Dark Side Of The Moon (5/19)
Title: Dark Side Of The Moon
Chapters: 5/19 ( Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 )
Authors: narya86 & tetila
Pairing: Daniel Agger/Fernando Torres
Rating: Overall NC-17.
Disclaimer: More fiction probably isn't possible. We just borrowed the names of certain people... ;)
Summary: The first demon had died under Fernando’s hands when he had been nine. Daniel had always tried to stay away from Hunters, for obvious reasons.
Chapter 5
I awoke only to find my lungs empty
Through the night, so it seems I’m not breathing
And now my dreams are nothing like they were meant to be
And I’m breaking down
I think I’m breaking down
And I’m afraid to sleep because of what haunts me
Such as living with the uncertainty
That I’ll never find the words to say
Which would completely explain
Just how I’m breaking down
~ City And Colour ~
***
“It was four women and two men. One of the guys denied it at first, saying he had no idea what we were talking about, but we got it out of him eventually. We’re talking about various degrees of sexual intercourse, from heavy making out like with that girl you saw to full-on sex. One of them, the first victim, fainted right away, two more after the creature was gone when they wanted to get up from the bed. With the others it was heavy dizziness.”
Felipe stopped in his slow up and down walk next to the desk Fernando was sitting on, rearranging his notes.
“So we’re back at our first idea about Incubi, even though it’s still impossible in this case, Incubi and Succubi both only take on solid forms for the intercourse to draw their energy. And it definitely isn’t the case here.”
“No, he seemed pretty solid to me,” Fernando mumbled distractedly, his mind stuck on the information that Daniel apparently didn’t distinguish between men and women when it came to energy sucking. It shouldn’t surprise him. After all Daniel didn’t seem to mind kissing him if the last time in the park was any indication and… oh yeah, he had compared him to the sun. Somehow that thought still made him tingle all over and he had to suppress a smile that wanted to escape as he tried to keep his mind on the information he was receiving. He wanted to know what exactly Daniel was, and if he didn’t get any answers form the dark-haired then he would have figure it out himself. For that he unfortunately had to tell Felipe all the facts he knew.
“I think he needs physical human contact to survive as we need food and sleep,” Fernando threw in just as Felipe had opened his mouth to say something else. “Preferably of the sexual kind. He is old and he gets sick, which is why the people ended up in the hospital, because he had some equivalent to a cold or the flu and needed more energy than he usually does,” he continued in a rush, already dreading the questions that would surely follow.
Felipe had looked up from his notes as soon as Fernando had started to speak, his eyes and face showing more and more surprise with each word. As the blond was done Felipe opened his mouth, then closed it again but recovered very quickly. “Are you sure? How do you know this?”
Fernando only shrugged his shoulders a little in response, looking down at his hands to avoid eye contact. “I just… found it out.”
“Okay, wait a second. You found it out? How? I thought you hadn’t seen it again? And, old, what do you mean, old? How do you know it was sick?” came rushing out of Felipe, the words almost jumbling over each other.
“I just do, okay!” Fernando said forcefully and ran a hand through his hair irritably. He didn’t know what exactly made him snap at Felipe, but this whole affair was getting to him, he really didn’t want to answer any questions, and the constant lack of sleep wasn’t helping his temper either. “But that’s all. Just do what you get paid for and find out what it is.”
There was silence for a few moments, and when Fernando finally carefully raised his eyes, he saw that Felipe had his arms crossed, eyes slightly narrowed. “What’s up with you? Still not sleeping?”
Fernando sighed helplessly. “Yeah… no. Sorry, I didn’t mean it,” he said meekly, already feeling bad for what he said. “I should go. I’m already late for patrol.” He fluidly jumped off the desk, wanting to flee the room as quickly as possible. With a few fast paced steps and a short wave over his shoulders he was gone, leaving a very baffled researcher staring after him.
***
There was one thing Fernando had known immediately upon hearing it: Calle de Alfonso XII was not some hole in the ground. So far from it that it made his head spin.
