Work Text:
Things were slow for a while, after Pangi finally got cured and freed from the corruption. Well, the world outside hadn't slowed at all, but inside the lab, it did. Everything was calm down here, and the calm was what he needed as he recovered from the illness that had eaten at him for months. It had shaken him up, both physically and mentally. So, him and Lukey stayed holed up together for a few days, with the occasional visit from Bad.
Lukey seemed stressed, restless. And despite all of Pangi's empty reassurances, he knew the scientist would not be able to rest for as long as Pangi was still feeling under the weather.
He wasn't ready to confront his feelings about Lukey's care for him, everything the man had done to save him, including sacrificing a life. If he didn't owe Lukey everything before, he surely did now.
"But what could help you recover? Are you not getting enough sleep? Maybe switch up your diet or..." He trailed off, talking more to himself than to Pangi. He sat at his desk, messing with his pens and notebooks although Pangi was certain he had nothing to actually write about. They were at an impasse on his condition.
It was no use trying to convince Lukey that he was fine, the man would just frown at him and ignore his reassurances.
"I dunno. I feel rested, I think. I'm more, um, empty... Or numb, like when I..." Pangi stopped himself. He didn't want to tell Lukey about his needs, about his darkest urges. Embarrassment grew hot in his stomach. Tainting his own image to the man who had done so much for him, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Couldn't imagine the look of fear or disgust on Lukey's face without wanting to cry a little bit.
Lukey looked at him for a moment, debating whether to push for an answer or not. "Yeah? If you won't tell me, i can't help."
Pangi shook his head. "Nah, nah... You've helped more than enough. It's... Nothing."
That was the wrong thing to say. Lukey frowned, got up from his seat at his desk and came to sit right next to Pangi, painfully close actually, where he was leaning back in the couch-like sitting area of the office.
"Does this have something to do with lifesteal?" He blurted out the words, almost spat them out.
Pangi nearly recoiled. A part of him hated hearing others say the name of his homeland. Not that he was so opposed to discussing it, but god, the name always sounded like pure poison from an outsider's mouth, like a bad word that they needed to say a certain way, hushed or hurried.
Pangi grunted, noncommittal, in response.
Lukey seemed to pick up on his discomfort but kept going. "Because you- I don't know how well you remember, um... You told me a little bit about it. And said you probably didn't speak much of it because it was like 'trauma dumping', so..."
Pangi did not like where this conversation was going. But Lukey was right, his days of being overtaken by the corruption was a blurry mess that he couldn't bother to remember too clearly. He looked away with a bit of a scoff, but was quickly pulled back in when Lukey gently grabbed his hand.
He turned to him once more, only to find wide dark eyes fixed on him, attentive and full of emotion that Pangi couldn't bare to look at. Lukey's hand on his nearly burnt him.
"I know I'm being pushy, and I'm sorry. But, I really wanna help. And I really wanna know. Whatever you wanna tell me, please, I swear I'll listen, dude..."
Pangi pulled his hand away as he felt his face grow hot. Goddamnit, looking into Lukey's eyes was always dangerous for him, always a risk. How could he possibly deny him anything?
"Its not something you can help with. But, just for your information... It's- when I haven't killed someone in a while, I get all, I don't know- numb? ...I guess it is a lifesteal thing." He explains awkwardly, looking anywhere but in Lukey's eyes. "It's like the opposite of an adrenaline rush. I guess you could say- like withdrawals?"
Lukey was silent for a long moment, only leaving the sound of bubbling water from the potion stands to be heard. Pangi hated that reaction. He was about to ask Lukey to please say something, or curse him out, when the man beat him to it. "Fascinating."
It was rasped so low, almost a whisper, that it was nearly lost to the silence of the room. Pangi looked back at him, and was shocked to find Lukey smiling at him, leaning in. He stared him down like he would a particularly interesting book or a brand new potion recipe. It was probably the worse side effect of being in Lukey's care while he was suffering from the corruption, having the man watch him so intently, becoming like his experiment, his subject, his scientific fascination. It was equally as detestable as it made his whole body vibrate with delight.
"What?"
Lukey seemed to regain a little self awareness. With an awkward chuckle he blew his fringe away from his eyes, as he always did. Pangi always seemed to notice, for some reason. "Sorry. It's just really interesting... The biological and neurological implications of someone being addicted to killing... Or violence? Whats the trigger, mmh..." He spoke pensively, monologuing again.
