#bramran

[saapphirx]

Finally doing some commissions!!

Ranpo and Bram taking their rest after the mess at the airport <3

[silvfyre-writings]

Pleasure and Pain (BSD Fanfic)

Crossposted from AO3 || NSFW

“You want me to… hurt you?” It sounds stupid to say it out loud because it’s obvious from the way that Ranpo looks seconds away from just giving up on the idea entirely, that he doesn’t actually want Bram to hurt him. He just wants him to… actually, Bram can’t say he understands what exactly it is that Ranpo’s asking of him. He’d only just woken up from his afternoon nap before being pounced on—quite literally—by his young lover.

The lover that is currently pouting at him from where he straddles Bram’s waist, already stripped of his clothes in lieu of asking for sex.

Which is usual because Edogawa Ranpo doesn’t ask, he demands.

“You aren’t listening!” Ranpo whines, shifting in a way that has Bram’s body reacting on its own. “I want you to fuck me, but I also want you treat me rough. Tie me up, bite me, and drain me dry, I know it’ll feel good.”

“Why?” Bram asks, more confused now.

“Why not?” Ranpo retorts. “It’s a bit of fun with someone I trust, and who knows; maybe you’ll discover something about yourself.”

Bram frowns. He knows himself plenty already.

“Not like that, idiot. I’m talking kinks and whatnot. You are the most vanilla man I have ever slept with, so give it a try and see if you like it. If you do, we can do it again.”

“And if I don’t…?”

Ranpo shrugs. “Then we try something else next time.”

Still, Bram is hesitant. He understands now what Ranpo is asking of him, but he’s not sure that he can follow through with it, nor is he sure he wants to. He knows, that the moment he says no, that Ranpo will stop and reevaluate the situation, which is the only reason why he hasn’t actually refused to indulge his younger lover.

“Alright.” Bram finally says. “Am I correct to assume you want to do this now?”

Ranpo’s answer is a kiss, lips pressing against his own as Ranpo grinds against him. Bram doesn’t hesitate to deepen the kiss, sitting up so he can tangle a hand into Ranpo’s hair to drag him closer. His other hand comes to rest on Ranpo’s hip, his nails dragging over the skin light enough to draw a shiver out of the younger.

“We need—” Ranpo presses a chaste kiss to Bram’s cheek before pulling back. “—a safe word.”

“What does that mean?” Bram asks as he tilts his head enough to let Ranpo lavish his neck in kisses and gentle touches.

“It means we decided on a word to use should either of us become uncomfortable. It essentially means to stop what we’re doing immediately and talk it over before continuing. Most people choose a word that they wouldn’t normally use during sex.”

Bram thinks for a moment. At first, he considers using the name of someone they both know, but then thinks that it might be kind of weird to do that. Then he tries to think of a word that he doesn’t use very often—of which there are a lot because as competent as he is in Japanese thanks to everyone at the Agency sitting down to teach him, he doesn’t know every word.

It clicks then.

“Cherry blossom.”

Ranpo nods approvingly. “Okay. Cherry blossoms it is.”

And so begins their usual dance in bed.

Bram is content to let Ranpo take the reins this time, relaxing underneath those beautifully smooth hands of his as they run up under his shirt and drag across his skin. He lets Ranpo pull his shirt off, pressing his lips to Ranpo’s own once the garment is discarded to the side to be dealt with later. He drags his nails down Ranpo’s own back, enjoying the shiver that follows, and he gently bites at the others lip; Ranpo parts his mouth a moment after.

This is the way their bouts of intimacy usually go; gentle touches and caresses as they worship each other’s bodies until it comes to the time for Bram to prep and slip inside of Ranpo. That’s when it becomes passion and pleasure, where they get lost in their desires as they climb higher and higher up the mountain in a desperate attempt to reach the climax that they both seek.

Only this time, the dynamic is changing.

Once they’ve danced around each other enough, Ranpo pulls away to grab the bag that he’d brought over with him, pulling out rope—that’s apparently specifically for sex which Bram didn’t know existed—before dumping the bag. It makes a sound as it hits the ground, which makes Bram believe there’s more in the bag, but he thinks the rope is plenty for now. He listens as Ranpo talks him through tying the knots, making sure that the rope is snug, but not too tight as to cut off circulation or too loose that Ranpo will just slip straight out of them. Bram ties Ranpo’s wrist to the bed, and then with some manoeuvring secures Ranpo’s ankles to the bed also.

Honestly it looks uncomfortable if you ask Bram.

But Ranpo looks content, staring at Bram with lustful eyes as his legs and arms rest beside his head, wiggling his hips as best he can to entice Bram into moving.

“Shouldn’t I prep you first?”

“The point is pain, Bram.” Ranpo whines, kicking his legs a little. “You can lube yourself up, but I want it rough.”

Bram frowns a little, but nods, brushing a stray strand of hair over his shoulder. “Okay…”

He’s slow as he slides in, and bites his lip as Ranpo tenses and clenches around him, pulling at his bindings as he instinctively tries to move away. There’s the slightest hint of pain on the younger’s face, one that makes Bram a bit uncomfortable, but as he bottoms out, it fades until Ranpo looks like he’s in bliss.

Ranpo once told him he was a masochist, but Bram hadn’t believed him.

Now he does.

“Hurry up and move!” Ranpo snaps, pushing his hips down even as his stomach is already visibly bulging—Bram didn’t think he could get deeper if he tried to, yet Ranpo seemed determined to swallow his entire body with his own.

The first thrust brings about a grunt, and Bram finds himself wincing a little—no wonder the previous times, Ranpo insisted on a copious amount of lube.

The second comes easier.

By the fifth thrust, Bram finds it easier to slide in and out, and starts to build up a rhythm. He starts off steady, but quickly begins to lose himself listening to Ranpo’s cries and moans. Along with the way that Ranpo keeps tensing around him, it doesn’t take long for that feeling of pleasure to pool in his stomach, and even less for him to spill inside of his lover.

Ranpo grimaces at the feeling. “Wow, okay, you didn’t last long there, did you?”

“Shut up.” Bram growls, feeling a little more confident as he slowly thrusts to regain his hardness. He leans over Ranpo and presses his fangs against his neck in that soft spot where neck and shoulder meet, threatening to bite but not yet doing it. “It felt good.”

“So it doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’m tied up for you to use as you please?” Ranpo grins, pulling at his restraints to prove his point.

Bram reaches a hand between him and grabs at Ranpo’s dick, stroking it slowly, thumbing over the head as it begins to leak over his hand. “You beg me to fill you up normally, this is no different.”

“Well then, stop treating me like your dainty prince and fuck me hard already.”

“As you wish.”

It’s easier to move inside, now that his cum is inside of Ranpo, and that allows Bram to build up a much more brutal pace than before. He snaps his hips forward, over and over, watching as Ranpo shifts up the bed with each thrust. Bram lets go of Ranpo’s dick at some point to rake his nails all over Ranpo’s back, leaving marks that will take days to fade. He listens as Ranpo pulls and shifts away, eyes squeezed shut, but unable to escape the pleasure that he’s being given.

He cums once, yet Bram doesn’t stop.

Instead, he bites down. Hard.

Blood fills his mouth as Ranpo cries out, and Bram drinks in time with every thrust, savouring the sweet taste of his lover’s blood as it flows over his tongue. He’s always held a fondness for Ranpo’s blood, ever since the first time he drank it. There’s a sweetness to it caused by the amount of sweets that the younger consumes, thick as it flows easily from the wounds he creates. Usually, whenever he drinks from Ranpo, Bram will find himself being pressed as close as possible, arms encircling his head, but now, since Ranpo is tied up, it’s up to him to pull Ranpo closer.

So he does.

His thrusts stutter as he digs his nails in harder, biting down harder, losing himself in the delicious meal he’s been offered.

It feels good, so so good, and Bram understands why Ranpo finds this pleasurable now.

He thrusts harder, more determined, and Ranpo cums again, spattering the both of them with his release, and Bram follows suit a few thrusts later.

But he doesn’t stop.

He can’t.

He stops when Ranpo lets out a cry and jerks violently beneath him.

Brams pulls away in an instant, ripping himself out of Ranpo, which drags another cry of what can only be pain, and scrambles to the edge of the bed. Adrenaline courses through him as Bram tries to figure out what caused Ranpo to cry out like that, and that’s when he sees the blood on his fingertips, a couple of droplets running down his fingers as he stares at them, shocked and terrified. Gone is the pleasure that he’d just been indulged in—he knew this was a terrible idea, he knew that it wasn’t worth the risk of hurting Ranpo. Yet here he was, a failure because he’d done just that; hurt the man he loved because he couldn’t control himself. There’s a ringing in his ears as he stares at the blood, and normally, normally, the sight of blood doesn’t unnerve him.

He’s a vampire after all, it’s something he deals with on a regular basis.

But there’s a difference between drinking blood to sustain himself, and drawing blood by hurting someone he cares for.

“—am!”

He’s a failure of a partner, a monster, only good for bringing pain and destruction like everyone in his life had told him time and time again. He hadn’t listened though, determined to prove them wrong.

“Bram!”

Bram lifts his head, looking into bright green eyes that are tinged with pain.

Guilt runs through him, replacing the adrenaline.

“Cherry blossom.”

Bram blinks, confused why Ranpo’s—oh right, the safe word. He’s still confused why Ranpo’s saying it now, when the damage is already done and he’s already been hurt.

But then he remembers, that it’s a sign that the play is supposed to end when the word is said, and that Ranpo is still tied to the bed, so with shaking hands, Bram shuffles forward to undo the knots that are keeping Ranpo folded in half, before retreating off the bed entirely. He slides down to the floor at the end of the bed, misery coursing through him, and he curls in on himself in an attempt to hide.

“Bram…” Ranpo’s voice breaks through his thoughts, and gentle hands touch his cheeks.

He raises his head, staring through blurry eyes as his lover kneels in front of him.

“There you are.” Ranpo smiles softly at him, and leans forward to press their heads together. “It’s okay—”

“I hurt you.” Bram blurts out, feeling even more guilty that he interrupted his lover. He doesn’t deserve the kindness that Ranpo’s giving him, the gentleness of the touches he’s offered.

“You didn’t.” Ranpo affirms.

Bram pushes Ranpo away slightly, just enough that he can raise his hands to show the blood. “I did.”

“Just a few scratches, nothing that won’t heal after a good clean.” Ranpo says, reaching out to take Bram’s hands into his own. He raises one and places a kiss against the back of it. “You didn’t hurt me, Bram.”

Bram shakes his head. He did, he did, and he needs Ranpo to understand that what he did isn’t okay, yet every time he tries to pull away, Ranpo holds firm, refusing to let him do so. He’s starting to feel stressed, can feel his emotions boiling away and threatening to spill over.

Another kiss is given to him, this time, against his forehead. “I’ll clean us up, okay?”

“No, I can—”

“Bram, it’s okay.” Ranpo interrupts, smoothing his cheek with a hand. “You are feeling a lot right now, so it’s okay if you sit there and take a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Bram nods, and watches as Ranpo stands and turns to head to the bathroom.

Then he freezes.

Because there are gouges in Ranpo’s back, blood trickling down the skin there. Gouges caused by him.

Tears well in his eyes, thoughts of how he’s a terrible person and a monster swirling through his mind as he stares at them. He did that, he created those wounds, wounds that look painful and that are bleeding freely. He’s a monster, he never should’ve believed that he would be capable of love and affection. Breathing is hard now; he feels like he’s being choked, like there is an invisible rope cutting off his air, and he doesn’t like it. He’s never felt this way before and he knows it’s because of what he did, what he should never have agreed to in the first place.

Arms wrap around his head, and he feels himself tugged against smooth skin, a heartbeat sounding steadily beneath his ear.

He breathes.

“It’s okay.” Ranpo soothes, running a hand through Bram’s hair. “What you feel is normal, and you’ll be okay.”

Bram feels a few tears run down his cheeks. “I do not like this.”

“I know. It’s okay, though.” Ranpo moves to sit beside him on the floor, opening his arms, and Bram doesn’t hesitate to throw himself into the embrace. Immediately, Ranpo pulls him close, holding him with one hand. The other tugs the blanket off of the bed and drapes it over him.

He should say something about the mess that not cleaning up will leave, but Bram can’t bring himself to do anything about it either. He just sits there, curling up against Ranpo’s chest.

“I’m sorry.” He says.

“It’s fine.” Ranpo rests his cheek against the top of Bram’s head. “I enjoyed it.”

At least one of them did. But he has to say it. “I did not. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. This is what experimenting means. But don’t stress yourself out about it, just take a moment to relax and breathe. Cry a little if it makes you feel better.”

Bram nods and just does that. It’s not often that he allows himself to lose control of his emotions, but he feels as if this is one time that he can without being judged for it. He turns to bury his face into Ranpo’s chest, winding his arms around the other to clutch at his shoulders, and he just cries.

Ranpo doesn’t say a word as he does, holding him in silence and running a hand up and down his back to soothe him.

He knows that afterwards, things will be fine, and that they’ll clean each other up and go to sleep in each other’s arms, but for now, things aren’t okay.

And that’s okay.

[erosauriarts]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Edogawa Ranpo/Bram Stoker (Bungou Stray Dogs) Characters: Bram Stoker (Bungou Stray Dogs), Edogawa Ranpo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Koda Aya (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Cute, Fluffy, Bram is unironically really cute; this was not my intentions., Bram talks about his past a bit, No beta we die like bram's daughter., Smart people talk, but im kinda dumb, Poor bram bram is kinda ignorant, Mentions Kunikida, First Dates, They don't know it's a date at first., One Shot, Rare Pairings Summary:

Bram needs guidance to help him adjust to the world. Ranpo had offer to step in and show him a few things. After some conversation; it seems they find each other interesting.

[zukkaoru]

HELLO

- nikonathan

- fyozai

- fyonikonathan

- fukurotsu

- fyolai

- fyoran

- brampo

i hope that's not too many lmfao

okay for fyozai i couldn't pick where to put it. because on one hand, i get it. they're two sides of the same coin, they understand each other, they complement each other terribly, etc, etc i get it. i do. but on the other hand. it just doesn't fit with dazai's character development in my mind.

anyway fyoran compels me mostly bc i just want to see them tear each other apart. bramran compels me slightly bc i think ranpo would be into the vampire thing but i also do like aro bram so. i'm not sure bram would be interested back. rip

[realactualblackbeard]

okay so far there's just one but still did I call it or did I call it

watched the latest ms marvel episode and literally TWO MINUTES of screen time have made me believe there will be at least 5 kamran/bruno fics by tomorrow.

