Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ Venturing Homeward ❯ Chapter 2

Almost a full week had passed since D and Rei began their journey towards Rei's family home, which was built on a cliff that over looked the ocean in a seaside city and port along the Atlantic Ocean. Nether rarely spoke to the other due to the fact that there was nothing to be said. Even though D knew a great deal of Rei's background, Rei didn't ask D any questions concerning his; the fair haired mutant had a feeling that the dhampire prefer or refused to discuss his background with others, and Rei knew that it wasn't his place anyway. That days would pass with nothing spoken, but it was not an uncomfortable silence as some, who were accustomed to some form of sound, would find. Rei spent the time thinking about his family while D… Lord only knows what the dhampire thought about, but Rei could really care less. D's thoughts were his own, whether he choose to share them or not just as Rei had the same choice. About the only one who really complained of the lack of conversation was the spirit in D's hand.

This particular day Rei was reaching the point of wanting to slice D's hand off, but reframed himself from doing so knowing that he risked evoking the other's wrath.

"Hey, Lefty," the name Rei adopted for the thing, "If I sing something, will you stop with the complaining?"

"You can sing?" was the reply from both the hand and the owner.

"Yes," Rei answered. He cleared his throat. "Anything in particular you'd like to hear?"

"Something long," D said. "Long enough to keep it from talking."

Rei nodded and began to sing a long ballad. It told the story of a pair of young lovers who faced never-ending hardships to be together, the young man's jealous best friend who killed the girl in order to keep his friend for himself, the boy killing his best friend in despair and then taking his own life and being reunited with his love in paradise.

"You have a pleasant voice," D remarked when the last note echoed through the open plain they traveled on.

"My mother taught me how to sing," Rei replied.

"That was wonderfully done," said the spirit in D's hand. "I don't recall ever hearing it before."

Rei shrugged. "It was written before your time. Probably around the same era you partnered up with D," Rei suggested. "We need to break for camp and I want to sleep on the ground tonight. I don't want to use up the herb and have nothing left when we arrive at my home."

"Very well," D said, stopping his horse and dismounted.

Rei dismounted as well, grateful that his rear wasn't bothering him. D went to gather wood to start a fire while Rei broke out a pot to make dinner.

'I think a nice stew of some sort would be good tonight,' Rei thought.

D reappeared a while later with an arm load of wood and a large fish as if he had been reading Rei's mind as to what to have for dinner.

'Seems like every time we break for camp we end up at a place near a lake or river,' Rei mused. 'But then it makes sense; being in D's position you would need to stop at a place where there is water close by.'

Rei headed into the direction where D had come from and found a river, and collected water for the stew and for cleaning the fish. Back at camp, Rei began making dinner. Once it was ready, Rei served D and himself before settling down. He glanced up a few times at his companion and noticed that D winced ever so slightly as he ate the stew.

"Something wrong with the stew? To bland? Sorry but I don't have any salt or herbs," Rei said.

"The stew's fine. Very rich in flavor," D replied.

"Then why-? Oh, I see. It's not what your body really wants," Rei said, picking up on what was wrong. "How long has it been since you've fed?"

"A while," was the reply after a short silence.

"Oh. If feeding off humans isn't something you want then why not feed off their cattle?" Rei suggested. "It's not like humans aren't going to eventually eat them."

"I refuse to feed off the living; animal or human," D replied.

"Then what did you feed off the last time?" Rei challenged.

"The snake women of midwitch," D replied.

"I see. So you feed off mutants," Rei said.

"I only fed off them because it was necessary at the time," D replied, finishing the stew.

"Well then, why don't you feed of me?" Rei suggested. "You can't turn me because of my heritage and you refuse to feed of human or animals."

"True, but I could end up killing you," D replied.

"Not possible. My body regenerates itself," Rei replied, placing his bowl down. "And as noble as you are by not condemning humans to their deaths to satisfy your hungry, you should feed when given the chance. Trust me; your body will thank you. Plus it'll keep him off your back about your heritage."

"Hey!" protested the parasite in D's hand exclaimed.

"So what do you prefer?" Rei asked, rising to his feet. "Wrist or neck?"

"Whatever you feel that would be the easiest on you," D replied.

Rei shrugged. "Damned if I know. I've never allowed anything to feed off me before."

"Then I'll make your first time as painless as possible," D replied, drawing the youth into the folds of his cloak. Rei's first response was to tense up.

"It's not like your going to tear my neck or something, D," Rei remarked in a low voice.