"I'm not addicted!" Pangi spat out, offended. "That's crazy. I can manage just fine, I just feel strange after a while. It's a bit like... The longer I go without it, I, well, my brain gets foggy. Or something."
Pangi was gonna liken it to hunger or thirst for a moment, but decided against it. His stomach churned pleasantly at the thought. The thought of a body laying in the grass, freshly killed...
"Is it like random urges or a constant bloodthirst?" Lukey was completely entranced by the conversation now, in full science mode. Pangi squirmed at the word bloodthirst. Too close to home.
"Um, yeah I guess the urge is always there, kinda. You know me though, I usually only kill when I'm provoked, so, I don't know..." He tried to keep his tone casual, and failed to keep his hands from shaking.
Lukey appeared to be lost in thought for a long moment. What he said next shook Pangi at his core. "Do you ever, like. Is it almost like hunger? Feeding? Like sustaining yourself off killing?"
Pangi jumped out of his seat like the thing was on fire. He nearly, on reflex, shot out the room as suddenly as if he'd been pearling. His heart beat wildly like it was trying to escape his chest. But instead he stopped dead in his tracks, catatonic.
"Wow! I- are you okay? I didn't mean to... What the hell...?" Lukey exclaimed, frantically searching Pangi's posture for something wrong, worry apparent on his face. Then, he must've realized something. "Oh..."
Pangi balled his fists at his side, regulating his erratic breathing.
"Can you sit back down? Please?" He was using that soft voice, and before Pangi knew it, he was sat again.
They just existed in silence for a moment. Pangi had a feeling that Lukey was offering him some breathing room, some time to collect his thoughts. An uglier part of him thought Lukey might have been too disgusted to speak, or fearful. It felt similar to that time he had killed Lukey, the usual satisfaction that ran through him had mixed with pure nausea, a dizzying mix of grief and guilt. But God, Lukey's body was laid on the dark bricks of the green fortress and he could still imagine the scene. The arrow ran straight through his eye socket and left a trail of blood running down his cheek like pretty tears. The memory of it always made Pangi's head reel.
Lukey's words broke through the silence like the sound of glass shattering. "Have you ever... On the Realm?"
"No. Hell, no." Pangi answered quickly, maybe too quickly. He had thought about it, of course he had.
First of, he had restrained himself from killing for a long time when he had entered the Realm. At a time where his two teammates had the highest kill counts around, he had looked like a pacifist next to them for a while, however ironic that image was.
But well, no matter how much he enjoyed the feeling of it, he wasn't inclined to kill for no reason. And the pacifism served as a facade for a long time, like a wolf in sheep's clothing situation. He was likeable, he was nice and chill. He was seen as the weakest of his ruthless and bloodthirsty teammates. It was a reputation he could take advantage of. It was fun, being regarded as harmless while he worked on weapons and machines of destruction behind everyone's backs.
After he'd started killing, the dam had broken. One drop of blood spilled and the whole well was poisoned, it had a disgusting red tint to it. And so he embraced that bloodthirst when he felt overwhelmed with his emotions, its calling was like home to him.
There were a lot of kills, since then. Some low hanging fruits, some proper fights. Although, Pangi did not enjoy fighting, he enjoyed killing. He liked the quick, surprise attacks, the secret weapons that would leave someone panicking for an exit, rather than duels and drawn out battles. They were for showoffs, in his humble opinion. He could end things quickly, surprise his prey with a painless blast. Cut through someone's armor with a few swings of his axe.
So, yeah. When he ended someone, when their cooling body dropped to the ground, an animalistic part of him that was craving to heal its own injuries, begged him to kneel and sink his teeth in.
The closest he'd come was the very first time he had killed Pili. Pili Two, his mind supplied helpfully. It was just the two of them, in that room where all the walls blinded him in their white luminescence. As far as he knew, no one would find them here, underground and in this secret space.
He watched Pili's corpse slumped in his purple chair, oozing blood where his axe had slashed through his ribcage with ease. He wasn't even wearing armor, and it was beautiful. And Pangi could have, without effort, reached deep in his open chest, taken his heart, of all things. He could feel his mouth watering for it, back then.
