Silver and Cold

Title: Silver and Cold

Chapter: 1/? The Trouble Working With Vampires - 2/? It Was A Long Story

Current Rating: Not yet much of anything... R at best... so far.

Author: YumeRyu (aka Lavender Saiyajin (aka Kage Kashu))

Archive: FF (edited version), Dragon's Lair, AFF

Pairings: Seto/Jou (that's all for now)

Story Summary: Seto's a vampire. Jou's really superstitious. When Seto chooses to tell someone about his affliction, he goes to the one who's most likely to believe him.

Chapter Summary: Kaiba's a vampire, and he feels that he has to tell someone... Then, in the second part: Kaiba takes Jouno home, and then... It's the next day already. Kaiba has a lot of explaining to do... and a long story to tell.

Disclaimer: Don't worry, I don't own them... yet. Or the song, though I think it's quite lovely.

Author's notes: This will go further into the supernatural than just vampires. My take on an underworld of supernatural creatures. I hope you all enjoy.

Warnings: For this chapter? Vampire. Biting. Mild insinuations. Casualtiontion of murder.

Timeline: AUish, after Noa Arc. Some years later. (Don't ask me to be more precise yet.)

~*~*~*~*~*~

~I

I came here today

But I left here in darkness

And found you

Found you on the way

And now

It is silver and silent

It is silver and cold

You went somber resplendence~

~~Silver and Cold

Pale, silver light from above haloed the two figures in the abandoned park, lending a softer, colder look to the scene than daylight. A chill seemed permanently imbedded in the air, and the frost that grew on the local plant life threatened to overtake the two. Shadows were an unnaturally sharp contrast to the silvery shine to everything that wasn't encased in it; Nox (1) was about tonight. The two young men occupied the one piece of playground equipment that was whole and free of the graffiti that encompassed everything else. One was seated on a swing, while the other leaned against one of the bars that held the rickety swing set together.

The one on the swing had an icy countenance that made him seem like he belonged in the chilly sharp contrast of the night, somehow adding to the surrounding darkness. Black shadows seemed to cover most of his face, while his standing counterpart seemed to draw the light, silver rendering his face beatifically, a rather striking contrast. The seated man's hair was nearly black as well, as the shadow seemed to crawl further over him than it should, enveloping him in the rather chilled embrace of the night. The other's hair was a pure glowing silver under the moonlight, as he seemed to belong. Light and shadow. Perfect contrast. Emotion seemed to run along the same vein, the shadowed man almost chillingly silent, as the one encompassed in the light carried a lighthearted amusement, and spoke quite loudly, with the occasional gesticulation. And, recalling the cold, the arms slipped closer upon the young man's body once again.

Kaiba Seto and Jounouchi Katsuya. Two that would usually each call the other their mortal enemy, yet would still help each other, without a thought towards compensation if the other needed them, and if the case arose. But something in the current atmosphere said that they weren't here to fight with each other. There was something about that little detail that was very wrong, yet, in a strange manner perfectly right. As the light and shadows wrapped around them, so did a strange sense of enigma. In fact, cold, cold Kaiba Seto had called the normally hotheaded Jounouchi here for a reason. He had a problem, and the pale blonde was the only one that he was certain he could convince of the truth of his... situation. How fucked was that?

"So... You're a vampire? For real?" Jounouchi asked, amused, and somehow sarcastic. At this hour, being nearly midnight, it was really quiet and very still, as the calm before a storm. Kaiba glared from his seat on a swing. "Why ya glarin'? I have all right's ta be cautious after that last thing... The one where Yami Bakura bit me, then claimed he was a werewolf." He scratched his head, vaguely embarrassed. "Still can't really explain why I was howlin' at the moon that night..." He tipped his head back, staring at the abnormally bright moon. A slight mist in the upper atmosphere created three soft glowing rings around the silvery white orb in the sky. A sign that the lucky lady (2) was also about. And considering Jouno's luck, she was in a mood. "Damn," he murmured, on a soft whuff of breath that crystallized in the air.

"What? You want proof?" Kaiba snarled, annoyed at the disbelief that played across Jounouchi's open face. The other boy was more superstitious than an old sailor (3), and didn't believe him? Of course, he was right. The werewolf thing could just as easily be blamed on Kaiba, as he had backed up Bakura's word. It had been an amusing joke. He was suddenly reminded of the video they had taken that night... he really had to do something about that.