"That doesn't mean it won't hurt, but it will pass quickly," D said, titling Rei's neck to the side and wrapping his left arm around the youth's waist.

"Just…don't take too much," Rei said, growing a tab nervous. Not because he was going to allow a vampire, half-breed or full, to feed off him, but it was the unfamiliar closeness, especially an embrace, that was making Rei feel nervous. In the back of his mind Rei recalled that growing up he always tensed up whenever one of his siblings or a family member, but he always enjoyed hugging his baby sister Ariel. It still struck him odd whenever Rei thought about it.

D could feel the young mutant trembling ever so slightly. "You don't have to do this."

"I know, but your body really needs this nutrition," Rei argued, closing his eyes for good measurement. He felt D's warm breath brush against his ear and neck, and despite himself, Rei felt a shiver run up his spine. Goosebumps raked over his skin in anticipation as Rei felt the dhampire lean down to the junction of his shoulder and neck. Rei gasped in pain when D's fangs sank deeply, but carefully, and he could feel his cheeks flush as the venom from D's fangs slowly seeped into his system replacing the pain for pleasure, his gasp of pain merged into a breathy moan.

As D drew Rei closer with his vampiric hearing he could hear the slight increase of Rei's heartbeat, and his nostrils flared as the dhampire inhaled the entwining mixture of fearful veneration, curiosity and a hint of arousal. His lips briefly brushed against warm, child soft skin, feeling that strong heartbeat before his long fangs sank deeply. Unexpected sharp pains of nirvana pierced the dhampire in his stomach at the first taste of hot, coppery and slightly salty, and defiantly not human, crimson blood filled his mouth. Rei's moan echoed throughout his ears as D held him closer.

While D feed, Rei slowly became aware that the thumb of D's right hand was gently stroking the nap of the back of his neck. Rei could feel his eyelids growing heavy.

Reluctantly D slowly withdrew so he wouldn't hurt Rei and lapped the pearls of crimson to seal the wound he created. D looked down at Rei; his lips were parted ever so slightly and his eyes slowly opened and closed twice before focusing on the dhampire. The want, the absolute desire to Claim the young mutant overwhelmed D that he was unaware of him lowering Rei onto his back and hovered over him. Wavy brunette locks fell over D's shoulders as he looked down at Rei. Rei lifted a hand up to touch where D had feed from him, brushing the pads of his digits over the closing wounds and started suddenly when he realized that D was staring at him. He swallowed.

"D?"

Said dhampire watched intensively the muscles of his throat as Rei swallowed and brought a hand up to gently trace the mutant's Adam's apple with a long nailed digit.

"D?"

D blinked as realization of his actions dawned on him and the dhampire slowly drew back.

"Thank you," D murmured.

A small smiled spread across Rei's face as if he was intoxicated. "No problem. I'm feeling' a bit tired now."

"That is a normal reaction, so you needn't be worried," D said, carrying Rei over to his sleeping bag.

Rei didn't answer; he felt too tired and D assumed him that it was normal after allowing a vampire to feed from him, but Rei also wondered about D's behavior afterwards. The dhampire had a feral shine in his eyes and they had shifted from their normal dark sapphire blue to crimson, the way D had stared at him like he wanted to devour him in the most pleasurable of ways. Rei pondered if that was normal behavior after vampires or dhampires in this case, after they had feed He figured, just before sleep took him, that he would ask D in the morning if he remembered too, or the parasite in his hand if D wouldn't give him an answer.

Placing the blissfully unconscious young mutant in his sleeping bag, D checked the boy's pulse a second time before settling down himself.

"And here I thought you tremendously hesitate to feed even with willing partners. I'm so glad to see that I was mistaken," the parasite in D's hand remarked.

D refused to answer, but the being in his hand was right. In the past and with those who were willing to donate some of their blood, human or mutant, he had utterly refused. Then why had he so willingly agreed to take up Rei's offer? What had made Rei's offer different from the others? More importantly why did he want to carry out the act of Claiming Rei after he had feed, especially when he had never felt or longed to do so before?

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A scream bolted D awake and he quickly rose to his feet. There at his companion's sleeping bag was Rei with his arms pinned behind his back, blood trickling down from his slip lip and a bruise forming on the side of his face. Several large men surrounded him and one of them turned to see that D was wide-awake.

"Shit," the thugs hissed.

D reached for his sword. "I suggest that you let the boy go now unless you want to die."

"Let me go you fucking assholes!" Rei screamed, thrashing in his captive's grip.