In the end, he didn't. Of course he didn't. Pili's unresponsive face reminded him too much of his Pili, the one he had foolishly imagined to be the love of his young, naive life. The one he had lost far too recently. Guilt churned and twisted in his guts, as he left the white room, licking the blood that had splattered on his own fingers like it was a delicacy. Guilty pleasure and all.
"I don't... I don't crave it. It's just, y'know habits die hard or whatever. I've thought about it, just, I don't need it, so..." Pangi cringed, feeling a bit like he was digging himself in deeper.
And of course he didn't need it. His diet consisted entirely of golden apples, and the sugary taste that assaulted his mouth, the spark of something in the back of his throat; it was enough of a distraction. Whenever he thought of still-warm with life, viscous, red flesh, he aggressively bit into an apple, occupying his canines with pure gold.
Lukey seemed a little lost in thought, and the pangolin didn't blame him. "That's... So interesting. So what, do you just... On lifesteal...?"
Pangi was getting a little sick of these half questions, the subject itself kept suspended in their thoughts like it was too gruesome to even be spoken aloud. And maybe it was.
"It's not like a necessity. We have other foods, we don't really do it for survival. It's... For every other reason, really." Lukey hummed, captivated by his every word.
"Some people do it after a fight, as a sign of dominance or victory, or whatever... Some people enjoy the taste. Some do it for... I dunno, some kind of affection thing..." His voice dropped on the last words, realizing how twisted it sounded to say it out loud. "Anyways, doesn't matter why we do it, we just do. It's the norm."
Lukey observed him for a long moment. Pangi kind of despised, yet felt endeared by, his morbid curiosity. That scientific fascination, which Pangi was subjected to.
"Why did you... Do it? If I can ask."
There wasn't much in this world Lukey could ask him that Pangi wouldn't answer truthfully to. "I just like it, I guess."
It was a simplified answer, but a true one. If in lifesteal, eating flesh was as normal as eating golden carrots, then there was no real reason to not do it. Pangi didn't indulge a lot. He didn't kill a lot, first of all, hadn't killed properly since season 4, since he had gotten bored of the fights and the wars that came of it.
He didn't, however, get bored of eating when the opportunity rose. It was something that came naturally to him, the desire to sink his teeth into skin.
"You like, what, the taste?"
Pangi gave half a shrug. "Sure."
It wasn't the full explanation. The taste of raw flesh was nothing spectacular. Blood was just as metallic to him as it is to anyone. Although he did have the acquired taste for it, did find notes of spice and sweetness in the crimson liquid. He didn't seek the taste in particular.
The feeling of it in his mouth, the feeling of taking something so intimate from his fallen prey. The feeling of using someone's loss as your victory, your sustenance. It's an animalistic form of satisfaction.
After Pangi's short and dry response, Lukey had moved on, changed the subject. Something in the air between them had shifted, but Pangi was still exhausted from his recovery and couldn't be bothered to overthink it.
He laid down in a cozy corner of the lab, where his temporary bed was, and he prayed to whoever was listening that the conversation they had would be out of Lukey's mind in the morning.
For a few days now, Lukey's mind had buffered like an overheating hard drive.
It ran in circles, going back to the same thoughts that plagued him at all times. It forced him to bury his head in work, whether it was at the lab or helping around Green castle, or at Bad's so-called 'bootcamp'.
No matter how much he busied himself, though, his thoughts were cluttered with a certain conversation he had. In the beginning, he tried to tell himself it was all scientific curiosity, his nature as a researcher. However, Pangi, annoyingly enough, was at the center of all of this. He was the subject of all these moments Lukey would space out and think back on their talk.
Cannibalism. The word echoed unpleasantly in his brain. Well, as much as the word has stayed unspoken with Pangi, it was exactly what that was. He had the decency to stay lighthearted and vague when they had talked because, of course, he noticed Pangi's discomfort. Despite the million questions Lukey wanted to ask, Pangi's tense shoulders and his shaky hands dissuaded him. After all this started as an effort to improve the pangolin's health and his recovery, and Lukey hated causing him unnecessary stress like this.
So, he was not gonna ask Pangi to tell him about his... Tendencies, anymore.
However, it didn't stop his brain from taking the information and spinning it around and around, analyzing each little angle.
It was strange. After all, most times when people talked about cannibalism, it usually involved survival, desperate and animalistic. If not, then insanity. And if not one of the two, then it involved some kind of otherworldly being who was humanoid enough for that diet to be somewhat disturbing. Badboyhalo was the third option.
