Work Text:
It's 5pm. He still hasn't slept.
There's something about the early evening that's always felt... off to Daniel. He imagines that this is how the early morning feels to the others, or at least, the less nocturnal ones. The feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, a sort of guilt in the knowledge that he has missed the window of sleep.
Because Lord knows what would happen if he wasn't there to supervise his four adult children.
He sighs sharply and turns over in bed, gazing at the soft glow of the curtains. The sun hasn't quite left them yet, basking the entire area in a blanket of deep orange. After a short stretch, Daniel hauls himself out of bed and slides his feet into his slippers. He hates walking around in just socks, considering that anything could be waiting to trip him up or be stepped in as soon as he exits his bedroom.
He barely gets to think about exiting his bedroom, however, as a dizzy spell hits him so hard that he needs to sit back down on the edge of his bed and blink hard a few times. He didn't stand up that fast, did he? After successfully standing up the next time, he puts it down to his terrible sleep schedule and finally walks into the hall.
5pm is a lively time in the mansion, as is made clear by the shouts from downstairs and the distant clattering sounds, presumably coming from Brian's room. As far as Daniel remembers, all five of them are at the mansion tonight. Not that there's anywhere else to be right now.
Despite nobody really knowing of the lads beyond those "Arcane Four" headlines, they still abide by the quarantine laws. It doesn't take a lot of effort to convince them all to isolate within their "social bubble," since they're all practically glued at the hips. Sometimes Kevin stays home for a couple nights, and Brian always has his bunker, but 90% of their time this year has been spent in Daniel's big, fancy mansion.
He nears the bottom of the grand staircase and finds that the shouting is coming from the kitchen. Seàn and Daithi are floating about the kitchen (literally, in Daithi's case) searching for something. Seàn has a shoe in his hand, and as he rounds the corner of the island counter, Daniel sees that it's one of his own shoes, as he's walking around with one foot exposed.
"Come out, ya little fecker!" Seàn yells, opening a drawer and quickly slamming it shut, shoe still clamped in his raised hand. Daniel feels a little tug in his chest, but he pushes it down and clears his throat.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he asks, in a voice that he would not like to call his 'stern mother voice' but most certainly is. Seàn jumps and spins around seemingly faster than light, but he lowers his hand once he sees Daniel,
"Oh, Daniel. Um... you should probably leave."
Daniel crosses his arms,
"This is my house?"
Daithi chimes in gently,
"You might wanna listen though, Dan. There's a bit of a situation, y'know-"
"Ah, of course, so that's why Seàn is putting his bare foot on the tile-"
"What's wrong with that? I do it as a wolf all the time!"
"Yeah, as a wolf, Seàn. If you're not a wolf then there's no reason to take your-"
"Oh my god," Daithi sighs, running a hand over his face,
"Look, Dan, there's a spider. Will you just leave so we can get rid of it?"
The tugging feeling returns at full force, and Daniel feels his heart drop to his stomach as he stares at Daithi, then the floor, then back at Daithi. He almost wants to look at the floor again to make sure said spider hasn't scuttled over to him, or found its way onto his shoes, or in his clothes-
"Sorry-" he mutters, quickly turning and leaving.
The next place he finds himself in is the west wing on the upper floor, housing the three spare bedrooms. He knocks on Brian's door, then hears a faint answer,
"Yeah?"
"It's Daniel. Curtains?"
"They're shut, come in!"
They created that little system a while ago. The curtains are closed indefinitely throughout the rest of his mansion, but the lads want some natural light in their guest rooms sometimes. Daniel opens the door just enough to pop his head in. Brian is sitting at the desk, soldering iron in hand. Before the former can even get a word in, Brian glances over and does a double take,
"Jesus, Dan. You look like you've not slept in a year."
"That's kind of part of being a vampire."
"You don't usually look this bad."
"Wow, thanks Brian. Anyway, I think we're gonna eat something soon, Seàn and Daithi are just, um... sorting something out."
Brian shoots him a bored look,
"What've they done now?"
"Nothing bad, just... there's a spider in the kitchen, so-"
"Oh, alright. I'm not starving or anythin', take your time."
Daniel thinks for a moment. He could use a distraction from this strange start to his day, and the lads might take a minute to clear the kitchen, so he slips through the door and lets it close behind him,
"Is this an upgrade you're working on?"
Brian shakes his head,
"Sort of, yeah. I'm trying to improve the laser, make it more precise, y'know. Hopefully that'll make it more powerful when it hits someone."
"We haven't really had many unfriendly visitors this year, Brian. There's no-one to hit."
