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not-a-space-alien · 5 months

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K&J x MMSS 4: Valen & Jim Part 5

Part five of the fourth crossover with @whumpsday!

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Warnings for this chapter: Eating disorder talk

In this chapter:

It’s night when Jim wakes, and he's still cuddled up with Valen. The vampire looks so peaceful like this. Jim feels a pang in his heart when he remembers that Valen's going home tonight, all the way back to vampire territory.

He feels a little selfish for it– he has to admit, part of it is that he feels so much safer with Valen here to protect him. No vampire would snatch a human out of another vampire’s arms, not when there are easier humans to abduct. But also… Valen is kind, and pleasant to be with, and that’s something Jim’s been starved of for a long, long time.

Well, they can still keep in touch. Maybe Valen will visit.

As he feels Valen stirring, he murmurs, “How you feeling? Burns a little better?"

Valen stretches and rubs his eyes, delighted to find that when he blinks them open, he can see. The shapes are still a bit fuzzy though, and the room has a haze, so apparently he's only most of the way there. His skin feels almost completely better, though.

"I'm doing wonderful, Jim. I'll be better in no time." He rolls over. "Although I do think I still have a little ways to go remaining, unless you’ve suddenly developed a propensity for being a beige blob."

"Looks like I gotta keep taking care of you, then," he says with a smile and a nudge, getting out of bed. "Let me know whenever you get hungry. I felt like shit after not eating or drinking for 2 days, so I bet you'd feel the same. Don't want you to go through that. Just, uh, not the neck."

The last thing Jim wants is to be fed from, but he’d rather it be him than Liz. Besides, he’s used to it. He’s done it every night for years. It shouldn’t be a big deal.

"Oh, thank you," Valen says. Now he's trying not to think too hard about feeding. "I'm not hungry just yet. Maybe later. Thank you for thinking of it." Change the subject, don't think about it, you can wait and feed at home. "You'll probably be wanting to get medical care today, yes?"

"It's not super urgent. I'll call to make an appointment when it's day, since they're closed by now. Why?" Jim asks. "I know I gotta hand in that jar of ticks."

"Oh, yes." Valen is completely disoriented about when things will be open, and what time of day everyone is going to be active. "I just worry for you, that's all."

"You're sweet. I'm not going to the ER, I'll be fine." Jim shrugs. "Speaking of which, you need anything? A second round of burn cream?"

"I think I'm doing fine. Thank you. Just some more time. Depending on what time it is, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get all the way home before sunrise, and I'd prefer not to be out during the day." He thinks it's probably going to be a while before he works up the confidence again to go outside during the day. "So perhaps I'll stay the night and the day, and then leave at next sunset."

"Sounds peachy." Jim hesitates. The fact that it's night and Kane might be looking for him makes him nervous, but Valen is here. Valen can protect him. Even if he does get taken back, Valen can probably find a way to bust him out again. The thought calms his jumpy nerves. "Um, do you wanna come downstairs while I get breakfast? I'm..." he starts mumbling, "I feel safer when you're there. But, but if you don't wanna, that's cool too, obviously."

Valen brightens. "Yes, that sounds lovely. Are Liz and Laken still home?" It's been a while since he's been among a group of people he was so desperately interested in getting to know better. He doesn't have any friends who know and accept the real him, and he knows some of these people are queer. He's desperate for genuine connection.

And of course Jim would feel safer with Valen around. Valen had been the only thing in the five years Jim was in vampire territory that had ever been able to ward off being hurt by his captors. It makes him feel warm and protective, and strangely loathe to leave Jim alone despite knowing he's probably perfectly safe now, across the border.

"I dunno. I just met Laken when you did, but Liz told me they're her hunting partner while I was eating yesterday." Jim groans. "I can't believe she's a hunter now. That's so unsafe. Fuck Kane for kidnapping me when he did.” His voice gets more timid, spooked by his own insult. “If he could have at least waited until Liz was more stable…"

"Yes, I do worry for her in that line of work." Valen also worries for himself, just a little. "But now that you're here, perhaps we can convince her to change careers."

"Yeah… Well, I'd assume Laken would go back to their own place? There's no way Liz bailed when I just got back, she's definitely home. Feel free to grab anything you like out of the closet if you want, lemme know if your eyes are still shot and you need help. I'm staying in pajamas."

Valen smiles. "I'll also stay in pajamas. Why not?" He gets up out of bed and pads forward, slowly and holding his hand out, exaggerating his inability to see. "I do think I'll take your hand to help get down the stairs, though."

"Of course, man. I've gotcha." He intertwines his arm with Valen's, helping him down the stairs.

"Hey!" Liz calls excitedly from where she is in the living room, ecstatic to have Jim home. "How'd you sleep? I can't believe you're really home!”

"Slept good," Jim confirms with a thumbs-up. "Me either."

“And hey, looking better, Valen."

Valen also gives a thumbs up. "Feeling a lot better! Thank you, ma’am!”

Liz laughs. "Noooo, don't make me a ma'am, I'm only twenty!"

"Valen's staying the night and day, his eyes are still shot," Jim explains.

She looks to where their arms are intertwined. "Uh huh. I see that. Well, you're welcome anytime, for as long as you want. You brought my brother home.”

That warms Valen’s heart. “Ah, thank you… So, so what's on the agenda for tonight?"

“Um, I dunno, didn't have any specific plans. Definitely not going out. I could make-"

"Have you actually learned to cook in the last 5 years?" Jim asks, eyebrows raised.

"...Kinda."

"I'll handle the making. I missed cooking for you." Jim baps her on the head and goes into the kitchen. He glances back nervously to make sure he can still see Valen, the nighttime putting him on-edge.

"Don't feel self-conscious about it, I don't know how to cook, either," Valen says with a laugh. "I'm not sure I know what to do with myself if we don't have something going on. I'm not good at being idle. And I can't read for a while, unfortunately. Are there any chores that require heavy lifting I can do for you while I'm here? It'd be most efficient, since it's easier for me."

