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koolkat9 · 1 year

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GerEng Week 2023 - Day 2

@gereng-week

Prompt: Supernatural/Fantasy || Cabin/Cottage

Rating: T

Pairing: GerEng

Word Count: 1615

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A Meal for a Meal

Approaching a stranger's door in the middle of the night probably wasn’t Arthur’s wisest idea. At best it would disturb someone who was possibly asleep, and at worst, the person was a killer, and he’d find himself in a slasher film. But when your car broke down, and your phone died halfway through your drive because it needed a new battery, options were limited.

He approached the Victorian-style home cautiously. Its stately peaks, casting another layer of darkness over him. If his hair wasn’t standing on end and he wasn't constantly looking over his shoulder, perhaps he would label this as his dream home come to life. The steps creaked as he ascended to the porch. They quaked beneath him, in great need of replacement. He knocked on the door, trying to settle the pit of foreboding in his stomach.

A few firm knocks later, a man was towering over him, his cold eyes seeming to glow. Hypnotic yet chilling.

“Can I help you?” The man asked, face as icy and pale as his eyes.

“Oh uh…” he hadn’t realized he had zoned out, still staring intently into the man’s eyes. “Sorry…I-I…My car broke down just down the street. Do you have a phone I can use?”

“...Yes…This way.”

The man led him inside, and into the living room and over to the landline. Arthur tried to shake away the dizziness that seemed to grip him as soon as he entered the house.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” the man murmured. His brows were furrowed, a look of…fear? In his eyes as he departed.

Arthur knew he should pay more attention to it, but instead, he focused on the phone call so he could get out of the man’s hair.

With a tow truck on its way, Arthur decided to return to his car. He wandered out into the hall, peeking into the kitchen and what was presumably a study to let his short-time host that he was going to head out and thank him for letting him use the phone. But he was nowhere to be found. Arthur debated going upstairs, but it felt intrusive. At the same time, he couldn’t leave without a word.

When he got to the top, everything was dark, quiet. It looked like a setting for the horror movies Alfred was so fond of.

“Um…Sir? I don’t mean to intrude but…I just wanted to let you know, I’m finished with the phone and–”

The door at the farthest end of the hall creaked, and two eyes glowing in the dark stared out from the room. Arthur wasn’t one to scare easily. He had always had an interest in the paranormal, but those eyes stared at him like a cat at a mouse.

“Thank you for letting me use your phone,” Arthur went on, voice strong though his legs felt like they were about to give out. Had it always been this cold? “But I really must be going.”

The predatory eyes softened, almost with hesitancy before slipping into the room.

A smarter man, a man who valued his life, would have left then and there. But Arthur lost his self-preservation long ago. He approached the room, not entering it just yet. “Everything alright there, mate?”

“Go,” the man growled, voice choked.

“You don’t sound okay though. I can’t just leave you–”

The man lunged out of the darkness. “GET OUT!”

Arthur stumbled back, almost falling in the process if it wasn’t for the strong arms that caught him.

The man’s eyes were staring at him again like he was prey. His lips parted slightly, revealing the tips of two sharp canines. Everything clicked.

“You’re hungry aren’t you?” Arthur breathed.

“You’re not sca–No. You need to go. I…”

“What’s your name?”

“I…” The man looked away, swallowing thickly. “Ludwig.”

“Arthur.”

“What?”

“My name is Arthur. Figured we should introduce ourselves if we’re going to–”

Ludwig’s face hardened. “ You are going to leave.”

“I should have known by your sickly complexion, the dizziness I felt around you, the way I couldn’t look away. I know what you are, and it’s okay.” Arthur raised his wrist to Ludwig. “You need human blood. You can’t go forever without it, and you know it.”

“I just met–”

“Doesn’t matter. Just do it. Wouldn’t be the first time…”

Ludwig licked his lips, staring at the wrist hungrily. He cautiously took it. With an affirming nod from Arthur, Ludwig drew his fangs and pierced the tender flesh.

Arthur winced, but the slight sting did not last long before a euphoric warmth washed over him. He bit his lip, eyes fluttering closed. It was intoxicating, filling him with a light feeling, fog settling over his brain. Like being high.

