Before The Blood Runs Dry (Kabe)

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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Kabe didn't stay drunk long. A few minutes at most if he drank enough to kill an elephant, assuming he hadn't eaten much that day. But he was a creative little shit, and when he wanted to lose himself in a drink for a while there was little to get in his way. He liked this bar a lot. A small corner of space that didn't mind him spiking his own drink, or smoking, and every so often a pretty guy would come by to take his fancy for the night.

But tonight wasn't really about boys. He had his husband, and Kumero was lovely, and even though other boys were fun and he still chased them when he felt like it, tonight he just wanted to forget all of his shit. The Devourer and all of the stress and panic that came with it every day of his life was one thing, and that enough was reason to drink, but all he could think about as he sat at the bar drinking some caustic mix of oxine and rocket fuel stirred into a cocktail was his family.

His mother was dead, his father a manipulative rake. His sister had been missing for a long time. His cousin was lovely, had a family of her own on Namek that he would do everything he could to protect, and he had a little boy to keep safe and to raise... but he still felt absence. The biggest ache of those was his uncle. Why did he miss Vocado so much? They hadn't interacted too much in his adult life, yet Kabe had clung to him. When he called, Kabe came running. When he needed help, it was Vocado he would think to call.

But he'd been calling for months, through all his shit, and his uncle had been dead silent. Did he hate him? Kabe could understand that. Was he ashamed? A pirate for a nephew, when he was a warmaster? That probably made sense. A chill ran through him as he wondered to himself if his uncle was even alive. Maybe he'd been calling a deadman. Dialtones and messages left for bones on some distant rock.

Thoughts swirled, and as his buzz wore off he was interrupted from his third pour of the night by an explosion that rocked the room. Kabe didn't bother, his energy sense dulled but sure whatever idiot it was he could fuck them up if they tried anything. But he froze, as he heard them bark orders. He turned around as the voice made exception on who had to leave.

"Vocado?" he set down his glass and the concoction beside it, and stood up. He wanted to be angry, to yell and scream like he had at Dion for disappearing, but as he went to raise his voice he struggled to find any real fight. He grabbed his glass and piffed it at the military man. "Where the fuck have you been, asshole! I thought you were dead!"

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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Kabe didn't respond at first. He'd been busy with war. Far off, pointless, stupid war. Of course he understood that Vocado was dedicated, a complicated man with ties to the crown and it's ends that Kabe could never even begin to understand... but still, hearing that the reason he'd been gone was just that he was working really stuck a knife between the ribs.

He noticed that his uncle lacked his usual confidence. Kabe felt an itch in the back of his brain, the same sensation he'd felt before he ripped out Dion's spleen and gorged himself on it, months ago. He ignored that feeling. It made sense, and Vocado should be awkward after disappearing like that. Even if he was honest about having meant to call, it still hurt, and Kabe was still mad.

But being mad didn't mean he had to push the asshole away. He moved a little closer. "Apology not accepted," he started, his tone harsh. With a snap of his fingers near his lips he summoned a brandy, old and dusty, and he held it out to Vocado. It was an old family relic, sawdust brandy milled and firmented from the finest of the Bonewood's trees a few generations before their time. "you can start making it up to me by drinking this with me."

He paused, knowing he still sounded frustrated. He scratched at his shoulder in nervous habit, his wedding ring catching against the gold plated shoulder pads of his jacket. "And tell me about whatever the fuck you've been doing! I don't wanna hear it was just work. Give me the grits. Then maybe I'll tell you what I've been up to." he said, measuring his tone, and keeping to himself the part about how Vocado should already know parts of what's gone down given all the messages he'd left.

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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Kabe clinked glasses and downed the drink. He felt nothing but the taste of brandy pouring down his throat, the burn of alcohol without the buzz, and he listened with his full attention as Vocado talked about war and what he'd been up to, his casualties and how things had been faring. He wanted to ask more about the casualties, but he knew Vocado wasn't like him. He didn't remember the name of everyone who served beneath him that died, and on a planetary scale that would be more difficult. But he didn't fault him for that, either. Different lives.

Then after a silence, Kabe contemplating what to say next, Vocado broke it with a question.

"Prince, actually," he started, a small smile on his face as he thought of his love. Tall and sturdy like the verdant green trees of their home, thinking of them filled his heart up with poetry. The sort of embarassing things he couldn't say out loud to his uncle. "but married life is good! Or well, I guess it's pretty good. We're not exactly your nuclear couple and I've never been married before so I sort of wonder if I'm treating them right. But they seem happy, even if they fret and fuss whenever I hurt myself. It's kind of weird having someone care like that, you know?"

He poured the two of them another shot, having never learned the value of drinking in moderation. "I would have invited you to the wedding, but..." there was a pause where Kabe tried to find an excuse, a better one than he'd given Zhalla. He didn't find one. "...just uh, don't take it personal. I didn't invite Zhalla either and I thought she might've killed me when she found that out."

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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"Oh it was definitely a low-class affair. We got married drunk on Raiti-Zacro, I think our celebrant was at least two kinds of high and very homeless." he laughed, remembering what he could of the night, and how happy it made him despite it being so informal and barely official besides a piece of paper that was illegible beside the words 'Certificate of Marriage'. Kabe felt the tremor but wasn't worried. They were both Super Saiyans, they'd live.

When Vocado asked about the honeymoon, Kabe could tell his uncle was already buzzing. He laughed at that, too. "Well I mean we robbed their dad before we were even married, on our way off that backwards rock he was living on. You think my dad's an asshole, at least he's not like, some kind of phobic shit. As for the honeymoon, I guess technichally we celebrated by burning the animal pit to the ground. You know uh-" Kabe was about to explain the pit, his history with it, and why his husband had been so adamant it be reduced to ash, but that was a discussion for another time, maybe. Not the sort of thing he'd like to drop on his uncle in the middle of catching up. "It was a shitty place. Fun to burn though."

