Chapter Text
Uki can’t help but begin to consider their time together in the lighthouse as a sort of honeymoon period.
Fulgur goes through the same early symptoms that Uki watched Alban and Sonny go through: Roughly every four hours, he’d grow hoarse and raspy, and Uki would need to bring him another cup. As well he went through the restlessness of feeling new, somehow, while still in what is recognizably his own body. Every ordinary action somehow feels foreign, and he gets restless enough that Uki starts bringing him on supervised walks along the beach to get him out of the tower, helping him adjust before people are added into the equation.
When humans are added into the equation, it goes mostly how Uki expects it to: the combination of new scents assaults Fulgur with fiery strength, so that when they return from their outing he has to nurse the new vampire through a painful migraine. But to his surprise, the smell of blood itself doesn’t seem to affect him one way or another. Fulgur reacts to the scent of blood the way an indifferent predator might: acknowledgment that it sustains him, and that he needs it, but no particular desire. It’s a sharp contrast from how Uki reacted to blood in his first few years, with an almost desperate need to drain whomever he came across. It’s a relief, honestly, but it does leave Uki wondering.
He has other things to consider, however, which is made apparent when he returns from a brief solo trip to the nearest town for dinner ingredients. Fulgur eats when Uki puts food in front of him, but his interest hasn’t fully returned, and Uki wants to fix that sooner rather than later. To his surprise, however, he opens the front door to find Fulgur already waiting in the kitchen, a bottle of blood sitting on the counter.
“I see you’re finally using the storage key,” he teases lightly as he sets down the groceries. He’d given Fulgur access to the storage center two weeks back, when the attacks of throat pain had finally begun to subside. Fulgur had never been a glutton, and Uki figures he can be trusted with it. Even so, he rarely actually uses the key, mostly just accepting the offer for something to drink if Uki brings it up.
Fulgur leans against the counter, watching him intently. Today he’s in a dark red shirt that highlights his silver features, and black lounge pants. He looks fantastic, if Uki dares to say so, and the sight of him naturally stirs something in Uki’s chest.
“It’s not for me,” Fulgur says calmly. “It’s for you.”
Uki blinks. “For me?”
Fuglur sighs, slinking around the counter to wrap his arms around Uki. “You’re a fantastic caretaker, Uki, and anyone would be blessed to have you watching over them. But you’re rarely that good about taking care of yourself,” he says gently. “I’ve been watching you try and hide your headaches for weeks now because you’re more worried about me eating than you eating. If we’re gonna do this whole ‘proper schedule’ thing, then you need to stick to it too.”
Uki considers protesting, but it would be feeble at best. He does have to admit, albeit reluctantly, that he’s been less careful about his own meals in his efforts to help Fulgur adjust. But he’s also been living like this a lot longer than Fulgur; he’s more than willing to accept a few headaches to ensure that Fulgur transitions smoothly.
He half-expects Fulgur to drag the bottle over and shove it into his hands. To his surprise, Fulgur pulls Uki to sit on his lap in one of the kitchen chairs, bringing the bottle with him. With Uki firmly ensconced in his arms, Fulgur wastes no time in opening the bottle and pressing it into Uki’s hands. “Drink,” he commands gently. “You need it just as much as I do.”
Somewhat bemused, Uki accepts the bottle and downs the contents, making sure Fulgur can see every drop disappear. Fulgur has been paying more attention than Uki first thought: the blood he’s drinking has been heated to Uki’s preferred temperature. When he sets the now-empty bottle back on the table, Fulgur makes a satisfied sound, and Uki can’t help but purr as Fulgur buries his face into Uki’s hair.
“Are you happy now?” Uki teasingly asks, twisting just enough to lightly kiss the bottom of Fulgur’s jaw.
The look Fulgur shoots him in return ignites Uki’s insides like wildfire. They’ve been inseparable since Fulgur first appeared in his bar, but Uki is a gentleman at heart, and he’s never had any interest in taking anything from anyone, much less Fulgur. The topic of anything beyond what they already have hasn’t come up… but the sudden charge in the air tells Uki that that is sure to change very, very soon.
“I’ve been thinking,” he murmurs, his voice a delicious rumble, “now that we’re properly on the same field, there’s something I’d like to experience with you, if you have any interest.”
Uki raises a hand to cup Fulgur’s face. “For my life-mate? There’s nothing I wouldn’t want to experience with you.” He isn’t even bothering to suppress the desire in his voice.
Fulgur’s laugh is irresistible to Uki’s ears. “You’ve taught me a great deal since I met you. You’ve been extraordinarily polite, as well. But given there’s no need to hold back anymore…” his breath is hot on Uki’s neck, and when he presses his lips lightly against Uki’s mole, the older vampire shivers all over.
“Shall we go upstairs?” Uki whispers, and Fulgur’s answering smile is positively wicked.
It’s strange, Uki thinks somewhat dazedly, as he and Fulgur retreat to their love nest. How many years have passed since he considered a life that wasn’t, in essence, alone? He hasn’t had a proper partner in his life since his creator disappeared, and their relationship was more familial than romantic. No, the idea of a true, proper life-mate has never properly been something Uki has held out for. And now, suddenly, he’s in the bedroom of his tower, the tower he’s owned for centuries now, with a beautiful man- his beautiful man- carefully undoing his clothes as if Uki is some sort of god. It’s unlike anything Uki has ever truly experienced, and yet it is everything he didn’t know he wanted.
The world will continue spinning for years, decades, centuries, millenia. And for each one of those moments, Uki will not be alone, and that is a strange, wonderous thing.
Atop the tower, Uki and Fulgur fall into each other, and the rest of the world in comparison is rendered obsolete.