#anyway at first I felt she’d use chikage but I feel like she’d also like some powder keg weapons

[dagaan]

Hunter Shiver?

[callsignbaphomet]

Hunter and Vileblood

Short sort of fluff-ish thing I just wrote with my OCs as hunters. Been a while since I wrote anything but wanted to take a break from the smut for something I guess cute. And I forgot how terrible and unoriginal I am with titles lol

The habit had become normal for many hunters. Go out into the night as soon as the sun settled, kill as many beasts as possible and those that survived returned to their homes. The following night most gathered at Arax’s home to swap tales of their heroic deeds and close calls while the listeners either laughed or gasped in horror. Some hunters had a reputation of being excellent storytellers, among them was Latoya who would entertain the masses with her vivid words and close attention to detail, her loud booming voice commanded the attention of all hunters within the hall as she acted out her tale of the hunt. Even the night itself would settle down when Latoya spoke. She stood on her chair as she held her trusted Bloodletter in her hands while every hunter laid their eyes on her.

“And there we were facing down that nightmarish creature, teeth bare and slick with saliva, claws and fur caked with its victims’ blood, eyes beady and ready to feast on two more hunters. It stood tall as it let out a roar! Stench of rot and blood made us gag but we stood equally tall and ready. It made a run for us and when it was close it drew back its arms and just as it swung them towards us Angelus shot it in the throat! Wasn't enough to kill it but it stun it long enough. I jumped into the air with my Bloodletter in hand, Angelus ran forward with his blood-covered Chikage. He cut through the beast’s belly! I slammed the Bloodletter right into its skull! That is how the Beast-possessed Soul ended at our feet!” Latoya exclaimed as she slammed her Bloodletter onto the table with a loud thud.

“A Beast-possessed Soul? I don't think I’ve ever seen one before.” Ginger said as she looked at Latoya in awe.

“Wasn't easy but when you have reliable partners alongside you even Great Ones will tremble in fear.” Latoya said as she looked to Angelus which caused everyone else to look toward him as well.

However, the comment, or better said, the entire story had fallen on deaf ears. Ever since Angelus had noticed that one lone hunter of hunters walk back outside he kept staring at him through the window and completely ignored most of what was said in the hall.

“McGrath?” Latoya teased as she stepped off the chair and smiled.

“Hmmm?” He turned his head towards Latoya though he kept his eyes on the hunter. “What is it?”

Latoya chuckled while walking over to Angelus and sat next to him as she looked towards where he was looking. “You know, if you really want to talk to him I think you should.”

“I don't wanna bother him.”

“Something tells me you wouldn't be bothering him.” Latoya reassured him as she looked out to see the hunter sitting out in the cold by himself. She felt slightly bad for him, apart from Ginger, he didn't seem to have any friends. She'd met his brother before he died but it seemed as if he never fully recovered from his death. Most of the time he kept to himself and barely spoke to anyone.

“If you ask me,” Cyrus spoke up from across the table, “You should stay away from him. He’s nothing but trouble.”

“No one asked you, Cyrus.” Ginger bitterly said as she stared down at the older church hunter.

“I’m with Cyrus, that boy is trouble.” Trevor said as he swallowed his second shot of whiskey.

“How would you even know he’s trouble? Neither of you have ever bothered to even talk to him.” Angelus retorted defensively as he glared at Cyrus and Trevor.

“Even if we understood half of what he said---”

“Oh, here we go! That charming Yharnamite attitude towards outsiders! Do you people even consider the fact that most hunters are foreigners? In fact, Cyrus, you and Trevor are the only damn Yharnamites here. Where are the rest of you? Huh?” Angelus said.

“It doesn't change the fact that Ingvarrsson is dangerous.” Trevor began as he tried to calm the hall down. “He’s reckless, acts without thinking, constantly putting himself at risk, he doesn't care about anyone, incapable of apologizing---he’s a passive-aggressive sociopath.”

“Borderline psychopath if you ask me. He doesn't feel any remorse and can't feel anything for anyone but himself. You should be careful, he might be using you.”

“How dare you assume anything of someone you don't even know! Shame on both of you!”

The hunters in the hall turned to where the familiar voice had come from. Standing at the end of the hall was Arax staring down at the two Yharnamites who had lowered their heads when Arax began to speak.

