "NO NO NO!" He pounds the wall in despair, tears streaming down his face. He whips around to face Kane, also shaken.

"Please.” Jim drops to his knees, like he always used to. "Please, Kane... sir. I'll do anything. Please bring him home. You could, you could be free, just, just please help him get out of there. Please, c'mon, w-we've been good to you, right? Please."

Jim is under no illusions of how far promising Kane anything goes. Kane could condition it on taking him back, things going back to how they were before. Jim would do it, to get Valen away from that horrible abusive monster. He would give up being a person if he has to.

"Jim, it's, it's okay. I'll get him home, and come right back, and, and you don't need to do anything." Kane is honestly really relieved that Valen is in vampire territory instead of being tortured by hunters. He doesn't know the details about Valen's estranged husband, though if Valen is literally being imprisoned by him, that can't be good.

"Th-thank you, thank you, thank you. Kane, man, thank you. Please do it. Please please please, just, please." Jim is not entirely convinced Kane won't just fuck off the second he's set free. He would have no way to get Valen out, then. All he could do is hope for an eventual escape, and Jim knows firsthand how hard that is to pull off.

"I'll leave as soon as the sun sets. I promise, I'll find a way." Kane hesitates. This part is scary. "Could you... call Liz? I'd like to borrow her gear, and make sure that I can get to vampire territory without any of her colleagues... stopping me."

"Of course. 'Course, Kane. Thank you." Jim picks the phone back up.

***

That night, Kane shows up on the doorstep of the Kithrara estate, ready to raise hell. He doesn't even need to find Valen: all he needs to do is create enough commotion for Valen to escape.

He rings the doorbell.

A servant answers.  "Hello?  How may I assist you today?"

Kane dashes past the servant quite rudely, running straight inside. He pulls a stake from his belt and holds it up high.

"PRISCUS KITHRARA!" he shouts at the top of his lungs, hoping Valen hears. "Come out and face me!"

He is immediately swarmed by staff: a few servants, the ones brave enough to run towards instead of away, and a few moments later, security, who tackle him to the ground.

The landing at the top of the stairs leading from the entryway into the mansion proper is soon darkened by the presence of Priscus Kithrara, as well as an older vampire who looks to be his father.  Priscus has Valen at his side, holding his arm, in a facsimile of protectiveness at the disturbance.  Valen is in a modest dress that is not at all his style, and his eyes widen with hope when he sees Kane, but he stays silent.

"What is the meaning of this?" the elder vampire snaps.  "Who do you think you are?"

"Go!" Kane shouts, not looking specifically at Valen, but hoping he gets the message. The door is still wide-open.

Kane is wearing several pieces of silver, and a little bit of struggle is all it takes to start burning the people holding him down. He wriggles his lithe body out of their grasp among the ensuing screams of pain, though he knows he'll no doubt be tackled again a few moments later. He has to act fast.

He grabs a silver-coated throwing dart with a gloved hand and throws it directly at Priscus.

It sticks into Priscus's shoulder, through his clothes, and he hisses in pain, reflexively bringing his hands to the injury.  Valen bolts, flinging himself over the railing with his dress bundled in his hands.

"Valen!" Priscus thunders.  He grabs the dart to tear it out, then yanks his hands back as the silver burns him, before growling and grabbing it again, ripping it out and tossing it away like a hot pan.

One of the security guards steps between Valen and Kane, intercepting Valen on his way to the door.  Valen attempts to go around, and the guard crab walks to match, a high-speed game of chicken.

"Priscus, discipline your wife," the elder vampire growls.

Priscus reaches Valen before he can successfully exit the front door; Valen is smaller, and not as strong or fast as his husband, who is larger and stronger than Valen or Kane, and is also at a disadvantage of being in clothes not made to accommodate running.  Valen is yanked back by a fistful of hair, yelping with pain as he's bent towards the floor under Priscus's iron strong hands.  "What did we talk about?" Priscus growls.

This is bad. Kane needs the attention on him. What could he say to get Priscus to pay attention to him instead?

The most effective thing he can think of is unspeakably crude, and has a chance of backfiring and putting Valen in even more danger. But he's sure that nothing he could say would make Priscus focus more on him than this.

"I am Kane de Sang, and I fucked your wife!" Kane yells, his face heating up, mortified at his own words. "You're a spineless coward who needs a team of guards to face me instead of fighting me for him like a man!"

He's completely winging it. Obviously he will lose a fight with this man. All he needs is for Priscus to drop his guard for just a moment so Valen can get out the door. Just rip off the skirt and run!

Valen whimpers. "You little whore," Priscus hisses, slapping Valen across the face and throwing him to the ground. "I'll deal with you in a second." He turns to face Kane.

Inexplicable rage suddenly wells up in Valen at that moment. He's mostly just let the learned helplessness kick in until now, but for some reason seeing Priscus take Kane more seriously as a threat than Valen himself pushes Valen over the edge. "You will deal with me now!" he roars, throwing himself at Priscus, talons wrapping around his face and sinking into his eyes, blinding him. Dark black blood sprays out as Valen rakes his claws over Priscus's face, ripping at him with a ferocious wail.

Kane has an idea.  It could be a very good idea or a very bad idea. But it's Valen's decision, after all. He doesn't have to take it.

"Valen!" Kane tosses him a stake.

Valen catches the stake in a bloody hand, looking shocked and overwhelmed.  The room hangs in expectant, stunned silence for a moment, as the disobedient wife holds a stake near the sole heir of one of the most powerful families in the country.

Valen looks conflicted. Then his face screws up in anger, and he plunges the stake into Priscus's chest--not through his heart, but very, very close.

"Leave me the fuck alone," Valen hisses in his ear. "Or I won't miss next time."

He then very quickly strips his dress over his head and shoves Priscus away, tossing it over him, so he thrashes to untangled himself, still deathly afraid with the stake in his chest.

Now only in his bloomers and undershirt, Valen runs out the door and off into the night.  Kane dashes off after Valen while everyone is stunned and paying attention to Priscus's disgraced state.  The attention of the staff quickly turns towards making sure Priscus is alive and helping him, rather than chasing either of them ensuring a smooth getaway.

"Sorry for the crudeness!" Kane calls, feeling a desperate need to get that out of the way as soon as possible. "I just wanted his attention off you! That was amazing!"

Valen is laughing as he runs, from sheer joy and exhilaration. "Kane, my dear, it was a brilliant play, I wouldn't have had it any other way! Let's see that piece of shit come after his whore of a wife now! Hahaha! Thank you, Kane, I could kiss you!"

He's done good. Kane has finally done something right in his miserable life. His heart warms. "Save it for Jim! He's been inconsolable for weeks."

Jim, my poor Jim, I'm coming.

Valen has never run this fast, and doing it with a friend next to him is thrilling, and he playfully weaves in and out around Kane, zigzagging around obstacles and giggling. Knowing Priscus and that family, they wouldn’t dare come after him after this. Not when they’d seen Valen almost kill Priscus. They couldn’t risk the heir like that.

They’re finally done with him.  He’s finally free.

He arrives home, the door banging open, his chest heaving, his eyes wide. "Jim!"

Jim leaps into his arms, having been waiting by the door ever since Kane left. He squeezes Valen as tight as he can, which is not all that tightly to a vampire, but still. He sobs into his shoulder. "I missed you."

Valen hugs Jim firmly back, then picks him up and does a little spin. "I missed you more."

"Are you okay? He's not coming back for you?" Jim asks anxiously.

"I'm okay now. And I don't think he will," Valen says. "I think he's finally got it through his thick skull that he'd be better off simply finding a new wife, if he values his wellbeing."

"Good, 'cause you're too busy being, being my boyfriend." Jim laughs tearily. He looks over Valen's shoulder to where Kane stands. "Thank you. Thank you for bringing him home."

"I'm glad I could help." Kane says with a smile.

"Oooh, Kane, take all that wretched silver off so I can finally give you a well-earned hug, would you?"

Kane beams, discarding Liz's things on the porch before coming inside. Jim doesn't let go of Valen, pulling Kane into a group hug.

***

@barebarb

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[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 11

Part eleven of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

Bam!!! Back to back!! Once again again an XL chapter because I couldn't find a good place for a chapter break. lol... You can clearly tell these were written as RPs 😅 Hope you enjoy!

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Aftermath of torture

In this chapter:

***

The next day, Jim comes down when Liz is set to arrive soon. He feels a lot safer in the daytime, making breakfast for himself.  Valen follows behind.

The bookshelf is undisturbed. Jim says, "Liz is gonna be working on the basement, installing silver stuff on the door. Kane can come up here? I can't move that bookshelf."

"Sure, that sounds fine. Just so you know, I had Kane demonstrate yesterday how strong he is as of now, and he could barely lift twenty pounds. The bookshelf was far in excess. Maybe that will put you at ease. I'll probably have to go to vampire territory tonight to pick up more blood, but I won't leave until Liz has made things secure so that you feel safe with me out of the house."

He walks over to the bookshelf and lifts it bodily, books and all, effortlessly and sets it where it belongs. He unlocks the door and cracks it open. "Kane, are you awake?"

Kane pokes his head out from the blanket cocoon he's encased himself in. "Yes, sir. I mean- yes." It's the best night of sleep he's had in a very long time. Already, he looks a lot better, the burns on his face having healed significantly. "Am I... needed?" They said they wouldn't hurt him, he tries to remind himself, but it's hard to internalize.

"Jim wants you to come upstairs. His sister is coming over today and will need to be in the basement. Shall I help you come up?"

His sister must be Liz. The hunter. Great, just great. There's no way he's going to escape that encounter unscathed. At least he has blood now, so he'll heal fast, but he's still dreading it.

"I, I can handle it." Kane wraps one of the blankets around himself, shuffling up the stairs to meet Valen. "Is it okay if I take it with me?"

"Of course." Valen watches Kane come upstairs, then has him sit down on the couch, then pokes his head into the kitchen. "Jim, dear, Kane is in the living room. Come out when you're ready. What would you like us to do until Liz gets here?"

Jim comes out with a plate of peanut butter banana toast. "Uh, I dunno. She shouldn't be long. Hey, K-Kane." Jim isn't supposed to use his name. He's supposed to use Master. He hates that his voice wavers. "How'd you sleep."

Kane eyes him fearfully.  "Very well. Thank you." Kane is trying to be as polite as possible, extremely tense. "And yourself?"

"Good. Hey, relax. Still not gonna hurtcha." Jim reminds him.

"Yes. Thank you." Kane barely calms. The hunter is almost here.

"I figure I'll go out and buy some stuff for him at some point today, before you go for blood. Clothes and stuff." Jim tells Valen. "That okay?"

"Sure, that's a lovely idea.  And while you're out of the house, maybe Kane can help me with my research project, since we're out of real blood.  I finally have a second test subject."  He winks at Kane.

Kane's face falls even deeper into fear. "What?" he squeaks, clutching the blanket tighter around himself. "What- research project?"

"Oh dear," Valen says with a laugh.  "I just realized how that might have sounded if you don't know anything about it.  I'm working on trying to develop artificial blood.  So far I've been the only one around to drink it.  You can help me taste test it.  You needn't worry; the worst that will happen is we sit around drinking shots, and one of them happens to taste bad.  Obviously you don't have to if it makes you nervous."

Kane relaxes. That's the worst that can happen, and the best that can happen is he gets more blood. "Yes, I would love to. That sounds, that sounds wonderful. Thank you for including me."

"Aw, I wanna do fake blood shots." Jim whines. "Stupid toxic mushrooms."

There's a knock at the door, and Kane jolts like it's a gunshot, whimpering.

"She's not gonna hurt you." Jim assures him. "Liz's just gonna make the basement secure and get you some restraints that don't hurt. That's all."

Restraints that don't hurt sound good. Kane nods, sinking further into the couch as Jim answers the door.

Liz is wearing her hunting gear and a stormy expression, carrying a bag of vampire restraints in one hand and a bunch of silver under the other. She glares at Kane with burning hatred.

Kane shoots Valen a desperate, pleading look.

Valen comes over and stands next to Kane, reaching down and putting a comforting hand on his back.  "Liz, it's so good to see you.  Kane, this is Liz, Jim's sister.  She and I have been good friends for years.  Liz, there's something Kane would like to say to you."  Valen leans down and whispers very, very quietly into Kane's ear, such that only vampire hearing would let him hear, no eavesdropping.  "Apologize to her, and try to make it sound like you're not doing it just because you're afraid of her."  There's no way it's going to mollify even a fraction of Liz's anger at Kane, but Valen thinks that addressing the elephant in the room up-front might ease some of the tension that he's sure is going to happen.  And maybe, just maybe, if Kane is polite and deferential and sincere right off the bat, it will help Liz see that he's different.

Kane focuses on the grounding hand on his back. Valen has been safe, so far, and unbelievably kind. At the very least, he's a vampire too, and the least threatening of his new wardens. He hesitates a moment before timidly speaking up. "I'm s-sorry, ma'am. What I did to Jim was- was cruel, and I'm glad he's safe now."

Jim's eyebrows raise at the apology. Kane's said I'm sorry many times already, but this feels different somehow. It feels weird.

"I know that it was cruel." Liz snaps. Kane cringes back, expecting a blow that doesn't come.

"Liz, he's already really scared." Jim says. "Please?"

She sighs, putting the silver down and approaching with the bag. "Arms out."

Kane extends his shaking arms. Liz fastens padded cuffs onto his wrists, and similar with his ankles. "Don't touch the keys, they're silver." she tells Valen, her tone much softer with him.

She tosses the bag to Jim, containing the keys to the cuffs and one other mysterious item. Jim peers inside, then closes the bag again with a frown.

"Thank you, Liz," Valen says.  "I know you have every right to be upset with Kane, he's just simply trying to demonstrate he knows what he did was wrong and behaves differently now.  He has been a perfect gentleman so far, nothing like how he used to be.  It's very kind of you to come over to help Jim and not hurt Kane."  It's a thank you, but also a warning to back off, a reminder of how they'd said it would go.  "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help with the basement."

"I get it, okay? That is what I came over to do." Liz rubs her temples. She gives Jim a quick hug before grabbing the silver. "Thanks, Valen. For everything. But... I think you're the last person who could help with this." She does offer him a lukewarm smile before going to work on the door.

Valen wilts as soon as Liz turns her back, desperately hoping he hadn't made a huge mistake and made things worse.  "Of course," he says vaguely.

Kane relaxes a little once she's out of eyeshot. "Thank you." he murmurs.

Jim fishes the keys out of the bag, stuffs them in his pocket, and throws the bag and its remaining contents in the trash.

Valen comes over and gingerly picks it from the trash.  "Hold on, Jim, dear, it sounds like there's still something in there."

"It's trash." Jim insists, taking it out of Valen's hands and putting it back in the garbage. "I'm gonna put the keys upstairs and head out to shop while you and Kane do shots or whatever. Unless you want me to stick around?"

Valen stares at Jim, then averts his eyes.  "I thought it might be good for you to stay here while Liz is here also, but I think I can handle it if you'd rather not be here."

"Yeah, you're right, it can wait. 'S why I asked." Jim takes Valen's hand, threading his fingers through Valen's. "And seriously, just forget about the bag. It's nothing we'd ever use."

"Jim..." Valen says.  Surely Jim must know that Valen is going to open the bag to see what it is as soon as he gets an opportunity when Jim isn't around?

"It's a muzzle." Jim mumbles. "Like I said. Trash. Prolly just came with the cuffs from whoever Liz got them from, which was why she didn't try to put it on. I'm not putting that shit on him." As afraid as he is of Kane's bite, the memory of Valen in a muzzle still haunts him.

"I don't mind wearing a muzzle if, if it doesn't hurt." Kane says. "I'll be good. Won't resist."

But Valen's skin crawls at the thought of a muzzle.  He understands Jim's instinctual reaction to it.  He tries to hide the look on his face.  Objectively, a muzzle is not such a bad thing, if it won't hurt.  He nods, trying not to look shaken.  "All right.  If you don't think you'll need it, we can get rid of it.  Kane says he wouldn't even mind, I assume it's padded.  I don't think Kane will try to bite you anyway.  I just want you to feel safe."

"I don't want it in our house." Jim cups Valen's face, running his thumb over Valen’s cheek. Soft skin that was locked behind a muzzle for three days during horrible trauma. "I'd feel safer with it gone."

Kane modestly averts his eyes.

Valen nods.  "I-I would also feel safer with it gone.  Thank you."

Valen takes Jim's hand and goes over to Liz, examining what she's doing curiously.  "So, Liz, what all are you planning to do while you're here?"

Liz has already replaced the door's hinges with silver, and is now installing a flat silver grating over it. "Just silverin' up this door. Obviously don't touch any of this, or wear gloves if you gotta. Assume that touching any metal within a foot of the door isn't fun. Gonna put a deadbolt on the outside next. All that should definitely be able to hold him. But both of you keep in mind it'll also hold anyone, human or vampire, so don't get stuck down there."

"Good to know." Jim says quietly. The idea of a prison inside his home makes him feel hollow. It reminds him uncomfortably of the human quarters back at Kane's.

Valen, by contrast, seems fine with this.  "Thank you, Liz."  He walks over and sits on the couch next to Kane.  "How are you doing?" he says quietly.

Jim talks with Liz for a bit, their conversation consisting of Jim chewing her out a bit for bringing a muzzle, Liz confirming what Jim thought about it just coming with the set, Jim asking where she got those anyway, and Liz saying she knows a hunter who did a hostage exchange once.

"I'm okay. Good." Kane confirms. "The cuffs don't hurt. I'm fed. I'm healing. You p-protected me from the hunter. Thank you. I'm... I'm actually okay." He's still scared, his fate uncertain, but he knows his life has at least had a major step up. 

"Good," Valen says, patting his knee.

"Um, can I ask... what did people say about me? After I was assumed dead, as I'm sure I was?"

"Um, unfortunately I don't really know.  I pretty much isolated myself from any other vampires a long time ago.  I moved out here to be with Jim not long after the last time we saw each other, and I don't keep in touch with my family."

"Oh. I see." That would have been years before Kane was captured, then. He hadn't even heard about Valen running off to human territory. It's scary how someone could just...disappear, and no one cares. He wonders if anyone cared when he did.

Suddenly, he smiles wryly. "He was still in your apartment, wasn't he. When I came by. I'm just realizing that."

Valen smiles, half-embarrassed, half amused.  "Yes, he was cowering at the bottom of my bedroom closet.  I've never been a good liar, so I was terrified you'd see through it.  At the time I was nervous I wouldn't be able to fight you off if you didn't believe me and decided to shove your way in and look around."

The implications aren't lost on Kane. If Valen hadn't done what he did, Kane never would have gone through this horrible mess. But it's an incidental consequence, not a purposeful one. He didn't even get captured until five years later.

And he really did plan on crushing Jim's ankles if he found him. And Jim doesn't deserve that.

"I'm glad you got him out. Thank you." Kane says.

"The poor thing was on the brink of death out in the wild," Valen says sadly.  "I couldn't just leave him there."  He wrings his hands.  "I'm glad you think this way, now, I was afraid when we came to get you that you'd--you'd be even angrier, and more violent."

Kane imagines, for a moment, a world in which he'd found Jim's corpse out there in the woods. He'd still have gone for a second human, probably in the same timeframe, and still been captured by the hunters. Except this time, there would be no Jim to save him and take him away. It would be forever. Neither one of them would have a happy ending. He's more thankful than ever for Valen.

"I've been subject to the other side. I couldn't possibly go on with my stupid fucking- s-sorry. I don't mean to be impolite." he says nervously, hoping that doesn't count. Just be polite, and you'll be fine. "With my views."

Valen smiles and pats his hand.  "You're all right.  Still, I'm very glad, it's making this all a lot easier.  I think in the long run this might be better for Jim's healing, too.  To stop thinking of you as some bogeyman that could swoop in to take him at any time."

Jim comes on over, only catching the last bit. "Yeah, not so much of a bogeyman now. So, shots? I can grab some cranberry juice and play along."

Kane perks up. He's going to get more blood, even if it's 'artificial'. He's never heard of anything like it, but he very much likes blood.

"Jim, dear, are you sure you don't want to wait until Liz leaves?" He hesitates, then more quietly: "And are you sure you want to see Kane feeding?"

"It's not like- it's just the mushroom stuff, out of a cup, right? No, like, biting anything?" Jim clarifies. "If I chicken out, I'll just slink off. We can wait if you wanna, though, and you can do it while I'm out. Doesn't matter."

"Yes. Okay, that sounds good. I do think we should wait until Liz is gone, though." No sense doing anything risky if they didn't need to, and having Kane do anything other than the absolute bare minimum to get through interacting with Liz is definitely risky

Kane is glad for the stalling. Drinking blood is bad behavior, and he doesn't want to do it in front of the huntress, even if it's not real blood and he has permission.

Jim puts the TV on for a bit. It's about 40 minutes until Liz is done. "Alright, that should do it." she announces. "If we really wanna test it, Valen can put some gloves on and give it a good knocking, but I get that might be uncomfortable and I'm confident it'll hold."

"I'm certainly willing to do that, but I'm confident in your work, Liz. Jim, up to you."

"If... you're really sure it's okay, could we maybe test it?" Jim asks sheepishly, embarrassed of his fear. "Just to make sure."

Kane wants to insist that he won't try to escape, but that could be taken as him wanting to leave the basement less-secured, and he doesn't want to imply anything like that, especially in front of the hunter.

"Of course! It'll be a fun activity."

Valen dons his protective gear, the things he uses to go out during the day, to be absolutely certain he won't touch any of the silver. He then has them lock him in the basement and bodily slams the door multiple times, demonstrating that even a full frontal assault with a running start from a healthy vampire is not enough to break it down.

Kane watches with wide eyes, listening to the pap-pap-pap-BOOM of Valen running into the door. He wasn't planning to escape anyway, he's behaving, and it's been good here so far, but the demonstration of just how trapped and helpless he is makes him feel small. He looks down at his feet, trembling a bit.

Jim unlocks the door. "Thanks, Vale. Think that about covers it."

Valen had, truthfully, enjoyed the activity just as he'd said. It'd been ages since he'd had any reason to unleash his full strength. He is panting a little when he comes out. "You're quite welcome." He catches sight of Kane. "I'm sure this is far in excess of what's actually necessary, considering Kane isn't going to try anything like what I just did, but I'm happy it will make you feel more secure."

Valen looks so hot, panting when he takes his mask off. Jim would eagerly comment on it if the other company in the room weren't his sister and Kane. "Yeah. Super secure."

"I'll leave you guys to it, then. You know I'm always a phone call away." Liz gives Jim a hug, and Valen a hug, and goes to leave. Before she does, she hesitates at the door before stomping over to Kane.

"Hurt my brother ever again and you are done." she snarls. "Are we understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kane says, cowering away from her.

"Thank you, Liz," Valen says dryly. "Drive safely."  Jim is similarly displeased with Liz's choice, even if he's glad for the protectiveness.

Valen watches Liz depart, and then turns to Kane. "You did very well, thank you for staying calm." 

"C-calm." Kane agrees shakily. He's relieved he's done well, at least.

Valen grins at Jim. "Drinks now, then?"

"Hell yes. I'm getting my c-berry." Jim heads into the kitchen.

"One moment, Jim, I have a great idea that will make this fun for you as well!"

Valen runs into the kitchen and mixes some shots of various kinds of alcohol, with red food dye, in with Jim's cranberry juice shots. He also makes Jim look away to keep it secret and adds a few prank shots, like straight pickle juice, vinegar, dredges of food leftovers that he's seen the human dump down the drain to discard, anything that's safe to ingest but strong in taste and can be passably disguised as cranberry juice. He also adds one shot that's the formula for artificial blood without the parts that would hurt Jim--he imagines it will just taste really salty, but he knows Jim will be delighted to taste a safe version of it.