"Yeah, you can help me clean up the other bedroom if you want?" Liz suggests. "It's got a queen. Just so you know."

Valen tries to hide his excitement. "Okay, sure! You'll have to give me directions." He leans into the kitchen. "Jim, I'm going upstairs to help Liz move things. Is that all right?"

"Um, y-yeah." Jim stammers, not entirely alright but not wanting to admit it. "I'll make something quick and bring it up."

Liz, oblivious, takes Valen's hand. "Back up we go, then!"

"O-okay," says Valen, unsure of if he should point out Jim's discomfort and stay downstairs. Since Jim seems to have already made a plan to come up, Valen just lets himself be pulled along.

He can see well enough to get up the stairs without much issue, but he still likes holding Liz's hand. He likes Liz. She's tough, and a woman, and she doesn't seem to care what men think of her. If he'd been presented with the two siblings without knowing anything about either of them, he probably would have actually gravitated towards Liz more than Jim. He wants Liz to like him, but she already seems to like him for bringing her brother back. This is good, he likes interpersonal relationships where the other party feels like they owe him instead of the other way around. Then he can graciously assure them not to worry about paying him back, instead of worrying himself.

They reach the bedroom. The bed is covered in stacks of boxes and other crap, as is a good portion of the rest of the room. Valen eyes the blobs that must be the boxes. He hefts one up. To his horror, he finds that his limbs feel just a bit weaker than they usually do. It's been well over 24 hours since he's fed at this point, and he's starting to get quite hungry. He hates the idea of leaving, though, almost as much as he hates the idea of feeding here in front of either of them. Just wait for a bit, you've gone much longer without eating than this before. Neither of them will notice, they won't think much of it. You're still plenty strong. "Where should I put this?" He wants to say ma'am, but Liz already expressed her negative feelings about that.

Liz also grabs a box off the bed, moving it to stack onto the boxes on the floor. "I figure we can just clear off the bed so it's usable. I gotta go through everything, probably with Jim, and decide what to keep. Then we can grab some sheets and a blanket."

"Easy enough!" He makes quick work of moving the boxes, almost feeling like he's obligated to use his massively superior strength to get done as much as he can. He can't very well go through the boxes for them though. He wonders what's in the boxes, but he politely declines from asking, figuring he can puzzle it out later indirectly from Jim and Liz talking to each other.

Jim comes up with two plates soon enough, handing one to Liz. "Here ya go, mushroom omelet. Oh, that reminds me, I wanted to ask." He turns to Valen. "Why were you collecting mushrooms in the middle of the day anyway? That's how he found me. I was mid-escape and he was like, foraging."

"Oh," he says, blushing fiercely. Why was this so embarrassing to talk about? Probably because everyone told him it was stupid, and he wasn't convinced it would work. "Well, I'm trained in the sciences, and I was collecting them to use in a pet project of mine. There don't seem to be many around, though. They may not thrive at the latitude I was searching."

"Well, if you ever wanna forage in human territory, give me a heads-up ahead of time and I'll make sure hunters in the area know you're chill." Liz says. "You're obviously not gonna take anyone. You did the opposite."

Valen's heart warms at Liz's offer. He has friends, he has friends who like who he really is and help him with things he actually wants to do. "Thank you."

"Ooh, science. What's the pet project?" Jim asks between bites.

Valen turns to Jim. "Um, well it isn't very far along, but, but, this is a peculiar species of mushroom that produces a substance remarkably similar in structure to hemoglobin. I was thinking that if I could distill it down, I could use it to make an artificial blood substitute to use for feeding."

"Dude. You have to keep working on that," Liz says, extremely interested. "If you can get something like that working, it could save lives."

"Kane would never go for mushroom blood. He's all about prestige." Jim rolls his eyes. "It sounds super cool, though."

"That's the one that took you?" Liz asks.

"Yeah. Should've heard him when he came knocking at Valen's place. Had a temper tantrum when Valen sent him packing. Oh hey, speaking of blood, you've gotta be hungry." Jim points out. He's not exactly stoked about being fed from, but… it's not Kane this time.

Valen would be gentle, he knows it.

Valen is about to start explaining about how the nobility wouldn't ever accept it, but that it could potentially reduce the impact of the large-scale horror of the blood farms, when the pivot into talking about him feeding sends his anxiety spiking. He hasn't struggled with disordered eating for a while, not since he'd gotten more in control of his own diet, but all the shame and guilt are resurfacing. He can't feed from either of them. They're his friends, he can't see them as food. What if he starts seeing them as food before people? What if he can't go back to blood packs? He doesn't trust himself, it could go wrong in so many ways, especially with Jim.

"That's all right," Valen says. "I'm not hungry." Unfortunately, it's pretty obvious he's lying with the way it comes out, and he cringes.

"Hey." Jim sets his plate down and goes to squeeze Valen's hand. "You fed me. I'm gonna feed you. You're not going hungry in my house. What's wrong?"

Valen bites his lip and shakes his head. "I can't, I-I've never fed directly from a human before. I can't put a name and face to my food."

Jim's spent so long being told he's food, not a person. Valen telling him he doesn't want to make him food because he's a person… he doesn’t know what to make of that. He feels warm inside. "I appreciate that. A lot. How about I get you a cup or bowl or something, 'kay?"

"I-I suppose that would be fine. Just, just maybe do it in a different room, if you don't mind?" He is really freaked out by the possibility of becoming a monster like Kane if he isn't careful. It was one thing to know some human somewhere out there got paid a nice sum to have their blood drawn, which was then made available to his demographic generally. It was entirely different to know someone was right here in front of him and was going to be bleeding and hurting for him specifically.

He was already one of those people who had trouble accepting help, accepting someone else's flesh and blood is even worse...not to mention it makes him feel like he owes someone else, bodily, which he hates hates hates. He tries not to cry. He would almost rather just go hungry. But Jim had said it so kindly and understandingly.