He never considered that cannibalism could be done in such a setting. Normalized, cultural... In a place where violence and killing were celebrated, why would consuming your kills not be sought after? Like a much more grim version of hunting season, he supposed. Isn't eating the thing you killed yourself just a way to flaunt victory? A self-satisfying, self-indulgent sort of survival of the fittest? He supposed that could be it, why they did it. Why Pangi did it.
Bad. He realized suddenly, once his brain had caught up to its own monologuing. Of course, he could ask Bad. As an outside source of sorts, a third opinion. Despite not being from lifesteal, and being, well, not human, it still could give Lukey insight.
He had always brushed off Bad's passing remarks on all the people he had eaten, unlike he had with Pangi.
For multiple reasons; First of, he was sure Bad was some kind of demon-monster thing of sorts, so he couldn't be bothered to hold him to human standards. Second, it was Bad. Lukey had given up on analyzing anything the man said long ago.
But now, honestly, Bad was the only person who he could ask about this without dying of shame. Of course, there were lifestealers around that he could ask... But god, talking to them about this felt like a death sentence. Or worse.
"Bad." He called, emphasis on the name to get the man's attention. "Why do you... Why do you eat humans? Like, people?"
Bad turned to him and froze for a second. His eyes were narrowed like it was the stupidest question he was ever asked. "Why? What d'you mean?"
"Well... Why do you do it? Is it the taste or... The, the feeling? Is it just part of your diet or-?" Lukey fought the urge to reach for a pencil. They were standing around the cathedral, not in his office. Bad wouldn't entertain his questions for long and may not even answer truthfully.
"People just taste good. Like chicken. You should try it sometimes."
Lukey had a feeling this was all he was gonna get from him. For some reason he found that Bad's answer was much different to Pangi's. Even though the pangolin had just hastily responded that he just did it because he liked it, Lukey did not believe he was talking about taste. It couldn't be that simple.
He mulled the thought over as he walked away from the cathedral and towards the Green castle. Did Pangi like the taste? He probably did, to some extent. No matter how normal and expected it was, no one would eat human flesh if they disliked it. At least he imagined. If so, maybe it was the type of thing they would grow accustomed to, developed their palet to it, or whatever it's called.
Lukey stopped in his tracks as he heard a sound behind him, airy and almost lost to the wind. Sure enough, as he turned, he found Zam hovering in the air a few feet above him. Just the person he absolutely wanted to avoid right at that moment.
"Hey. I overheard what you said to Bad."
Great. Lukey rolled his eyes, amused. "Always spying, never a job." He muttered teasingly.
She ignored his remark. "You know why I'm here... Is this about Pangi? Did he say something?"
Lukey scoffed a little. "It seems like it's always about Pangi when we chat, huh."
If this was the Zam he had met nearly a month ago, the one who he didn't know that well, maybe Lukey would feel irritated with her. But this isn't the person who had threatened him out of jealousy, or out of a misplaced sense of justice. This isn't the Zam who felt all powerful and yet at a loss for a purpose. To give her credit, she had been a lot kinder and had really worked towards something that looked oddly like friendship with Lukey.
It didn't stop him from absolutely dreading the idea of having this conversation with her.
She stopped floating and let her feet touch the ground gracefully. She fixed Lukey a stare that indicated she was quite serious. She didn't seem mad or anything, just serious. "Y'know why I'm asking. What did Pangi tell you?"
Lukey shrugged. "Not much. Nothing involving you, that's for sure. But, this feels oddly personal to you..."
She sighed and started fidgeting with her long hair with her free hand. In the other, she held her spear, as always. Lukey would maybe feel a little threatened if he wasn't so used to being around people who held onto their weapons at all times.
She looked a bit resigned as she spoke. "No matter what he told you, you can't... Don't, don't treat him like a freak for that, he's..."
Lukey cut her off without thinking. "Woah, no. I- no, of couse not. I'd never," He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He would have never guessed that was where her worries came from.
"I don't think I could... There's not many things Pangi could do to impact my opinion of him, negatively, that is." He cleared his throat awkwardly.
Maybe he had said too much, and hadn't wanted to reveal this much of his feelings to Zam. But after all, Zam was Pangi's ex, or his best friend with romantic subtext, or something along those lines... And this felt a little too much like a shovel talk.