It wasn’t that his own apartment wasn’t modern and beautiful and without a doubt expensive, and located in the heart of Madrid for practical reasons - but that was paid for by the government. It wasn’t located right next to the Retiro Park. Or somewhere between the National Museum of Decorative Arts and the fucking Prado. He hadn’t even known people lived here.
Well, maybe they did, but this was just insane.
Fernando swallowed drily as he slowly walked down the street in bright sunlight, the lush green trees of the Retiro Park to his right, constantly glancing left across the street to where the houses were looming. He had just passed the great white gates to the park, and on his left there was a large, beige coloured building, divided right in the middle like a semidetached house, six floors all in all, and a glance to the small, blue sign told Fernando that this was it.
Calle de Alfonso XII 18.
He came to a halt, his heart thumping painfully right up to his throat and let his gaze wander over the Victorian stucco façade, the small winding railings, the carved columns, the arched dark wooden windows.
The whole building radiated wealth and prosperity and it made Fernando wonder how Daniel could afford all that. Did he have a real job, was it one of those old family heritages or was Daniel involved in some shady affairs?
For a moment he couldn’t move, just standing there. Daniel’s invitation echoing in his head again and again.
You ever feel like a good night’s sleep again…
The temptation was great. Just go in, lose a bit of energy and get a few hours of healthy sleep.
It could be so easy, so easy.
Curiosity got the better of him and he hesitantly approached the building.
There was more than one entry as far as he could see, and as he walked further to the right he found three large ones on the front and right side as well as the half-round of the corner before which he stopped, with about two meters of safe distance. Instead he looked up to the huge, perhaps about four meter high windows that covered the second and third floor, gently rounded to fit into the tower-like corner, interrupted by the light stone columns. It was insanely impressive.
When Fernando’s gaze sank back down to the entrance he slowly stepped closer. All four of them weren’t covered with usual doors but ornate black lattice gates at least twice as large as he was, and as he stepped right up to them, his hands grasping the bars, he could take a look inside.
It was a small room that reached across the corner and connected all three gates, stone floor and walls, with half-round freestone stairs leading up to one large dark wooden front door.
Should he see if anyone was home? Was it safe? Fernando shook his head. Of course it wasn’t safe, not to mention morally questionable. Why was he even thinking about this?
Hastily he released his grip from around the black bars and took two steps back. At least he understood now why Daniel didn’t seem too worried about revealing his address - this house looked like Fort Knox if he even thought about breaking in.
Fernando’s heart was still thumping rapidly in his chest as he turned around. He picked up a fast pace, hurrying away from Calle de Alfonso XII, number 18, away from the dark temptation living there, away from his fears.
***
The young man was already trembling underneath him, small whimpers escaping him, and that was good, just what he needed. Daniel raised his head, gaze travelling up the sweaty, glistening back, and he slowly retreated his fingers. The fingertips of his other hand ran up over the soft bumps of the spine until he reached the blond hair, threading his fingers through it.
The guy was a tourist from Sweden, and it showed: fair skin, light blond hair, blue eyes, exactly how you imagined one. That didn’t matter though, all that Daniel was focused on was finding exactly those buttons to push that made him see stars.
The man arched his back, turning his head at his touch and Daniel felt the soft vibrations of the moan that rippled through the man’s body. He ignored the offered lips, instead leaning down to press a brief kiss to the man’s jaw, moving down to lick at the sweaty neck, biting the soft flesh there. With his free hand he tipped the head up to have better access, lowering his body until his chest was flush against the boy’s back, and then reaching over to the hotel nightstand where they had stored condoms and lube.
“Ready?” Daniel quietly muttered against the boy’s neck.
The only answer he got was husky gasp escaping the blond’s throat, lashes fluttering against the pale cheeks as his hips shifted to grind back against Daniel’s, trembling with need and impatience.
The dark-haired smiled a little, quickly going through the routine of preparing condom and lube as to not make neither the blond nor him wait any longer than necessary.
Daniel breathed out slowly as he slid in, one hand on the boy’s hip, the other arm propping his body up, and he had to bite his lip as the ring of muscle gripped him. The body underneath him tensed for a heartbeat, muscles clenched down tightly, hands unconsciously seeking hold in the sheets, and then his hips jerked, trying to shove themselves harder against Daniel, to push him deeper. While he had waited for the pressure to lessen, he had nuzzled the soft blond hairs at the back of the young man’s neck, closing his eyes, but now he pushed forward impatiently.