Jim doesn't like the idea of being in a different room from Valen, but he guesses he'll have to get used to it soon, since Valen's going home tomorrow. He doesn't know how he'll cope being alone at night, without him. Vulnerable.

Valen's reluctance makes him feel safer, though. This isn't like with Kane, taking what he wants with no regard to how Jim feels. Valen treats him like a person. There's no pressure.

"Sure, yeah. Liz, can you supervise?" He definitely can't do this alone.

"Course."

They go downstairs. As Valen waits, the smell of blood wafts up: soon followed by the undeniable sound of crying.

So Jim has overestimated his ability to handle this, after all.

Valen also starts crying, but he's afraid to go downstairs to Jim. He probably doesn't want to be near a vampire like this, vulnerable and bleeding and scared. Valen hates himself so, so much. He wishes he could eat anything else. He wishes he were dead.

A little bit later, the humans come up with a mug of blood, both with bandages on their arms. Jim's still teary, but he relaxes a little when he sees Valen: unbeknownst to Valen, for whom faces are still fuzzy.

Jim hands him the mug. "Order up. Hey, you okay?" he asks, his own voice a little trembly.

Valen takes the mug miserably. He feels sick at the thought of drinking it, knowing how much distress it'd caused Jim to get it for him. "Thank you for doing that for me," he says hollowly. "I'm sorry it distressed you."

"It's mostly mine," Liz says, patting Jim on the back. "Took over when it got a little much. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah. Plus, it was my choice. Our choice. You didn't force me or anything. I just, I just got bad memories. And I got scared. I'm okay now. Don't beat yourself up about needing to eat," Jim adds.

Despite Jim's words, tears spill over in Valen's eyes. "How-how can I not?" he cries. "When my entire existence is predicated on making others suffer? No matter how hard I try, I'll never be anything other than a creature of blood. Someone will always have to bleed and be in pain as long as I'm alive."

"Hey, that's not true." Jim gives him a hug. "You saved me from having to bleed and be in pain for the rest of my life. You drink that ethical stuff from the shop. I doubt people who sell their blood are really suffering. I've donated blood and plasma before... everything, and it was a piece of cake. Plus, you're working on your mushrooms. You're a really good person, Valen. You're good."

Valen puts the mug on the end table nearby so he can hold Jim, but he's having a meltdown now, probably because he's hungry on top of all the stress. "I-I haven't always been this way, Jim, I drank the blood of blood farm victims for decades before this. I'm s-so ashamed that, that what it took for me to realize was-" He gives a wail and pulls away from Jim. "I married into the family that owns and operates the blood farms, Jim, and I did nothing for the longest time to try and stop it."

He folds in himself, arms above his head, crying so hard he can barely speak. "What does it matter that I saved one human when thousands of them are ground up by the cogs of my society every day? Nothing any of us can do can ever make up for the oceans of blood we've all spilled. I'm a monster, Jim. I deserve to die. We all deserve to die."

"Liz, give us a minute?" Jim says.

"Sure, yeah. But that stuff's not true, Valen." She leaves them.

Jim directs Valen to sit on the bed, arm around him. "It matters that you saved one human to me, okay? To be Kane's... you get treated like nothing. Less. Food, or a punching bag for him to take his shit out on. Without you, I'd either have died of dehydration out there, or I'd spend the rest of my life as his, with crushed ankles to boot. You took me away from all that. You let me be a person again. You didn't have to do that. You could've turned me in for cash, you could've kept me and made me yours, but you didn't. Sure, I’m only one human. But–but it's my entire life. You gave it back to me. Your husband's a piece of shit. You're not him, you're literally trying to divorce him. A lot of vampires are monsters–so are a lot of humans–but not you. Never you."

Valen hiccups, feeling so small next to Jim now. "I just did what any decent person would have done." He takes a moment to let what he just said sink in, then he sniffles and wipes his face. "Thank you, Jim. I'm, I'm sorry you tried to do something nice for me and just got a meltdown in return. Hearing you say all that does make me feel better. Can I..." He extends his hand towards the end table, just a little bit. "Can I maybe drink it now? I c-can't imagine being this hungry is helping my emotional stability at all."

Jim grabs the mug and hands it to him. "Knock yourself out. It's not your fault, I just... got spooked. I feel a little better now, though. It's better when I'm with you."

"I'm glad. I'm glad my being here makes things better, not worse." He sips the mug, trying not to make the connection to who the blood came out of.

#whump #K+J #angst #whumpblr #hurt/comfort

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whumpsday · 1 year

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Kane & Jim #44: Sweet 116

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content: recovery, comfort, vampire whumpee, whumper turned whumpee, whumpee turned caretaker, fluffy compared to my usual

Kane woke up one hundred and sixteen years old.

It felt like it had been ages since his last birthday, since he hadn’t been aware of its passing since his 110th. He’d honestly thought he was older than this, back in his cell. It felt longer than five years.

He hadn’t celebrated his birthday in a long time, even the ones where he’d been aware of the day passing. They were a bitter reminder that his family didn’t care, after the extravagant parties he’d been thrown as a young child turned into not even being wished a happy birthday. He and Bellamy used to have their own little events, just the two of them, but those stopped after Bellamy left.

He wished he could apologize to Bellamy for treating him so badly. Kane knew he’d been a bad friend. But it was probably better this way: Bellamy had his own life now, he was flourishing, and Kane was okay now too. He had to just appreciate their childhood friendship for what it was, and accept that it was over.

Jim wasn’t his friend, certainly. Kane had abused him for years, and now he was currently held captive in the man’s house. But he was something almost like a friend. More than a friend in some ways, a god-like savior who’d dragged him out of a torturous nightmare.

He was okay. He didn’t need a friend, and he didn’t need a birthday. He just needed to be safe, and he had that, now. He smiled at the thought. His first safe birthday in five years.

Jim came downstairs with a fresh bowl of blood. “Hey, man. Happy birthday. Hundred sixteen now, right? Sheesh.”

“Oh. You remembered.” Kane said, a little shocked.