He then pours little sample cups of his various concoctions, paired so that he and Kane will always be drinking the same one. He's had years to work on it at this point, and while it's certainly not real blood, not even as good as the imported stuff, it's much more tolerable than it had been in the early stages. He's currently working on trying to replicate the specific tastes of various blood types. He is getting closer to being ready to do something with it, although he's still not quite sure what his plan of attack for actually launching it will be, now that he's burned his bridges with the country's biggest distributor of blood.

Valen comes out with the shots, all labeled with some scribbles only decipherable to himself. "Okay, Kane, we're testing which of these taste best, which of them are stinkers, and as a bonus let's label each as to what blood type they taste most like."

"Haha, oh man. This is great." Jim laughs. "This is so cute. I'm so freakin' excited."

Kane eyes the not-blood curiously. It doesn't smell like blood, but it looks like blood. He hopes it sits in his stomach and sates hunger like blood. "Okay! This is... I've never seen anything like this."

Jim grabs the human-safe artificial blood first, the only one visually distinguishable from his cranberry shots. Kane grabs the shot opposite the one Valen grabs.

"Cheers!" Jim exclaims.

Valen clinks his glass against Jim's, then Kane's, then tosses the shot back.

All three of them make faces like they'd just tasted something bad. The first cup of artificial blood was definitely a bad one.

"Um," Valen says, smacking his lips. "Hm, I'm marking this one down as a no.”

It definitely tastes bad, but it really is blood, almost. Kane licks the remnants from the inside of the shot. "It's okay. I don't hate it." he decides. How could he hate something that would sate hunger? Just yesterday, he would have licked this off the floor and been grateful.

"I'll write it down that a starving man finds it tolerable."

"Ugh." is Jim's only comment on his own drink.

Valen grabs the next shot glass and downs it. He licks his lips. "Mmm.  Oh, this one is pretty good. I'd say it's AB positive.”

Kane agrees. "AB positive, yes. This is good." But maybe his standards are low, like Valen said.

Jim gets pickle juice, his face scrunching up again. "Pickle."

The next one, Jim gets a nice cranberry vodka shot. "Now this is a shot. Finally." he says with a smile.

"B negative. Really good." Kane says immediately after drinking his.

The smile drops off Jim's face and he looks away. After seeing Jim's reaction, Kane's mood similarly seems to drop as he shrinks back.

"Ah," Valen says. B negative is, in fact, Jim's blood type.  He discreetly makes a few notes in the ensuing awkward silence.  "Shall we take a break, then?"

"S-sorry." Kane says quietly.

"Nah, s'all good. You were doing exactly what Valen asked you to do." Jim takes another shot. "Bleh. Pickles." He motions for Valen and Kane to continue.

Valen wordlessly slides his notebook and pencil over to Kane, so he can directly write down what blood type he thinks they are, so as to avoid a repeat of what just happened.

The next blood shot is a whole lot of nothing. It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't taste good either

They go through all of them like this. Jim is pretty giggly by the end, the B negative shot forgotten. Kane looks at him strangely.

"He never let me driiink." Jim complains to Valen. "Said it'd taste bad, in my blood. Boo. No fun."

Kane's experiences with humans and alcohol have been very different up until now, due to selection bias: the only hunters who would bother visiting him drunk were the ones who wanted something to hurt. He's never seen a reaction like this before.

"Oh, Jim," Valen says, giggling and giving him a smooch. "You're so cute when you're drunk. You can have all the fun you want now. Oh!" Valen goes red. "I-I forgot that you were supposed to drive to the store after this!”

"Well that's not happening. Don't wanna go to the stupid store anyway. Wanna stay here with you." Jim nuzzles into Valen's shoulder. "We got clothes here. It can wait a day. C'you wait a day, Kane?"

"Yes. I, I can wait. Thank you for going at all." Kane agrees.

"See? All fine." Jim says happily.

Valen decides to also put off leaving the house to go get blood until Jim is sober, imagining it wouldn't go well for Jim to be drunk alone with Kane, or to wake up alone with Kane in the house.  They have the artificial stuff to tide them over, which is in fact the whole point of making it.

After they're done drinking, Valen insists that Jim "makes" Kane watch Jim's favorite movie.  After it seems like Jim's had enough of being conscious on this mortal coil, Valen takes him upstairs and puts him to bed, then comes down to put Kane in the basement.

He apologetically asks him to go downstairs, and asks if he'd like anything to keep himself entertained.

"...Music?" Kane asks. "If, if it's convenient. I don't need anything. Thank you for the blood."

"Of course!"

Valen comes down with a radio, as well as some notebooks and pencils, which Kane didn't ask for, but Valen suggests to him to keep a journal, as Valen has found it good for his mental health.  He also brings down books and extra pillows and blankets, adding them to the outrageously large pile of blankets already on Kane's bed, because he thinks it's just so dreadfully cold down here.

"I'll see about getting us some real blood soon," Valen says on his way up the stairs.  "Sleep well."

"Thank you. So much, for everything. You too." Kane says with a small smile. For the first time in a very long time, he's actually hopeful about the future.

Valen locks the door, then goes upstairs to the very drunk and sleepy Jim, barricading the bedroom door once again and crawling up beside Jim.  "How are you, my dear Jim?"

"Good. Sleepy. M'not even scared." Jim proclaims proudly. "Valen. Guess what. I love you sooooo much."

Valen's face splits in a smile so big it hurts his face.  "Awww.  Well guess what.  I love you more!"

Jim breaks into a gigantic smile. "Yaaaaaay." He buries his face in Valen.

Valen strokes the nape of Jim's neck as they both fall asleep.

***

@barebarb

@cc1010foxy

@emcscared-whumps

@gt-daboss

@hurtpluscomfort

@jakersdaboss

@lolrpop

@melancholy-in-the-morning

@pigeonwhumps

@secretwhumplair

@some-thrilling-heroics

@starfields08000

@t0rture-me

@thecyrulik

@thejinglingcourtjester

@vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff

@whuarri

@whump-cravings

@whump-my-heart-away

@whumpycries

@wolfeyedwitch

@whump-addict

@why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 9

Part nine of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

Sorry I've been slow getting these out--I've been suffering some writer's block due to some personal stuff I've got going on IRL. I'll admit that I'll probably be putting a liiiitle less effort into polishing the crossover fics from hereon out, but we got a lot of enthusiasm for them so I'm going to keep them coming even if they're a bit messy! There's still a lot of fun stuff in there imo :)

Also this ch is pretty long just because I couldn't find a good place for a chapter break!

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

Warnings: Capture, dehumanization, nonconsentual bondage/restraint, gag/muzzle, mentions of rape and torture

In this chapter: Valen's fear of getting hatecrimed creeps towards plausibility, but even moving doesn't save Valen from an unexpected nightmare. Luckily this time, he has people looking for him.

***

It's unheard of for anyone to escape vampire territory after years of captivity, and a pretty big shock that another vampire helped him do it. Though it doesn't garner quite the response an inspirational solo escape story might, it's still an incredible tale of something really unusual and an unlikely alliance between humans and vampires, and the media eats it up. Jim does do several interviews about it, wearing the turtlenecks that have recently become his regular wear.

He's purposely vague about Valen, knowing that he doesn't want to be in the limelight. He doesn't even mention him by name. He doesn't mention Kane or any other vampire by name either, worried about Kane being able to find him somehow if he got access to human media. He's given a writer permission to write a book about his experience. She's not pushy like a lot of other journalists, and is intent on getting it right.

Life goes on. Jim helps Valen collect mushrooms. He goes vegetarian. Liz is back to patrolling. Liz makes Jim try therapy, but his preferred method of dealing with it is thinking about it as little as possible, so he drops it fairly early on. Talking with the writer is already pushing it.

Reporters will sometimes come to their house.  Valen is thrown into anxious spirals every time, terrified there’s going to be an incident.  But the visits die down over the first half a year. Jim doesn't reveal that Valen is living with him, but it's figured out anyway. People who know Liz and see her change from constant anger and depression to actually having some life back in her are grateful to Valen.  But many people who don't know Jim and Liz are more hostile: this is an area where a lot of people have been affected by vampire attacks, to boot. They're getting left angry notes.

Valen goes out with Jim during the day, since Jim is still nervous about leaving the house at night.  Valen is also nervous about leaving the house, so he doesn’t go to human stores or anything.  He either asks Jim to get him things, or goes back to vampire territory and just nervously looks over his shoulder for anyone from the Kithrara estate.

He goes out to get mushrooms, though. He keeps working on his project.  He avoids the media, unless someone contacts him directly and is really polite.  If humans approach him, he's very polite and doesn't dodge them, but he does excuse himself before too long.  He's not antisocial, but he is shy.  He likes spending time with Laken, Liz, and Jim, and will socialize with people they deem safe.

One day, Jim and Valen are getting ready to go gather mushrooms while Liz is fast asleep. It's getting hotter out now in the summer. Jim tosses Valen the keys to his car, since Valen is already ready to go. "Hey, can you start the AC running so we don't cook in there while I finish getting dressed? If you're cool with that."

"Sure thing, Jim, dear."  He secures his mask to his face, doublechecking that he's completely covered, and heads out, approaching the car in the driveway to unlock it and turn it on.

A man and woman are chatting idly while walking their dog on the other side of the street. When Valen comes out, the man hands the leash to the woman and encourages her to go home, crossing the street and approaching while she leaves.

"Hey!" he calls, looking pissed-off. "It's bad enough there's a vampire in our neighborhood being supervised, now you're out in broad daylight on your own?!"

Valen stops in his tracks and starts to back away.  "I apologize, sir, I'm not doing anything nefarious.  My-my associate is coming out shortly."

"Yeah, yeah, you saved the Lieberman kid. Well guess what, he's not the only one who lives here! You're scaring my wife, my kids won't play outside anymore!" He pushes Valen.

Valen stumbles back, scrambling back towards the house.  "I-I assure you I pose no threat to your family, sir, I've done n-nothing to pose a threat to them."

"You're a fucking vampire! You being here is a threat! Thought the hunters were supposed to protect us!"

Jim comes downstairs shortly, pushing the door open. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Keep that thing on a leash." The man spits and walks off.

"F-fuck off!" Jim shouts, but it loses its impact since the man is already leaving and Jim's voice always wavers when saying anything defiant. He runs to Valen, hugging him. "Are you okay?"

Valen's face is downcast, eyes on the ground.  "Um...Yes, I'm not, I wasn't in any physical danger..."  He sounds extremely disheartened.  "That man said his wife and children are afraid of me.  I-I wanted to say he should let me speak to them, so they could see there's no danger, but I doubt that would have been very well received."

"That's not the kind of okay I mean." Jim sighs. "I've been kinda... thinking. That maybe we should move or something. Somewhere more secluded, where you wouldn't have to worry about shit like that. Not too far away from Liz obviously, but y'know. How would you feel about that?"

Valen rubs his arm.  "That's probably for the best...but it feels bad they won't even give me a chance.  Is there really nothing I can do to win them over?"

"Prolly some people, but not all. Some people are always gonna have their heads in the sand." Jim wonders if his parents would've approved of him and Valen. He's pretty sure they would- Valen brought him back, after all, and they were wonderful loving people, but he can't know for sure. They hated vampires. He doesn't even know for sure if they'd approve of him being gay. He never got a chance to ask.

"You don't need that asshole's approval. I was thinking we could wait 'til the book comes out, Mindy said it'll only be a few more months. And then we could use money from that to find a place. Or we could use some of the stuff you took from Priscus, if you wanted to do it sooner, but that's your call."

Valen still seems downcast.  He wants to try and show everyone who he really is, but there is no way to do it without putting himself at risk and making everyone even more uncomfortable.

They end up buying the house and moving sooner rather than later, when Jim finds Valen crying over the latest hatemail he's received one too many times.  When he starts being too afraid to leave the house even at night, that's how he knows it's time to go.

Moving is easy with Valen's superior strength and Liz's truck.  The house isn't huge, but it's nice and cozy, and it has a basement with no windows.  Valen doesn't expect Jim to want to be down there at all, but it's nice to know it's an option if Valen ever wants to rest somewhere where there's no chance the sun can get him.

***

Their life there is cozy, until one day Valen doesn't come home.

Jim freaks out fast. Valen doesn't ever just not come home. And when Jim didn't come home, it was the worst thing that ever happened to him- even though it led to meeting Valen, one of the best.

He calls Liz first, of course. She has connections with other hunters, and the first thing he wants to rule out is that Valen's been killed. The worst-case scenario, and unfortunately, what he thinks is the most likely one. He can't stop crying. He wants to go to Liz, but he doesn't. He has to be home if Valen comes back.

Liz calls around, asking if anyone in various branches have seen a vampire matching Valen's description in the last day. The last two days. The last three days. She ends up on the phone with the director of a branch a day-trip away, who finally confirms that Valen has been seen. And he's alive. He's been captured, and he's being... experimented on for weapons testing.

Liz informs the director who Valen is, and politely asks to please let them pick Valen up today.

"I'm sympathetic to your story, but are you quite sure this merits release?" the director asks her.  "Live capture of vampires is quite a difficult feat."

Liz's heart pounds. There's no way she's leaving Valen there, but it would be a lot easier if he'd hand him over. "He's never hurt a human in his life. The opposite, he's actively saved a human from capture. He's accompanied me or my partner on hunts on a few occasions, when one of us was out of commission. He's working on synthesizing artificial blood vampires can live off of out of mushrooms. Hell, he's an innocent person. Those should all... merit release, right?" She's trying really hard not to blow up on him.

The director puts her on hold.  Then, a few minutes later, he asks if he can call her back, because he needs to discuss it with some other people in the branch.

"Yeah, of course. I'll- I'll be here. Please call back."

Liz calls Jim immediately- she doesn't stay on the line long, giving a quick summary and a location, wanting to keep the line open for when the director calls. Jim is on his way the second Liz gives him the info, gathering two blood packs and a spare change of full-coverage clothes and a mask in case Valen's own have been compromised. He needs to get there right now. He needs to save Valen.

He doesn't know whether he'll get there to people willing to give Valen back, or hostile hunters refusing to. He can't stop crying, hasn't been able to stop crying for days, but now it's making driving harder. Despite it, he goes as fast as he can.

The director calls back a while later--an annoyingly, stupidly long time later--and he says that he's talked to some people from Liz's branch of the hunter's guild.  There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Valen is not dangerous--but there are also testimonies from neighbors who lived in concern for their safety for quite a long time, and the director says that he has an obligation to protect the innocent people whose safety he has been entrusted with and can find no strong basis on which to support the release of this vampire.  He does say that Liz is free to appeal, which would start the process of gathering a committee to draft a resolution outlining under what circumstances a vampire can be released, since this is such a rare issue and there is no precedent for how to handle it.

Liz wants to pull her hair out. "Valen doesn't- he hasn't been neighbors with those people for years. He moved away when the concerns were initially raised. He keeps away from humans. But, yeah," Her voice breaks. This is the second time someone she loves has been kidnapped. "I wanna start an appeal. Can you at least just... not hurt him? He hasn't done anything. Please."

The director puts her on hold again.  Then when he comes back:  "I've phoned the hunter's base where he is and told them not to start any new experiments.  Thank you for your patience through this irregular situation."

"Thank you." She doesn't want to thank the bastard who approved Valen's torture, but being cordial to this man is now the most important thing. "Um, one more thing. My brother, he and Valen are, obviously close. He's kind of already on his way. Can you at least let him see Valen?"

The director hems and haws.  "I suppose that should be all right, as long as it's supervised."

"Thank you. Please keep me updated."

Jim arrives a few hours later. The things he brought are stuffed in his backpack, and he knocks hard and fast on the door until someone opens it. His eyes are red and puffy. When someone opens it, he cries, "Please don't hurt Valen! Please, he didn't do anything, please let him go!" before the other person can get a word in.

The person who answers is a gruff-looking woman with spiked hair.  She opens the door, is yelled at for a few seconds, and then looks bewildered.  "Wha-  Who are you?"

"My name's Jim Lieberman. Please. He didn't do anything, please let him go." Jim begs. "I swear to god, Valen is the kindest, most harmless person on earth, human or vampire. Please."

She huffs.  "Ah, shit.  Okay.  All right."  She opens the door and lets Jim in.  "Lex!" she calls into the building.  Her leg is in a boot, and she drags it across the floor into the next room, where another woman with bandages over her nose is sitting on a couch.  "Lex, I knew something was up with that fucking vampire.  Listen to what this guy is saying."

"I'm Jim Lieberman, Valen, the, the vampire you- kidnapped-" He's on the verge of tears, again. "He saved me. And he's never hurt anyone, ever. Please, you can't just- this is supposed to be what hunters are against. Kidnapping random innocent people. Please, where is he?"

Lex's face falls.  "Oh my god.  Okay."  She stands up and comes over.  "I'm sorry, Jim, we--We thought something was strange, so we brought him back alive, but then Nick wormed his way into the situation.  Has anyone talked to the director about this?"

"Fuck the director," Ari says.  "I'm making an executive decision of fuck the director."  She walks to the basement door with an unsteady gait and turns the knob, opening the door.  "He's downstairs."  Through the now-open door, Jim can hear Valen sobbing miserably and wordlessly calling out hysterically.

Jim runs down the stairs and straight to the horrible fucking cage with the love of his life inside. "Valen!" he sobs, tears spilling over again. "It's, it's gonna be okay, I'm here, I've gotcha."

Valen's tear-stained face breaks into an expression of relief at seeing Jim, and he sticks his hands through the bars as far as they'll go before the chains stop him. He is topless, wearing a muzzle, and already covered in burn marks.

There's a man at a desk catty-corner to the cage with the hysterical vampire inside of it. He looks up, irritated, as Jim enters. "And what do you think you're doing?"

Jim takes Valen's hands in his, holding them tight. "I'm taking him home. You- you need to let him go. Please." He takes a shuddering breath and repeats his story that worked on the hunters upstairs. "My name is Jim Lieberman. This is Valen, the vampire who saved me from spending my life as a bloodbag." He's so much more than that. "He's never hurt anyone. You're torturing an innocent person. Please fucking let him out of this thing."

"This creature is capable of killing me with a word. I think it will be staying right where it is."

Valen lets out a pitiful whine and tugs on Jim's hand.

There's a clomping sound on the stairs, and Ari appears coming down. "You're so full of shit, Nick. You're not even the one who got your ass beat bringing that thing here. We didn't take him here for you to play with, we wanted answers, and you're done dodging the issue."

Nick looks stormy.

Jim keeps holding Valen's hands. "He's not a thing or an it! Stop treating him like he's not a person! Of, of course he fought back, Valen wouldn't hurt a fly even if someone was screaming in his face, you were kidnapping him! Wouldn't you fight back? If you were him?" He looks up at the spiky-haired woman tearily. "Please help. Please let me take him home. Please, I love him."

Ari sighs and rubs her temples. "All right, I've spent the last two days sitting upstairs trying to decide how I feel about this situation, and this raving lunatic showing up here rabid about this vampire being innocent is enough to push me off the fence. Nick, give him the keys."

"I beg your pardon," Nick says, eyes narrowed.

"Give him the keys, let him take the vampire home."

"You have no authority to tell me to do that," Nick says hotly.

"Oh! You're right. Sorry." She unholsters her revolver and points it at him. "How about now?"

Nick narrows his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

Lex makes a "cut it out" motion across her neck to Nick, but Ari has already pulled the trigger and put a slug in the floor inches away from Nick's foot with a huge BANG, causing him to jump.

Jim screams and flinches hard when the gun goes off, eyes wide. He's not as terrified as Valen, but he's still terrified.

"The keys," Ari says brusquely.

Jaw set with hatred, Nick comes over and hands a keyring to Jim. He takes the keys from Nick and shakily unlocks the cage, reaching in and pulling Valen out.

"I've got you. I've got you. It's okay, we're gonna go home." He goes to take the muzzle off.

"Do me a favor and take that off after you get outta here," Ari says. "I'm sure this guy is safe for you, but he's none too pleased with us." She reholsters her gun and moves between Jim and Nick, staring Nick down.

Lex comes over and helps Jim lift Valen out of the coffin. "I'm sorry," she says tearfully. "This was a huge mistake, I shouldn't have let this happen."

Valen shakily stands between them on wobbly legs, tears streaming down his face

"I at least need to take the cuffs off so he can get dressed, it's still light out." Jim protests, holding Valen close. "What- what did you do with his clothes? I brought an extra change, but..." But you're fucking monsters. Even Kane didn't strip me.

Jim sniffles. "Valen's the gentlest soul on the face of the planet." He doesn't know if even Valen might be pushed to his limit by this and fight, but he wouldn't blame him if he did.

"Absolutely not," Nick says. "Throw a blanket over him or something. That's a safety hazard."

"Shut up, Nick," Ari snarls. "The keys for the cuffs are on that keyring too. Unlock him if you want." She pointedly does not answer the question of where his clothes went.

"I'm sorry," Lex says. "I didn't realize how messed up this was. Here, let me help you get them off."

Jim takes the hint that they've destroyed his clothes. Even Valen's cute plague doctor mask. He similarly avoids responding with anything meaningful to Lex's apology- it's not okay. None of this is okay. A teary "Yeah." is all he says to her.

He takes the cuffs off with Lex, swings his backpack around, and takes out the change of clothes he brought. "Here, lemme help you get dressed. You're gonna be alright. Goin' home." Jim maneuvers Valen into the clothes until every inch of him is covered, putting the mask on over the muzzle. "Brought some blood packs, too. You can take that thing off and drink in the car. Won't even be- won't even be light for long."

Valen allows himself to be manhandled in Jim's hands, safely bundled up back up, covered, armored, eyes glazed over and distant, barely responding.

"I really don't know what the director will have to say about this," Nick says maliciously.

A growl rips from Valen's throat, and he suddenly comes to life, ripping the mask off, hands fumbling with the straps of the muzzle.

"Shit," Ari says, and Lex backs away nervously.

Valen repels all the hands on him and rips the muzzle off with an animalistic snarl. Then he does something Jim has never seen him do before: he uses persuasion.

"Tell them what you did to me last night," he barks at Nick, eyes aflame, face crunched with his fangs bared.

Nick's gaze goes soft and distant, hypnotized. "I raped you."

"See what the director has to say about that," Valen snarls, and he grabs Jim's wrist and drags him up the stairs.

Jim cries out in anguish at the confession, horrified. He wants to go right back down there and sock the guy, but getting Valen as far away from here as possible as fast as possible is more important. "You f-fucking piece of shit! I'll kill you!" he screams back downstairs Valen drags him out, sobbing.

He hands Valen the backpack. "I'm sorry, I'm s-so sorry it took me this long to find you. Fuck, I can't imagine- why would they do this?" It's not a real question. It feels like the universe is determined to have as much horrible bullshit as possible happen to him and the people he cares about. I don't know how Liz can believe in a loving god in this world.

Ari, it sounds like, is way ahead of Jim, because she also shouts "You fucking what?" And as they rush out and away from the scene, the sound of fists meeting face sounds out loud and clear from downstairs, accompanied by more enraged shouting.

Valen's enraged mask falls as soon as he's upstairs, and he lets go of Jim's hand, sagging against the wall and bursting into tears. He slides down to his knees, strapping his mask back on with fumbling hands.

Footsteps from behind them as the sound of Nick getting the shit beat out of him downstairs continues. Lex comes up, also in tears. "I didn't know he did that," she cries. "I'm so, so sorry. I had no idea he would do that."

Jim goes to stand protectively in front of Valen. Now that he has the damn muzzle off, they're safe. He doesn't need to hold back. "No, when you kidnapped him to torture him, you had no idea you were handing him directly over to a rapist! That makes it all fucking okay!" Jim yells at her. "What's wrong with you?!"

Lex shrinks back. "I didn't --it's compli--I'm sorry," she finally settles on. "I didn't--I thought he was, like, like--come on, you know what vampires are capable of, you know most of them are monsters!"

