Chapter Text
Sunny can feel the soft, downy feathers of the animal he's holding brush against his fingers as it flutters helplessly in his grip, desperate to break free and fly away. Stoically, Sunny moves his hands to enclose them around the delicate throat of the tiny bird, snapping its neck in one quick, abrupt motion.
The struggling stills as its cries finally go silent. It's small, the animal - barely an adolescent - but it'll have to suffice.
He sinks his fangs into the poor thing without a second thought, draining it of its blood before he can hesitate and not follow through. He tries not to gag at the taste, if he throws up he will have to do this all over again.
When there's nothing left, he lets go of the animal and lays it in the grass, wiping his mouth with the edge of his sleeve. He shudders in revulsion at the lingering taste, but it's staved off the worst of his hunger, enough to where he won't need to go hunting again for at least another week.
Sunny stares at the lifeless little bird impassively. One of its wings had been injured in a previous encounter, it likely wouldn't have lived long; if he hadn't been the one to finish it off, another animal would have. That was the way of the world.
The thought doesn't bring him any comfort.
Sunny would bury it, but he doesn't want to look at it anymore, so he turns away and goes back inside without another glance.
He falls into bed with a sigh, hoping he'll be able to sleep now that he's succeeded in alleviating some of the hunger. It's still there mostly, but it's no longer gnawing at his insides and demanding to be satisfied.
Sunny doesn't need to sleep, not anymore, but he's so tired that he wants to anyway, even if it's not stemmed from a physical desire.
The only comfort he can find in living anymore is when he isn't awake to be aware of it. Anything is better than having to face the reality that he's no longer human, that he's done things more monstrous than anyone can even begin to comprehend.
So Sunny sleeps it all away, because it's as close to dying as he'll ever get now.
As the onslaught of winter approaches, new problems begin to arise.
The colder weather has been detrimental to the wildlife inhabiting the woods in his backyard, with many seeking reprieve either underground or in trees, far out of reach.
The numbers had already been steadily declining from how often Sunny has been hunting in the area surrounding his house, but now that the season has changed, seeing any type of wildlife at all is scarce.
It hadn't been so bad at first, he had dealt with many winters before, but it's the first time he hasn't been able to catch at least something in the first few weeks of the season.
As the days drag by, Sunny grows more desperate. He's always in a constant state of hunger, there's no escaping that, but he tries his hardest not to let it evolve into outright starvation.
The hunger has its benefits, so long as it's controlled. It takes his mind off of anything he doesn't want to think about, thoughts focused primarily on obtaining blood and nothing else. But the starvation...
There's nothing like it, every thought, and every instinct focuses on satiating it as the deprivation of blood accumulates into a ravening craving to devour any life he can get his hands on. It's a voracity that can't be tempered with only a minor ingestion of animal blood, requiring a numerous and multiple amount to be satisfied.
It's only happened once, Sunny barely even remembers it, but it's the most disgusted he's ever been, and he refuses to let it progress to that point - to the point that he has no control over his actions and is only a bloodthirsty vampire focused solely on procuring his next meal.
If Sunny can't get what he needs from the safety of his home, he will have to go somewhere else. He has no choice.
It's a late Friday night when Sunny finally resolves himself to get it over with after no longer being able to endure the oppressive blood thirst that's begun to pervade all his senses.
He gets dressed apathetically, puts his shoes on, and makes sure there's no one outside when he leaves the house. It feels strange, to be outside after so long.
Sunny cannot remember the last time he had left the safe confines of his home. He hates it, wanting nothing more than to go back inside and never leave, but he suppresses the urge.
Sunny makes his way to the park silently. There's no one around, not at this hour, and it'd be eerie walking around like this if he hadn't become numb to the feeling of being frightened. After all, isn't he now the scariest thing that could be wandering around this late at night?
The area is nearly pitch black when he gets there, the streetlights are barely illuminating the sidewalk, much less the rest of the park. He doesn't need them though, his senses are sharp enough to see clearly no matter how dark it is.
It doesn't take much time at all for him to find suitable prey, there's a raccoon scampering around in the distance, likely lured by the trash that's scattered throughout the space.
Sunny catches the animal easily, and greedily tears into it as soon as it's captured, too focused on draining it of its blood to kill it humanly. It's depraved, but he's gone so long without anything to sustain himself that he ignores it.
"S-Sunny...?"
He stills immediately, and had he still been human, the blood would have frozen in his veins.
He lifts his head up, fangs on full display and still dripping crimson, and meets the startled gaze of wide, bright blue eyes.
Basil looks back at him, stunned and more than a little horrified. He's standing there motionlessly, shoulders tensed in what Sunny can only assume is fear.
"Sunny, w-what are you..." Basil's words trail off as he goes silent. His voice shakes alarmingly, like maybe he's trying not to cry.
