"Noir" x Exorcist

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If you paid attention to the rumours, you might have heard about him, those little stories told to children before bed to convince them not to go into the dangerous forest, those tales sung by the bard by the fountain every morning, and then for the more realistic, you must have seen the mercenaries disparaging him while drinking themselves senseless.

"Red Hood, what a stupid name, ha ha ha!" laughed one.

"Careful, I heard he managed to beat a griffin with his bare hands! Who knows what'll happen to you if you open your mouth too much!"

"Pfff," the gruff man hit the table with his beer mug, smirking, "Then I'll be waiting for him. These beasts don't have brains, so he must have used traps or something!"

The group of alcoholic men continued to talk nonsense while bawling louder than newborn babies. Meanwhile, at the bar, a little further back in the room where their screams were muffled, the barman dressed in a long black coat and an eye patch was wiping a glass with a cloth.

"What do you think, dear customer?"

He looked up briefly at another man sitting at the counter. The latter had a drowsy look on his face, his distinctive silver hair fluttering as he lifted his head towards the glass of white wine in front of him, his scarlet eyes lost in the clear liquid.

"You mean the story of this monster hunter...?" he asked in a weary, disinterested tone.

"They say he's quite good."

"Killing a griffin with your bare hands doesn't make sense. Their skin is far too thick, or he'd have to have the strength of a hundred men."

"You seem to know your stuff, are you a hunter too?"

The grey-haired man looked away, twirling the contents of his glass with a flick of his wrist.

"I suppose so. Although my achievements don't come close to matching this Red."

"You shouldn't compare yourself to others, I'm sure your prowess is to be commended as well."

"You sure know how to flatter people, mister bartender."

"Really? You honour me."

The man dressed in red dropped a few coins on the counter as he stood up.

"I'll be back tomorrow at the same time."

"Who should I reserve this seat for then?"

"...Carl, Aesop Carl."

The barman nodded and wished Aesop a pleasant evening.

The next day, exactly as he had said he would, the hunter returned at the appointed hour to the same seat as the day before.

"What can I get you?"

"White wine."

"Very good."

No sooner said than done. Aesop was impressed by the barman's efficiency, it was almost as if he already knew his order before he arrived. He took a sip and enjoyed the sweet taste.

"Your wine is not bad."

"I only serve the best for our best customers."

"If this wasn't only my second time here, I'd almost believe you'd have ulterior motives, Mr Barman."

"You can just call me Eli." he said with his usual smirk, "And who knows." Aesop widened his eyes for a second, not expecting to see right, he just wanted to poke a little fun at the dark-haired man. "An accident?" he asked suddenly, noticing a bandage on the hunter's left hand.

Aesop immediately put his hand on his thigh at Eli's remark. It was a little suspicious but the two men didn't yet know each other well enough to dig into each other's private lives.

"The risks of the job..."

"Do you work alone?"

"Yes, there's no one to get in my way like that."

"It's risky. What if you need help one day?"

"I'll manage."

Eli contemplated Aesop. His words didn't sound like those of someone who just preferred to be left alone; hearing him, it was as if such a situation could never happen to him, or that the help in question wouldn't be of any use on the battlefield at least.

"You're an odd character, you know?"

"You too, sir... Eli."

"What do you mean?"

"You're stronger than any of these drunken idiots." he replied, finishing his drink in one gulp, "If I needed help like you say I might, I'd rather call on you than these fools."

"Ha ha ha, I have some skills in the matter but certainly not as good as you."

"If you say so." he said as he paid.

"Shall I keep the same seat tomorrow?"

Aesop paused, thoughtful for a second, then nodded.

As he left the bar, he looked up at the nearly full moon and then back into the forest. He wasn't in the habit of returning to the same place twice. He normally avoided the rabble for his own safety. The barman in this pub was an interesting character, however, and this man had taken him out of his routine. It was strange but Aesop thought it was simply because their wine was really good. Anyway, no matter what he did in his spare time, his night job remained the same.