"Get- get away from us." Jim sobs. "You've done enough. Valen's not the monster here. You're the ones torturing people in an- in an evil lab."

Lex looks like she wants to defend herself, but before she can do so, Valen snaps,"Go back downstairs."

Lex's eyes go distant and she impassively turns and goes down the stairs.

Valen clings to Jim's knees. "Can we please go home now, Jim? Please?"

Jim's glad Valen can just use persuasion to make their exit smooth, even if the distant look he remembers from Kane's party still gives him the creeps. "Yeah, we're going home. Goin' home right now."

Jim helps Valen up and to the car, opening the passenger side door and ushering him in. "There's blood in the backpack, if you can get it under the mask. Here, actually." Jim takes off his flannel and hands that to Valen, too. "You can make a little tent if you don't wanna wait for sunset. We're going home. I'm taking you home. Not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again."

He gets in the driver's seat and pulls onto the road.

"Thank you, Jim. Th-thank you." Valen takes the flannel and curls up on the floor on the passenger's side, jamming himself underneath the glovebox and using the flannel as a blanket to cover himself. "I'm, I'm very grateful you thought to bring food, but I don't think I can eat anything right now."

"Yeah." Jim wipes his eyes as he drives, but more tears keep coming. "I thought, thought you were dead. That you might be dead. Liz's been calling all the hunter branches looking for you. I left as soon as we knew where you were. It's over now. He's not gonna get away with what he did t'you. I'm so sorry, Vale. W-what do you wanna do first, when we get home?" He hopes thinking about nice things like sleep in our own bed or take a bath might help him feel better. Grounded. Knowing he got out.

Valen sobs. "C-call Liz, I suppose. I was just walking, Jim, th-they didn't even give me a chance to talk, I know that's smartest for them so I didn't just use persuasion, but, but they didn't even give me a chance, Jim."

"They're awful." Jim agrees. "They're fucking awful. You're a damn teddy bear. You've never been a threat to anyone. I can't believe they just- they just took you."

He never wanted Valen to feel this way. What it feels like to get taken. And on top of that, the burns, and if that wasn't bad enough, the rape. As if Valen wasn't traumatized enough already, he can't be safe from it in vampire or human territory.

"We're gonna go home, and I'll treat your injuries, and you'll get all cleaned up and into some nice soft pajamas, and you'll be safe and sound." he promises.

Valen trembles on the floor of the car.  He's never felt this threatened by humans before.  Hunters, a little.  The bad neighbors, the potential for an angry mob to form--yes.  But he's never been so thoroughly terrorized by humans that any human feels like a threat.  He's...a little scared of Jim, somehow, inconceivably.  This must have been how Jim felt when Valen had saved him from Kane.

When they get home, Valen wordlessly goes down into the sunless basement, curling up underneath the stairs, still crying.

Jim calls Liz and lets her know what happened, and she immediately goes to come over. Jim puts the untouched blood packs back in the fridge, grabs a big fluffy blanket, and goes to the basement he seldom enters.

"Knock knock." he says softly. "Liz is coming over. She's gonna stay over a bit, make sure you're nice and protected." Since they weren't exactly supposed to take Valen. "Can I come down?"

Valen lets out a strangulated sob.  "Can--can you just give me a few minutes?  Can you maybe come back in twenty minutes?  Can you--can you lock the door and come back later?"

Jim is fucking heartbroken by how scared and miserable Valen sounds. "Course, whatever you want. Blanket incoming." He tosses the blanket over the side of the stairs. "I'll knock in twenty minutes, and if you don't want me down then either, it's okay. Lemme know if you need anything." His lip wobbles. He wishes he could take all the pain away, but he can't. "I love you." he says before he goes.

Valen just sits there, thinking about Jim, replaying in his mind the few days when they first met.  Valen saving Jim, comforting him.  The fact that the door is locked makes him feel secure--no one can get him.

He gradually starts to come down, and then he starts to want Jim.  He slowly gets to his feet and drags himself up the stairs the next time Jim knocks and opens the door.

He walks straight into Jim's arms, plonking his face in Jim's shoulder, sniffling.  "Thank you, Jim," he says, voice muffled.  "I love you too."

Jim holds Valen close, rubbing his back. "You will always be safe here." he promises. "I can't make the world less fucked up, but I can promise you'll always be safe in this house." Valen's made him feel safe for years. He's determined to do the same. "Liz'll be over in like, ten minutes. You want me to get some cream for your burns? Or you wanna just leave it to heal?"

Valen sniffles.  "Yes, please.  I would like it if you rubbed the burn cream on me.  I would like to see Liz.  Thank you."  He accompanies Jim to the bathroom.

Jim goes to take Valen's clothes off so he can see the injuries, but hesitates. "Can I see?"

Valen whimpers.  How had he not thought this far ahead?  This is Jim.  Jim is safe.  Jim has never been anything but safe.  But...it's going to take a while for this to wear off.  "I-I changed my mind, I don't want the cream that bad, I want to keep my clothes on.  Please don't take them off, I want to keep them on."

"Then they're staying on." Jim agrees. "Do you wanna put it on yourself?" But there are burns on his back, they'd be difficult to reach. "Or- if, if it makes you feel safer, you could hypnotize me and have me do it." It's Valen. He trusts Valen enough for that. "Or we can just forget about it and go wrap you up in a burrito on the couch."

Valen shakes his head.  The thought of using persuasion on Jim for anything but the most dire circumstances repulses him.  "Let's just leave them.  I would.  Would like to be a burrito."

"Then a burrito you'll be." Jim leads Valen back to the living room and bundles him up all nice and cozy, sitting right by his side.

Liz arrives shortly, bursting through the door and rushing over. "Valen!" she wails, hugging him. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She thought it was going to be another someone she loves is taken away forever situation.

Valen hugs her back.  "I'm so glad you were able to f-find me, Liz, thank you so much."  He hiccups between words.  "I-I don't know what I would have done w-without you."

Without us you never would have been in human territory in the first place. "Well, you got us. You got us for as long as we live. I'm your own personal bodyguard for the next few days, 'til we're sure everything's settled down. I don't think anyone's gonna come after you, but if anyone does, the great thing about silver bullets is they work even better on humans."

Valen clings to Liz and Jim both a lot over the next few days.  They get word that Nick has been fired, apparently at the pushing of the two women who had met them at the compound, who reported to the director what they'd found out when Valen had used persuasion on Nick.  Those two hunters also try to contact Valen--they eventually get word to Jim that they want to talk to Valen to apologize, but Valen says he doesn't want to talk to them, and tells Jim not to give them their number.

Valen still doesn't eat for a few days, and only breaks his fast when Jim and Liz finally force him to sit down and eat something.  It's a long, long time before Valen works up the courage to go outside again, and the only time he does it by himself is at night, when he has to make his weekly trip back to vampire territory to buy blood.  He continues to work on his project--at one point, the formula is far enough along that he can cut down on his trips to load up on blood to once a month.

The work is slowed down by Valen's newfound fear of leaving the house that Jim had promised is safe. But it is safe, safe and secure and still more than he ever thought he could have.

***

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K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 7

Part seven of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

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Warnings for this chapter: None

In this chapter:

***

Valen thinks about it over the next couple of days. He doesn't like making rush decisions.

He calls Jim every day, and every day he hears about how scared Jim gets at night. Jim tries to downplay it, and it still sounds horrible. He can hear the tiredness in both his and Liz's voices.

He barely knows Jim. He doesn't have to babysit Jim. He can't focus on the work that had seemed so important last week.

He starts getting mail from Priscus. A picture of a cat, saying it's his if he comes back to the estate. Sent directly to Valen's supposedly secret address. The wording in his communications is getting more insistent.

He calls Jim and says he'd like to move in with him and Liz, if such a thing is still agreeable to them.

Jim jumps on the offer ecstatically. "Of course it's still agreeable! We'd love to have you! Come on over!"

Valen regretfully tells his landlord he's breaking the lease. He's not attached to any of the furniture. He packs up his books, his lab equipment, his clothes, the blood he has on hand. His stash of valuables he'd taken from the Kithrara estate. Priscus will surely demand those back as soon as he's no longer in denial that Valen isn't coming back, and wasn't just "borrowing" them. Which will likely happen when he finds out Valen is now living in human territory, at which point he'll be out of reach even to the Kithrara family's manipulation tactics. He needs his ill-gotten goods to save himself from having to work a job.  He’s capable of it, he simply doesn't want to and tells himself his research project is more important.

His things aren't too heavy to carry, but they are a little bulky. He buys a cheap car. It's even harder to drive. He's already shunted his previous car off onto Jim to be rid of it. There are no rentals that will allow him to return it in human territory. He may just abandon it on the side of the road when he's done with it. Having money has let him turn to being wasteful as a coping method for his anxiety.

He loads up all his things and stops at the store to get a generous supply of blood packs. He puts them in a cooler and drives straight to Liz and Jim's house.

Jim runs out to give him a tackle-hug as soon as Valen arrives. It's the first time he's been outside at night since Valen took him to the store. "I missed you."

Valen lets himself be pummeled by the hug. Why had he ever left this? What could be more important than this? "I missed you too."

Liz follows. "Welcome back, roomie. Lemme help you with your stuff."

When Liz starts to carry his things, he untangles himself from Jim. "Please, please allow me. It's much easier for me, don't trouble yourself. Where shall I put them?"

Liz waves him off. "I can carry shit no problem."

"We cleared out the extra room. We can still share a bed and stuff, but that way you've got your own space to put all your stuff," Jim says. "Hey, you wanna see something fucked up?"

"Stop showing it to everyone who comes over," Liz admonishes.

Valen's eyes widen. "Oh dear. What is it?"

Jim strips his shirt and turns around. His back is covered in bullseye rashes, like someone stained his skin with red watercolor. "I got Lyme disease."

Liz rolls her eyes. "Put your shirt back on."

"I feel like crap, but it looks kinda cool!" Jim insists. "'Fore you ask, already saw the doctor, already on meds for it."

"Oh dear!" Valen cries, "I hope it clears up quickly." Jim has been showing his bare back to "everyone who comes over"...? For some reason, the thought of more humans coming over to the house where he now lives hadn't really occurred to him. It's really scary, for some reason, to be surrounded by humans. "Who, um, who have you been showing this to?"

"Laken. Friends who I haven't seen since before. Plus a reporter. They wanna put me on TV," Jim brags.

Jim is going to be on TV. What is Valen going to do when more humans keep showing up here? He starts to second guess his decision. Can he really live here, in human territory? Everyone here except a small group of Jim's connections will see him as a dangerous and hateful animal, or a curiosity at best. "Ah," he says nervously. "Just, just give me ample warning before that happens so, so I don't also get on TV."

Jim puts his shirt back on. "Oh hey, yeah, of course. It'd be during the day, and not here. And you know, they were asking about the story of how I escaped, and that's all you. You're like a hero. But if you don't want me to go on, I won't. You feeling comfortable here's more important." 

"Well, you can–I don't want to limit you. You deserve to tell everyone your story. I'm just nervous as to what it could bring if, if the spotlight comes on me at all." He rubs his arm. "Thank you for calling me a hero, but there are probably people out there who would think that doesn't matter."

"Well, I think it matters," Jim protests.

"I made sure all the hunters in this district know you're with us. You won't run into any trouble here," Liz assures him.

"I'll make sure to keep you out of the spotlight," Jim says.

Liz pats the trunk. "Hey, open it up so I can start helping."

They unload Valen's stuff, and he shyly asks if there's somewhere he can have space to set up his lab equipment so he can continue working on his project.

"Wherever there's room, go for it," Liz says, gesturing around the house. "Kitchen, living room, Mom and D–your room. Wherever you wanna set up.”

He catches the slip up in what Liz calls the room, and figures that given all the clues, Liz and Jim's parents must have passed away. "Was that your parent's bedroom?" Valen asks. "I'm sorry. Thank you for sharing it with me. Are you quite comfortable with me using it?" Part of him is afraid they're about to tell him their parents were killed by vampires.

"Yeah. Better that someone's using it." Jim says. "It's been... almost ten years, now. Time kinda gets away from you, huh."

"Mm-hm." Liz looks away. She doesn't like talking about it.

"My condolences. Well, I'm glad the two of you have each other now, at least."

"Yeah. And now we got you, too." Jim smiles at him.

Valen eventually decides to set up his lab in the living room, liking the idea of being out in the open where anyone can come ask about what he's doing, to give him an opportunity to gush. He does make note that he'll have to carefully label anything that comes in contact with the mushrooms, since they're dangerous to humans.

Things are alright for a while. Jim is a lot less paranoid than he was when Valen was hundreds of miles away, and the hunter that shot at Valen comes over briefly to apologize and thank him for bringing Liz's brother back. 

Valen is touched that all the vampire hunters and miscellaneous humans around accept him so easily. Despite his good deed, he'd expected much more pushback and more suspicion. But everyone is just being nice to him. It's refreshing, and not at all what he expected. 

Jim has trouble re-meshing with his old friend group: they've grown into different people in their time apart. But he has Liz and Valen, so he's okay. Laken takes a liking to Valen. Valen likes Laken a lot; they're bold and curious and don't take themselves too seriously.

Valen encourages Jim to get in touch with his old friends, but he himself has lost most of his old friends and he knows how difficult that can be when things have just changed. He encourages Jim not to let it get him down, and reminds him he'll have plenty of opportunities to make new friends down the road.

The hunters in the area know to leave Valen alone. Valen goes back to vampire territory every once in a while to get more blood, and occasionally other supplies he can't seem to get on this side of the border. He generally dislikes being in vampire territory, though, because of his own paranoia about being found. He avoids anyone who might have even tangential connections to his husband's family, not even telling his own family where he went. He misses them, a little, but he can't bring himself to be too sad about cutting them off. Talking to them usually only earned him misgendering and scolding.

Jim and Liz argue about her returning to work. Jim doesn't want her to, he's terrified for her safety, but Liz insists that this is her calling and she needs to protect people, and that Laken will get themself killed without her. Jim does end up conceding, begrudgingly, since he can't actually stop her.

Valen agrees with Jim that vampire hunting is dangerous, but he reminds Jim it's a noble profession that needs to be done to protect humans. He offers to start escorting Liz on hunts to help ensure her safety, but he sees the look on Jim's face at the thought of the consequences of that possibility: either he will be alone at night, or he'll have to come as well. Valen retracts the offer in front of Jim, but then later privately reoffers to Liz.

Liz declines Valen's offer for now, but thanks him and says maybe they can try that when Jim's more stable. Honestly, she's worried about Jim being alone at night, too. She already lost him once.

Jim sleeps in Valen's room. He's loathe to be apart from him for very long: not just because he likes being around Valen, but also because of a creeping feeling of danger he gets whenever they're apart. He's not coping as well as he'd like to think he is.

Valen gets more comfortable around Jim and the idea of another relationship, in whatever form that will be. They are both dealing with different kinds of trauma, and unfortunately they are creeping into territory where it's very easy to trigger Valen, sleeping next to each other and being affectionate. Jim has Valen to get him through his bad episodes, but for Valen, Jim is usually the cause of those episodes, which Valen tries to hide to spare his feelings. He knows logically that Jim can't overpower him, but the wounds of being overpowered are deep, and it's all he can do not to slide into learned helplessness rather than speak up about his feelings. He's less afraid of being physically dominated and more of the emotional side: Priscus had been kind early on in their marriage, and then had gradually lost patience and gotten more and more condescending and pushy. What if the same thing happened with Jim? Jim could start being less considerate, less respectful, and whatever positive emotions he'd been experiencing would be gone and their memories tainted. It felt fragile, just as safety did for Jim, the shared fear of being treated as an object manifesting in different ways for both of them.

He thinks that if Jim one day started telling him how to cut his hair or dictating what he could wear, he would never recover enough to trust anyone with his heart again.

Valen occasionally makes comments to Jim along the lines of "Thank you for allowing me to wear trousers," which probably strikes Jim just as weirdly as the occasional relapse Jim has where he begs and promises to be good strikes Valen and Liz.

It feels good. No one is too pushy. Everyone is just concerned about keeping each other happy and safe.

***

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K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 5

Part five of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

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Warnings for this chapter: Eating disorder talk

In this chapter:

It’s night when Jim wakes, and he's still cuddled up with Valen. The vampire looks so peaceful like this. Jim feels a pang in his heart when he remembers that Valen's going home tonight, all the way back to vampire territory.

He feels a little selfish for it– he has to admit, part of it is that he feels so much safer with Valen here to protect him. No vampire would snatch a human out of another vampire’s arms, not when there are easier humans to abduct. But also… Valen is kind, and pleasant to be with, and that’s something Jim’s been starved of for a long, long time.

Well, they can still keep in touch. Maybe Valen will visit.

As he feels Valen stirring, he murmurs, “How you feeling? Burns a little better?"

Valen stretches and rubs his eyes, delighted to find that when he blinks them open, he can see. The shapes are still a bit fuzzy though, and the room has a haze, so apparently he's only most of the way there. His skin feels almost completely better, though.

"I'm doing wonderful, Jim. I'll be better in no time." He rolls over. "Although I do think I still have a little ways to go remaining, unless you’ve suddenly developed a propensity for being a beige blob."

"Looks like I gotta keep taking care of you, then," he says with a smile and a nudge, getting out of bed. "Let me know whenever you get hungry. I felt like shit after not eating or drinking for 2 days, so I bet you'd feel the same. Don't want you to go through that. Just, uh, not the neck."

The last thing Jim wants is to be fed from, but he’d rather it be him than Liz. Besides, he’s used to it. He’s done it every night for years. It shouldn’t be a big deal.

"Oh, thank you," Valen says. Now he's trying not to think too hard about feeding. "I'm not hungry just yet. Maybe later. Thank you for thinking of it." Change the subject, don't think about it, you can wait and feed at home. "You'll probably be wanting to get medical care today, yes?"

"It's not super urgent. I'll call to make an appointment when it's day, since they're closed by now. Why?" Jim asks. "I know I gotta hand in that jar of ticks."

"Oh, yes." Valen is completely disoriented about when things will be open, and what time of day everyone is going to be active. "I just worry for you, that's all."

"You're sweet. I'm not going to the ER, I'll be fine." Jim shrugs. "Speaking of which, you need anything? A second round of burn cream?"

"I think I'm doing fine. Thank you. Just some more time. Depending on what time it is, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get all the way home before sunrise, and I'd prefer not to be out during the day." He thinks it's probably going to be a while before he works up the confidence again to go outside during the day. "So perhaps I'll stay the night and the day, and then leave at next sunset." 

"Sounds peachy." Jim hesitates. The fact that it's night and Kane might be looking for him makes him nervous, but Valen is here. Valen can protect him. Even if he does get taken back, Valen can probably find a way to bust him out again. The thought calms his jumpy nerves. "Um, do you wanna come downstairs while I get breakfast? I'm..." he starts mumbling, "I feel safer when you're there. But, but if you don't wanna, that's cool too, obviously."

Valen brightens. "Yes, that sounds lovely. Are Liz and Laken still home?" It's been a while since he's been among a group of people he was so desperately interested in getting to know better. He doesn't have any friends who know and accept the real him, and he knows some of these people are queer. He's desperate for genuine connection.

And of course Jim would feel safer with Valen around. Valen had been the only thing in the five years Jim was in vampire territory that had ever been able to ward off being hurt by his captors. It makes him feel warm and protective, and strangely loathe to leave Jim alone despite knowing he's probably perfectly safe now, across the border.

"I dunno. I just met Laken when you did, but Liz told me they're her hunting partner while I was eating yesterday." Jim groans. "I can't believe she's a hunter now. That's so unsafe. Fuck Kane for kidnapping me when he did.” His voice gets more timid, spooked by his own insult. “If he could have at least waited until Liz was more stable…"

"Yes, I do worry for her in that line of work." Valen also worries for himself, just a little. "But now that you're here, perhaps we can convince her to change careers."

"Yeah… Well, I'd assume Laken would go back to their own place? There's no way Liz bailed when I just got back, she's definitely home. Feel free to grab anything you like out of the closet if you want, lemme know if your eyes are still shot and you need help. I'm staying in pajamas."

Valen smiles. "I'll also stay in pajamas. Why not?" He gets up out of bed and pads forward, slowly and holding his hand out, exaggerating his inability to see. "I do think I'll take your hand to help get down the stairs, though."

"Of course, man. I've gotcha." He intertwines his arm with Valen's, helping him down the stairs.

"Hey!" Liz calls excitedly from where she is in the living room, ecstatic to have Jim home. "How'd you sleep? I can't believe you're really home!”

"Slept good," Jim confirms with a thumbs-up. "Me either."

“And hey, looking better, Valen."

Valen also gives a thumbs up. "Feeling a lot better! Thank you, ma’am!”

Liz laughs. "Noooo, don't make me a ma'am, I'm only twenty!"

"Valen's staying the night and day, his eyes are still shot," Jim explains.

She looks to where their arms are intertwined. "Uh huh. I see that. Well, you're welcome anytime, for as long as you want. You brought my brother home.”

That warms Valen’s heart. “Ah, thank you… So, so what's on the agenda for tonight?"

“Um, I dunno, didn't have any specific plans. Definitely not going out. I could make-"

"Have you actually learned to cook in the last 5 years?" Jim asks, eyebrows raised.

"...Kinda."

"I'll handle the making. I missed cooking for you." Jim baps her on the head and goes into the kitchen. He glances back nervously to make sure he can still see Valen, the nighttime putting him on-edge.

"Don't feel self-conscious about it, I don't know how to cook, either," Valen says with a laugh. "I'm not sure I know what to do with myself if we don't have something going on. I'm not good at being idle. And I can't read for a while, unfortunately. Are there any chores that require heavy lifting I can do for you while I'm here? It'd be most efficient, since it's easier for me."

"Yeah, you can help me clean up the other bedroom if you want?" Liz suggests. "It's got a queen. Just so you know."

Valen tries to hide his excitement. "Okay, sure! You'll have to give me directions." He leans into the kitchen. "Jim, I'm going upstairs to help Liz move things. Is that all right?"

"Um, y-yeah." Jim stammers, not entirely alright but not wanting to admit it. "I'll make something quick and bring it up."

Liz, oblivious, takes Valen's hand. "Back up we go, then!"

"O-okay," says Valen, unsure of if he should point out Jim's discomfort and stay downstairs. Since Jim seems to have already made a plan to come up, Valen just lets himself be pulled along.

He can see well enough to get up the stairs without much issue, but he still likes holding Liz's hand. He likes Liz. She's tough, and a woman, and she doesn't seem to care what men think of her. If he'd been presented with the two siblings without knowing anything about either of them, he probably would have actually gravitated towards Liz more than Jim. He wants Liz to like him, but she already seems to like him for bringing her brother back. This is good, he likes interpersonal relationships where the other party feels like they owe him instead of the other way around. Then he can graciously assure them not to worry about paying him back, instead of worrying himself.

They reach the bedroom. The bed is covered in stacks of boxes and other crap, as is a good portion of the rest of the room. Valen eyes the blobs that must be the boxes. He hefts one up. To his horror, he finds that his limbs feel just a bit weaker than they usually do. It's been well over 24 hours since he's fed at this point, and he's starting to get quite hungry. He hates the idea of leaving, though, almost as much as he hates the idea of feeding here in front of either of them. Just wait for a bit, you've gone much longer without eating than this before. Neither of them will notice, they won't think much of it. You're still plenty strong. "Where should I put this?" He wants to say ma'am, but Liz already expressed her negative feelings about that.

Liz also grabs a box off the bed, moving it to stack onto the boxes on the floor. "I figure we can just clear off the bed so it's usable. I gotta go through everything, probably with Jim, and decide what to keep. Then we can grab some sheets and a blanket."

"Easy enough!" He makes quick work of moving the boxes, almost feeling like he's obligated to use his massively superior strength to get done as much as he can. He can't very well go through the boxes for them though. He wonders what's in the boxes, but he politely declines from asking, figuring he can puzzle it out later indirectly from Jim and Liz talking to each other.