He poured another shot. He felt the smallest buzz now, but knew Vocado would have to either refuse or let himself get too loose for his liking. Kabe was eager to see which way his uncle would go. "So you said you haven't got anything stable. But surely you've had some fun right? Off galavanting in space. I'm no prude, I won't judge. Or if you'd rather not talk about that, we could talk shop. You awaken any other cool powers while off without me? Last time you dipped you came back a Super Saiyan."

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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"Oh aren't you sharp?" Kabe replied, as Vocado clicked his tongue and called him out. Kabe's tone wasn't the calmed down, playful tone he'd been mostly feigning as they drank so far. It was bitter, simmering. The kind of tone you could fry an egg on. "Why couldn't you just... let me fucking pretend for a minute?" he huffed, and he poured himself another drink, dashing it with actual pod fuel, which burned on the way down as he shot it. "I'm- we're fucking pissed. Obviously. Is that what we're supposed to say?"

He took a breath, concerning himself at way he'd spoken. That was something that only happened when it was slipping through what thin walls he could put up in his mind. Vocado would have seen his eyes go red for a moment before going back to their usual baby brown.

"Look," he took another breath, trying to stay calm. "You totally abandoned me, and fuck you because I really needed you. A lot of shit has been happening. I've got... a problem," he wanted to laugh at himself. A problem? Just a problem? He had a parasite older than time feasting on his insides and puppeting his skin whenever he lost his shit. He forced himself not to get riled up at that. "and it's been bad. I blew up a planet fighting Lottus. I nearly killed Dion... attacked Bee. Zhalla had me locked up for a while. And now I just... need to stay calm. So if we're not pretending that's fucking fine but don't push me because I really don't want to have to know what your jugular tastes like today."

Was that a threat from that beast? A warning from him? His tone was shakey and Kabe wasn't sure which it was either. All he knew was he really couldn't afford to let himself lose control of his anger.

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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Kabe wanted to snap his jaws like a cornered animal, gnash at Vocado as he moved the liquor away and said something about Bonewoods. Was he even a Bonewood? His dad was a Spinespear, who'd killed his mother and ruined all their lives to take the family name. His father still sat on the throne of the Bonewood family. Rumors had stirred even that he was reclaiming the Spinespear name, too. Vocado had been his tie to his name. Vocado had been the person that made Kabe really connect with being a Bonewood. He and Zhalla, but he'd always had Zhalla and he always would.

So what did it matter to him what a Bonewood would do?

He didn't lash out, but he did grumble before he started to give the story to Vocado. "It was a chance meeting, mostly. I was in space, fucking about, doing reckless shit. Because I was avoiding Namek. To avoid Nero. Because some part of me wanted to rip his head off just at the idea he might her Zhalla one day, and I needed to figure that out." He was still ashamed of that feeling, that ugly pit inside him that had driven him away. He looked at the liquor but didn't move for it. "So I was doing stupid shit, to get myself hurt as much as possible. And I got this distress beacon, and I landed on this planet thinking I'd just get an easy fight to shake off the hangover I had or whatever. Fuck me right? Because it's not some easy fight. It's the scariest, most deranged motherfucker in the galaxy and he's eating people and terrorizing the place."

A shakey breath. He still shook remembering Lottus's ki.

"Now, I'm no pussy but I'm not stupid. I was going to bounce but I just couldn't. There were kids. There were kids all over that planet. So I figured fuck it I'm going to die some day anyway, might as well be stalling for time so some kids can live. But the fight didn't go as planned. There's this... thing. I've always had it, I think. My mom- not your sister, but like, my space mom. She died trying to fix whatever it is. But everytime I get angry it's like this endless hunger comes out... but this time, it... I don't know. I don't remember much. But I went Super Saiyan like you, I think, and there's flashes but I know I remember what Lottus's insides taste like."

Why did he have a proud smile as he said that? It didn't reach his eyes and he was uncomfortable that it was on his face. He was some kind of sick monster right. he stopped telling the story and looked down. "Do I need to go on or... have you figured out what a fucking monster I am yet?"

BEFORE THE BLOOD RUNS DRY

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Kabe listened to Vocado's thoughts on Super Saiyan and ignored his commentary on Lottus. Vocado was no monster for enduring Lottus. He was a soldier; he served, and while Kabe didn't respect authority, he had always respected that Vocado had a control that he lacked, and a dedication he could never muster. But that control might be helpful here. Maybe Vocado, practiced as he was, could help Kabe. He decided to trust him, even if it was stupid, and every instinct told him he was about to get another person he loved killed.

"Just promise you'll run if it's too much." Kabe said, as he looked down at the ground. He focused, not that he needed to. All his thoughts all of the time lately circled back to keeping this thing locked up. All he had to do was stop those thoughts, those little pushes against it. But he focused, on his hunger, on the pain in the pit of his stomach and the burning in his throat. He let thoughts fill him he detested. Memories and awful, ugly ideas bubbled up as gold began to wreathe him.

Saiyan meat was stringy, tough and yet it had a flavor Kabe hadn't stopped thinking about since they had fought Lottus. And it found how Kabe squirmed in his own skin at the thought of it so, so funny. Wouldn't Vocado taste just as good as Lottus did, if they ate him?



"Such good... meat... on your bones...!" it spoke, red eyes staring at Vocado as it strained to master Kabe's vocal chords, relearning each muscle to pull and the way the vessel's tongue should move again. They tilted their head, like an animal inspecting prey. It did not move him, and Kabe held himself back with what little control over them that he could. They blinked once, and stepped closer, fanged teeth grinning. "Shall we eat?"