Chapter Text
Despite family values being shoved down the throats of every werewolf, Dan Howell finds himself needing time away from them more than he’d like to admit. On nights like tonight, when his family has wildly overstimulated him and have been horrendously overbearing, he takes walks around the surrounding woods near his house in hopes of relieving stress and having a moment of peace and quiet. His family gathering for dinner tonight was particularly rough; his loved ones were insisting that men his age in their pack have generally found a life partner and have started a family, very gently suggesting to him that he was falling behind on what is acceptable. Dan tries not to let the incessant nagging get to him, he knows his parents are stuck in the past, and he knows twenty-two is young in the grand scheme of time, but he also been surrounded by this narrative of family prioritization and perfect households being the ultimate goal for as long as he could remember.
Most of his friends have found a life partner, some of his friends have kids, which utterly confuses him to his core knowing that he can barely take care of himself. The majority of those around him are straight, which can easily explain why they’ve found a “soulmate” so much quicker than he has. These people were able to get married and pop babies out straight out of highschool, he’s lucky if there is a gay man within a mile radius of him at any given time- let alone a gay man that he is attracted to and gets along with. Sometimes he allows himself to drown in pessimism and accept that he will just die alone and withering away with maybe a cat to keep him company.
On the best of days Dan’s head can easily be found in the clouds, and on a tense night like tonight, his mind is going a million miles a minute. The crunch of the dried leaves underneath his abnormally large feet and an occasional atmospheric bird noise were the only sounds that could be heard as he continued to trudge through the layers and layers of wood. He will later confront his male privilege of being able to aimlessly wander through the miles of gangled late november trees after dark without a single thought of his own safety, but at the moment his mind is full of familial arguments and being weighed down with overwhelming expectation.
All that being said, Dan is instantly ripped out of his thoughts when he alarmingly notices a figure limply curled beneath a tree, seemingly unconscious. He turns to divert off his traditional walking path and briskly makes his way toward the person a few meters away. Ignoring the fact he is already winded, as he draws closer he begins to observe this person he’s found, who he is now noticing is male. The stranger is ethereal, his icy pale complexion is framed by wispy platinum blonde locks, his chestnut eyebrows drawn together in tension, whether caused by pain or just being generally distraught Dan doesn’t know. This person seems to be naturally lighter in complexion, but he worries that the pallid shade of his face may be due to poor health as he also has deep, bruised looking eye bags and a near hollow jawline. Although the man is sitting, Dan is surprised to find that his lanky limbs seem to stretch only a few centimeters short of Dan’s towering nearly two meter height.
Upon reaching the man, Dan kneels closely next to him and evaluates the situation. No obvious injury can be found, Dan gently tries to tap the person awake and finds his skin is colder than typical of a human, but he has also been sat outside for an unknown amount of time wearing a light, charcoal colored coat and some skinny jeans. When the light taps were found to be unsuccessful, Dan timidly reaches for the man’s neck to find a pulse and discovers a very faint heartbeat.
“Fuck,” Dan mutters to himself. “That is not a great sign.”
His own heart thuds rapidly in his chest as he reels on the many options of what should be done, his eyes frantically flicking up and down this handsome stranger's body, biting his own lip in focus and distress. Although feeling terribly impolite in doing so, Dan gives a much rougher shake to the man’s shoulders, trying to rouse him to a state of consciousness. To Dan’s fortune, the man stirs ever so lightly, weakly adjusting his position against the tree. Watching his face upon the movement, Dan gasps when he notices two sharp white daggers in his mouth setting themselves apart from all the man’s other teeth.
A vampire? On pack territory? Does he not know how incredibly forbidden this is, how much danger he could be putting himself in? He has really got to give this attractive stranger a talking to when (“If,” the back of Dan’s mind says) he wakes. He knows he probably should call authorities, or maybe his family, as this could be a very dire situation, but his mind races thinking of all the potential hazardous situations he could be putting the vampire in. Local authorities on the pack territory generally are either other wolves or regular humans deemed trustworthy by their pack to help oversee the area, neither of which are keen on vampires as a species. This stranger could be thrown into jail because they assume he is conspiring to harm or spy on the pack, he could be neglected due to his vampirism and end up seriously injured or worse.
Dan shakes the man once more.
“Hey. Hey, please wake up.” He calls to him in a clearly panicked tone, louder than Dan generally speaks. He desperately hopes this wakes him. “Are you okay, do you know what’s happening?”
The man stirs once more, limbs visibly shaking and drawn taut, his expression shifting deeper into discomfort.
“Wha’s happenin’?”, A hazy, slurred statement barely stutters from his lips. He has a baritone voice, seemingly lighter in tone due to his semi-conscious state and noticeably unwell demeanor.