Jim comes up with two plates soon enough, handing one to Liz. "Here ya go, mushroom omelet. Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to ask." He turns to Valen. "Why were you collecting mushrooms in the middle of the day anyway? That's how he found me. I was mid-escape and he was like, foraging."

"Oh," he says, blushing fiercely. Why was this so embarrassing to talk about? Probably because everyone told him it was stupid, and he wasn't convinced it would work. "Well, I'm trained in the sciences, and I was collecting them to use in a pet project of mine. There don't seem to be many around, though. They may not thrive at the latitude I was searching."

"Well, if you ever wanna forage in human territory, give me a heads-up ahead of time and I'll make sure hunters in the area know you're chill." Liz says. "You're obviously not gonna take anyone. You did the opposite."

Valen's heart warms at Liz's offer. He has friends, he has friends who like who he really is and help him with things he actually wants to do. "Thank you."

"Ooh, science. What's the pet project?" Jim asks between bites. 

Valen turns to Jim. "Um, well it isn't very far along, but, but, this is a peculiar species of mushroom that produces a substance remarkably similar in structure to hemoglobin. I was thinking that if I could distill it down, I could use it to make an artificial blood substitute to use for feeding." 

"Dude. You have to keep working on that," Liz says, extremely interested. "If you can get something like that working, it could save lives."

"Kane would never go for mushroom blood. He's all about prestige." Jim rolls his eyes. "It sounds super cool, though."

"That's the one that took you?" Liz asks.

"Yeah. Should've heard him when he came knocking at Valen's place. Had a temper tantrum when Valen sent him packing. Oh hey, speaking of blood, you've gotta be hungry." Jim points out. He's not exactly stoked about being fed from, but… it's not Kane this time.

Valen would be gentle, he knows it.

Valen is about to start explaining about how the nobility wouldn't ever accept it, but that it could potentially reduce the impact of the large-scale horror of the blood farms, when the pivot into talking about him feeding sends his anxiety spiking. He hasn't struggled with disordered eating for a while, not since he'd gotten more in control of his own diet, but all the shame and guilt are resurfacing. He can't feed from either of them. They're his friends, he can't see them as food. What if he starts seeing them as food before people? What if he can't go back to blood packs? He doesn't trust himself, it could go wrong in so many ways, especially with Jim.

"That's all right," Valen says. "I'm not hungry." Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious he's lying with the way it comes out, and he cringes.

"Hey." Jim sets his plate down and goes to squeeze Valen's hand. "You fed me. I'm gonna feed you. You're not going hungry in my house. What's wrong?"

Valen bites his lip and shakes his head. "I can't, I-I've never fed directly from a human before. I can't put a name and face to my food."

Jim's spent so long being told he's food, not a person. Valen telling him he doesn't want to make him food because he's a person… he doesn’t know what to make of that. He feels warm inside. "I appreciate that. A lot. How about I get you a cup or bowl or something, 'kay?"

"I-I suppose that would be fine. Just, just maybe do it in a different room, if you don't mind?" He is really freaked out by the possibility of becoming a monster like Kane if he isn't careful. It was one thing to know some human somewhere out there got paid a nice sum to have their blood drawn, which was then made available to his demographic generally. It was entirely different to know someone was right here in front of him and was going to be bleeding and hurting for him specifically. 

He was already one of those people who had trouble accepting help, accepting someone else's flesh and blood is even worse...not to mention it makes him feel like he owes someone else, bodily, which he hates hates hates. He tries not to cry. He would almost rather just go hungry. But Jim had said it so kindly and understandingly.

Jim doesn't like the idea of being in a different room from Valen, but he guesses he'll have to get used to it soon, since Valen's going home tomorrow. He doesn't know how he'll cope being alone at night, without him. Vulnerable.

Valen's reluctance makes him feel safer, though. This isn't like with Kane, taking what he wants with no regard to how Jim feels. Valen treats him like a person. There's no pressure.

"Sure, yeah. Liz, can you supervise?" He definitely can't do this alone.

"Course."

They go downstairs. As Valen waits, the smell of blood wafts up: soon followed by the undeniable sound of crying.

So Jim has overestimated his ability to handle this, after all.

Valen also starts crying, but he's afraid to go downstairs to Jim. He probably doesn't want to be near a vampire like this, vulnerable and bleeding and scared. Valen hates himself so, so much. He wishes he could eat anything else. He wishes he were dead.

A little bit later, the humans come up with a mug of blood, both with bandages on their arms. Jim's still teary, but he relaxes a little when he sees Valen: unbeknownst to Valen, for whom faces are still fuzzy.

Jim hands him the mug. "Order up. Hey, you okay?" he asks, his own voice a little trembly.

Valen takes the mug miserably. He feels sick at the thought of drinking it, knowing how much distress it'd caused Jim to get it for him. "Thank you for doing that for me," he says hollowly. "I'm sorry it distressed you."

"It's mostly mine," Liz says, patting Jim on the back. "Took over when it got a little much. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah. Plus, it was my choice. Our choice. You didn't force me or anything. I just, I just got bad memories. And I got scared. I'm okay now. Don't beat yourself up about needing to eat," Jim adds.

Despite Jim's words, tears spill over in Valen's eyes. "How-how can I not?" he cries. "When my entire existence is predicated on making others suffer? No matter how hard I try, I'll never be anything other than a creature of blood. Someone will always have to bleed and be in pain as long as I'm alive."

"Hey, that's not true." Jim gives him a hug. "You saved me from having to bleed and be in pain for the rest of my life. You drink that ethical stuff from the shop. I doubt people who sell their blood are really suffering. I've donated blood and plasma before... everything, and it was a piece of cake. Plus, you're working on your mushrooms. You're a really good person, Valen. You're good."

Valen puts the mug on the end table nearby so he can hold Jim, but he's having a meltdown now, probably because he's hungry on top of all the stress. "I-I haven't always been this way, Jim, I drank the blood of blood farm victims for decades before this. I'm s-so ashamed that, that what it took for me to realize was-" He gives a wail and pulls away from Jim. "I married into the family that owns and operates the blood farms, Jim, and I did nothing for the longest time to try and stop it."

He folds in himself, arms above his head, crying so hard he can barely speak. "What does it matter that I saved one human when thousands of them are ground up by the cogs of my society every day? Nothing any of us can do can ever make up for the oceans of blood we've all spilled. I'm a monster, Jim. I deserve to die. We all deserve to die."

"Liz, give us a minute?" Jim says.

"Sure, yeah. But that stuff's not true, Valen." She leaves them.

Jim directs Valen to sit on the bed, arm around him. "It matters that you saved one human to me, okay? To be Kane's... you get treated like nothing. Less. Food, or a punching bag for him to take his shit out on. Without you, I'd either have died of dehydration out there, or I'd spend the rest of my life as his, with crushed ankles to boot. You took me away from all that. You let me be a person again. You didn't have to do that. You could've turned me in for cash, you could've kept me and made me yours, but you didn't. Sure, I’m only one human. But–but it's my entire life. You gave it back to me. Your husband's a piece of shit. You're not him, you're literally trying to divorce him. A lot of vampires are monsters–so are a lot of humans–but not you. Never you."

Valen hiccups, feeling so small next to Jim now. "I just did what any decent person would have done." He takes a moment to let what he just said sink in, then he sniffles and wipes his face. "Thank you, Jim. I'm, I'm sorry you tried to do something nice for me and just got a meltdown in return. Hearing you say all that does make me feel better. Can I..." He extends his hand towards the end table, just a little bit. "Can I maybe drink it now? I c-can't imagine being this hungry is helping my emotional stability at all."

Jim grabs the mug and hands it to him. "Knock yourself out. It's not your fault, I just... got spooked. I feel a little better now, though. It's better when I'm with you."

"I'm glad. I'm glad my being here makes things better, not worse." He sips the mug, trying not to make the connection to who the blood came out of.

[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 4

Part four of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

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Warnings for this chapter: Burns, “it” as a dehumanizing pronoun, mentions of/fear of sexual assault, brief talk about eating disorders 

In this chapter: The joy of Jim's homecoming is soured by an incident with vampire hunters that suddenly reverses the roles between Jim and Valen.

***

The movie-watching is oddly serene after years of constant fear and torment. Jim cozies up with Valen while they watch, finishing his apple. He's quiet at first, just like with Kane, but slowly starts to open up as it goes on and he remains safe.

Valen reciprocates the cozying up, wrapping the both of them in a blanket on the couch. Valen has never been happier to have his own little haven, with its soft lights and quiet lack of anyone to bother him. He's delighted to hear Jim start talking more and more, acting like a person and not a neurotic prey animal.

When the time to leave gets nearer, Valen asks if Jim wants to stop at the store again for more food, knowing humans need to eat so frequently.

"Nah, I think I'm good," Jim declines with a nervous laugh. He is pretty famished, having only had one meal in three days, but he can wait. Last time was harrowing enough. Next time he eats, it’ll be in his own kitchen at home. "Maybe I could call my sister to meet us, especially since it's during the day and it'll be safe for her? Then I won't have to trek."

"Of course, that's a splendid idea. Tell her to meet us somewhere, and you'll have a nice smooth journey back. I'd love to meet her, as well."

Jim calls, letting Liz know they're leaving and she can meet them near the signs loudly proclaiming the dangers of crossing the border.

“Tell him I said thank you for saving my brother,” Liz says on the other end. There’s no need– Valen’s hearing is good enough to hear it from where he sits.

"I'm just happy I was able to help do a good deed,” Valen responds. “Hopefully the karma will come back around to me." Valen has always struggled with feeling like a monster, so that feeling being alleviated is enough of a reward on its own, to know he wasn’t universally hated among innocent humans.

They won’t be out for so long, but Valen gives Jim a water bottle anyway, just in case, before wrapping himself up thoroughly for going outside.

The streets and sidewalks are once again empty, cleared in the face of the impending sunrise. Valen hands Jim the car keys in the rising light. "Here, you should drive. In fact, if you wanted to keep this wretched contraption, that would be fine with me. I hardly ever use it, and it's more trouble than it's worth."

Jim grins. "Seriously? Oh man. You are the best. Free car, that rules. Liz probably started using mine when she learned to drive, so that's perfect, now we'll both have one." His smile wavers at the thought that he missed Liz learning how to drive. "Well, buckle up, beaks."

He drives out to the border with little issue, the streets deserted. What had caused him so much grief, years of wanting, nearly dying in his desperate attempt to make it home… it’s like nothing, now. Jim almost feels like he’ll wake up any second, the whole thing a too-pleasant dream.

Liz is there–Liz, in the flesh, so much more grown-up than when he last saw her–with three other people. They all wear vampire hunter’s gear: including Liz, to Jim's surprise. The blue-haired hunter by her side looks the calmest of them all, while the two men look a bit on-edge.

Liz runs forward, and Jim gets out of the car to embrace her.

"Oh my god, Jim!" she cries.

Valen watches Jim hug his sister with a smile on his face. None of the humans can see it, of course, because he's wrapped up head to toe, they can barely see his eyes. He squints against the light to see who all is here. There are four humans, which is more than he expected. It makes him a little nervous, especially since they all appear to be vampire hunters. But Jim's sister seems kind, so he doesn't worry overmuch.

He opens the passenger's side door and gets out of the car, leaning on it to watch Jim and Liz crying with each other. He glances nervously at the sign demarcating human territory from vampire territory, knowing full well if he crosses it, he's put a target on his back.

"Hey, why's it getting out of the car?!" one of the hunters snaps, hand itching toward his weapons.

Jim interrupts his tearful reunion, pulling away from Liz. "Don't fucking call him that! And obviously he has to get out of the car, what's he gonna do, get home from the passenger seat?"

He realizes too late: he's being defiant, again. Kane would beat him to a pulp for this. This is why he’s supposed to be silent, so he doesn’t run his stupid mouth. He immediately shrinks back, eyes cast down, trembling. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

"Cool it, man."  The blue-haired hunter elbows their companion.

Valen gets nervous. "I intend to come no closer, sir. We can talk like civilized individuals, I assure you." He holds his hands up deferentially. 

The words go right over the head of the hunter, who can only focus on Valen’s hands moving and gets spooked. He is clearly a novice hunter, his hands shaky and unpracticed as he draws his pistol and shoots at Valen.

The shot just barely misses Valen, but it does graze his head. It rips his mask from his face, taking most of his hood with it as well, exposing him to a faceful of direct sunlight.

He erupts into an earth-shattering screech at the indescribable pain, sharp and animalistic. The windows of the car wobble with the sound, and the one closest to him shatters and spills glass shards everywhere. He would have never gone outside during the day if he'd known he was risking this. He's instantly blinded by the white-hot light, like two searing branding irons stabbed directly through his eye sockets straight into his brain, and he curls his arms above his head and drops down, fumbling for the shadow of the car to save himself.

"Fuck!" Jim dives for Valen, shielding him with his body. He grabs Valen's mask off the ground and clumsily shoves it back on his face, then strips his own shirt and throws that on top for good measure, ensuring that Valen is fully covered.

"What's wrong with you?!" Liz screams. "He saved Jim! You were just supposed to come ‘cause it's the border!"

"I'm sorry! Shit!"

"Get him out of here," the blue-haired hunter says.

"Got it," the other man agrees. Valen can make out a car driving off.

"Valen? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Jim sounds like he's crying. "I'm sorry, I never meant for you to get hurt."

"Jim," Valen weeps, groping forward. He opens his eyes, but the topmost layer of skin on them has been burned, and they're crusty and sightless. "Jim, am–is he–what's going on?"

Jim holds him. "He's gone. He knocked your mask off, he's an idiot. You're safe now. No one here's gonna hurt you. I'm sorry. You're–you're gonna heal, right?"

"I–Yes, I should–I've never felt..." It still fucking hurts, so so bad, even though the sun is gone. He will heal, right? He's never gotten a sunburn before, and he knows they theoretically heal, but damn is the lingering pain overwhelming, far more than any other injury he's sustained. "Jim, please don't leave me here, I can't see, please don't leave me alone out here."

"I'd never. Don't worry, I've got you. I've got you. You wanna come back to my place to heal up? Let's get you back in the car, huh? We'll get some burn cream on you, and you can rest up back home." Jim helps him back into the passenger seat. "Liz, we've got burn cream, right?"

"Yeah, I, I think so. Yeah." Liz is shaken. "You can follow us? That wasn't supposed to happen. I told them Valen was on our side."

"I'll follow you," Jim agrees. He pats Valen on the shoulder. "We're gonna take care of you. Like you took care of me."

"Thank you," Valen sobs. He's utterly shaken by how thoroughly and quickly the sun was able to completely destroy his confidence. He feels like a kid again, lost and scared and helpless. He'd do anything to avoid feeling the sun again. "I wasn't trying to attack, I swear." He's still shaking a little as he settles into the passenger's seat, and he folds himself down, below the window.

Jim will help me. I helped him, he'll help me back. His sister is a hunter, but she's nice, the other hunter is nice, they know I'm not trying to attack. And I can use persuasion on them if I need to. Oh god, he definitely couldn't use persuasion over a group of three humans at once, though, and his superior speed and strength would be useless if he couldn't see to know how to direct them. This must have been how Jim felt, at the mercy of someone he just had to trust would help him, unsure of if he should make a run for it and take his chances. The idea of going deeper into human territory, further into the domain of the vampire hunters, like this was terrifying.

"We know, buddy." Jim says, starting the car up again and following Liz's- well, his car. "Fuck, this is a mess. You're gonna be okay. Kane and that asshole we ran into last night got into it once a few years back, and Kane was all better by the next night. Um, I dunno if you might take a little longer, 'cause you looked pretty bad there. But I'm sure it'll still be fast."

Valen starts to calm down a little at Jim's reassuring words, just like Jim did at Valen's. He cautiously unscrunches himself, sitting upright in the seat. "Yes. Yes, thank you. Um, are–we're going into–into human territory, are you quite sure your neighbors won't–won't take notice and, and call more hunters?" He is far more afraid of vampire hunters than he'd thought he'd be–they'd always been a distant bogeyman for him, and one of them had just ruined his week with a single pull of a trigger.

"No one can tell you're a vampire when you're all covered up like that. And if anyone tries to fuck with you, they'll have to go through me. And Liz, and probably her friend. Plus, it... it seems like Liz is a hunter." Jim is not a fan of this information, but he's glad it at least makes things a little safer for Valen. "So she'd be the one who's called anyway. I won't let anyone get at you. Promise."

Valen sobs when Jim says Liz is a hunter, not finding it as comforting as Jim does. "Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Jim. Are we going to your house?"

"Yep, that's where we're going. Home. Holy shit, I'm going home." It still doesn't feel real. "It's gonna be okay. And, look, you can feed on me when you get hungry, 'cause I know it'll take a bit for your face to heal right. I'm used to it. Happy to do it when it's for you. I'm sorry it sucks right now. But I won't let anything else happen to you, swear to god. I've got your back."

Oh no. Jim expects Valen to feed on him. Valen has never fed from a human before, he doesn't want to, he's terrified of opening that door. Feeding straight from a human is supposed to be one of the highest luxuries a vampire can have. What if he doesn't want to stop feeding that way? What if he gets addicted and can't go back to blood packs? He doesn't trust himself. He can't. He goes spiraling back into the times where he went days without feeding, crushed under the weight of his depression and guilt and self-loathing. He can't go back to that.

Valen swallows. Maybe they can just avoid that for now. Maybe Valen will get better before he needs to feed, and he can just go back home and sidestep the whole thing.

"Thank you, Jim." He feels safe around Jim in a way he hadn't before with other men. Is it because he's a human, and Valen could overpower him? Then why does he still have this warm feeling when he's helpless and dependent on him? "And I'm glad you get to go home. I'm very happy for you. It's still a wonderful day overall.”

"Thank you. You gave me my life back. I'm sorry it turned out shit for you. No good deed goes unpunished, I guess." Seeing Valen so hurt and scared, because he was trying to help him, no less, breaks Jim's heart.

They arrive at Liz's place after a little while, Jim chattering soothingly to Valen the entire time.

"Alright, we're here. I'll lead you inside." He holds Valen's hand, leading him into the house, where Liz and her hunting partner wait.

Liz tosses Jim a container of burn cream while Laken, quickly introducing themself, goes around closing all the blinds. Liz smiles, despite the situation. "We did have some. And hey... welcome home."

"Thanks. Here, come, sit." Jim leads Valen over to sit on the couch. "You can take that stuff off. You're in the clear."

Valen sits on the couch and gropes at his head to remove the coverings Jim had tossed over him. He also removes his outermost cloak and his gloves. Despite the relatively short contact time, Valen's whole face is red and blistering, and the thin, delicate skin on top of his ears has peeled away to reveal bleeding rawness. His eyes have a gray, opaque layer over them.

"I'm glad to meet the two of you and be in your home, despite the rough start," Valen says. "Thank you for having me. I'm glad to see Jim finally reach safety after his ordeal."

"Thank you for bringing him home. Thank you,” Liz says emphatically. "Sorry the new guy’s a fucking dumbass. I'm gonna kick his ass."

"You're very welcome. I couldn't just leave him there, knowing what fate was in store for him. And I suppose your colleague had good reason to be wary, knowing what my kind is capable of. Although, I obviously do wish he'd had more restraint." 

"Oh please, he didn't have shit." Liz says. "It's daytime, you were bringing Jim home, he was being an asshole."

"I'm gonna put burn cream on you, okay?" Jim says gently. "It okay if I touch? Kinda gonna have to."

Valen reaches out and finds Jim's hands. "Yes, you are welcome to touch me, Jim, I don't mind it at all. Thank you."

"Alright, just hold still." Jim starts slathering burn cream over Valen's face and dabbing it on his ears. He tries his best to be gentle, but touching the burns is bound to hurt at least a little, even if the cream is soothing.

Valen clenches his teeth and lets out an occasional hiss of pain, but when Jim is rubbing the cream on the less painful parts of his body, he leans into the touch, closing his eyes and savoring the feeling. He hadn't realized how touch-starved he'd become, despite it being only a few months since his separation from Priscus, although Priscus had also been his main source of touch before that. He was very much enjoying the touches that didn't have the subtle warning written under them, the hint that later the touching would lead to more things whether he wanted them or not, a reminder that things were expected of him. It felt nice.

When it seems like Jim is done, he pulls away. "Thank you very much. It's already starting to feel a bit better."

"There you go. You're doing awesome." Jim gives him a little side hug and yawns, still on a nocturnal schedule. "I'm gonna grab something to eat from the kitchen and then probably hit the sack. Are you getting tired, too? If you can get to sleep, you'll probably heal a lot while you're out."

Valen jumps at the opportunity. "Yes, please, that sounds wonderful." He secretly hopes that Jim will sleep in the same bed as him. He feels like it would be the first time he'd sleep in a bed with a man and not have to be on guard to fend off unwanted advances. Jim is so very sweet and considerate, and seems like he would take no for an answer if it came down to it, which makes Valen not want to say no. Maybe there will (in)conveniently only be one space where they can sleep, and Jim will apologetically offer to sleep elsewhere to let Valen have it, and Valen will be able to coyly offer to share it. That will give him what he wants: Being able to sleep in the same bed as Jim without looking too eager and inviting, to have plausible deniability about wanting it later if he changes his mind and wants away from Jim, and to make Jim feel just a little bit like he is imposing and therefore needs to be extra polite and considerate to make up for it.

He takes a minute to step back from the insane mental gymnastics he'd just done. Living with Priscus had really done a number on him. Maybe he should just sleep on the couch.

"Er, I've been using Mom and Dad's room for storage,” Liz says. “Your room's all set, though. I kinda didn't touch it. Kept hoping you'd come home. And I was right, you did, so there!" Liz proclaims defensively, like someone's going to argue with her about it. "Even cleaned it yesterday 'cause I knew you were coming home. But yeah, the other bed is covered in boxes. I can go clear it, but it'll take a bit."

"You can use my bed, Valen." Jim says. "Lemme lead you up there. Your eyes are still all funky." He takes Valen's hand.

Valen blushes. "Thank you."

He lets himself be led upstairs, into the bedroom, he presumes. "How large is your bed? Where will you sleep?"

"It's a full. I guess I'll help Liz clear off the other bed, or take the couch if that turns out to be too much of a hassle? Unless… you wanna double up." Jim can’t deny Valen’s subtle hint, asking about the bed’s size, and being with Valen makes him feel safe. Like if Kane showed up to take him away, he would be protected.

"Only if you want to," Valen says shyly. "I wouldn't mind. I don't snore." He sits down on the edge of the bed and starts fumbling to take his shoes off.

"Cool,” Jim says, with a huge smile Valen can’t see. He helps Valen take his shoes off. "Here, you can borrow some pajamas,” he adds, pressing the first ones he sees in the closet into Valen’s hands. “I'll come back up and join you after I've eaten something."

He quickly changes into some himself, since he's currently shirtless and the clothes Valen loaned him are too small anyway. "I'll be back up soon. Yell if you need anything."

"Thank you. Enjoy your meal." Valen takes the time to undress himself, stripping off his many, many layers, suddenly realizing how sweaty he is under it all. He figures a bathroom might be nearby, trailing his hand along the hallway wall and getting lucky when it’s the first doorway he blindly stumbles across. He takes the time to find the faucet and splash some water on himself, drying his skin on whatever towel is nearby. He doesn't dare to clean up more than that for fear of accidentally getting himself into an embarrassing situation he can't get himself out of without calling for help.

He strips off his binder next, slipping into the pajamas. He doesn't know what pattern is on them, but they feel soft and warm. He sighs contentedly, slipping into the bed and fumbling to pull the blanket up over himself. When he finally settles in, he feels very cozy and safe despite the burns, and closes his eyes, already starting to fall asleep.

Jim comes back up about twenty minutes later, trying not to disturb Valen as he slides into bed next to him. "Thank you," he murmurs, finally feeling safe for the first time in five long years.