"Okay well, better safe than sorry, alright?" Brian laughs. The mere mention of safety reminds Daniel that Kevin is in the mansion somewhere, and he pats Brian on the shoulder softly before turning to leave,
"I should probably check on Kevin. He's been left unsupervised for a while now."
"Mhm, have fun with that.'
-
To Daniel's utter astonishment, Kevin is just on his laptop in the library. No books are on fire (although to be fair, Daniel has banned any kind of open flame from the library in particular, no exceptions) and there's no chaos or carnage, just Kevin being normal for once.
"We might be having something to eat if you want to join us, Kevin," Daniel says, before turning and making his way to his room for a brief change of outfit. Now wearing a regular (by his standards) suit and black combat boots, he heads to the kitchen. Surely, the spider has been dealt with by now, he thinks.
He thought wrong, as the first thing he hears upon approaching the kitchen is Daithi's frustrated yelling,
"Where the fuck did it go?"
"Stop asking me, Daithi! You're the one with your feckin head in all the furniture, I can only do so much being corporeal n' all-"
If Daniel wasn't so concerned about the spider, he would've laughed at the sight he's met with as he stands in the doorway. Daithi's head is completely plunged into the tall cabinet at the end of the counter, and only his body is visible. Seàn has donned his shoe and is now holding a spatula instead.
"Okay, well..." Daithi removes his head from the cabinet and floats up to check the top of it, being met with a few odd jars and a whole lot of dust,
"Either it's got super speed or it's fuckin invisible or somethin, 'cause I swear we had our eyes on it the whole time it was here."
Before Daniel can worry about the concept of an invisible spider, the mention of his name draws his attention.
"Oh god, what if it got onto Dan when he came in? What the fuck are we gonna tell him?" Seàn asks. Daniel's whole body is suddenly uncomfortable as he notices everything, the weight and pinching of his clothes, the draft against his skin, the baby hairs tickling the back of his neck, his fangs digging into his bottom lip as he clenches his jaw.
"Well, first off, don't tell him that. We should probably just pretend we caught it again, he doesn't need it on his conscience."
"Daithi, I'm a terrible liar. He's gonna know."
"Okay well let me do the fuckin talking then-"
Daniel shuts his eyes tightly, but then finds that all of the feelings are amplified when he's left with his imagination. As soon as he reopens his eyes the same dizziness from before hits him. He covers his face with his hands and presses himself against the wall, mumbling,
"Stop..."
Seàn's voice is the next thing he hears,
"Fuck, how much of that did-"
Daniel whimpers,
"Stop! Stop talking, please!"
Even dizzy and panicking, he's still sharp, and he feels Daithi's presence before he even touches him. He recoils instantly and keeps his face covered by his shaking hands. He doesn't understand why he's panicking. The mere thought of a spider usually doesn't send him spiralling into a panic attack, but he's already trembling and close to crying.
Maybe it's the fact that the others have supposedly lied to him before about getting rid of spiders, or the fact that the one they lost today could be on him right now, crawling on his clothes, or in his clothes-
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Daithi mutters quietly, still close to him but not making any moves to touch him anymore,
"It's alright, Daniel. You're safe, we'll get rid of the s- um... we'll fix this, okay?"
Daniel shakes his head, and immediately finds that it was a bad idea, as the dizziness increases tenfold. He shuts his eyes again by accident and feels the world moving around him. There's something else wrong, but Daniel is just too disoriented right now to figure out what.
"No? You don't want us to-"
Daithi is interrupted by the sight of Seàn entering his peripheral vision and gently putting his hand on Daniel's shoulder. The latter still flinches, but he doesn't reject the contact, so Seàn steadies him with his other hand on his waist as he feels him swaying.
"Dan? Are you alright?"
As soon as his frazzled mind picks up that he's in safe hands, it dawns on Daniel that he's about to collapse.
That's exactly what he does. Seàn suddenly finds himself holding Daniel's entire body weight, which is luckily easy for him to handle. Even Daithi instinctively reaches out to steady him, but his hand goes right through him.
Seàn shoots Daithi a worried look and quickly scoops Daniel into a more comfortable carry for the both of them. He decides that it's probably best to get out of the kitchen, because even if something else is at play here, the thought of the spider probably isn't helping Daniel.
He carries Daniel to the adjoining living room and gently lays him on the left-hand chaise sofa. His eyes are open, but he doesn't seem to be all there.
"Can you hear me, Dan? What happened?"
Daniel didn't think things would get this bad so fast, but now he has to tell the truth. If he hides it for any longer something really bad could happen. He tears up and weakly admits,
"I... I need blood."
