#anyways I've been in a vampire mood as of lately

[shady-tavern]

Vampire’s Lullaby

Warnings ahead for a child getting injured and threatened with more bodily harm and death, blood and gore, though not overly descriptive. Please take care of yourselves.

This is part one of a dark vampire story folks. I hope I could do it at least some justice. If you are concerned about the contents, drop me a message and I’ll answer you.

***

'Never look them in the eye, child,' the priests always cautioned. 'You'll only find the loss of your mind and virtue there, if they don't take your life immediately.'

There was no love left in the creatures of the night, in those ever hungry for blood and flesh, in the terrors of the dark. The sunlit hours were spent scurrying about, getting work done before the sun set and the monsters crawled out of wherever they hid.

Annabelle had been taught early on to ignore the luring calls and songs of some of the night creature, to keep the curtains drawn and to stay inside, no matter how frightening or pleading something sounded outside. She and all others could flinch and cry all they liked, so long as they remained in their homes.

Those who could afford it kept their homes safe, buying all that was necessary to ward off any and all night creature, while professional hunters prowled along the property. Those less rich could still often enough convince a less reputable hunter to guard their home, by offering them food and lodging and a bit of a salary.

Young, inexperienced hunters or older ones with lasting injuries usually took those less well-paid guarding jobs. Those families who could bear to have a set of working hands missing sent one of their children to get a basic education in hunting, hoping it was enough to protect their home.

Annabelle knew people less fortunate considered her one of the reasonably lucky ones. She had three older brothers and her parents had reliable merchants buying their wares. Her mother sold iron tools she made in the smithy, while her father sold his weaving. Her two oldest brothers had learned the craft of their parents, while her third brother, the youngest of the three, had gone and become a hunter. 

Dion was the one keeping their home safe and she hated it. She hated the howls and screams and snarls of the monsters that hunted. She loathed the crooning singing that wanted to lure her towards the barred windows, cruel in its sweetness. The shadows she could sometimes see creep past during a full moon frightened her, before Dion chased them off. 

She hated that he was out there, fighting, coming home injured and bleeding. She knew, deep down, there would be a day when he wouldn't return. None of them were lucky enough to avoid that misfortune forever. Not when it had killed her grandfather and later her uncle, while guarding the house.

Sometimes, when she came back from work, she saw her brother standing outside, hand shaking as he held his weapons. But every time he hesitated, he would look at the house, through the windows where she knew her parents and older brothers sat, still either at work or taking care of the house. 

Then he'd look at her, walking briskly towards him in the setting sun. He'd nod at her and remain where he was, unflinching and with a straight back. In front of the house, guarding it.

The thick wooden door would close behind her when she stepped inside, lined with iron and dusted with silver shavings, expensive protective measures that had cost her grandmother and grandfather all their savings when they settled down in the city.

Dion would lock it with a hard noise before his steps faded. Annabelle hated those noises, hated how final and grim they sounded. Hated that she didn't know if he'd come back at dawn to unlock the door again.

They weren't truly locked in, she knew where the spare key was after all, they all did, but her parents wanted him to be the one to unlock it every morning. They wanted to give him every reason to come back alive.

She wished she could tell Dion to just stay inside with them. To sit in front of the fire and cover his ears when some beast howled, like he had done as a little boy. Annabelle was barely a year younger than him and she remembered helping him, clapping her hands on top of his to muffle the sounds extra hard.

No matter how much the noise had scared her as well, she had put on a brave face. When her parents had decided he should go and apprentice with a hunter, she had fought with them, for the first time in her life actually shouting and screaming while her parents grew just as loud. 

They had been just as desperate and scared and helpless in their arguments as she had been, but that hadn't gentled her fearful fury one bit.

When she had offered to go in Dion's stead, they had waved her off with scoffs. She wasn't big and sturdy enough, they had said. She wasn't strong enough, not fast enough, no hunter would teach her. She'd be dead within her first night outside.

She couldn't bring herself to say it to Dion's face, but she thought he shouldn't have become a hunter. Then again, none of her brothers were suited for the task. Rudi, the eldest, was currently courting a young woman, hoping to marry her and have a family of his own. He always got up at dawn along with Annabelle, peering out the windows to check if Dion was alright.

Gerard, her second-oldest brother, kept on weaving late into the night, the sound of the loom by now a welcome background noise as they all settled down. She knew the reason he stayed up late was so he could listen for his little brother, to try and hear if anything happened to him. Even if he couldn't help, he still stayed up.

Since the two oldest were meant to inherit the business, continuing the craft of their parents, the horrid task of protecting the house fell on Dion's shoulders. 

Annabelle had gotten an apprenticeship with their neighbor Mr. Bell, an older scholar and bookbinder, who had taught her everything and then hired her at his printing and book selling store.

Mr. Bell had recently started talking about letting her take over when he retired, since he was most pleased with her work. He wouldn't hand the business to her entirely right away, but he spoke about working less over the next year or two and letting her handle things more in his stead.

It filled her with fierce hope, that once he let her take over, she could earn enough money to hire a hunter. So Dion could stop reaching for cold steel and second-hand armor made of leather and rusty iron. So he could allow his hands to do something soft and gentle.

She once or twice heard him have nightmares through the wall during her free day and he barely smiled anymore and his humor had grown dark. Sometimes he managed to make her laugh, startled and a little horrified all at once, when he joked about death with other hunters in the evening, while she stopped by them to wish them a good night.

Not every night was bad, thankfully, there were even a week or two where it was utterly quiet, but it always got rough around the new and full moon.

Her brother got injured at times, coming home with a limp or a bleeding arm that got tended to swiftly so he could return outside the next night. How her mother scrubbed blood from their worn floorboards with tears in her eyes.

One day, she had promised herself therefore, he could rest. Which was why she was working from sunrise til sunset and why she stayed sweet and polite, no matter how rude a client was. Why she made sure Mr. Bell wanted her to take over his business one day and not someone else.

Her family worried about her, since she often barely made it back home in time, the sun almost gone when she arrived. Dion always looked relieved whenever he saw her hurrying down the street, his hunter garb making him look dark and foreboding.

She left early every day ever since she had figured out at what minute the sun crested the city wall enough to shine a weak, pale light along the main road. The path of the sun was always unobstructed, for across from them, on the other side of the road, was nothing but a drop down to the lowest level of the city.

That part of the city was built at the bottom of the hill that bordered on being a mountain, made up of homesteads and farmland. Scholars still argued that the hill should be classified a mountain, while others said it only looked that big because of the ostentatious, large castle built at the very top.

The fancy castle was surrounded by high walls and equally fancy manors and smoothly cobbled streets that wound down steadily. Their part of the city was always lit and very, very well protected

Annabelle usually didn't pay the upper crust much mind, she was far too busy for that, but sometimes as she walked to work, she wondered what it must be like to live without fear. To know the night creatures could not touch her.

By the time she reached the big crossroads where Mr. Bell had his business, the sunlight touched the shop and she'd unlock the door. Slipping inside, she would set everything up for the day in peaceful, soft quiet. She got the books they were selling ready in the shop and got started on their orders, mixing inks and selecting the requested paper.

Mr. Bell certainly was delighted about that, arriving with a spring in his step and all he had to do was sit down and get started.

Of course, leaving this early meant there were still some night creatures around at this hour. The last stragglers who wanted to pick off early risers who either thought they could slip by unnoticed or who had to risk their life for their income. 

The hunters were counting on that, however. They said the monsters still out and about when the sun rose were the really stupid or inexperienced ones and usually made for easy pickings. 

Sometimes Annabelle heard the gurgling cries as something died in an alley and she made sure not to look when she passed by. Since the night creatures avoided the sun like the plague, Annabelle was safe enough so long as she stayed on the main road. 

Besides, she wasn't the only one with early working hours, the baker down the street got to work even earlier, risking her life every day to earn just enough coin to pay an older, banged up hunter to guard her and her children.

Dion unlocked the door for her after the fifth bell of the clock tower struck and today she saw that his eyes were dark and there was tension all throughout his frame. It must've been a rough night, for he barely said anything to her. Even the other hunters she passed by were quiet and grim, curtly nodding at her in greeting.

She wrapped her shawl tighter around herself to ward off the chill of the morning hour, warily glancing around. It was quiet enough and she only realized she had walked too fast, that the sun hadn't risen far enough yet, until she turned around the corner, one street away from the crossroads and found it lying in dark shadows. 

The surrounding houses stood empty as of last month, which usually meant there were no hunters immediately nearby. Only, the street lying in shadow wasn't empty, like she had expected. 

A howling snarl was cut short into a high-pitched yowl by the echoing shot of a blunderbuss. She barely got a glimpse of something big and furred crumpling to the ground, before she was nearly bowled over by a hunter running past her.

The man dragged a screaming, crying child into the sun, where it hissed and tried to cringe back, only to get gripped tighter. The hunter held the kid by their curly hair and Annabelle was about to shout at him in alarm, when she saw movement in the lingering dark.

She saw a second hunter further down the shadowed street barely dodge a beast that leapt down from above. Leathery wings nearly knocked him over as the massively oversized bat scooped up what could only be a bleeding, panting werewolf. 

Only the bat didn't quite look like a bat either, it was far uglier for one and had arms along with wings and a body that tended a bit more towards the humanoid, leaving it looking like it had jumped straight out of a nightmare.

The werewolf reached a clawed hand for the crying child with a pained groan, while the bat skittered up the side of the building, too fast for anyone to catch up, until it was safely out of range of the blunderbuss. Then both night creatures suddenly fell still, staring past Annabelle.

Annabelle turned around, only to become still and unmoving herself. The first hunter held a silver dagger to the child's throat, a thin trickle of red blood dripping down, while black veins started to slowly appear along its skin, caused by the blade's touch. 

The child was whimpering softly, a horrible, helpless sound that cut straight through her heart. Tears fell out of big, dark eyes and the boy was breathing fast and shallow in panic and he looked frozen in place, not daring to move even the tiniest bit.

For a long, heavy second, all Annabelle saw was Dion as a little boy, curly haired and terrified as he hid beneath the table, hands clasped over his ears as he sniffled. How she had crawled under the table to join him, pressing her own hands over his and how he had curled into himself with relief.

The kid didn't look too much like him when she blinked the memory away, the hair was the wrong shade, the eyes far too dark. But it was similar enough, along with the small button nose and chubby cheeks, to remind her of her brother when he had been little. It left her reeling for a moment.

"Move on," the hunter growled at her. "This doesn't concern you."

It didn't. It really didn't concern her. Annabelle held no love for night creatures, not when Dion carried scars from their claws and teeth. Not when she had nightmares about them and her parents had cried themselves to sleep for weeks after sending her brother out to guard them. But she couldn't bring herself to move, feet feeling frozen to the floor.

The child's gaze met hers and it was painfully clear the he wasn't human. He had fangs and claws and pointy ears, but in that moment he just looked like a helpless kid. The boy, six years at most, looked terrified, trembling all over and trying his hardest to reign in his panicked little gasps to keep the blade from digging in deeper.

The werewolf keened, a desperate, pleading call and the massive bat, the vampire, hissed, low and threatening.

"What are you doing?" Annabelle's voice sounded strange to her own ears. "That's a child."

"It's a monster," the hunter snapped back, keeping his eyes on the two night creatures high up on the wall that stared back at him. His friend was pacing down below, clearly trying to figure out how to kill them while they were distracted. Considering his sharp, loud cussing, he wasn't successful.

"Stab it or something," the pacing hunter shouted. "Lure them down, I don't want them to run or the sun to take my kill!"

The hunter pulled the dagger away in a fast, smooth motion, flipping it and Annabelle was moving before she was fully aware of it – because this was a child, no matter the pointy teeth and tiny claws. This was a child looking scared for its life, crying and trembling and she felt sick down to her core.

Pain burned bright and intensely sharp as the dagger sliced past the back of her hand, stretched in front of the kid protectively. The fingers of her other hand gripped the boy's collar tight, wrenching him away from the hunter's grasp.

The hunter's eyes were wide in startled, baffled surprise as she pushed the boy behind her, her own eyes wide and her breathing harsh and fast. She had half a second to watch fury take over, before the sound of crunching, crushing stone broke through the air like a miniature thunderstorm.

The hunter whirled around and Annabelle felt a scream getting caught in her throat as a large chunk of wall came flying, too fast to dodge, slamming into him and leaving a smear of blood and broken bones behind.

Everything became a little fuzzy and blurry around the edges, as she turned to see the vampire rip out another chunk of wall, tossing it after the now fleeing hunter below it, crushing the man into a pulp of red, wet flesh, broken pieces of bone poking out.