Valen sleepily rolls over. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could make a difference for someone in this wretched world. Sleep well. Tomorrow you will wake up for the first time safe in your own home among people who care about you."

The words touch Jim to his core. That's one of the kindest things anyone's ever said to him. "I care about you, too," he says softly, snuggling up to Valen in the small bed.

Valen curls up against Jim. It's very comfortable, and he wants this kind of touch so badly, but something is bothering him, and he won't be at ease until he broaches the subject. Despite his earlier thoughts, he's starting to get concerned about waking up to Jim trying to have sex with him. Unlike when Priscus did it, Valen is strong enough to just throw Jim off, but the thought is the only thing ruining the otherwise perfect atmosphere. If he could just clear that, he'd have the nicest night he's had in decades, he's sure.

"Um," he says, voice cracking with nervousness despite his attempts to control it. "To, to be clear, I-I'm very comfortable right now, b-but I'm, I'm not interested in having sex tonight."

The nervousness in Valen's voice gives Jim pause. He recalls the way Valen cried when his husband called, the way he called him sir so miserably. "Hey. You're safe, okay? I'd never do anything like that. You're alright, Valen."

Valen perks up, immediately more at ease. "Thank you, Jim. I know it will be a wonderful night. Sleep soundly. You've no need to worry anymore, either. You're safe, too."

Jim smiles, feeling warm. "Wonderful day, you mean, but I know you're on mushroom time and you can't see shit. You sleep good, too."

Oh this is wonderful. Jim is a human, and Jim feels safe around him, and that must mean he’s not a bad person. Valen feels safe, at ease, and validated in a way he never has before. Jim feels safe and protected in a way he never has before.

They both fall asleep and have the best rest in years, for either of them.

***

@barebarb

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[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 3: Kane & Valen Part 13

Chapter 13 of the third crossover with @whumpsday!

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SERIES IS 18+ ONLY.

This is the last chapter of this crossover!! Thank you so much to everyone who followed along on this journey. This is one of my favorite pieces that Mill and I have written together, because of how sweet and tender it turns out at the end. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

Although this is the last we’ll be posting of this particular AU, we have a lot of other crossovers that we’ll probably be sprucing up and posting! Keep an eye out because we’ll probably be posting a poll to ask which one everyone would like to see us to post next.

Until then, enjoy!

In this chapter: Sweet, sweet divorce and a well-earned happy ending

Warnings: References to institutionalized dehumanization, misgendering a transmasculine character, references to intimate partner violence, mentions of past rape (off-screen)

***

Valen wakes up gently, gradually, and not scared or in pain at all. Next to the one person he has rock solid confidence loves him totally and unconditionally.

Kane is still asleep, mouth slightly agape, fangs poking out. Valen finds it adorable. He reaches one hand out to gently stroke Kane’s hair, and Kane closes his mouth and lets out a satisfied breath, leaning into the touch without waking up. He looks so very cozy and comfortable that Valen is inspired to simply lean into him and go back to sleep himself. 

***

They sleep through the day, and when night comes again, they go back out into society. It feels very weird to be surrounded by vampires again, after so long in human territory. 

They buy blood, as much of it as they can expect to drink before it goes bad. Oh, the underappreciated joy of being able to just go out and get packs of blood to drink. They get the ethical stuff–it's not Valen's first time buying it, but it is Kane's.

In a previous life, Kane may have complained that it doesn't taste as good due to the longer delivery time making it a bit stale. He now holds no such sentiments. Any blood at all is a gift from the universe, and he likes knowing that no one had to be hurt to get it. There’s been more than enough hurt.

He writes and sends a long apology letter to Bellamy, including his new phone number–Valen’s number–explaining that he's alive and he'd like to reconcile. He knows that Bellamy and Valen would love each other, and is looking forward to that as well. He gets his financials sorted out with his family's accountant, so they have ample funds and Valen’s husband has no control over him any longer.

Now that it's the next night, Kane decides to bring up the thoughts he pushed aside yesterday.

"Valen, I just want to say that I'm sorry if it hurt, when we were... together before. I didn't know what I was doing, or that I was supposed to help you relax first. The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I know it's bad memories. I just wanted to apologize."

Unfortunately, it had hurt, a little at the start. Valen is overwhelmed for a second by the memory, and by how much he'd hated Kane in the moment, despite the situation being completely out of his control.

"I doubt Nick really would have let you," he admits. "It was hardly an ideal time to be learning how to please one's partner." He sits down on the loveseat. His arms are full of the mail he'd picked up from his landlord, and he starts rifling through it to keep his hands busy. It's a literal armful. "If it's any consolation to you, you were... smaller, in that area, than Nick was, so it always hurt less. I'm certain it hurt much less for me than it did for you when Nick did it to you."

The horror of watching Kane have to experience that while practically in his lap is burned into Valen’s brain. He feels like if they have enough new memories of each other in the throes of pleasure, maybe that will scrub the image away, the horrible way it started.

"Yes, I'm glad for that," Kane agrees. Nick always made him hurt to the point of bleeding, and at least that wasn't the case for him and Valen. "It'll only be good from now on," he adds with a smile. Maybe that’s naive of him, but it certainly can’t ever be as bad as it was.

Valen smiles back, but then his hands falter on the mail in his hand. "O-oh," he says, and he's instantly in tears. "I-I-I got a letter from Priscus. I didn't think he knew where I live. I-I guess he knows my new address."

Kane has only met Priscus Kithrara briefly, but everything he knows about the man from Valen makes him hate him more and more. He gently puts his hand over Valen's. "He can't hurt you anymore. I know I've promised to protect you many times, and failed. This time, I really can. He will never touch you again. Do you want me to read the letter for you and let you know if there's anything important in it?"

Valen hands the letter to Kane with a shaking hand. "That-that sounds good. Yes, please."

When Kane unfolds the letter, he finds enclosed a glossy photograph of a beautiful cat with white fur and blue eyes. The letter reads:

To my dearest turtledove,

The whole staff here at the manor is looking forward to your return. I know you are confused and emotional, but know that my patience will never run out. I only want what's best for you. Whenever you need me, just call for me and you know I'll come running. I know you are away right now, seeing the world, but your home will be waiting for you when you get back. My whole family is eager to see you safe back at my side, and I will do whatever it takes to make things right.

I know you were distraught over the loss of your beloved pet all those years ago, so to make our home more inviting to you, I have acquired the finest replacement, exactly to your taste, down to the way she trills and follows you around the house. She still has not been bestowed a name, which is a right that I reserve for you upon your return to the estate.

Please call me when you get this, so I know you are safe.

Love,

Priscus

"He got a cat and wants you to name her." Kane summarizes, leaving off all of Priscus's flowery, manipulative language. "He also wants you to call him. And there's a picture of the cat."

Valen takes the picture, sighing exasperatedly. "Of course he did. Of course he does. This is just like him. He always does this. He treats me like a child–except one that he can have sex with–and then when it upsets me, he tries to placate me with gifts." Valen is suddenly self-conscious. He knows that Kane is not one for one-upmanship in terms of comparing suffering, but compared to the way Kane's family treats him, Priscus must sound like an absolute sweetheart, giving him gifts and saying he loves him. "He has no idea how to make me actually happy–or is simply unwilling to do it."

Kane eyes the confused and emotional part of the letter again and rolls his eyes at it, crumpling it up. "He sounds like a creep. As if you can't get a cat on your own if you wanted to. I should go over there and make him sign those divorce papers once and for all. Maybe it'd be a wake-up call if he knew you were dating Kane de Sang," he says with a smirk.

Valen puts his hand to his mouth. "Do you think so?" He has no idea how Priscus will react to the idea that he's now dating someone else. It will certainly be unexpected, but it could go either way of him simply giving up...or of him getting even more possessive and domineering. "If-If you mean it, I suppose maybe it could work...I know he has a low opinion of you, unfortunately, but you're a man, so he might...recognize you as, er, having a right to claim territory, so to speak. It might make him realize this separation is permanent and not temporary. Although....Kane, I'm worried he will get violent."

"I was thinking the low opinion would work in our favor,” Kane explains. “If he knows you left him for me, despite it all, that might get it through his thick skull." His hands curl into fists as he considers the implications of Valen's words, how Valen would know that Priscus gets violent. "I hope he fucking does. That'd give me an excuse to-" He cuts himself off, shaking his head. He's getting back into his old mindset. He doesn't want to be the angry, violent man who hurt Jim anymore. "No. I wouldn't escalate anything. It's okay. I'm used to violent." 

Valen crumples a little. "Oh--I know you can take it, but--it's just--I just hate this. I don't want to see him debase you. Or the two of us. And I know he will, he'll take it as an insult." He folds his arms on his lap, sagging. "It feels like cowardice to have you fight this battle for me. I just don't know what else to do. And now that, that he knows where I am, he'll see you eventually, I'm sure of it, so there's no use hiding it."

"I want to," Kane assures him, dropping the letter to take Valen's hands instead. "You've dealt with him enough. I want to do this for you. Just like how you... spoke to my father for me. You won't have to deal with him ever again. I'll make sure of it. My defect regardless, I'm just as much nobility as he is. I will protect you."

"Okay," says Valen, blushing. "Th-thank you." Maybe this would be okay, to let someone else take care of him. It had always gone wrong in the past, but Kane knew what he actually wanted, and would try for that, instead of what he thought Valen should want. "So, so should we call on the phone, or go over there? Or write a letter?" 

Kane considers this. "Do you think, if we talked on the phone or wrote a letter, he would try to come here to speak to you in person? If that's the case, we should just go there. But if not, the phone is probably better."

Valen's face falls. "He would definitely come find me in person before giving up."

"Then we should go. It's better for it to happen on our terms, with no surprise." He squeezes Valen's hand. "I'll be with you the whole time, and we'll leave right after. And it doesn't have to be now. Whenever you want to do this."

Valen looks at the clock to see how much time is left in the night. He feels like the anticipation is going to kill him if he just waits. Best to rip the bandaid off quickly. "I think we can go tonight. If that's okay with you. Thank you."

"Then we'll go." Kane is nervous too, though not nearly as much as Valen is. He's afraid that when faced with hostility, he may panic and crumble, leaving Valen to defend both of them. That is the last thing he wants. He resolves himself to stand his ground no matter what. Priscus is no threat to him. "You can lead me there, and I'll talk to him. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. You can even leave and go home early, if it turns out to be too much for you. I'll handle it."

Valen has never felt so genuinely and holistically protected by anyone else. "Thank you."

He searches around the apartment for a bit and finds the divorce paperwork, the one that was filled out, signed, stamped, completed in every way except for the one that actually mattered—the husband's signature. He'd thought about trying to forge the signature in the past, but he'd always known that wouldn't do the job and would just make things worse.

They travel to the Kithrara estate. Valen's hackles start to go back up as soon as he steps onto the grounds, past the gate and onto the extensive lawn, up to the main manor where he knows Priscus will likely be. The servants all gasp with delight and welcome him back enthusiastically, opening doors for him without question, although Kane does get some looks. Valen had always been a favorite among the staff at home.

A few inquiries about where Priscus is is all it takes to find him. He's in the main hall, with a vampire Valen knows is one of the people whose job it is to go into human territory and abduct people to throw into the blood farms. He currently has a human on a chain, around the neck. The human's face is stained with tears and very, very scared. Valen's face falls upon seeing it. He won't be able to stop thinking about it throughout this whole conversation now.

Kane's eyes fall toward the human, too. The human looks as scared as Jim had on that first night. Immediately, he starts thinking of potential ways to get them out of here, but the fact that his interaction with Priscus is going to be hostile won't help. He wonders if offering twice the revenue a single human would generate during their short lifetime would work, especially if he frames it as a gesture of goodwill to make up for everything else this conversation will entail.

As soon as Priscus catches sight of Valen, he stops whatever business he was doing and waves the other vampire away, dragging the terrified and abused human to the periphery of the room.

"My little turtledove," he purrs, coming over and wrapping his arms around Valen, putting his chin on Valen's head. "Finally. I'm so pleased to see you here again."

As soon as Priscus touches Valen, it's obvious his learned helplessness kicks in. He freezes, going rigid.

Kane shoves Priscus away, moving protectively in front of Valen. "He doesn't want to hug you," he says firmly. "Kane de Sang. I believe we've met before, briefly."

Priscus gives Kane a withering stare, folding his hands in front of him. "Oh, yes. You. I thought you were dead. Have you risen from the grave for the exclusive purpose of interfering with my personal life? What business do you have here? It's awfully bold of you to lay hands on the heir to the Kithrara estate in his own home, with his own wife in the room."

Kane wants to strangle him until he's gasping for breath. He wants to scream obscenities and beat Priscus to a bloody pulp. He wants to drive a stake through the man's heart. His fingers twitch with the urge to wrap them around Priscus’s throat.

Instead, he presents the divorce papers. "I apologize," he says through gritted teeth. "I could see that Valen was distressed, and wanted to remedy that as soon as possible. We've come to request you sign these. I'm Valen's boyfriend."

Priscus's face immediately turns stony. "Valen's what?"

Valen edges further behind Kane.

"His boyfriend," Kane repeats. "I understand you've been separated for quite a while now, and he's been trying to get you to sign off on a divorce long before he met me. He's moved on. If you care about his happiness at all, you'll sign them."

Priscus eyes the papers in Kane's hand and sighs, pushing Kane's hand delicately away with a single disgusted finger. "Mr. de Sang. Valen does not have a boyfriend. She is my wife. And I can see you've been enabling some of her delusions, so it's bold of you to act like you care about her more than I do. Not only that, but I can see whatever you've done to her has made her clearly visibly underweight. I can only assume you've been feeding her unhealthy fear that she's being immoral by drinking blood. She's struggled with disordered eating in the past, not that that's any of your business. I assure you our separation is quite temporary, and also none of your business, so please kindly leave the premises if you're quite done?"

"That is not the case at all. We've recently been through... an ordeal together, where neither of us had access to food for several months." Kane doesn't want to give specifics in case Valen doesn't want Priscus to know. "We've only just recently escaped, and he's been eating well since. I've done nothing to him. If you think the separation is temporary, you're the one who's delusional," he can't help but snap.

Priscus raises an eyebrow. "You dragged my wife through an.... ordeal, during which you could not feed her, and you expect me to believe you will take care of her?" He looks past Kane to Valen. "Come now, darling, Kane de Sang, of all people? You must have picked him on purpose, in some childish attempt to humiliate me."

"It's not that," Valen says quietly.

"I got us out of there. I did take care of him," Kane protests. "Think about it. If he chose me, surely that means it's over. Stop throwing a years-long tantrum because he doesn't like you back and just accept it already."

Priscus gives them both a very long stare, then sighs. He looks at Valen. "This is really what you want?" He sounds exasperated.

"Yes."

"Neither your nor my family will be happy about it."

"They are already unhappy with me."

Priscus looks at Kane. "I'm sure the de Sang family won't be happy about this either, when they hear you broke up a proper marriage, between proper vampires." 

"As long as Valen's happy with the situation, I don't care," Kane says. "To echo his sentiment, they are already unhappy with me. Will you sign the papers?"

Priscus's lip peels back in a sneer. "When this inevitably ends poorly, I want it to be noted that I was against it from the very beginning. I can't keep shielding you from the consequences of your actions, Valen. I have been as patient as I can, but I cannot make any guarantees about how it will be if you try to come back." He takes the papers and signs them. "There, now all your problems are solved." His voice drips in sarcasm. "I expect you to return the money and heirlooms you took from the estate."

It’s done, it’s finally done, after so much fuss. "Yes sir," Valen squeaks. He has no intention of actually doing anything Priscrus demands short of legal pressure.

With the papers signed, Kane's mind once again turns to the terrified human. It's... worth a shot, he supposes. The worst thing that can happen is Priscus says no.

"Thank you, Mr. Kithrara," Kane says politely, despite his increasingly violent feelings toward him. He hands the papers to Valen, still behind him. "I will ensure your property is returned. As a token of goodwill and apology, I'd like to buy this human for double the revenue a human is likely to generate during its lifetime." He desperately hopes Priscus takes the bait.

Priscus cocks his head. "That is a strange token. Why do you want this one?"

"This human happens to be here," Kane says simply. It's true. Every human Priscus's family owns is likely just as terrified as this one- until they lose themselves to overexposure to persuasion, of course. This human is just the one who's here. "And I thought it would be a nice gesture."

Priscus looks to the far side of the room where the other vampire has the scared human. He shrugs. "Very well. This human is here because we were discussing its suitability to drink from, since there seems to be something wrong with it, but this will solve that problem." He gestures for the other vampire to come over, and hands Kane the chain around the human's neck.

Kane takes the chain. "Great. Glad I could help," he says, trying to stifle his anger. He takes his checkbook out, and after receiving the price from Priscus, cuts him a check.

"We'll be going, then. Thank you for your cooperation." He opts to just carry the terrified human instead, given they're likely going straight home from here and a human won't be able to run that far. Making sure to keep himself between Valen and Priscus, he shuffles the three of them outside.

"Huh. That went well," he comments.

"Thank you," Valen says, in tears. "Thank you, Kane." He hugs close to Kane.

A servant comes running out. "Mistress Kithrara, wait!" She is holding a small kennel, and slows down as she gets closer. "Um, I overheard Master Kithrara saying that he was going to give this cat to the pound if you didn't want it, and–and I thought maybe you–"

Valen takes the kennel, inside of which a white figure can be seen crouched in the corner. "Oh, thank you," he sniffles. "Yes, this is very thoughtful of you. Thank you."

The servant bows, smiling, looking a little mischievous, and returns into the house. Leaving Valen holding a cat, and Kane holding a sobbing, terrified human.

"Okay. This is- okay, we need to go home. We need to call Liz," Kane decides. He looks down at the human in his arms. "We're not going to hurt you. We're going to take you home, back to human territory. It's okay. It's over."

"Really?" the human asks, trembling. "I–Please, please, please, thank you so much." He clearly does not quite believe Kane.

"I–I suppose we have a cat now, as well," says Valen. "I hope that's all right? Oh, what time is it? Will we have enough time before sunrise to get to the border, or will we have a guest with us until tonight?"

"Please let me go," the human weeps, clearly terrified of the prospect of spending a whole day alone with the two vampires.

Kane checks his watch. "It'll have to be tomorrow. I'm sorry. We're going to let you go, I promise, but it'll have to wait. We're not even close to the border," he says apologetically.

The thought of holding a human captive, even for a single day, is terrifying. Every lesson the hunters seared into him, reminding him what happens when he messes with humans. It sends a chill down his spine, a deep fear he knows he won’t be getting rid of anytime soon.

But he’s helping this time. He’s making things right. He’s in vampire territory, safe. He just needs to remember that. "Okay, we have to- we have to get human food and cat food tonight. And litter? That's the most important thing right now, or we'll have a starving human and cat for the next day. And we can call Liz to coordinate a dropoff for- um, I'm Kane, and this is Valen."

The human sobs, curling in on himself. "Sir–Please, sir, I–if it's not– I’m anemic, I haven't eaten all day. Please, sir."

"I don't know what that means, but we're going to get you food. I know humans starve easily, we're going to get you food right now. It's okay." Kane looks back at Valen. "Should one of us take them both home while the other shops, or should we just take them with us and go shopping together?"

Valen looks overwhelmed. "I–We should bring the human, so he can pick out his food. Anemic means his body isn’t producing enough red blood cells, so he needs something with high iron content.” He addresses the human, "Please try to be calm. Everything will be all right."

This attempt is not more successful at calming him down, though he does seem relieved to finally find someone who understands he has a medical condition

 "Maybe, um, maybe I'll take the cat home, and you two go to the store?” Valen proposes. “Do you know what supplies to get for a cat?"

"Kibble, litter, box? And whatever else the employees recommend?" Kane suggests. "That sounds good. Oh, let me just-" He sets the human down for a moment so his hands are free to remove the chain around his neck. "That's better, right?"

The human looks incredulous, but not much more at ease to have the chain taken off. "Th-thank you, sir. Are you going to--are you going to brainwash me now?"

"No. I can't- I'm not," Kane says, embarrassed. He wouldn't have anyway, but he's still sensitive about the subject. "Listen, it's going to be okay. I'm going to buy you food, then we'll go back home and call a human we're friendly with, who can meet us at the border to take you home tomorrow night. You can call home, too. I've been captive myself, and only very recently gotten out. That terror you're feeling, I've felt it too. I just want to help." He scoops the human back up in his arms. "Let's get you some food."

"Th-thank you, sir," he says, crying, still clearly terrified. "Thank you."

"I'll see you at home," Kane says to Valen, and gives him a peck on the cheek.

Valen leans into him. "Thank you, dear. Thank you." He holds the divorce papers tightly in his free hand. He bids the panicked human to calm down one more time before they split up.

***

Kane takes the human to a general store, where he'll be able to pick up both human food and cat stuff in one trip. The selection of human food is minimal, but contains all essentials and a bunch of iron-rich options. "If this isn't enough, we can go to the human supply store. But I figured this would be okay since it's just one day."

"Yes," he says, still sounding like he's on the verge of a breakdown any second, being in public with all these vampires around. "Thank you, sir, thank you so much." He picks out some stuff, seeming to be the most excited about eating fruit, although he seems afraid to look too pleased about it.

"It's alright. You're safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Kane feels very protective over this human. He grabs the cat essentials too, figuring he and Valen can come back for extra things like toys when he doesn't have an entire human to carry. He hands the shopping bags to the human and picks him back up.

"You can eat on the way home, if you'd like." He knows that if he'd had to wait at all before drinking blood after acquiring it after he'd been freed, it would have been awful.

"Thank you, sir," the human weeps. He does, in fact, eat on the way home.

When they arrive, Valen has the cat out of the carrier. The cat is wearing a fancy-looking studded pink collar and is sprawled out on the floor. Valen has his face buried in the cat's flank when the door opens, and he jerks away as though caught doing something illicit. "Oh, you're back, did it go okay?" 

Kane smiles, setting the human down and grabbing the bag with the cat things from him. "Yes, we got food for everyone. We'll have to go back later for the non-essentials for the cat, it was too much to carry at once." He hands the cat bag to Valen. "I can't believe this all actually went well. Tomorrow we'll be freeing a human and setting your divorce finalization in motion."

"Y-yes," says Valen. "Thank you." He walks into Kane's arms, burying his face in his chest, and finally letting himself cry. "Thank you, my dear, thank you so much. I couldn't have done any of this without you." He sniffles. "And I--I suppose I did kind of want the cat."

Kane hugs him, gently rubbing his back. "I'm so glad. It's okay. He can't hurt you anymore. No one can."

Valen wipes his eye. "Thank you." He sniffles, then looks at the human. "Oh, hey, why don't you come sit down. Here." Valen beckons him to sit on the couch, and he does so, food still in his lap. "What's your name?"

"S-sam, ma'am," he says wretchedly. "Um, pl-please don't--I--I know--he said food for everyone, but--but if I--I'm your food, I--I don't think I have enough blood to--I think I'll pass out if you both feed from me." His face goes white, as though realizing that maybe they don't care.

"Sh," says Valen. "It's all right. We're not going to feed from you."

"Wh-Why did you buy me?" he says.

"You looked scared," Kane tells him. "We've been there, I wanted to help. We're not going to hurt you. And Valen isn't a ma'am, just so you know. We're both men. I- I should call Liz now, right?" he asks Valen. "Let her know what's going on?" 

Sam looks scared again--it's basically all he's been doing the whole time they've seen him. He doesn't say anything.

Valen perks up. "Yes. In fact, I think it would win favor with her to say that you are releasing this human. Although, um, maybe just be careful how you phrase it."

"Yes, noted." Kane agrees, and goes to dial her. The phone rings and rings, to no answer. Kane figures she is either asleep or out hunting. He calls Jim next, who does pick up with a sleepy "Hello?" after several rings.