Seàn nods,
"Okay, Daithi will stay here with you while I go down to the base-"
"No," he insists, reaching for Seàn's hand and grabbing it as tightly as he can,
"I can't find blood. I don't have... I ran out. I can't find any."
He watches as it slowly dawns on the others what he means. Daniel has ventured into the village during the night for a few weeks now, looking for someone, anyone to get blood from. But there's a government mandated curfew, and everyone's wearing masks, and nobody goes outside unless they really need to.
It's been a least three weeks since he's had any blood. Even before his reserve ran dry in his "Blood Room," as the others have coined it, he was out hunting. He's been unsuccessful every time.
"Daniel... how long has it been?"
A tear finally frees itself and runs down Daniel's cheek as he shuts his eyes,
"I can't remember..."
"How are we gonna get blood?" Daithi wonders aloud, peering over the back of the sofa at the two of them,
"I can't do it, Dan can't go out, we don't know if you or Brian can even get the virus, and Kevin definitely can."
Seàn sighs and checks his phone,
"It's nearly six, and curfew is eight. Surely someone's still out in the village? Maybe, um... we could wait for the supermarket to close and get someone on the way out?"
"It's Sunday, they closed at four," Daithi says cautiously, knowing that this will make Seàn angry.
"God! This is such awful timing!" He says, scrubbing a hand over his face,
"I'd donate my own fuckin' blood, but obviously he can't have wolf blood!"
The idea seems to click in all three of their minds at the exact same time. It's Daniel who pipes up first, albeit meekly,
"No. Not him."
"We don't have any options, Dan," Daithi retorts, but Daniel is firm, even in his exhausted state.
"I made a promise. I can't ruin that."
Seàn sighs in frustration,
"You know that he's gonna agree instantly if we ask him, right? You made that promise years ago, surely you've proven that you'll never hurt him by now."
Daniel is quiet for a moment. On the one hand, he knows that he'll never forgive himself if he drank Kevin's blood, after vowing to him years ago that he will never hurt him, but he's desperate, and he's weak, and he's dying-
"I'm sorry but I'm not taking no for an answer, Dan. You need blood, and frankly it's up to Kevin to decide," Daithi says, before turning and going down the hall to the library. As soon as he enters through the door (literally), he spots Kevin in the middle of clearing up the area he was sitting at. It's strange to see Kevin actually caring about his surroundings, but the library is under extreme house rules, so it makes sense.
"Kevin."
He turns quickly, not a worry on his face. Of course, why would there be? He doesn't know anything yet,
"I know, dinner's soon-"
"No- no Kevin, there's something wrong."
Kevin's hand goes into his pocket with an urgency that should concern Daithi, but he's known him for long enough now that he's not surprised. When it gets serious, his hand always goes to one of his lighters, mostly just to ground himself, but sometimes he actually needs it for self-defense.
"What? Is everyone okay?"
Daithi bites his lip,
"It's Dan."
For a moment, Daithi doubts Kevin's species, because the speed that he's out of the library and looking for Daniel is honestly inhuman. Daithi floats after him and explains before he can get any further down the hall,
"He hasn't had blood, we don't know how long for. He's a fuckin' idiot for not telling us but that's not important right now. We can't get blood because of the curfew, but..."
Kevin gives Daithi a measured look and sees the worry in his eyes. Whether it be worry about Daniel or worrying if Kevin will say no, the latter doesn't hesitate, telling him firmly,
"I'll do it. Just make sure we both stay alive, alright? Dan's gonna owe me for this, and I'm not letting that go to waste by being dead."
Daithi rolls his eyes and carries on down the hall to the living room. Seàn is in the process of moving Daniel into a sitting position on the sofa when Kevin runs to his side and sits next to him,
"Dan, you feckin' idiot..." he says as affectionately as possible.
He takes both of Daniel's hands, frowning at how cold they are. He's usually cold, yes, but right now he's freezing.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think it would get this bad..." Daniel mumbles, eyes shut as he rests his head on the back of the sofa. Kevin sighs,
"Well, at least I'm here to save the day."
The vampire winces and says barely above a whisper,
"I really don't want to do this... I made a promise, Kev-"
"Dan, that was years ago. I know you're not gonna hurt me. If anything I'm more likely to hurt you. You've put out enough of my fires."
Daniel's eyes finally flutter open, and he stares at Kevin expressionlessly. He almost looks... entranced as he admits,
"I don't- I might not be able to stop myself. The others will probably have to pull me off you."