“’Course I remembered. Gotta be on top of that shit if you’re gonna be staying here. Speaking of which...” Jim held out the bowl, but it was a new one, one Kane had never seen before. A ceramic bowl designed to look like a cake, a human food he knew was traditionally used to celebrate birthdays. Jim had taught him that.

“Saw this and thought it might be fun to use on your birthdays, since obviously you can’t eat actual cake.” Jim said with a goofy grin.

Birthdays. Plural. That could only mean one thing, that Jim intended to keep him for years. Kane’s heart soared, elated. He was being promised safety for years.

“Thank you so much.” Kane gingerly took the cute little bowl. “I love it. Thank you for the bowl, and the blood, and, and for letting me stay. Thank you for all of it.” He teared up a little, overwhelmed with emotion.

“Aw, well, you were always nice to me on my birthdays.” Jim pointed out. “You always got me cake and a present. Never hurt me or anything, ‘cept for the bite, even if I was doing stuff you’d normally hit me for. It was the only time I really felt safe.”

Guilt flooded him. Jim only felt safe five days out of the five years Kane had him, and he still made every effort he could to make Kane feel safe now despite it.

“I’m glad you’re safe now.” Kane said softly.

“Right back at you.” Jim patted him on the back. “Laken’s coming over later and we’ll have a little party. Assuming that’s cool with you? There’s still time to cancel it if you’re not into the idea.”

Laken was a hunter. It was hard to get out of the mindset that humans were dangerous by default, let alone hunters, but they’d been over to visit Liz’s a few times when he and Jim had stayed at Liz’s place a few weeks ago and they’d only ever been friendly toward him. He supposed that the only options Jim had to invite to his vampire’s birthday party were them and Liz, and Liz was definitely not a fan of him.

Kane hadn’t had a proper birthday party since he was ten years old. It seemed almost childish at this point, but... unbelievably sweet.

“That sounds great. Thank you.” He held the bowl to his lips and drank.

Jim’s present to Kane served two purposes: it was something he knew the guy would love, and it would give him time to decorate. It was a strategy he had employed for Liz on multiple occasions. Give her a gift she’d have to leave the house for, then set everything up while she’s away. He could have just done it while Kane was asleep, but he wanted to make sure he actually wanted something. Jim knew he was weird about birthdays.

He had to get creative this time, since he couldn’t send Kane to the arcade or roller rink. Kane was over the moon about the fancy bath stuff Jim got him, breaking out in a delighted fanged grin.

While Kane spent what Jim was sure would be an hour in the bathroom trying out fancy soaps, he strung up some simple decorations. Some balloons, streamers, and in a moment of unprecedented genius, a ‘SWEET 16′ banner he’d drawn an extra ‘1′ into to make it say ‘SWEET 116′. He giggled as he tacked it up.

He was sure it was nothing compared to the kinds of parties hundred-millionaire vampires would throw. Hell, it’d be nothing by human party standards, the guy couldn’t even eat cake or get wasted. But hey, Kane seemed pretty jazzed about it so far.

It was a good distraction. Jim tried not to think about it, but tomorrow was the anniversary of the night Kane took him. He realized it a few minutes after Kane had told him his birthday. Was that what he was? Kane’s birthday present to himself, a shiny new human?

He pushed the thought out of his head. It didn’t matter. He didn’t want to think about the fact that tomorrow was the 15 year anniversary of the day his life ended.

Jim was glad he had the excuse of Kane being scared of Liz to not invite her: she’d definitely try to comfort him, because she knew him way too well, and then he’d have to think about it, and maybe even talk about it.

And then he’d be a terrified 19 year old boy again, back in that lonely little room in Kane’s house where nothing was safe, and he didn’t want to be that anymore.

Now Kane was in his house, and neither of them were miserable. It was fine. Though it was hard not to think about it at least a little bit, with what Laken wanted to give Kane as his present.

Kane came downstairs smelling like roses. “You weren’t waiting to put the cuffs back-”

He looked around, taking in the decorations. Another smile. Kane had been smiling a lot more these days, he noticed.

“You did all this for me?” He sounded choked-up.

“Yeah, man. It’s your birthday. First one you’ve celebrated in five years, right? Gotta do something.” Jim patted him on the back. “And no cuffs today. We can be a little lax once in a while.” Plus, there’ll be a hunter here most of the time just in case.

“One hundred and six.”

“One hundred and six what?”

“This is the first birthday I’ve celebrated in one hundred and six years.” Kane clarified. “Or, ninety-nine years if you count the little celebrations that were just me and Bellamy. Just shy of a century.”

“Fuck, man. You’re making me too sad.” Jim shook his head. Guess that explained why he was so cagey about his birthday. “Well, good thing I snapped you up before it could get to a round hundred. We’ll fit a birthday party in here for you yet.”

“Thank you, Jim.” Kane said, sounding touched. “That means a lot.”

Laken arrived shortly. Kane froze up as they hugged him, not having expected it, but relaxed once he realized they weren’t hurting him.

“Happy birthday, you little grandpa!” they laughed, glancing at the banner. “Excellent.”

“Thank you for coming.” he replied. Laken’s hug was different from Jim’s. There was no tension, no fear that Kane could sense. They just held him, carefree. He wanted it to last forever, but they pulled away to hug Jim next.

They strolled inside and turned back around. “Jimmy, get outta here. I’ve gotta give Kane his present.”

Laken didn’t appear to have brought anything with them, Kane noted with confusion.

“Y-yeah.” Jim was suddenly nervous. “Just, just come get me when it’s done.” He scurried up the stairs to his room.

Kane was growing more anxious by the second. Jim being nervous was bad, but being apart from him was worse, and being alone with a hunter even worse than that. Even if they were the nicest hunter he’d ever met.

“Chill out.” Laken ordered, patting him on the head. “Jim’s just a little sensitive about this stuff. I’m not gonna hurtcha.”

“O-oh. Um, then, then what?” he asked.