“You don't know anything about him. He’s been through a lot and has lost everyone so excuse him if he doesn’t appeal to your standard of charming. Jelani is as dependable and as skilled as any of you in here, maybe even more than most of you. So I would appreciate it if none of my hunters spoke ill of each other.”

With that Arax left leaving the hall in an uncomfortable silence as the hunters gathered in it looked around at each other. Most had lost some loved ones while some had lost everything, Jelani included, but it seemed like Arax defended him the most. Truth be told many hunters indulged in many self-destructive activities, becoming a hunter was merely the first step for many but there were rumors about Jelani, ugly rumors that most ignored yet still whispered to one another.

Latoya shook her head at Trevor, she expected better from a fellow Vileblood, especially when Jelani had come to defend Vileblood hunters from Executioners. She then turned to look at Angelus but the smaller Vileblood had left her side. She smiled as she looked at the front door and saw it close.

Angelus closed the door carefully as to not frighten the hunter sitting at the top of the steps though he remained still and quiet at the sound of the door closing. He crossed his arms and slightly shivered, the night was a little colder than he had expected but he still sat next to the hunter who still seemed unreactive to his presence. Both men remained quiet for a while as the hunter took in the sight of the old city. When it was quiet, free of beasts and mad men and back to a degree of sanity Yharnam was a beautiful place. The Vileblood kept his eyes on the hunter.

“It's cute how they think I can't hear them talking about me.” Jelani finally spoke up. “Never been called a passive-aggressive sociopath before. Hmm, been called worse.”

Angelus had no way of replying to that. He felt awful that Jelani was so isolated by most of the hunters. The only ones who'd even give him the time of day were Arax, Ginger, Latoya and him.

“I’m sorry about those guys.”

“Det går bra---I mean, it's all right. It's not like I need them to like me.”

“Aren't you cold out here?” Angelus asked in a low tone as he sat next to Jelani. He figured the hunter would push him away or move over since he sat so close to him but he was pleasantly surprised when the hunter sat still.

“Nei,” Jelani shook his head as he kept his eyes forward, “I’m used to the cold. It's a hell of a lot colder where I come from anyway.”

“Norway, right?”

“Ja. Og du?”

“America.” Angelus assumed Jelani had asked where he had come from so he answered. He took Jelani’s subtle nod as acknowledging his question.

“So...why join the Vilebloods?” Jelani asked as he turned to look at Angelus. He was certainly pleasing to be around and to look at as well so he made an effort to socialize with him as best as he could.

“Well, after I lost my grandparents I stayed with Arax for a while but then I took off. I don't know exactly what I looking for but one day I bumped into Latoya and she took me in. Been my mentor since then and I felt it was the right thing to do.”

“I like her, she’s nice and she doesn't take bullshit from anyone or anything.” Jelani said as he drew his left hand close to his face and that's when Angelus noticed the lit cigarette between his fingers. He also noticed the burn scars on his palm and even though he was curious he restrained himself from asking about them.

“I didn't know you smoked.”

“My brother used to smoke all the time, I get absolutely no pleasure out of it but it reminds me of him.”

“What happened to him?”

“We were in Old Yharnam trying to get back home. We took a different route to avoid that lunatic on the rooftop with the gatling gun. Everything seemed fine, we barely ran into any beasts and we were getting across rather quickly. He um...he went to this shortcut we’d taken a few times before but I just had a bad feeling about it. You know when your gut tells you not to do something?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I tried to talk him out of it but he wouldn't budge he kept telling me that everything would be okay. I followed him into the building and right there in the middle was a giant beast. Same one that was down in the ruined church. Around the thing were dozens of beast patients, smaller but just as deadly. We turned around to leave but right behind us were some wolf beasts that had stalked us all the way to the building. From that exact moment it was just one bad idea after another. I locked us in the building after my brother mentioned we could cut our way through the mob and out the roof. Wasn't easy, we’d both gotten bit and clawed, we were bleeding all over ourselves and we were tired.”

Jelani exhaled a cloud of smoke through his nose and tossed the cigarette aside. After a brief moment of silence he continued.

“Once we reached the second floor one of those goddamned wolf beasts had broken through one of the windows and pinned Loke down. I managed to push it off of him and he hit it with a Molotov cocktail. We just stood there and watched the beast fall to the first floor and run around until it died. Thing is that as it ran about it brushed against the old furniture and drapes and everything caught fire. The fire did take out a few of the beasts but now we had to worry about them and the fire. So we kept running until we reached the last floor. Most of the windows were blocked but there was a small ladder that led to a hatch which we assumed led to the roof. Loke figured we could jump onto the roof of the other building and keep running. But…” Jelani’s voice shuddered as he lowered his head and dropped his shoulders.