She heaved in a breath to avoid throwing up, gaze darting back to land on the vampire and the still injured werewolf it carried beneath one arm, braced against its gray, fuzzy shoulder. 

The boy's heaving, suddenly loud wail made her flinch, jolting back into her body. She took a step back until she could see him without losing sight of the monsters up on the wall.

"You're alright," she found herself whispering with a trembling voice. Hesitantly she reached out, fingers shaking as badly as the kid did and nausea was still roiling through her gut.

The moment she lightly touched his shoulder, he tipped forward, knees buckling. Annabelle just barely managed to catch him, awkwardly holding him for a second, before she took a deep breath and picked him up. He weighed as much as a regular kid did, largely looked like one too, if one discarded the obvious signs where he was not.

And yet, as she watched, the longer the sun shone on him, the more those signs faded. His ears became round and the fingers that curled into her shawl were now normal, his nails short and blunt.

The scrape of claws on stone made her flinch and when she looked up, the vampire was right there, standing where the dark ended and light began. It clearly couldn't cross over and Annabelle felt her breath caught in her lungs as she stared up.

For the first time in her life, she felt tiny and flimsy and utterly mortal. The werewolf was reaching out towards the boy, breathing labored and it clearly couldn't stand on its own two legs. The vampire's arm still around its middle was the only thing holding it up.

The boy lifted his head and sobbed, reaching back towards the werewolf. The cut on his throat wasn't bleeding anymore, but there were still black veins, even if they were slowly growing fainter. Silver poisoning, Annabelle thought faintly, remembering the books Dion had been given while training and that she had peeked at.

Annabelle carefully set the boy on his feet without looking away from the big vampire, its large ears flicking as it listened. The boy stumbled forward the moment she let him go and the second he crossed into the dark, the vampire swept him up too and after a last glance at her, took flight.

It clearly wasn't dumb enough to wing up into the sky, not with the rising sun, but it was still startling to see something so big move so swiftly and quietly down the street, maneuvering smoothly around the corner and then it was gone.

Annabelle stared after them, unmoving. She didn't dare look towards the crushed hunters, her heart racing painfully fast in her chest and her stomach still roiling. Her hand was bleeding, pulsing with pain and she reached up to numbly wrap the end of her shawl around it.

Two minutes later, the sun had risen far enough for her to walk on, stumbling away from the bodies. No one had been around to see her or what had happened, not that she had noticed at least. No one had come to check either, not when the houses along this part of the street were empty.

By the time she stood in front of the shop, she was still shaking and it took her two tries to get the door open. As soon as the door fell closed behind her with a click and the familiar scent of her workplace surrounded her, she broke down into tears.

Mr. Bell, when he arrived, made her sit down, cleaned and bandaged her hand properly and handed her a sip of brandy that burned going down.

"You will take it easy," he said in a voice that allowed no arguments and he muttered under his breath, "I should've known leaving home that early was too dangerous."

She didn't correct him, because then she didn't have to explain how she had gotten injured. Instead, she was quiet and worked as much as he let her, while trying to ignore any remarks their clients made regarding her subdued spirits. 

She was sorely tempted to throw something, however, when a particularly arrogant man told her to smile, for it made her look prettier than her current, glum expression.

When the evening bell rang, the one warning everyone to get home now or it would be too late, she felt a fierce jolt of fear race down her spine.

She was suddenly terrified to go out there, to see the night creatures again or to run into someone who had known the dead hunters. Who asked around if anyone had seen anything. Or even someone who might have seen her after all, but had been too far away and preoccupied to do anything.

But she couldn't hide here, the crossroads were filled sorely with businesses and hunters didn't protect areas where people didn't live, at least they didn't if the owners weren't rich enough. 

The rich and powerful were about the only ones who had stopped fearing the night. They had the coin to pay for all the protection they could ask for and sometimes, during particularly quiet, calm nights, Annabelle could faintly hear the music of their parties.

She knew she couldn't stay here unless she wanted to die. So she grabbed her things, wound the shawl around her neck and locked up the shop. Mr. Bell had left an hour ago after making sure she would be alright, making her promise that she would go straight home. 

The spreading shadows looked darker and more frightening than ever before and her steps grew faster and faster until she was nearly running.

No one stopped her, no one even looked at her more than usual and no monsters appeared. Not yet. 

Dion was chatting with another hunter, the woman's gear looking as banged up as his did, when Annabelle arrived at home. He glanced at her, only to pause and frown.

"Did something happen?" he asked and Annabelle plastered a smile on her face, hoping it looked convincing.

"Just a little accident at work," she answered, waving her bandaged hand around and tucking it against her side before he could get a proper look at it. "Nothing serious, but I'm tired."

His frown smoothed over a bit, even if he still looked worried. "I'll unlock the door."

He accompanied her to the front step and as she stepped inside, she couldn't help but turn around. "Please be careful."

"I always am," he answered, but she must've looked scared, as scared as she felt, because his face softened a bit. "I promise."

He never promised to come back in the morning, because they both knew there was a chance that he wouldn't. Annabelle suddenly felt fiercely angry and tired and there was a sting of self-loathing.

She had gotten two hunters killed and monsters had gotten away alive. What if those night creatures were the ones to murder her brother? What if that little boy grew up to become someone else's nightmare? 

She couldn't bring herself to regret saving him, not when she remembered that gut-wrenching fear on his face. But she couldn't help wishing the hunters had remained unharmed, no matter how nonsensical it was. Someone had to die when night creatures and hunters clashed.

She never again wanted a hand in deciding whose fate it was to be killed.

Dion locked the door and Annabelle managed to wave off the concern of her parents and older brothers and retreated to her room. She wasn't hungry and when she sat down on her bed, she could see the sinking sun.

Her room felt stuffy, so she opened the window, knowing she still had a few minutes to air out the room. Iron bars protected her window and she could still see Dion from here, waving at a hunter further down the street.

The memories of this morning resurfaced once again and would not let go. Annabelle started to tug at the bandage on her hand until a sharp pain made her wince. Glancing down she saw a bit of blood bleeding through and she took a couple of deep breaths.

What was done, was done, she reminded herself. Short of walking to the city guard and getting arrested and executed for mingling with the night creatures, there was nothing she could do.

Glancing up, she noticed that the sun had disappeared behind the city walls and while the sky wasn't entirely dark yet, she saw something big fly past. Flinching back, her heart suddenly hammering, she fumbled to slam the window closed.

She yanked the curtains shut as well, almost ripping them off, her fingers trembling as she clung to the thick fabric. It wasn't the same massive vampire bat, she told herself, there were many night creatures after all. Surely it was something else.

But Dion was out there and if he died because she hadn't been able to harden her stupid, soft heart against the face of a crying, terrified child, she'd never forgive herself.

It took a few deep breaths for her to calm herself and after long minutes of standing there while nothing happened, she got ready for bed. Tonight seemed to be a quiet night tonight and she laid in bed, listening carefully for anything horrible. When she heard Dion's rough, muffled laughter drifting up, she finally let herself relax.

Her eyes started to slip closed when a scratching sound on stone made her jolt upright so fast she briefly got dizzy. Heart racing once again she felt froze in place as a large shadow covered her window. She couldn't see anything through the curtains, but this size let her know what exactly was outside.

She didn't dare make a noise. She heard a muffled clack a moment later and then the shadow vanished with another quiet scratch of claws.

Annabelle sat in the silent darkness of her room, her breathing a little funny and when, at last, she managed to make herself move, her heart finally calmed down a little.

Pulling the curtains apart just enough to peek through, she blinked in surprise when she saw a folded page of thick paper on her windowsill, weighed down with a rock. She stared at it for a moment, then let go of the curtains again.

Annabelle wasn't dumb enough to go and open the window right now. So she backed up and sat down and stared. She didn't think herself capable of falling asleep again that night, but between one blink and the next, the sun was rising and she was lying crookedly on her bed.

Getting up and groaning at the crick in her neck, she approached the window once again. The sun was just peeking over the wall when she opened it and plucked the paper from beneath the rock. It was slightly damp from being outside and the move sent the rock tumbling down to the ground.

Unfolding the page, she blinked in surprise when the clumsy handwriting of a child greeted her first. The letters were clearly written with great care and as she read, it felt like a big hand was squeezing her heart. 

The kid was thanking her for saving his life and that of his mother and auntie. He said that he had been so scared, that he thought all humans were cruel and evil, but she clearly wasn't. He had added a sketch of her, childish and simple and cheerful.

Below that, in a neat and elegant hand, one of the night creatures had written that they owed her and she could ask for one favor. All she had to do was leave a note outside her window and if possible, it would be fulfilled.

Sitting down on the chair in front of her desk, Annabelle found herself reading the letter again. Then she slowly folded it and didn't know what to think or feel or do. In the end she hid the letter and got ready for work, mind still spinning in circles.

Dion looked tired but unharmed and he even smiled at her when he let her out of the house, going so far as to twirl the key around his finger. "Have fun," he called after her when she left with a little wave.

Nothing happened on her way to work and Mr. Bell looked happy to see that she was doing better today. He left halfway through the day, citing that he needed to take care of something, though Annabelle got the sneaking suspicion that he was looking for excuses to leave the shop in her hands for a while. To get her used to running it in his absence.

It was all going well and fine, until she heard the tinkle of the front door and when she stepped out of the backroom, she stilled mid-step. A curly haired kid with dark eyes was peeking over the counter, clearly on his very tip-toes.

A smile broke out over his face. "Hello," he said with a small lisp, as if it was entirely normal that a night creature was out and about in the middle of the day. Looking utterly human.

Oh. A cold realization washed over her. Of course night creatures looked human during the day. The hunters would have found a way to eradicate them all otherwise. There were only so many places they could hide before being found.

Then she frowned. Did that mean they could walk out into the sun too? Or only some of them?

"Did you get my letter?" the boy asked. "Mama said I shouldn't come here, but I wanted to make sure."

"Yes," she managed to answer. "I got it."

His face lit up. "Good." Then his face fell and he sank down a bit, eyes barely peeking over the counter. "Thank you. That was...that was really scary."

"I bet it was." In all honesty, his situation had probably been far scarier than having a large monster show up in front of her window for a second. She couldn't stop herself from adding, "You need to be more careful."

The kid shuffled a bit in place, looking chastised. "I wasn't supposed to go outside," he told her, fingertips tapping against the edge of the counter he clung to. "But Mama was gone longer than usual and I got worried."

"I bet she's worried now," Annabelle said and suddenly she couldn't get rid of the thought that another night creature was going to show up. A grown, dangerous one. "Unless you told her where you are?"

The kid looked caught. "Um..."

She couldn't help but huff and made a shooing motion. "Go home before she worries."

The kid was about to push away, when he suddenly looked worried. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

Annabelle knew the moment she gave a description of the kid to the hunters, they'd comb the surrounding area for him and his mother. It was forbidden to get tangled with the night creatures, always had been.

Though, now that she looked at the kid, she couldn't help but think that the hunters were just as ruthless. And they could be just as cruel as the monsters.

"I won't," she said at last. "Now off you go."

The kid stepped away with a relieved smile and hurried towards the door, only to pause. "If we can help you, we will," he said. "Mama says we owe you one."

With those words he slipped out, the bell tinkling merrily. Annabelle exhaled in a rush and leaned against the counter, watching the kid through the shop window as he left with quick steps. Rubbing a hand over her face, she shook her head and returned to work.

She didn't have time to think about the difference between monsters and hunters, not when it left her mind in a messy state. There was too much work to do.

Mr. Bell came back later than he had said, whistling when he saw how much she had gotten done. It helped keep her distracted and by the time she wrapped up the last order of the day and got a head start on the next one, the final bell was ringing.

To her misfortune, she found her usual way back home blocked by a tipped over carriage. Horses were panicking and people were shouting and crowding around, trying to fix the situation as quickly as possible. 

There was no way to get past and a nervous glance at the sky told her she couldn't wait until the situation got resolved, even if taking any other path meant a detour. Already the frazzled travelers were shouting how late it was and that they needed to get going now.

Tugging her shawl more firmly around herself, she turned to eye the nearby alley. It laid in shadow, but there was nothing else she could do. Even if she now knew that night creatures could look like ordinary humans, she was willing to risk the alley rather than stay on the main road until the sun had disappeared entirely.

Still, her heart was racing a bit and she was nervously glancing around. It got quiet as she left the hectic road behind and soon the only sounds were her shoes on rough cobblestone and occasionally voices drifting out of still open windows.