"It's okay. Just... go for my left wrist. I kind of wanna keep my dominant hand intact."
The sight of Daniel's smile, even a sad smile, is a relief to Kevin. He nods to himself, ready for what's about to happen, and scoops Daniel into his arms. The latter barely weighs anything as it is, and Kevin isn't sure if his mind is playing tricks on him because he's worried, or if Daniel is actually somehow lighter than usual, but either way he doesn't like it.
He carries Daniel to the East wing, where the entrance to the basement is, and Seàn follows after them. Kevin has only seen the "Blood Room" once, and it was by mistake a long time ago. It looks very different now, the floor no longer rough concrete but clean, shiny stone tiles. The room is warm and dimly lit, with a few chairs and a chest of drawers against one wall. It's almost... cosy.
Kevin places Daniel down on a chair and crouches in front of him,
"Alright... I guess you should just, uh... I don't know how you usually do this."
"Well I- I hypnotise them. Makes it easier to get them down here," Daniel says awkwardly. At first Kevin is a little surprised that he's actually sharing information about hunting, but he supposes that he's too weak to think about being tight-lipped right now.
"Okay, well you don't need to do that part. Unless you're into it..." Kevin mutters with a smirk. Daniel sighs,
"Fuck off, Kevin."
Seàn cuts in,
"Ah Jesus, can you stop fuckin around and get on with it? What part of emergency don't you get?"
Kevin rolls his eyes and rolls up the left sleeve of his hoodie. As soon as Daniel sees the patch of bare skin he looks away on instinct. He's been thirsty around the lads before and had to avoid looking at Kevin until he can go hunting, but this is a whole different situation. He's desperate. He's so thirsty, and Kevin's wrist looks so warm and inviting.
Daniel manages to whisper out an apology before he grips Kevin's arm with both hands, sinking his fangs into the meat of his inner wrist. The latter cries out in shock, falling back onto the ground, but Daniel stays latched to him as his teeth tear into flesh, finally getting the blood that rushes to the wound. Kevin is practically pinned to the ground and Daniel is looming over him, completely bound by his own vampiric instinct.
"Dan?" Seàn asks cautiously. Surely he has enough by now?
Kevin tries to take deep breaths to get through the pain, trying to remind himself that it'll be over soon, he's doing this for Daniel, this isn't the worst pain he's ever felt, it'll be over soon-
"DANIEL!"
The next thing Kevin feels is a harsh tug on his left wrist, and the weight of Daniel's body is absent. Blinking away the stars in his peripheral, Kevin pushes himself up with his good wrist, only to watch as Seàn holds Daniel up with his arms pinned to his sides, as Daniel hisses, eyes gleaming red in the light and his mouth dripping with an equally bright red.
"Dan, come on!" Seàn exclaims, wrestling with the smaller man's impossible amount of strength. Rarely has he seen the full extent of Daniel's vampire abilities, and right now they're in full use.
"Feckin' hell! How is he so strong?" he shouts, before Kevin realises that he should probably cover his still bleeding bite. As soon as he does, Daniel snaps out of it, and the sudden lack of resistance sends both him and Seàn slamming into the wall behind them. Daniel whines as the adrenaline wears off and his body crumples, leaving Seàn to catch him once again.
He knows Daniel gets tired after drinking, which he thought would be the opposite, but when he wakes up he'll feel much more rejuvenated. Right now his worry is of Kevin, and his wrist, so he gently places Daniel against the wall and hastily wipes the blood from his face.
"Jesus Christ," Kevin mutters, mostly to himself, as he uncovers his bite and sits back again,
"How is he that fucking small but also an absolute unit at the same time? I thought you'd have to transform at one point."
Seàn grabs his good hand and helps him into the chair,
"Vampires, am I right? Anyway, lemme get you patched up."
Kevin sighs as the other browses the chest of drawers for the supplies he needs,
"He's a feckin idiot. Why didn't he tell us he ran out of blood?"
Seàn just chuckles,
"You're both idiots. You've got a hole in your fucking wrist and the first thing you do is complain about Dan."
As Kevin is about to rebut this claim, he realises something,
"Wait, how do you know there's first aid supplies in that drawer? Are you allowed in here?" Seàn doesn't look away from the drawer as he mutters,
"It's a long story."
There's movement in the corner of Kevin's eye. Daniel, as he comes to, and the first thing he does is mumble,
"Sorry... Kev-"
"Shut up, Dan. We'll talk through it later. Just a 'thank you' will do."
Daniel just smiles lazily. For once, Kevin is the reasonable one.