"Such fowl language from such a pretty mouth," his capture t'sked and rendered Rei unconscious. "Ah, ah, hunter, make a move and I'll snap this boy's neck."

"No you won't because keeping him alive is the only thing that prevents me from attacking you," D replied.

"Well aren't we smart," the thug sneered. "Gentleman, if you would."

A few of the other thugs approached D and threw a ball at him. Faster then their eyes could register, D split the sphere in half and the dhampire screamed as a painfully bright light blinded him. Something was thrown on him that forced D onto the ground. D heard movement and then nothing. The thugs had obviously used the light to blind D so they could escape with their prey.

"How in the seven hells did those thugs get their hands on a light bomb?" the parasite in D's hand exclaimed. "Those things haven't been used in centuries? I thought they didn't manufacture them any more."

D said nothing as he waited for his sight to return.

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Rei woke with an eerie feeling just in time to knock one of his captures away from him.

"Get away from me, you sick fuck!" Rei snarled.

"Y'know, I think he's a lot cuter when he gets all riled up," one of the thugs commented to others.

"Cute? I'll show you cute! I'll fucking rip your balls off and feed them to you for lunch!" Rei snapped. "That is if you had any. EUNUCH!"

The man's face turned a bright red. "What did you say?"

"You heard me!" Rei smirked, ready to ripe the man and the other thugs' innards out. "EUNUCH!"

"Someone shut him!" the man barked.

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Running, D could feel Rei's emotions channeling through the link, that they had unwillingly created with each other when the young mutant allowed the dhampire to feed off of him, fueling D's own.

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Rei wiped the blood from his face, smearing it across his mouth as the other thugs stared in a kind of awe and horror. Rei pushed the dead man off of his body, withdrawing his hand from the man's chest. Blood pooled at the other men's feet. Rei licked the man's blood off his lips and spat onto the floor. The action seemed to have snapped the thugs out from whatever spell that had held them and attacked Rei; one managed to catch Rei's neck in a whip. Rei when to pull it off when two more thugs grabbed him by the arms and a third landed a heavy punch to Rei's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him.

"Gonna…pay for…that…" Rei wheezed, as he went limp but managed to stay conscious.

"Let's finish this quickly and kill him," the thugs on Rei's right said.

The thug facing Rei reached a hand down to grab the hem of the mutant's pants. Rei's eyes widened ever so slightly as blood spattered him and the men holding him as D drove the blade of his sword through the man's chest. Rei was released and dropped to the floor as the thugs attacked D, bent on killing him. Blood pooled over the floor flowing from the bodies while D cleaned his blade with a near by rag and slid it back into its sheath before checking on Rei

"My hero," Rei said, holding his torn blouse closed. D knelt in front of him. "Now shall I kiss you as your reward from saving me from the villain as the helpless damsel in distress always seem to do in fairy tales?"

Despite the sarcastic comments, D knew that Rei was covering up how he truly felt; fear, disbelief and relief because the young mutant didn't want to be seen as a weakling, that he couldn't protect himself completely on his own from being raped.

"You can make it up to me some other time," D replied, helping Rei to his feet.

Dawn broke over the horizon as D and Rei arrived back at their camp.

"Ugh. I'm going to the lake to wash this pig's blood off of me," Rei said in disgust over his attire.

Digging the ball of soap out of one of his travelers pack and a change of clothes, Rei ventured down to the lake. At the water's edge, Rei stripped and tossed his blood soaked clothes into the water before following. A shiver ran up the young mutant's spine at the slight coldness of temperature, but Rei ventured forward slowly; coldness be damned!

Meanwhile on shore, D gathered a large amount of firewood and created a fire before disappearing and returning with all of their belongings and the two horses, moving their camp closer to the lake.

Rei broke up to the water's surface and shook his head, getting water out of his eyes before swimming back towards his clothes. Grabbing them and the ball of soap, Rei began the task of ridding the blood from his garments. Once accomplished, D took the mutant's clothes and hung them on a man made rack that D had constructed of freshly cut saplings. Rei gave the dhampire a nod of thanks before grabbing the soap and created a nice, thick lather, and began the task of washing his body clean, not stopping until his skin turned a slight shade of pink.

Dropping the ball of soap back into its pouch, Rei dove underneath the water and swam down to the bottom of the lake. He found an underwater cluster of rocks and sat on one, feeling his hair rise above towards the lake's surface. Rei drew a leg up to his chest, giving thanks to whatever deities listening that D arrived when he did. Otherwise… Rei shook his head not wanting to think about the outcome that could have happened, that almost did happen.