[saapphirx]

I haven't completely abandoned digital art (kinda a lie)

[saapphirx]

10 ships thingy from twitter <3

[saapphirx]

They're so dumb look at them

[silvfyre-writings]

You get a nap, and you get a nap (BSD Fanfic)

Crossposted from AO3

Kunikida isn’t sure what to make of the newest addition to the Agency rota, not that he was ever given an opportunity to say anything negative about it to begin with. Not that he would’ve dared in the first place considering it’s Ranpo that’s involved in the situation. Well, more like it’s Ranpo that’s orchestrated this whole thing to favour himself like he always does, without caring what others might think of it in the first place.

Still, the young girl that he saved down in the train tunnels all those weeks ago insists that there is nothing malicious about her new vampire bodyguard, and well, Aya has quickly made a reputation for being stubborn and refusing to take no for an answer—like a certain older detective if he’s making comparisons—so he lets the fact that Bram Stoker, former enemy now turned tentative ally, is making the Agency his new home, slide.

Now, Kunikida knows for a fact that Bram has a dorm that he can stay at, because one of the first things that Ranpo announced after the very near end of the world was that Bram and Aya would be staying under the Agency’s guidance, and he wouldn’t hear anything against it. Not that anyone would ever dare to try and tell Ranpo no, not without unknown consequences befalling them.

Unknown, because no one’s ever dared to try in the first place.

What Kunikida doesn’t understand, however, is why Bram comes to the Agency to sleep instead of staying at the dorm. Even Aya, who has school and her own life, only ever stops by every few days or so—which Kunikida doesn’t mind in the slightest, because she’s a bright young girl who’s willing to learn, and he is nothing if not an educator. But Bram? The vampire will arrive in the morning with Ranpo, head straight to the couch and just take a nap with headphones on.

It’s starting to drive him insane, because surely, surely, there is something that Bram could be doing? Kunikida understands the need to rest, he does, and from what he’s heard about Bram’s life so far, it sounds like he’s in sore need of it. The main issue that he has with this is that Bram’s frequent sleeps—not naps, for the man sleeps the entire time they’re all working—means that one of the couches is always occupied, which isn’t ideal for the clients that seek them out for a job.

As if Bram’s mere presence doesn’t already unnerve clients.

“Kunikida-kun! If you keep frowning like that, you’ll scare all the beautiful women!” Dazai chirps, throwing his body into Kunikida’s personal space like he isn’t the next biggest nuisance.

“Dazai, I am warning you now, to get off my desk.” Kunikida says, eye twitching.

“Hmmm, warning considered.”

Kunikida takes a breath, patience waning, not just because Dazai has chosen now to be a pest, but because he hasn’t been able to do any work for the past several minutes, and he’s starting to fall behind in his schedule which is completely unacceptable. “Dazai—”

“What is it that’s caught your eye, Kunikida-kun…” Dazai doesn’t listen at all as he turns his head to see just what exactly it is that his work partner is staring at. “Oh, I see, has our resident vampire caught your attention?”

He feels his face burn in embarrassment. “That is not at all true!”

“There, there, Kunikida-kun, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, Bram-san is a very attractive person—”

“I am not attracted to—”

“Unfortunately, he’s taken already, but if you need a drinking buddy to drown your heartbreak with, I’m more than happy to join!”

Wait—what? “What?” Kunikida says before he even fully understands just what it is that Dazai’s told him, and when it does finally click, he swivels his head to stare at the other. “What do you mean, taken?”

Dazai blinks, perplexed at the question. “What are you confused about, Kunikida-kun? More importantly, what rock have you been living under? Bram-san’s been taken by Ranpo-san.”

Kunikida feels the oncoming migraine and rubs at his forehead. The vampire and his senior? Surely not.

But sure enough, it becomes obvious that something is going on when Ranpo gets up from his desk and makes his way over to the couch that Bram occupies with a yawn. His senior reaches up to pull his hat and tie off in one motion, discarding them on the floor like this is apartment instead of his workplace, and then Kunikida watches with wide eyes, as Ranpo crawls onto the couch that Bram is sleeping on, dragging the hood of his cape over his face as he curls up in Bram’s lap.

Kunikida doesn’t think it can get anymore damning when it does; Bram’s crimson eyes flicking open just long enough for him to notice the extra presence on the couch in front of him. They slip shut a moment later, but then the vampire turns a little to the side, providing a barrier so that Ranpo won’t fall off the couch, and further wrapping his arms around Ranpo’s waist, holding him very much like a lover would.

“See.” Dazai says, a smirk on his face. “I told you they were a thing.”

If there’s one thing Yosano doesn’t like about her job, it’s when she gets forced to pay house calls to her colleagues. Because it means, that even with her ability, it’s still not enough for the persons body, and they need further rest to heal from whatever injury they’ve sustained. Last time, it was Kenji, after a truck crashed through the restaurant that the boy was eating at, in which only Kenji was injured because he shielded everybody else, and it’d taken a month before he’d been able to come back to the Agency.

Now, though?

Now she’s on her way to pay a visit to her oldest friend, the person who dragged her from the abyss of her own mind and gave a new meaning to the life that she’d long accepted was over. It’s not often that Ranpo gets injured, and most of the time, he’ll take care of it himself, but surviving a bombing wasn’t exactly the kind of injury that one could survive. What’s even worse was that Ranpo wasn’t even working a case when he got hurt; he’d been out on a date.

She’ll never forget the way her heart skipped a beat when Bram rushed into the infirmary that day, Ranpo bundled up in the vampire’s coat and barely clinging to life.

Yosano healed him with no hesitation—this was Ranpo for god’s sake, of course she would heal him—but it hadn’t been enough. Comatose for a week, and then bedridden for another before she finally felt comfortable letting him go home, under the promise that he would have someone with him to keep watch just in case something went wrong. And of course, Bram had volunteered immediately, which Yosano finds extremely adorable. The way that he and Ranpo have formed their relationship has been well worth it; Ranpo is happier than he has ever been, and Bram is having an easier time fitting in with the Agency, even though he’s not working for them.

It's good, it means that the world is healing slowly, and after everything they all just went through, it’s very much needed.

It doesn’t take long for Yosano to make her way to Ranpo’s apartment—thank god Fukuzawa made sure that the dorms were close to the Agency when he purchased them—and she climbs the stairs, heading straight towards the dorm at the very end of the complex. Yosano’s not exactly sure why Ranpo wanted this particular apartment, but she doesn’t question the decision when it means she doesn’t have to think about which dorm is her friends and which is someone else’s.

Something that has very much happened over the years.

Once she’s in front of the door, she knocks on the door, deciding just this once to not simply barge in like she usually would. But just this once.

And now, the wait.

It takes a few minutes and another series of knocks before Yosano finally hears shuffling behind the door, and a second later, it cracks open, a crimson eye peering through the gap down at her. As always, it’s immediately unnerving to be under the gaze, not only because Bram is very good at intimidating everyone around him, but he has the height to make it even worse. Lucky for her though, that she’s long become immune to that; being under Fukuzawa’s care will do that to someone.

“May I come in, Bram? I’m here to check on Ranpo.” Yosano asks, a polite smile on her face. As enamoured as Ranpo is with the vampire, she still hasn’t forgotten that he was part of the reason why their lives were hell for so long. But she tries. Because Ranpo asked it of her.

“Yosano-sensei…” Bram’s voice echoes, deep and very much soothing. The vampire steps back and opens the door you to enter. “You are always welcome. Ranpo is asleep right now.”

Now that Bram mentions it, Yosano can see the tell-tale signs of her interrupting a nap, eyes that are struggling to stay open, and a sluggish pace as he follows behind her. Clearly, he’s on autopilot, and she’s proven correct when they step into the living space and Bram heads straight back to the couch where Ranpo lay; still asleep.

Yosano’s mouth twitches in amusement as she watches the delicate way in which Bram squeezes back underneath Ranpo, shifting so little until he’s comfortable that it doesn’t look like he’s moved at all. It’s honestly quite impressive.

“I might end up waking him, is that going to cause a problem?” Yosano asks before Bram can simply dive back into dreamland.

Bram blinks slowly, brow furrowing just slightly before he shakes his head. “Do what you must, but try not to wake him. He was a little feverish this morning so he is tired.”

Alarm bells ring in Yosano’s mind. “Feverish? Have you given him anything for it?”

“I called Fukuzawa-san to ask him what to do.” Bram says, raising an arm and gesturing to the kitchen table where a bunch of medications rest, most of which Yosano prescribed, but there’s a singular box sitting there that she knows didn’t come from her. “He suggested fever-reducers if it was not a bad fever, which it was not—” A yawn interrupts Bram’s words. “—he has had one dose, and the fever has not returned since.”

Yosano lets out a hum. A small fever is common with healing injuries, but it’s not usual this late into the game, so she’s a little concerned. There’s a number of reasons why Ranpo could’ve had a fever that morning, from it being stress, to an illness, and ideally, she’d like to avoid either option.

“Alright.” She says, dragging the coffee table closer to the couch so that she can sit on it. “I’ll be as quick as I can, so you can go back to sleep, Bram.”

Bram hums, but doesn’t say anything more as he closes his eyes, head dipping slightly as he falls back to sleep almost immediately.

A skill that the entire Agency would die to have honestly, she’s jealous.

But now that Bram’s asleep, it means she can give Ranpo a checkup without having a tall, menacing, vampire looming over her shoulder.

Like he had when the accident happened.

Ranpo’s arms are still wrapped in bandages, the burns underneath them healing steadily. She’s gentle as she takes each arm, unwraps the bandages and gives the injury a gentle wash before wrapping them up again. Miraculously, Ranpo sleeps through the whole thing, but those are the easy injuries. It’s the ones she can’t see that were the deadliest, because even with her healing ability, they were still only partially healed.

Yosano reaches up to unbutton Ranpo’s shirt, freezing when he sucks in a breath. Stay asleep, stay asleep, stay—

“…sano?” Ranpo blinks tiredly as he’s dragged back into the waking world.

—asleep. Damn it.

“Just checking you over, idiot.” Yosano says, continuing her previous action at a faster pace since there’s no longer a reason for her to be quiet. “How’re you feeling?”

Ranpo grunts. “Tired. The usual.”

The usual being: a little bit of pain mixed with a feeling of heaviness.

“Well, your arms are doing good, and it looks like your chest is as well. How’s your head?”

“Fine. Can I go back to sleep?”

“Once I’m done. I won’t be long.” Yosano speeds up her process, deeming the injuries on Ranpo’s chest to be fine and not in need of any extra attention, and rebuttons his shirt so that he doesn’t have to. Next comes checking Ranpo’s vitals, which is an easy enough process to do, considering Ranpo doesn’t feel like moving in the slightest to try and resist her like he normally would.

Satisfied with the results, Yosano packs up her equipment and ruffles Ranpo’s hair gently. “Alright sleeping beauty, you’re doing good. Come by the office once you’re able, and I’ll check you again.”

“Yep, got it, bye-bye…” Ranpo shoos her with a single wave of his head, rolling onto his side where he somehow becomes lodged between Bram and the couch.

“Sleep well, sleeping beauty.” Yosano says as she leaves, but not before she gets to witness Ranpo snuggle into Bram’s side.

How adorable.

“Ranpo-san, what are you doing?” Atsushi asks, curious as to the scene he’s stumbled upon, because it’s certainly not like anything he’s witnessed before in the building—and he’s witnessed some strange stuff before. From the looks of it, Ranpo appears to be… braiding Bram’s hair, the vampire dead asleep with his head in Ranpo’s lap as his senior stretches out on the couch, fingers meticulously moving through the long silver locks, repeatedly threading them together like its mere muscle memory for him. It’s certainly a strange thing to see from Ranpo of all people.

The only reason Atsushi even stopped in the first place is because of the relaxed look on Ranpo’s face.

Oh, and the fact that he’s a little curious about the stranger that Ranpo’s talking to, an older man in a white dress shirt with what would be a youthful face if not for the stress and age lines marring his face.

Ranpo pauses in whatever it was that he was saying to the stranger to look up at Atsushi, frowning. “Talking with Yasui-san? Is there something wrong with that, Atsushi-kun?”

“No, no, no, not at all!” Atsushi says quickly, not wanting to upset Ranpo first thing in the morning, because then the rest of his shift will become a living hell. “But what I meant is, what are you doing to Bram?”

“I’m braiding his hair, what else do you think it is I’m doing?” Ranpo questions, and then continues before Atsushi can even respond. “Oh, you meant to ask why. Why not? Bram doesn’t mind, he likes having his hair played with.”

“O-Oh, I see. I didn’t know you knew how to braid hair.” It’s strange to think that I all the months that he’s been at the Agency, that he doesn’t actually know a lot about Ranpo, so to learn something new is just… well, it’s strange. Even more so that Ranpo is openly sharing information.

Kunikida once told him that trying to get Ranpo to talk about personal things was like pulling teeth; you either gave up or left it to Fukuzawa.

“Eh? Of course I know how to braid hair, the President taught me.”

He did? Well Atsushi certainly hadn’t expected that response. “That was… nice of him.”

“Well, I had to learn, because Yosano wanted her hair braided, but she couldn’t do it herself at the time, and Fukuzawa-san was the only other person available. I’m pretty sure he just watched a video to teach himself before he taught me, but it worked, so I don’t care. Why do you ask, Atsushi? Want me to braid your hair? I’ll do it, but—”

“Ranpo.” The stranger, which must be the Yasui that Ranpo mentioned, and Atsushi realises isn’t a stranger, but the police commissioner that Minoura told them about on his first case with Ranpo, interrupts his senior. Both Atsushi and Ranpo freeze, but for entirely different reasons. “Can you focus so I can leave, please?”

“Wow, bored of me already, Yasui-san? You’re breaking my heart.” Ranpo crows, dramatically falling back against the arm of the couch with an arm over his face.

“We already scheduled lunch for later. So unless you want to do this then, you’ll do it now.” Yasui says, completely unbothered by Ranpo’s antics.

Which is honestly impressive to Atsushi. Most people he knows will give in to Ranpo’s demands in an instant just to make life easier for themselves, yet here’s this man, the police commissioner of all people, making a demand of Ranpo like it’s something he’s always done. Admittedly, he’s a little curious.

“Can I help with anything?” Atsushi asks.

“Yes.” Ranpo says.

“No.” Yasui says in return before turning towards Atsushi with a gentle look on his face. “Appreciate the offer, kid, but this is paperwork that Ranpo needs to fill out. Involving his vampire boyfriend.”

Ranpo pouts. “Fukuzawa-san could’ve done it.”

“Fukuzawa-san told me to make sure you do it since it’s your boyfriend.”