"What are you doing here." Sunny voices back instead of answering, with no intonation in his voice to even suggest the words are a question. He sounds lifeless even to his own ears.
He can see how Basil swallows nervously at that, and wonders if he'll even respond. A few moments pass by in silence before Basil opens his mouth again.
"I-I saw you coming here, and I- well I wanted to see w-why," Basil says, biting his lip and stuttering over the words. "Sunny, a-are you...?"
His voice is barely above a whisper so it's difficult to hear him, but Sunny stiffens anyway, bracing himself for whatever the other boy is about to say next. If his heart was still beating, it would have been racing violently in his chest.
"Are y-you okay?"
Sunny stares at him blankly, not understanding what he means.
Basil finally seems to snap out of whatever had been rendering him rooted to the spot because he stumbles closer, dropping to his knees in front of where Sunny's kneeling in the grass.
A conflicted look briefly crosses over Basil's face before vanishing, and his hands come up to cradle his cheeks, as if trying to comfort him.
Sunny can't help but recoil at the touch, breathing in deeply out of surprise.
It's obvious that doing so was a mistake because suddenly he's intimately, and explicitly aware of Basil's scent.
It has him listing forward almost immediately, and Basil rushes to catch him in his arms to prevent him from falling over.
Basil's arms are warm from where they're holding onto him and he nearly leans into the embrace, only stopping himself from doing so at the last second. He smells so good.
Distracted from the way that he smells and feels, Sunny is only vaguely aware of Basil trying to say something to him.
"-et you home, okay?" Basil says soothingly into his ear, gently encouraging him to stand up.
Sunny follows him absentmindedly, clenching his teeth, and trying not to give in to the impulse to bite his friend.
He doesn't remember much of the walk home, only coming back to himself when he hears the lights flicker on.
The sudden brightness almost makes him want to hiss, but he reigns that impulse in as well. He turns toward Basil, getting a good look at him for the first time in nearly four years.
He looks just the same as Sunny remembers - soft and pretty and still overwhelmingly short. The pink flower barrette is still clipped securely into his blond hair the same way it's always been. Despite the paleness in his skin and the tiredness on his face, It's almost as if nothing about him has changed.
But everything has.
Basil guides him to the couch silently, and he settles onto it, waiting for him to say something. He doesn't understand why Basil has followed him home, especially after what he's just seen.
He's entirely unprepared for what Basil says next.
"Are you s-still hungry?"
Sunny snaps his head up. "What?"
Basil edges closer, eyes wide and anxious, but completely devoid of fear. He licks his lips nervously before repeating himself.
"You d-didn't, uhm, finish, s-so you're still hungry, right?"
Sunny doesn't want to even think about what he's asking, nor the implications of it. None of this feels real, it all feels like a nightmare he hasn't woken up from yet.
Sunny looks away, unable to look at the earnest expression on his friend's face anymore.
But Basil only draws nearer, pressing closer until they are side by side and fully touching.
"S-Sunny, you can bite me," He assures, voice beginning to edge on desperate. "I-If you need to. I'll let you."
Does he even know what he's asking?
Sunny makes a split second decision, and before Basil can even begin to realize what's happening, leans forward and positions his mouth near the other boy's neck, hovering his fangs right over Basil's fluttering pulse and holding him in place.
Sunny can feel Basil stiffen in surprise and expects him to start thrashing and struggling to get free. It would be futile regardless, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere unless Sunny wanted him to.
But he does neither of those things.
Instead, Basil goes limp and pliant in his arms, melting into the embrace and obediently offering his neck without a word. Despite the submissiveness, his heart is beating rapidly in his chest, like a trapped animal that's accepted their impending fate. Like prey.
Sunny pulls back abruptly, as if burned.
He feels sick all of the sudden, and looks away when Basil tries to meet his eyes questioningly. When Basil reaches a tentative hand out to touch him, he flinches.
"Sunny, it's okay," Basil says, reassuring him softly as his fingers lightly stroke through his hair, coaxing him to come back.
Sunny resists for a moment, but Basil's touch only grows firmer, insistent. It's clear that he will not take no for an answer.
Sunny could force him to let go if he wanted to, but he doesn't. All he wants is to yank Basil's head back, bury his teeth in his neck, and drain him dry. Even though he knows he shouldn't.
And worst of all, Basil would let him.
The easy compliance starts to make him angry, he shouldn't be this permissive; this willing to be bitten. He should be trying to run away. He should be scared.
Incensed, Sunny decides to finally give him what he wants. If he wants to be hurt so badly, then who is he to tell him no?
He shifts, dislodging Basil's grip, and grabs his arm to expose the long lines of veins running along the inside of his wrist.