He didn’t need this to last long, and from the looks of it his companion wouldn’t be able to hold out that long either. So the pace he picked up was fast, the thrusts deep and angled just right as the soft moans proved.
Daniel could feel the body beneath him shiver, and he knew perfectly well what signs to look for, when the right moment was there - it lay in his very blood. So when the boy’s voice reached his ears, “harder, God, please”, among Swedish curses, Daniel threaded his fingers into the blond hair, pressed their whole bodies against each other and dropped the barrier between them.
In the next moment the boy underneath him gave a wanton cry and started shaking, mindlessly rocking back hard against him to meet his thrusts, gasping, “Fuck yes… like that, yes!” just as Daniel felt warmth flooding him, pulsing like a heartbeat. His movements came on pure instinct now, quick and forceful, as he drank in the energy that was given him, the hunger, the need for more not as gripping as it had been a few days ago when he had struggled with the sickness and his self-control.
As the boy shuddered violently beneath him, crying out, he felt that his needs were being met, his body thrumming in pleasure and satisfaction. And yet he wanted to curse in frustration, wanted the light colour of the strands between his fingers to belong to someone else, wanted to see the features close to his, contorted in ecstasy, to be dotted with freckles. Because even though what he was given from this human just as from all the others sated his needs - it could never compare again.
***
Fernando tiredly rested his head on his hand, leaning on the kitchen counter, drinking coffee and trying to read the newspaper. He felt like he had been up all night. Again.
The nightmares were getting more frequent again, feeling all too real and vivid. He hadn’t been able to get any deep sleep for days. Even now the terror and the anguish from his nightmares still lingered and he desperately tried to find something to distract himself. Fernando absently turned the page and briefly scanned the headlines, stopping at a particularly report. What he read made his heart skip a beat.
Whole family killed in vampire attack.
Anger and helplessness surged through him as he furiously scrunched up the newspaper. This was all his fault. If he would just pull himself together and find the strength to actually kill the Agurauk, then he could sleep in peace, get his strength back, concentrate on other threats. Then maybe this family would still be alive.
For a moment he just stood there, taking deep, shaking breaths, his arms propped up on the counter, fighting the hot tears that threatened to spill.
The silence in his apartment was broken by the sound of his phone ringing over at the communication system in his living room, loud and insistent.
The sound startled him, making him flinch back violently before he remembered that it was probably just Nate’s check up call. For a moment he debated whether or not he should answer it, he was in an awful state and everything in him screamed to just go and close his eyes, to just sleep. But he knew it was hopeless, even if he would fall asleep there only were nightmares waiting for him - just as it had been this morning. Fernando shook his head. He needed a distraction and Nate’s calls always were a welcome one. Quickly he walked into the living room and went to answer it. “Hey Nate,” he said, his voice a little off as he simultaneously sat down on the couch.
“Hey,” his friend answered as he appeared on screen, the afternoon sun falling into the room behind him. He didn’t say anything more for a few seconds, observing Fernando quietly. “So,” Nate finally spoke up slowly. “I’ve heard some things that kinda surprised me.”
Fernando frowned slightly, leaning forward a bit to get a better view of his friend on the screen. “What do you mean?”
“I, well…” his friend started and hesitated but then obviously decided to put it right out in the open, without taking his eyes off Fernando. Perhaps wanting to see his reaction. “I heard Trish and Gabriela talking. What’s going on with you? Skipping patrols? Snapping at your team members? Not answering your Data Pad? This doesn’t sound like you at all.”
Fernando stiffened and irritation creased lines in his forehead as he narrowed his eyes. “I did not skip any patrols!”
“Well I have no idea, have I, that’s just what I’ve heard!” Nate shot back, sounding unsettled. “You know it’s bad when we get to hear snippets of gossip that something’s wrong with another hunter.”