“What, jealous now? You had your chance, Yasui-san, and you turned me down.”

“And I still stand by that decision. Besides, you’re happy with Stoker-san.”

Atsushi very much wants to escape this conversation right now, especially since Ranpo uses Yasui’s words as an opportunity to launch into a very… personal story about him and Bram. One that Atsushi doesn’t particularly care if he overhears, but he would prefer not to hear it at work. And from the look on Yasui’s face, he’s simply resigned himself to the fact that he’s going to be spending the entire day at the Agency regardless of whether he wanted to or not.

“I think I hear Kunikida-san, um, have fun with the paperwork, Ranpo-san. Bye.” Atsushi doesn’t even wait for a response as he flees back to his desk, sliding into his chair where both Dazai and Kunikida look at him sympathetically.

“You aren’t the first to hear such a conversation, Atsushi.” Kunikida says, pushing his glasses up with a finger.

“And believe us when we say that it’s been happening for years.” Dazai chimes in with a knowing grin on his face. “Ranpo-san is very promiscuous after all.”

“Dazai!”

“What? I’m not lying, Kunikida-kun. Want me to name everyone that Ranpo-san’s slept with since we worked here?”

Kunikida deflates with a sigh. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll talk to him again later when he’s finished with his current business about appropriate conversations for the workplace.”

Atsushi glances over in the direction of the senior detective and the police commissioner, observing the way that Ranpo is still chattering away with a content expression, hands weaving another braid into Bram’s hair as he sleeps. As childish and inappropriate as Ranpo can be sometimes, it is sweet to see him so happy with the one he loves. And if it sometimes means hearing about the more… intimate sides to their strangely formed relationship, then Atsushi finds he doesn’t mind.

Too much that is.

If you had told Fukuzawa that one day, he’d find the teenage genius that he’d taken in would one day settle down with someone and stay, he’d actually consider laughing.

Because if there was one undeniable fact about Ranpo, it was that if he deemed someone attractive, that was it; he would flirt and tease and manipulate until he got into that person’s pants. It was almost exclusively men that Ranpo would chase after, and the person was always older—Fukuzawa’s not too sure if that’s something he should’ve been concerned about, or if it’s just simply just who Ranpo is attracted to. He’s about ten years too late to ask anyway, and he also doesn’t care who Ranpo sleeps with in his spare time.

One might ask how Fukuzawa knows this.

Well, as it turns out, Ranpo was rather vocal about his adventures, especially since, for a time, Fukuzawa was the only adult in his life that he trusted.

And while he did start to hear less of it as the years went by and Ranpo got older, he also didn’t. Because as the Agency grew in size, and more and more people joined, somewhere along the line, Ranpo decided to try his luck with the new employees.

Which worked, but it also came with the unfortunate side effect that the people Ranpo chose to sleep with would come to him to complain when Ranpo decided it was just a one-time thing—which it always was, and he couldn’t understand how his employees hadn’t figured that out already. It wasn’t like Ranpo hid his nature and his expectations; he wasn’t the kind of person to string someone along and toy with their if they didn’t interest him or want to be treated like that, unless they were an asshole about it, and then he would make their life hell.

Fukuzawa can attest to that a few times in their years of operations.

Still, it got to the point where Fukuzawa had to pull Ranpo to the side and tell him to stop sleeping with the employee’s just so that the complaints would stop.

He still isn’t sure if Ranpo actually did ever stop, but the complaints sure did, so he never brought it up again.

So with knowing that about Ranpo, he is admittedly, surprised, when Yosano swings by and mentions that Ranpo’s got himself a boyfriend.

At first, he’s proud, because he’s looked after Ranpo for thirteen years now, and it’s always a proud moment when someone you care for takes an important step in life.

But then he’s concerned, because Yosano then tells him that it’s Bram Stoker that Ranpo’s chosen as his partner, and whilst he knows that Ranpo managed to convince the vampire to switch sides in the end, there’s no denying that Bram Stoker was once their enemy.

And as the president of the Agency, and Ranpo’s former guardian, he just wants to make sure that Ranpo is safe and not in danger.

So he schedules lunch. At Ranpo’s dorm, because even though Ranpo owns an apartment elsewhere like himself, he wanted a dorm the moment that Fukuzawa mentioned he was considering buying them. At first, the scheduled lunch is set for the weekend, but it happens during the week instead, when Ranpo calls out of work claiming that he’s unwell—which isn’t uncommon.

Ranpo’s also called out for less over the years.

It’s no bother to Fukuzawa though, he simply says he’ll bring something over for him at lunch, which is when Ranpo lets slip that he’s not alone, asking Fukuzawa to bring two portions because Bram is with him.

Fukuzawa agrees, and refrains from speaking what’s on his mind as he hangs up.

Whilst Ranpo has called out for a wide variety of reasons, he’s hoping that he didn’t call out today just to have sex with Bram.

He wouldn’t be surprised, but he’s hoping.

Ranpo’s dorm is unlocked when Fukuzawa arrives, a plastic bag in arm with three servings of curry inside from Ranpo’s favourite curry place, so Fukuzawa pushes the door open and steps inside, letting the door swing shut behind him. “Ranpo?”

“Over here, Fukuzawa-san!” The call comes from the direction of Ranpo’s bedroom, although it’s hard to understand the words through the congestion that’s attached to the voice.

Ranpo is most certainly sick.

Fukuzawa walks down the short hall until he reaches the bedroom and stands in the doorway, and the first thing he notices, is the lack of mess. In fact, it’s extremely clean in the dorm, like it’s just been cleaned. It’s strange to witness after all the years he spent cleaning up after the genius detective.

And speaking of Ranpo…

He’s on the other side of the room, futon pushed up against the wall with a mountain of pillows for him to rest against. He’s smiling at Fukuzawa with puffy eyes and a redness to his face, but as it turns out, he’s not alone in the futon. Bram’s there as well, fast asleep between Ranpo’s legs, head resting against Ranpo’s stomach, and an arm draped over his thigh. A closer look shows that Bram too, is sick, with the same puffiness and redness to his face as his lover.

“Is that curry?” Ranpo asks, making grabbing motions for the bag, leaning forward as far as he can without disturbing Bram.

“It is. Can you even smell it?” Fukuzawa hands the bag over and kneels beside the futon.

“Not at all, but I recognised the Bram.” Ranpo pulls out the containers, handing one over to Fukuzawa and placing his own on the floor before he ties the bag.

Fukuzawa blinks. “You aren’t going to wake Bram?”

“He just fell asleep before you arrived, so no. I’ll reheat it later for him.” Ranpo throws a grin up at Fukuzawa. “Bet you never thought you’d see me taking care of someone did ya?”

“I did not, although I am proud of you for doing so.” Fukuzawa gives a soft smile. “The two of you are doing well?”

“Yeah, aside from this cold of course. I don’t like being sick.”

“No one does, Ranpo.”

“Well, I absolutely hate it. You can’t do anything! And even worse, is that I gave my cold to Bram, too. Apparently if he drinks my blood when I’m sick, it gives him whatever illness I’ve got.”

Fukuzawa doesn’t even begin to try and believe he understands the situation. Mostly because his mind keeps picturing Ranpo has some blood bag for Bram, and he doesn’t quite know how to feel about that. Just knowing that Ranpo regularly lets Bram bite and feed off of him is enough—he’s almost certain that more happens, but that is not a bridge he is willing to cross.

So he decides a change in topic is the best path forward. “I have noticed that he sleeps a lot.”

“Bram? Well, duh, of course he does. He’s been just a head for over a decade, and been forced to use his ability to turn and control a large scale of vampires. You’d be tired too! Also, he’s a vampire, so daytime naps are kinda his thing.”

Fukuzawa hums, and opens his curry to start eating it, inclining his head towards Ranpo for him to do the same. “I see, well may this rest prove fruitful to him.”

“It will. He’ll be awake and active in no time! Now, tell me if any interesting cases have come through.”

The morning had been busy at the Agency, so Fukuzawa begins to tell Ranpo about everything he’s missed in those few hours, and surprisingly, it’s a lot.

It reminds him of the early days of the Agency, when he and Ranpo would sit down for a meal and Ranpo would excitedly tell him about all the cases he worked on that day. It’s almost exactly the same, except it’s him telling Ranpo about work, and Ranpo is listening attentively, with one hand running through his lover’s hair.

Dazai finds it funny that no one at the office has noticed the interesting new pattern that’s developed recently—although, he’s not actually surprised, because his co-workers aren’t very good at noticing things that aren’t supposed to be common knowledge. Nothing fails to get by him though, not after the years he spent in the Port Mafia making sure that he knew everything that went on in that building.

What is this pattern, you might ask?

Well, it’s the fact that before the naps that Ranpo and Bram take together on the Agency couch, the two of them disappear for approximately fifteen minutes—sometimes it’s a little longer, and sometimes it’s a little less, but it’s always around that amount of time—before Ranpo returns and sits at his desk, making it appear that he’s working when he absolutely isn’t. And then, always a few minutes after, Bram will return and crash on the couch, falling asleep in seconds before anyone can even question where he went.

It gives the illusion that Bram spends his entire day at the Agency just sleeping away, but Dazai knows better.

He’s also got a plan up his sleeve that will be executed in just a few minutes.

And sure enough, Bram and Ranpo, who have been standing at Ranpo’s desk and quietly talking, slink out the door together, hand in hand. It’s cute, and Dazai truly is happy for Ranpo that he’s found someone to love and that will love him, but if there’s one thing he’s known for, it’s causing a little bit of mayhem.

Dazai waits five minutes before he gets up and follows the two lovers out the door, taking just a few seconds to figure out which direction to go before turning left and heading towards the stairs. If there was one place in the building you wanted to go and not be disturbed, it’d be the empty third floor, good for nothing except as extra storage space. It doesn’t take him long to get there, and when he does, he grins as he hears groaning noises coming from behind one of the closed doors.

Bingo.

In an instant, Dazai is in front of the door and flinging it open with a massive grin on his face. “So what are you two lovebirds up to, huh?”

His question goes unanswered at first, which is expected, because Ranpo’s a little occupied with having Bram’s fangs in his neck, the vampire’s hands running down his bare chest towards the line of his pants. The room reeks of the scent of blood as some of it escapes Bram’s mouth, running down Ranpo’s neck and chest—a lot of blood for two small wounds, Dazai thinks.

“Dazai.” Ranpo glares at him as he curls a fist into Bram’s hair. There’s a blissed out look to his face that he’s clearly trying to fight off just to keep that glare focused on him. “Fuck off.”

“And why should I? You’re supposed to be working too you know.”

“Be—cause.” Ranpo drags the word out as Bram digs his fangs in a little deeper. “I’ll make sure the rest of your days here are spent in misery.”

It’s not a threat, but a promise, and a valid one at that. Dazai hesitates just a little, because Ranpo is nothing if not vengeful when he’s pissed off, but his stubborn side keeps him going. “Aww, don’t be like that, Ranpo-san, whatever would Fukuzawa-san say if he found out.”

Ranpo’s eyes narrow—a win for him.

“I’m sure he already suspects something is going on.” Dazai continues. “If he finds out you’re doing this in the Agency building, he might just ban Bram-san from it, especially since he doesn’t actually work for us.”

“Dazai-kun.” Bram rips away from Ranpo’s neck, dragging a quiet whimper from the other man, as he swings his head around to fixate glowing eyes on him. “If you don’t leave right now, I will drain you dry. And that is a promise.”

“Ugh, alright, fine! You two are no fun.” Dazai sighs as he turns to leave the room. He doesn’t want to see what happens next anyway, but he silently hopes that once they’re done, Ranpo limps.

It’ll be worth the misery that’ll follow just to embarrass Ranpo for a change.

[silvfyre-writings]

Not Such a Simple Tale Pt. 5 (BSD Fanfic)

I have absolutely no memory of writing this chapter, but I did in fact, write it, so I hope you enjoy the bramran!!!

Word Count: 5112

Pain.

That’s all Ranpo feels right now.

But it’s not a bad pain. Not this time.

“You are doing good.” Bram says approvingly, hands curled around Ranpo’s arm to provide a firm grip as the two of them walk around the bedroom—well, Ranpo stumbling more so than walking but he’s doing better than the last time they tried this so he’ll take it. Bram’s hands are warm where they hold him, sturdy and stable and absolutely the only things keeping him up right now.

Ranpo lets out a concentrated grunt, forcing his leg to actually lift up and move instead of drag. He’s rewarded when it actually obeys him, although it’s clear he still has a long way to go as putting his foot down in a way that doesn’t make his ankle also roll is not how he’d like to be walking. He lifts the other leg. “I can do better.”

“You already are.” Bram says. “Remember not to push yourself too far, lest you backtrack your progress.”

“Bram.”

“Yes, Ranpo?”

“Shut up and let me concentrate.” Ranpo grumbles, pausing to wipe the sweat beading his brow against his arm. Who would’ve thought that relearning to walk would take so much effort? That’s what he gets for surviving his near-death experience, he figures, wishing a little that he hadn’t just so he wouldn’t have to go through this ridiculous healing process. But he was tired of having to be carried around, so if he wanted to get around on his own two feet, he had to push through the pain and actually heal.

It would help if he had a doctor treating him, but so far, Bram hadn’t had much luck in finding one, so the fellow king and Melville had taken it upon themselves to try and help him with what knowledge they had stored in their memories. He’d been curious as to why they were struggling to find a doctor to help him—after all, it wasn’t like he’d been short on doctors in his own country—and that was when he got a brief history lesson on Bram’s vampire kingdom; specifically, the last war with Ranpo’s own, a couple of centuries before he’d even been born.

And by brief, he meant several hours.

There was a lot of history to go through.

It was all fascinating stuff, and Ranpo felt the strong urge to learn as much as he could, but now wasn’t the time for idle chatter. He had to focus all his effort on healing so that he could partake in whatever plan Bram’s council came up with so that he could fight to take his country back from Dazai. After the meeting. Bram had left his council members to discuss things without them, which seemed stupid to Ranpo but who was he to judge how someone who’d been alive for so long ran their council? He was quickly learning that there was a method to Bram’s actions—all of them—even if he didn’t yet understand them.

That’d been three days ago and still, they were waiting on word from Edgar.

Ranpo lets out another sigh as he completes another lap. “I need to rest.”

Bram nods and guides Ranpo to the closest thing he can sit down on; some sort of antique storage box that isn’t all that comfortable to sit on. “Do you require pain medicine?”

Ranpo shakes his head. “I just need a moment to breathe. Have you heard back from Edgar yet?”

“Not yet. Margaret is keeping an eye out for him though, so we will hear the moment he crosses the border. Are you worried?”