"Hello, Jim." Kane says.

Jim gasps and blinks the sleep out of his eyes, startled by hearing Kane's voice all of a sudden in the middle of the night.

"It's Kane,” he continues. “Um, I'm here with Valen, and we've come across a captive human. We want to return him home tomorrow night, since we're too far from human territory to make the trip tonight. I tried calling Liz, but she didn't answer. Could you pass it along and tell her to call us back?"

After a moment, it sinks in: Kane is saving a human. For a moment, Jim feels a pang of jealousy. Where was this Kane, the kind one who saves humans instead of hurting them, when he was young and vulnerable? Why couldn't he get the nice Kane?

He tries to shake the feeling away. "That's great, man. Thank you. Uh, she should be home in less than an hour, you could give her a call then. I'm... really glad you're doing this. Thank you."

"Of course. I'll try calling her again soon, then. I know it doesn't make up for what I did to you, but I want to try to be better."

"Yeah. Um, just, just be gentle with him, please," Jim says apprehensively.

"I will. No harm will come to him, and I'll return him home tomorrow night." Kane promises. The two say their goodbyes. "Liz is out hunting, Jim said she should be home soon. Sam, would you like to use the phone?"

"Yes," says Sam desperately. "Yes, please."

He dials with a shaking hand, apparently his mother by the sound of it, and tells her what's happened in between bouts of choked crying. The act of reassuring her that he's going to get home soon seems to make it sink in for him, too. He hands the phone back and sits on the couch, making liberal use of the tissues offered to him. The cat eventually hops up and sits on his lap.

"I suppose this must seem terribly unfair to the humans we didn't rescue," says Valen. "Although, I suppose it matters a bit less to the ones who already have enough brain damage to not be aware of what's happening to them."

Sam remains silent, hunkering against the armrest of the couch.

"It's not like we can buy all of them," Kane points out. "At least we're helping one person.”

Valen still looks doubtful. He’s always been the kind of person to be unable to see the trees for the forest. He’d often gotten lost in the mires of thinking What’s the point in helping one if we can’t help them all? The simplicity with which Kane approaches the problem grounds him a little. And maybe now that they’re free and can worry about things other than themselves, they can think about how to help on a systemic scale.

…After getting Sam home safely.

Kane does try calling Liz again a little later, explaining the situation again. Liz jumps on the opportunity to help, agreeing to meet them as soon as they can get to the border tomorrow night. She asks to talk to Sam, and Kane hands him the phone.

"Hey. I'm Liz, I'm a hunter, and I'm going to come get you. It's gonna be okay. Just hold out there a little longer, yeah? You're gonna be fine," she assures him.

"Thank you," says Sam. "Thank you so, so much. Thank you. Please come get me. Please do. Please."

Valen holds his hand out for the phone. "Liz, thank you for your assistance. Um, this human is anemic. Is there anything else we need to do for him? We let him pick out his own foods. I learned about this in theory, but that was decades ago. It's difficult to remember."

"Fuck, I dunno. Don’t make him exercise too hard? That's, like, the only thing I know about it," Liz says. "Have you asked him?"

"Oh, well if you don't have any experience with it, then we can just ask him for more details. We have to wait until tomorrow night to go out again and I wanted to make him comfortable." Technically Valen could put on his daywalker outfit again, but...he'd rather not, so he doesn't mention it. "I just thought you might have some tidbits and save Sam the trouble of having to explain it all to us. We let him use the phone to call his family. Thank you for the help--I think, I think I might faint if I had to go into human territory again, but I would hate to drop him off and make him walk the rest of the way."

"I can handle it. It's okay," Kane tells Valen. He's also terrified to go back to human territory to hand Sam over to Liz, but he knows he needs to do this. He has to be strong, for Valen. 

"We can go to the border together," says Valen. "I don't want you going near there by yourself. Okay?"

"Okay. Thank you," Kane agrees, incredibly relieved. "I'm... really glad to not have to go back there alone."

Liz bids them goodbye once everything's in order. Now, they just have to wait. Kane supposes that Sam can take the couch.

Valen thinks the same thing. "Sam, is the food you have now sufficient? And do you want to take a shower or anything? Do you want to go to sleep on the couch? We can give you a blanket."

Sam explains to them that the food he has now is fine and he should be okay until tomorrow, and accepts all the amenities offered to him.

Valen gives him time alone in the bathroom. While they wait, Valen lies down on the floor in front of the cat, who is pretending not to see him. "I suppose I have to name this cat now anyway."

"Yes." Kane agrees, going to pet her. "I've never had a pet before, I'm actually quite excited. I know you used to have another cat."

"You haven't?" says Valen. "That's so sad. Were you just not that interested in animals?"

"I wasn't. I think... it may have helped, if I'd had a pet. I regret it now. I suppose it's never too late to start." Kane scritches behind her ears. The cat soaks in the attention and starts purring.

"It makes me sad to think about how miserable and lonely you must have been for so long," says Valen. "I know it's not a justification for the way you acted, but it's really not hard to imagine why you behaved the way you did when you were treated like that." Valen knows Kane had been a monster, but...so were half the vampires walking around in public. It was harder to not be a monster here. If he was anyone else, Valen probably wouldn't feel bad for him, knowing it was partially a hell of his own creation, but this is his Kane, and it's so sad imagining Kane being alone and unloved, without even the comfort of an animal to fend off his depression.

"No, that's..." Kane lowers his voice, mindful of the nearby terrified human. "No one else was beating their humans. I had… anger issues, and I took it out on him. I didn't realize that until later. I may have captured him to please my family, but everything after that was all me. I wish I could just..." He sighs. There's nothing he can do to take back what he's done. "At least we're helping Sam, and Jim is safe now."

"I suppose so." Valen had a bad habit of making excuses for people, trying to be a little bit too understanding. That's probably what kept him from realizing how awful Priscus was for the longest time. The way Kane pushes back and takes responsibility is refreshing. "What's done is done. And now we only have to worry about treating the cat well." He rubs under the cat's chin, feeling the purr. "I want to name her Snowball, but that feels incredibly uninspired."

"Too late. The second it left your mouth, it became official," Kane says with a smirk. "Hello, Snowball," he coos.

Valen smiles. The cat seems to enjoy the attention, and Valen can't be happier sitting here next to Kane with the cat Priscus had tried to use to manipulate him.

When Sam is done in the bathroom, Valen gets him a blanket and a pillow and sets him up on the couch. "If you need anything, you can come wake me up," he offers. "As soon as the sun sets, we'll get you home."

Sam huddles under the blanket. "Th-thank you."

The next evening, Kane battles nerves as they prepare to meet Liz at the border. Going back to human territory. He shivers at the thought. He packs up any uneaten human food he'd bought for Sam for him to take home with him. "If, if we run into any hunters who aren't Liz, you'll vouch for us, right?" he asks Sam anxiously. "Please. We can't go back to- to that."

Sam looks like a deer in the headlights upon hearing this request. "Uh..."

"He just means you'll, you'll tell them we're letting you go, right?" says Valen. "We're had...bad experiences with vampire hunters in the past, and we don't want any violence. That's all."

Sam looks between them, then nods fearfully.

Valen is about to offer to drive them there, before he remembers the sad fate of his car, sitting tireless deep in human territory. He'll have to get a new one. If they want to drive, Kane will have to do it.

Kane has not yet gotten around to purchasing a new car, but he opts to rent one. He figures driving might be more comfortable for everyone, particularly Sam, and that's faster. He goes out at sunset for one, and comes back shortly after.

"Next stop, human territory." he announces, trying to keep the mood light despite how deathly afraid he is.

Valen also has to suppress his fear. The resulting two vampires that look artificially happy unsettles Sam a little, but he starts getting more at ease the closer they get to the border.

It gets harder for Valen to remain calm when they come into sight of the signs marking the border with huge skulls on them, but he's relieved to see Liz parked. "Oh there she is, dear, over there." Please God please I don't want anyone else to see us here just take the human and leave so we can bolt.

Kane drives over to Liz and rolls down his window. "Hello, ma’a- Liz."

"Long time no see," Liz jokes. She peers into the car. "You must be Sam. It's okay, you're safe now. I'm gonna get you home."

Sam bolts out and into Liz's truck, not even closing the door to Kane's car or saying goodbye, keeping his little bundle of food in his lap and hunkering down in the back seat.

"There aren't any other hunters near, are there?" says Valen. "I doubt they would follow us over the border, but..."

"Nah, you're good. I even let my branch know what was going on to make sure you wouldn't run into trouble. You can relax," Liz assures him.

Kane does the opposite of relax. So many hunters know they're here. They need to get out of here. "W-well, we should probably be going. Thank you."

"Yeah, gotta get him home," Liz agrees. She gives Valen a friendly wave goodbye.

"Thank you, Liz!" says Valen. "Good luck, Sam! Stay safe!" 

Sam does not respond.

As soon as they leave, Valen taps Kane's shoulder with increasing urgency. "Go. Go go go go go. Speed." If they crash, there's no human in the car anymore to get hurt.

And....he wants to get home to see his cat again.

"Yes. On it." Kane floors it, and the speed does not decrease until they get back to civilization.

***

When they get back home, Bellamy's voice is coming through the answering machine: "-and I'm quite worried by now, honestly, I'm aware this is my seventh call tonight and it makes me appear a lunatic, but please call me back, my dear. As I've said previously, my number-"

Kane runs to the phone and takes it off the hook. "Bellamy?"

"...Kane?"

"It's really good to hear your voice again." Kane says softly. "You got my letter?"

“I did,” Bellamy affirms.

Neither of them quite know what to say for a moment.

Kane breaks the silence, smiling at Valen. “We have a cat now. Do you want to…come over and pet her?”

･ﾟ:* THE END *:･ﾟ

***

K&J x MMSS crossover taglist:

@barebarb

@cc1010foxy

@emcscared-whumps

@hurtpluscomfort

@melancholy-in-the-morning

@pigeonwhumps

@secretwhumplair

@some-thrilling-heroics

@t0rture-me

@thecyrulik

@thejinglingcourtjester

@vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff

@whuarri

@whump-cravings

@whump-my-heart-away

@whumpycries

@wolfeyedwitch

@whump-addict

@why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 3: Kane & Valen Part 7

Chapter 7 of the third crossover with @whumpsday!

In this chapter:

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

SERIES IS 18+ ONLY.

Warnings:  Death wish/suicidal ideation, nonconsensual bondage/restraint, gag/muzzle, torture/aftermath of torture, burns/skinning, misgendering of a transmasculine character (non-malicious)

To be added to the taglist, contact @whumpsday

***

The hunters leave Kane alone for a bit while he heals. In the meantime, they begin regularly torturing Valen.

Kane keeps his promise and begs on Valen's behalf, and it works about a quarter of the time to make the pain a little less or the duration a little shorter. He wishes there was more he could do to help.

On the day that Kane is looking just barely healed enough to be able to coherently take a punishment, a hunter instead comes down and informs him that Jim Lieberman is coming to pick him up.

Kane is hysterical. He and Valen are going to be separated. The one good thing in his life, gone. And Valen will still be here, having to endure everything alone, unable to even beg.

Valen's brain short-circuits. Kane is hysterical at the thought of leaving. Kane doesn’t want to leave. It feels wrong to not want to leave, but then the crushing weight of it hits him. Jim was Kane's victim. The hunters are going to give Kane to Jim, but not Valen. They're going to be separated.

"No no no, PLEASE! Please don’t give me away, please let her come, too!" Kane wails, but his pleas go unacknowledged.

He clings tightly to Valen, sobbing into his shoulder. "I don't wanna leave you!"

In contrast to the distressed, wailing man clinging to him, Valen is once again silent and still, eyes glassy, face lax. They're going to take away his Kane, and Valen will be alone.

And Valen is dying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have killed you.” Kane holds Valen close like he'll be torn away the second he loosens his grip. “I d-don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry you're here. I love you."

Like moving through a dream, Valen lifts a hand to Kane's arm, taking it gently. There's so many things to say, but he gave up on that long ago. He talks with touches, now. The animalistic brain that can only see what's in front of it is back. In this exact second, they are together, and this second is all that exists, and if he just takes it one second at a time, he can handle it.

A week later, when a hunter comes to take Kane away, he is not obedient. For the first time in years, he is defiant. He has found something worth the punishment for defiance.

He has to be pried off of Valen. Padded wrist and ankle cuffs and a padded muzzle are affixed to him, and he doesn’t even acknowledge the mercy of it. He struggles and screams and writhes, looking back at Valen, eyes full of terror.

Valen lies limp on the ground, looking up at Kane through his hair, eyes dull and hopeless. He does not even have it in him to cry anymore.

As soon as Jim removes Kane's muzzle and allows him to speak, Kane drops his head to the ground and tearfully apologizes profusely for everything, begging for mercy. And he's driven away, away from Valen, unsure of what horrors his new life will hold.

But when they arrive home, Jim is, somehow, kind. He gives Kane clothes, and a bed, and a blanket, and bandages his wrists, and assures him he won't hurt him, and says that the torture was bad. It's at the end of that first night, when Jim is about to leave him alone to rest, when Kane’s developed just enough trust to think Jim might honor his begging, that Kane dares to ask.

"Jim, I..." He drops to his knees. "Thank you so much, so, so much for your mercy. I can't possibly be more thankful for the kindness you've shown me tonight. B-but, and, and I know the last thing I should be doing is asking f-favors from you after what I've done, but... it's not for me. My, my friend, she's still there, with the hunters. She's not like me, she didn't do anything, she didn't hurt anyone."

Technically, Kane doesn't know this for sure, it was not something they discussed during their brief day of conversation. But it doesn’t matter. He would say anything to make sure Valen is safe. "Please, they're torturing her. Please, please, help her. I'll do anything, Jim, anything. Please, she didn't do anything." He's crying by this point, hoping Jim's mercy extends far enough for that and he won't just call him ungrateful, taking all the amenities away and leaving Valen to rot.

"Okay. Okay. Calm down." Jim says. "I'll help. No one deserves that shit. I'll help your friend get out of there, okay?"

Kane bursts into a flurry of thankful babbling that Jim cannot shake him from. He's never been so grateful in his entire life. Jim calls the hunters and requests the other vampire too. There's some hesitation, but Jim is able to talk them into it: all he has to do is play up that it would help him heal, to have another vampire in his custody. The thought makes him sick, what these hunters are assuming would help him, but at least it makes him able to get the other one out of there.

Jim has already driven a long-ass way tonight, and kind of wishes Kane told him about this sooner, though Kane had thought Jim was going to just me another tormenter, and hadn't thought asking for a favor would do any good until after they'd gotten home.

He asks the hunters to not hurt the other vampire before he gets there, and goes back down to tell Kane that the hunters said yes, and he'll be off to go get her as soon as he gets some sleep.

-

Valen spends that time lying on the floor exactly where he’d been dropped. Unresponsive to anything, even commands.

Kane is gone. Kane was the one who urged him to follow commands, to make things even a little better for himself. Kane had been the only reason he’d been putting in any effort at all into trying to make things better.

Valen knows now things will never get better. He is alone. He’ll be alone and scared and in pain for the rest of his life. That could be a day, or it could be a thousand years. He has no way of knowing, or of helping himself.

Some unknowable amount of time later, some hunters come down and start issuing him commands, to which he does not respond. The hunters wrangle his limp, uncooperative body to move him. He is put in padded wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs, which his brain manages to register as unexpected.

The hunters are unwilling to take off and replace the silver muzzle, which is the one thing he actually wants replaced. He is not told what's going on. He's wrapped up in a tarp, given it's daytime now, and taken outside to Jim. Being in the tarp is scary. Not knowing what’s going on is scary. But he dares not struggle, knowing the tarp is what keeps him from burning.

Jim picks Valen up, far too light. "It's okay. I'm taking you somewhere safe, alright? Kane begged me to come get you."

He can hardly believe what he's hearing. I'm taking you somewhere safe? That doesn't seem right. But...Kane begged me to come get you. Yes, that did make sense. Kane would do that, and Kane is good at begging.

He feels his hope returning a little. There is still love in the world, and some of it is for him.

Valen lies completely still and limp, pliant in this new stranger's hands, doing whatever he asks.

Jim hesitates for a bit, trying to decide where to put Valen. It's not that warm, so he thinks the trunk might be safer, just in case the tarp is jostled by his driving. "I'm gonna put you in the trunk just to make sure no sun gets to you, okay? It's a few hours' drive, and I'll take you out as soon as we get home." 

Valen does not respond. He thinks this sounds fine. But he cannot even make any sounds. He thinks he could probably nod his head, but he's just sort of resigned himself to being carried around and subjected to whatever is going to happen, and he feels no real desire to change that. Maybe Jim doesn't know that he can't make any sounds.

Jim does not know.

He has not seen under the tarp.

Valen has been told he's going to be taken somewhere safe, and with Kane, and maybe it was a lie, but in this moment he was safe enough, and only hurting a little bit, so he's content to just take whatever is going to happen to him.

He allows himself to be lowered into the trunk without squirming. Without moving at all, or making a sound. Maybe Jim thinks I'm dead, Valen thinks. Maybe that's why he agreed to come get me.

Jim gently places Valen into the trunk and drives home over a period of hours. He is really, really sick of driving by this point. He opens the trunk, takes Valen out, and brings him inside.

Kane is locked in the basement, but can hear that Jim's arrived home, and is so unbelievably excited. They haven’t even been apart for a full 24 hours, but he misses Valen dearly.

Jim makes sure all his blinds are closed, then unwraps the tarp. His hand flies to his mouth in shock: Valen looks even worse than Kane, and that's saying a lot. "Holy shit. It's, it's okay, you're safe now. I'm not gonna hurt you, alright?"

Valen uncoils from the center of the tarp, moving in a slow, dreamlike way. He looks up at Jim placidly, with soft, grateful eyes.

He blinks at Jim slowly and crawls forward a little, at Jim's feet, and leans into him, sighing contentedly. This is the closest to calm and safe he's felt in ages. He's in...some guy's house, which used to terrify him, but now this feels...almost normal.

At least this one’s not freaking out like Kane was. "That muzzle... it's burning you, isn't it? Can I take it off?" He knows that Valen is dangerous, that any vampire other than Kane is gonna have persuasion, but the evidence of the lack of vocal cords is right there. He has a padded one he can put on later- not now, but when Valen's had some time to heal up.

Valen tiredly looks up at him, almost uncomprehending. He nods slowly. Yes, please take it off. That would be so lovely. He hasn't had no muzzle on since that time when he'd had a brief stint of freedom with Kane. He already can't remember what it feels like.

The hunters had given Jim the key to it, but Jim hadn't realized the entire muzzle was silver at the time. He undoes the lock, then tries to pull it off, but it's stuck fast to Valen's face. "Um... you want me to do this fast or slow?" He realizes Valen can't answer that, and asks again, using his fingers to hold up 1 and 2.

Valen looks at him dreamily, barely here. There is nothing to try and escape from, but he can't bring himself to care about anything that is happening. It hardly makes any difference whether it comes off fast or slow. Anything hardly makes any difference at all now that he's away from those hunters. He is floating on a cloud that it feels like he won't come down from. He does not answer, instead gently wrapping his hand around Jim's fingers and nodding.

Jim begins to pick up on the fact that Valen is not all there, at least not right now. "Okay, I'm just- I'm gonna try my best. It'll probably hurt, I'm sorry. I dunno how else to do this." He pulls harder, tearing the muzzle from Valen's face, the skin ripping away with it.

Oh, that is enough to bring Valen back down to earth, slamming into the ground. He feels the pain now, having dissociated for long enough to block it mostly out.

Jim keeps apologizing the whole time, and has to stop halfway through, taking a squeamish break from the horrific sight of Valen’s mangled face. He returns to finish it as soon as he gets his bearings. At last, the muzzle is off, as well as half of Valen's face.

"I'm gonna grab you some bandages." Jim says, clammy and pale. "Just stay right there, okay?”

The muzzle is off. Valen still can't speak because of his missing vocal cords, and he's still beat half to death and back, and everything still hurts, but the muzzle is off, and Valen's head is clearer now. His face is throbbing, feeling hot blood dribbling down his neck, but he nods. That would be lovely, thank you. You're very kind.

Jim returns and begins covering Valen's face in gauze. He looks like he's cried a little, but hastily wiped his tears before returning to Valen. "I just don't understand how anyone could do that to someone." he whispers with horror.

Jim is kind, Valen decides instantly, and he would do anything for Jim. Valen doesn't understand how anyone could do it, either. He'd never understood it even when it'd been vampires tormenting humans.

Valen is looking forward to a time when he can thank Jim properly. He has no idea how long it will be, but he can be patient.

Valen lifts a hand to help Jim hold the gauze in place, grateful for it. He hasn't had a wound properly bandaged in ages.

"Thanks." Jim finishes wrapping Valen's face up. "Now that you're a proper mummy, let's uh, get these off too. You don't need 'em." He removes Valen's wrist and ankle cuffs. "I'll go grab you some clothes and then... you can see Kane, if you want?"

Valen leaps up in excitement, eyes sparkling. Yes, please, please, I need my Kane. Please give him back. He barely cares enough to revel in his wrists and ankles being free.

He saw the basement door when he was unwrapped from the tarp, and saw that it had silver on it. He guesses that Kane is down there. He points to it, a silent question, a look of urgency on his face.

"Yeah, he's down there. He's okay. I haven't hurt him and I'm not gonna. I'll let him up here in just a minute, alright? C'mon." Jim takes Valen's hand and leads him to his room, where the clothes are, and begins rifling through his closet again.

Valen follows him half-heartedly, keeping his eyes trained on the door. When Jim brings him into the bedroom, Valen waits patiently. He would rather go down right away, but if Jim doesn't want to see him nude, he can wait. He is so very eager, though.

But this is okay. Jim obviously thinks torture is wrong, and he's being given clothes, and this place seems nice, and his Kane is here. This will be okay for a while, he thinks.

Jim gives Valen a change of clothes, a pretty basic comfortable t-shirt, sweatpants, boxers, and socks. "I'll wait outside, just come out when you're done changing, okay?" He leaves the room and shuts the door.

Hm? Jim wants him to change in private? That's different. Why would either of them care? This is just Valen, after all. Oh well.

He changes into the clothes eagerly, sorry to get them a bit dirty with his soiled body, but they're comfy. The socks are the best part. They're thick and fluffy. He patters out when he's done, absolutely beaming. He points downstairs. Now? Please?

"Yeah, alright. Let's get you guys a reunion." 

***

K&J x MMSS crossover taglist:

@barebarb

@cc1010foxy

@emcscared-whumps

@melancholy-in-the-morning

@pigeonwhumps

@secretwhumplair

@some-thrilling-heroics

@t0rture-me

@thecyrulik

@thejinglingcourtjester

@vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff

@whuarri

@whump-cravings

@whump-my-heart-away

@whumpycries

@wolfeyedwitch

@why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 3: Kane & Valen Part 1

Hi everyone!! I'm here to post another collab with @whumpsday. It's the start of a new crossover series between K&J and MMSS. This one will be multiple parts. THIS SERIES IS 18+ ONLY. It contains adult content. Minors are NOT allowed to read, and you MUST be over 18 to ask to be added to the tag list. This particular crossover gets MUCH darker than the first two, so reader discretion is advised. Chapters will have individual warnings.

If you asked to be on the K&J x MMSS crossover taglist, you should be tagged here! If you aren't and want to be, contact @whumpsday! The tag list is opt-in and, again, 18+ only.

That all being said, hope you enjoy! This is an AU where Nick snags Kane as well as Valen for his experiments. It takes place before/diverges from Impending for K&J and after/diverges from 6M/6S

K&J masterlist

MMSS masterlist

K&J x MMSS crossover masterlist

Part 1

Content warnings: Torture, starvation, dehumanization/”it” as a dehumanizing pronoun, bondage/restraints, non-consensual nudity, rape/noncon, misgendering of a trans character (due to not knowing his gender / non-malicious)

Kane would be bouncing off the walls with excitement if he had any energy left in his body. He's leaving, that's what the hunters had said. He knows that where he's going likely won't be much better than here, he's still going to be with hunters, but anything has to be better than here. It has to. It can't possibly be worse.