(Lukey had never gotten confirmation of Pangi and Zam's past relationships, but if he knew one thing, it's that these two were in love at one point or another. That much was certain.)
Zam looked relieved. She gave a small smile. "Then, why were you asking Bad about it? You looked real spaced out there." Her tone was lighter, coated in curiosity.
"Eh, you know me, I'm... Well, I'm a scientist. It's a fascinating topic, cannibalism." He said sheepishly. The conversation was turning to an embarrassing angle again. The last word, he muttered under his breath a little. He wouldn't know if Zam would be as sensitive about this as the pangolin had been.
Zam smiled fondly. There was a twinkle in her eye. "Yeah, fascinating. Especially when it's Pangi."
"Sorry, what do you mean?"
"He's not greedy. Have you ever seen him lick the blood off of his blade?" Lukey choked on air at the sudden question. He shook his head hastily. "It's a pretty sight." Zam added.
Lukey stood frozen for a moment. Zam, to her credit, was giving him exactly the answers he had been seeking. However, the image of Pangi licking crimson liquid off of his sharp battle axe made an electric shiver run down Lukey's spine. He shamefully thought of the axe Pangi had gifted him. The one that was worn-out and coated in old dried poisons. The one he knew for a fact Pangi had wielded and used to kill before. Had he...?
Zam laughed at his unresponsive state. And probably at the reddening tint of his cheekbones. "What? Did you not expect me to know all of this about him? What he's like when hes hungry, when he's indulging... What he tastes like."
Lukey gasped at that last sentence. He couldn't help himself. Of course, it made sense for Zam to have seen Pangi like this, and more than just seen, but... The thought made his chest tighten. "You've... Pangi?"
He couldn't bring himself to say it.
She laughed and grinned so wildly it must have been painful. "It's a taste I'd never forget, Lukey. His heart especially. God, I've had it so, so many times." Her smile faded a little. "Lots of betrayals. I used him... You know how it is."
He did not, absolutely not in fact, know how it was. When Lukey had come to the conclusion that Pangi and Zam seemed too intimate to be 'just friends', apparently, he had barely breached the surface of it. Lukey swallowed. His throat was dry. "And did he... Do the same to you?"
She seemed to grow nostalgic. "When we were younger, he was... Fuck, he was ruthless. I kinda missed this part of him, but I came here, and y'know, met him all over again..." She giggled to herself like she recalled a particularly fond memory. "I hope he thinks of the way my heart tasted, as much as I think of his."
Something burnt in the back of Lukey's throat, something ugly and possessive. He was never quite the jealous type but... Now, the thought of things so intimate between Pangi and Zam... It made Lukey feel so bitter. His lungs itched with it, all of his limbs tensed from it. God, he was jealous over this, how pathetic.
"Alright, well, thanks. I think I'm gonna-"
"Lukey." She called out, still grinning at him. "Don't go sacrificing a life for this. Like I said, he's not greedy. Hearts are awesome, but he likes blood. He likes the tease of it."
Lukey shuddered, stepping backwards slowly. "I- I don't know what you, um, mean. But uh, yeah I'll-"
She cut him off again. "And, well, he looks beautiful when he kneels to lick your wounds clean, you'll see-"
"Bye, Zam!" He screamed as he flew away suddenly with his elytra, using a few too many fireworks on the way out, panicked. It probably made the princess really amused, Lukey thought bitterly.
As he flew to the lab and let the cold air hit his burning face, he tried to clear his mind, calm his racing heartbeat, extinguish the fire in the pit of his stomach... To absolutely no avail.
If Lukey thought that more answers about Pangi's past would have satisfied his morbid curiosity, well he was dead wrong.
Thankfully, he did not see Pangi that day, after his conversation with Zam. God, if he had seen him he would have probably made up some excuse to avoid him. He couldn't have looked in the man's eyes after what he'd just heard.
The images lingered with him though, as he laid into bed that night. Pangi liked blood. Well, that was something he had never paid attention to, that's for certain, what Pangi was like around blood.
Admittedly, the only times he had witnessed the man kill or fight was either with a single arrow, or that infamous battle at the ball. He had never really seen Pangi swing his battle axe again and again until his victim dropped from fatigue. He assumed it had happened, the batte axe always seemed to be the pangolin's weapon of choice, when he didn't have his trusty crossbow in hand.