Laken held out their arm. “Go on and feed some. Double portions today, and this one’s straight from the source, nice ‘n fresh..”

Kane stared incredulously at their outstretched arm. This had to be a- a trap of some kind, it had to be.

He could still remember the searing licks of the sun on his skin, in his mouth, unable to get away, burning burning burning for an entire week, the nights never long enough to heal more than the smallest bit before the next day devastated him again. And that had been for just trying to bite.

There was no way a hunter was telling him to bite them.

“I’ll be good, s...” Kane thought about it a bit, unsure what the proper title would be for a ‘them’. “...sir?” he decides anyway. “I’ll be good. I know better, I, I’ve learned. You don’t need to test me.”

“I’m not gonna pull pranks on you on your birthday, dude.” Laken shook their head. “Or ever. That sounds about as good of an idea as pulling pranks on Jim. Maybe even worse. Nah, I’m serious. Go for it. Have a little treat.”

They were serious. Kane glanced up the stairs. “Jim’s okay with it?”

“Yup, got pre-approved and everything. Listen, if you don’t want it, I can use the blood draw and you can drink it out of that bowl Jim was so giggly about on the phone, or we can just forget about the whole thing if you wanna. It’s your call. You’re the birthday boy. But hey, I’m offering.” They waggled their eyebrows.

Blood did taste really good straight from a human. It didn’t get any fresher than that. And... it could be his test, too. He was starting to really trust that Jim wouldn’t send him back, or hurt him on purpose. If he did this, he could see if Laken is really telling the truth, and maybe he could trust them, too. If he refused, he’d never know.

“Okay. Yes, please. Um, have you ever... been bitten before?” he asked.

“Pssh, oh yeah. A billion and a half times.” Laken assured. “I’ve been hunting for like, a decade. You guys’ve got like 5 things for combat, and teeth are one of ‘em. Never been really fed from, though. But I’m curious!” They waved their arm in front of him again.

Kane was glad they were offering their arm. He was sure that Jim would have an intensely negative reaction to seeing his mark on Laken’s neck.

He nodded trepidatiously. “Please let me know if you want me to stop.”

He bit into their forearm, sweet, delicious blood flowing into him. The base taste wasn’t as good as Jim’s abnormally-delicious blood, but it was so fresh that it truly was a treat. He had already had a meal today, but he fed enough for an entire second meal. It was his birthday, after all.

When he was done, he licked the wound closed. “Thank you. That was, that was wonderful.” He waited anxiously for their reaction.

“Haha, so weird. Glad it did it for you.” Laken said casually.

They’re really not mad. They’re not going to try to punish me.

“I’m gonna put a bandage on this so Jim doesn’t flip his shit.” they added. “You wanna go get him? Knock first.”

“Okay!” Kane agreed, invigorated by his apparent success. He jogged up to Jim’s room, initially minding his ankle chains before realizing they weren’t there, and knocked.

“Jim? It’s done. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Jim opened the door, looking a little less than okay, but not awful.

“I-”

“If you’re about to say you’re sorry, can it. It’s your birthday and you didn’t hurt anyone. Was it nice?” Jim asked.

Kane was surprised by how he’d predicted what he was about to say so easily. He guessed Jim just... knew him better than anyone else, at this point.

But that street went both ways. Seeing Jim look all nervous, he was suddenly reminded that he’d taken Jim the day after his 100th birthday.

“It was nice. Thank you for allowing it.” He hesitated, hoping he was saying the right thing. “Um, I know that tomorrow is probably... an uncomfortable day for you. I’m sorry. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do? Like if you want me to stay downstairs or something.”

Jim startled a bit, then smoothed his hair down. “I dunno. I kinda just wanna do everything like normal. Don’t wanna make it weird or anything.”

“Okay. Whatever you want.” Kane agreed.

“Hey, did Jim faint up there or something?” Laken called.

“C’mon, don’t turn into Liz, I’m not that fragile! I wasn’t even the one who got bit!” Jim called back. He bumped Kane on the shoulder, racing back down.

Kane laughed, following behind him.

sorry i’ve been slacking on posting new chapters / november was kind of a wash! you can expect a lot more activity in the latter portion of december.

drabbles posted in between #43 and #44:

Drabble: Mirror

Drabble: Fuck you

also started K&J x MMSS, a series of crossovers between my guys and the guys of Magnanimous Moonrise & Savage Sunset! there’s like 30k words of writing in there now

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#kane and jim #whump #my writing #recovery whump #comfort #vampire whumpee #whumper turned whumpee #whumpee turned caretaker #whump writing

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endofthelinexx · 1 year

Text

mad woman. | 1

Pairing: Female!Driver!Reader x Daniel Ricciardo

TW: language, alcohol, dash of sexism which you can thank christian and max for

Rating: Mature, 18+

AN: i’m going to start by saying that the pairing isn’t going to be set throughout the whole series, it follows a womans journey through formula 1. so I’m focusing a lot about what its like being friends with the boys, facing backlash, and being a formula 1 driver. obviously its not going to be insanely accurate because I am not a formula 1 driver or have met any of them lol. in short, there will probably be multiple pairings and i’m living for it <3 comment to join the tag list!

Word count: 4.0k

Mini Summary: Laken Partridge grew up just one hour away from Talladega, so it made sense she grew up infatuated with race cars. The second she was old enough her parents invested in karting, even if they had to work their butts off. She was ready for everything, at least that’s what she thought before she was confronted with the real deal.

playlist here!

*No permission is given for reposting my work, copying it or parts of it, and claiming it as your own.

| chapter 1 |

You remembered the day you got your first kart, you had been racing for 2 years on a rental because that was all your family could afford. Your father had been working his ass off every day since they took you to your first Grand Prix out in Miami. From the day you were born, everyone knew you’d be a racecar driver, but they always thought it would be for NASCAR, the thought of formula 1 never crossed their mind. You didn’t blame them for that, it made sense, how in the world would a woman raised by a middle-class family in Alabama ever step foot on a Formula 1 track? Growing up that’s all you heard as you went from karting to Formula 3, then 2, and now 1.