He's anxious too, of course. Here, he knows what's going to happen. He has absolutely no clue what awaits him in his new accommodations. But it can't be worse. He keeps telling himself that, over and over. It can't be worse. It can't be worse. It can't be worse.

He startles as he hears the footsteps of an approaching human, unsure if this is a hunter here to torture him or a new hunter here to pick him up. He spares a glance around his barren cell, almost nostalgic after so long with it as his home. He won't miss it, not in the slightest, but it feels strange to leave.

A new man comes down into the cell, escorted by two hunters Kane is familiar with. He pushes his spectacles up his nose. "Hm, this is the new research specimen? You didn't tell me it was in a starved state as well." His voice is dripping with disapproval and disappointment. "I wanted a second one specifically because the first one is healing its wounds more slowly than is optimal."

Kane can't believe what he's hearing. This hunter wants him not starved. That means he might be fed. It's better than he'd even hoped.

But the man is disappointed. He doesn't want him, because he's starving. He knows he should stay quiet, but the thought that he might be passed over and left here to rot because of something so easily and wonderfully fixed sends him into such panic that he blurts out, "I'll heal fast, sir! If, if you feed me, it'll be fixed quickly! Easily!"

He slaps a hand over his mouth, cursing himself for jumping the gun. He should have waited, only should have only started speaking out of turn if it really seemed like the man would leave him here.

The two hunters laugh. The newcomer gives Kane a piercing, irritated glare that makes him wince. "Yes, obviously. It will be an uphill battle to get permission to feed you, though. Starved vampires are much safer. Especially you, since apparently I hear you have quite a major birth defect. The fact that you're an imperfect specimen might introduce...hmm, confounding factors. Not ideal, but better than nothing. And it certainly does make you a lot safer to keep around. The director insists safety is our utmost priority."

He turns to the other hunters. "I'll take him. Thank you for your cooperation."

The hunters thank him in turn for doing something to help make hunting easier, keeping humanity safer. They call him Nick.

Kane’s eyes sparkle with hope. This is it. He's leaving, and he might be fed. His defect is actually good for something, making him safer for this new hunter to keep around. He never thought he'd be thankful for it. This is the best thing that's happened to him in a long, long time. He scrambles to his feet, eager to follow his new keeper out of this hell. "Thank you, sir. I'll be good. Safe," he says quietly.

Nick gives him a withering glance. "It doesn't matter whether or not you're 'good.' Although it may save us all some trouble." Nick has two pairs of padded cuffs, which he asks the hunters to put on Kane's wrists and ankles. The ankle ones are long enough that he can walk, but not run.

Kane nods sheepishly at the further irritation. He can't seem to say anything right, and it scares him into silence. He needs this man not to hate him. He holds still as he's fitted with his new restraints. They don't burn, a new concept to him. Oh, this new hunter is merciful. "Thank you, sir," he repeats, even quieter this time.

He eyes the stairs at the end of the hall, concerned. He knows he won't be able to do that on his own. He's always been dragged, or strapped to the board. He supposes he can try to crawl if he needs to, but he might lack the energy for even that.

"Let's go, then," says Nick, marching him over to the stairs. He stands behind Kane, clearly expecting him to climb them on his own.

"Yes, sir." Kane gives it his best try, he really does. He starts off walking, switching to crawling shortly after, but he only makes it about one-third of the way up the two flights of stairs before he collapses. "I'm s-sorry, sir. I'm too weak, I can't do it. I'm tr-trying, please." He shakes with fear, terrified that the man will conclude him a lost cause and abandon him here.

Nick rolls his eyes. He turns to the other hunters. "Help me load this into my car, would you?"

One of the hunters grabs Kane roughly. He only weighs about 60 pounds, and the hunters are strong, so it doesn't require more than one person. Relief courses through Kane at the confirmation that he's still leaving.

"Thank you, sir," he repeats again, hanging limply over the hunter's shoulder. He’s unresisting, until he sees it’s daytime outside.

Kane starts to panic. “Wait wait wait, please, please not the sun! Please, I’ll be good, n-not the sun!”

“Shut the fuck up.” The hunter carrying him hits him over the head.

“Stop being rough,” Nick scolds.  “Don’t damage my research sample.  Just put it in the trunk.”

Kane calms at that. He’s not being put in the sun, at least not now. He curls up in the trunk. “Thank you, sir. Thank you thank you thank you.”

It's getting dark by the time they get to the new hunter's compound, and Nick opens the trunk. He doesn't say anything for a moment, just looming over him.

Kane likes being in the trunk. It's safe in there, no windows to let sun in. When Nick opens it, he stares up at him, relieved that the sun has now set. "Th-thank you for taking me, sir," he says awkwardly, unsure what's wanted of him. The man even said it didn't matter if he was good. "What can I do for you...?"

Nick leans down over Kane's limp form in the trunk. His manner is completely different from the detached, calculating air he had back in the other hunter's compound. "From now on, you are not to speak with any other hunters except for me. Not even if they talk to you first, not even if they ask you questions, not even if they threaten you or torture you. You can scream, you can cry, you can make all the noise you want, but not a single word to them. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. I understand," Kane answers immediately, but this rule terrifies him. He doesn't know if he'll be able to resist a direct order from a hunter to speak, he's been so trained to obedience. He definitely couldn’t resist it under torture. But he has no other option but to agree to it, so he does.

Nick smiles, showing his teeth, but it's more like a sneer. "I can't wait to hurt you. I can't wait to hear you beg me to stop. I can't wait to find out what exactly you hate the most just so I can do it to you over and over and over again. I can't wait to treat you like the monster that you are, to make you understand what pain feels like. What it feels like to be hurt and violated and drained and your body used to give others pleasure in whatever way they see fit to use it over and over and over again, not knowing when it will end, wanting to just die. Feeling your mind cracking and splintering." He has a glow of madness in his eye. 

Kane shudders. The sentiment is nothing he hasn't heard before. At least this hunter is letting him know exactly what to expect, and he implied Kane would be fed. He has to hold onto that, the possibility that maybe things might be a little better here. "Yes, sir. I understand." he repeats. "I won't resist. I know my place.”

He notices fang marks on the hunter's neck. Probably from a fight, given his profession? It certainly won't make him any more merciful toward Kane, he knows. The hunters are always crueler when they want revenge.

Nick's smile fades a little, dumbfounded, as though he hadn't expected that. "You should be scared."

"I'm always scared, sir," Kane assures him. "I promise I am. I haven't stopped being scared for years." He understands what the hunter means, though. For him, getting to torture a vampire is new. But everything he's just said is a description of what his life is already like. Nothing is changing. The thought brings tears to his eyes. It's not changing. He's still going to be tortured. "I'm scared," he insists again, his voice breaking. It couldn't be more true.

Nick frowns. "Fine. That's a little better, I suppose." His face slips back into the cold, uncaring mask as another hunter approaches. "Help me move this inside, please."

Another hunter comes into his field of view, crinkling their nose at him. "Hell, you got a second one? Fuck, Nick, come on."

Nick's lip twitches. "Fine, if you won't help me I'll just do it myself." He reaches in and pulls Kane out, standing him upright but not allowing him much time to catch his balance before shutting the trunk and dragging him towards the building. "First I'll clean you off. You're disgusting."

Nick makes him stand next to the building and unrolls a garden hose.

Kane opens his mouth to say Yes, sir, then closes it before he can speak. He's unsure whether the hunter's rule applies just to speaking directly to other hunters, or speaking in their presence at all, and he decides to err on the safe side and stay quiet. Instead, he opts to nod with a "Mm-hm."

He wonders if the water will be freezing-cold like it is at his old prison. He might not dislike it so much if it isn't. But given the hunter's speech, he seriously doubts it. He's not expecting mercy, aside from that titillating promise of blood.

It quickly turns out that the water is, in fact, very cold, and the pressure blasts Kane hard enough that he falls over. He lays there as he's hosed off, moving as he needs to, to make sure all of him is hosed. He can't really be called clean, but he's definitely covered in less blood and grime than he was before. He's shivering almost violently.

Nick is unsatisfied by how Kane is cooperating and not struggling, but the other hunter is still watching him, so he can't get away with being sadistic right now. He pulls Kane up and shakes him off to get some of the water off, then leads him into the house.

A pair of women come out of the building as they come in. Kane will figure this out as time goes on, but they are, in fact, the only women who work at this branch. The field is mostly male-dominated. One of them looks absolutely disgusted. "Really?" she says, looking Kane up and down. "Jesus Christ."

"You're not allowed to do that," says the other. "There have to be two people present to have one out--"

"For your information," Nick snarls, “the director gave me permission to keep this one on a chain and not in the coffin, because it's less dangerous. It can't use persuasion. Documented and verified. So kindly fuck off with your moralistic hand-wringing."

The taller woman pushes Kane out of the way to get in Nick's face. "Don't talk to my girlfriend that way.”

"Then keep her on a leash," says Nick.

They stare eye to eye. Nick clearly wants to start hurling slurs. The taller woman clearly wants to start swinging. But eventually she snatches the hand of the petite woman behind her and drags her out. "Let's get out of here, Lex. Fuck this noise."

Kane follows, still shivering and mostly sopping wet. His eyes dart between the hunters nervously as they argue. It's never good when they're in a bad mood. He takes in the information, trying to parse out anything useful to him, but none of it seems to be. These hunters hate the one in charge of him, and vice-versa. They seemed concerned he would be dangerous, but his keeper dispelled that notion, which is good.

Then the tall woman pushes him suddenly, and Kane flinches hard, only just barely managing to keep his balance. He whimpers holding his bound hands in front of his face, but the women leave without hurting him. He looks back at the hunter in charge, anxious about what's going to happen next. "Wh-what now, sir?" 

Nick scowls and doesn't answer, taking him downstairs. He makes Kane walk, and when inevitably Kane starts to fall he grabs him and carries him downstairs.

The basement has a cement floor, with a drain in the center, and lots of equipment of varying scariness. But the main thing Kane notices is the second vampire: in a cage barely bigger than its own body tucked in the corner, locked up in restraints that look wildly excessive, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs, a muzzle, a metal collar, and a terrified expression.

Nick claps a matching metal collar on Kane's neck, locking it shut, and holds him by the metal ring now on his neck.

Kane stares in horror at the other vampire for a moment before blushing fiercely and pointedly looking away, bright red. She's got no shirt on, and he doesn't want to seem like a creep. She looks to be in a similar state to himself. He's never had a co-captive before, or at least, not one that's survived more than a few hours. His heart hurts knowing someone else is enduring this. Looking around the room makes him shudder: he's never been kept with the weapons before.

He gasps as the collar locks around his neck, tensing up, before realizing it's not burning him and relaxing just slightly. His terrified eyes dart briefly back to the other vampire, who wears a similar collar, before landing back on the hunter holding him by the neck. "Is it... starting now, sir?" he whimpers.

Valen watches this new vampire come in, chest aching. Part of him feels guilty at being a little relieved. With a second vampire here, maybe Nick will stop hurting him quite so much. But...he's also really not looking forward to having to watch someone else endure these horrors. This new vampire is a man, too, which makes Valen panic a little at the prospect of being in captivity together with him, but... The newcomer averts his eyes upon seeing Valen's nudity. And it’s probably ridiculous to be thinking such a thing when they’re clearly going to be tormented together by Nick. Please just don't make it worse for me, he silently begs the newcomer. I don't know how it could get worse, but please don't make it worse. He imagines this newcomer filling all their spare time by adding to Valen's misery to take it out on the one person who has even less power than him....

Looking at him now, it seems this new vampire is no stranger to such a predicament, though. He's already starved, completely skin and bones, and all his movements have a clearly practiced deference to them.

"What's your name?" Nick asks, ignoring Kane’s question.

Kane is surprised that the hunter would care, but he supposes it makes sense. There has to be a way to differentiate when leech or parasite could refer to either of them. "My name is Kane, sir."

"Wrong," Nick whispers in his ear. "Your name is Research Specimen #2."

Valen turns away from watching Nick and his new victim, tears streaming down his face. He already can't watch. He feels so guilty for just being relieved it's not him out there.

"Yes, sir. My name is Research Specimen #2," Kane agrees easily. It's far from the worst thing he's been called. He dares to hope at the fact that this hunter clearly likes humiliating him. Those ones always spend less time doing things that hurt. He doesn't mind humiliation, not anymore.

Nick smiles. "Good." He slips a muzzle over Kane's face. It's bare metal, but it doesn't burn, and it still allows him to speak. He drags Kane over to the center of the room and attaches a chain to the cuffs on his wrists, then pulls the chain to force Kane up onto the balls of his feet, arms over his head.

"Lucky you," says Nick. "Since you're such a pathetic piece of shit that can't do anything to help itself, I'm allowed to do whatever I want to you without anyone around to supervise. No need for two people around." He approaches and, in one smooth motion, pulls Kane's pants and underwear down, leaving him completely exposed from top to bottom.

Kane squeals in alarm, attempting unsuccessfully to maneuver his legs in a way that hides his junk. His heart practically stops in his chest as he really thinks now about the implications of the topless vampire in the cage.

He thought he'd experienced every kind of torture he could, but he's never been raped before.

His breathing quickens with panic. Maybe he's wrong and that's not what's going to happen. This hunter seemed to hate those gay lady hunters from earlier, after all. And he's a man.

No, in the hunter's eyes, he's an it.

He squeezes his eyes shut, his weight hanging from his wrists. "Wh-wh-what's happening?" he asks, his voice pitched with fear.

Nick smiles. There it is, the dread he was looking for. He picks up a camera. "I'm photographing your condition. For comparisons later." He starts to snap photos, circling Kane, kneeling to get better angles, and snapping at him to stay still when he makes efforts to preserve his modesty.

Nick glances up the stairs to make sure no one is close enough to overhear him before he lowers his voice and says, "And for the record, the only reason you're keeping your pants at all is because I don't want to stare at your disgusting cock all day. At least Specimen #1 has the decency to be pleasing to look at."

This elicits a choked sob from the vampire in the cage, who's turned away from Kane and isn't watching.

Kane calms down slightly when the hunter insults his body. He was wrong, he's not going to be violated, at least not like that. He stays still as directed, giving up any effort at preserving his modesty, watching the hunter circle around him. He wishes the other vampire weren't here. It turns out he does have some shame left, at being exposed in front of her.

It is abundantly clear that while what he'd feared isn't going to happen to him, it's definitely happening to her. He feels, for the first time in a long time, rage. He's resigned himself to the fact he'll be tormented, he knows he deserves it. But she doesn't.

"I'm... sorry, sir?" he says hesitantly. This is new territory, and he's not sure what to say.

Nick lets out a short, barking laugh. "Fine." He hangs the camera around his neck. "I'm going to go develop these. I'll be back later, when everyone else is gone." He leers at the vampire in the cage for a moment before mounting the stairs and exiting, turning off the light and locking the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone.

Kane does not possess the strength to support himself on the balls of his feet, hanging limply. He doesn't weigh much, but his wrists and shoulders still ache from supporting his weight.

He wishes the hunter had at least pulled his shorts back up.

"H-hello," Kane says awkwardly, though he doesn't look at her. He's mortified. "Um, I'm Kane. I guess you heard. I apologize for my appearance." He sighs. "I hate this. I'm sorry you're here too. When the hunter was picking me up, he mentioned... he didn't want me starved, so I could heal faster. Does he feed you?" he asks hopefully.

He does spare a glance at her, knowing she can't answer verbally with that thing in her mouth.

Oh god, the new vampire is talking to him. Part of Valen just wants him to be quiet, maybe it would be better for them to just not acknowledge each other...Maybe it would be nice to not be so alone in this Hell, but...Valen had long given up hope that things would actually get better for him. Every new change usually only makes things worse. He's fully preparing himself for the eventuality that the addition of a second test subject is going to somehow make everything worse for him.

Does he feed me? Does it look like he feeds me? He glances at Kane, who's waiting for an answer. Kane looks... resigned already, completely hopeless before he even got here. That scares him. Is Valen going to end up like that, too? Kane has clearly been trying to preserve some modicum of dignity for both of them, in their nude states, but Valen's eyes briefly flicker up and down the exposed form of the new vampire, to see all of him, before going red and realizing that might be making things worse.

He makes eye contact with Kane and shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to suppress the tears.

Kane sighs again, dejected. "It didn't look like it. Fuck, I want blood so bad. I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten in years." He starts to cry, the humiliation and despair too much for him to hold back. He can feel his face heat up again as she looks him over. Not only is he nude, he knows he looks disgusting, even with the hosedown.

"I wanna go home," he whimpers through his tears. He takes a minute to wallow in self-pity before taking a deep breath and... talking. He hasn't been around an equal, someone he could speak freely around, in a long time, and with no responses to interrupt him, he feels compelled to ramble.

"I hate that you're here too, but at least it's nice to not be alone, even if it's awkward that he won't let us be clothed. I was alone with my old hunters. Oh, you're probably wondering, I can't use persuasion. That's why they haven't stopped me from speaking, I suppose. My shoulders hurt."

He tries to balance himself on the balls of his feet, but he's too exhausted to manage it, and the chains pull his arms upward again. "I mean, it could be worse. The cuffs and collars the old hunters usually used were bare silver, and they burned. At least these don't burn. Is this how he's going to keep me all the time, you think? That would be awful. At least I got to lay on the floor back in my cell."

Valen doesn't know if Kane expects him to answer any of these things. He seems to be talking more for his own benefit than actually to Valen. That was how men usually talked to him, though. But it is a little bit nice to not be alone.

Hearing someone else finally say I wanna go home in that small, overwhelmed voice breaks him. He also wants to go home. He would do anything to be back with Priscus, a man he once despised, in a home he used to view as a prison. He'd been so foolish and naive. He hadn't known what horrors life was truly capable of producing for him.

Valen takes a moment to ponder the idea that he can't use persuasion....Valen had never heard of that before. Except...No, he had, there was one vampire. Kane de Sang. The pieces clicked into place. They'd only met in passing once, years ago, but it looked like the same person. How did a spoiled rich brat like that end up here, like this?

But that gives him a bit of hope, because...Kane doesn't need to be kept from talking. Valen could always feel that the hunters might be able to be convinced if he could just communicate with them. Some of them were sympathetic, he could see it, and if he could just ask for help in the right way, surely some of them would listen. Maybe Kane could do that. Maybe Kane could finally make it known that Nick was breaking the rules. Valen sobs. Maybe, maybe, maybe if Valen is very lucky and his new co-prisoner isn't a complete piece of shit, he might, maybe speak up on Valen's behalf. It seems dangerous to hope.

***

K&J x MMSS crossover taglist:

@barebarb @cc1010foxy @emcscared-whumps @melancholy-in-the-morning @pigeonwhumps @secretwhumplair @some-thrilling-heoics @t0rture-me @thecyrulik @thejinglingcourtjester @vehan-tikkun-olam-and-stuff @whuarri @whump-cravings @whump-my-heart-away @whumpycries @wolfeyedwitch

If you want to be added to the taglist, ask @whumpsday, NOT me, as Milly is the one keeping track of the taglist.

[pigeonwhumps]

K&J x MMSS 2: Valen & Liz Part 2

Part 1 here

Kane & Jim masterlist/ Magnanimous Moonrise & Savage Sunset masterlist

content: nonconsensual restraint, muzzle/gag, aftermath of torture, recovery, vampire whumpee, failed escape attempt, begging, burns

part 2 of my and @not-a-space-alien ’s second crossover story!

-

They hang out until sunset. Liz gives Valen free reign of the TV and radio. She’s not a big reader, doesn’t really have many books. There are some outdoorsy magazines, though. Liz does some weight training. Clothes are ordered- even the expensive boots, as Liz tries to assuage her guilt- and she says she’ll get the binders when she goes out tomorrow.

For now, Liz gives Valen a sports bra and some of her own clothes that match what she now knows are his taste. She even has a studded belt similar to the one from the catalog. “You have awesome taste,” she says with a smile.

Valen originally gravitates towards the reading materials offered, but has trouble focusing. He likes looking at the pictures though–that feels like a long way to have fallen, but he can’t deny the way his brain strains against the leash as he tries to reign it in to focus on something constructive. He eventually gives up and watches TV, lying sideways on the couch. He occasionally touches the metal mesh over his face, but the despair is lessening, knowing there’s a set time it will be coming off, even if possibly only temporarily.

Valen watches Liz exercise, trying and failing not to stare. He glances away quickly whenever she turns, to avoid making eye contact at all costs.

Keep reading

[pigeonwhumps]

Livestock

Part 3

Bellamy had hoped he would never see such a thing in his life. His heart aches at the display.

"That will not be necessary, my dear. I shall not be feeding from you." He kneels as well, getting on the human's level. "I'll take these off of you, now."

The vampire who dropped him off neglected to include keys, but human restraints are not built to withstand vampire strength. He's easily able to break the locks with his fingers, removing the muzzle and cuffs. "Is that better?"

The human can't believe it. No... no feeding?

But that seems irrevelant, when he looks at his hands.

He still remembers the vampire who’d put him in the cuffs. A quick slap to the head, and then the uncomfortable metal bracers had made their home on his body.

“Enjoy the time you have left,” the vampire had cackled. “‘’Nless someone else takes you home, to be their personal food source… you’ll be drained dry and incinerated like the rest of the spent ones.”

The human will never forget that vampire’s cruel grin.

And now… someone had taken him home. A merciful vampire, apparently—one who couldn’t stand to see him suffer and die.

The human wondered what he’d done to earn such mercy.

It takes him awhile, but he does get curious. He hasn’t been out if his cuffs in so LONG. It takes him a minute, but slowly, he extends his hands juiuust to where they were usually bound. 

It fills his whole body with sickening fear, but he musters up the courage to move his hands farther apart. Once he does, he stops and stares. It's... it's wonderful.

Bellamy smiles again. "Much better," he agrees in the human's stead. He gently takes one of the human's hands in his own, standing up and helping the human stand with him. "May I know your name?"

The human jerks back away. The touch scared him.  Whimpers fill his throat, as he collapses back down.

Bellamy takes two steps back. "Apologies, darling. I was merely attempting to help you up. I shan't touch you again," he promises.

The poor dear is clearly all out of sorts. He needs some space to calm down. "You may follow me and I will show you to your room." He starts off toward the guest room, looking behind to make sure the human follows.

It hurts. His injured leg sends wave after wave of agony coursinng throughout his entire body. But, he does as he'd told.

Bellamy stops, frowning. The human is injured, it's obvious from his staggered gait. Normally he'd offer to carry him, but the human dislikes being touched.

"It simply won't do for you to hurt yourself," he says with a shake of his head. "I could carry you if you'd like. If that is too much for you, we could do what we'd done before, and you can use that... crate as a mode of passage, while I carry you inside it. Are either of these options amenable?"

The human is confused. Carrying... he remembers carrying.

He remembers, as a young child, being carried by his mother, when she took him to explore a wild, wild valley in the spring. He remembers the tinkling sound of her laugh--and he remembers the bright crimson flower she'd given to him.

He remembers carrying... another human? A female, judging from his memories. He can't remember her name, or even her face... but he knows he was happy.

And, he remembers being carried, by a cruel uncaring vampire--dragged back to the farm after he'd tried to escape... and then his leg, splintering into a million shattered shards--

The human blinked, remembering. Orders to follow.

Slowly, he just sort of... pancakes on the ground. If this vampire was offering to carry him... maybe, just maybe, this time it wouldn't hurt.

Bellamy hesitates. He just promised not to touch the human, and this isn't... explicit permission.

He crouches again. "I will not touch you without your say-so. A nod will do, if you'd rather not speak. Would you like me to carry you?"

