Title: I’m Not a Monster (But I Feel Like One)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Adam, Kris and Alli are roommates. And they're all a little less than human.
Warnings: Cussing, blood (drinking, sensing, and feeling), vampires, werewolves and ghosts, oh my!
Notes: Being Human AU! Note, this would mostly be based off of what I know about the series, and the only version of this series I've watched, which is the American version. (if it's based off the series more than the idea of the three monsters trying to be more human under the same roof at all, anyway)
Kris sighed, his eyes closed and just listening to the daily bustle of the people of LA. It would be better, he could feel it. It would be good to just get out of Arkansas, get away from familiar and get himself out there. It’d been two-hundred years, he should finally live his dream at some point.
Letting out a breath, Kris rushed across the airport, weaving his way through the people, feeling a thousand different pulses in brief brushes of hands and elbows, and he had to bite on his tongue the entire way through as a reminder of do-not-bite. He felt accomplished when he’d made it outside and his fangs were still well-hidden.
He glanced down at the ad in his hand; the place was fairly old, and apparently there was only one other person in the entire city who wanted it when he called his soon-to-be roomie. Being roomed with a human while all he wanted to do was tear into him and drink until he couldn’t see straight was probably not the best idea but he’d gotten fairly good with his control, he could last if his friend in the hospital came through.
With a sigh, Kris hailed a cab, and started off to his new apartment, a new life in a new city; he could make it work. He swallowed; it had to work…
Adam paced outside the building, waiting for his roomie to show up. He hadn’t actually seen inside yet, but given his last place he was sure it would be miles better. He shuddered at the thought of it.
He looked back up to it again, the house he’d be living in. It looked like a usual town home from the outside, squished between two taller apartment buildings, and the realtor had told him that he’d be having all the floors inside. He didn’t ask why - at the price he was getting it he didn’t want to risk losing it - and just posted the ad online and gotten the call a few days later.
Which left him here, pacing. Adam sighed, brushing a hand through his hair and looking up as a cab pulled up to the curb close to him. A small guy stepped out, guitar in one hand and a duffel slung over his shoulder. He grinned at Adam. “Hi, um, I think this is the right place.” He looked him over. “Adam, right?”
Oh great. This is the guy I’m living with? Adam swallowed and nodded. He’s fucking hot as hell! He glanced over the plaid and the tight grip of his hand in their handshake. And probably straight. Fucking wonderful.
“Kris.” He looked over the house. “I’m surprised, actually. I was expecting a little shack with no water or electricity.” He whistled. “This is pretty nice.”
Adam nodded, staring at Kris for a few moments before he cleared his throat - to get Kris’ attention and get his mind out of the damn gutter - and gestured to the door. “How about we get inside?” He walked up the steps, Kris up right behind him, then opened the door.
Actually… the inside was better than he expected. A lot better. Wonder why it was so cheap… They walked out into the living room, the walls were still in great shape, painted a dark, dark red, and it was already furnished with a couch that he could be knocked out for days from just sitting it looked so comfy.
He turned back to Kris, seeing him grinning as he ran his fingers along the railing, a little ways up the stairs. “I like it.” He turned toward Adam fully. “It has character.”
“Yeah.” Adam grinned and followed Kris up the stairs, taking in the rest of the rooms, all already furnished and just as nice as the living room. Despite how complicated it was probably going to make Adam’s life - Kris being unfairly cute and all - he had a good feeling; about the place and his new living partner.
Of course… there is going to be a bit of a problem with… that. Adam swallowed, watching Kris carefully. It’d be difficult to explain disappearing every month but… he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
“So, uh. I have my things outside so I’ll go bring those in.” He gestured to the two bedrooms upstairs. “You go get settled in and then we can figure things out.”
Kris grinned and nodded, grabbing his things and taking them up the stairs. Adam watched him go up - totally not staring at his ass the entire way - then sighed, turning to go outside to start unloading the first few boxes.
It’ll be alright. He assured himself. Yeah, this’ll work. Just gotta keep that schedule and it’ll be fine. He grimaced. He’ll never find out.
“Hey, do you need some help with those?” Kris grinned down at him, leaning over the banister.
Adam looked up, smiling a little as he started up the stairs. “That’d be great, yeah.” He leaned against the wall to let Kris get through, then balanced the boxes he had as he turned. “The rest is in the back of the car out front.”
“Kay.” He heard the door slam shut and huffed, continuing up the stairs for a few moments and dropping everything just inside his room. He sighed and leaned against the wall, looking around once again. This was his chance at trying to… to be normal again. Well… he smirked to himself. As normal as I ever was…
He heard something slam against downstairs and peered over to see if Kris was back inside again. Nothing. Huh. “Kris?”
Adam jumped as something shattered in the kitchen and swallowed, grabbing the closest thing he could and rushing down the stairs.
“Hey where do you… um…” Kris stopped and stared at him. “Boot? Very lethally held boot?” Kris frowned. "I'm not that bad of a roommate. We just met, dude. Don't boot murder me, yet."