“Of course I am!” Ranpo snaps. “Why aren’t you?”

Bram takes a seat next to Ranpo, resting his hands on his knees. “I find that worry leads to more problems because it causes you to conjure up scenarios that may or may not happen. Worrying is fine, of course, but you must be careful not to let it control you. So with that I say, I am worried about what is to come, but I am doing the best that I can with this strange situation. As I said to the council, all we can do is wait for now.”

Ranpo lets out a sigh, knowing that what Bram says is the right course of action but he can’t help but be frustrated over the entire situation. He just wishes he could do more considering this whole debacle revolves with him at the centre of it—as much as he wishes he didn’t. For the past couple of months, he’s lain awake and tried to figure out how it all went so wrong, how he didn’t see through the deception that’d been happening right under his nose and despite running through several different scenarios, he still can’t figure out where he went wrong. He just doesn’t get it. Why did Dazai betray him? Why did some of the advisors that’d served his parents not do the same for him?

Why?

Why?

Why?

“Ranpo.” He feels a hand against his shoulder and realises he’s hidden his face into his hands. He lifts his head to see Bram looking at him in concern. “What is on your mind?”

“Nothing.” Ranpo says quickly, and then lets out another sigh. “I would like to return to bed if you don’t mind.”

Bram nods and instead of coaxing Ranpo into walking back to the bed, he simply reaches down to lift him into his arms and carries him over. Ranpo doesn’t have the energy to protest the treatment, not that he really wants to anyway. He knows that Bram’s only doing it because he cares and when he feels vulnerable like he currently does, a bit of physical affection is enough to make him feel better. Ranpo is placed on the bed, but when Bram makes to pull away and leave him, he reacts before he even realised he’s moved, reaching out to grab hold of the front of Bram’s shirt. He blinks, stunned, and Bram too, looks surprised at his action.

Ranpo feels his cheeks burning. “I apologise, I just… wish for company, I guess.”

For a moment, Bram just stares at him and Ranpo feels as if he’s said something wrong. But then the vampire’s face softens and instead of pulling away, he slides onto the bed to sit next to Ranpo. A hand finds its way into his hair, smoothing it gently.

“We all have moments where we need somebody, Ranpo.” Bram says quietly. “I can do my work in here today if you do not wish to be alone.”

“I have already inconvenienced you enough.” Ranpo says bitterly. He’s already embarrassed at needing someone to sit with him, something that he hasn’t needed since the death of his parents, yet he can’t find it within himself to push Bram away either. So he speaks harsh words in the hope that the vampire king will take offense and leave him be.

But of course, he is a fool to think he can try and convince Bram to do anything.

“I am simply doing what is right to help you. If that means sitting with you whilst your emotions are weak, then I will sit with you.”

Ranpo grunts. “You don’t have any of your work here.”

“On the contrary.” Bram says, getting up from the bed for just a moment to grab a stack of papers that Ranpo hadn’t even noticed off the chair in the corner of the room before returning to his prior position. “Louisa stopped me on my way here to give me this stack of paperwork to go through.”

“It looks like they’re all letters.” Ranpo comments, eyeing the pile with distaste. He himself hated paperwork of any kind, often leaving it up to his advisors to either do it on his behalf or chase him down and force him into doing it. Letters were always the worst of the paperwork too; people with trivial complaints that they expected him to deal with instead of figuring it out on their own—of course, there were some that needed his opinion, but the majority did not, and yet he was often forced into responding to them anyway. He has to wonder if Bram’s letter situation is a similar one.

“They are.” Bram says, face scrunching slightly. “This will be people complaining about my decision to hold off on retaliation against Dazai’s provocation’s.”

Ranpo hums and carefully rolls onto his side so that he can better see the letters, resting his head on the top of Bram’s thigh so that he can see. He doesn’t even realise he’s done it until Bram stiffens underneath him and he stiffens himself. What an idiot he was for acting so familiar with someone that he’d only known a couple of months, what an absolute idiot. He opens his mouth to apologise and move away, but then Bram settles an arm over his shoulders and, well, it’s not like he can move now, not without making the whole situation awkward. Ranpo will just go with the idea that he wanted some affection, instead of acting as he would’ve with a friend. If Bram questions him, of course.

“Well, you explained your decision in the messages you sent out, didn’t you?”

Bram nods. “I did, however people will complain about the simplest of things as I am sure you are well aware of. I will listen to their complaints and see if I can do something about what it is they are complaining about.”

“I am starting to believe that nothing affects you.”

“There is plenty that affects me, Edogawa Ranpo. I just have the skills to hide it from those who do not need to witness it.” Bram responds, and then frowns, pulling out a letter from the middle of the stack.

Ranpo happens to catch a glimpse of the handwriting and his heart begins to beat anxiously.

It’s a letter from Edgar.

“Open it!” Ranpo hisses.

Bram doesn’t reprimand him for his impatience, sliding a long nail underneath the seal to open it without any further prompting. From his current position, Ranpo can’t see what the letter says, even when he cranes his neck to try and see. “Bram, let me see!”

“Patience.” Comes the reprimand this time, although Bram does lower the letter so that he can see what’s written on the paper. It’s not a long letter which is disappointing—he’d been hoping for an update on his homeland. Bram lets out a hum, looking like he’s deep in thought. “Edgar is back in the country now, so he will be back to give us a report in a couple of days. He said he made contact with Fukuzawa, who says he will not flee, but will instead stand against Dazai. Edgar says that Fukuzawa will be ready to support you upon your return.”

“Well, that’s something at least.” Ranpo sighs, wishing that Fukuzawa hadn’t chosen to stand his ground. “I’ll just have to get better quick so I can join him in his fight.”

“Having Fukuzawa on our side will prove fruitful.” Bram says, ignoring Ranpo’s words. “Our border extends along the territory he controls so I may be able to get word to the northern soldiers to send aid if he requires it. Although if he can hold his own without my soldiers, that would be best. I do not wish to give Dazai cause to attack elsewhere.”

“Are you listening to me?” Ranpo asks.

“But if Fukuzawa falls then that means that Dazai can approach from the north… perhaps more soldiers in the north would be beneficial to protect the people? I will have to discuss it with the council—”

Obviously not. Ranpo rolls his eyes and raises a hand to snatch the letter out of Bram’s hand to read for himself; Bram doesn’t react in the slightest which speaks for how deep in thought he was, continuing to run over various different scenarios out loud. Ranpo tuned out the ramblings, focusing on the lilting handwriting in front of him; even after all these years, Edgar’s handwriting is still as atrocious as ever, and it took him forever to decipher what was written on the page. His eyes widen as he reads the words.

“Bram!” He reaches over and smacks the letter against Bram’s chest, the rambling finally coming to a stop.

Bram grunts and glances down at him with a hint of annoyance. “What?”

“Edgar found Genichirou!” Ranpo looks excited, slapping the letter against the vampire’s chest again and again until Bram lets out a snarl and snatches the letter back from him.

“Stop that.” Bram says, even as he looks over the letter again.

“Yeah, well, you should’ve finished reading before you started mumbling battle plans.” Ranpo huffs. “But look, I’m read it right, aren’t I? He found Genichirou and is bringing him here?”

It takes a second for Bram to find the right part of the letter, and nods when he does. “That he is. It is good news indeed. Your friends will soon be here to support you, which will help you to heal faster.”

Ranpo gives Bram a incredulous look. “You seriously believe in that superstition?”

“It has been proven true many a time that being surrounded by those that support you, will help you to feel better from your injuries.” Bram says, sounding a little indignant. “And as you so often like to complain about; you are taking a while to heal.”

Bram’s not wrong, although his words still touch a nerve, and Ranpo moves to shove the vampire away, regretting ever latching onto him in the first place. Only, he doesn’t think his actions through, so when he slams his hands against Bram’s side to try and shove him off the bed, instead of the vampire actually moving, Ranpo collapses into his lap instead with a cry of pain as fresh waves of pain shoot up his arms. He curls in on himself, drawing his arms close to his body and cursing under his breath.

Bram too, curses, throwing the letter onto the bedside table and turning towards him, hands hovering uneasily above him. “You are a fool, Ranpo.”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it.” Ranpo snaps, breathing deeply through his nose to try and ease how much it hurts.

“Let me see.” Bram says, concern replacing his previous annoyance as he gently grabs hold of one of Ranpo’s arms, checking over it to see if he’s torn open his injuries. He does the same with Ranpo’s other arm. “It does not look like you reopened your injuries.”

“I hate this. I hate this so much.”

“I know you do.”

“Why am I not healing, Bram? Why is it taking so long?” Ranpo says softly.

Bram slides off the bed to be eye level with him, one hand coming to cup his cheek, touch cold against his own warm skin. “Because you are hurting more than just physically. We can bandage your physical wounds, we can heal you of infection, but we cannot heal your broken heart. That is something only you can do.”

Ranpo sighs and turns to bury his face into the pillow. He’s tired now. “I didn’t mean to try and push you.”

“You did.”

Another sigh; Bram is right, he did mean it. “Well, I want you here. If you still want to be here.”

“I will sit with you. You should try to rest. We can talk more when you wake.” Bram says, sliding back onto the bed. He hesitates before continuing in a much quieter voice. “And if you wish to be close to me, I will not refuse you.”

Ranpo tilts his head to stare at the vampire with a singular eye narrowed questioningly. In response, Bram pats his leg, where Ranpo had been resting his head only moments ago. That’s as much of an invitation as he needs, so he shuffles over and rests his head in Bram’s lap, and like before, the vampire drapes an arm around his shoulders.

It doesn’t take long for sleep to come for him, and just as he’s drifting off, he murmurs a quiet thanks under his breath that he can only hope Bram heard.

He thinks he has, when there’s a gentle squeeze on his shoulder.

Ranpo isn’t sure how much time has passed when he wakes up from his sleep, but when he opens his eyes, the first thing he notices is that Bram is still in the room with him, still reading through his pile of letters, although it looks like he’s made a solid dent in the pile. He watches as the vampire reads through a letter and then scribbles notes on a separate piece of paper, no doubt to go over later as he figures out the decisions that he needs to make. Big decisions if the stress lines on his face are anything to go by, and Ranpo feels guilt pool within his stomach at knowing that he’s the main cause of those stress lines—he’s quick to squash the feeling though, reminding himself that it’s not his fault and that the fault is Dazai’s instead.

It's hard, but he thinks he manages it.

He continues to watch Bram for a little longer, studying him carefully like he does whenever he gets the chance to, not that he’s sure why he does it exactly. Perhaps it’s the kingly side of him; needing to know and understand his competition in the ruling world even though their countries haven’t traded in many years from what he’s been told. Or perhaps it’s just his own natural curiosity, the one that has him wanting to know everything he can about a person or a situation. Now that one seems more likely… Ranpo had always been told that he was quite the nosy person at times.

“How are you feeling?” Bram suddenly speaks up, causing Ranpo to jump because he hadn’t given any indicator that he’d been awake. He glances up to see Bram smirking at him. “I can hear your heartbeat.”

Oh. That made sense. Ranpo lets out a groan and stretches, wincing as his body twinges against the worst of his still healing injuries. “Better. I see you’re almost done with those letters.”

Bram sighs and turns back to the letter currently in his hand. “People have far too many complaints. This person is complaining about the flood debris. I may be strong, but I cannot move a tree on my own.”

“Not to mention that you’re here and nowhere near the flooded areas?” Ranpo questions, getting his arms underneath himself so that he can sit up and rest against the headboard instead of craning his neck constantly.

“Exactly.” Bram huffs, noting something on his sheet of paper before putting the letter on the side. “Herman will be by with dinner soon as well.”

Ranpo blinks. Dinner? Had he really slept that long? A quick glance outside showed him that it was in fact, dark outside. “Oh. I slept all day.”

Bram hums, but doesn’t say anything more to him, attention drawn to yet another letter.

Ranpo rolls his eyes. If he’d known that asking Bram to stay with him would result in him being mostly ignored, he would’ve tried harder to get the vampire to leave him alone earlier. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t quite manage to achieve that the first time. Not that he doesn’t mind some silent company, in fact he often prefers it, but he can only be cooped up for so long without human interaction before he starts to go insane—and no, Melville and Bram do not count as human interaction considering he sees them every day almost. And yes, he does understand why he can’t wander around the castle or it’s surrounding town, but it doesn’t make him any less frustrated about not being able to go outside.

He really can’t wait until he heals enough to finally move on his own.

A knock on the door draws both his attention and Bram’s, the two of them looking up at the same time to see Melville step into the room—without any food.

Bram frowns. “Has something happened, Herman?”

“Not at all, my lord.” Melville says with a bow before looking towards Ranpo. “It appears that Lord Edogawa has a visitor.”

Ranpo blinks. “A visitor?”

Melville inclines his head before stepping to the side, gesturing for whoever it was behind him to enter the room, and Ranpo watches with interest as he spots a heeled boot, sitting up as much as he can as the cloaked figure slides into the room, throwing their hood back as they do so—

“Yosano!” The grin is on Ranpo’s face before he can even control himself and he moves to throw himself out of the bed, only stopped by the hand that grabs the back of his shirt to drag him back down.

Bram throws him an unimpressed look. “Please do not hurt yourself even more.” He says, putting down his work and rising, crossing the room to greet his old friend. “Dr Yosano, your visit is most welcome.”

Yosano’s gaze flicks from Ranpo’s bandaged form to Bram and back again, confusion in her eyes as she speaks. “I was told you were in need of a doctor’s services. I never thought…” Her brow furrows. “Ranpo, they’re saying you’re dead.”

“I know.” He says, letting out a sigh. “Dazai decided he wanted leadership for himself and had me exiled. As it turns out, however, his definition of exile is a little skewed, as you may have noticed.”

“Oh I noticed.” Yosano steps around Bram and heads straight for the bed, not ignoring the vampire king out of malice or to be impolite, but in the typical doctor’s way of needing to get to their patient—she really was meant to be a doctor, and, well, he’s just glad to see that she’s alive and well. Yosano comes to a stop beside the bed, sitting on the edge of it and dropping a bag onto the floor by her feet. “I see that in the twelve years since we last saw each other, you’re still getting yourself into mischief, Ranpo.”

Ranpo huffs, wincing as Yosano grabs her arm and pulls it towards her, unravelling the bandages. “And like I keep telling you, trouble always finds me! This happening was not my fault!”

“I’m not saying it is.” Yosano says, tone gentle as the bandages fall off his arm, revealing the almost healed wound underneath it. She carefully manipulates his arm into different positions to test his range of motion, watching his face for what hurts him and what doesn’t. As she does, she continues to speak. “You don’t need to get so defensive, Ranpo. Anyone with a lick of sense would be able to see that Dazai did this just because he could.”