Jouno nodded with a grin. "Don't go biting me though..." he said in a cheerful, joking tone. He didn't believe Kaiba anyway, but if he was telling the truth... Well, the dogs (4) said something big was going down tonight, and he didn't want it to be to him. These kind of things tended todistdistinctly unpleasant.

"I'm quite tempted to," Kaiba hissed, still glaring. He hated being wrong... especially where Jounouchi was concerned, for some reason. He had been so sure that he would be able to convince him fairly easily.

The blonde chuckled, "If ya really wanna..." He leaned back in what he thought was a provocative pose. Whatever it was, provocative shouldn't have been it. "So, are ya?" He winked at the brunette. Kaiba's gaze seemed drawn to, and quite attached to his neck though. Jounouchi switched positions back to his slump against the bar to the swing set, mildly creeped out. "Honestly, I would prefer ya ta be kiddin', 'cause I've heard way to many vampire stories... So, tell me truly now, or so help me, I'll stake yer lying ass 'gainst Mrs. Morris' old oak desk. Are you really a vampire?"

Kaiba wasn't sure if Jounouchi was bluffing about the staking, but he really didn't want to find out. Sure, he'd pissed the blonde off before, but Jounouchi had never made as extensive a threat as that. Apparently, Jouno despised liars. Which made it a good thing that Kaiba was telling the truth, right? He stood up to walk over to Jounouchi.

"What? Ya don't have ta..." Jouno's eyes crossed to attempt to look at the finger suddenly being pressed to his lips. It didn't work to well; his nose was in the way. "Uhm...I..." He stuttered for a moment before deciding to just listen to whatever Kaiba was going to say. No matter how much that went against his nature.

"Look," he ordered, baring a couple of fangs. The upper left ones. He wasn't prepared for the suddenly sharp gaze the blonde had turned onto him... his teeth, really. Jouno returned Kaiba's favor of finger-to-mouth, in order to actually feel the elongated canine. He wasn't sure if he had expected to be dull, or what, but one thing was certain... He hadn't expected it to be that sharp!

"Ouch!" Jouno cried, another whuff of silvery crystals floating off. And then he noticed something. While his breath was fogging... Kaiba's wasn't. He blinked at Kaiba.

"Dumb mutt," Kaiba muttered, trying to ignore the faint taste of blood that was now in his mouth. Even worse, was that he could smell it, too. Before, the taste of blood had been rather flat and bitter, like sucking on a penny. But now... the flavor was distinctly pleasant. Slightly sweet with a tang that reminded him of something forgotten, a pull on the mind that no matter how he searched, he couldn't find the source. He blinked when the blonde shoved the finger into his own mouth. He licked his lips. Damnit. He had promised himself that he wouldn't do that to Jounouchi. But the blonde's words came back to smack him in the face.

'If ya really wanna...'

He raised a hand to his neck, rubbing where he had been bitten, stg atg at Jouno, not really realizing that the blonde was staring right back.

"Kaiba?" Jounouchi asked, noting that the CEO-turned-vampire seemed to be somewhere in La-La Land. Staring at him. Something in the back of his mind told him that things just weren't going to go well. Well, it wasn't like he wasn't flattered, but the attention was a bit odd, especially coming from the rather cold Kaiba Seto. He was a bit surprised when Kaiba moved closer, still staring, thcreecreep out' feeling was coming back. The brunette's pupils were almost completely dilated. Gods, that made it creepier.

"Kaiba?" Okay, now he was starting to get worried. He was a naturally superstitious person, as evidenced by the fact that he believed Yami Bakura over the whole werewolf thing, for an entire night, and the day after... until a bored classmate stabbed him with a silver pen; he blamed the teacher. That had hurt. But now... well, either Kaiba had a really cool set of fake teeth, or it was real. "Kaiba?"

"You know," Kaiba murmured, almost inaudibly, "I think I do..." In a sharp and sudden movement, unlike his previous creeping closer, he caught Jouno by the shoulders, pulling him close. It had been to fast of a movement, for Jounouchi to even see.