“That’s what I’m wondering! I-I’ve found you randomly in the woods outside my house, I thought you were fucking dead!” Dan blurts exasperatedly, but then realizes he is speaking too quickly for someone barely conscious to understand and also probably is only stressing the man out. Dan follows up, much slower with, “Should I call the cops? What’s your name?”
This causes the man’s eyes to shoot open and he shoots upward with all the strength he could muster- which was not much at the moment, shaking his head.
“No, no, we can’t do that!” Glistening blue iris’ meet Dan’s own deep brown, and Dan's heart melts to see tears welling up in his bloodshot eyes. Although not knowing what the man is going through, it’s easy to gather that the man is horribly distressed.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re safe I promise!” Dan very lightly clutches the man’s shoulder in reassurance, watching his expression to ensure it isn’t causing him deep discomfort. Thankfully, it wasn’t that he could tell. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to, I just need to know what's going on.”
“How can I know to trust you? I just woke up to you manhandlin’ me.” The stranger exerts, sass slightly diluted due to the fact he was still slurring his words.
“Your options outside of just trusting that I am not some terrible person are slim, I know I’m a werewolf and historically our kinds don’t see eye to eye but I promise I don’t mean any harm, I just don’t want you dying in these damn woods!” Dan exclaims.
“How did you know I’m a vampire?” The stranger's face immediately is muddled with fear and panic.
“No offense, man, but you’ve literally got blades sticking out of your mouth-” Dan replies with his usual sardonic sarcasm, meaning no harm but it of course only makes the blue eyed boy unwind further.
“SHIT, they aren’t retracting!” Says the vampire, his fingers shooting up to feel his fully visible fangs out on display. “Oh god, oh god.”
“Please just tell me what’s happening and stop being so cryptic, I need to know how to help, I genuinely don’t think you can stand on your own” Dan tries once more.
This seems to have finally caused the man to give in, fear still drawing his face into an expression of misery. The man’s shaking hands fidget as he begins to nervously explain.
“I hooked up with a man- with someone,” The man quickly corrects himself, flinching at his own accidental admission to Dan in such a disoriented state. Dan’s heart tugs, feeling sympathetic sorrow out of knowing this feeling all too well. He isn’t sure if he should express that he is a safe person to come out to or if he should let the man finish his story, not wanting to interrupt but also not wanting him to feel unsafe due to his sexuality.
“And they bit me. They got caught up in the moment I-I guess, I don’t know, but I just know I woke up the next morning with so much blood all over and I was all alone.” The blue eyed stranger continues quickly, rushing to finish a story that causes him so much pain.
Dan’s jaw tightens and he can feel his face soften as the vampire tells his story. What type of evil fucking person would do that to someone?
“That was two months ago. Nobody knows I’m this creature, a-and I have no one I know that’s a vampire so I have no idea what I am doing and I just don’t want to hurt anyone!” The vampire rushes out, tears fully spilling from tightly shut eyes now.
“You don’t have to say any more, it’s okay.” Dan gently offers him. He quickly connects the dots as to what is happening. “So you’re starving, then? That’s why you passed out here?”
The stranger gently nods, tugging his sleeve up to wipe his own tears. The man is now curled in on himself insecurely.
“What’s your name?” Dan asks.
“I’m Phil.” He responds quietly, clearly uncomfortable with the attention on him as he is crying to this stranger. “Yours?”
“Daniel. Or Dan, if you’re nasty.” Dan quips, which earns a light chuckle from the sniffling Phil. Dan feels incredibly prideful about that. “And by the way I am literally gayer than shit so I promise I’m not gonna hate crime you. That would be very hypocritical of me.”
“Good to know.” The platinum haired man responds humorously, still wiping away stray tears and sniffling every few seconds.
Dan’s brain sparks with a stupid, irresponsible idea, but he can’t help it. It feels like the only possible solution to this situation.
“Have you fed before?” Dan asks, he is met with a timid shake of the head no. “Okay, uhm, well there’s probably articles online about how to do so safely. Is werewolf blood safe for vampires?”
“What- No, we cannot do that. I am not hurting you.” Phil frustratedly bursts out, instantly shooting him down. He musters to scoot away from Dan, doing so half successfully due to his weak state. The ocean eyed man is clearly horrified at the suggestion.
“You won’t hurt me! You’re dangerously weak from starvation, I could easily pull you off if something went awry!” The werewolf tries, he is met with a disgruntled look from the other man. “Plus, you can’t just die of starvation, Phil. I know you don’t want anyone to be hurt, but you can’t kill yourself trying to prevent that!”
“Okay, okay, fine! Just look up a tutorial or something, and the moment I overstep, shove me off as hard as you can, okay?” The man pleads.