"Did the hunt go badly?" commented Eli.

Aesop's complexion was already pale but he almost looked like a ghost at that moment, which could only worry the barman.

"I haven't been there yet... But just after usually..." he muttered.

"Maybe you should give up the idea for tonight, you look like you're going to collapse on the spot."

"It's nothing, it's just that day of the month... Everything's fine don't worry."

Aesop drank his drink in one gulp and paid, staggering halfway to the exit. This was obviously not okay, Eli thought. Unfortunately, who was he to interfere? And even if he could, he doubted that Aesop would listen to him. That evening, Eli finished his shift with a bad feeling. It was pitch dark when he closed the bar and walked through the dark city streets to his home. He saw the foliage of the forest trees overhanging the roofs of the houses in the distance and wondered if Aesop was still there.

Suddenly, he heard the growl of a familiar voice. He immediately turned his head towards a narrow alley where he noticed a shadow slumped against the wall and ran over to it.

"Aesop-!?" It was too dark to see anything, but Eli could smell a strong metallic scent wafting through the air. "You're hurt!"

"The... barman-?"

"I'm off duty so relax, there's more important things at the moment." Eli frowned. Aesop would struggle to walk under these conditions and he dreaded aggravating his wounds if he wasn't careful. "Excuse me." He decided that the best solution was to carry him in his arms. Aesop let out a faint cry of surprise at the changing gravity. "Hang on, I live right next door."

Under the faint rays of moonlight, Eli rushed back to his house and quickly laid Aesop on the sofa, unbuttoning his top to see the damage he had sustained. However, he was shocked to see that his chest was intact. There were a few traces of blood here and there and on his clothes, but no wounds. How could this be? Especially as the grey-haired man still seemed to be in agony. Was he injured in his organs or somewhere he couldn't see?

Just as Eli was wondering what to do, he was taken by surprise when Aesop gasped from the frenzy before leaping on top of him, knocking him to the hard floor of the living room. Thanks to the candlelight, Eli could finally see that Aesop's eyes were glowing with a bloody gleam, in addition to his upper fangs protruding slightly.

"Ae...sop-" He'd heard of it in books but this was the first time he'd come face to face with the real deal so he was a little taken aback. "You need blood, don't you?"

The grey-haired man froze at his words, his gaze drifting to the neck of the one trapped under his weight. Eli understood immediately and lowered his collar without hesitation. He placed his hand gently behind Aesop's head, inviting him to come closer. The vampire's lips were only a few centimetres away but he still did nothing, clearly hesitating even in his madness.

"Stop being so stubborn for once."

Eli gave him a weak pat on the head, to which Aesop grunted weakly before sinking his fangs into his flesh. It wasn't painless, to say the least.

"Urgh... You're enjoying yourself no end I see."

Aesop didn't reply, too busy apparently. Eli simply laid there waiting, half hugging the other man because of the rather intimate position they were in. He could hear Aesop's gulps as he drank his blood and felt his lips kissing his neck to make sure he didn't spill even a single drop of the precious liquid.

"Hey- It's still not over-?! I'm the one who's gonna drop dead-!

Aesop didn't move an inch despite Eli's complaints.

"Shit-"

Eventually, Eli could only black out.

An unknown amount of time passed before the man in black woke up. His head was buzzing a little but nothing serious overall. Eli saw that Aesop had carried him over to the sofa, noting that he was lying rather comfortably.

"You're awake."

"Urgh..."

He tried to get up but still lacking strength, the hunter helped him.

"I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be, it was me who wanted to help you."

"But-"

"You don't have to, really. More importantly, what got you in that state? You were covered in blood."

Eli then noticed that Aesop's clothes were different from before. The latter saw the direction of his gaze and cleared his throat, doing his best to control the red that was rising in his cheeks.

