Reincarnation has always been a long held belief in many cultures. It was different, however, for a person to be aware of their past lives. And it was even more strange to fully come into all of you past lives and memories at a young age every life cycle.

Ten had grown used to the cycles. Every life cycled through the same for him. He would grow older, find love, build a family, and then pass on the the next run. He always tried to make each life count and to matter, but it had slowly begun to weigh on him.

And it was currently his tenth. He had picked up naming himself after the cycle number he was on around his seventh cycle (Siete had been such a fun name and such a fun lifetime) and it had truly become his identity during the same cycle.

Ten sighed and continued to scribble in his journal. With reincarnation came confusion, but it also brought along an abundance of knowledge. So much of the knowledge gathered by of all of his past lives had to get written before it was lost to this life. Memory could only hold so many stories, so writing them down made everything easier. Maybe he could even get it published, so cycle eleven wouldn’t have to do this same thing over again.

It all made his head hurt.

So much had been piled on and so much had to be emptied.

He let out another deep sigh before slamming the book shut. That was enough of that. He could only rest in his own memories for so long.

But if there was any lesson that he could take away from all these memories, is that it is so easy to make new ones. And his best memories in this life all seemed to revolve around . At the end of the day, Ten was a flirt. Not simply a flirt, but it was one of the first words used to describe him by all of his his friends and likely everyone else too. And the easiest way for him to flirt was to go out and find someone. A bar or a party were the easiest by far, but tonight felt like a club kind of night. He had been sitting to still in the past and needed to move.

---

Vision was gay club that Ten hadn’t visited yet, but all hs friends seemed to love it. None of theme were with him, but it was alright. The plan was to pick up a man, not spend all his time socializing. The club itself was nicer than some of the others had been to, and much cleaner than the ones of the past (despite what the modern clubbers seemed to think). There was still a haze of smoke and body heat, but it no longer made Ten choke as he navigated through. The music was loud without hurting his ears, and the energy was vibrant and pulsing. The dance floor had a steady Pulse, a feeling that was so familiar for Ten.

He was very used to more crowded spaces than this, so dancing through this crowd was a breeze. He had picked up dancing around his third cycle and it had been something he revisited every time. He got to navigate with flair and flitted through couples and crowds alike, the heat beginning to leach into his body. The burn of dancing felt like freedom in his veins.

Until all at once, Ten saw him. 

A man- no a boy, he couldn’t be much older than 22- was standing near the bar looking directly at Ten. And Ten himself could not look away from the boy, his gaze like a magnet holding him in place. His face was like an angel carved from stone by the ancient masters. He was drawn in instantly.

Ten began to weave through the crowd towards him like a moth to the flame. The elegant face smirked lightly. 

When he finally approached, Ten couldn’t help but immediately lean in to kiss him. It was like he was possessed in how single-mindedly he acted. The stranger seemed to have the same thing in mind, a smile obvious on his lips and equal passion behind the kiss. 

As he pulled away from the kiss, the boy leaned forward to speak directly into Ten’s ear. “I could see you through the crowd and knew you had to be mine. You can call me Sicheng."

“I’m Te-“ He was cut off abruptly with another kiss, even more forceful and energy-filled than the last one. And kissing him was filled with warmth through his entire body. Ten couldn’t help but groan.  He pressed deeper into the kiss, his body flush up against the other’s. His hands wandered to grab at the back of Sicheng’s neck, puling him closer. His other hand began to grab at the hem of Sicheng’s jacket.

The boy- Sicheng- began trailing his mouth down Ten’s jaw to his neck, and nibbling as he went. He deep on the underside of his jaw, forming a hickey. Ten couldn’t help but giggle. 

Sicheng pulled away, his eyes dark pools of arousual. He grabbed Ten’s wrist and began pulling him toward a door.

Ten couldn’t help but grin. They were definitely on the same page of where this was going.

As soon as they were through the door and stepped out into the alleyway, Ten was being pressed up against the wall.

It was as teeth entered the flesh on his neck that Ten realized. This man was a vampire. Vampires were real. And the vampire biting his neck was very y and felt so good.

No, vampire bad. Unsafe. Dangerous. But it felt like amplified.

Before the part of himself that was high on the moment could realize what was happening, Ten s his hand into Sicheng’s hair and yanked as hard as he could.

The vampire pulled away from his neck in surprise and Ten was spinning. His other hand gripped tightly to the vampire’s wrist, trying to pull him back to keep himself stable.

---

Dong Sicheng was having a weird night. This club was well known as a vampire hunting spot and anyone who knew better knew to stay away.

Clearly his prey didn’t know better. But he had managed to get Sicheng to stop feeding, something that should technically be impossible. He was wobbling and barely able to hold himself up, but clearly he was in enough mind to have stopped it.

“How old are you?” The human had a curious glint in his eyes, still slightly glassy from the feeding but obviously still full of questions.

“23?”

“How long have you been that age?”

Sicheng rolled his eyes “You are not actually quoting Twilight at me, are you?”

The human crossed his arms over his chest “I just want to know! How long have you been a vampire?”

Sicheng smiled slyly. He had been feeding on this poor thing just minutes ago and now he was interrogating like he was a part of the FBI. “12 years”

The human began to cackle.

Sicheng’s smile dropped. “What is so funny to you?”

“It’s just... you’re undead but I’m older than you!”

The vampire took a step back, quickly giving him a quick look up and down. “You don’t look like you’re in your thirties? Has plastic surgery advanced that fast? You don’t look any older than 27.”

The human doubled over in laughter, nearly falling over before catching himself. “Technically this body is just 24.”

Sicheng looked him up and down again, confusion growing the longer he looked. He looked... just human. Too human. Way too human to be this calm.

“You had better not be an alien parasite or something.”

The human smiled “You can call me Ten. This is the tenth lifetime I've lived. I’ve reincarnated directly back to back over the last 600 or so years."

Sicheng froze.

What

Ten shrugged “Really, I'm just a normal 24 year old, I just have a very long reaching memory. And lots of experience. Anyways now that we’ve had all these life altering realizations that will shape how we face reality forever, can we go back to making out?”

Sicheng tilted his head “Really? Here? In the filthy alleyway I dragged you to so that after I drank from you it wouldn’t be suspicious?"

Ten nodded slowly, seeming to think about his request. “You’re right, we’re definitely past making out in a grimy alleyway. How about ing in my apartment? Or are the myths true about needing to be invited places?”

“Are you insane?”

“No more insane than the vampire I’m trying to hook up with.”

Sicheng couldn’t argue with that logic. He shrugged.

Ten’s face lit up. “Awesome!” He walked forward a step before stumbling into Sicheng’s arms “You may have to help me walk and call a cab though. I promise it’ll be worth it!”

Looking at this incredibly strange human, Sicheng could already tell it was.