“The hatch was locked and we couldn't break it or shoot it open. We saw an open window so we ran for it but there were still a bunch of beasts right on us and the fire finally caught up. I remember thinking that they’d follow us and I guess Loke thought the same thing. He told me to go out the window first but before I did he pulled me in, hugged me and told me that no matter what he was proud of me and that he loved me. Before I could even react he pushed me out of the window and by the time I gathered myself and looked up the fire was blocking the window. I ran back down to the street and tried to open the front door but the fire heated up the handles.” Jelani raised his left hand up with the palm out to show Angelus the burn scars and continued.

“I shot the door a few times and broke it open. I didn't care about the fire or the beasts or anything else. I just wanted to find him and get him out but Adam and Ginger were in the area and had seen the fire and ran to it, soon as they saw me trying to go back in they held me back. Tried to fight them off but they wouldn't let go, even after I told them my brother was in there they still wouldn't let go. Adam kept telling me Loke probably got out and like some naive fool I believed him. They dragged me back to Arax’s but as soon as the fire died down I ran back to look for him. There was no sign of Loke; I actually did believe he managed to get out in time and for a while I looked for him. I looked everywhere in Old Yharnam and all the nearby areas. After a few months of looking I stopped believing he made it out and then...well, I’m sure you've heard the rumors by now.”

“I’ll be honest; I tend to avoid rumors and gossip. They aren't exactly useful to me.” Angelus said as he looked directly at Jelani.

Jelani reached for another cigarette and held it between his fingers with his left hand. He held out his left arm and with his right hand pulled back his sleeve to reveal several scars across his wrist. For a moment Angelus stopped breathing as he looked at the scars and made sense of their specific placement. Once the realization of what the scars meant hit him he sighed as he closed his eyes but quickly looked back at Jelani with sympathetic eyes. He slowly reached out his hand and with the tip of his fingers gently brushed Jelani’s wrist as he leaned on his shoulder. Despite the irregularity of the surface he felt soft to the touch.

“I’m sorry.” Angelus whispered.

“Me too. When our parents died it did hurt but I still had my brother and I figured that as long as I had him everything would be okay. Then he died...worst of all was that the last thing Loke said to me was that he loved me and I didn't get to say it back.”

“He knows.”

Jelani nodded and sniffled as he reached into his pocket and took out his last match and last cigarette. He offered the cigarette to the Vileblood who eagerly took it after a shy and reserved thank you that made Jelani smile. The hunter then lit the match and his own cigarette but as he moved towards the Vileblood while covering the match it burned out.

“Faen…” Jelani cursed under his breath as he tossed the match behind him.

“That's okay.” Angelus reassured him as he turned to look to the door, “Maybe someone in there has some. I’ll be right---”

His sentence was cut short when Jelani grabbed him by the chin and pulled him towards him. While the cigarette was still in his mouth the hunter pressed the tip against the tip of the other cigarette to light it. With their faces so close the Vileblood quietly gasped but quickly let himself relax as he inhaled and let the smoke fill his lungs. The hunter chuckled as he pulled back and stood up while smiling at the Vileblood that was trying to hide his face so he wouldn't see him blushing.

“Uh...wait!” Angelus yelled out as he quickly stood up.

“Ja?” Jelani asked as he turned around to face him.

As soon as Angelus saw Jelani looking right at him and waiting for him to say what he wanted to say he looked sideways and began to fidget with his fingers as he usually did when he was nervous. He began to speak with a raspy whisper as he forced himself to say what he’d been dying to ask the hunter all day long. “Um, feel free to say no but maybe if you want we could team up for the next hunt. If it's okay with you, I mean---”

“Sure.”

“Great!” He flinched when he heard himself sound a little too excited and too loud and quickly dropped his shoulders while lowering his face as soon as he felt his cheeks warm up. He thought he must've sounded foolish as he blurted the response loudly and thought the hunter would either be annoyed or about to change his mind about teaming up with him. He was surprised to hear the hunter walking back up the steps. He was even more surprised when the hunter grabbed his hands, gently pulled the Vileblood towards him and kissed him on his right cheek.

“It's a date then.” Jelani said as he slightly bowed at the Vileblood while smiling. “Se deg rundt, Vileblood.”