'D is quite the character; he always seem to appear to play the hero in the nick of time. I wonder if the rumors are true that he is the son of the Count Dracula? I wonder what happened to the vampire king, as he was the only vampire I ever held respect for. Wonder what D's mother was like? Wonder where they are now if they're both still alive that is, and what they think of their son?' Rei smirked wickedly. 'Heh-heh… Lee was really surprised shitless to realize that the dhampire he was fighting was the son of his sire. The look on his face! Priceless! Interesting that is; I seriously believe that not one person of the human race knows just whom D is the son of! Wouldn't it lovely to see their faces as they react to that knowledge.'

Rei lifted his head upwards, watching the sunlight reflecting just underneath the water's surface.

'I should get out; I'm clean enough,' Rei thought.

Releasing his breathe, Rei swam up to the surface slowly, enjoying the serene sensation of gently breaking through the water's surface. His serenity was sharply broken as an arm wrapped itself around his neck and Rei, gasping in surprise found himself being dragged towards shore.

"What in the hell-?" Rei began realizing that it was only D. 'Bloody hell! I completely forgot about him! He's probably-!"

Rei gave a squeak of protest when D placed him on the ground, tipped his head back and covered his mouth over Rei's. The mutant's eyes widened as air was forced into his lungs.

'Oh Jes-!' "D!"

The dhampire helped Rei sit up.

"For the love of everything considered holy, I wasn't drowning! I CAN'T drown! I was just enjoying the scenery down there and thinking!" Rei explained. "But I'm sorry if I spooked you, and I appreciate your effort trying to save me. At least I know I'm in good hands."

The parasite in D's hand was baffled by the dhampire's current abnormal behavior. Normally once D was finished with one mission the dhampire would venture off to find another one, sometimes stopping at an inn for a couple of days to rest or at his safe house. A pattern D had been carrying out since he began slaying vampires. Now here he was following someone D hardly knew to their family home, something very out of the ordinary that it made the parasite wonder if D was going through some changes. Perhaps the dhampire was considering of breaking out of his shell, or at least make some overdue and much needed changes in his life pattern. Of course the parasite was quite pleased (as would his father) to see D's acceptance to feed from a willing participant thus satisfying his vampire inheritance's need for blood; something the parasite wished that D did more frequently. He was just surprised to learn that Rei Gensay would be the one whom D would willingly feed from. Of course the mutant Rei Gensay the parasite thought he knew wasn't the one who accompanied them now. For one thing his characteristics were a complete opposite from the ones he pretended to have around Count Lee, which made him more likeable. Of course he could be a little sarcastic and cynical, but the parasite rather enjoyed that. Plus he enjoyed listening to the mutant sing as he had a very pleasing voice, and more attractive, which made the parasite wonder if D planned on enduring other aspects he denied himself such as the joys of the flesh. He had been existing in D's hand long enough to know that the dhampire was still a virgin.

Forming images of a overly exaggerated virgin-on-his-wedding-night-without-a-clue D made the parasite to laugh to himself.

"Dammit, D, I'm fine," Rei said, slowly getting irritated with the dhampire checking him over. He was beginning to get a little cold with not being able to dry off and get dressed, having to deal with D who was all but feeling him up!

"You sure you're all right?" D asked, wrapping a towel around Rei's figure, much to the mutant's delight and then draped another one over his head.

"It was some heavy shit to deal with, but I'll cope and move on without any mental damage to overcome, D. I'm not the type that kills oneself," Rei replied.

"I'm sorry," D said.

"Idiot, you didn't do anything wrong," Rei mock chided.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," D said.

"I know," Rei sighed, leaning against the dhampire. "I appreciate your concern. I'm glad you showed up there when you did, otherwise things would've turned out differently."

"Not while you're in my company," D murmured, wrapping an arm around the young mutant's shoulders.

"Good to hear that, and glad to be in someone's company that gives an actual damn about you," Rei said.

"There's your family, don't forget," D reminded.

"Yeah, but they're not here right now so I guess I'm stuck with you," Rei said. "I'll suffer silently though."

"If this scene grows even more sentimental I think I'm going to heave,' the parasite groaned from D's hand.

"For once I agree, Lefty-"

"Stop calling me that!"

"-This is something right out of a romance novel my sisters tend to read," Rei said, rising to his feet. He eyed D up and down with his hands on his hips. "Of course D would need to have a golden tan, more filled out like those professional weight lifters and he would need to be the usual and predicable, secretly-romantic-man-at-heart knight of arms, a captain of a ship or a pirate; not a pale as the moon, muscular slender dhampire who hunts down and slayers vampires for reasons unknown. Plus I would need to be female. Unless this was a gay romance novel."