Now you sat in a conference room in Silverstone as the engineers went over the new car for this season. When you were announced to race beside Sebastian Vettel for Aston Martin in 2022 there was a lot of commotion, you never have been able to comprehend the amount of support you had, of course, that was hard when the people who had something bad to say spoke the loudest. Most of the drivers were thrilled, they had raced against you in the European circuit, I mean you practically lived with George’s family most summers after meeting his family at the first Grand Prix in Austin. But some people had a lot to say, and by some people, you meant Christian Horner and Max Verstappen. The first thing you heard was from Christian himself speaking in an interview about how you would barely survive in this climate.

In his own words, he said, “you know I hate to say it, but the only reason a woman should be on the paddock is if she’s an engineer or someone that works for social media.”

And Max was quick to agree saying, “at least right now the biggest threat to my championship is a man, I’ve seen a lot of articles and things saying I have a new obstacle to overcome next year. I’m sure she’s a great driver, but maybe she should go race for NASCAR?”

Of course, they both had a smile on their face and a joking tone of voice, but you knew that was all for show, you knew they meant what they said and they weren’t joking about it. You took their dismissive behavior as fear, what Max had seen was right. There were hundreds of articles from people who had watched your pre-formula 1 race days, seen your trophies, your achievements, and your improvements through the years. You are a threat and no one was going to tell you differently, especially not a man.

But here you were, the doubts running through your mind while the engineers went very in-depth about aerodynamics. The only thing that brought you back to your senses was Sebastian, shooting you a concerned look. When he realized he had gotten your attention he mouthed the words, ‘are you okay?’ to which you responded by giving him a nod and a smile before turning your attention back to the presentation. You were sitting there probably for another hour before the presentation was over, you stood and collected your things as Sebastian walked over to you.

Glancing over at him as he approached, you spoke, “I must’ve had a worried look on my face or something, you looked concerned.”

“I could tell you were in your head, I just wanted to check on you.”

“That’s nice of you, just had a moment of doubt, that’s all,” you gave him another smile.

He nodded in understanding, “I don’t blame you, when I was starting out I felt like I needed to prove myself to everyone too and I wasn’t even a minority in the sport.”

“Wow, thanks, that makes me feel better,” you laughed and started to walk out of the conference room.

He followed you, “I wasn’t done. Anyway, I was going to tell you that once you sit in that car and you’re locked in you’re driving for you. Of course, you’re driving for the team and fans and everything else, but if you win no one is going to be happier than you. If you aren’t in the points, no one is going to be more disappointed than you, so try not to stress about the pressure.”

You looked over at him, “wow, you should be a motivational speaker.”

“I try my best,” he smiled, “anyway, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Well I wanted to go home and rest, but Lando found out about some cool bar he hadn’t heard of and now he and George won’t leave me be about going,” you rolled your eyes.

“That sounds fun, don’t party too hard.”

“Something tells me I’m going to be the designated driver, but George’s meetings wrapped up an hour ago and he won’t stop bothering me to pick him up so we can meet Lando in London, so sadly I’ve got to rush out of here. See you on Monday for test drives!” And with one last smile, you rushed out of the building and to your car.

You had planned on staying with the boys for the weekend since Lando lived in Surrey so you had already packed a bag and thrown it in your car. You drove to George’s home in Milton Keynes and after about 25 minutes you were there. Of course, even though he was trying to rush you he wasn’t even ready yet. You sat on his bed, drinking some wine you had found in the fridge while he dug through his closet.

He walked out and held up some lowkey ugly shirt, “what about this one?”

You raised an eyebrow, “well I tell you what, you aren’t going to get laid in that.”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m not trying to get laid.”

“Oh right, the girlfriend, forgot about her.”

“You did not, but I’ll pick something else.”

He was right, you didn’t forget, but that didn’t change the fact you didn’t like her. She was sweet of course, on the outside, but she constantly treated you like an enemy. You tried your best to be nice to her, but every now and then she’d make a backhanded comment and Lando would give you the look that meant ‘keep your mouth shut.’ You knew he didn’t like her either, she was always there and it “severely interrupted the bromance” according to Lando.

George came back out, “what about this one?” He held up a different shirt and you nodded.

“Yeah that’s good, can we go now?”

“You’re being impatient,” he huffed

You dramatically gasped, “says you, you’ve been bitching all day for me to hurry up, and you’re not even ready.”

“Just give me a sec,” he went into the bathroom to pack up the rest of his stuff.

After a few minutes he walked back out with a duffle bag, you looked at him, “you ready?”

He nodded and you set your glass down, he stopped in his tracks, “you’re taking that to the kitchen and putting it in the sink.”

“Fine, fine,” you laughed and picked it back up, following him into the kitchen to put your glass in the sink.

You both walked out and he put his bag in the trunk while you started the car. When he got in you began to drive, it was about an hour and a half of talking and blasting music. The second you parked your car George was out of it, going up to Lando’s house.

You watched the two of them hug when Lando opened the door, you got out of the car and smiled, “they’re so dumb.”

“Hey mate!” You heard a new, yet familiar voice, and when you looked up you saw the one and only Danny Ric.

You walked to the back of the car to open the trunk. You hadn’t truly met Daniel, it was your first season and you never got any offers from McClaren of course so you never were in their garage last year.

Going to grab your bags, you were quickly interrupted, “let me get those.”

You looked over to see Daniel’s smile, “oh, yeah if you want, the big one is a little heavy.”

“It’s fine, I don’t think we’ve formally met,” he spoke as he grabbed your bags.

You laughed a little, “no, we haven’t, I’m Laken.”

He looked over and smiled, “Daniel.”

“Hey, Danny, why don’t you grab my stuff too.”

“You can get your shit yourself George,” he laughed and walked to the house.

You followed him in, the two other boys giving you a look, you flipped them off before walking through the front door.

“I think Lando said you’re staying back here,” Daniel spoke while he walked down a hall and into a room.