His legs began to shake. Luckily Ludwig still had a hold on him, so when his legs did give out, Ludwig kept him upright.

It only lasted a few minutes, but for Arthur, it felt longer. He shivered when Ludwig lapped up the last of the blood that trickled out.

“Arthur?” Ludwig called, though he sounded so much farther than he was, “Arthur are you okay?”

Arthur’s tongue weighed heavy in his mouth, his vision blotted with dots.

“Arthur? Arthur!...thur? Ar…thur.”

— — —

Arthur came to a couple of hours later. For a moment, he thought he might have dreamed the whole car breaking down and then becoming a vampire’s food. But this wasn’t his bed and his arm was wrapped in a bandage.

Despite still feeling light-headed, Arthur sat up, looking around the room. It was rather large, probably the cleanest and most sturdy looking out of all the rooms he had seen so far, but it was hard to tell in the darkness.

“Ludwig?” Arthur called, voice soft, syllables caught in his throat. “Are…Are you still there?”

He rose to his feet, head spinning, he tried to take a step, but he only fell forward. But he never hit the floor, once again wrapped into a warm embrace. Which was surprising considering those arms belonged to the undead.

“You have a nasty habit of falling don’t you,” Ludwig chuckled.

It felt as though Arthur’s stomach would flop onto the floor. But he didn’t want to leave the hold even with the fear his guts would spill at any moment. It must have been a side effect of the blood-drinking.

Ludwig easily scooped him up and laid him back on the bed.

“I think I may have taken a bit too much,” Ludwig explained, tucking Arthur back into bed, “So please. Stay the night and rest. It’s the least I can do after what you did for me.”

“Okay…But could I get some water?”

“Oh…Oh yes of course. Sorry.”

The water helped clear the last of the fog, but his body still felt heavy.

“Are you…hurt at all?” Ludwig asked hesitantly, fiddling with the edge of the blanket.

“No. I mean, I may have a small mark for a bit, but nothing is painful.”

Ludwig ran his fingers over the bandage. He pulled away quickly, cheeks slightly pink. “Sorry…Um…You should probably sleep.”

Arthur, also blushing, looking to the side awkwardly, nodded along.

“Wait,” Arthur blurted, “What happened with my car?”

“Don’t worry. I-I handled it. It should be good to go tomorrow morning. Another thank you for the…meal.”

“You don’t–”

Ludwig shook his head. “We’re strangers Arthur and yet you…”

“It was really nothing. I’ve done it before. Can’t have someone starving in front of me.”

“I…” Ludwig muttered under his breath, something Arthur couldn’t catch. “Nevermind. Just rest.”

Arthur was too tired to argue so he let it go, snuggling further into the sheets.

— — —

The next morning, Arthur was as good as new. Not even the puncture wound was bleeding anymore.

He pulled himself out of bed and headed downstairs. Crinkling was coming from the kitchen as he approached, and something sweet hung in the air. “Ludwig?” Arthur called, peeking into the kitchen.

“Oh! Good morning Arthur. Your car should be all set, but I figured you’d be hungry so I picked you up some pastries.”

“Ludwig you–”

“A meal for a meal. Please.”

“You offered me a place to stay, fixed my car, and now this?”

“I could have killed you,” Ludwig shot back, “This is nothing.”

Arthur sighed and took the food. Ludwig didn’t seem like someone you wanted to argue with. Or perhaps less you didn’t want to argue and more like you couldn’t win. He nibbled at a fruit tart. “So…I guess I’ll be going…Thank you for everything.”

“Thank you for…everything.”

There was an awkward silence save for the dripping of a possibly leaking sink.

“Do you–”

“Can you–”

Arthur huffed in amusement.

“You first,” Ludwig offered.

“I…If you ever need some human blood again…I wouldn’t mind seeing you again.”

“Arthur–”

“You want to be a healthy vampire, you need human blood every now and then.”

“How do you even know that?”

“Um…” Arthur drawled, leg bouncing, “Let’s just say I…work…With your kind. Like a counselor of sorts.”

Ludwig quirked a brow. “So you know what you’re getting into?”