Adam grimaced and waved him off. “There’s someone in the kitchen.” He glanced back at Kris’ confused face. “Come on.”
Kris hesitated for a moment more before he shook his head, dropping everything in his arms carefully by the door and following Adam.
He peered into the room and saw a young girl sitting on the table, glaring down at the mess of broken glass on the floor. Adam pointed at her with the boot - much to Kris’ amusement - and snapped a few times to get her attention. “Hey, you, you can’t be here. This is our place.”
The girl looked up at him, surprised, and hopped off the table. “Wait, you… are you talking to me?”
Adam lowered his weapon a bit. “You… well, yeah.” He gestured around the kitchen. “No one else squatting here, is there?”
“Oh my god!” The girl squealed and clapped her hands, bouncing on her toes. “You can see me! Yes, this is-”
Adam blinked as she suddenly disappeared, then stared as she reappeared for a moment, still grinning from ear to ear. “Sorry, I… don’t really have the hang of this yet.”
“Um…” Adam looked back to Kris, who seemed… all too calm for a random vanishing girl in their kitchen. “Um?” He gestured to her and Kris chuckled.
“Relax.” He shrugged. “She’s a ghost.”
And then Kris just… walked away. Like that explained anything. Which it didn’t. No, absolutely, it did not at. all.
Adam felt his jaw work open and closed a few times before he glanced back to the girl - the ghost - and held a hand up before following after Kris.
Alli thought the two new guys living in her house were… well, weird. Not just because they could see her, because that, that was awesome. She missed having someone to actually talk to; one sided conversations with the people that had tried checking the place out and then getting frustrated and accidentally making something break? Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.
But, there was something about them. Their auras were different.
“So, wait, you mean you’re… you’re a vampire?”
Oh. That… sort of explains things.
She rushed out to the main room, seeing the two of them talking, the taller one looking surprised and confused and sort of… excited. “Wow, I didn’t know… That’s awesome.”
The smaller one scoffed and shook his head. “It’s really not.” He looked over the taller one. “And you’re a werewolf. You really shouldn’t be this surprised.”
Blue eyes paused a moment then nodded. “Good point.” He grinned. “It’s just… I’ve always thought vampires were so cool and actually getting to meet one it’s…” He stopped suddenly, then grimaced. “Sorry, um, I tend to get a little… I talk a lot, sorry.”
The other guy laughed. “Nah, it’s cool.” He looked over at Alli and smiled. “But we should stop being rude.” He tilted his head slightly, almost like the equivalent of offering his hand out for a shake or something. Kind of thoughtful seeing as she wouldn’t be able to do the latter. “I’m Kris.” Kris nudged the other man who turned and grinned at her - though it was a little shaky it still was genuine so it worked.
“Adam.” Adam looked over her with those blue eyes. “So um, you’re a ghost?”
Alli arched a brow and crossed her arms. “And you’re a werewolf?” She squinted at him for a moment. “You’re not really good with this whole introducing yourself and first impressions thing, man.”
Adam flushed and stared down at the floor. “I’m new to the whole introducing myself to supernatural things, yeah.” He huffed. “I’m new at the whole werewolf thing, too, so excuse me if I freak out a little at finding other people like me.”
Alli glanced over the two of them for a bit and smiled slowly. “Yeah. It’s kind cool, actually.” She beamed. “It’s like a monster house.”
Adam and Kris both flinched and she blinked. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Well…” Kris shrugged. “It might just be me but… my whole goal of doing this was… to try and be, normal, you know?”
Adam glanced over to Kris, looking a little sad as he nodded. “Yeah.” He laughed hollowly. “I guess living in a place with two other… freaks, it wasn’t exactly going to make that easy.”
Alli looked between the two, now looking sadder than sad and… she wanted to fix this. She liked them better smiling. No one should be as depressed as these two. She held her arms out and grinned. “We can all try to be normal together.” She shrugged when they both looked over at her, confused. “Can’t be that hard, if you’re not, you know, a ghost.” She paused a moment then gestured at them. “I mean, it’ll be easier now that I have someone to be normal with; someone to talk to and talk back, give me advice, let me cry on your shoulder even if I fall through it.”
Adam let out a surprised laugh then looked over to Kris, who at least looked a little happier than he did before. “What do you think?”
Kris glanced between the two of them, then smiled lightly and nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t come all this way just to give up so… sure. We can help each other.”
“Right, so it’s a deal.” Alli held her hand in the center of them, gesturing for them to put theirs with her. “To… to being human again.”
Adam and Kris glanced at each other, then back to her, grinning wide, both looking a little scared but excited for whatever was going to come. “To being human.”