D said nothing.

"Hmm…wouldn't be surprised if they already wrote something like that," Rei murmured to himself as he headed to put on some clean and dry clothes.

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Three days passed since the night Rei and D were attacked by the group of thugs. As D and Rei rode into a town to spend the night at one of the inns, Rei was happy to announce that after the next day they would finally reach the town where Rei's family lived. During most of that time beforehand, D and Rei talked more freely and openly, neither one knowing that it had to do with the link formed between them. They seemed to be more aware of the other's emotions, but didn't know why. Not that it really mattered.

Rei discovered that D was an actual decent guy once you got passed his silent, actions-speak-louder-then-words demeanor. Rei learned that D was quite fond of any kind of sword sport or activity, and Rei commented that he and most of his family members enjoyed a good round of fencing and held contests now and again. D was also fond of music and knew how to play the violin and piano, something his mother had taught him while D was growing up and before he became a hunter. And that he loved to read, but life as a hunter didn't allow D much spray time to read. Rei said that D would have all the time he wanted as the Gensay manor had a huge library.

In turn, D learn quite a lot about Rei and his family. Rei had been the last child his mother bore and when Ariel had been adopted into the family, Rei had adored her from the start. As Ariel grew up, she and Rei were inseparable, but since Rei aged much, much slowly then his human sibling, it was easy to forget that Rei was the older one. So as Ariel was in her twenties, Rei still looked like he was fifteen when in fact he was almost a hundred-years-old. When Rei heard about his sister's death and how she died, Rei took it the worst; he'd lost his baby sister and best friend.

The one thing Rei told D about Ariel that brought a smile to his lips was how she loved to sing and perform for the family and their friends. She would have Rei play on the piano and she would sing, and how she could sing. However, most of the time Rei and Ariel would spend hours singing and playing the piano just for them.

"You two were very close," D said. He wouldn't know first hand what it meant to have siblings, as D didn't know if he had any. He probably did knowing his father, and the dhampire had yet to come across any of his brothers and/or sisters.

"We were, and even though she's gone in body, Ariel will always be with me in spirit," Rei admitted.

They stopped in front of an inn and lead their horses to its stables to be taken care of before heading inside. There, Rei rented them a room for over night and ordered dinner for them to be brought. Taking the key, D followed Rei through another door, ignoring the looks some of the other customers were sending them, a few envious and lustful. Upstairs, Rei paused at a door, unlocked it and D continued to follow the young mutant inside. The room was fitted with two beds with a nightstand placed between them, a rounded tabled and two chairs for eating in front of a fireplace with a fire lit, a single five draw dresser and a door that lead into a bathroom. Next to the door was a basket where customers could put clothing they wanted cleaned. The single window in the room overlooked the town's square and fountain. In the far distance they could see the mountain range that separated the city's land from the ocean.

Rei looked around and tested the bed. "Good. Nice and comfy. Some inns have rock hard mattresses. It's going to be so nice to sleep in a bed tonight."

Saying nothing, D removed his hat, cloak and hung them on the hooks on the bathroom door. His sword was placed on top of the fireplace's mantel. Rei got up and went to investigate the bathroom. There was a bathtub and a separate shower stall, a pedestal sink and a private toilet stall. There were plenty of towels and bottles of shampoos and conditioners, and little bars of soap.

'Shower; yes!' Rei went to grab the laundry basket and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door. A few minutes he came back out wearing only a towel around his waist, placed the basket back down next to the door and disappeared back into the bathroom. Seconds later D could hear the shower running. Less then half an hour later, Rei merged out of the bathroom now dressed in blouse and a pair of slacks.

"Bathroom's free; go shower, you smell," Rei said, gabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

"Thank you for pointing the out," D deadpanned, heading into the bathroom.

"Try not to almost drown me this time!" the parasite in D's hand exclaimed.

Rei chuckled to himself, and a knocking at the door tore his attention anyway from his companion. Opening the door, Rei saw a pretty servant woman pushing a cart.

"Dinner, sir," she said, gesturing the cart with a nod.

Rei invited her in and the servant woman placed the cart near the table. Rei stood by watching her set the room's table, and once finished with that, she turned to face him again. "Do you have any clothes that need to be taken care of, sir?"

Rei nodded and handed the servant woman the basket. He told her to wait before walking over to knock on the bathroom door.