"Sorry, I borrowed some of your clothes because I thought the smell might bother you."

"N-No worries." stammered the dark-haired man, a strange feeling lingering in his chest.

There was a moment of heavy silence, Aesop sat down next to Eli, weaving his fingers together on his thighs.

"I'll spare you the long stories, the main thing boils down to the fact that the full moon affects all beings in many ways. Some of the monsters in the forest get stronger and as for me... let's just say my bloodlust is a bit unstable, to the point where it managed to distract me during a fight and I took a few more hits than I would have liked..."

"Hence the blood."

"My wounds heal quickly but the blood loss was too much."

Eli crossed his arms as he slumped back against the sofa. Aesop didn't dare add another word, waiting to see the man's reaction.

"I don't know if you're stupid or dumb."

"Y-Yes-?"

Aesop wasn't sure he was following.

"You weren't born yesterday so you knew the consequences and yet, for some reason, you still went into the forest. Are you some kind of hunting maniac or do you enjoy spilling blood?"

"N-No... Not at all..."

"Then what?"

"It's just... the best way to acquire blood. I'm certainly not going to attack the townsfolk, there are enough rumours about me already with all this 'Red Hood' stuff.... There are only small animals in this forest and their life force is too weak so I balance it out with white wine."

"White? Not red?"

"That's a misconception invented by humans," he said in a slightly offended tone, "But it's still easiest to help myself from the magical beasts."

That was a lot of information for Eli to take in with the fact that one of his regular customers was a vampire coupled with being the famous hunter everyone in town was talking about. However, it didn't change much for him. Whatever Aesop was or his strange hobbies, he had become someone he actually fancied and so Eli couldn't just let him put himself in danger without saying anything.

"Why don't you take my blood?"

"H-How did you come to that conclusion-?"

"I just think it would be the easiest solution to your problems." he asserted.

"What's in it for you though...?"

It was just too good to be true, thought Aesop.

"Hmm... I'll give you my blood and in exchange you can run a few errands for me."

"What kind of...?"

"Nothing too hard, don't worry. The bar simply needs to replenish its stock of meat from time to time, maybe once a week. That'll save you the trouble of going hunting every night."

"I still don't understand why you're so invested..."

"It's just in my own interest, I'm gaining a reason to see you more often outside the bar." he said with a smirk.

"Are these... advances?"

"Indeed."

Aesop looked away, embarrassed. Not only did Eli not seem the least bit perturbed by his true identity, he also had no shame in hitting on him so openly. It was too much for his poor heart and it was sure to explode if he stood there any longer.

"Erm, deal-" he replied hurriedly, walking over to the dining table where he had placed his freshly laundered clothes on a chair. "It's getting late so I think I'll go home and let you rest... I'll see you next week-"

"What's the rush?" Aesop flinched as he felt Eli's presence just behind his back, how had he done that- He hadn't even heard him approach. "Your clothes aren't even dry, you'd catch a cold walking around in the middle of the night in that."

"I'm pretty resistant..."

"You hate the idea of staying with me that much, then?"

"It's not that... I just think we should get to know each other better first..."

Eli chuckled as he took a step back.

"Just kidding, I won't do anything." Aesop breathed a low sigh of relief. "But you should still stay the night, I'd be a bad host for throwing you out so late."

"Hmm, fair enough..."

"Well, I've got a spare room down the corridor so you can use that." Eli had climbed half the stairs when he stopped, "Or you can join me too."

"I'll be fine..."

"As you wish."

Aesop said goodnight to Eli before dashing off to the spare bedroom under Eli's amused gaze. Eli did the same while thinking about the adjustments he would have to make. The hunter would be spending more time here, so he'd have to do what was necessary to make him feel as comfortable as possible, perhaps even turning this into a date proposal. Ah, he was also going to need sugar, lots of sugar. He let out a laugh as he thought about it, the hunter on the ground floor having no idea what kind of surprises were in store for him.