Some of the houses back here stood empty, broken windows and destroyed doors showing where night creatures had gotten through. Claw marks were visible where the monsters had crawled in and she saw bloody drag marks in front of one door, where someone or something had been hauled away.

It was dark by the time she emerged from the alley and the sight of the sun beyond the city wall made her breath catch. Home wasn't too far, however, surely she'd be fine.

She was about to rush ahead, when she heard the sound of claws on stone. For a moment she was about to just blindly start running, heart pounding, before she made herself look up. There it was, the nightmarish bat, crouched at the corner of the roof, wings folded primly.

They stared at each other for a long moment, until one of the vampire's ears flicked and it slowly moved one arm to point down the street. Towards her home. When she didn't move right away, it made a shooing motion, wings twitching.

Slowly taking a step and then another while not looking away, Annabelle started walking. The vampire followed her slowly, not even needing to leap across the alley onto the next roof. It just needed to stretch in order to reach.

Forcing herself to look away when she stumbled and nearly fell, Annabelle found herself walking faster and faster. When Dion came into view, waiting outside, visibly tense and worried, she looked up again.

The vampire was nowhere to be seen, but she heard the faint scratch of claws and realized that the night creature wanted her to hear it. She hadn't heard a damn thing until it had crouched above her, after all. It allowed her to track it.

"You're late," Dion said in greeting, checking her over for injuries while ushering her towards the house. "Get in, now."

She was pushed through the door before she could say anything and the lock clicked into place. Annabelle found herself swarmed by her family, all worried and scolding.

She ate dinner while barely tasting anything and retreated to her room as quickly as possible. The curtains were still open and when she reached for them, she saw the vampire, a few roofs away, out of view of the hunters down below.

She saw its dark eyes glint in the moonlight when it turned its head towards her, large ears perked. She found herself staring for a long moment, before she startled, remembering the warnings about getting thralled and lured outside.

But she felt fine, she realized as she was about to yank the curtains closed. Her mind was still her own. Surely she'd notice if it wasn't? She didn't feel compelled to go towards it – quite the opposite in fact. If anything, she wanted to stay right where she was, thank you very much.

Then the vampire's ears flicked and it was gone between one moment and the next, moving far, far too fast for a creature that size. Annabelle closed the curtains and took a deep breath.

She really needed to get some rest and hope that tomorrow made more sense again.

.*.*.*.

Over the next couple of days things made no more sense than previously and Annabelle resolved to just not think about it anymore. She had ended up saving a night creature child, they were grateful, no one had killed her in the process and now she'd continue living as she always did.

Sometimes she spotted the vampire, flying by or peering across the roofs towards her window. At first it frightened her worse, until she realized that it must be checking for any notes she might leave. In case she wanted to cash in that favor she was now apparently owed.

This, too, she resolved to not think about. There was nothing a night creature could give her, after all.

Right up until she waited at the door in the morning and Dion didn't open it. Her worry grew and she fidgeted, exchanging a glance with Rudi, who was peering outside the windows anxiously.

"I don't see him," her oldest brother murmured, shifting restlessly in place. After another moment he decided, "I'll go get the key."

He left and returned just as swiftly and the moment she had the door unlocked, Annabelle rushed outside. "Dion?" she called out.

"Over here," the voice of one of the other hunters answered and she ran, Rudi right behind her. Skidding to a stop at the small alley three houses down, she sucked in a sharp gasp.

Dion was lying in a pool of blood, breathing shallowly and two hunters were kneeling grimly at his side, doing their best to staunch the bleeding. 

"Get a doctor, now," one of the hunters snapped out and Annabelle was moving again, running past a worried Mr. Bell, who poked his head out of the window, looking sleep-ruffled.

Everyone knew where the nearest doctor was and how long it took to get to their clinic. Thankfully, the doctors all got up early, knowing the first thing they usually did was stitch up an injured hunter.

Dr. Under was a seasoned, experienced woman with incredibly steady hands and a cool composure and she was the doctor everyone on the street and the next ones went to. With her guidance they got Dion into her clinic and then all they could do was wait. Annabelle stared down at the blood on her hands and sleeves from where she had held Dion's legs beneath the knees.

Rudi had left reluctantly, promising to tell Mr. Bell that she wouldn't be in and to inform the rest of their family. Soon they all sat in the waiting room, silent and scared. Annabelle had to bite down on the accusations that crawled over her tongue like brambles. Her parents looked horrified and guilty enough as it was.

"He'll make it," Dr. Under said the moment she stepped out of the treatment room. "He's going to be out of commission for a couple of weeks, however. I'd recommend letting him rest and recover for a couple of months even, but he could work again sooner."

Meaning she knew their family didn't have the money to pay a hunter to replace him. Before Dion had protected them, her uncle had, who had died a few weeks before her brother had taken over.

They wouldn't be entirely unprotected, the other hunters looked out for the surrounding buildings since not everyone had a protector. Five hunters, Dion included, regularly protected the entirety of their street.

But if they had to choose between protecting their own home or Annabelle's, the hunters would choose their own families or employees. It was risky, not paying for or having someone guard the house. 

Her parents did not have the funds to pay for help, they all knew it. They would have to risk having no one and then Dion would have to go out the moment he was well enough, instead of healing up fully.

As she found herself ushered outside, Dr. Under promising that Dion would remain safe here until he could go home, she stared at her cold hands, finger knotted into her bunched up shawl.

She returned home with her family, swallowing down anger and fear with nearly every step. She hated all of this. Hated that night creatures wanted them dead, hated that her brother had to suffer, hated that they were never, ever safe when it was dark.

She had heard that the countryside was less dangerous, that night creatures preferred to flock to cities. They liked the amount of humans that lived there. She had heard rumors that someone had angered night creatures so much once upon a time, that they still sought retribution to this day. 

She just wanted it all to be over.

As soon as she was back in her room, blood cleaned off, she pulled out the letter the little boy had sent her. She hesitated for a long moment, then she pulled out a piece of paper and dipped her quill into her inkpot.

It took her a few tries to get it right, crossing out words and staring out the window to the spot where the vampire usually sat shortly before it left again. She wrangled with her thoughts, her distrust and fear.

Night creatures were dangerous, everyone knew that. They held no love for humans and most of the time not even for each other. It was foolish to trust one, to put her hopes in one.

And yet, as the sun set, she left a folded piece of paper on her windowsill, weighed down with the same rock the night creature had used previously. It had still lain where it had gotten dropped a couple of days ago.

She stared at it for a long while, then she took a deep breath and kept the window open, the curtains pulled back. If she was going to do this, she had to look the vampire in the eye. If she gave a night creature the information that their house would be unguarded, ready for reaping, she had to try to spot any possible deception before it got them all killed.

She saw the vampire appear a few minutes after sundown and how it paused, obviously spotting her and her note. It tipped its head a bit to the side and it remained still for a long moment. Then it moved. 

It arrived far too fast, nearly making her flinch back, hanging upside down from her roof. Hands the size of her head braced themselves left and right of her window and Annabelle had to force herself to not look away.

She had made precautions of course in case the vampire tried to thrall her. Her room was locked and the key dropped behind her big, heavy dresser, which would make a racket if she tried to move it. The bars in front of the window held shavings of silver and even if the vampire hypnotized her, it wouldn't get to kill anyone but her.

If that was the grim price for foolishly hoping she could trust a night creature, she'd pay it. But the vampire didn't do anything. At last it shifted its weight and pulled the note free with its clawed fingertips, thumbing it open to read it.

"Can you do it?" Annabelle found herself whispering, voice cracking and throat dry.

The vampire pulled itself up out of view and she saw its shadow on the roof across from her window, the house not built as high. She saw it change, turning from hulking and winged to something that looked human, crouching above her. She saw long hair move in the strong night breeze.

"I accept," the voice of a woman answered. "Consider it done."

Her breath escaped her in a big exhale and she had to grip the windowsill, knees suddenly trembling. "Thank you." Her voice shook a little.

The vampire hummed, then it asked, "Why did you not tell your city guards about my godson when he visited you?"

Annabelle knew what her family would have done, what Mr. Bell would have done. What the entire city would have done. But she hadn't been able to and she didn't know if that was a good or a bad thing.

"He's just a kid," she found herself answering honestly, watching the vampire's shadow. "It didn't seem...fair. To hurt him just because he's not human. Or to rob him of his family."

Nothing about this was fair. Not little boys nearly getting their throats slit open or her brother, brave and bloody, lying on dirty cobblestone. After what she had seen the hunters do to the boy, she couldn't even say anymore that only the night creatures were cruel.

"I see. You're a brave one, you know," the vampire said. "I've yet to meet a human who dared to look me in the eye when they knew what I was, not even your hunters do it."

Annabelle pressed her lips together, then she lifted her chin. She was sick and tired of being scared. She was sick and tired of fearing for her life and begging a god who might or might not be listening for her brother's safety. If a monster could do the job instead, she'd gratefully accept the help.

"You're not all that scary," she made herself say with more confidence than she felt. "You actually look kind of fluffy as a bat." And very frightening.

The vampire laughed, sounding surprised and darkly amused. "I think I like you," she said, a grin audible in her voice. "Brave, smart and sweet, you are quite something, I believe." 

The shadow shifted and it looked as though the vampire had sat down on the roof and Annabelle had no idea what to say.

"Sleep," the vampire told her, voice gentler than before. "I will not let anything happen to you and yours."

Annabelle walked away from the window on slightly unsteady legs, leaving it open. She wanted to hear it, if something happened. Even if she knew, rationally, that she couldn't do anything, she still wanted to know if the vampire would abuse her trust.

She dropped onto her bed, watching the bit of the vampire's shadow she could still see. Slowly, her pounding heart calmed down and she slipped beneath the covers, watching her curtains shift gently in the breeze.

That breeze actually felt pretty nice, even if every stray sound made her jerk upright. She only realized the vampire had started to sing softly when her eyes fell closed, lulled to sleep by a monster's soft voice.

.*.*.*.

Part Two and Three are up.

[prose-for-hire]

Evol (or, a backwards love story)

Pairing: Spike x reader

Request: Hey I love your spike x reader fics I was wondering if you could do one were like they both have a crush on eachother and he invites her over to his crypt but it's super fluffy and he makes it all romantic with candles and shit

Reader isn't a big fan of pink but doesn't like hate it or anything (just a heads up in case you love pink (like me) and it takes you out of the story).

Requested by: anon

A/N: Be kind please this is the first fic I've done in ages! Hope this is okay, love 💖

You had been in deep thought, your mind travelling ahead of you as your limbs tried to follow. But your wandering mind had led you down an unknown path. You had taken a strange turn somewhere and found yourself in unchartered territory.

You were at a crossroads, in almost pitch darkness. The streetlights had disappeared a couple of streets ago and you weren’t entirely sure where you were. You were fumbling through the dark now, trying to find something to hold onto, to anchor you.

You found yourself connecting with something, a figure in the shadows. You groaned, the last thing you needed tonight was to get eaten, your top was brand new. You recoiled slightly but a pair of steady hands righted you. He, of course, could see in the dark.

“What’re you doing round these parts, pet?” His voice came from the darkness, retracting his hands, a flame from his lighter ignited so that you could see.

“Got kinda turned around… I’m lost”

“Can’t have that, can we, love? If you’re not careful somethin’ nasty might eat you up” His eyes glinted with amusement, his lips curled slightly in that irresistible way he did. Even when he was being ‘evil’ he was attractive to you. You were doomed to fall for him.

“What did we talk about Spike?”

“Too much?”

“Only a little” you smiled despite yourself, now unable to look up from your feet. You were afraid that you would reveal too much, he could read you like a book. He always had, ever since you met a year ago.

It was tongues and teeth. Blood and sweat. You were backed against the wall, the vibrations from the music pulsing through you. You grasped the black t-shirt that clung to him so perfectly, the vampire you had only heard about.

You knew he and Buffy had faced each other on numerous occasions, you just happened to miss him each time. You had met them in college and had only known of the stories about William the Bloody at this point. But you always liked to judge people for yourself, anyway. And, well, you hadn’t realised how beautiful he was, you had been taken by him as soon as he stomped up to the bar and sulkily ordered a beer.

You heard voices through the crowd, through the headiness of that moment. Voices you recognised. You pulled away, your face a picture; as if you had seen a ghost. You weren’t supposed to be here,

“Go home” He had hissed, covering you as you slid away. Taking Buffy’s attention.

You should have known then he had a soft spot. Or, well, the potential for one. Usually he would have relished the awkwardness of Buffy walking in to find you kissing a vampire. Drinking with demons and beating them at kitten poker. But if he had the chance to do that again he wasn’t going to ruin it by getting the ultimate mood slayer involved, now was he.