"Eep!!" Jouno squeaked, "You do what?" Now Kaiba's right hand was creeping up to the side of his face, as the other held them tightly together. Kaiba's bru brushed lightly against his cheek, before trailing down his jaw. Ah, shit. He was going to...! "Hey! Kaiba! Ya don' wanna be doin' that!" Jounouchi panicked. 'I told him... if he wanted ta... Oh man, oh man...' This was _so_ not good. 'But why did he tell me about this?' Damn those odd thoughts.

Wetness trailed down his neck and he braced himself to push Kaiba away. His hands were placed against Kaiba's chest, pushing, softly at first, then harder, until he was pushing as hard as he could. No matter what he did, the other didn't so much as change position... without so much as tightening a muscle. Kaiba had him in a perfectly effortless hold. Kaiba's mouth was now pressed against the juncture of his neck and shoulders, at the soft spot just above the clavicle (5), gently sucking at the skin. Jouno struggled to hold back a moan at the feeling. And then realized that that was _not_ his biggest worry. "Kaiba! Let gI diI didn't mean it!"

He choked at the feeling of something sharp digging into the soft part of his neck. "Ack." That... hurt! A lot more than the books had lead him to believe. He whimpered slightly. It burned. The bite wasn't delicate; from the feel of it, the flesh of heck eck was being torn. The feel of something wet slipping down his chest startled him, and he focused on that. Blood? The pain was dampening, and he hoped to hell, as he doubted heaven was listening, that Kaiba wouldn't turn him into a vampire as well.

His mouth worked silently, as he tried to force some sound from his throat. The burn increased, and finally a sound came out. Just another whimper, this one sounding plaintive, somehow. Plaintive was so not him, and that wasn't what he'd been trying to get out. "Ka..." His vision blacked momentarily. "Uh... Ka..." It was beginning to come to his attention that breathing was probably the most painful thing he had ever done.

The world dimmed suddenly, to an extreme degree. The night pulled in, ever so darker than before. He felt his body sagging against Kaiba as consciousness slipped away from him.

Kaiba was lost in the exquisite flavor of the blood in his mouth. Warm, the taste of life... although, he did snap back to reality as Jounouchi's body turned limp against his. He pulled away abruptly, to stare at the blonde in his arms. Oh no. "Jounouchi... I... I'm sorry..."

~*~*~

~Your sins into me

Oh my beautiful one

Your sins into me

Every rapturous voice escapes

On a tremble of prayer

And I beg for forgiveness

Your sins into me

Your sins into me

Oh my beautiful one~

~~Silver and Cold

He leaned forward, sniffing at the blonde. Jouno was still alive, he decided. Just unconscious.

Blood had leaked down from the bite at his neck, down his chest, wetting the white shirt with dark red. Almost against his will, his head dipped down to lap at the wound at the base of Jounouchi's throat. After a moment, heok hok his head, pulling the quiescent blonde easily up, higher into his arms, with the intention of carrying him home. Until he realized that he didn't know where Jounouchi's home was. "Looks like you'll be coming home with me then," he sighed, apologetically.

He was glad that Mokuba was staying over at Yuugi's tonight. He had been worried for a while, about his little brother, knowing that Mokuba had had a crush on the master duelist. Yuugi had handled it really well, not too surprising really, as Kaiba recalled, and had let Mokuba down as gently as possible. Of course, worrying about Mokuba right now was somewhat inappropriate, considering his current... dilemma. Yes, that would be a good word to use for it. Dilemma, nothing more personal. It was just a dilemma.

He made it home without much incident, which wasn't surprising, considering the neighborhood he lived in. His mansion was all but empty at this hour. The live-in maids and cook resided on the other side of the large building, so it was utterly silent. The living room couch was slightly beat up, more there because of comfort levels than appearance. He could have it replaced, a thousand times, but he liked that couch, as it had been the only surviving piece of furniture from the one time his computer lab exploded. Jounouchi should be alright right there.

He gently placed the blonde on the couch, and turned to head up to his room. He paused in the doorway, unable to force himself through it. Why? He turned to go sit next to Jounouchi on the couch. Maybe he'd just sleep here? No, he couldn't do that, he decided, staring at the large east-facing windows. No, he could _not_ do that. He settled a hand on the blonde's forehead and realized that he felt cold. Well, shit.