He can't help but breathe in deeply when he brings Basil's hand closer, he smells just as heavenly as he had before. There's no ignoring the way his mouth begins to salivate at the captivating scent, nor the way his teeth throb uncomfortably as they ache to bite into the soft, delicate skin.
Sunny can hear Basil's breath hitch in anticipation as his heart beat starts to accelerate further, but he doesn't voice any protests.
"Go ahead," Basil prompts again, tone warm and inviting despite the underlying hint of nervousness to it. "Please, I-I want you to."
He doesn't need any more persuasion after that, the temptation of finally getting to drink human blood, especially when it's one this intoxicating, is a siren call too enthralling to ignore.
Without warning, Sunny opens his mouth and buries his teeth right into the soft skin of the blond's wrist. It's not careful or gentle in the least, and he's only distantly aware of the sharp gasp of pain that Basil releases before his thoughts are consumed entirely by the sensation of rich, warm blood filling his mouth.
Sunny had thought Basil smelled good before, but it's nothing compared to the way that he tastes.
As soon as the liquid hits his tongue, he groans. It's heavy and sweet, nothing like the sickening flavour of animal blood, and he sinks his teeth in deeper, suddenly starving for it.
He pays no mind to how messy he's being, or how rough, fixated entirely on satiating that yawning, agonizing hunger that he has been enduring for years. Now that he's finally able to quench it, he doesn't want to stop.
It's easy to get lost in it, and Sunny only comes back to himself when he feels Basil's weight slump against him. It breaks him out of his trance enough for him to pull back, panting heavily, and with blood dripping down the length of his fangs. He feverishly licks it away before it can be wasted.
Following an instinctual impulse, he leans forward and laves his tongue over the two puncture wounds on Basil's wrist, lapping up the remaining drops of blood and sealing them closed. There must be a coagulant in his saliva from the way they heal over so fast, and he's suddenly thankful for that, it makes it easier to hide the damage he's inflicted.
Basil whines at the feeling, but it's soft and weak, and when Sunny looks up at him his eyes widen slightly. The other boy looks completely out of it, his face is flushed a deep, rosy red and his eyes are hazy and unfocused. He's breathing just as heavily as Sunny is, like being bitten had been overwhelming enough to take his breath away.
Sunny knows he must have taken too much, but he can spare no part of him to regret having done so. Basil looks pretty like this anyway - docile, quiet, and far too weak to do anything but lay there and take whatever he receives.
"I-Is it enough? Do you still need m-more?" Basil asks after a moment or two of silence, voice slurring slightly over the words.
Sunny pauses, tongue stilling over the bite he was still leisurely licking at. Sunny wonders how Basil can still want to offer him more blood despite looking like he might faint at any moment.
"No," He answers. No, it's not enough and no, he doesn't need any more.
He's satisfied, fully and entirely for once, and the hunger has dissipated completely.
Sunny no longer wants to drink from him out of hunger. No, this time he wants to continue drinking from him for pleasure.
Now that he knows what human blood tastes like - how fulfilling it is to have it - he's unwilling to continue giving it up entirely.
"Good, t-that's good," Basil responds, leaning into him. His breaths are shallow, and Sunny doesn't think he's strong enough to even stand, let alone walk home.
He'll just have to stay.
Sunny carries him upstairs - something he would never have been able to do back when he was a human - and puts him in bed.
Basil looks at him when he sits down on the bed with him, sluggish and tired, but also with an emotion Sunny can't identify.
"Sunny," Basil calls, voice soft, but imploring. "If you get h-hungry again, tell me, o-okay?
Sunny stays still for a moment, before he nods.
Basil turns onto his side so he can meet his eyes. "Promise me?"
Sunny nods again. "I promise."
It's an easy promise to make, he doesn't want to return to murdering animals so he can survive off their blood anymore, not when he now has something better.
Sunny's not parting with this, whether Basil wanted him to or not.
Basil only smiles at that though, it's small and weak from blood loss, but genuine all the same.
His expression shifts slightly when Sunny lays down on the bed, almost forlorn in a way, as if he wants to be held but doesn't have the courage to say so out loud.
Sunny compromises by turning on his side and laying his head near his shoulder. His lips twitch upwards when he hears Basil's heartbeat quicken in response.
There's no harm in indulging in this illusion for a while, not when he's spent so long deprived of any sense of normality. He feels more human than he has in a long time now that there's no animalistic hunger clawing at the back of his mind and consuming every thought.
The blood settles into his veins warmly, leaving behind a pleasant feeling of contentment. It feels almost as if everything is back to how it should be, where he isn't anything but human, where Mari is still with him, and where he and Basil are merely having a sleepover, similar to the ones they had when they were younger.
It's a nice thought, even if it is only a fantasy, but pretending has always been easier than facing the truth, and it is no different now.
Sunny falls asleep easily, lulled by the comfort of what headspace will provide. There doesn't need to be anything else other than that.