But you hadn’t ever had any real time alone since. Sure, sometimes it felt like you were both the only people in the room but there was barely a chance to even allude to what you had done let alone reignite the moment again. Though he of course tried at every moment he got.

“Got have plans, love? My crypt’s only down the way” he spoke softly, almost tentatively if you didn’t know better.

“I’m late. I’m supposed to meet some�� friends” You hesitated and you knew he caught it before you looked back into his eyes. Eyes you were slowly being lost in.

“Not those bloody losers again. You’re better than them”

“Those losers are actually my friends”

“Friends that you hide yourself from” He shrugged, not entirely able to drop it. He couldn’t hide his distaste for Buffy and the others.

Despite it all he gestured with his head, offering to take you to your friends. Even though you knew Sunnydale quite well after moving into your dorm a year ago and running around the town many times after (or often away from) demons, you still got lost a lot. It was a kind of running joke amongst the other scoobies.

He lit a cigarette as you rounded the corner, only pausing to offer you one which you declined with a soft smile. A smile that made him want to drop to his knees and declare his undying love for you. It pained him, how soft he was for you.

He shoved the other hand in the pocket of his duster, jaw tensing as he saw your friends speaking rapidly, apparently concerned about something. Willow noticed you first.

“We thought you’d been all ookified, we were worried!” She flung herself around you with a big smile of relief.

“You got lost, huh?” Buffy said with a smile, which quickly dropped when she noticed the company you were in.

“Yeah, Spike helped me get my bearings. Thanks, again” You grinned, despite Xander and Buffy’s distaste. Anya patted your head a little patronisingly at your habit of getting yourself lost.

“Anytime, pet”

“Yeah, right, evil dead is only good for being evil… and dead”

“Not that I’m not enjoying the boy’s wit, but I’ll be off now” He addressed only you, hoping to keep the barbs at his expense from the group to a minimum. Someone muttered something distasteful about Spike, which was of course in his earshot, but he didn’t turn back around.

“He’s, like, the lowest of the low.” someone agreed, shaking her head at the figure walking away.

You weren’t sure why that moment was the moment. Why you spoke something that had been so safely unspoken.

“Spike! Spike, wait-”

“Y/n, what’re you doing?!” your friends called after you, still in earshot as Spike ditched his cigarette and swung around to face you.

“Love, you go and do the friendship thing with the meddlin’ kids, okay? I’d rather stake myself than spend an evening with them”

“I know, I was wondering if the offer’s still on that is, well, I’m free tomorrow night”

He put both hands in his duster, rocking on the balls of his feet and looking down. It was as if he thought you were being cruel to him. Taking him up on his offer just to hurt him by rejecting him in the next breath with all your friends watching. He had to know you better than that, surely.

You reached for his arm, willing him to feel what you felt. Know what you knew. That you and him were meant for each other, that this chance that you were trying to take meant a lot. For someone you had kissed so passionately before it was strange how nervous you were suddenly at even grazing his skin.

“After sunset, tomorrow at your crypt?” You asked softly, though the vulnerability in your voice bled through. He saw it, he saw that your intentions were pure. There were some gasps and some vague unimpressed whispering from your friends behind you but you couldn’t bring yourself to take notice.

Instead you waited with bated breath for his answer. You knew he had offered earlier but there was always the chance he was doing it to tease you. That he had no interest in you. That he was playing with you, looking for something quick and easy. You could do that, of course you could, if it meant being close with him. But it may just break your heart beyond recognition.

This purgatory, which only lasted a second, felt like it lasted hours. Your grip on him tightened, as if you were afraid he would slip away from you.

He nodded, to anyone else it probably looked as if he wasn’t bothered. What he didn’t know was that you could read him in the way he did for you. You saw the slight upturn of his mouth before it disappeared, you noticed the way his eyes searched you with wonder for a fraction of a moment. You knew then, for sure, he felt for you as deeply as you had started to fall for him. Everything you had learned about him you held close, collecting it as the most valuable treasures.

You arrived the next night a minute after the sun set and promptly knocked on the door of Spike’s crypt. You could hear some scuffling about from behind the door and a lot of a British accent muttering ‘bloody bollocks’ every so often which made you smile softly.

You waited patiently until he swung the door open, allowing you to walk in. You gasped, he had transformed the main level of his crypt for the evening. There were candles everywhere, on every single available surface and surrounding the sofa where there was a couple of blankets piled up and a stack of VHS tapes.

There were wilted roses that had shed their petals all over the floor beside the TV set and you tried to ignore the high probability that these came from a few of the graves surrounding the crypt. Stuck haphazardly to the walls were pink and red hearts made from crepe paper and various strips hanging about.

I mean, it was a huge fire risk but you tried to ignore this fact as you appreciated his scattered decorations. You assumed that Spike was ensuring you were aware that he thought of this as a date.

“How was your night with America’s most haunted?” Spike asked, you could tell he was genuinely interested if you had a nice evening after he left you at the Bronze.

You told him everything in complete detail, you were a keen storyteller and he adored this about you. You spoke in such detail that he could picture himself there beside you as the night played out.

“Drink, pet?”

“Please”

You looked around as he started rummaging around with bottles and glasses. You read the words on some of the hearts, your brow furrowing slightly.

“EVOL? I think it’s spelt-”

“No, love, it was meant to be- they’re from the craft store. They, well, I didn’t want it to scare you off now did I?” He turned the heart around, the word was actually ‘love’. He hadn’t wanted you to think he was coming on too strong so he had hidden the word. Though the rose petals and the various pink and red crafts might well have done that if you hadn’t realised how deeply you felt for him.

You laughed, you couldn’t help it. You hadn’t been sure if he was making sure that all this romantic stuff didn’t take away from him being bad. Telling you he was ‘evil’.

He passed you a glass, different from usual where he would just drink straight from the bottle. You were surprised to note that it was your favourite drink. It was incredibly endearing that he had learned this about you, or perhaps it was his favourite and you just had that in common.

The glow of the candlelight accentuated his features, casting shadows from his cheekbones. You felt yourself leaning into him as he spoke animatedly, it was entirely involuntary. When you thought about it, you had done everything in reverse. You were tentatively courting after sharing a much more passionate moment the night you properly met. You much preferred it this way though, in some ways it cemented now just how much Spike had grown to care for you through the stolen moments you had together through the year.

Quick glances and lingering touches. The way he had thrown himself in front of a demon to ensure you would be safe. The way he always offered to walk you home, even if he was shot down every time by the slayer. He always made jokes in the hope that you would laugh.

The evening was lovely, you shared drinks and watched films together, while Spike made biting commentary on each scene. You were wrapped in a blanket while he stayed room temperature. He sat a little more rigidly than usual, seemingly unable to relax. He wanted the night to be perfect. He was concerned he might say something wrong, something a little too murderous and off-putting.

You hadn’t really been paying attention to the film. He had done everything to try and prove he was a man worthy of your love. You could sense he was holding back but you loved him for who he was, the flaws wrapped into the thread of his personality were just as important to you.

“I really like you, Spike. You don’t need to impress me, you know that right? I’m already yours, if you’d let me be” You spoke barely above a whisper. He turned to you, searching your face before a smile grew slowly on his lips. It was a smile you had only ever seen him give to you.

“You’re tellin’ me I can take all this sodding pink bollocks off my walls now then?”

“I mean, it’s a real improvement from the cobwebs but it’s not really my colour,” You grinned, pressing your lips to his quickly before pulling away.

You leaned against him as the night progressed, leaning your head into the crook of his neck. He shifted as you moved down the sofa so that you could comfortably rest against him. He inhaled, savouring your scent. It felt like home. He closed his eyes, focusing on your heartbeat thrum steadily. You were truly here, by his side.

Your body was made to fit beside his, you knew this as if it was fact. You couldn’t imagine a future where you wouldn’t hold each other. Or share moments such as this. The warmth from the candles and the care and attention that Spike continued to show you told you that his feelings at their core were clearly no act, his execution had been slightly exaggerated only because he hadn’t really dated in the usual way for a good few decades.

He slid his arm along the headrest behind you and you settled into watch the next movie. After a moment you realised his eyes were still trained on you, he couldn’t keep his eyes off you. When you looked at him, giving him a quizzical look, he just gestured back at the screen with his head a soft smile on his face.

If this was the first proper date, you were looking forward to the rest. In fact, as his arm snaked around you and pulled you close, you were not sure you would ever be ready to leave.

[galvanizedfriend]

hii Yokan! i miss you!😭

how are you? how is work?? I hope everything is going well<3

rn there's a little Comic Con in my city, and it really did help my mood!! (even tho I throwed up 6 times and fainted during the morning of the first day due to the heat and lack of iron🥲) 2 days down, 2 more to go 🙏

ANYWAYS! I know you've been going through a writer's block lately, and I read a post that said something about asking/commenting about the fictions to help the "stucked" autor, SO!

I've been re-reading TW III (shocking, I know) and those little hints about married!kc are just 😭😭 my heart melts, really, although... I was never really sure you'd get them married, mostly due to Care's speech to Cami about how Klaus supposedly sees weddings, and because I remember you saying that you weren't planning on giving them an actual marriage, but rather the closest thing next to it. I checked to comments to see other thoughts, and I saw one of you reply saying that you were completely against married!kc at the start, but then you were slowing changing your mind about it...

so, what was it that made you say "fuck it, I'm gonna ring the bells"?? is it because many people asked you to do it, so you are throwing us a bone, or is it something else?? I'm really interest on hearing the process of your change of heart <3

have a good one, friend <3 love you xoxo

I don't know if I am eloquent enough or if my train of thought makes much sense, but I will try 😂

Also grab a chair because this will be a long one. Be careful what you ask me, I do not know how to shut the fuck up 🙃

Objectively, I still think Klaus is not the marrying kind (in canon context, at least). That man has been alive for a thousand years. He's the vampire of vampires, one who sees humans as a lower species. He's used to getting what he wants by conquering and subjugating because he can. Why would he ever submit himself to an inherently human institution that, throughout history, has served as a tool for various types of social, political and religious control? The ceremony itself doesn't mean anything to him. He probably thinks it's ridiculous and performative, not to mention extremely frail. You can just change your mind and get a divorce, or the good old spouse murder, and then what? What's even the point?

(Just to be clear: I'm not personally preaching against weddings and marriages here btw, it's just how I think Klaus might have seen it.)

If you look at it from the sentimental side, Klaus spent almost a thousand years saying that love is a sign of weakness, a character flaw. He carried his siblings, the only people he genuinely cared about, inside coffins because he didn't trust them enough not to leave him, betray him or end up captured and killed by one of his enemies. Now, why would he want to marry someone, thus exposing yet another vulnerability to be exploited?

Having said that 😂

When we first see Klaus in TVD he's trying to surround himself with a whole new OP supernatural species that will have no choice but to stand with him. They will protect him, they will go to war for him, do whatever he asks them to and they will never leave (or that's what he thought, anyway) because they don't have a choice. That is the only way Klaus knows how to trust people: by completely removing their capacity to challenge him. That's how paranoid he is.

But as the story progresses, and especially with The Wolf in particular because it takes their relationship much further than the show, Klaus realizes there is more than one way to earn people's trust. I feel like that's one of the pillars of his relationship with Caroline. He could've just compelled her (in TVD, not TW because she's a witch), but he never did because he wanted more from her than obedience. All of the things he liked about her - her personality, her honesty, her fire, her loyalty - would've been essentially erased or made meaningless if he'd compelled her. Which puts her in direct opposition to how he related to his hybrids, right? He pretends to be fine with people who have no choice but to follow him, but what he really craves is more real than that. He surrounds himself with people who will worship the ground he walks on after some forged "gratitude" for releasing them of their curse, but he is fascinated by how gutsy Caroline is to look him in the eye and tell him the things that no one else will dare to. What he really seeks but doesn't have the courage to admit is that he wants someone who will choose to be with him. And that's the difficult part, because it can't be conquered or taken, it has to be earned.

Klaus comes from a place of paranoia and extreme distrust of everything and everyone around him, especially after Mikael in New Orleans, and he feels very isolated and alone. He tells Stefan about that, right? The loneliness of immortality. When The Wolf starts, in spite of how he and Caroline were having a bit of a thing before it, he's not sure she would want to stay with him. Actually, he thinks the first chance she gets, she's gonna bail. It's why he's mad when he thinks she wants to terminate the pregnancy. It's not about the baby (it's never about the baby), he couldn't care less about the damn baby at that point, it's the fact that he thinks she's trying to get rid of him, as if that pregnancy is the one thing that is holding them together at that point and so if she's no longer pregnant, she doesn't have to be with him. What I'm very inarticulately trying to say is that his initial approach to Caroline being pregnant is the same he had with his hybrids, as if the baby is a version of a sire bond. It's crazy and dysfunctional, yes, but it's how Klaus rationalizes it, how he thinks he gets to keep people around him - either through daggering them or giving them no choice.