“Babe, I've been bit by a few men, I can take it.” Dan jokes, trying to swallow down any nervousness he is feeling. He has to be strong for Phil. He quickly pulls out the phone in his pocket and google searches “How to safely bite someone vampire” which pulls up a myriad of different articles. He clicks on the first source he recognizes as reputable. Step 1, only bite consenting participants. Easy, he practically had to beg Phil. Reading over this rule only caused more resentment to harbour in his chest for the man who did this to Phil, but he brushes that off for now. Step 2, ensure neither participant has any diseases that could be transmitted via bite.
“I’m clean, but do you have any diseases I should know about?” Dan asks, looking up from the article to a very worried and woozy vampire staring back at him.
“Uh, I think I’m a product of incest a couple generations back-”
“Okay! I’m going to take that as a no, Phil.” Dan quickly interrupts, he tries not to laugh because the vampire is not in his right mind and he feels bad even having to press him for this information in such difficult circumstances.
Dan resumes his reading. Step 3, make sure the area of the bite is sanitized and ready. If necessary, apply numbing cream, although that may affect the taste. Dan hopes that his neck isn’t too germy as he just showered that morning. Step 4, establish a safe word between participants.
“What’s a safe word for if we need to stop?” Dan asks, once again lifting his eyes from the screen of his phone.
This causes Phil to nervously scoff and fidget once more.
“Why does this feel like we are having sex, this is so odd.” Phil nervously and unhelpfully replies.
“Phil, seriously, safe word.”
“Cactus!” Phil sputters out.
“That’ll do.” Dan tries not to question his choice too much, his chest flutters with an unexpected affection at Phil’s answer.
Dan reads over the last few instructions. Step 5, prepare after care with a first aid kit. They are literally in the woods, skip. Step 6, communicate how much blood will be fed on, Dan also skips this because Phil is literally starving and has also never fed before. How could that possibly be something either of them would know? Step 6, ensure comfort of both participants before performing. Step 7, apply fangs to the prepared area, use vein for best result. Step 8, Once the necessary amount is ingested, remove fangs and have the vampire lick the wound for sealing. It is very important to note not to ingest the blood of the vampire as the other participant, this will cause vampire transformation upon humans. Step 9, tend to wound and express any boundaries that need to be set or better understood. Dan's finger instinctively reaches to scroll only to find that the article is over. He is incredibly stressed, but tries not to let it show. Phil is already so fragile right now, and his life could literally depend on this.
Dan reiterates these rules to Phil so that he could fully grasp the process as well, assuming that would help ensure safety and understanding for both parties. When Dan reads over the bit about how to avoid turning humans, he finds that the vampire noticeably tenses and his expression is riddled with guilt and hurt, his posture sinking into himself. Once again Dan finds that he could kill the motherfucker that did this reprehensible behavior, and worries to himself that this man may have been more purposeful with his actions than he let on.
“Where am I supposed to bite?” Phil asks once Dan finishes reading off the article.
“Uhh, I don’t know, in the movies it’s always the neck but that’s a little sexual innit?” Dan quips, he is flooded with immediate embarrassment afterward about his inability to limit his thoughts from spilling out of his mouth, but feels a little better when Phil chuckles and agrees. Dan doesn’t know if he is disappointed Phil won’t be giving him a hickey with more steps or if he is thankful that his very sensitive neck won’t be touched by this man he just met.
“Yeah, we just met within the last ten minutes, I at least would have to take you out to dinner first.” Replies Phil, which causes Dan’s heart to flutter at Phil’s humor and charm. He’s not religious but he will be deeply devoted to whatever god blessed his woods with a beautiful vampire twink.
“Lemme just look right quick.” Dan pulls out is phone, as google had but trustworthy for their biting endeavor so far, and looks up ‘Where is best spot for vampire bite?’. Once again, he clicks whatever article he deems best at that moment and reads: Best for sex, neck. Jesus Christ, NEXT. Best for quick & casual feeding, wrist.
“Okay, google says my wrist, are you okay with that?” He asks gently.
The vampire only nervously nods whilst gnawing on his lower lip, eyes clouded with worry and regret. Dan feels that he needs to talk Phil through it for some reason, despite literally only knowing just as much as Phil does. He thinks that Phil is very anxious at the moment, he is not fully conscious, and could probably use some direction.
“Are you ready then?” Dan asks once again, breaking the tense silence which followed his last question.
“Uh, yeah, I suppose so.” Phil basically whispers, eyes darting everywhere but Dan’s direction. “Just please kick my ass the second you feel something is wrong. I am really worried about hurting you.”
“I swear, the moment something is wrong you’ll know. I am a loud bitch, I can hardly keep my mouth shut at the best of times.” Dan says, feeling the need to dampen the tension with his ever present humor. Ever the jokester he is. Phil nervously nods, breathing deep and stunted, looking as if he were on the verge of a panic attack. One would think he is the one getting bitten.
Dan offers up his wrist and Phil limply grabs it, gently taking it to his mouth, eyes watering. After this point, Dan clenches his eyes and jaw shut, bracing himself for whatever pain follows after.
Phil bites.