“Perfect, you can just put my bags on my bed, thank you,” you smiled as he set them down.

He shrugged, “it’s nothing, a lady shouldn’t have to carry her bags if she can avoid it.”

“Completely agree,” you laughed, “so, you want a tip?”

“Maybe next time, I’ll let you unpack.” He gave you a smile before walking out.

You sat on the bed, letting out a sigh. It would’ve been nice to know he was here, of course the boys never knew you thought Daniel was cute. You’d be crazy to because they would never drop it, and you were sure Danny would’ve found within the hour. You didn’t look bad, so you had that going for you, but you didn’t bring any of your cute lounge clothes for the weekend, just your baggy sweatpants and sweatshirts. You could work with it though you were sure, at least you had a hot outfit for him to see that night.

You quickly shook the thought from your head, mumbling as you moved to unpack your clothes, “idiot he’s 32, he doesn’t want some 20 year old.”

George walked in and you looked up, “you talking to someone?”

“No, just mumbling some bullshit to myself.”

“I believe that,” he sat down next to you, “Lando decided that were going to go out tomorrow night since we both drove today.”

“We both drove? I remember driving while you sang one direction songs,” you had a smug look on your face.

“Would you shut up, that information stays in the car.”

You shrugged as you got up to hang up some of your clothes, “I’ll think about it.”

He watched as you pulled out your outfits, “damn, you’re wearing that to the club?”

You nodded, “I borrowed it from Emily.”

“And what does she wear that to? Bed?”

You shot him a look, “no, she wears it to the frats.”

“Laken, that's literally lingerie.”

“Yeah, I know,” you hung up the body suit in the closet.

He laughed, “I think I should call Emily.”

“She’d probably tell you to shut the hell up,” you laughed as Lando walked in.

“What’s funny?” He looked at the both of you, although George wasn’t laughing.

“Laken is dressing like a victoria secret model to the club tomorrow.”

“I am not!” You defended yourself while they both looked at you like you were crazy.

“Show him then.”

You rolled your eyes and pulled it back out of the closet and held it up. Lando looked at it for a second, “You’re being dramatic George.”

“I am not. We’re going to have to keep her away from creeps all night.”

“George it’s not even black or red, its brown.”

“Exactly Lando, thank you. And I’m wearing a matching satin button up over it,” you pulled the top out of your suitcase.

“This is bullshit, I say we ask Daniel his opinion.”

“How about no,” you moved to hang it back up while the boys called for Daniel. Daniel walked in and you sighed, “guys its not that big of a deal.”

“What?” Danny looked at the three of you and then at the top you were holding, “who’s that for?”

“It’s for the club,” George huffed, crossing his arms.

“You’re acting like her father George,” Lando pointed out while Daniel continued to look at the top.

George huffed, “Daniel literally asked who she was going to wear that for and you’re saying I’m being dramatic.”

“I think she should wear it.”

“You’re supposed to agree with me Danny,” the tall overly protective man sighed.

“Well if she wants to wear it she should, if we have to keep creeps away then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Thank you, now can I finish unpacking without the audience please?” You gave a half smile and began to shoo them out, closing the door when they were finally out.

George was practically your older brother so you weren't too shocked by his reaction. In fact, half the reason you took the shirt from Emily was just to annoy him, and clearly you were successful. You continued to unpack, humming as you hung up your clothes. It was crazy to believe this was your life, you raced million dollar cars for million dollar companies, you were on tv at least once everyday for half of the week. The girls you grew up with were back at home, going to school at Bama, joining sororities, going to parties, and taking exams. You knew you would never be able to do that, sit in a lecture hall as someone goes on and on about chemistry. That was your hell, and you weren’t going to live it. That’s why you put as much work in as you could, you wanted to get in the top 20 before Arthur, Logan, or any of those other boys. And you couldn’t believe it, you were living your dream.

When you finished you walked out of your room and into the living. The boys all sat on the couch, they must’ve ordered a pizza because one was sitting on the coffee table. You walked over, grabbing a blanket from some decorative basket and squeezing your way in between Daniel and George. The boys were playing some video game you could care less about, arguing with each other about some random shit.

You wrapped yourself up and let out a yawn, “I’m going to let you 3 play whatever the hell this is, and I’m going to take a nap. When I wake up I expect there to still be pizza.”

“You shouldn’t, if you want some eat it now,” Lando spoke, not looking away from the tv.

“Save me a piece George,” you grumbled and wrapped yourself up in the blanket, letting your head fall to rest on George’s shoulder. He was warm like always, and his familiar scent filled your nostrils. He smells like Bourbon and Vanilla, a strange combination, but very comforting. You closed your eyes, listening to their mumbling about their game as you slowly drifted off.

After what you assumed was awhile, you were awoken to a familiar female voice. You were surrounded by a lot more warmth you realized and the previous scent that had lulled you to sleep was different, the smell now was more like cedarwood and honey. When you finally opened your eyes, you saw Lando across the room in a chair asleep, his head laid all the way back, his hand twitching. George was also in his own chair on the other side of the room, holding your phone in his hands, the voice that you heard was your mothers. You sat up immediatly, opening your mouth to say something when you felt someone move under you. When you looked down you saw Daniel, who was wrapped up in the blanket with you while he snored quietly. You felt your face get pink, you were unsure how you ended up there but you sure as hell weren’t getting up.

As you laid back down, resting your head on Daniel’s chest, you spoke quietly to George, “can I speak to my mother please?”

He looked over at you as you reached out for your phone, “yeah.” George got up and walked over to you, handing you your phone, before walking out of the room.

You looked at your phone, your mother on facetime, “hi mom!” You whispered with excitement, your mother smiling back at you.

“Hey! Where are you?”

“On Lando’s couch with danny,” you held the phone up to show you and the snoring Australian, you quickly brought it back to just so your face, whispering extra quietly so only your mom could hear, “isn’t he so cute?” Your comment was met by a nod and a thumbs up from your mother.