“What? There’s nothing wrong with me!” Fernando already I felt a big lump forming in his throat, making it hard to breathe and his eyes burn. He had hoped for a distraction, and yet it seemed like around every turn he took, he needed to be reminded of how helpless he felt, so fucking tired all the time. He swallowed the lump down and refused to let it show.
“They should just fuck off and mind their own business,” he spat angrily instead.
“What? Come on, they’re your team,” his friend returned, the look in his blue eyes clearly bewildered now. “It is their business. And if you go and get yourself killed because there’s something off…”
“But they don’t know anything!” Fernando finally exploded, interrupting his friend in whatever else he was going to say, voice almost breaking with raw emotion. “They sit in their headquarters every night instead of going out there, facing monsters and heart-devouring demons and things that try to kill you whenever they lay eyes on you! It’s just their job, they can go home and just stop and I bet they can sleep like new-born babies at night! I bet they never dream about being choked to death by the most horrific thing on earth every fucking night, I bet they never went without sleep more than two nights in their life, that they were never afraid of closing their eyes!”
There was this rushing in his ears, small bright spots dancing at the edge of his vision, and he had felt control over himself slipping through his fingers like sand. Fleetingly Fernando registered the shocked expression of his friend staring at him, but more prominent were the tremors running through his whole body, his throat constricting, choking off his words, the furious tears streaming down his face, the weakness in his knees as he sank back down onto his couch, burying his face in his hands as a sob broke from his lips.
Fernando wanted to suppress it, to swallow it down and gather himself, but he couldn’t. It felt like he had lost control over his own body, shivering sobs breaking out again and again, and even the tears didn’t cease to well from beneath his closed lids. He wanted to bury himself under his blanket and never come out again, just sleep, fall into unconsciousness and sleep his life away. The voice that reached his ears didn’t even sound like his own, trembling, broken.
“God, this is killing me…”
There was suffocating silence around him only broken by his own choked gasps for breath, and he didn’t know how long, had lost all feeling. And even as the words came, they were barely making it to his mind at all.
“Nando… God, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
***
It was just after two o’clock in the middle of the night as a sound caused Daniel to look up from his book that just didn’t befit the hour. For a few moments he remained seated on the couch like he had been before, leaned against the armrest, knees drawn to him, book in his lap, and listened, but everything was quiet in these walls.
Still he was sure that hearing the doorbell ring had been far from an imagination.
Somewhere between wary and intrigued he pushed the book onto the cushions and got up, his bare feet making no sound on the ground as he made his way towards his front door. It was the middle of the night, who the hell would possibly…
The thought made him slow down for a moment, his heart rate, in contrast, speeding up. More than a week had passed since that strange, strange visit he had paid the blond hunter, and even though he had given him his address, Daniel hadn’t honestly believed that he would ever accept the offer. Maybe consider, but actually come here? The nightmares couldn’t be that bad… right?
Daniel shook the thought off just as he reached the massive front door. Maybe all that thinking was futile anyway and it was someone else entirely.
It wasn’t.
His heart did the funny jumping thing again and his throat became dry as he stared down the stone steps through the lattice gate where the outlines of a figure were visible in the faint light of the nearest street lantern, the blond hair gleaming unmistakably. Large dark eyes were fixed on him, unmoving.
Without looking Daniel reached out to the side where he grasped a key dangling from a small halter next to the inside of the door and tentatively walked down the stairs, the cool night air hitting his skin, alarm mingling with the initial shock.
Fernando looked like a ghost.
He was so pale even his freckles were barely visible anymore, deep dark rings around his dulled eyes, his shoulders slumped, but his features still tense. Daniel couldn’t think of even one single thing to say, so he tried to keep his expression blank as he unlocked the gate, never taking his eyes off the young man in front of him. The door opening in a silent invitation.
He saw Fernando hesitate for a brief heartbeat, looking uncertain and nervous before he took a tentative step towards the stairs, arm softly brushing his own as he passed him. Daniel felt the warm presence of the blond behind him, making the small hairs on his neck rise as he closed the gate again.