And his trident, he remembered. Whereas Lukey himself had always seen the trident as a way to travel, it was obvious Pangi gripped his like a weapon. And he had, of course, noticed the faintest tints of red on the spikes of Pangi's skewer.
Had he? Had Pangi tasted some of the blood on his trident after planting it through someone's stomach? Had he pulled it away, dripping with blood and viscera and brought it to his mouth like an oversized fork? Had he dragged his tongue against the sharp blade, uncaring for the potential cut, only caring for the taste-...
Lukey buried his head in his pillow suddenly, trying to rid himself of the mental image. His face was burning hot against the cool soft material, which did nothing to stop his train of thought.
Surely, Pangi's proclivity to blood didn't manifest only in cleaning his weapons in rather... Untraditional ways. Outside of killing, Lukey had the stray thought that Pangi's teeth were sharp and that he could probably bite through skin easily. He always noticed it, Pangi's canines weren't particularly long or as sharp as his claws, but they were noticeably less blunt than human teeth. They probably wouldn't make a clean incision, but leave a mess of a bite, then if Pangi wanted to drink straight from someone's wrist, or, maybe, their neck...?
...
Lukey screamed into the pillow.
He's not a fucking vampire! Goddamnit, his whole body was alert and warm and he needed to stop thinking about these things, now!
Pangi was probably asleep in his makeshift bed, no farther than a room away. Lukey felt the hot shame lurk unpleasantly at the bottom of his stomach. His friend was asleep in their lab, entrusting Lukey with his health and safety, meanwhile the scientist was battling against graphic thoughts of said friend.
Still, he recognized how badly Zam's words affected him and how badly he wanted to know more about this. It was his nature as a researcher after all. And despite how personal this felt now, he could trick himself into pretending this was for science, he totally could.
Lukey must have finally drifted off to sleep at some point, his hazy mind playing with the images of a certain pangolin, kneeling and cleaning blood off of skin. Lips painted red, a flash of sharp teeth, deep blue eyes darkened with hunger... Lukey would curse Zam the second he woke up if he even had half a mind to think of that.
The next day, he had a plan. It was probably the stupidest plan Lukey could have come up with, most likely fueled by these insistent thoughts that must have clogged his brain.
But he was a scientist, he reminded himself again, like a mantra. His entire thing was experiments, trial and error. But, this one error could be costly, he had to admit.
They spent the day in the lab, something that wasn't too unusual for them. Especially since Pangi still needed a little calm and was somewhat clingy ever since he had gotten cured.
Once in a while he'd do things for Lukey around the lab and for its construction. He'd complain that he was 'doing everything' but immediately jump to taking on more of Lukey's tasks. Pangi had, just that day, made so many travels for resources in and out of their lab. Lukey would feel bad if the man wasn't seemingly so eager to do things for him.
Lukey, though, was a little preoccupied with something else. First of, trying to keep his eyes off Pangi's teeth anytime the man grinned brightly at him...
Second, what he was about to do.
Making himself bleed... Just for Pangi, just to give the man a taste of himself... How insane must he truly be? If he was wrong about any of this, if Zam had been lying, or if Lukey had misinterpreted a single thing, then this plan could backfire so badly.
But it was fine. Trial and error. He trusted Pangi with his life and his safety, he reminded himself, so the outcome could not be that detrimental.
He anxiously awaited a moment where Pangi was nearby, hovering in the same space but not looking too closely at Lukey's work. Lukey held an empty glass vial over one of his many work benches, his heart hammered quickly in his chest.
He snuck one last glance at Pangi standing somewhere behind him, making sure the man was distracted, before squeezing his eyes shut tightly, breaking the vial against his desk in one swift hit, and blindly closing his fist around a shard of glass.
Lukey hissed between his teeth at the painful tug against the skin of his palm. When he opened his eyes and dropped the shard, Pangi had already appeared right by his side. Worry was written all over his face.
"Lukey! What did you do-?" Pangi nearly shouted, hovering close to Lukey. He reached out for the scientist's injured arm but hesitated a moment, his own hand hanging in the air between them.
Lukey offered it to him, palm up. He was satisfied to see blood had started filling his palm like a calice. The crimson was vibrant against his pale skin and all he could think of was that same shade painted on Pangi's lips.