The human slowly nods, averting his eyes from his superior's. He knows enough by now to show the proper respect.

"Alright. Please do let me know if you'd like me to set you down, and I shall do so." Bellamy carefully scoops the human into his arms and stands, carrying him to the closest guest room.

He lays the human down on the bed. "There you are. I will look into options to assist with your mobility. Would you like me to bring you something to eat?" Judging by the man's appearance, he's not very well-fed.

You had the human at food. Eagerly, he begins to nod. Even the scraps of bread he's used to recieving would be enough for him.

"Alright. I'll be back in just a moment."

Bellamy heads down to his cupboards, rifling through the snacks he keeps for Caroline's visits for something more substantial. He finds a boxed macaroni and cheese, which thankfully displays clear instructions on the side, given his woeful cooking skills.

He returns to the human with a tray containing a steaming bowl of macaroni and a refilled glass of water, along with a fork and spoon, as Bellamy wasn't sure which was appropriate for such a meal. "Here you are. I hope this is satisfactory. I have a human friend, you see. She lived here for quite some time, but moved in with her boyfriend a few years ago. I keep the place stocked with human things for when she visits. You'll likely meet her soon." Hopefully, Caroline will have better luck at communicating with him.

The human can't believe his eyes. His whole face erupts into a bright smile.

He abruptly begins chowing down.

Once he's finished, he looks up at the vampire, still refusing eye contact, but trying to express how grateful he is.

Bellamy sets the glass on the bedside table and takes the tray. "I'm glad you have an appetite. I'll come back to check on you in a bit, alright? You try and get some rest." A human who won't speak and can't walk is a bit of a frightening combination to him. What if he needs something, and can't yell for help or come get him?

He takes the tray and leaves the human alone to rest.

It takes him a minute, but he gratefully curls up, wraps his arms around himself, and lays his head down. It doesn't take him long to fall into a deep sleep.

@whumpsday

[pigeonwhumps]

Livestock

Part 2

@whumpsday

The vampire doesn't grab him, doesn't beat him, doesn't choke him.

The human can't help but be absolutely, utterly confused.

Why? That's all he can think about. Why, why, why?

The vampire turns, and the human's heart beat just stops.

Impossible. 

And yet, it happened.

The human had said the word out loud.

Bellamy turns back to face the human, eyebrows furrowed with sadness. Still, he's glad the human is speaking to him.

"I'm sorry you've been subject to such cruelty in your time here," he says softly. "There will be no violence in my home. You are safe here. I can bring you back to human territory, should you like. Though it would have to wait for tomorrow night if I'm to make it back before sunrise. Would you like that, dear? To go home?"

The human almost laughs outright.

What home was left for him?

It didn't matter, anyway--it never did.

The human's owners would most certainly come after him.

Well... he's not entirely sure, who his owners are anymore. Either way, he can barely remember his life before the vampires. It seems like existence is nothing but constant pain and darkness. 

The human doesn't know why the vampire (who said he called himself a Bellamy. What's a Bellamy?) is even asking. But he knows his new owner is expecting an answer.

Sullenly, he shakes his head.

Bellamy is surprised by the answer, but tries not to let it show. "That is alright as well. You may stay here as long as you wish. No harm will come to you."

It occurs to Bellamy that this human has to be thirsty—and hungry, too. Heaven knew what they feed them in the farms, but Bellamy guesses it isn’t the best.

Crossing the room, he goes to the sink and fills a glass, returning to the crate and holding it out. "Here you are, have some water."

The human is utterly grateful. This is something he understands.

Deep inside, his stomach always aches with hunger, and his throat is always dry. But this? Extra food or water is a treat--and a treat to be savored at that.

Eagerly, he snatches the water, and happily drinks the whole thing. A faint smile crosses

 his face when he's done.

"There we go, dear, what a lovely smile you have." Bellamy smiles back, mouth closed. Careful not to bare his fangs. "Would you like to come out now? I could show you to a guest room, and get that garish thing off your face so you could have a meal. It would surely be more comfortable."

The human can't help but whimper. He isn't sure what this... Bellamy is talking about.  What's a guest room? What's a garish?

It doesn't matter. He knows what the vampire wants.

It hurts his heart. Feeling like he's being stabbe physically, he shakily climbs out of his crate, kneels in the appropriate positon, and bares his neck to the side. Silently, he looks down at the floor--he hopes this vamprie is one of the nicer ones.

[pigeonwhumps]

Kane & Jim AU: Slow Cooked

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: vampire whumpee, torture, burns, body horror / gore, isolation, touch starvation, rescue, caretaking

just some whump that wouldn't leave my head. i'm on an AU kick. 2 pieces in a day!! woo!!! also posted a catharsis chapter earlier :D

-

It was day one-thousand one-hundred and thirty-three since they’d left Kane in the sun.

Unlike in his cell, it was easy to count the days out here. Impossible not to, unless he lost count amid the endless pain. He couldn’t see, hadn’t opened his eyes in years, but fire licked at his toes once more, slowly working its way up.

Kane did not scream. The last time he’d screamed, a hunter had wrapped a cord around his throat and threatened to leave it there forever if he made another sound, leaving his lungs perpetually empty. That was day 14.

He had air. As his already burnt-beyond-recognition body lit up once more under the unforgiving heat of the sun, Kane reminded himself he could breathe. It was the only thing he had left.

It hurt. It hurt, hurt, hurt, always. There was no end to it, not even at night, when his wholly maimed form was given far too little time to even start to heal. There was only agony at night and more agony in the day.

He missed his cell. He would do anything to go back to his cell, in the blessed dark.

The morning sun rose enough to reach his face, his entire body once again swallowed as he burned alive.

Please. Please make it stop. Please, somebody help me! I’ll do anything. I just need it to stop. Mercy.

Every day, the same wish, unanswered. Kane was left to his unbearable existence, forgotten.

-

Somebody touched him. It was the first time Kane had been touched in over three years.

It was a light touch, just the graze of what he thought to be a hand to his jawline. Not enough to make it hurt more than it already did. Whoever it was said something, but he couldn’t make it out. Melted flesh had filled his ears for quite some time.

Kane did not move. He didn’t think he was capable of moving, anymore. But he had to do something. Maybe if he did, they’d let him inside, just for a little. Just for a few days. He would do anything to be allowed inside for a few days, even if they tortured him.

Please, I need help, please help me! Make it stop!

A small, raspy whine escaped the back of his throat, muffled further by his sealed-shut lips. It was all he could manage.

The hand retreated.

If Kane was capable of crying, he would. If Kane’s tear ducts hadn’t melted away under the sun years ago, he’d never have stopped.

Please. Please. Somebody. Help me.

His heart cried out, yearning for the touch to return. Even if they never helped, even if they hurt him. He just needed to feel for one moment like he wasn’t alone.

He keened again, a quiet thing, though he tried. Wordless begging to not be left.

The hand returned to his cheek, and he quieted once more. If the agony never stopped, at least he had this. The ability to breathe, and one gentle touch.

Without warning, something pierced his chest, and his cursed consciousness was blissfully lost.

-

Kane did not wake outside.

His arms and legs were no longer spread into the corners of the board, ensuring every vulnerable inch of his front was exposed to the sun. The board no longer touched his back, in fact. Instead, he laid on something soft. The sun did not shine.

Either it was nighttime, or he’d been allowed inside.

It was almost unthinkable that he’d be allowed to rest on something soft and let inside. Surely, it had to be nighttime.

Despite his relative freedom–he could still feel a shackle on one ankle, not silver, but nothing else–he was far too mangled to move around. He simply laid there, trying to bask in the wonder of the soft thing.

“Kane?” a voice asked, hours later. He could hear it, he realized. His ears were cleared.

He knew that voice. That was the human’s voice. Jim’s voice.

The fragile hope that he might be allowed to remain on the soft thing vanished.

“Are you awake?” Jim asked. “I saw you… twitching and stuff.”

He would cry if he could. He was crying, he realized, tears falling down his burnt-up cheeks.

“It’s okay, don’t be scared. I mean, that’s–that’s a tall order, yeah. You’re not going out there again. You’re gonna be okay.”

That gentle hand returned, to his hair this time. There wasn’t much of it left, he was reasonably sure. Jim stroked what was there, his touch feather-light, like he was afraid Kane would break into pieces.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. It’s over,” Jim promised. His voice shook like he might be crying, too.

Kane wanted to believe it so, so badly. It was everything he’d ever wanted, for someone to help. Finally, finally, for the pain to end. It hadn’t even ended yet, his body was a horrific mess of seared skin, but it had been promised. No one had ever promised to help before.

He couldn’t be dreaming. It never hurt this badly in dreams, his only refuge.

“Can you open your mouth?” Jim prompted.

No. He couldn’t. He tried, just to prove it, and…

His lips popped open, revealing a perfectly-preserved, unburnt mouth.

How long had he been out? Days? Had he not been touched by the sun for days?

“You’re doing great,” Jim encouraged. “I know you’re hurting pretty bad right now. So, um, I just…”

“Here, I’ve got it.” A different voice, female, unfamiliar. Before Kane could even worry about who she was, a lid opened with a pop, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Kane did manage more than a whine, then. A desperate howl of need.

The blood poured into his mouth, cold and refreshing and salty and sweet. There was so much of it. He drank and drank and drank until there was no more. He was actually sated for once.

“That’ll help him heal faster?” Jim asked.

“Yeah. Should do the trick.”

“...Do you think he’ll be mad at me?”

Mad? How could he possibly be mad? Jim took him away from the sun. Jim let him inside. Jim gave him blood. He was going to be allowed to heal!

“I think he’ll just be happy to be out of the sun,” the other voiced his thoughts.

There was a creak on the soft thing–a bed? A couch?--as someone sat next to him. “Three years ago, the hunters told me they had you,” Jim said.

Three years. That was the end of it, then? Kane had paid his price, he wouldn’t have to do it anymore? It felt too good to be true.

“I told them to kill you,” he continued. “I was scared. I thought you would be like… before. I thought you would come after me. I didn’t know what they were doing, and they told me they’d done it. I thought you were dead. I never wanted you to suffer, not like this.”

Did that mean no more? It was truly over?

“No m-more?” Kane rasped out, his voice struggling to find itself after so long.

“No more.” That gentle touch returned to his hair, and for the first time in years, there was hope.

-

taglist in reblogs

[pigeonwhumps]

Kane & Jim AU: Mermay Special

Chronological masterlist / Writing order masterlist

content: mer/vampire whumper, mer/vampire whumpee, whumper-turned-whumpee, dehydration, claustrophobia, starvation, torture, brief death wish, recovery, caretaking

have something special for mermay :) inspired by this fanart my friend lostie drew 2 years ago!!

-

It hadn’t rained in a week, Jim’s freshwater had run out the day before, and he was going to die.

He knew he was going to die. Kane would come back to feed, and his body wouldn’t be able to hold up anymore, and he would die. Either with Kane’s jaws clamped around him, or later, alone in the damp cold sand.

He wasn’t thirsty enough to be desperate yet, not desperate enough to drink the abundant saltwater taunting him from his prison’s little beach. He knew it would only make him die faster. It was poison.

It hardly mattered at this point. Months with no rescue likely meant no rescue at all, and this was hardly a life. Still, something cried out in him, wanting to live.

Jim scrambled against the rock as he saw that telltale fin start to poke out of the water, more and more until the vampire revealed himself in full, the head and torso of a man and the tail-end of a shark. Not that there was anywhere for Jim to use his worthless legs to run to.

“Food.” Kane slung half a seal onto the surface, raw yet unbloodied.

Jim cautiously crept forward. “I need water.”

Kane raised an eyebrow at him, then splashed him, leaving him soaked.

“Fresh water,” he pressed, pointing up to the clear sky. “Rainwater. I need it or I’ll die. Please, just take me back to the beach, any beach where there’s humans. I won’t be any use to you dead. You’re not some animal, you know this isn’t right, please!”

“Human mine,” Kane dismissed firmly.

Jim sobbed drily. “I can’t. I can’t. You’re going to kill me.”

“Eat.” Kane shoved the meat toward him, making him flinch back. “Then I eat.”

Jim looked to the sky, Kane’s hungry eyes never leaving him as he devoured the vampire’s leftovers. If it didn’t rain tomorrow, he wouldn’t make it another day.

“Human.” Kane gestured him forward as soon as he finished.

“No, no, I don’t want to!” Jim backed up to the rock again, even knowing it was useless.

Kane huffed, climbing up onto the sand. “Food,” he called him now, a warning tone to his voice, piercing red eyes growing angry.

“Stop,” Jim insisted, squeezing his eyes shut. “No!”

A clawed hand grabbed his leg, any attempt to kick him away futile. He couldn’t match a vampire’s strength on his best day, and this was not his best day.

He cried out as sharp teeth dug into flesh once again, feeling much like the seal in his stomach.

-

Kane whined softly, squirming against the glass.

The fishers had put him in a smaller tank again. He couldn’t be sure–though he learned more of their language every awful day, there were still gaps–but he was near-certain it was a game to them, at this point, how small of a space they could force him to live in. He didn’t need to know their language to see their smirks.

He hadn’t even meant to break the last one. He had been trying so hard this time, and he’d been asleep when it happened. Even so, the fishers left him gasping on the floor in a pile of broken glass for hours. Even the tiny tank was better than none at all. How far he’d fallen, that he could consider this lucky.

Kane wished he could go back to complaining about not having room to swim. He would do anything to go back to the first tank. This one hardly afforded him room to move, to breathe. No matter how he tried to position himself, he always ended up touching the walls, his tail bunched up uncomfortably.

The water was too salty, burning his gills with every breath. He didn’t dare complain about that again. Last time, they left him in that horrible freshwater humans love so much until he screamed and bled to the point where any other fish would die.

But he was a vampire, and there was no driftwood here.

Every time a fisher walked past, Kane tensed. Some carried cruel metal tools, meant for fish already dead, though he’d already known their sting far more than he’d like. Some carried cruel metal tools and looked at him, making him wish he had anywhere to hide.

“Comfy?” a fisher mocked, tapping the glass with the end of his fishing stick, the unavoidable vibrations reverberating wherever he touched it.

Kane shook his head, hoping the answer was acceptable.

“Good. �̴̢̛̙̃̎̀̏͌�̶͙̪̉̃̐͋̈̈́̉͝�̵̛̹̪̳̾́̏̂̏̊͊�̴̤̬͖͖̬̹̣̏�̴̧̹͓͒̋͝�̸͎̝̂̅͋�̴̧͚͍̼̠͌�̵̤̜̻̦̬̄͒̏̃ little display case, leech. �̸͖̞̩̳̒̿͐̚͝ͅ�̴̢̫̺̟̺̬̯͔̋̄�̶̧̺̯͚̳͎͉̆͆̀̉̍�̵͚͈͛̌̑̚�̷̰͝͝�̴̢̡̯̗̖̥̈́̑̄̅̃̀̎̕ feed you this week.”

He perked up at the mention of food, whining louder this time.

The fisher laughed, flicking one of those foul little ash-and-paper cylinders into his tank. “Eat it.”

It would make him sick, but far worse would come of disobeying orders. Maybe the fisher would allow him some food if he obeyed. Kane wriggled until he could position himself enough to reach the bottom of the tank, scooped it up, and swallowed it down.

Another fisher joined him, saying something he couldn’t understand and nodding at his tank before approaching.

Nothing good ever happened when he was taken from his tank.

“No, no, no!” he wailed as his head breached the surface, his salt-lined gills burning all the more against unforgiving air.

-

Jim didn’t go to the beach anymore.

After months stranded and years after living in fear, he never thought he’d get even ten miles near a coastline. Not even twenty. Yet here he was, getting within two, just to see the damn vampire. Just to confirm it’s him.

The scars on his arms and legs floated the vague line between hurt and not, leaving him unsure if it was in his head.

The smell of distant saltwater made him want to vomit.

Jim greeted the fishers in a daze, letting them lead him to the vampire that might be his.

And there he was.

Kane looked worse for wear. He was littered with more scars than Jim was, trapped in a tank barely wider than his body, and even his body looked near-emaciated. His wide eyes locked onto Jim with sudden, harsh terror, and he squirmed as if to try to get away.

“Why’s he… in there?” he asked dumbly.

“Gotta keep a vampire reeeal secure, you of all people know you can’t trust the fuckers. Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile. Can’t move around, don’t have the energy to fight, knows it’s got hurt coming if it tries, that’s the safe way to keep ‘em,” the fisher explained.

Jim couldn’t look him in the eyes after that, so he looked at the tank instead.

“Kane?”

Kane whimpered, pressed against the back of the tank, though that only left him what looked like a couple inches away from the front of it. Jim felt claustrophobic just looking at it.

“So?” the fisher prompted.

“This is him.” Jim took a step forward, hesitantly pressing a hand to the glass. He was really here, powerless to hurt him again.

But Kane was hurt, and terrified, and trapped somewhere small and uncomfortable. There was no way he could leave him here.

“Do you think… I could take him?”

-

Every day, humans came to the aquarium in droves. As an unending mercy, Kane’s tank here was large, with ample places to hide. He never came out while the humans were visiting.

No one hurt him at the aquarium. He always had enough to eat at the aquarium. The workers always smiled at him when he surfaced for his meals. Not the malicious smiles of the fishers, but real ones, like they were friends. They talked to him like he was a person, and he was getting better at talking back, and they didn’t even get mad at him when he wouldn’t come out for the guests. Bellamy slipped him an extra fish and told him he deserved it for being a trooper. He didn’t know what a trooper was, but it sounded good when he said it.

Maybe he would start showing himself, one day, just to make them happy. Maybe if it ever stopped being scary.

As it stood, there was only one guest Kane would leave his hidey-hole for. Thankfully, they allowed him to come just after closing, away from the crowds.

“Hey,” Jim greeted. “Just came to, uh, check up on you. Make sure you’re still doing alright.”

Kane couldn’t speak underwater, and Jim was nowhere close to the top of the roomy tank, so he nodded. He looked at his hand, trying to remember the sign for a second, before making a ‘thumbs-up’.

“You’re okay? You’re happy? No one’s hurting you? They’re feeding you good? Helping you with medical stuff?” Jim asked.

Kane nodded again, smiling this time. He tried not to show his teeth.

Jim sat by the tank. “That’s good. I’m happy for you, man. You know how long ‘til the doc clears you to go home?”

It wouldn’t be long, now. He was gaining the weight back, his injuries had healed, and the exercises he’d been given were helping him learn to swim normally again. Soon, he would be able to survive in the ocean, just like before any of this nightmare had ever happened.

Bellamy said they could do a program together, if he wanted, where guests would come to learn about vampires and ask him questions. He said Kane didn’t have to if he didn’t want to, but winked and promised him some of his blood if he gave it a try.

No fisher could catch him again if he stayed at the aquarium. People would protect him at the aquarium.

Kane shrugged, not sure he would ever leave.

-

sorry all i can write are AUs lol <3 they're warming me up for the main series i prommy

taglist in reblogs!

[pigeonwhumps]

Hey so Bellamy saves Kane AU right?

But what if he hears about Kane being held captive at the hunters’ base like a month after Jim picked hum up?

And when Bel asks the hunters where Kane is they say that his former human took him so that he can get revenge

NOW THIS IS A FUN LITTLE AU. takes place sometime after Guilt.

-

Jim's blood ran cold as he answered his front door to find himself face-to-face with a vampire.

"Hello, dear," the vampire greeted with practiced warmth. He spoke in a manner clearly meant to hide his fangs, but Jim could still see them, and his bright-red eyes made it all that much easier to tell. "So we meet again."

Jim stumbled back, eyes wide with terror. "What?" he squeaked.

The vampire gave him a closed-mouth smile, stepping inside after him, but not approaching further. Keeping his distance. "I suppose it would seem a long time for a human. You and I made each other's acquaintance thirteen years ago, I believe."

Jim was too terrified to think about what on earth this guy could be talking about. He turned and bolted toward the phone. It was stupid, hunters wouldn't be able to get here in time, but maybe he could at least say goodbye this time-

The vampire dashed ahead of him in the blink of an eye, getting between him and the phone. "I think it may be a bad idea to involve others in this matter."

Jim flinched back so hard he fell, landing on his ass. He cowered away from the intruder, tears beginning to fall as his heart clenched with panic. "Please, not again, I can't do it again!" he wailed.

The vampire frowned. "Mr. Lieberman, I will not harm you. We met at the noble families' ball, if you recall?"

That's when Jim realized, through the haze of fear, that the vampire looked familiar.

"...Bellamy?" he asked, his voice small.

"The one and only," the vampire said lightheartedly. "I am here to take Kane off your hands. Would you be a dear and fetch him for me? Either that, or point me in his direction."

Jim pointed to the door to the basement with a shaking hand. He knew Bellamy could just use persuasion if he refused. "Please don't make me go back. I- I'm sorry."

Bellamy seemed distracted, rushing toward the door. "Worry not, darling, I shall do nothing of the sort. If you'd lend me a hand, this door is silver." He spread his hands helplessly. "I'm unable to open it. I'm afraid my gloves are a bit dirty at the moment."

"S-sure." Jim pushed himself to his feet and forced himself to follow, his heart pounding so hard he was sure Bellamy could hear it.

He opened the door.

"Kane?" Bellamy called, voice steeped with worry, peering down the stairs.

Kane looked up from where he sat at his desk, eyes wide. "Bellamy? What are you doing here?"

Bellamy took a step forward, like he wanted to zip down the stairs, but stopped himself with a glance at the silver door. "I'm here to rescue you," he said softly, voice thick with emotion.

Kane looked to Jim. "Can I come upstairs?"

It astounded Jim that he still bothered asking for permission. "Uh, y-yeah. Just-" He took a good few steps away from Bellamy. "Just please don't touch me."

Kane nodded, climbing the stairs, eyes not leaving Bellamy for a moment. As soon as he stepped past the silver door, Bellamy wrapped him up in his arms. "I thought you were dead," he whispered.

"I'm okay. I'm right here." Kane squeezed Bellamy back.

Jim watched warily as the two vampires embraced. He would have thought it was sweet if he wasn't so panicked about being sent back into hell.

Kane pulled away slightly. "I'm already rescued, though. Jim took me away." Jim winced as the vampires' attention fell back on him.

Bellamy looked Kane up and down, like he was checking for something, before looking to Jim. "I was told that my dear Kane was, ah... given to you for such purposes as exacting your revenge. Is that not what has been taking place?"

Before Jim could defend himself, Kane did it for him. "No! Jim has been- just the absolute kindest person on the planet. He saved me. He fed me with his own blood, even after everything I did. He helps me calm down when I get scared. You were right, Bellamy. You were right about everything."

Jim started to calm down slightly. If Kane was saying this now that he had no reason to fear him... maybe it'd be okay. "It was just- the right thing to do."

Bellamy gave him a warm smile, a real one this time. "Thank you for taking care of him when I couldn't. I know he put you through many hardships. Thank you, my dear."

"Uh, 'course," Jim replied awkwardly.

Kane let out a small sound of surprise as Bellamy scooped him into his arms. "I shall be on my way, now. You needn't worry about us any longer."

Jim nodded slowly. This was good. It was out of his hands, now. "Okay. Um, Kane? Good luck. Don't get too in your head."

Kane teared up a little. "Thank you. Thank you for everything, Jim. Same to you."

Bellamy dashed off into the night. And just like that, Jim was alone, the only sounds the whirring of his AC and the chirping of the crickets in the night air.

-

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[pigeonwhumps]

Kane & Jim: The ‘Bellamy Saves Kane’ AU

Masterlist

content: vampire whumpee, vampire caretaker, rescue, mind control / forced suicide, minor character death, begging

a bunch of little butterfly effect things such as “liz kept in touch with caroline” and “the hunters actually made liz aware they were torturing kane” coalesced to make this happen! kane is much more injured here than he was when jim picked him up in canon.

-

Kane de Sang was alive.

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