Slowly, Klaus internalizes the fact that Caroline is choosing him. She tells him that a few times throughout the story, and even when he's hallucinating her at the beginning of TW4, because that's something that she has said before and that has stuck with him for reason. She could've left him at any point, but she didn't because she wants to be with him. It's a choice that she has made not because he forced her to, but because she's in love with him. She protects him, she fights for him, she walks through hellfire for him because she wants to, not because she must. He has earned her trust and her love and her loyalty. And that is something that is new for Klaus in his one thousand years of life, at least at this magnitude and with this much clarity and certitude.

So I think when I started writing TW3, which was them in their domestic era, it started to feel like something Klaus might actually do. Not just because it obviously does mean something to Caroline and he would basically do anything for her (even though she never asks for it, which in itself is something, because Caroline comes from relationships that made her feel so insecure and unsafe that she would've held on to a ring like a lifeline, but with Klaus she simply does not need hard evidence to feel safe and reassured, she knows how Klaus feels about her, she's very comfortable in their relationship, she knows that what offers her means a lot more than a thousand weddings to other people ever would - even though she does still love a good wedding lol), but because it suddenly makes sense to him. Not the big party, or the tradition of it, or making it official or anything of the sort, but as a way to externalize what he feels. There is a symbolism to it that while not ideal, it might be the closest to thing to expressing just how devoted he is to her and how she is, pure and simple, eternity for him. When that comes from someone who has lived for as long he has, and who has been as cynical as he was for as long as he was, it does mean something, even if nothing else does.

There is a territorial factor to it as well, of course. 😌 He's a very possessive man and so he wants everyone to know Caroline is his, and it's why it first came to him during the thing with Jackson, but it's more than just that. If it was just about that, he wouldn't do it. He is at a point where he no longer has any doubts about how Caroline feels for him (although there will be a little something something on that front at the beginning of TW4, just because they've been apart for so long, but it will be quickly dispelled).

The most sacred thing for Klaus was the vow he took with his siblings when they fled Viking Falls. They stuck together through everything because of that. He knows the value of a vow and a promise. And he wants a version of that with Caroline. It's the first time in his life when he contemplates genuinely offering that to someone other than his family. There are a million ways he could go about it, probably, but he knows asking her to marry him is the one that will be most representative to her, because of the age where she was born and how she grew up, etc.

And so that is why I decided that Klaus was going to buy a ring even though I crossed my heart and hoped to die a million times for years when people asked me about that. 😂 I just think it's the natural course this story has taken. It's long enough that it eventually made sense to me that he might do it.

Does any of that make sense???? I don't know! I just typed my stream of thought and hoped for the best and now I'm afraid to read it again, so apologies if it's just crazy words.

Now if only I can get back to writing and actually get to that part. 🥲 Pray for me 🙏

THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK! 🙃 Here have a pretty married Klaroline gif.

[yoonia]

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @lo1k-diamonds | thank you so much, love! And I know that I was tagged by a few others before while I was offline or on break so I guess here it is lol

Rules: Share the last line you wrote and tag the same number of people as the words in the line.

I have a few WIPs opened which I've been working on back and forth today, so I'll share from each one. Maybe I should share a bunch of snippets/longer lines instead while I'm at it to make up for my absence lately:

From Bedroom Hymns [myg]

“There you are, little dove.”  You briefly close your eyes, relishing on the shudder that his deep voice brings. This isn’t an imagination, you muse to yourself as you open your eyes to see Yoongi walking across the bridge. The white mist formed by the flowing water beneath him breaks away with each step that he makes.   “You’re late.” Too many long days, three different trips late. “I almost believed that I wouldn’t be so lucky to see you today before I leave.”

From Ever A Never After [ksj; jjk]

You suck a deep breath, and Seokjin has no idea why the sound you make pierces straight deeply into his chest. Then you make it worse when you speak with an innocent, helpless voice of yours, “Anyway, you are right, Sir. I don’t have anything with me. I left all my gold coins back home, since I thought I wouldn’t be needing it today with the ceremony and all.”  Again, dread fills his chest. “Gold coins,” he groans under his breath with a grimace. He closes his eyes, trying to find that sense of calmness deep inside him once again before it slips away. “All right. Breathe.” 

From Hot Mess [kth]

“Thank you for your concern,” he says, “though I’d much prefer to discuss them with you. Preferably in private, where we can be thorough.”  Somehow, his request unpleasantly tickles your brain, and the sour mood you felt returns. But you hide it with a forced smile and an overly sweet voice when you speak to him again. “I wish I could. Unfortunately, I’m going to need to do some minor adjustments with our setup today and I would like to get things ready before we can start taking photos.”  “I see. That’s a shame,” he mutters with feigned remorse. “Then I guess I’ll have to wait until later to see you.” 

From Chance Encounter [DPR Ian]

“What are you doing to me?”  “Returning the favour,” he says, giving you a quick kiss on the lips before turning away. “You’ve been driving me crazy lately, so it’s time to make you feel how I’ve been feeling.” His words fade into a deep grunt as his lips descend, pressing against your chin before he starts kissing down the column of your throat. 

From Blood Moon Rising [pjm]

“You—”  Pulling himself up from the crashing waves, Hyun positions himself behind a pointy rock to hide as he shifts back to his human form. Only partly, however, as only his long legs appear to replace the fishtail, leaving the twin rows of his sharp fins still visible on his skin, blending into the skin of his thighs.  Lowering one knee on the ground, Hyun remains behind the rock to conceal his nudity. A brief moment passes before he slowly lifts his head. His eyes are glowing in silver as he returns Lani’s soft gaze, the gill slits appearing on the sides of his neck and lower ribcage are pumping with every breath that he takes as he slowly adjusts being on land. His hands, still in the form of a pair of talons, rest over his bent knee as he formally greets the Vampire before him.  “My name is Hyun, the son of Hirae, the former head priest of Siren’s Den,” he introduces himself with a deep voice, soft snarls coming out with each word. His sharp dagger-like teeth peek through the seams of his lips as he speaks. “I was sent here by Lord Jimin to retrieve you, Lady Lani.” 

From Alpha's Inferno [knj]

A mate bond is maddening simply by being present. This bond, awakened after a long period of time, has continued to grow stronger, binding their souls together before they even have any chance to fight against it.  “Why are you fighting it, Alpha?” the pretty vampire asks him, and Namjoon can already feel his resolve dwindling at the sound of her voice. He makes no move as Lani steps closer, her movement graceful and slick. Like a predator, yet enticing and captivating at the same time that he cannot look away. “Is it because I’m one with the enemy?”

(from the two last snippets, I think it becomes obvious why I keep saying I needed to write these two together lol)

Tagging some friends: @beomcoups @shadowkoo @caelesjjk @taegularities @bangtans-momma and whoever wants to do this. tag me so I can see what you're working on :')

[kaaaaaaarf]

You know what time it is! everywhere, everything by @lynxindisguise updated today with a vampire (!!!) chapter, and I maybe shucked off work to read it 👀 (so worth it). As per usual, the playlist has been updated! Songs and lyrics/explanations below the cut.

Universe 668x: Vampires

Vicious by Daniel Hart & Damir Orascanin

Instrumental. It's from the Interview With The Vampire TV show soundtrack and is suitably mood setting (along with being a suggestion from Lynx 🫡)

Bloodsport '15 by Raleigh Ritchie

Nothing is perfect but your imperfections are quaint And your love is worth it and for that I will wait And though you hate me, when you have a turn I drive you crazy but you always return If I fall short, if I break rank It's a bloodsport, but I understand I am all yours, I am unmanned I'm on all fours, willingly damned Loving you's a bloodsport Fighting in a love war Although you love me, sometimes we're mean Things can get ugly but we're still a team We are an army that breaks from within But that's why we're stronger, and that's how we'll win [...] I've got your back, and though it's stacked against us I've got your hand, it's us against consensus And I will burn the people who hurt you the worst and I will not learn Cause I am too young and too dumb to consider the terms of breaking the law And I'll curse the day that they return With a smile on my face as their heads hit the floor And they're done, now it's curtains, the bloodlust's a clusterfuck, it hurts but it's working And even if you ask me to stop, it's too late because I've already decided their fate It's not a distaste, it's pure hate and it pulsates and it works its way around my brain Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I'll protect you til the day I meet my maker So don't fight me now cause you might need me later [...] It's not what I'm in love for, I'm yours I don't know if you can help it, maybe I'm just being selfish...

(fun fact: the singer of this song is actually Jacob Anderson from IWTV!!)

Vampire by Lupin

Cold weather shivers like a knife in the back tonight The things you claim that you knew had taken flight A tipsy remedy while something's causing strife Familiar echoes warn from a past life You got ambition, baby I can admire that You say you love me when there’s nobody lovin' back Call me a criminal, I'm wearing the mask tonight Familiar echoes scream from a past life You want me to go back to your room Well, lie to me, I’ll lie to you I think the jig will be up soon But can it wait 'til the morning? Can it wait 'til the morning? Can it? It got so bloody like the moon on Friday night I sunk my teeth in so deep but you just sigh Can't get off? Well babe, neither can I Familiar echoes bored from the past life

(it's called Vampire by Lupin and the lyrics are chef's kiss...couldn't not add it)

Vampire Weeknight by Jenny Owen Youngs

I don't wanna think about you but I do I don't wanna think about you but I do I do I do Pour another finger out or maybe two Cause I don't wanna drink without you but I do, I do

All night I'm suspended animation Watch the palm trees out the window all turn black Sleeplessly I'm paralyzed and waiting Will you come back [...] Pacing like a bobcat in the kitchen Or up the stairs just solitaire-ing in my room Preacher's on the late-night television Saying "... soon" [...] Asking every empty room what you'd say Bloodless in the bathroom mirror, oh my god Just tryna make it through another Tuesday Or maybe not

Reflections Scatter by Module

Instrumental. This is from the What We Do In The Shadows movie soundtrack and felt appropriately atmospheric and sad.

If We Were Vampires by Noah Kahan ft. Wesley Schultz

It's not the long, flowing dress that you're in Or the light coming off of your skin The fragile heart you protected for so long Or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong It's not your hands searching slow in the dark Or your nails leaving love's watermark It's not the way you talk me off the roof Your questions like directions to the truth

It's knowing that this can't go on forever It's likely one of us will have to spend some days alone Maybe we'll get forty years together But one day I'll be gone Or one day you'll be gone

If we were vampires and death was a joke We'd go out on the sidewalk and smoke Laugh at all the lovers and their plans I wouldn't feel the need to hold your hand Maybe time running out is a gift I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift And give you every second I can find And hope it isn't me who's left behind

Bats In The Attic by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins

And I've gone silver in my travels, Growing silver in my sideburns, I'm starting to unravel. Heard my heartbeat on a downhill, I counted eighteen on my pulse as Kilrenny Church struck three for three o'clock. What else? [...] It's such a waste of all that I had.

You mentioned bats in the attic, So now you're lifting up the tiles to get around these conservation rules. I walked down in the basement. I'm hanging upside down, a gag across my mealy mouth.

And how I'll laugh out loud about that. When I read your simple novel, it uses all our real names. And go make yourself a fortune, There's nothing left for us then us left dangling just a little shamefaced.

It's such a waste of what we had. And it's such a waste of all that we had. And it's such a waste of all that I am.

[kytiapseud]

A Long Time Coming

Emile is a vampire who has been running his bar for vampires and humans for a long time. Remy is a human customer and friend who has been coming for a while (by human standards). He is known for being down for almost any vampire there to feed from him. So Emile is surprised when one day Remy asks Emile to be the one to feed from him. Why does the thought fluster him so much though?

Set in @edupunkn00b's 'Beside Me' universe

Pairing: Emile/Remy

Wordcount: 2662

Warning: suggestive content

Notes: Vampires have been on my mind lately. So that lead me to rereading again one of my favorite vampire fic series, 'Beside Me'. This prompted me to get several ideas related to that series. Since I've gotten Edupunk's enthusiastic permission to do so, stay tuned for some of those. I think I have maybe four other ideas aside from this one.

This fic makes more sense if you've read those fics, but I do try to give context in it that is needed to understand the premise.