Pangi took his hand gently, carefully holding it while examining the cut. Some blood dripped onto his fingers and Lukey felt nervous at the sight alone.
Pangi bit his lip, concerned. "You should go wash that. And be more careful, man." He sighed.
Pangi pulled his hand away from Lukey's and for a moment, just a moment, stared intensely at his own hand and the red liquid that now stained it. He didn't seem phased or anything, his expression was actually scarily unreadable. Lukey's mouth was dry.
"What if I... Want you to help me clean it up?" Lukey spoke, and his voice absolutely did not crack or waver. Absolutely not.
Pangi's eyes widened behind his glasses. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it, lost for words. He stared down at his own stained fingers again with a frown. "Do you know what you're asking me?" He challenged, voice hoarse.
Lukey's heart was hammering ridiculously fast, like it wanted nothing more than to escape his chest and fly straight into Pangi's mouth. Lukey repressed the thought and nodded at him. His bleeding hand was still hovering in the air between them like an offering.
Pangi scoffed, and as if to warn him or deter him from doing this, he brought his own blood covered fingers to his mouth and licked it off like it was some sweet syrup. He stared at Lukey the whole time, still, challenging him.
The sight of his blood on Pangi's tongue only served to make something warm stir in Lukey's abdomen. His blood. Did Pangi like the taste? If the flush of his cheeks and the frustrated way he bit his lip was anything to go by... Lukey glanced at his own hand and felt disappointed at the idea that soon, too soon, his blood would start drying before Pangi had a chance to drink it up.
Lukey nodded at his still bleeding hand. He raised an eyebrow, showcasing his impatience. "Well? Want more?"
Pangi grunted in surprise. He stared straight at the pool of red in Lukey's palm as he took a shaky step forward and dropped to his knees in front of Lukey. His every movement dripped with hesitation, it made him look a little bit automated, robotic. He seemed out of it, as he looked up at Lukey with his reddening cheeks and his slightly parted lips. His breathing was loud in the silent laboratory.
Lukey gave him his hand, and this time Pangi didn't take it gently, he firmly grasped at the wrist as if afraid Lukey would pull away any second. They held one last eye contact, as Pangi obviously seeked assurance, looked for the determination in the scientist's eyes.
Whatever he found there must have satisfied him, because as he lowered his face all hesitation was gone. He closed his eyes as his tongue started lapping up all the blood it could find, his grip around Lukey's wrist tightening just a bit. Lukey stared the entire time, incapable of looking away from Pangi's ecstatic expression. When all the blood was gone and swallowed, Pangi went straight for the bleeding cut, licking and even nipping at the skin there with his sharp teeth, demanding more.
Lukey's gasped at the sensation. He wanted to give him more, felt that need to feed him a part of himself, burning deep in his chest.
Pangi looked up at him with hazy eyes, almost a bit sheepish, ashamed. Lukey just smiled at him. "Do I taste good?" He laughed at the situation they were in, how stupid. The reality of it all did nothing to contradict how warm Lukey felt, how good and thrilling this was.
Pangi swallowed and squeezed his wrist almost reverently, his eyes were so full of affection it was a painful sight. "So sweet, honey..." He chocked the words out.
Lukey couldn't help himself, then. He took Pangi's face in his hands and pulled him up a bit as he bent over, and their lips met with a bruising impact. Pangi's lips were slick with a metallic taste and Lukey didn't waste a second to lick it up, sharing the taste that Pangi seemed so entranced by.
Pangi moaned against him, and desperately reached to drag his fingers in Lukey's hair, an attempt to pull him impossibly closer.
Lukey suddenly understood the feeling, then, the need to devour someone, taste them and want more and more. He wasted no time to lick at Pangi's canines when the man parted his lips in a gasp. His teeth were razor-sharp, something about him that Lukey had always been drawn to. Now he knew what it was like to have Pangi bite at his skin with hunger he didn't think he could ever forget it.
He felt Pangi's fingers tighten in his hair and with trembling breath, he bit down on Lukey's lower lip, hard enough to break skin. Lukey's hiss of pain morphed into a breathy laugh.
Pangi pulled away ever so slightly after one last indulgent swipe of his tongue, one last taste. "M'sorry. Couldn't help myself." His words were slurred, his eyes glassy and his cheeks a delicious red.
Lukey kissed him again. And again. And some more, until the metallic taste had fully faded from both their lips.