The Overture (Part III)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: A bit of male/male necking ;P


"I think you're right," Daniel said in quiet amusement, looking at the younger man — boy, really — intently. "You have had enough to drink..."  Joshu was slightly flushed, his eyes bright with a certain nervous giddiness. It was an expression that Daniel had become very familiar with in the past few years: the awestruck, confused adoration. It really wasn't fair to the young musicians who found themselves in this situation...

But what had happened to him really wasn't that fair either, now was it? Life was hard that way.

With a gentle, but decidedly still flirtatious smile, the composer seated himself on the sofa next to Joshu, close enough for his thigh to brush against the young man's. "Ahh... what am I going to do with you now?" he mused, grinning.

"Good question..." Joshu murmured, apprehension coloring his already shy voice. Well, he couldn't possibly be afraid of Daniel for what the composer knew to be the most sensible reason, simply because he didn't know about it. That left Daniel to guess that this nervousness came from a different, but still predictable, source.

"Hmm..." He reached out slowly, rather like someone trying to approach a skittish animal, and laid his hand along Joshu's cheek, feeling the warmth there; such a contrast to his own cool skin. "You've never been attracted to a man before, have you?" he said softly, with a small, reassuring smile. "It's a lot easier if you stop questioning yourself..."

The boy shivered at his touch, but did not draw away, his gaze fixed on Daniel like a heliotrope on the sun. "But... I'm not... I mean, I never..."

Daniel wore an expression of understanding, but at that moment, his attention was on Joshu's aura. The supernatural glow around the young man was wavering in flickers of deep red and yellow — attraction and uncertainty. His outward behavior, then, was genuine, and the composer could proceed with his somewhat calculated seduction.

"I personally think that when we are attracted to people," he said softly, brushing a lock of thick black hair away from Joshu's neck, "we are attracted to them as a whole. Gender is part of that whole, of course, but it isn't everything. Does that make sense?" He tilted his head to one side and met the boy's eyes, to see if he was still following this train of thought in his inebriated state.

"It does," was the somewhat distant reply. "But... I mean, you're..." He seemed to be having trouble stringing his thoughts into words; whether that was from the alcohol or Daniel's proximity, it was hard to tell, but it was the desired effect, and rather charming, either way...

"I'm what?" Daniel pressed with veiled amusement. He leaned forward, coming as close to Joshu's face as one could and still be able to make eye contact. He could feel new warmth rushing to the boy's face, and the flickering in his aura grew sharper: darker red, with more frequent flashes of nervous yellow, like lightning in the desert. This was the delicate part, engaging his desire without stirring up fear and resistance...

"You're... Daniel Renard, you know?" Joshu finally murmured, looking away slightly. "You're just... so famous..."

Starstruck. The composer laughed quietly. "So? I'm still a person, the same as you..." Well, that was patently a lie, but... "Two people... it's the most natural thing in the world..." Another ironic falsehood. Slowly, he moved in to kiss the young man, hearing the quick intake of breath and the sudden acceleration of his pulse as he did so. But Joshu did not draw away, only trembled slightly as their lips met.

Another victory. It was a bit hollow, really; Daniel had always been able to win people over, and had only become better at it in the past few years. Well, he had to be if he wanted to survive, but... again, it was rather unfair to little lambs like Joshu. Especially like Joshu. Against his better judgment, he felt a bud of real fondness for the violinist, and that meant nothing but trouble later.

For now, however, he simply had to ease away those little flashes of fear... not a terribly difficult thing, if Joshu was as caught up as he seemed to be. The hardest part for Daniel was taking it slowly. At this point, when he was so close to him, his supernaturally sharp senses filled his brain with information — the pounding of a pulse, little shuddering breaths, pheromones, warmth, wetness — they battered at his concentration, taunting him.

But again, it was life or death for him to do this right. So he kept a metaphysical eye on the young man, watching for that relaxation that would mark his time to act, as he kissed the musician more demandingly. Joshu's lips were slightly parted; he took that invitation to slide his tongue between them and was rewarded with both a soft moan and the sudden wave of deep scarlet flooding his aura, that emotional semaphore for "Oh God, take me now".

As Joshu's arms wrapped tentatively around him, Daniel gently broke away from the kiss and nuzzled along the boy's cheek, then pressed his lips against his carotid artery, feeling, almost tasting that strong, but currently somewhat erratic, heartbeat. Joshu was falling into a pleasant haze of drunken arousal, and it was time.

A couple of playful little nibbles sent shivers down the young man's spine, and lulled him into complacency before Daniel really and truly bit him.

The hot blood trickled into his mouth, hitting him like the best (or worst) drug mankind had ever devised, like starvation appeased, like an orgasm, like water in the desert. Joshu's arms tightened around him; the poor lamb had no idea what was happening, but thanks to whatever peculiar curse vampires bore, this special kind of rape was just as pleasurable to him as it was to his attacker. Pressed against Daniel, he was shaking, with suppressed desire rather than fear, and the vampire was strongly tempted to appease that desire after he had fed, but more than likely, Joshu would be unconscious and in no condition to enjoy it. And if that was the case, what would be the point? It would do nothing for Daniel, sadly.

He forced himself to count slowly. Unlike some of his fellows, he would never kill, so he would have to stop soon. It was like using the "early withdrawal" method of contraception: safe, if you did it right, but horribly unsatisfying.

Little by little, the young man began to relax, his hold on Daniel loosening and his pulse slowing down. Reluctantly, the vampire retracted his fangs and pulled away, licking at the small puncture marks he had left on Joshu's skin to help them heal. The musician's eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow and deep; he was mercifully unconscious, and Daniel had to smile a little through his rising bitterness. The face of an angel, this one had, but that was no defense against hungry wretches like himself. In fact, it drew them in.

It was only a few minutes' work to carry the young man into his room and lay him gently on the bed. His aura now glowed a light blue of contentment, but the interesting part would come after he awoke...

His mood dark, as it always was after feeding, Daniel returned to the living room, and his piano. The only thing to do with his feelings, after all, was to channel them into song. That was how others could read his aura, if they knew what to listen for.


6/20/2005: God, I hate writing smut — or should I say, almost-smut. I couldn't write real smut if my life depended on it. XD;; But it's so much fun to think about. ¬_¬  And additional note to self: do not write vamp-smut at work. Just don't.