"Oi! D! Give me your clothes so they can be washed!" Rei called through the closed door. It opened and a long pale limb handed Rei the dark clothing, which he placed in the basket.

"Thank you," she said with a curtsy and left the room.

Once the hired help had left, Rei walked over to the table and removed one of the lids. Underneath were a prime rib dinner with a mountain of freshly steamed vegetables and rice pilaf, and a bowl of a clear fish soup. Rei sat down and opened the bottle of win appointed to go with the fish soup, a very nice white Rei noted after trying a sip and poured himself a glass. Halfway done with his soup, the bathroom door opened and D joined him. Again the dhampire was dressed entirely in black: a blouse with billowy sleeves and a plugging V-neck collar that laced up in a criss-cross fashion, and a pair of slacks.

Rei held up the bottle. "Wine?"

"Thank you."

They ate in silence, stealing an occasion glance. Periodically Rei would bring a hand up and brush his fingers where D had feed from him until the dhampire noticed.

"It that bothering you?" D asked.

"A bit, but not in a painful way. It rather feels like…like someone taking my pulse, a slight pressure. I don't know… I just sense it, feel it," Rei replied with a shrug. "It's been acting up for a while."

"Why didn't you mention something before?" D asked, getting up from his seat and leaned over Rei. He gently tipped the young mutant's head aside and tugged down his collar. D could see two tiny wounds that looked very similar healing piercing. D brushed his fingertips over them to see if there was a difference in the texture of the skin when Rei all but jumped.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" D asked.

"N-No," Rei said with a little shake. He froze as D circled one of them with the tip of his finger, obviously knowing what to look for, and having no idea of how it was affecting the owner of those marks. Rei wanted to tell the dhampire to stop because it felt very good, but he didn't trust the sound of his voice and swallowed hard when D ran his fingers over the marks at the same time.

For his part, D figured that the area had become very sensitive and the dhampire didn't have a clue as to why. True D was half vampire and all, but because of his upbringing, D hardly knew everything about vampire lore; his father had failed to educate him about certain things and D's mother had been no help, as she knew nothing whatsoever. Part of what D knew about vampires and their behavior was from years of slaying them and picking up on any piece of given information he could collect, or by listening to his vampire instincts. And right now they were bringing to D's attention of how good Rei smelled and how wonderful his blood had tasted. D's nostrils flared as he detected another scent. Leaning in closer, D's fangs slowly slid out of their sheaths. Rei could feel the dhampire's breath against his neck.

"Are you going to bite me again?" Rei murmured. Hearing Rei's voice, D woke from the ravine he had slipped into and started the pulled back when Rei cupped the back of his head and drew D back down. "No, it's okay. You should feed when you can even if you don't have to feed everyday like other vampires have to."

D knelt on his knee as his fangs reopened the marks on Rei's neck. Rei arched up with a little gasp and held D's head, threading his long fingers through D's slightly damp hair. D placed his hands on the arms of the chair, clenching them tightly each time Rei gave a breathy little sigh. The young mutant arched against the dhampire gasping in pleasure when D turned his feeding into long, deep pulls, his other hand went to grip D's shoulder when the dhampire intercepted it and wove their fingers together. The more D pulled, the more arousal he could taste in Rei's blood until finally D moved them out of the chair and onto the closest bed, pinning Rei's body beneath his. D withdrew his fangs from Rei growling as they both caught their breaths.

'What-? What the hell just happened?' Rei thought, tearing himself out of the ravine he had fallen into under the influence of D's bite.

D slowly pulled himself away from Rei and sat on the end of the bed. Rei could sense that something was wrong with the dhampire.

"D? What's wrong?" Rei asked, placing a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"I can't feed from you anymore," D replied.

"Why? It's not you can kill me or hurt me," Rei replied. "And like I said earlier you should feed when you can because-"

"No, Rei, it isn't that. It's… If I continue to feed from you, I'm afraid I'm going to lose control," D said.

"What do you mean…? Oh," Rei realized what the dhampire was implying. Rei sighed. "Would that…be so terrible?"

"Yes!" D barked, rising to his feet. "The last thing I need is to end up raping you, Rei!"

"You would be, but only if I said no and…" Rei looked away with a blush, "And I wouldn't refuse you."

D stared at him. "You… You don't know what you're saying."