He felt down to Jouno's arms, and they were cold toThatThat was so not good. Icy. The cold wouldn't affect him, but Jouno... and having lost that blood, he would have a hard time keeping warm, right? And this room wasn't very warm. He stood, and bent down to lift Jounouchi again. "To my room then. You aren't going to school tomorrow."

~*~

Cold silver white. Stark light that reveals all, yet hides everything in its shadowy counterpart. The moon. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled, and Jounouchi shivered. There shouldn't be wolves that near. Darkness, warm and cloaking around him, hiding him from that cold orb that shed it's pale light mercilessly upon him. Lights floated around him, blue and white, yet reminiscent of fire.

Jounouchi blinked at the floating lights. Soft bluish white blobs floating in the darkness that surrounded him. A warm breath of air on his neck, soft and comforting against the burning sensation on the lower right side of his neck. Soft dry warmth surrounded him, and he was confused. The last thing he remembered was being really cold, Kaiba's arms around him, and a biting, burning pain.

His neck. That hurt. Like, really hurt.

His hand shot up to touch his neck at the place where the burning feeling came from. -!!- Several of the blue-white blobs grew in size, as a whine escaped his throat. The burning had given way to the searing pain of an old wound pulled open. "Aaah!"

His eyes flashed open to see a rather stunned looking Kaiba Seto staring down at him. And then he was pulled roughly from the cocoon of warmth that had been around him. "Urk..." was all that escaped his lips as he hit Kaiba's chest at top speed. He was placed neatly on the floor and wobbas Kas Kaiba became a blur. "Aaaah." The area in which he had been laying... was on fire... 'was' being the key word, as Kaiba dumped a couple of vases onto it. "Kaiba?"

Kaiba slumped his shoulders slightly, in a manner Jounouchi hadn't seen before. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

Kaiba reached out and touched his neck, right above the injury... that he had inflicted. He seemed sheepish. Very sheepish. Did he feel bad about it? Only one way to find out.

"I'll feel better... if you'd apologize..."

Kaiba's head dipped down slightly. "I'm sorry." His voice was soft, and for once, held not a trace of mockery.

Jounouchi blinked. That didn't even sound grudging, as usual. There was something about that that was wrong. Very wrong. But it was kind of nice. He'd opened his mouth when Kaiba continued.

"That was unbearably stupid of me. I completely lost control of myself." And to Jouno's stunned amazement, he dropped to his knees, "I was out of line. I don't deserve your forgiveness."

Jounouchi's mouth snapped closed. And he realized that he should say something. So he opened his mouth again. And closed it. What the hell could he say? Finally, after several tries, he came up with, "I guess I'll have ta forgive you anyway... And what makes you think you don't deserve it? Ya didn't mean fer that ta happen, did you?"

Kaiba blinked. "Uhm..." He sat up higher on his knees. "I would have thought you would have wanted to see me like this."

Jouno stared at him. "Kaiba..." He honestly didn't know what to say. Unsure of himself, and of Kaiba at the moment, he turned back to where he had been laying. A bed, of course. A really nice bed at that. Dark blue, cotton, he guessed, according to the scent. Burnt cotton. "What happened?"

Kaiba stared at the bed as well. "I'm not sure. We were laying there, and you moved... and the bed caught on fire."

"Why was I in bed with you?"

Kaiba scratched the back of his neck. "Your skin was really cold... We don't heat the entire house, so it's warmer in here." He shrugged. "You wouldn't have want to be on the floor... Would you?"

Jounouchi touched his neck lightly, "It will stop hurting, right?" A little of his control over his voice slipped, and it sounded pained.

Without a word, Kaiba was suddenly up against him. Again. "How much does it hurt?" he asked, touching the wound, a rather nasty looking pair of cuts, with two smaller ones beneath, and two more ever-so-slight skin breaks just under those. Vividly purple was the skin around the bite.

Not even a thought, and Jouno's head lulled to the left, as the touch seemed to lessen the burning sensation. He sighed. "Not much, at the moment. Jes' a minute ago, it felt like I'd put a brand ta my neck." His eye cracked open to see Kaiba's mouth open slightly. "Not yer fault," he said, before Kaiba could say anything. "That was my fault fer touching it so roughly."