This is set after the second fic in that series, 'Dee'.

Emile hummed as he prepared a tray of drinks. It was still early into the night, but a lot of times his evenings at his bar became pretty routine. It wasn’t hard to catch the types of drinks his regulars preferred. Most of his customers were regulars after all. There weren’t a lot of new vampires to have to prepare for anyways. It actually wasn’t a common thing. Aside from Virgil’s group that was.

“Hey there, hot stuff,” A familiar voice said. Emile smiled and turned to Remy who had just sat at the bar. He was a human regular who often arrived early into the night. Something about having more opportunities for willing vamps to feed that way. Emile giggled. Then he got Remy a glass of water. Remy was totally down to drink, but he usually didn’t right away. Some vampires weren’t comfortable drinking from an intoxicated human. He typically didn’t want to chance a rejection.

“Good evening, Remy. Would you like for me help pick out a vampire to feed from you?” Emile asked.

“Actually,” Remy lowered his sunglasses and looked at Emile, with less caution than he really should. He knew better too.

“I was hoping you could feed from me,” He said.

“W-what?” Emile asked and then cleared his throat. He was usually more composed than that.

Remy smirked.

“You heard me, Em. I’m in the mood for my favorite vampire to feed from me. You work hard here. You deserve to get a treat,” He said.

Emile let out a bit of a nervous laugh.

“I appreciate the offer, Remy. But I don’t usually feed while I’m on the clock,” Emile said.

Remy shrugged.

“So take a break. There’s gotta be someone who can fill in for you for a little bit.”

Emile sighed.

 “I also don’t need to at the moment. When I need to feed, I tend to do so before arriving here,” Emile said.

Remy sighed a bit dramatically.

“Well, when is the next time you’ll need to feed?” Remy asked.

Emile blinked, a bit surprised Remy was still offering for the future.

“Uh, not for a while,” Emile said.

Remy hummed and shrugged.

“Well, I guess I’ll just wait until then,” Remy said.

That was really not like Remy. He had a tendency to take on many vampires in one night. Emile had never seen him willing to wait for a specific vampire, let alone for him. Remy had been going to this bar for a long time too. Not nearly as long as Emile had opened the place, Remy was only human after all. But as long as he could really.

He’d flirted of course, but tended to flirt more with the vampires who could feed from him while at the bar.

“Y-you don’t have to do that, Remy. I know how much you enjoy it,” Emile said.

Remy hummed in consideration.

“True…alright, just let me know before the next time you do feed, alright? Please? I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to of course,” Remy said, shifting a bit like he was nervous. Also unusual for Remy.

“N-no,” Emile cleared his throat. “I’m fine with it. Yeah, I’ll uh I’ll let you know.”

Remy smiled and winked.

“Great! Can’t wait,” Remy said. He finished off the rest of his water before slinking off onto the dance floor.

Emile just watched him for a moment, still processing their conversation.

Then he shook his head, turning to face the new group that had entered. It was Virgil’s group, Emile should have known. They’d  been coming more frequently than Virgil used to with the two newer vampires to feed. He smiled at them as the three of them came in. No Dracula tonight though. He didn’t often come with them. Emile wasn't really sure why. He got the impression maybe the count just wasn't used to drinking from places like his bar. Emile could tell the ancient vampire was still around though.

 Emile gestured for them to go to their usual booth and then went on to set up their drinks.

After they were seated, Emile made his way over. He set down the glasses in front of each of them.

“Good to see you three this evening!” Emile cheered. He went on to pour juice for Virgil and Remus. Then whiskey for Logan.

Logan narrowed his eyes at Emile.

“Is everything alright?” He asked. At Logan’s words, Virgil brought his attention to Emile and looked him over.

Emile felt his face heat up a bit. He let out a bit of a nervous laugh.

“Yeah! Why?” He asked.

Logan hummed.

“I don’t know, something just seems off,” He said. Emile waved his hand.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m fine. I wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t do my job well tonight after all,” He said.

Logan frowned.

“That’s not why I asked,” He said.

Virgil nodded.

“Emile, I’ve been coming here for a while. You can talk to me.”

Emile hesitantly nodded. He shifted a bit, then decided to set the bottles on the table for the moment. He would be the type to just suddenly become clumsy.

Remus looked at him and then chuckled.

“Did someone hot flirt with you at the bar or something?” Remus asked.

“Emile’s been running this bar for a long time, and has no doubt been flirted with many times. I haven’t seen him react this way to such a thing before, have you?” Logan asked. Virgil shook his head, now looking more curious then concerned.

Emile waved that off.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that. Just,” Emile sighed.

“Remy said he wanted me to feed from him. I told him I didn’t need to tonight. But then he asked me to let him know the next time I do need to, so I can feed from him. I just didn’t expect his insistence at being an option, I guess?”

Virgil raised his eyebrows then shared a look with Logan.

“I know I haven’t been around you when you’ve fed, but that seems like an unusual reaction to such an offer,” Virgil said. Logan nodded. Remus chuckled.

“Could there be another reason such an offer has flustered you so?” Remus asked.

As Emile thought about it, his breath catches a bit as he imagines how close he would get to Remy while feeding.

“You have known him for a while,” Virgil said.

“For human standards, yes,” Emile said.

“Not that length of time is necessary to fall for someone,” Remus said, smiling at Virgil and Logan. They both smiled back at him.

Emile reached up and fidgeted with his hair some, smiling shyly as he thought about what he liked about Remy. He was charming, funny, flirty. Good at showing confidence. He wasn’t afraid to go after what he wanted. Plus he also had his sweet side that not everyone got to see. Emile had always felt honored he was one of the few who got to.

 It’s not like Emile was new to liking someone, so why did he feel so out of his element here?

“This may be a strange question, but have you dated before?” Logan asked, almost as though he knew what Emile was thinking. Emile nodded.

“Of course I have…” Not in a while though. It just wasn’t something that was often on his mind. He was usually occupied by helping people at the bar.

Logan hummed and nodded.

“You seemed very unsure about why Remy would want this with you. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask him? That may help keep you from overthinking the interaction,” Logan said.

Emile wanted to protest that he wasn’t doing that, but well…he was, wasn’t he? Emile nodded.

“That is probably a good idea. Thank you all, for the help,” He said. Virgil smiled and nodded.

“Of course.”

“You’ve helped us many times. It’s the least we could do,” Logan said, lifting his glass up to Emile before drinking from it.

“You deserve to be happy as well,” Remus said.

Emile giggled.

“Alright, let me know is there’s anything else I can for you,” He said.

They nodded.

“We’re good for now. Thank you though,” Virgil said. Emile waved to them before going back to his duties checking on other customers. He was admittedly a bit distracted now, thinking about this feeding with Remy. He almost wished he hadn’t just fed right before arriving tonight. Because now he’d just be thinking about it until next time.

*

The next time Emile was thirsty, he texted Remy. He also let his usual human friends know that someone else offered this time. He arrived at the bar early, before opening, so it would be easier to meet with Remy. He shifted a bit in place, nervous about what was to come. He’d been around Remy many times. But this would definitely be the most intimate thing they did. Something felt more special about it too with how much Remy wanted it.

“Hello~ Emile.”

Emile’s breath caught as the delicious scent of Remy’s blood wafted over him. He’d usually been pretty good at keeping himself healthy. And with willing human friends who were kind about it, he hadn’t gotten to a point much where he would be thirsty long. Really it hadn’t been that long for him. But he was desiring it more than usual. And Remy smelled good.

He looked over to Remy, struggling more to not meet his eyes. He gave him a shy smile.

“H-hey, Remy,” Emile croaked. His eyes were drawn to Remy’s neck, fixated on his pulse.

Remy chuckled.

“Oh, you’re definitely ready for me now,” He said.

Emile swallowed.

“Here, let’s take this somewhere more private,” Remy said.

Emile blinked and carefully looked up at Remy’s face again. He wanted to know why. No one else was here anyways, and Remy had never seemed to care who watched him as vampires drank from his neck. But in that moment, Emile was too thirsty to care.

“I live in the basement under the bar,” He said. The basement had been there before he opened the bar. Although it was more traditional for business owners to live over their places of business, living under had worked out to be safer from the sun anyways.

Remy smiled.

“Sounds good.” Remy gestured for Emile to lead the way. Emile mechanically walked him over to the stairs and then down. Barely thinking past the draw of Remy’s blood overcoming him. When they got to his door, the hand holding his keys was nearly trembling. Remy gently took the keys from him and opened the door.

“Bedroom?” Remy asked. Emile didn’t even question it, just walking straight over there. Not bothering to close any doors. Just wanting Remy to be close. Remy must have closed the doors behind them because it was a moment before he joined Emile in the bedroom. The bed was big enough for both of them.

“I’ve never seen you like this,” Remy said. Emile didn’t respond. Remy cooed.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll take care of you Em.” Remy sat on the bed. He kicked his shoes off and scooted up. Then he  gestured for Emile to join him. Emile plopped onto the bed next to Remy. He started reaching for Remy’s wrist, but Remy pulled his arm back. He shook his head.

“Aw, come on, Em. We’re close enough you can go for my neck,” He said. He shifted so he was facing Emile. Then he bent his neck to make it enticing. Emile almost reached forward then had the mind to pause when he saw the scars on Remy’s neck from all the feedings. Remy sighed.

“Don’t worry about those, Em,” He said. He reached forward and brushed a hand over Emile’s arm.

“I don’t mind. And I want you,” Remy said. That’s what finally did it. Emile rumbled as he launched himself onto Remy. He knocked them both over so they were laying on the bed when Emile finally sank his teeth into Remy. Remy laughed and then let out a very pleased sound as Emile began to drink.

He tasted so good. Emile felt how warm Remy was against him. Remy continued to make pleased sounds, touching over Emile as he fed from him. Remy’s scent so enticing and around him. There was something so satisfying about getting to feed from him. As enjoyable as this was, Emile knew better than to overindulge. So when Remy tapped him, Emile was already pulling off. He had to catch his breath before he rolled off and laid next to Remy. Still facing him.

Remy hummed pleased and turned to face Emile as well.

“Well, that was certainly worth the wait,” Remy said, running his hand along Emile’s side. Emile smiled a bit dreamily at him. Remy chuckled.

“You really enjoyed yourself too, hm?” He asked. Emile hummed and nodded.

“I’ll always be available for you, okay?” Remy said. He used a finger to catch some blood from the punctures on his neck. Then he waved it over Emile’s mouth. Emile immediately put his mouth over the finger and sucked the blood off. Then he blushed at his own eagerness. Remy laughed.

“Aw, it’s okay doll.” He scooted closer to Emile and put a hand to the side of Emile’s head.

“I don’t mind,” He said quieter. Emile’s breath stuttered when he felt how close Remy’s lips were to his own.

“Can I kiss you?” Remy asked. Emile sucked in a breath at that.

“Yeah,” He said quietly, voice shaking a little. Emile could feel Remy’s smile before he leaned in. The first kiss was slow. Then he kissed Emile again, gradually deepening it. He rolled over on top of Emile as he continued, in a reverse of their positions when Emile fed from him. Apparently Remy didn’t mind any lingering taste of his own blood from Emile’s mouth. They made out for a bit more, Remy getting more handsy. Just as his touches started to move to the next level, Emile pulled away, laughing.

“Remy,” He said.

“Hmm?” Remy asked. His hands paused, but he continued to kiss along Emile’s jaw then down his neck. Emile hummed and his eyes fluttered. Then he shook his head.

“Remy, I do still have to eventually open the bar,” Emile said.

Remy sighed and pulled his mouth away. His hand going back to just feeling over Emile’s side.

“Fine. I guess I’ll just have to wait for you until after,” Remy said. Emile blinked at him.

“You’d be willing to wait?” Emile asked.

Remy smiled at him.

“Of course.” He moved his hand up to card some hair behind Emile’s ear.

“I like you, Em. I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” Remy said.

Emile giggled.

“I like you too Remy,” Emile said. Remy smirked and leaned forward to kiss Emile again. This time a slow sweet kiss that lingered. Remy made a rumbling sound as well as he pulled away.

“Damn, I could just keep kissing you, Em.”

Emile blushed and giggled.

“Later, or we’ll never get up,” He said. Remy sighed as he started to sit up.

“Alright.”

Emile sat up as well. Seeing Remy’s neck, he seemed to remember himself.

“Oh! Let me get that taken care of for you,” Emile said. Remy watched Emile with a fond look as he went about getting Remy some fruit juice and cookies. He didn’t even bother to complain. He just continued to look at Emile in adoration when he started to drink the juice he was given. Emile blushed and shifted again, smiling shyly. But then Remy leaned on his side, so Emile leaned against him as well.