“You do not seem surprised that Dazai betrayed his king.” Bram says, coming to sit on the chair that rests beside the bed, watching Yosano carefully.

Yosano scoffs. “You’re talking about the same man who decided that only he could have Ranpo as a friend and thus he convinced Ranpo’s advisors that I was a terrible influence on their underaged king and that he needed to be rid of me.” The doctor gives Bram an unimpressed look. “We were fourteen and Dazai was ten.”

“Ah…” Is all that Bram says.

Ranpo drops his gaze to the bed, uncomfortable because he hadn’t even realised that it was because of Dazai that he had had to stop seeing Yosano; all this time and he’d thought it was his advisors not liking the fact that Yosano came from a family that was far poorer than he. But no, it was just another of Dazai’s schemes that he’d failed to recognise. How was it, that he was considered to be a genius king capable of remembering everything he ever learnt, yet he couldn’t see through someone scheming right under his nose? What was it about Dazai that’d lulled him into that false sense of security?

“What’s going on in that brain of yours?” Yosano says, poking him in the cheek with a slender finger to drag him out of his thoughts.

“Nothing.” Ranpo murmurs.

Yosano raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment as she reaches for his other arm. “Well, one of your arms is fine, aside from that gash, but it’s healing up alright, so I’m not too worried about it. Just keep it covered until it closes over.”

“And his other arm?” Bram asks, standing again to lean over Yosano’s shoulder a little. “There were fractures within most of his limbs.”

To her credit, Yosano doesn’t snap at the vampire as he hovers, although she does look a little annoyed at his presence. “They will have healed by now. Fractures tend to heal faster than complete breaks and from the looks of it, you’ve kept him resting.”

“I have tried my best.”

Yosano nods and finishes unravelling the bandages on Ranpo’s other arm which only has a few small scars to left behind where skin had once been sliced open—at least one of his limbs had decided to heal. Like before, she moves his arm around, watching his reactions carefully.

Ranpo winces as she raises his arm up and she frowns at him. “Describe the pain.”

“It’s not bad.” Ranpo says quickly because it isn’t. It’s more of an ache rather than actual pain, like if he’d been carrying a stack of books for too long. “It’s just an ache.”

“Hmm… well if it gets worse, let me know, it could mean a muscle or tendon was damaged rather than bone.” Yosano explains and then looks towards his legs that are bandaged far more heavily than his arms were before glancing towards Bram. “How bad are his legs?”

“There were fractures in the thigh bone of the left leg.” Bram answers, sliding around her to sit on the bed and point—Ranpo tries to ignore the fact that he suddenly feels like he’s a piece of decoration. It’s not like he knows much about his own injuries other than what Melville told him that one time; he hadn’t wanted to ask just in case they’d been worse than first thought. He stops listening as Yosano and Bram talk to each other but he does watch as his old friend moves to free his legs from the bandages that confine them and he cringes internally as he catches sight of the wounds still there. No wonder walking hurt so much. They certainly looked better compared to the first time he’d watched his bandages be changed, but the wounds were deep and the ones that’d closed over left indents into his skin.

Even Yosano frowned at the sight of them. “How long as he been on bedrest?”

“Two months.” Bram says, concern in his eyes. “We just started doing some light walking around the room, but nothing strenuous. Usually I am supporting most of his weight.”

“There must be something keeping them from healing properly…” Yosano said, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, looking thoughtful. After a moment she looked towards Ranpo. “How bad does it hurt when you walk? Is it both legs or just one?”

Ranpo gestures towards his left leg. “That one hurts more, but they both hurt when I stand.”

Yosano lets out a hum, and then quickly frees the other leg so that she can look at it; the wounds on this one are closed over, the scars pink with freshness—but far deeper than the wounds on his other leg. “Well, it looks like you didn’t manage to escape completely unscathed. Looks like you might have internal damage.”

Internal damage.

A death sentence for someone of his status, robbed of it as he is currently.

“How bad?” Ranpo falls back against the headboard, trying to keep his emotions in check. He’s pretty sure he fails from the sympathetic looks he’s given.

“I can’t say since I’ve only just got here.” Yosano says. “But you’ll be walking if that’s what has you worried. It might just be harder than it used to be—and before you even think of walking—”

A sharp pain shoots through his leg and Ranpo lets out a cry, flying upwards with tears pricking his eyes. It feels like he’s been stabbed as the pain turns into a throb and Ranpo throws a hand out to shove Yosano away from him, an instinctive reaction to being hurt by her. He’s stopped by a cold hand covering his fist and drawing it away, and Ranpo collapses to the side where Bram is now sitting, letting his fellow king be the one to support him.

He doesn’t care anymore if he appears weak to the vampire.

If Bram can handle him at his worst, then nothing he does now will faze him.

“Get me some bandages.” Yosano orders, both hands pinning Ranpo’s leg to the bed, pressing against the bone in his thigh—the source of his pain obviously.

Bram leans away just enough to fish out the requested item and passes it over to Yosano.

“Hold him firm.” She says, pulling one hand away to take the bandages. “I’m going to hurt him some more.”

“Why do you have to hurt me at all?” Ranpo snaps unhappily, trying his best to ignore the pain that’s still shooting through him.

“The bone was shifted a little—easy to miss. It’s why your wounds have been healing so slow. I’ve pushed it back into place now, so you’ll find that you’ll actually heal now. It does mean you’ll have to keep off this leg for another month or so, but you’ll be able to use crutches until it does.”

Ranpo lets out a groan at her words. He won’t survive even more months stuck in this bed.

“Do not worry.” Bram says at that moment. “Since it is only your leg, and the rest of your injuries are healed or almost healed, you should be fine to go outside.”

“Can we go—ow!” Ranpo asks quickly, cutting himself off with a grunt as Yosano tightens the bandages on his leg with enough force it feels like she’s breaking it more.

“If you leave this bed today, Edogawa Ranpo, so help me, I will make sure to finish what Dazai started.” Yosano threatens, meeting his eyes with an equally threatening glare.

He wilts. “Fine then. Tomorrow?”

Yosano exchanges a glance with Bram and then nods. “Tomorrow.”

[silvfyre-writings]

I'll keep you safe while you sleep (BSD Fanfic)

I break out of my hibernation long enough to drop this fic. Enjoy~

It was dark.

So very dark.

For as long as he could remember, Ranpo didn’t like the dark. The dark was like ice; cold and slippery against his bare skin as he walked through it, leaving him shivering and feeling damp even though there wasn’t actually any ice there to be felt in the first place. It was also incredibly lonely, the pitch black surrounding him, giving him the illusion that there were people there, compressing him, preventing him from breathing properly when in fact it was the opposite and that no one was actually there. It was suffocating in the sense that while he could breathe, it felt forced, like it was a conscious effort instead of unconscious, almost as if the air was heavy with something unbreathable.

So yes, Ranpo hated the dark.

And yet it had been his closest companion for so long.

It was there in the early years of his life when his parents would turn out the lights and leave him in a pitch black room—because they’d lived in such a small village that the only light was that of the moon and when the moon was gone, it was dark—at least until they’d figured out he wasn’t sleeping, and bought little light that kept the room light enough. It was there when his parents had died and he’d left everything he’d ever known behind to seek the help of someone his father had trusted, only to have that trust thrown into his face, and be tossed onto the streets where the darkness there held all sorts of people. It was there when the assassin he’d run into by chance, had seen something in him that none of the other adults had, and although that encounter shed a little bit of light on his life, the darkness still hung around because that assassin wasn’t his parents, and never would be.

And that was okay, because Fukuzawa understood that he wasn’t a replacement, and never tried to be, only stepping into Ranpo’s life to lend him a guiding hand.

But this darkness that he was currently trapped within was nothing like the darkness he knew; it was foreign and wrong, and he just—

—he didn’t know.

Ranpo froze, eyes wide and staring into nothing at the realisation that he didn’t know what this darkness was, or what was causing it, because that wasn’t right. Something was wrong. He was supposed to know everything, that was who he was, what he was good at, his sole reason for existing in this world. Not knowing just wasn’t in his vocabulary. Not knowing made him useless to those associated with him, to those that required his skills. Not knowing made him feel cold and—and alone… and he couldn’t be alone.

Without a second thought, Ranpo took off, his bare feet slapping against the ground as he ran, a wind streaming past him, which was strange because the air was still and thick. His chest heaved, although he did not breathe, and he was still cold, even though running should’ve warmed him. Something was wrong, and he was aware of that, but there was nothing that he could do. It was like the darkness had taken him over, herding him deeper into its clutches; an impossible feat really, because the darkness wasn’t alive, it wasn’t living, it was simply a thing, an absence of light that both scared people and brought them comfort.

And right now, it was terrifying.

He continued to run and run, never veering from his path, never looking behind him, yet still, the darkness did not end. And he feared it never would. His heart began to pound so loud that he could hear it in his ears; it was the only noise in this dark and hellish place. It was then that he saw it, a light, in the distance, and as cliché as it was, he went towards it, desperate to escape the dark. It didn’t matter if what awaited him on the other side was worse, if it wasn’t dark, he could handle it. The light drew closer, and Ranpo reached towards it. He could feel it—the warmth that the light would bring, dancing at his fingertips as he wished for it to envelop him and chase away the darkness.

But then the light disappeared, plunging him back into darkness.

No, no, no, no, come back, ple—

With a jerk, Ranpo’s eyes flew open, and he found himself blinded by the sun coming in through the windows of the Agency’s building. For just a moment, he continued to lay there with his face pressed against his desk as he sorted through his muddled thoughts. A dream, that was all that crushing darkness had been, and whilst dreams had never affected Ranpo before, this one left him with a racing heart and trembling hands, and he wasn’t a fan.

When Ranpo finally did lift his head, he took note of everyone in the office, or well, distinct lack of people in the office. The only other people here beside him were Tanizaki and Kunikida, neither of which gave Ranpo a passing glance and continued to quietly work away at their desks, focused. Good, that’s good. It meant that he hadn’t made enough of a disturbance to gain the attention he very much did not want, if only because they would show their concern and Ranpo had had enough of that to last a lifetime.

He pushed away from his desk and stood, intending to go down to the café on the first floor and get himself something warm to drink to chase off the fear that still lingered. A hot chocolate would do, or even a mocha, so that he wouldn’t fall asleep at his desk again. He couldn’t even remember when he’d fallen asleep; one minute he’d been playing on his handheld, and the next, he was dreaming, something that had been happening a lot lately now that he thought about it, but regardless, it couldn’t have been too long, since the sun was still high in the sky, and still rising.

Well, if the drink didn’t help him, then he’d nag Kunikida for a case that would distract him further.

His plans for foiled when he walked past the couches and caught a glimpse of a familiar set of boots, and he paused, following the boots up the lanky form that was attached to them until his eyes met the sleeping face of a certain vampiric gift user. Ever since he’d regained his body after the whole, vampire outbreak situation, Bram had taken to hanging around the Agency, often utilising the couches for a midday nap like he currently was. No one seemed to know why he hung around, yet no one was complaining about it either. And right now, Bram’s face was peaceful, relaxed in the sleep he was caught in, with no sign of a bad dream plaguing him, and that was all it took for Ranpo to change course.

He'd always slept better with someone else after all, and he and Bram were… something at this point, so who would begrudge him for seeking the company of someone important? His co-workers had so far ignored the way he and Bram had gotten close so fast, powering right through friendship into whatever they were—only Kunikida had expressed his concern, because that was just what he did, but otherwise leaving Ranpo be, and telling him he was happy for as long as Ranpo continued to be.

Dazai, of course, couldn’t resist making the joke that Ranpo was building his own army of goths, which Ranpo had gone to dispute, only to realize that the only other person he trusted the same way he now trusted Bram, was in fact, a goth. Although, since Bram had chosen to wear a yellow hoodie that day—never mind his jacket that had caused him to be called a goth in the first place was draped over the back of the couch—one could argue that he wasn’t so much a goth as he was… edgy.

Bram’s eyes flew open the moment that Ranpo threw himself on top of the other man, and his mouth opened to say something before it slammed shut; Bram simply stared at him for a moment, studying Ranpo carefully and observing the tension in his body, before he dragged himself to sit up a bit, shifting the pillow behind him so that he could remain comfortable whilst Ranpo got situated. Only once Ranpo stopped moving, now half-laying on him, and half-fallen in the gap between him and the back of the couch, did he move, winding his arms around the detective’s waist, and pulling his coat from the back of the couch to let Ranpo use as a blanket. Bram’s eyes slipped closed again. “Your friends will not get mad that you are shirking work to slumber with me?”

“I’ll just get you to bite them if they do.” Ranpo mumbled into Bram’s shirt, already tired and drifting towards sleep again.

“No thank you, bite them yourself if you must.” One of Bram’s hands found its way into Ranpo’s hair, long fingers dragging through the black tresses in a way that had Ranpo sighing contentedly as he snuggled closer. “You are bothered by something.”

“Unwanted dreams.”

“What kind?”

Ranpo shivered at the question, and if it had been anyone else asking, they wouldn’t have received an answer. But ever since he had met Bram, the other always seemed to know how to get Ranpo to answer him honestly, whether Ranpo wanted to or not. It was a little annoying at times, but just this once, it was okay. “Darkness. I don’t like the dark.”

“You have come to the right person then.” Bram murmured, holding Ranpo just that little bit closer to him to help soothe him. “As the Lord of Darkness, the dark listens, and bends to my will, therefore, it will leave you alone should you wish to slumber some more.”

In lieu of saying anything, Ranpo wound his arms around Bram, and held him tight, letting his head come to rest against the other’s chest, his heart beating steadily beneath his ear. He allowed that heartbeat to soothe him, the hand that was still in his hair to relax him until eventually, his eyes closed and his grip loosened. It was as he was drifting off again, that Bram shifted underneath him, and he felt what could only be lips, brushing against his forehead before quiet words were whispered for his ears and his alone. “Sleep well, little detective. Allow me to protect you when you are at your most vulnerable.”

[silvfyre-writings]

Rest well, my love (BSD Fanfic)

Hello, I bring more bramran because you will have to pry this ship from my cold dead hands. This time, a sickfic, because what pairing doesn't have at least one sickfic?

This time, we have something that's short and sweet, so I hope you all enjoy!!!

It isn’t the sun that wakes Bram, nor is it an alarm clock, but instead it is a series of sneezes that come from right beside him that drag him out of slumber and into the world of the living. He keeps his eyes closed, in hope of being able to go back to sleep, but it proves hopeless when a groan sounds, followed by a ragged cough that truly sounds retched, and that’s when Bram opens his eyes, blinking slowly. Another cough echoes throughout the room.