"The bloody hell I'm not!" Rei barked back. "You think you're the only one here who gets aroused when you bite me? I don't think so. I could and would easily gone along with the flow if you decided to fuck me because I wouldn't deny myself a willing partner and something that feels incredible. Besides even if I had known beforehand that a vampire's bite leads to arousal or not, I would have allowed you to feed from me anyway! I won't sit back and let you punish yourself by starving your vampire side from what it needs just because you see your father and his kind as monsters, and you think yourself as the same because you crave blood. It would be just like me not allowing myself to eat; sure I would never die by starvation, but I would have that unfulfilled hunger just the same."

Rei stood up and walked over to the door where he slid his boots back on.

"D, you're only half vampire so stop acting like your neither vampire or human," Rei continued.

"And who are you to judge me? You're not half vampire. You don't have this accursed blood vowing in your veins," D said.

"You're right; I'm not half vampire. I'm immortal and I'm a mutant. I can't die. I can only sit back and watch those around me do so, and see the world change while I remain the same. Though at least I know who I am and I accept what I am, but even if I were the same as you, D, I do know that I have the ability to accept myself for whom I am," Rei replied.

"Are you assuming that every vampire in this world isn't evil?" D asked.

"Of course not. I know that most of them are unfortunately, and those are the ones that probably make you feel ashamed of your vampire inheritance. D, you're not like them; you don't seen humans simple as a food source. You see humans as living, breathing creatures, you respect them as living, breathing creatures," Rei replied. He placed his hand on the door handle. "I'm going out for a walk. Don't wait up."

D said nothing as he watched Rei close the door behind him.

"You know, Gensay has a point," the parasite in D's hand voiced for the first time of the evening. "He's right about that even if you're part vampire that doesn't automatically make you a monster. It just makes you…unique, D."

"Normal humans do not eat blood," D pointed out.

"Like hell they don't! What about humans who order their steaks rare? That's pretty bloody. Or are you saying that humans who eat their steaks rare are monsters?" the parasite argued.

"There's a difference between ordering your steak rare and going out to kill humans to drink their blood," D deadpanned.

"Yes, I am aware of that. I was just trying to-! Oh hell! This is a loss cause and something I won't win! Look, D, it's pretty damn obviously from earlier that you're attracted to Rei Gensay and from what he said earlier that he finds you the same, so knock it off with the I'm-half-vampire-therefore-I-don't-deserve-love routine, and Claim him!" the parasite exclaimed.

"Rei pointed out that he didn't mind a once-in-awhile intimate nightly rendezvous. He said nothing about a Claiming," D replied.

"Okay, fine! I quite! I wash my hands of the situation! Brood to your heart's content. Good night!" the parasite exclaimed and ventured back into D's hand.

Unknown to either of the occupants in the room, Rei had been standing on the other side of the closed door and had heard what was said between D and the parasite. Rei had intended to go back into the room because of the unfamiliar look of sadness that had passed over D's face when he heard the parasite mention Rei's name. His heart picked up a notch hearing that D was attracted to him.

'Wow…how could I have overlooked something like that?' he thought. Of course D was never one for showing his emotions. 'And is it my imagination or did D sound rather sad when he spoke of that Claiming… Wonder what a Claiming is? Maybe I should find out. Whatever it is it sounds very…intimate.'

Walking out of the inn, Rei headed down the well-lit streets to the city's large public library, figuring that within its large collection of books there should be at least one containing the information Rei sought. Entering the large building, Rei nodded a hello to one of the librarians before he began his search. Half an hour later, Rei sat down at one of the many tables with a large book after venturing around the labyrinth rows of books to find the one he needed. Rei was actually surprised to see that this library had so many books that were about vampires on their history, different cultures being that vampire held different beliefs, biographies, several about D's father, but Rei only found one single book that was about a vampire's courting and mating rituals. Opening the book, Rei flipped back to the index and looked up Claiming. Turning to the page, Rei rested his cheek against a hand as he read the long passage about a vampire's Claiming. Basically a Claiming was how vampires married their chosen mate, and during a Claiming a vampire would bite his or her mate on the neck during the act of sex then the vampire would bite his or her finger and allow his or her mate to swallow a little of their blood. The passage also stated that the person chosen as a vampire's mate would become immortal if he or she was not already, but they wouldn't become a vampire unless…

'Yeah, I already know how one becomes a vampire,' Rei thought closing the book. 'So this explains why D got so upset; he's afraid that if he continues to feed from me, he'll Claim me and he obviously thinks that I only want an occasion roll in the hay. Asshole! He has no right to judge me like that! I'm not some whore who'll easily spear their legs because sex feels good! I'll only do so if I love the person I'm with!'

Rising to his feet, Rei was about to set out back to the inn and confront D when a voice inside him screamed for him to stop.

