Title: pact.
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries.
Characters: Katherine/Stefan.
Prompt: Feast or Famine.
Rating: PG.
Length: 669.
Content warnings: Blood.
Author’s notes: Also written for getyourwordsout’s "acrid" prompt.
Summary: Katherine doesn’t like animal blood.


She spits out the blood.

Wiping the back of her hand against her sticky and dripping chin, Katherine winces and shakes her head. Poking her tongue out, she tosses the blood bag at Stefan’s feet, uncaring if it splatters the wooden floorboards or his pants.

As she sits on the floor and rests heavily against the kitchen island, Stefan stands above her, arms crossed and his lips curved upward in amusement. She wants to wipe it from his face, but she’s too busy trying to get the blood off her tongue and out of the crevices and corners of her mouth.

"So…" He clears his throat, shifting his bare feet against the wooden floor. "Guess you didn’t like that."

"What gave it away? Yuck!" Wiping her mouth against the back of her wrist, she peers down and spies streaks of blood marring her skin. She has no desire to lick it up.

Stefan slowly sits down, crossing his legs in front of her. He squeezes his knees—a telltale sign that he’s a little nervous—and he watches her with gentle amusement, the kind that makes his green eyes brighten. "Animal blood isn’t for everyone, Katherine."

"No wonder!" She drags her tongue along her forearm, trying to get rid of the taste. She can’t even taste the salt of her arm. "It’s disgusting!"

He smiles, ducking his head. When she finishes dragging her tongue along any part of her arm that hasn’t already been smeared with blood, she licks her lips and scrunches up her face in disgust. Resting her head against the side of the kitchen counter, she studies him for a moment. He’s busy picking at a non-existent thread on his jeans.

"Does it bother you I hate it?"

He shakes his head, not looking up. "No."

"You don’t think that maybe me hating it means I hate some part of you?"

Tipping his head up, his brows furrow together. "No," Stefan says, shaking his head. "Of course not."

"Hm," Katherine nods, eyeing him curiously. She waits for a break in his armour, for his chest to somehow rip open and show her that he’s lying. But Stefan’s gotten better at being honest these days. All it takes is a simple encouragement and her not turning her back, and he’s willingly opening himself up like he’s a diary.

"It’s an acquired taste," he offers.

"You bet," she says, poking her tongue out again. He chuckles, smiling at her kindly. "I’m sorry I hate it."

He shrugs a shoulder, lifting his knees up as he rocks a little. "It’s okay." He doesn’t look at her, still shifting on the floor.

Reaching out with a bloodied hand, she rests it against his knee to make him stop. "How about we make a pact?" Arching her brow, she ducks her head and tries to catch his gaze. For someone who had been so easy for her to catch in her web, he’s difficult to re-snare. Eventually, he gives in and looks at her, appearing boyishly innocent. "You drink the animal stuff and I drink the human stuff. It’s the best of both worlds."

His lips curve upward and he ducks his head again. Then, he nods, peering up at her once more. "Sounds like a good deal to me."

Squeezing his knee, she rocks onto her knees and shuffles closer to him. He leans back, hands resting against the wooden floor as she climbs into his lap. Sliding her hands around his neck, she glides them into his soft hair. "Your animal bags are not allowed to touch my human ones."

He chuckles. Arching his brow, he peers up at her. "You’ve just smeared blood all in my hair."

She shrugs. "Part of the pact. I get to be messy and you don’t."

"That doesn’t sound fair."

Katherine leans closer to him, nuzzling her nose against the tip of his. She slopes her mouth against his, wanting him to taste the blood on her tongue. In her opinion, that’s fair.