As his eyes adjust to the morning light, Bram shifts to look at the one making these noises, the much smaller form of Edogawa Ranpo tucked against his chest, sniffling miserably. His love’s eyes are crusted with sleep and dried tears, and Bram raises a hand to gently brush his thumb over them, wiping away the gunk without another thought. Ranpo’s nose is also bright red and runny, which explains the near constant sniffling he’s been hearing since he woke up. And accompanied by the occasional cough, it’s clear that Ranpo is very much sick.

How unfortunate.

Bram frowns. It’s not often that Ranpo falls ill—when he does, it’s usually because he was neglecting to take care of himself, or, he was caught in a storm—but whenever he does, it’s never a fun time. Whatever illness that his love contracts always seems to go out of its way to make his life a living hell, and it usually falls to Bram to take care and make sure that he doesn’t get any worse. Not that Bram minds, because when he’s ill, Ranpo becomes extremely affectionate, wanting to cling and cuddle far more than he normally does, and honestly, Bram loves it.

He loves to be relied on, to be appreciated and praised for his efforts when he spent so many years prior being used by those around him.

“Ranpo.” Bram smooths his hand down Ranpo’s cheek, watching as the other mans eyes scrunch before flicking open. It doesn’t take long for Ranpo to squeeze them shut again.

“Nngh.”

Bram continues his gentle touches. “My love, you need to let go of me.”

The response comes quick, Ranpo tightening his grip and muttering a quiet no.

“I promise to return.” Bram says, shifting his focus to Ranpo’s hair, running his fingers through, over and over, until finally, Ranpo loosens his grip and he’s able to pull away. “Thank you.”

“Come back quick, I’m cold.” Ranpo whines, sniffling pitifully as he buries himself under the blankets, disappearing from view.

Bram watches fondly for a moment before he sets off to complete his self-given task. Because of Ranpo’s frequent run-ins with sickness, Bram had to learn very quick how to handle each illness as it came—even though he rarely dealt with more than a summer cold—and now, he considers himself quite adept at it. Seldom does Ranpo complain about the way he’s tended to, and even Ranpo’s colleagues resort to calling him whenever the younger tries to power his way through the workday, and subsequently fails.

First comes the basics; a glass of water, some medicine that will take every bone in his body to convince Ranpo to take the innocent pills, and a washcloth. As he walks around the kitchen, gathering what he needs, he thinks. He’s pretty sure that whatever illness Ranpo has contracted is still in the early stages, which means that with plenty of rest and a little bit of doting, it’ll pass by in the blink of an eye. At least, that’s what Bram hopes, because seldom do these bouts go the way he hopes.

But he pushes that worry away, knowing that if he lingers on it, it’s more likely to happen.

Once he has everything he needs, Bram heads back to the bedroom, stopping by the bathroom quick to wet the cloth. He crawls back into bed, juggling everything in his hands so that he can try and coax Ranpo into revealing his face. “I have some medicine for you. And water.”

The whine is followed by a harsh cough. “’m fine.”

Bram raises an eyebrow, and tugs at the covers again. “You absolutely are not fine.”

“Am to.” Ranpo pokes his head free, looking just a little worse than when Bram had left him earlier. He doesn’t say anything though, as he coaxes Ranpo into sitting up to lean against him. Ranpo complains, as he does, and Bram shushes him quietly, wiping the sweat from his face with the damp cloth.

Ranpo leans into his touch, a content hum escapes him, and his eyes slip shut. “Feels nice…”

“That’s because you have a fever.” Bram says, give Ranpo’s face another clean before he discards the cloth. He offers up the water and the medicine. “Take these.”

“Don’t want to.”

“Ranpo.”

For a moment they stare each other down, but if there’s one thing that Bram has perfected over the time that he and Ranpo have been dating, it’s how to out-stubborn the younger, and sure enough, Ranpo looks away with a sigh, a hand rising up to take the medicine and water. It only takes him a second to down the medicine, and a few more to finish the water, and once that’s done, Bram finds himself being dragged back down.

He allows it, shifting onto his side so that he can draw Ranpo into his arms, smiling to himself when his love snuggles closer to him, tucking his head underneath his chin. Bram can feel Ranpo’s feverish forehead against his skin, an uncomfortable warmth that promises to cause problems lest he get it under control early, and soft puffs of air against his neck as Ranpo breathes softly, careening back into the sleep he was awoken from.

Which is good, because rest will help Ranpo to heal faster.

Bram helps the process along by tightening his grip, entangling one hand into Ranpo’s hair, and smoothing the other along Ranpo’s spine. Not only is it soothing to Ranpo and will help him sleep better, it’s calming to Bram as well, and already he feels ready to sleep again.

Before he does though, he makes a mental note to wake in a couple of hours and check on Ranpo’s condition.

Rest well, my love, I will take care of you.

[silvfyre-writings]

Hallow's Eve (BSD Fanfic)

This is the last oneshot in my bramran hoard that I have (I still have another chapter of royalty au and the second part of bakery au to go up so stay tuned for those) which means that there'll be a slowdown in fics for a while. My writing motivation has tanked right now, but I'm doing what I can! I have ideas cooking, I just need the bunnies to actually come forth and do their job lmao!

Anyway, enjoy the fic, it fits the halloween vibe~

Halloween was a mostly western holiday, yet it was one of Ranpo’s favourite holiday’s and it absolutely was because it was an excuse to put on some crazy, out-there outfit and not be judged for it by those around him. Well, not those in the immediate vicinity of him because they were well accustomed to his shenanigans, but just the general population who always stared at things out of the norm—and he was by far one of the most unnormal things they saw in their day to day lives. Not that he cared of course; in fact, he relished in the attention those stares gave him, basked in their glares and judgemental stares without a care in the world.

He couldn’t wait to see those stares tonight.

Ever since he’d come into Fukuzawa’s care, he’d taken to Halloween as his favourite day of the year. Christmas just reminded him of the family he’d lost, and well, he didn’t care much for Easter, although he did like being able to eat as much chocolate as he wanted whenever it came around. Halloween though? Costumes and sweets, what wasn’t to love about it? Of course, being a western holiday meant that it wasn’t as celebrated as he wished it were, but that was fine with him. He’d managed to convince the Agency to throw a party for it every year since it’s inauguration, and this year was no different.

Or perhaps it would be considering there were more people than before coming.

As soon as Ranpo mentioned the party in the office, Atsushi had asked if he could invite his Guild friends, which in turn led to others asking if they could bring along other companions that didn’t work—or significant others if they had any—and Ranpo would be a hypocrite to say no considering he’s forced his own partner to come.

Although Bram had seemed interested in the idea when he’d mentioned it, so that had to mean something.

Not that he knew because said vampire had promptly kicked him out of their shared dorm that day when he’d gotten home from work, claiming that he was busy and to occupy himself until it was time for them to go to the party. And honestly, Ranpo had been too stunned to do more than stand outside his door for a few minutes before leaving to go and bother someone else that could never say no to him, no matter what it was that he asked.

“I should start charging you for all the food you eat whenever you come here.” Poe huffs as he watches Ranpo empty his cupboard of snacks—sure the snacks are specifically for the genius detective, but he’d expected them to last a little longer than they did.

“As if you care how much of your money I spend.” Ranpo says and shoves a handful of snacks into his mouth from where he’s lazing about on Poe’s couch. “Besides, I deduced that you weren’t busy with Mushitaro-kun gone.”

Poe sighs and takes a seat on the opposite couch. “He’s gone to replace the snacks that you’ll be eating. They were for the Agency’s party tonight.”

“Don’t act is if you don’t want my company, Poe-kun.” Ranpo grins at his friend. “Lemme guess, Mushitaro-kun expressed his displeasure at my occupying your time again?”

Poe’s silence told him everything he needed to know.

The writer coughs and moves to lift Karl from his shoulders, seating the raccoon in his lap instead, stroking his furry companion as he addresses Ranpo. “Normally you spend the afternoons preparing for the parties the Agency decides to throw. Why are you here instead of your own place, Ranpo-kun?”

“Boo, Poe-kun, aren’t you a detective yourself? Figure it out.” Ranpo says through a mouthful of snacks.

Poe rolls his eyes, just barely visible behind his fringe. “Of course I figured it out, I just figured you would want the conversation to go on a little longer.”

Ranpo shrugs. He’s not one to care about the necessities of carrying a conversation; small talk isn’t his greatest strength since he can just deduce what the person he’s talking to wants or needs, and small talk with Poe is normally impossible considering that the writer is much the same, if second best to Ranpo himself of course. But he has invaded Poe’s home without invitation, he can play nice this one. “Bram-kun kicked me out ‘cause he’s doing something I’m not allowed to see.”

“Oh?” Poe tilts his head to reveal one of his eyes, gleaming with curiosity. “And you haven’t deduced what he’s doing? I’m shocked.”

Ranpo shoots Poe a look. “I don’t deduce Bram-kun’s actions unless I need to. He’s asked me not to.”

The writer’s lips twitch in amusement, although there’s a wistful look that he isn’t quite able to hide. “If you listened to his wishes, then he must be important to you.”

“Are you jealous?” Ranpo asks. He knows the answer of course, but he’s curious what Poe has to say on the matter.

Poe shrugs, and runs a hand over Karl’s spine. “Perhaps a little, but it will fade. I am happy for you regardless because you are a friend.”

“Good. Besides, you and Mushitaro seem to be growing rather close~”

In an instant, Poe’s cheeks began to burn red and he turns away from Ranpo. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh huh, sure you don’t.”

“Mushitaro-kun and I are just housemates.” Poe tries to argue.

 Ranpo grins mischievously. “Housemates.”

Poe lets out a strained noise, burying his face into his hands just as the door opens and said housemate steps into the room. Mushitaro takes one look at Poe before looking towards Ranpo with displeasure. “Will you please stop tormenting the poor man.”

“I could torment you instead if you like.”

“Ugh, please don’t.” Mushitaro grimaces, shutting the door behind him. “Just seeing you is bad enough.”

Ranpo spends the next couple of hours teasing his friends and clearing out the house of its snacks before he leaves with Poe to go to the Agency for the part. Unlike Ranpo, Poe had chosen not to dress up for the party—not that Ranpo cared, he knew that the writer would just find a corner to hide in the moment they arrived anyway, and it meant that more of the attention would be on him, just the way he liked it. Because Ranpo really liked Halloween and he wasn’t going to not dress up when given the chance to.

He'd gone with a witchy theme this time, hat and all, even finding a broom to complete the look with. As far as costumes go, this one is rather simple compared to his previous ones, but still just as good in his opinion; his shirt is white with ruffles on the collar and the end of his sleeves, and his pants are brown like his regular ones, only they were bloused just below the knee to show off his striped socks and boots. Simple, yet good looking, and his hat that is decorated with a moon and a cat only make him look even better.

He could only hope that Bram would appreciate it, considering it was the first Halloween the vampire was celebrating with him and the Agency.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to arrive at the Agency—with Ranpo first texting Bram to make sure it was okay to go ahead of his partner only to be told that Bram was already there—and Ranpo is quick to dash up the stairs the moment they enter the building, excitement taking the reins at that point. He feels a little guilty to abandon Poe so quick, but he can’t help it, he just wants to see Bram after not seeing him all day. Curiosity keeps him moving, and it takes all the restraint he has to open the door gently instead of throwing it open.

Just barely, the door still bangs against the wall.

And wow, if he’s not greeted by the truly unexpected sight of Bram in a costume.

Specifically, a detective costume like what he normally wears to work.

The vampire’s eyes meet his own, and widen comically for a moment before they disappear behind the hat that he drags down over his face—Ranpo’s hat to be exact. And even from the doorway, he can see the blush working its way down Bram’s neck, turning the skin an embarrassed pink. Beside the vampire, Yosano stands with a grin on her face, and she reaches up to clap Bram on the shoulder before disappearing into the growing crowd of partygoers, leaving him to the mercy of Ranpo.

“So this is why you kicked me out.” Ranpo says with a grin as he strides up to Bram, winding his arms around one of the man’s own and tugging to reveal his face. “I didn’t think you would be the kind of person to dress up.”

“I am not.” Bram mumbles, pointedly looking elsewhere. “But I was told that you enjoyed this holiday so… I wish to celebrate with you. Yosano-san suggested… this outfit.”

Now it’s Ranpo’s turn to blush, and he simultaneously curses and praises Yosano for her thinking. Of course she couldn’t resist interfering when given the opportune to. “It suits you, so don’t be so embarrassed about it.”

“I am not one to dress up. It feels strange.”

“Well you aren’t the only one who’s dressed up, so it’ll feel less strange in a bit.” Ranpo leans forward to grasp Bram’s cheeks and he stretches to plant a tender kiss on the vampire’s lips. “My handsome vampire detective, will you protect me this night?”

Bram smiles against his lips, and gives a kiss of his own. “It would be my honour, my love. Let us enjoy the evening, and do show me what you like about this holiday so much.”

“With pleasure.”

Word Count: 1660

[silvfyre-writings]

Familial Pain (BSD Fanfic)

This fic was one of my favourites to write, but then again, when I don't enjoy tormenting my favourite characters :)

Enjoy the fic!!

Bram jerked awake with the name of his daughter on his lips, the memory of her beheaded figure fading from his waking mind just as quickly as it had plagued his dreams. His chest heaved as he fought to get air into his chest, panic thrumming beneath his veins and eyes looking around wildly. But instead of stone walls, there were wooden ones that surrounded him and from there he was able to calm himself, realising that he had in fact, not been thrown back in time to the worst day of his life. Still, despite that realisation, he couldn’t help the fear that continued to hound him, and he felt like a coiled spring ready to snap.

After another moment of panicked breathing, he finally calmed himself down enough to take a solid breath, taking in air slow like he’d been taught when negative emotions threatened to overwhelm.

Still it was hard not to start panicking again, when he realised that he was alone in the futon.

He stretched an arm over, feeling the spot beside him that was usually occupied by someone else to find that it was cold, a sign that he’d gone to bed alone that night. It left him feeling worse than before, even though it couldn’t be helped; Ranpo had told him that morning that he may have to pull an all-nighter. But still, he was in edge from his dream and the memories that the dream had unearthed, and with no one to help him with these feelings, he quickly succumbed to them.

Bram brought his knees to his chest and curled up as much as he could to hide. It wasn’t at all comfortable, but it soothed him a little even as the first lot of tears began to drip from his eyes, running down his face and onto the futon beneath him.