“It’s a shame you’re always working at the bar. It would be really nice to get to dance with you there,” Remy said. Emile hadn’t even considered hiring another until Remy’s suggestions. But now it seemed like a good idea.

“Maybe we’ll get to at some point,” Emile said with a smile, glancing to the side at Remy.

“We have time.”

Remy smiled back.

“Yeah, I like the sound of that.”

[riderofblackdragons]

Day 16: Presumed Dead

Still being late, but hey! At least I've got them done! Day 13 really was my holdup tbh, and I didn't want to post the others when I was missing day 13. I've had a different version of this one written since like, the start of the month, but I decided I didn't like it around the 16th, so I rewrote it.

And Ik the characters are OOC in this, Elijah has an excuse, but also I feel like he deserves to say fuck at least once. Plus, this is a new AU, called 'Let Me Stay'.

Hope you enjoy!

Klaus was happy. Or at least, he was content. Sure, his brothers were dead, and that put a considerable dampener on his mood. He didn’t mind Finn’s so much, since his older brother had always been boring anyways, always going on and on about how they were monstrous, and they shouldn’t kill, and how they should all just die instead of drinking blood.

It had gotten old after the third day of his moping, so no, Klaus wasn’t really all that bothered by his oldest brother’s death. Kol’s, however, he was very upset about. He’d cared for his younger half-brother, who’d barely blinked at the news that they didn’t share a father. Kol had been fun, if too wild and mischievous to be kept undaggered all the time, and Klaus missed him a lot.

If he hadn’t wanted more doppelgänger blood, so that he could make more hybrids, Klaus would have burned Mystic Falls, and everyone living in it, to the ground. Thinking about it, Klaus saw no reason not to go back and do it anyways. There was only one cure, and his doppelgänger hadn’t taken it, so there was no reason to not do it. He wouldn’t be getting more hybrids regardless.

But he was on a mission, this time. New Orleans. He’d been happy here, once, he remembered, him and Rebekah. Kol had enjoyed it too, when Klaus had let him out of his coffin. Maybe they’d be able to find happiness here again, even though it was just the two of them left.

Klaus’ plan was simple. He was going to conquer New Orleans again, for himself and Rebekah, and rule it. Make sure that his brothers were never forgotten. He’d carve all the statues himself, if necessary, ones for Kol, and ones for Finn.

And ones for Elijah.

It was times like these, that Klaus missed his older brother the most. Elijah was levelheaded, protective of their family. He was certain that Elijah would have burned that miserable town to the ground, as soon as he’d learned of Kol’s death. Hell, maybe even as soon as he’d learned of Finn’s death.

But Elijah was dead. Klaus knew it, they all knew it. Elijah had never even gotten to see New Orleans, never gotten to see their return to the homeland. He’d died too early, far too early for the eternity their mother had promised them when she’d made them vampires.

It was one of Klaus’ biggest regrets, that he’d left his brother there. They’d argued, and Klaus had stormed out in a rage, not wanting to see his brother when he was that mad. There’d been no one else at their temporary home, and when he’d come back… Elijah was gone.

Oh, his things were still there, but Klaus had assumed that he’d merely left as well, to go calm down in a place where he wouldn’t be reminded of Klaus and their siblings. Only, Elijah hadn’t come back. They’d stayed there longer than planned, waiting for Elijah, before they’d heard news of Mikael in the area, and had had to run.

And now, it was centuries later, and Elijah was dead, followed by their other brothers. Klaus at least hoped that his brothers were happy together in death, that they’d found peace together. Because he and Rebekah weren’t at peace, were struggling to move on, even as they’d managed without Elijah for the past 700 years.

Learning Marcellus was alive helped, even if he’d changed his name to Marcel, and had taken over Klaus’ city. One part of the hybrid could admire his ward’s, his child’s, audacity, but the other part was just mad. This was still his, even if Marcel was claiming otherwise.

But at least with Marcel’s survival, Rebekah would be happy. Klaus knew that his sister had been upset at her lover’s death, so upset that she hadn’t spoken a word of his name since they’d left what they thought was his burning corpse in New Orleans. He hadn’t been much better, admittedly, since in his grief, he’d also forbade news of his son around him.

But this wasn’t quite a fully-vampiric city, Klaus listened to Marcel explain. He’d done a lot of work, and Klaus could admire how he’d wiped out one pack of wolves, and cursed the other, but apparently there was a third.

A werewolf pack that hadn’t existed, back when Klaus was in charge. Marcel described it as having vampires in it, vampires who refused to join his cause. And the pack leaders hadn’t changed since its conception, over half a century beforehand.

“They’re vicious,” Marcel told him. “I don’t know how they’ve stayed around this long, but if my guys attack, then they’ll get bitten and die. And I don’t want to lose god knows how many men for even a single mile of territory, cause I’m damn sure I wouldn’t get more than that,”

“Good thing my blood can heal werewolf bites, then,” Klaus smirked, as his mind raced.

Werewolves would change pack leaders when they got too old, so it wouldn’t have been unusual for the previous leaders to stick around as Elders in the pack. But to not have changed over at all? The leaders should definitely be too old now, even if they were still alive.

Maybe it was just a clever trick, designed to confuse and scare the vampires? But Klaus had trained Marcel himself, had raised him, he wasn’t one to get confused by that sort of paltry trick. And Marcel swore it was the same leaders.

“I’ll come with you,” He decided on a whim.

Marcel was going to go and meet with this pack, and its leaders, the next day. And, well, Klaus couldn’t deny the slight preening when he saw Marcel’s small look of gratitude. Having a hybrid there would change things, and Klaus wanted to meet these wolves.

To find out their secrets... He'd string them up, if he had to.

-

And of course, it couldn’t be that easy. There were representatives from the witches and from the humans there as well, which made it that much harder to pick out which ones were from the wolves. Or, well, that was his initial impression.

It became that much easier to tell when the wolf representatives came slightly late, striding through the doors like they owned the place.

Klaus had seen many wolves over the years, old, young, etc. He knew what a wolf looked like when it was ageing, and these wolf leaders didn’t look that much over 80, if he had to guess. Which, given his approximation of their ages, shouldn’t be possible.

Introductions were had, including his. The meeting went as expected, if a bit calmer than Marcel had described it as. The wolves kept glancing at him, as though they knew something about him that Klaus didn’t.

And then, as he left, he found out what all those glances were for.

For outside, waiting for them all to exit the church (it was a neutral space, apparently. Since the leader of the human faction was the priest in charge, so it wasn’t biased towards the vampires, the witches, or the werewolves.), was a ghost.

Klaus stumbled back a little at the sight, feeling dread fill him. There, standing by the entrance was Elijah. Or at least, a very good replica of Elijah. Klaus blinked a couple times, but it was still there, still look just like his older brother had on calm days, his face tilted up to catch the sun’s rays as he waited for their next problem to be brought to him.

“You’re dead,” Klaus croaked out, when he got his voice back. “You died,”

And the Elijah-lookalike turned to face him, and- it was so realistic. It even had the quiet anger burning in its eyes, like Elijah’d always had whenever he’d get angry. A cold type of anger, that his self-control had never let him unleash on his siblings, turning itself into disappointment for them.

“Klaus Mikaelson,” It even had the same voice as his brother, although Klaus couldn’t remember Elijah calling him anything other than Niklaus their entire lives.

“Elijah?” He hesitantly asked, and was rewarded with a punch to the face.

It shocked everyone behind them, Klaus could tell by their gasps and yelps, but this was his brother. And if his brother was alive, then… Something had happened to him. Klaus hadn’t found him, over the centuries, even if the others had stopped him from searching after the first century.

“You left me with him,” Elijah hissed into his face, grabbing Klaus’ shirt collar and pulling him closer. “You knew he had me, and you left me with him,”

“We thought you were dead!” Klaus frantically defended, although he did try to gesture for Marcel to stay away.

This was his brother, and Klaus was immortal. He would survive, but he wasn’t sure if Marcel would. Regardless of what Elijah dealt to him, and Klaus knew he’d deserve it, for not realising his big brother was alive for all these years, he’d live.

“Rebekah will be happy to see you,” he tried, and Elijah dropped him onto the floor. “And… I’m glad you’re alive, brother,”

Elijah merely scoffed, before he turned on his heel and started walking away. “Fuck you,” He tossed over his shoulder, before he sped away.

[oni-drawfriend]

Lately been in the mood to draw some portraits, and for some reason I've had mostly kink in my mind.

Here's a leatherman mutual from Insta who also draws similar things AND he even does a horror series every October so he was happy to be drawn as one of my usual subjects! Check him out here!

Anyways, since I'm still looking for things to draw, and excuses to get more comfortable with fetish communities I like, here's an offer. If you're a follower of mine in the gay leather and/or vampire kink community (since those two are my favorite ones to draw lol), feel free to let me know, and I'll draw you a portrait! No guarantees on if everyone will get theirs, since I might get overwhelmed with requests, but we'll see!

[xluxsolarisx]

Air Traffic Controller <- new musics ^^👍

yay new musics!!! i am like a tiger that found a new meat pumpkin to roll around in my enclosure :3 anyway i only listened to a few of their top songs on spotify bc i'm lazy but i liked them more than i thought i would!!

i think this one is my favorite actually! i like the creepy vibe and the way the singer doesn't really stop or change the tempo except for the chorus, gives it like a droning rambling kind of losing it vibe, very nice ^^

god what a fucking mood. yeah i can relate to this one, i like the way it's sung very frantically and rushed in relation with the lyrics. you gotta slow down and appreciate what you got unless you wanna spend your life in search of something you'll never find :/

this one i really liked too!! i should listen to the full album sometime all the songs i've listened to so far are super good, hopefully it's a pattern c: this one makes me feel badass listening to it. like if i were a cool buff werewolf and honestly i'm into it >:3

aside from those three, i also listened to some other new music!!! also only three songs but c'est la vie

this one gives me paper idol vibes kinda, sweet :3 y'know i genuinely did not know this was about drugs until i got on genius to look at the lyric analysis. like i genuinely thought this was about either being a Cool Badass or like the general feeling a sugar high gave you. twelfth grade english teacher i'm so sorry....i don't deserve the a i got both semesters if this is how i'm using it 😔

i understand this is super super dark but have you considered: the vocals are very nice. i'm so obsessed with the singer's VOICE.... it reminds me of like a 50s and more ranged kate bush, very nice :) but not just that!!! the TONAL CONTROL, the TEMPO, the KEY SWITCHES....all genuinely genius. i wish there was more stuff from the band, the last album was in 2012 and i'm not sure if they're just on a long hiatus or broke up entirely but i hope it's the former, i really liked this song :(

i've been getting into will wood lately and i think his voice is so goofy and fun. i like how he distracts you with it and the trumpets but the lyrics are super deep and clever if you think about it. he does that for all his songs and i don't think i could pick a favorite out of his songs honestly. like if i HAD to i would choose memento mori i guess. MAYBE the vampire culture part of suburbia overture but only for the growling, i'm a sucker for when singers growl. especially when women do it but will wood gets a pass too. because i am an egalitarian. you're welcome.

thanks for the recommendation!! i had a lot of fun listening to new music, it was nice to branch out. i probably wouldn't have listened to air traffic controller if you didn't suggest it and i'm glad you did <3

[evilasiangenius]

So how is everyone handling the ao3 outage? I'm still working on replying to comments, but saving them on my computer so I don't lose them.

...which I should have been doing anyway because sometimes often the browser or Windows restarts and I lose all progress and have to rewrite.

Lately I've been in a Consume Media mood which is cutting into precious writing time.

Things watched recently (that I'd like to talk about): Dungeon Meshi (read the manga and the extras as well) Interview With the Vampire Season 2 The Witcher Season 3 Jujutsu Kaisen Currently editing the reversed Rome story. I updated two other stories today, and I need to work on getting ahead of those as well.

[otterandterrierwrites]

alright, I had every intention of posting the vampire AU for halloween. not because I'm particularly into halloween, just because it seemed fitting to post a year after I was supposed to post, and also to give myself a deadline. and because I've been trying to post a fic a month.

buuut writing has been slow lately. I got stuck on some scenes, I've been stressing over various minor but annoying issues, I adopted a cat, and also, on top of international atrocities and all the shit show that has been, it's elections this sunday in Argentina, a shit show on itself, and it's a horrible one, lads. spare a thought for us, because we might get fucked real bad. needless to say, my brain hasn't been in the mood much and it might get worse after sunday.