"I shouldn't have..."

"You already apologized. I ain't mad. Even if I should be. Yuug' and Honda and Anzu might be, though..." his voice trailed off as a new worry came to mind. "Yuug', Honda, Anzu... School!! Shit!! What time is it?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"4:30. I didn't think you should go to school like that." a rea reached around him and lifted him from the floor with an unnatural ease, placing him back on the singed and wet bed before sitting on it himself.

"But...!" He sighed frustratedly. "I had a test today, and I gotta keep my grade up." Then he remembered something. "You might as well tell me all," he murmured, leaning back against the bed.

"All what?"

kno know, about this being a vampire, 'cause I get the feeling that it's gonna be important." Jouno grinned. "Let's just say Lady Luck practically handed you an info source. As superstitious as we both know I am, I studied as much as I could on this kind of thing. And you, as we also both know, are probably the least superstitious person in Domino. So, while you would know a bit from yer own experience, I might be able to help you figure things out."

Kaiba let an amused smirk slip onto his face. "You might, but the trouble is, I'm not too sure of anything right now." He sighed, pulling his knees up to his chin, in the manner of a small child.

"Well, how'd you get turned? That way, we can separate fact and fiction."

The smirk broadened slightly. "You really want to know?"

Jouno nodded. "What little I experienced was nothin' like the books..." then he pulled back, "You didn't change me, did you?"

He shook his head, "I think it takes more than that."

~*~

"At first, I thought it was just another stalker. The kind that follows you around, taking pictures all of the time. I had been sent quite a few actually. Being so high profile, one would almost expect it. Different stalkers had different photo techniques. The newest ones were clear, arom rom angles that I should have known would be impossible for an ordinary human. And as you so kindly put it, I'm probably the least superstitious person in the cit
"
"It wasn't long before letters started arriving with the photos. Handwritten, with elegant script. Some of the kanji used were old, and rarely used anymore. They were, as I said, beautifully written... but the content was... somehow, distinctly unpleasant. Although, that is something I don't really wish to get into right now.

"So, there were photos and vulgar letters. Nothing that I hadn't dealt with before. The real shocker was when something new came with the letters and photos. An inch thick lock of hair, quite long, and pure black, tied in a blue silk ribbon. Dark blue, and as that letter said, the color of my eyes, and also... the same as Mokuba's. The pictures were slightly different then as well, being mostly of Mokuba. That had me rattled, and I had the hair tested. It was Mokuba's." He sure sounded rattled, even now, though it was obviously quite a while back.

"After that, there were other things sent... Hair wrapped in ribbon; usually the ribbon matched the color of the owner's eyes... Twice, the hair was brown. The ribbon for the first one was blue and the hair somewhat long, the second being an olive green, so close to black as to make little difference and the hair was quite short. Another long lock of black was tied with emerald green ribbon. One of white, wrapped in brown, and one of gold wrapped in ice blue. Another lock, three colors, and the ribbon was amethyst purple... A long lock of blonde hair, wra wrapped in purple. Then, another, much shorter, lock of blonde, closer to a true gold, wrapped in a golden brown ribbon.

"I checked each of them, and found that they all belonged to the only people I regularly associated with. Anzu, Honda, Otogi, Bakura, Malik, Mouto, Mai... and you. Other than work, and my teachers, you are the only people I actually talk to on a semi-regular basis. In accordance, each time the hair was sent, so were pictures of the owners of the hair. Usually, talking to me. And sleeping. It was usually that. Although, for some reason, the photographer seemed to be overtly interested in you. For, even after the hair stopped being sent, there were still pictures of you. Sleeping, or talking with me, and often, fighting with me.

"Then he, as I had decided to think of the person, started sending me books. My favorite's, actually, which are fairly few. Then moving on, I was sent books that turned out to be the faves oes of your friends. I was surprised, actually, at the sophistication of the books that you read. I wasn't surprised that Anzu and Otogi read so many romances... but I was surprised that Honda did. It was a shocker though, that Mouto reads... porn. Mai's into mystery novels. Bakura reads history... and I didn't get any of Malik's... I suppose he doesn't read much.