Kris had thought that he’d been doing pretty well so far, with the whole… try to be human, thing. He licked his lips, hearing the blood pulsing through the girl sitting way too close to him in the bar. He squeezed his eyes shut for a minute, just pushing all his senses away from her. He couldn’t do it again… couldn’t kill someone again, no more. But... he could... so, so easily... Just-
Pushing away from the bar with a little too much force, Kris made his way out to the back alley, pulling out his cell on the way and sending a text to Adam. Adam could probably understand what he was going through the most, Adam would figure something out. Kris sucked in a deep breath of the cool night air and grimaced, using the heels of his hands to press in on his temples, trying to push back the headache that started since he took control of himself, of that hunger burning in his throat and stomach.
“Kris?” Adam peered around the corner, rushing up to him. “You alright? You didn’t… you know, anyone, right?”
Kris grunted and fell into Adam, the sort of… wet dog smell forcing his hunger down faster. He sighed and shook his head. “No, I didn’t…”
Adam paused, the nodded. “Good, okay, well, um…” He swung a messenger bag out from behind him, then started digging through it. “I got this for you, I figure it would help you with it, a little bit.”
Kris felt his fangs descend at the scent that seemed to fill the alleyway when Adam pulled a small pouch from the bag, filled with something red and sloshing, sticking to the clear pack. He grabbed the blood bag from Adam’s hands and bit down, feeling most of it spill across his hands and neck and shirt but catching enough in his mouth to cool the flames burning him from the inside out.
When he was just sucking air he let the bag fall to the ground and leaned back against the wall, licking at his fingers and palm as he watched Adam, looking a little surprised but not disgusted at all. That’s good. “Here.” Adam pulled out a dark red towel and started wiping at Kris’ throat. Kris dropped his hand away and licked his lips, letting Adam pet at his skin with the rough cloth. “Any better?”
Kris nodded. “Yeah.” He took the towel from Adam to wipe off the parts of his face he couldn’t reach with his tongue and his hands. “Thank you.”
Adam smiled. “Anytime.” He paused. “Well, except for a certain night of the month but, that goes without saying.”
Kris let out a surprised laugh, feeling lighter and healthier than he had all night. There was a part of him that was still just a little… disgusted with himself, but he hadn’t hurt anyone. There was that.
“So did you get to play yet?”
Kris let out a breath and shook his head. “No. I was… at the bar when someone got too close.” He grimaced. “My guitar’s still inside.”
Adam nodded and grinned. “Well, I don’t have anything for tonight, I was just finishing with the wallpaper, so I can stay and watch if you still want to do it.”
Kris looked up at him, smiling. “Yeah, that’d be good, man.”
Adam tucked everything back into the bag, wrapping the dirty towel in another towel and tossing the blood bag in a nearby trash can before going in with him. “I can record it for Alli, too.”
Kris felt the blood he just drank flooding up to heat his cheeks and elbowed Adam, who laughed. Adam seemed to get a kick out of making Kris blush. The damn sadist.
They’d barely settled in to a booth in the back when Kris was called on stage, and he was all set up when he saw Adam, his phone out, grinning as he recorded Kris, and he rolled his eyes before breaking into ‘Heartless’ and then one of his own songs before he got off stage. He flushed again when Adam cheered loudly from the back and glare at him over the crowd.
Adam just beamed at him when he got through the crowd to the booth. “Oh my gosh, Kris. Alli is going to flip.” He paused. “And then she’ll probably wish she could punch me for getting to see you in person when she couldn’t.”
Kris huffed out a laugh. “Sure.” He shook his head, then nodded his head in thanks when a waitress came by to give him a beer. She paused a moment to wink at him and give Adam a flirty smile. Kris felt a growl crawl up his throat, and he swallowed it down with the tasteless beer before looking back over to Adam. “I’m sure that’ll be what she’s pissed about and not the two of us leaving her alone again. You remember the last time?” He laughed. “She broke half the dishes in there.”
Adam grimaced. “True.” He glanced over Kris. “You think maybe we should be getting back before she moves on from the china.” He paused and grinned. “Not that you’d care or anything.”
Kris scoffed. “I do so care.” He took another sip of beer then pouted at Adam. “I use those mugs too, you know.”
“Mmm.” Adam nodded then stood up from the booth. “So, we’re going now, yeah?”
Kris chuckled. “Yeah.” He passed the beer over to Adam to finish it, knowing Adam could at least appreciate it for something other than appearances. Adam eyed the bottle for a moment, before he knocked back the rest of it with a grimace, and pulled Kris up. He leaned down to whisper to him as they walked out. “The least you could do is order something decent to drink if you’re just going to push the rest of it at me. Unlike you I can taste how shitty it is.”
Kris laughed, then leaned against Adam. “Thanks for doing this, though…”
Adam shrugged. “Just means you can help me do the rest of the decorating, Krissy.”
Kris chuckled. “Fair enough.” He looked up at Adam; they were already such amazing friends but… there was a little part of him that wondered if they could ever be something more.
No, don’t think that. It’s dangerous, for both of us, to even think about getting into that. With a sigh, Kris closed his eyes, letting Adam lead them back the little way to home.