'And how will that look? It's not like I'm in love with that dhampire, of course not. Why should it bother me how he sees the world,' Rei thought. 'I think that parasite's wrong; D doesn't want to Claim me and I doubt he's attracted to me. He just probably likes how the arousal in my blood tastes and that's probably what's scaring him; like D's afraid that he will lose control because of that. I've already said that I wouldn't refuse him, but…'

Rei nodded as he thought the situation over carefully.

'Hmmm…yes, that's probably what I should do. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do.'

_____________________________

"…And another thing, unlike some blood haired young woman who's name will not be mentioned, Gensay isn't so judgmental to accept help in any sort of form when presented. Unlike that unmentionable blonde, Gensay actually has the courage to face whoever's threatening him on his own, and he only used that candle because Count Lee order him to do so; he doesn't need to hire someone to save him," the parasite in D's hand continued. Okay so he had lied (was that uncommon of him?) earlier when he said that he washed his hands of the matter between D and Rei. He'd spent the last half hour pointing out why Rei Gensay would make a good mate. "And Gensay's a much better fighter especially using that boomerang knife of his instead of some electric whip that you so easily fought off. Not to mention from the time we've spend with him you can tell he's honest in a lot of ways and…" here the parasite paused. "And I've never seen you more relaxed or calm around him then with anyone else. It's almost that when you're near him you can be yourself without having to put up a front that you usually do around others. Not to mention he's never asked you for anything and I doubt Gensay gives himself freely to others as you to have claim."

"He… He did seem rather insulted when I said that," D commented softly. The dhampire agreed that what most of the parasite said about Rei Gensay was true. He didn't feel the need to keep up the deadpanned-to-the-world-out-of-precaution barriers he'd created as a vampire hunter whenever he traveled because D, himself, was half vampire. And Rei had already mentioned that he offered to help Doris out against Count Lee but she had refused him because the form Rei had used wasn't attractive and obviously the girl wanted her savior to be handsome. She claimed to love him, but D knew better; it was something created in the heat of the moment and chaos. D doubted that he would've found happiness with her. Besides D knew that Doris would have reacted very badly to the Claiming bite because she associated it as something vile and evil because of her encounter with Count Lee, and probably wouldn't like to be reminded that D wasn't all human. While Rei on the other hand had openly accepted the fact that D was only half human and wasn't repulsed at the thought of the dhampire feeding off him.

"Of course Gensay got upset, D! You practically accused him of being a whore! Why shouldn't he be! I mean just because he wouldn't refuse you if you got carried away while feeding doesn't make him a whore. And how do you know for a fact that Gensay would stop you from Claiming him?" the parasite pointed out.

"Rei hasn't made it known that he wants me to Claim him. I doubt he knows just what a Claiming is," D replied. "I won't force him into that kind of a commitment if he doesn't want it."

"D, you're forgetting that Gensay is much older then he looks and that he lived under the ruling of a very old vampire for half a century, so he probably learned a thing or two about your father's culture and what the definition of a Claiming is. And perhaps Gensay hasn't said anything because he doesn't know how you feel towards him, if you feel anything for him at all," the parasite argued. "For all you know Gensay could be in love with you, but not in the same why that blonde woman was; that was simply infatuation on her part. Gensay's probably afraid to take the risk to tell you how he feels about you. After all you really lack the ability to show someone how you feel about them."

D sighed, sounding defeated.

"Good. Now when Gensay comes back you should apologize," the parasite said. "Then," it added, "you two need to have a long talk."

D nodded and looked up when he heard the door being unlocked and opened. Rei slowly entered the room and closed the door locking it. He turned to face the dhampire and leaned against the door.

"D, I have been thinking…maybe you're right. It's probably dangerous if you were to lose control while you're feeding from me even though it feels nice. I mean I was almost raped a while ago and I doubt I'm ready to get that intimate with someone like that any time soon…if ever," Rei said. "But I still disapprove of you all but calling me a whore."

"And I apologize, Rei," D said.

The young mutant nodded. "Right. So now we know where we stand. I guess we should turn in, it's going to take most of the day tomorrow before we reach my home town."

D nodded.

Rei removed his boots and slacks before sliding underneath the covers of the bed and rolled onto his side facing away from the dhampire.

'That went rather well. Now we have nothing to worry about,' Rei thought and yawned.

'Okay… Looks like I was wrong,' the parasite thought as D treated him to a look before turning in himself. 'Either that, Gensay is still upset and this how he's getting back at D. Can't say that I blame him though.'