His darling daughter, oh how he missed her even after all these centuries gone by. She’d been his sunshine, guiding him out of the darkness after the passing of his wife when she’d still been just a toddler that hadn’t quite understood his grief. It’d just been the two of them, and it had only ever needed to be the two of them. He’d had money, and the luxurious lifestyle required to give her the best life possible, but his branding as a demon by the local townsfolk had been the reason for her unexpected beheadment.

And even in death, she’d still been smiling.

He shuddered at the memory, recalling every inch of grief and pain and anger that he’d felt in that moment, how he’d gone on to slaughter the ones responsible, uncaring of the consequences that awaited him.

It’d been a dark time for him.

And he couldn’t handle to memories of it alone.

That was when he remembered that even though Ranpo wasn’t currently with him to help soothe away his worries in that strange blunt, yet reasonable, way of his, he could still reach out and ask for it; a phone, a gift from the detective himself who’d shown him how to use it and told him to call if he needed.

Bram forced himself to unfurl and stood, padding from the room to find the device that he was pretty sure he’d left in the kitchen somewhere. It hadn’t been in the kitchen, but on the couch instead, resting there innocently. His steps became stumbles as he fell to his knees just short of the couch, but not so short that he couldn’t reach out and snag the phone with one long finger and drag it towards him. From there it was fairly simple to unlock the phone, although he did have to think hard to remember how to actually use the phone. But it seemed as if Ranpo’s lesson had stuck, because it was soon ringing the detective.

He held the phone up to his ear.

At first, he thought that Ranpo wasn’t going to answer the longer the phone rang on, but after the fourth ring, there was a click as it was picked up.

“You never call.” Ranpo’s voice echoed through the phone, and it was hard to tell if he was annoyed by the fact that Bram had called him or if it was some other emotion that Bram couldn’t figure out.

He decided in that moment he hated phone calls.

“I just…” Bram started to say before trailing off. He wasn’t sure what to actually say now that he’d called Ranpo. All the words and worries that’d been at the forefront of his mind were gone just like that, leaving him floundering. At least Ranpo couldn’t see him through the phone.

But there must’ve been something in his tone that gave off that something was wrong before Ranpo’s own voice took on a quieter tone; a concerned tone. “Do you need me to come home?”

“You have work.” Bram squeezed his eyes shut. His voice wobbled a little as he spoke the words and he sighed. “I am sorry.”

“Nah, don’t apologise. They can handle this without me. I’ll be home soon. Want me to stay on with you?”

Bram shook his head, and then realising that Ranpo couldn’t see it, spoke aloud. “If you will be home soon, I will be fine.”

“Alright. Love ya, Bram.”

He gave his own endearment before the click of the phone indicated that the call had ended. Bram sighed and dropped his head to rest on his knees. If only his enemies could see him now; former lord turned vampire monster, now reduced to an emotional wreck in a country that he’d been dragged to against his will. They’d laugh at his fallen state, mock him even—not that it mattered what they thought really, because they were dead and he was very much alive.

As he waited for Ranpo to arrive, he gave up on sitting up, slumping to the floor in front of the couch, lacking the strength to take himself back to the futon or push himself up onto the couch.

It only made his self-loathing that much worse.

After what felt like hours, but was actually not even half that, the door to the dorm clicked open and Bram listened as Ranpo quietly stepped into the silent room. The detective didn’t call out a greeting, but Bram could hear him muttering under his breath as he kicked off his shoes, and the gentle steps of socked feet as he stepped further into the dorm, clearly looking for him.

“Ah, there you are.” Bram raised his head to see Ranpo peering down at him, a look of worry on his face as he shuffled around to sit on the floor beside Bram. “What’re you doing out here?”

“The phone was on the couch…” Bram mumbled, lifting his head so that Ranpo could shuffle closer. He wanted to be close to the smaller man, to hold him and feel his warmth, his beating heart, his life.

Ranpo did as was expected of him, moving closer so that Bram could rest his head on his lap. And then he was running his hands through Bram’s hair slowly, combing through it with a gentle and soothing touch. “You could’ve gone back to bed and waited for me?”

Bram shook his head.

“A nightmare then…” Ranpo murmured, more to himself than to the vampire in his lap, running over countless deductions in his brain as he tried to find the right answer. It doesn’t take him long to, not that Bram expected otherwise. “Your daughter?”

Bram nodded.

And in an instant, Ranpo took charge. “Okay, well, since we’re already here, let’s get you on the couch, and I’ll go grab a couple of pillows and a blanket and then you can just hold me as much as you want.”

Bram wanted to argue, but as it turned out, he was completely helpless to do anything other than obey Ranpo’s orders, and he allowed the younger to coax him up the short distance to the couch, leaving him to sit there as he rushed towards their shared bedroom to grab what he needed. All in all it took just a few minutes, but it still felt far too long to Bram and the moment that Ranpo sat back on the couch, he latched onto the man, winding his arms around Ranpo and resting his head against the other’s chest. The gentle beat of Ranpo’s heart greeted him, and Ranpo’s arms loosely wrapped around him, lips pressing against the crown of his head.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Ranpo asked gently.

Bram tensed. He did not want to talk about it.

Not yet anyway.

“That’s fine.” Ranpo raised a hand to scratch at Bram’s scalp, understanding his feelings without him even needing to say a word. “Do you mind if I put something on?”

“Something quiet… please.”

“Home shopping it is then.” Ranpo stretched behind him for the television remote and it wasn’t long before the sound of quiet chatter filled the room as the man on the television talked about objects he was selling.

Bram tuned out that sound though, just focusing on the sound of Ranpo’s heart beating beneath his ear, allowing it to soothe away his fears and enable him to feel as if he could breathe again. He knew that it wasn’t a permanent solution, asking Ranpo to come to him whenever he needed help—it wasn’t fair on the man after all, not when Ranpo himself struggled with his own emotions—but it was the best that they could do.

And maybe it would be the only way they worked.

Word Count: 1611

[silvfyre-writings]

Jacket Blankets (BSD Fanfic)

I wrote this a few weeks ago, and felt like posting it finally. Just a cute little drabble of the my favourite boys <3

ENJOY!

Ever since he’s started dating Ranpo, Bram has found his more comfortable clothes being stolen by the younger, and it’s gotten to the point that instead of checking his own closet for his jackets, he has to go to Ranpo’s closet to take them back. But if he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t mind. In fact, he quite enjoys coming home to see Ranpo bundled up in whatever sweater or hoodie he’s decided is his for the time being—he always gives them back when they start to smell like him instead of Bram. Bram finds that a little odd, but he’s not one to judge, so he just washes whatever clothing item Ranpo gives back to him and wears it for a couple of days before it gets stolen again.

However there is one jacket that Ranpo steals for comfort purposes only, and that’s his black coat that covers Bram’s entire body, so one can imagine how it completely hides Ranpo from the world when he wears it. Which is the purpose of him stealing it in the first place. Sometimes the world is just a little too much, or the day is just a little bit more awful than usual, and the only way to counteract the terrible feelings that follow is to curl up underneath what gives the greatest comfort. And considering that Bram’s workday lasts a few hours longer than Ranpo’s, he’s often not home when the bad feelings come around.

Bram has always told Ranpo to call him and that he’ll come home early, but so far Ranpo hasn’t taken him up on it.

But he’s learnt the signs, and recognises them immediately upon stepping into their shared apartment after work that day.

There’s Ranpo’s own coat thrown on the floor, along with the tie that he fails to ever wear correctly, along with the newsboy hat that he loves to wear, and his shoes aren’t set neat like they always are. The next is that the apartment is dark, all the curtains drawn shut, and none of the lights—except for a singular lamp on the coffee table in front of the television that’s giving off a dull glow—turned on. Bram elects to keep the darkness as is while he removes his shoes, stepping into the apartment to see the next sign.

The television that’s on, but muted, playing some kids show that’s easy to follow along with without sound. That is something that’d initially confused Bram when he first started dating Ranpo, but he’d asked and apparently it was just soothing to watch these kinds of shows when you needed a bit of extra help in relaxing. Children’s shows always had good endings after all, so it was peaceful to see the characters be happy—at least, that was how Bram understood it.

So with all of those signs there, he understood that Ranpo’s day hadn’t been good, and sure enough, as he approached the couch, the final sign revealed itself to him; Ranpo curled up underneath his black coat, using it like a blanket, his body shifting with each breath as he dozed. Aside from the tension in his brow, Ranpo looks peaceful, but Bram would be a fool to just believe that. Even stressed, the human body did its best to relax when it was asleep, and now was no different. But still, he didn’t want to disturb Ranpo, so he quietly makes his way over to the couch, and with practiced ease, slides onto it, manoeuvring Ranpo’s head until it is resting on his lap.

Ranpo tenses as he’s moved, but lets out a quiet sigh before he continues to sleep. Bram shifts a little until his back is against the arm of the couch, but after that, he doesn’t move. He uses one hand to rest his own head on, and places the other on Ranpo’s shoulder; a comfortable weight that he hopes soothes rather than disturbs. And then he turns his attention towards the television, letting himself get caught up in whatever show Ranpo was watching before he fell asleep.

It’s not surprising when he too, begins to drift off, eyes heavy, and his lover’s body a warm weight that is more than enough to drag him into slumber.

He allows it to happen, knowing that Ranpo will wake him when he wakes himself, and that they will talk then about the sight that Bram walked in on.

But for now, they will simply rest together, and take the comfort that comes from being in each other’s presence.

[silvfyre-writings]

I'm not crushing, yes you are (BSD Fanfic)

I bring, the final fic of my hoard because I can't resist myself so yeah, here you all go, some more Bramran!!!

Nothing but softness and cuteness here!

Enjoy!!!

Ranpo was crushing, and crushing hard.

The world had almost ended, and everyone at the Agency—including himself—had been injured in some way, shape, or form, and here he was, crushing on the enemy.

Well, former enemy, really, since in the end, Bram had helped them to win.

Not that that changed the way that the rest of Agency often stared at Bram like he was going to come for them in his sleep, a natural reaction considering everything that’d happened, but it was a stupid one all the same. As if Ranpo would just allow anyone to set foot into the Agency after everything—not that he’d really had a choice in the beginning, what with him taking an unexpected nap after the adrenaline had worn off, so he’d woken up to his newest ally sitting beside his bed with his head against his chest as he slept, and the friend that had allowed him to even have the time and space to plan to begin with, on the other.

That’d certainly been quite a sight to wake up to, but the moment that Poe had realised he was awake, he’d pulled Ranpo into his arms, muttering something about being glad that he’d survived and that his plan had worked, whilst also muttering apologies about needing to leave him to go and see how Fitzgerald was doing. Ranpo had been far too stunned at the display of affection to do anything other than nod—although he did recall that Fitzgerald had almost been killed in the chaos, so he couldn’t fault Poe for wanting to leave—since his mind still slow from waking up after sleeping for four days straight, and soon enough, it was just him and Bram left in the room.

Well, them and the several other occupants of Yosano’s infirmary, but Ranpo wasn’t focused on them in the slightest.

No, he was far too focused on the very attractive ability user—was it wrong to call Bram a vampire, if his ability turned people into vampires?—sitting by his bedside like he was a dying lover, which was a bit dramatic to say, and Ranpo wholeheartedly blamed the concussion for those thoughts to even be considered. Especially the part where he apparently thought Bram attractive.

It wasn’t like Ranpo had never experienced a crush before in his life, because he had, for a variety of reasons, whether it be attraction or appreciation, or some other reason. Emotions were complicated after all, and Ranpo often didn’t bother with trying to decipher them. Sometimes he looked at a person and thought them good looking—the guy from a rainy day over four years ago—and others he liked because he could get reactions from them that pleased him greatly; said reactions often varied from him getting punched—Minoura—to becoming tangled in someone’s sheets—also Minoura.

And then there was that one crush of appreciation that’d been Poe, because as one of the only people to be able to keep up with him intellectually, how could he not appreciate the man? Not that he’d ever acted on that crush or made it known, because first of all, Poe was nothing more than a friend, and second of all, the writer was already in a committed relationship with his boss, it was as simple as that.

So, yes, Ranpo was familiar with the feelings that came with a crush, and the worst part of having a crush on Bram of all people, was that the man was about as forthcoming with his thoughts as a rock—Ranpo truly felt like he’d been shouting at a wall when he’d been passionately negotiating with Bram—and that he was also as single as they came.

A terrible combination when combined with being attractive, really.

Ranpo had continued to watch Bram for a while, just studying the other now that he had the time to actually do so. Bram was slouching in the chair, his position causing his coat to ride up and hide the lower part of his face from view—not that Ranpo could see considering Bram’s head was currently pointed towards the ground in the first place. He was pale, and the scars on his cheeks stood out against the skin; Ranpo was sure that there was some kind of story, perhaps even a mystery, to those scars, and he wanted to unravel it. There were also the marks underneath Bram’s eyes that did nothing but make Bram even more attractive, and that was when Ranpo had to turn away, lest his feelings and thoughts became obvious to whoever it was that was about to walk into the room. And since Bram was sleeping, and still would be for some time, Ranpo thought it best that he do the same.

Maybe he was still tired, and that was why his thoughts had strayed down this path. Maybe they would go away if he just slept and ignored them.

Just maybe.

Unfortunately for Ranpo, after being cleared by Yosano to return to work, and finally leaving the infirmary behind after a week of bedrest, the feelings were there; in fact, they were almost stronger than before, and it absolutely did not help that Bram took to hanging around the office, not really doing anything other than entertain Aya, who had also turned to hanging around the office—more specifically, Kunikida—and to also sleep on one of the Agency couches.

Honestly, Ranpo was just a little impressed by how much Bram seemed to sleep, it was almost as if he were a cat.

Because right now, it was the middle of the day, and from his desk, Ranpo could see Bram, curled up on the couch, and asleep. And all he could think about was joining him there. Which was annoying, because he was supposed to be working—not that he could work much right now anyway—paperwork was more Kunikida’s thing, not his.

“You’re thinking hard.” Yosano’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he turned to see her watching him with a faintly concerned look—she always wore such a look these days. “Hand. Is everything alright?”

Ranpo lifted his injured hand, and watched as Yosano began to unravel the bandages, waiting until they had dropped onto his desk to answer her question. “Everything’s fine. Just observing our newest decorative piece.”

Yosano’s eyes flitted over towards Bram, and he cursed her in that moment for understanding him so well, cursing her even more when her lips twitched into a knowing smile as she returned to checking his hand. “You certainly seem to have a type, that’s for sure.”

“I do not.”

“Tall? Dark? Mysterious? I can name so many people that have fallen under those categories, so don’t try and fool me into believing you don’t have a crush on someone that hits all three.”