She changed the topic since she knew the boys were there, “how was your first day?”

“Oh it was amazing, I’m sure you would’ve found it boring though. We talked about aerodynamics and stuff, Luca talked to me personally about how to get the most out of this car.”

She nodded, “who’s Luca again?”

“Head of engineering,” you informed her.

“Oh yeah, and how’s Seb?”

“He’s great, I really got lucky to get chosen to be his teammate, I think he’ll make me a lot better.”

Your mom smiled, “well I already think you’re amazing.”

“Thanks, mom, but I can definitely improve a lot.”

“I’m sure you can. Anyway, I have someone here who really wants to talk to you.” She spoke before handing the phone off to none other than Emily.

“Oh my god, hi!” You grinned as she waved at you.

“How are you doing? I miss you so much already.”

“I’m doing great, I miss you too, you need to come up and visit me soon.”

She laughed, “Or you could come down here miss moneybags, bring the boys with you.”

“Absolutely not, you’re going to try and steal their love from me, well all except George,” you laughed and she raised an eyebrow.

“How come?”

“He’s mad about the top you let me borrow.” You laughed and she was quick to laugh with you as George walked back into the room.

“Is that Emily?” He asked and before you could answer he grabbed your phone out of your hand and handed you a slice of heated-up pizza on a plate.

“Hey! I was trying to talk to her.” You practically yelled causing Daniel to stir underneath you, you looked down and whispered, “sorry.”

George’s lecture began, “I understand you let Laken borrow lingerie that you consider appropriate for public outings.”

“George, come on,” you sat back up as Daniel opened his eyes.

You heard Emily laugh, “George come on, it's cute, I know it's cute, you know it’s cute, we all know it's cute.”

“I don’t think it's cute,” George pointed out.

“Yeah mate, 'cause it’s hot,” Lando said out of nowhere, shocking the lot of you cause he was just snoring.

Daniel started laughing and you smiled, “thanks lando”

“Anytime,” he gave you a thumbs up. George had no words, just a frown on his face, you got off Daniel and walked over to him, taking your phone and messing up his hair.

“I’m going to go talk to Emily in my room.” You walked out, listening to the boys continue to tease George. After talking to Emily you ended up falling asleep pretty early, you had a busy day and the bed was wayyy too comfy.

The next morning you awoke to the sun filling the room since you were too lazy to close the curtains the night before. You let out a yawn, stretching before you even had the chance to let your eyes get used to the light George climbed into bed with you.

“Um.. good morning?”

“Carmen and I got in a fight last night, I haven’t been able to sleep,” he sighed as he laid his head back.

“George, you could’ve come to wake me up,” you looked over at him and he shook his head.

“No, you would’ve been annoyed and not have gone back to sleep.”

“Well, what did you fight about?”

“You.”

You sat up, “me? Why me?”

“She didn’t want me to go to the club in the first place and now she knows you’re here with me she wants me to come home.”

“Oh please, thats just bull shit.” You rolled your eyes and he nodded.

“Yeah I know, i’ve stayed up wondering if I should go or not.”

You immediately shook your head, “you’re not going anywhere, we were invited and I’m not driving you back.”

“I figured,” he sighed and closed his eyes.

“You didn’t say anything about the top I’m wearing tomorrow did you?”

“Briefly, why?” He looked at you, confused.

You put your hand to your forehead, “you’re an idiot.”

“How am I an idiot?” He sat up, looking a little worried.

“Well, now she thinks you care about how I look in front of other guys,” you pointed out, wondering how he could be so stupid.

“I do,” he furrowed his brow.

You nodded, “I’m aware, but you do it to keep me safe, she thinks you’re doing it so you can keep me for yourself.”

“Oh… well that’s fucking stupid.”

“Don’t tell her that, now go call her.” You shooed him away and he grabbed his phone and walked out of the room.

That woman drove you crazy, she was so insecure for no reason, they’ve been together for two years and she was gorgeous. He wasn’t going anywhere and she needed to figure that out. Now, of course, you knew she wouldn’t, she’d been like this for two years and she wasn’t changing anytime soon.

You looked up to see Lando peeking into your room, he was quick to ask, “what are you all worked up about?”

“I miss Seychelle, she was so much better than Carmen.”

“Ugh, yeah me too, I tell Nyck every time I see him,” Lando immediately agreed with you.

You raised your eyebrow, “you see him pretty frequently, that’s a little creepy.”

“I was being dramatic, but yeah she was better than Carmen.”

“Where’s Daniel?” You looked at him.

“Why?”

“Well, he’s the only one who hasn’t barged in here.”

“I think he’s working out or something.” Lando shrugged and you nodded.

You all had a really lazy day, george and carmen had made up, but you knew he was still going to get shitfaced because of it. Daniel was already there though, he had started drinking around 4. It was now 8 and you were doing your makeup while Daniel laid on your bed, his bourbon on your bedside table. He wore a party shirt and some jeans, poorly singing some song you’ve never heard at the top of his lungs. You couldn’t help but laugh as you put your lashes on.

He looked over at you and laughed as well, “what’s so funny?”

You turned to look at him, “you’re the one laughing so you tell me.”

“Laken, hurry up!” You heard George yell from down the hall, followed by Lando’s laugh.

“Close your eyes, Daniel, I have to change,” you looked at him.

“You’re going to have to make me,” he laughed and you grabbed your hoodie off the seat and threw it on his face, quickly changing into your jeans and top. He took the hoodie off of his face as you put the satin shirt over the bodysuit. He sat up when you sat down next to him to put your shoes on.

You looked over at him, “don’t let any weird men come near me please.”

“Of course, George and I can scare them away.”

“What about Lando,” you looked at him.

He laughed, “Lando is too short to be threatening.”

“Guys! Let’s go!”

“We’re coming!” You yelled back, tonight was going to be interesting.

next chapter >>

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#formula 1 x reader #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 fic #f1 x reader #formula 1 x you #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo #lando norris #george russell

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