I don't think anyone other than me will care much that this won't go out on Oct 31 tbh, I'm just struggling with letting go of the idea that I was totally going to share that story on that date 😕

anyway, maybe I also need to give my brain a different project for a little bit??

[faydingrain]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Game

Got tagged again by @caelumsnuff! Thank you for the taggeroony toony~

I've never spoken to them before, but I see them around a lot and happen to know they have a tumblr, so I tag @aroseandacross if you want to do this! And anyone else that stumbles across it, I tag you too! :p

1 - How many works do you have on AO3?

37...oh wow

2 - What's your total AO3 word count?

147,476?! Good night!

3 - What fandoms do you write for?

Redacted Audio, Owari no Seraph, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Funamusea Universe, Hollow_ VA, Tokyo Ghoul, and D.Gray-Man by technicality though that oneshot isn't done or posted yet, lol. The ones I write for on the regular honestly vary depending on my mood and current devotion to the series, including the possible spite I feel towards that series, lmao. There are way more brief fic sparks I get for other series, but just never get the inspiration to go through with and end up forgetting.

4 - What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

5: A Quiet, Peaceful Night 4: Vice Versa 3: A Little Help from P[izza]-chan (which literally rose to my top 3 practically overnight because the Guy fans escaped containment I guess, lmfao) 2: Branch, Like a Tree 1: Yours in Eternity, My Dearest All for Redacted Audio

5 - Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love giving love back to the love I recieve! Admittedly though, the only comments I haven't responded to seemed more like musing aloud, and I genuinely wasn't sure how to respond, lol. Now I feel like it's too late, so I feel awkward trying to respond now, but I feel bad not doing so all the same....

6 - What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably Inversion: Another Story considering all the death and bad things it leaves off on, lol.

7 -What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

To Date a Vampire, though it's more like...reader-self-insert-y I guess? But is basically pure fluff, lol.

8 - Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet! I expected to get more hate for how many OC and OC/Canon fics I write, but my fics don't tend to garner much attention over all anyways I think, so it can't reach the loud haters, lol.

9 - Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nope!! I hate writing smut, I don't like reading smut that much either. I'm a fade-to-black type writer. The closest thing I'll get to writing smut is maybe writing brief instances of the off-screen smut, and there'll be a graphic sexual assault scene later in EIC (y'know, for the therapeutic aspect).

10 - Do you write crossovers?

...Technically? Lmfao. Though unfinished, Our Solemn Hour is a crossover with Tsubasa and X/1999, with many of the X characters appearing in it mostly as cameos. Embers of an Iridescent Cage is maybe a crossover between stories? Though, Decem: Anges et Demons does exist now. Burning Wings is a crossover-ish with characters from Tsubasa in a setting inspired by The Last of Us, though I didn't crosstag it in the latter fandom since the only similarity is literally just the setting. And that's all.

11 - Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I better fucking not. (No one wants my trash lmfao.)

12 - Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that would actually be incredible if it happened.

13 - Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, I am a selfish, haughty bastard and I need full reign over my stories, lmfao. Unless the other person was a similar writer with very similar ideas to me, it would never work. (Plus...I write about my FCs so often, so, lol. I personally find it very difficult to write stories about characters that aren't my own, hence the large volume of OC fic.)

14 - What's your all time favorite ship?

That's a great question. (It honestly varies depending on my mood. Mostly OC/Canon ships probably. I do still adore SuzuFeri.)

15 - What's a WIP that you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Don't make me call myself out like this-

16 - What are your writing strengths?

Hell, I don't know...I've been told I'm humorous

17 - What are your writing weaknesses?

I've been told I'm bad at making characters not suffer, lmfaooo

18 - Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I mean, if you know the language or do your research, go for it! Maybe add a footnote mentioning what was said for non-speakers if it wasn't brought up in the fic? (I don't personally ever plan for this myself for fics, but it is a small thing I plan on doing research for in my novel series, and I feel the same about original work too.)

19 - First fandom you wrote for?

OKAY SO, I think my actual first fanfic ever was a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, but the first one I posted on ao3 was for Owari no Seraph.

20 - Favorite fic you've written?

Probably Yours in Eternity, My Dearest!! I'm not saying Kalila is totally 100% a self-insert, but I mayyyy or may not have written that series just because I want to feel like Will was writing fancy love letters to me 💕

[albatris]

hello!

today's wordcount is also yesterday's wordcount... no writing has been done today and it is 8:26pm and no writing will be done today... resting is writing, you know this

anyway! I've been chewing on what I need to write tomorrow, which is Quinn and Nat's first official meeting :3c and I get to write about Quinn's little new vampire care packages which is a sweet detail missing from previous drafts

lists of vampire-friendly doctors and businesses! directory of stores open late! heat lamps! blankets! vitamin d supplements! snacks! little pamphlet of tips and advice! heavy duty sunscreen! et cetera! other stuff I wrote down once upon a time in a post and then forgot about

being a vampire is hard and spooky :c it's ok, Quinn will help :)! they have nothing but good intentions!

today's mood is ooh no I don't wanna think about that that's scary and today's jam is "gotta be productive" by mattsagraham

bye! I love you!

[ygreczed-3]

2K MILESTONE EVENT

Thank you everyone for your suggestions ! They're all so good, it was hard to chose ! I decided to go for @skyfitzgeraldthefucker , @personally-i-practise-lesbomancy and @aesahamyr 's AUs in the end. I admit I considered @au-bunny's idea of a vampire AU and took my time to decide but I'm intrigued by the pirate aesthetic so I couldn't resist ahaha...

A biig big thanks to @yayenchan, @carly-r-arnold, @rjhpandapaws (ohhh the coffee shop AU was nice to imagine too !), @coffeeboy900, @au-bunny, @just-a-fangirl7, @wingedauthor !!! All your ideas were so great and it has been real hard to choose !

Here the link to see everyone's ideas !

REVERSE AU CONCEPT ARTS

Thank you @skyfitzgeraldthefucker for suggesting this AU in the 2K special event ! I know it's your favorite AU and I admit it really intrigues me lately, which is why I wanted to draw it ! I know you asked for a specific scene but I really wasn't in the mood for that sorry ! Hope you'll enjoy what I've made anyway !

Also look at Ninja, Sumo's alter ego ! Just love corgis so much ahah ! I wanted to make my art evolve a bit too. I'm working on characters' shapes rn. I'm kinda satisfied with how buff/square Hank looks, and Connor's slim frame !

[a-q2]

Mini-Rant for DC Vs Vampires Hunters

I'm supper bitter in this, a lot of the reactions I've seen influenced my mood negatively so yeah

Dick must've been on crack cause wtf is this bs

This shit dumb ah, it's actually pissing me off

Not only does it go against a big part of Bruce/Batman as a character, like the whole reason he did any of this and why he took them in was because of his compassion. It's such a large and important part of his character and fuckfaced writters keep trying to pull this just wrong bullshit about Bruce lacking it (This is another thing that could be made into it's own post tbh).

It's genuinely infuriating because dumb bitches take this shit as if they're isn't an outweight of content going against the statement, but also because they take it as is. (In the same way people are doing with tfz rn saying Jay beat them when it was literally said they didn't want to hurt him)

Alongside that, it also disregards so much of the world and the context behind it 💀

Acting like they weren't going after Vampires cause they was on that bs, and like Bruce ain't close friends with a Demon and shit 🤦🏽‍♂️

Anyways, Alfred says this but that shit from before still some straight foolery

I see what he was going for tho

1 v 1 me Dick rn 🤦🏽‍♂️

Before anyone says anything about "but this is an else world", we know how else worlds impact not only the main comics but also public interpretation and reception so I ain't hearing shit bout it

Late disclaimer: A lot of this is actually me not complaining about the comic

[instablamwriter]

A3! | TaiTenYuki | can we still eat cake?

Rating: G

Summary:

It's the night before Yuki's birthday.

A/N: long time no see lol. i've been writing casually on my casual writing account qermittea on twitter, but otherwise, i havent really written much;; anyway, here's a lil tyt for yuki's birthday. im still not confident writing my faves but i tried :")

AO3 Link

The true indicator of getting older is the inability to stay up late willingly anymore. As soon as 9 PM comes rolling around, Taichi finds himself gravitating to the comfort of snuggling under their duvet sheets.

"Just go to sleep, idiot. Your mouth is so wide when you yawn, flies will start flying in without you noticing," Yuki says, after the nth time Taichi must have done so.

The sewing machine works as usual with its rhythmic sounds and Taichi had purposely gone to the workshop to stay awake, but seems like the familiarity is firing back on him instead.

"I'm okay...." he slurs out.

Yuki stops his project for a second and looks in Taichi's direction, shaking his head.

"You don't have to greet me at midnight, you know? Even I might not be awake then."

"No! We've done this every year! Ten-chan is even coming later with the cake-" Taichi slaps his own mouth in realization.

"Cake? Hey, we won't even be able to finish that." Yuki frowns. Another sign of aging seems to be finding most things too sweet for their liking. Gone are the days where Taichi could tolerate a single bite of a Kame Bun, the epitome of sugar, and now he's down to eating 2 slices of cakes maximum.

The chair creaks as Taichi gets up and walks towards his boyfriend, putting his arms around Yuki's neck and tucking in Yuki's head under his chin while the other sits down at their work table.

"It's fine, Yuki-chan! I'm sure Tomo-chan and Miki-chan are willing to eat the leftovers! Aren't you going to celebrate your birthday at the store?" Taichi wants to rub his face on Yuki's cheeks like he does with Tenma (he's been called a cat over being a dog for times like these) but he doesn't want to go overboard. It had taken time for Yuki to get used to these affectionate touches. He usually only let people hug him during big emotional moments, but through the years, he spoils Tenma and Taichi with a bit of hand-holding and cuddling.

"Yeah, those two would eat anything," he replies, deadpan. But Taichi can tell Yuki says so with fondness.

The doorbell rings. Even after all these years, they are much more comfortable with opening the door to each other than going in with their keys. It’s just not the same to come home to a quiet house.

“Coming!” Taichi yells out.

There are footsteps that follow behind him as he goes to their front door, humming.

Opening the door reveals an all-masked, complete with sunglasses Tenma, carrying a wrapped box in one hand, and a plastic from one of their favorite bakeries in the other.

“Welcome home, Ten-chan!”

“Welcome back, hack.”

“I’m home- hey! At least be nice to your gift-giver!” There’s not bite in Tenma’s words and he simply tips out of his shoes and slides them to the side while Taichi locks the door behind him.

“Gift or not, you’re always going to be a hack.” The tip of Yuki’s mouth twitches.

Tenma glances up at their wall, muttering“’Bout three more hours…”

Yuki leans on the wall, arms crossed. “You guys don’t have to wait up…we’re not getting any younger, especially you two that are older than me.”

“Nonsense! We do this every year! We can watch a movie to stay awake…”

“One of yours?”

“Nah. How about this one?”

“No fair, guys! If we’re watching Mankai videos, not just the Autumn Troupe! We’ll only be watching me!”

“I’m not sure I’m in the mood to see my acting in those days.”

“You were great, Yuki-chan! We’re just all more experienced now.”

“Okay, fine, fine. Here’s a Winter one.”

“How does Azu-nee look the same even after all this time…”

“Magic…maybe he really was a vampire.”

“Stop! No supernatural speculations!”

“Scaredy-cat.”

“Hey! So is Taichi!”

-

The hours pass and they are all sat at their couch, heads on top of each other. Tenma is snoring at one end of the couch while Taichi is clutching onto a pillow he had brought from the bedroom. Yuki’s eyes flutter awake to the scene of Tasuku helplessly left alone in his room after the character of Azuma bites him. He stays in that position, slowly stretching out his neck and joints, in a way that doesn’t disturb his sleeping boyfriends beside him.

“Happy birthday,” he whispers to himself, looking up at the ceiling where glow-in-the-dark stickers were plastered onto years ago.

How long have they lived in this house? Old skateboard equipment and yoyos are set beside film and dramas awards on their shelves beside the television. Some walls have cracks and dents from accidents from his two clumsy men. The dining table has some felt dolls as the centerpiece that he had made himself, worn over time, but still washed regularly to stay clean.

When Yuki had taken up the job to make clothes for a theatre at the age of fourteen, he hadn’t imagined it would get him, here, in the most peaceful place there is.

Despite the petty fights, the not-so-petty arguments, the ups and downs of puberty, their twenties, and everything that came after – they’re still together. Albeit, the two who had insisted on staying up are the ones conked out right now.

He huffs out a laugh.

This is the way things should be.