They walked up the stairs in silence and Daniel tried not to look at him as he closed the front door behind them, taking his time in hanging up the keys so that he could gain just a few more moments before he had to turn around. When he did he saw Fernando looking around, wide-eyed, and he didn’t even have to follow his gaze to know what it was that had captured his attention so entirely.
The round entrance hall was revetted in weakly reflecting marble, on the ground a circular mandala in variously coloured marble sections, mostly shades of rust coloured and cream white. Large, semicircular stairs on the opposite end of the hall were leading up further into the house, and also to a gallery reaching around the whole hall to where the huge windows were letting in the light from outside. A few columns were dotting the edges of the room, and in between were slender pedestals holding small statues, busts, vases, masks - museum pieces.
Daniel didn’t follow Fernando’s gaze around the hall, instead studying his bare feet peeking out from underneath the edges of his track pants. Waiting.
When Fernando turned back to him he still had that in awe or maybe slightly confused look on his face. Obviously the blond hadn’t expected Daniel to live quite like this. He watched as Fernando’s mouth opened soundlessly as if he wanted to ask something only to close it once more a moment later. They just stared at each other for several seconds and when the silence began to get awkward Fernando finally broke it.
“Look, just so you know, I’m not here because of you,” he rushed to explain, and Daniel already saw that blush forming high on the hunter’s cheeks again, the one he saw so often lately. “And I’m not gay or anything,” he continued quickly. “I just… I can’t sleep anymore.”
You look like it, shot through Daniel’s mind with something like almost pained sympathy, but he pushed the feeling down so that it wouldn’t show on his face as he slowly nodded. “That’s okay.”
He didn’t know what else to say, or what Fernando expected of him. Just come over and draw energy from him? He itched to do so, remembering what it felt like, but for the moment Daniel kept still, waiting to see if there was anything else.
Fernando nodded as he slightly shifted his feet on the ground, a gesture that visibly showed how nervous he really was. “Good, so how do we do this?”
The situation was so ridiculous, but Daniel didn’t feel like laughing at all. He swallowed and took a tentative step towards Fernando, hesitating, but then slowly approaching him like he would a wounded, frightened animal. He figured the blond would want to leave as soon as this was over, so they’d probably just do this right here. He raised his hand, carefully placing it on Fernando’s cheek, tipping up his head to look at him.
Fernando’s eyes looked tired, the dark rings even more visible in the light of the entrance hall, and Daniel felt him tense under his touch, but he didn’t move away or break the contact, clearly waiting for him to close the space. The hunter’s eyes briefly flickered down, focusing on his lips and Daniel more felt than heard Fernando swallow heavily. “Just… don’t kill me, please.”
To his own surprise a surge of affection settled in Daniel’s chest at the soft words, warm and tingling, and he couldn’t help brushing his thumb over Fernando’s cheekbone in a, what he hoped, calming way. “Don’t worry,” he muttered gently, raising his other hand to the blond’s face as well. “I won’t hurt you.”
Fernando didn’t answer but Daniel could feel him release a breath that faintly brushed his skin, his lips, as he leaned in to capture them.
For a few heartbeats he allowed himself to just enjoy the feeling of Fernando’s lips beneath his own, soft, warm, parting reluctantly, and the tingling inside of him increased. And before he had consciously made the decision, energy was flooding his every cell, blinding white heat, just what he had been craving, realising that he was addicted already.
Fernando’s soft gasp was lost in the rushing in his ears, the feeling of shaking fingers lying against the bare skin of his upper body, searching for something to hold on to, drowned in the shivers racing over his skin, and the realisation that his well was stuttering, weakened, came just a heartbeat too late.
Daniel barely had the time to sling his arms around Fernando’s waist and hold on before the blond hunter slid into unconsciousness right there in his arms.
***
From beneath the bedroom floor
It is hunting me
Silent clicking of the door
And it sucked me in
Was I right
To overstep the border
That leads me to this place?
Was I right
Ignoring all the warning signs
Accepting to fall from grace?
~ Neuroticfish ~
~ TBC in Chapter 6 ~
Link Translation: And in those nights when the moon is full it will be because the boy is happy, and when the boy cries the moon will wane to make a cradle for him.