"Of course, that didn't last too long..." Jouno's mouth opened, as if to interrupt, and Kaiba continued, "Hey, hold your horses. You wanted to know, didn't you? Some of this stuff might mean something to you.

"Now, as I was saying. Sending me things. Right. After the books, it was more pictures. Not photos, although he still sent those, but sketches. Sketches of Mokuba, you and me." And Jouno's hand went to his chest, as if asking 'Me?'

"Yes, you. Apparently, he found you interesting. A little too interesting for your good, though. I recall him mentioning in one of the letters that you were next.

"Wait. By the end you'll understand why I didn't say anything to you about it.

"The letters became more vulgar than they had been to start with, and so did the sketches. Then there were the tapes. Video tapes taken at different times of the day and night. I was more than a little disturbed by some of the ones involving you... so I avoided you for a while, to think about it. Because of some of those tapes I had seen you in light that I had never wanted to see you in. I liked to think of you as a comfortably innocent person... Not a knife fighter cum hacker, that had been arrested over twenty times, over things far worse than a little street fighting and stealing." Jounouchi's face paled, suddenly, and to an extreme degree.

"What's wrong? Considering my current situation, I have no reason to be reprimanding you. I doubt that the worse you've done is much different from what I have. We all have reasons. So don't think that I want an explanation, and I won't tell anyone else.

"Back to the story. After that, there was a week where I didn't get anything at all from him, and I was hoping that he had died, or something. Then I started having blackouts. Usually in the evening, when I wasn't around anyone else, and my schedule didn't have anything important. I was confused, but had a hard time thinking at all then.

"It shouldn't have been a surprise when one evening I 'met' a strange man... Tall and dark; I wouldn't be able to describe him well, but that his eyes were ice blue traps. I took my usual stance by glaring directly into his eyes... and remembered that I had done this many times before. Throughout the past week.

"I think I was trapped like that, I couldn't see anything else until my vision started to turn black. Then there was blood in my mouth... And I... no control. I had absolutely no control of myself. Once I realized what I was doing, though... I was latched onto that man's wrist, drinking the blood. I was a bit upset, but I didn't want to let go... And the man called me 'kodomo'. 'Watashi no kodomo,' he said.

"That didn't seem too bad. And then he said that it was time to get the 'other', who I'm assuming was you. I grew angry, realizing that he was the stalker... although I should have realized earlier. I pulled a gun on him..." Jounouchi gave him a rather surprised stare.

"Don't look at me like that, you should know that even though I'm nuperuperstitious, I'm still quite paranoid. So I shot him. I remembered a few things... the how to kill a vampire. They're supposed to hate fire. So I burned the body. It turned to ash a lot faster than it should. I washed the taste of blood from my mouth with coffee that tasted a lot more bitter than coffee should.

"For a couple of days, well, I'm sure you could imagine. I was eating constantly, and was still hungry... The other night though, I figured it out. I don't need a lot of blood, so the person I bite doesn't have to die... But I'm sure it hurts. Your blood was different... spicier."

Jouno's mouth worked for a moment. "Uhm..."

"'Uhm' what?"

"That was a long ass speech. And I guess I understand why you were avoiding me... I've been told that I look kind of scary like that..." Jounouchi touched his neck again. "I'm not going to stay out of school another day, ya know... What did you give them as an excuse?"

"Neck injury..." Kaiba looked sheepish again. "Which is true. I took more blood than I should have..."

"Well," said Jouno with a forced cheer, "it's no good to cry over spilt blood."

A rather distinct sweatdrop formed over the back of the young billionaire-turned-vampire's head.

"How am I gonna hide this?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

(1) Nox. Goddess of the Night, and Keeper of Secrets.

(2) Lucky lady. Goddess of Luck, or Fortune.

(3) More superstitious than an old sailor. Sailors in old time Japan were famed for being superstitious, more so than in the west.

(4) The dogs. Moon dogs. The glowing rings that occasionally show up around an exceptionally bright moon. Mostly seen when the upper atmosphere has a lot of moisture in it. It's supposedly very bad luck to have three of them around the moon at a time.

(5) Clavicle. That lovely bone in thouldoulder. In the front. Also called collar bone.