There was nothing that he could say to that that wouldn’t just shove him straight into the hole that Yosano was digging underneath him, not that he needed to say anything because her laughter and his burning cheeks said more than words ever could. Really, he did hate how easily Yosano could read him; it made keeping his conflicted feelings from her all the more harder. Ranpo let out a huff. “I’m not crushing on him.”

“I’ll believe that when you stop staring at him like he’s going to disappear.” Yosano shrugged, returning her attention to his hand, prodding the slowly healing wound and watching Ranpo’s reaction to it, and after she’d satisfied herself, wrapped it in fresh bandages. “And before you even try to say you’re not, you are, it’s starting to become kind of obvious, so why don’t you just talk to him?”

Another huff. “I don’t know how to.”

“You’re telling me you can sweet talk people into your bed—”

“Please don’t word it like that.”

“—but you can’t go up to them and say hello?” Yosano continued, raising a brow in a very much unimpressed way that did nothing but make Ranpo turn away from his oldest friend, and mutter something under his breath. “What was that?”

Ranpo sighed and turned back to face her. “I said, that it’s a lot easier when your dick is involved.”

“You’re impossible sometimes. But I suppose we’d have you no other way.” Yosano reached out to ruffle his hair through his hat, ignoring his disgruntled groans of protest. Ranpo slapped her hands away, fixing up his hat where it had slipped down his face; Yosano just smiled. “Just take him with you next time you go and buy sweets or something. But I’d do something fast before Dazai notices and starts trying to play matchmaker again.”

Ranpo shuddered at the thought of Dazai trying to talk to Bram on his behalf, and was left with a terrible, coiling sensation in his gut. Jealousy, an ugly emotion that Ranpo wanted nothing to do with, yet couldn’t help but feel, because try as he might to deny it to his friends, he was crushing, and crushing bad. And since this feeling wasn’t going anywhere until he did something about it, he decided to take Yosano’s suggestion seriously; for once. “I’m going to get sweets.”

“Good luck.” Yosano waved as she disappeared back into the infirmary, and the few co-workers that had overheard her—not Dazai thankfully, because he and Kunikida were currently out on a case together with Atsushi—looked towards him quizzically. He narrowed his eyes at them, satisfied when they met his gaze, jumped, and jumped right back into their work.

Ranpo waited until they were completely focused before he stood and crept over towards the couches; he wasn’t sure if Bram was a light sleeper or not, and he was kind of holding out on him not being one, so he kept his steps light until he was standing over Bram’s head, staring down at the sleeping man’s face, studying how smooth it was, even in sleep. Not that Bram’s face was anything but, since he never seemed to wear kind of emotion other than a deadpan, making him very hard to read at times—and Ranpo prided himself on being able to read the people around him.

Of course, there were a persons eyes, but Brams eyes were as emotionless as his face and said eyes were currently staring right at him—wait a minute, staring? Ranpo blinked once, staring down at Bram in the same way that he was staring up. Neither of them said anything, not that Ranpo really knew what to say in the first place, not when his heart started to pound inside of his chest, threatening to escape. Was it too late for Ranpo to throw himself out the window and pretend he hadn’t just been watching someone sleep?

Apparently so, because Bram chose then to speak. “What do you want?”

“Who says I want anything?”

“Because I’m sure you don’t just stare at people while they sleep. Unless you do, then I might be inclined to call you a little strange.” Bram said before letting out a massive yawn—and boy, didn’t the sight of those fangs make Ranpo’s already pounding heart, pound even faster—before he sat up, and stretched.

Yeah, he had it bad this time.

Ranpo shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m out of snacks, and no one else can take me to get more. So that’s your job now.”

Bram’s eyes narrowed a little, and only just a little, in annoyance. “My job? I don’t think so.”

“Wow, aren’t you cruel, letting the one who lets you sleep and laze about here starve because he ran out of snacks.” Ranpo threw himself over the arm of the couch, landing where Bram’s head had been resting earlier, his hair brushing the others thigh. The close proximity did nothing for his heart either, yet getting up now just wasn’t something that he wanted to do. Which was fine, because sitting here, like this, was actually quite nice.

At least, it was until Bram decided to pat Ranpo’s hair.

“They told me you were bad with directions; I did not think it was true.” Bram’s gaze looked towards the main area before his eyes flitted back to focus on Ranpo. “If you really need snacks that bad, I can take you, but later. First, you must rest.”

Ranpo blinked, and then blinked again. Where did that come from? “And why must I rest?”

“That doctor of yours was talking to you before, and then you came over here to where I was resting, so I gathered that she had told you to take a break.”

“That’s not—” Ranpo started, with the intention of clearing up the obvious misunderstanding, because he most certainly didn’t need to rest—Bram had literally been there when he’d been given the all clear to go back to work—but then he looked into the other mans eyes; eyes that so openly believed that what he’d observed was the truth, that Ranpo just sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I’m taking a break. Is that so bad of me to do? It’s hard work being a genius detective after all!”

The hand in his hair moved from petting to stroking, and Ranpo was forced to bite back a noise at how good it felt. For as long as he’d been alive, he’d been a sucker for his hair being played with, and many times he’d been likened to a cat by those who were privileged enough to be allowed to even touch his hair. Which of course meant that Bram was one of those people, not that the man knew it… yet.

Maybe when he woke up, he’d mention it, or he’d conveniently forget about it and these feelings of his.

Maybe…

Ranpo became aware at some point, realizing in just a second that he was no longer on the couch, and that he was being carried on someone’s back. Not Fukuzawa’s, it was too narrow, although he could hear his former guardian speaking quietly close by. An occasional hum that Ranpo could feel right in his ear would sound after each of Fukuzawa’s sentences, and the sound was familiar, although his brain was still working far too slow for him to deduce who it was that was carrying him.

But whoever it was that was carrying him was warm and strong, and Ranpo felt comfortable being where he was, enough that he shifted closer and allowed himself to drift off a little; he didn’t fall asleep entirely, because his curiosity was piqued, and he could never sleep when his mind started thinking like it did, so he just listened to words he was too tired to understand.

The last thing he remembered was being placed back into his own bed, and being tucked under the covers.

When Ranpo woke the next morning, he blinked, taking a moment to question how he’d gotten from the Agency couch to his bed, having forgotten that brief moment when he’d woken. He sat up, and blinked again when a coat that very much did not belong to him, fell off his shoulders. The coat was black, heavy, and warm—everything that Ranpo enjoyed in clothes that didn’t belong to him, although he was confused as to who the coat belonged to. It was familiar somehow, yet he couldn’t quite place where he recognised it from. Perhaps Fukuzawa would know. Ranpo crawled from his bed and bundled the coat into his arms before leaving his room behind, following the smell of cooking to the kitchen where Fukuzawa stood, cooking.

Even after years of being an adult, and for the most part, independent, Ranpo had never really considered the idea of moving into his own place. He had thought about it once or twice, after Yosano had moved out to be on her own, but never followed through with anything more. It was just easier for him to stay somewhere familiar, with someone that understood him and his habits, and Fukuzawa had never complained or tried to push him into leaving—if anything, he’d just given Ranpo a few more responsibilities and chores to do.

Which, for the most part, Ranpo did, so long as it meant he didn’t have to cook. He’d rather not burn the kitchen down, or poison someone after all, mainly himself.

“Morning, President.” Ranpo chirped, entering the room to slide into one of the chairs at the dining table.

“Good morning, Ranpo.” Fukuzawa looked over his shoulder, eyes immediately falling to the coat that he was holding. “Ah yes, Bram said you are more than welcome to return his coat when you next see each other.”

Ranpo blinked. The coat was Bram’s? How had that happened. The last thing Ranpo remembered was falling asleep on the Agency couch… the Agency couch that Bram had also been sitting on when he had fallen asleep. As Ranpo realised that, memories of the walk back trickled back, and he flushed a furious red as he recalled that Bram had been the one to carry him back home—he refused to believe that he’d been put to bed by the other man, instead choosing to believe that it’d been Fukuzawa to do so.

But then Fukuzawa chuckled, and any hope Ranpo had of his preferred option vanished, embarrassment taking over. Fukuzawa slid a plate of pancakes in front of him. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen that kind of expression on your face.”

“What expression?” Ranpo choked, not expecting Fukuzawa to say that of all things.

“That expression.” Fukuzawa sat opposite him with his own breakfast, a knowing, yet curious expression on his face. “Your ‘I have a crush’ face.”

Ranpo felt his face burn even more, which he hadn’t thought possible. He was starting to wish he’d never gotten out of bed that morning. “I do not have a face.”

Fukuzawa hummed, and smiled to himself.

“I don’t, okay?” Ranpo said again, sulking just a little. Why was everyone so annoying once they realised that he had a crush? Not that he was admitting that he did, because he didn’t, but the moment that they all thought he did, they were all in his business. It was annoying, and did nothing but frustrate him.

“I won’t press.” Fukuzawa said softly, as if he could sense Ranpo’s rapidly declining mood. “But if you do wish to pursue those feelings of yours, you won’t have any complaints from me. Bram is a very nice man.”

“Did you two bond on the walk home, then?” Ranpo shovelled the rest of his breakfast into his mouth, only glaring at the table a little.

Another hum from the older man. “We spoke, yes. Speaking of that—” Oh no. “—are you alright?”

Ranpo glared at his now empty plate. “Everything’s fine.”

“You slept the rest of your shift, and heavily too. I wasn’t able to wake you.” Fukuzawa said. “You wouldn’t let go of Bram either, so he offered to carry you so you could keep sleeping.”

Ranpo let his head thud against the table, not even attempting to hide his embarrassment this time. “Just put me out of my misery already.”

He listened as Fukuzawa stood, not saying anything until there were fingers running through his hair soothingly. “As embarrassed as you might feel right now, my advice to you is to just follow your heart, Ranpo. It might lead you to something good.”

Yeah, but what if it leads me to something bad, instead?

As it turned out, Bram wasn’t far; in fact, the vampire—Ranpo had decided by himself, that it was okay to call the other as such—was staying at the Agency dorms, sharing a dorm with that girl who migrated between Bram and Kunikida. Apparently, Bram had been staying there since the fight at the airport ended, aside from the days he’d spent by Ranpo’s bedside, and yet somehow, Ranpo had been completely unaware. A first for him, really, considering not much managed to slip by him in the first place, not that that mattered when he had to slink up the stairs to the dorms, Bram’s coat in hand, and Atsushi and Kunikida watching him after they paused their sparring session.

Yeah, like that wasn’t annoying.

Ranpo ignored them though as he finished climbing the stairs; didn’t even acknowledge them with a look as he walked down towards the room that Bram was staying in, and opened the door without knocking. Because Ranpo was a master detective, and didn’t need to knock. He walked into the dorm, noting quickly that it looked the same as the rest of them—one bedroom, one bathroom, and a living space—before he focused on trying to find Bram.

Which wasn’t hard to do, considering the man was sitting on the couch, staring at him whilst he ate some noodles—most likely the ramen from the store just down the street. Ranpo huffed and strode over, barely giving Bram enough time to shift over before he was throwing himself onto the couch as well. “You made me fall asleep.”

Bram didn’t respond until he’d finished chewing, and Ranpo couldn’t deny that he was staring at the other’s throat as he swallowed. “I did not make you do anything. You are the one that lay down and then fell asleep.”

“You were stroking my hair.”

“You did not complain.” Bram shrugged, and ate some more noodles. “Besides, you needed the rest anyway.”

Ranpo huffed, and drew his knees to his chest, the fur of Bram’s coat tickling his nose. “All I’ve done is rest—”

“No, all you’ve done is stress.” Bram interrupted, and then offered Ranpo the bowl without making eye contact. Ranpo didn’t say anything as he took the bowl into his hands and began to eat even though he’d just finished breakfast. He listened as Bram continued. “I kept watch over you and when you weren’t sleeping, you were stressing. Yesterday was the first day that you properly rested.”

Well at least Bram was admitting that he’d been keeping watch, but then again, in the short time they’d been in each other’s presence, Ranpo had easily deduced that Bram was the kind of person to be straightforward. A little roundabout with his speech patterns, but ultimately he’d speak his mind regardless of what the topic was, which was something that Ranpo could appreciate considering he was pretty much the same kind of person. But in this situation, it meant he could ask questions and get the actual answer instead of having to try and read between the lines of what someone was trying to tell him. He placed the bowl on the ground and turned to give Bram his attention.

“Why did you carry me home?”

Bram looked towards the ceiling, thoughtful. “You shifted in your sleep and latched onto my coat. You wouldn’t let go when Fukuzawa came to collect you, so I carried you. It was easier.”

“Why, though?” Ranpo pressed. He wanted to know why Bram hadn’t just pried his fingers from his coat and let Fukuzawa take him. Anyone else would’ve.

“You’re sleeping face is adorable.” Bram said, as if it was just a casual thing to admit, and before Ranpo could even think of a response, Bram went on. “I’ve been alive on this earth for some time now, so you should stop stressing so much about having a crush and finding me attractive.”

Ranpo choked on the words he’d been forming, face turning bright red like it had earlier that morning with Fukuzawa. “H—how—?”

Bram shrugged. “You learn after the first century or so what a crushing person looks like, and you are not subtle. I could feel you staring yesterday.”

Any words that Ranpo thought about speaking, flew from his mind immediately at Bram’s words. This must be how teenagers felt when their high school sweetheart admitted to knowing about their feelings the entire time. Not that Ranpo would actually know, since he’d never finished school—not in the way that normal children went to school and graduated of course. Fukuzawa had tried of course, but Ranpo had thrown a fit after the first week, so instead, Ranpo had finished his high school years with the help of online courses.

So maybe that was why Ranpo was experiencing such a situation now of all times.

The world had seen him almost die to try and save what he loved the most, and decided to give him a chance to catch up on all those things he’d missed out on after his parents had died.

Finally, he managed to get his mouth to work. “So what if I have a crush? It’ll pass eventually.”

“That may be.” Suddenly Bram’s face was right in front of Ranpo’s, with the smallest of gaps between them. “But I’m hoping it doesn’t.”

And then Bram’s lips were against his own, but not for nearly long enough. It was quick, and soft, nothing more than to show a point, but even so, Ranpo was left reeling because he hadn’t expected it. He cursed Bram for being so hard to read as he dragged the taller back in for a longer kiss. At least now, he didn’t have to try and hide those annoying feelings anymore—he had to wonder if Yosano and Fukuzawa had known something like this would happen and played their cards in such a way to help it happen. Not that they’d tell him if he asked of course.

The second kiss was still far too short for Ranpo’s liking, but with the way that Bram was looking at him like he wanted to devour him, he was sure that there would be more to come.

And he was going to welcome it.