Ridgefield fangs for nothing
#1

set after sunset, obviously



Oh, today wasn't a good day. Theo was hungry and with the nights getting shorter, trying to find a snack in the streets was getting tougher and tougher. The thing he dubbed as 'moon fever' wasn't really helping his case.

His gums ached. His fingers felt both itchy and twitchy. And it felt like he was about to snap any moment.

Trying to get a hold of himself, stop by and take an meditative breath, he became a roadblock for the person behind him. A gasp escaped his lips and the vampire turned around, apologetic and a bit scared.

"I... I'm so sorry... Are you okay?"
#2
Luka wasn't really the type to look up when he was walking. Almost unconsciously he had notice the presence of another vampire and steered towards it. The rest of his mind occupied with the tubes of paint clattering in a bag he was holding to his chest. He found it better to stay inside during the nights of the new moon. But he had needed certain colors for the commission he was working on, and now that he had them he just wanted to get back home fast.

But as he turned the corner, head still down, a sudden human (vampire) wall was in the way. He bounced back from running into the man almost stumbling over his own feet.

"I-I-I mmm-m S-ssorry"

He stuttered out at the same time as the man's apology.
#3
And there he was also in front of an incredibly stunning man... Wait, why was he thinking that? God dammit.

Theo blinked slowly, recognizing the familiar aura of their clutch, somewhat recognizing the face, but the name just completely escaped him. Splendid. Master of good impressions, as always.

"No, no... I... I'm sorry, I stood in your path like a complete jackass and I..." he mumbled out. "Did... Did we met? I'm Theo. Theo Blackfeather. From Rhiannon."

Complete jackass indeed. God dammit, Theo.
#4
Luka didn't meet many people that were just as nervous as he was, when he did it usually made him even more nervous. But now that he had been jolted out of his hurry he managed to realize that the man was a vampire. A Rhiannon vampire even without the explanation. A fellow clutch member. It was an immediate relief and he lifted his head up and smiled.

Not quiet eye contact territory, sadly only Ender had managed to get constant full eye contact from Luka.

"I think we have, maybe at one of the parties? I'm Luka."

He did feel like the man's face was familiar, but he couldn't remember any names.
#5
"Luka! Hi...!" Yeah, now the name and the face connected. Thankfully. But Theo wasn't any less nervous. And most importantly, he was still hungry. But he didn't wanted to show weakness in front of more experienced colleague. "I hope I haven't knocked anything out of your hands... uh..."

Oh, his gums ached so much. And then they stopped. His fangs were out. How embarrassing.

With a frightened meep, the young vampire covered his mouth as if he said something stupid.
#6
Luka watched the hands fumble not seeing if Theo's eyes had changed. He felt it on the weird other sense like a little blimp of something bad. He muled it over with worry. It was the full moon and neither of them should be out in the streets.

"D-do you w-want to come back to my a-apartment?"

It wouldn't be his in another week. With Ender's help a new place had been picked out so he was in the middle of moving. But he was sure he had a few bags of blood at the apartment still.

"I-its the new moon..s-so we shouldn't be out."
#7
His words came out muffled at first. So Theo reluctantly moved hand from his mouth. Once again, embarrassed. Angry at himself. How clumsy could he be? Dear lord.

"I should feed..." he whispered. "But I guess I could wait a bit longer..."

Right? Not starving yet. And it would be easier to chill down in a more quiet place.
#8
Feeding was exactly the problem. Luka knew that once it started, once Theo took that first drink of blood, that the vampire part would not stop. He could still remember the cries of a girl in his arms as he gnawed her neck. The memory had him clutching the bag of paint until his knuckles went white. He tried not to remember. Hadn't touched a human since then.

"I h-h-have b-b-bloo-lood at my p-p-place."

His words were stuttered jumbled.

They shouldn't be outside.

He didn't know that his own eyes had shifted to red.
#9
Oh. Ohhh... his saviour. Theo gazed at Luka wide-eyed and grateful. He would neither wither nor bloodlust tonight. Something the young vampire could indeed be lucky.

"Let's go, then." he said, noticing that his friend and saviour was struggling himself. "Let's go..."

He hoped it wasn't far.
#10
Luka's apartment wasn't that far away. He had gone to the closest paint store since it was the new moon.

The apartment was not in the best part of downtown. The building was a grey that looked more grimey then an actual paint job. And the stairs were rickety, feeling like they would break apart at any moment. Luka would lead the way up to the third floor and to an old termite eaten door with a broken number 15 placard half swinging on it.

Given the outer appearance the inside was actually relatively nice. With wooden floors and soft rose light. All the appliances though old and worn were clean. It was a studio so the layout was completely open and a quick glance could cover the entire space. Piled by one wall were moving boxes and rolled up rugs. While on the other side painting canvases were stacked. In the center was a lone easel already half way painted piece
#11
This place seemed to be falling apart, but Theo wasn't here to judge. It seemed like Luka was trying to make the most out of it as well...

The painting captivated him. It was beautiful! And showed some real skill!

"Oh wow..." The young vampire gasped out.
#12
Luka had always lived in half broken apartments so the place seemed fairly normal to him. Though he was excited about having a bigger place with Ender, since it meant he wouldn't get paint on any of their cloths. A real problem with his life habits. Half the reason he wasn't fully moved out was because he had been cleaning the apartment from his time there.

With the door closed to the outside he felt safe. They couldn't hurt anyone in here.

While Theo looked around he would head to the fridge to get a bag of blood. He was getting really good at heating them up evenly.

"I p-painted the ceilings at the collection as well."

He said after noticing Theo was taken by the painting.
#13
"That's amazing!" Mike exclaimed, enthusiastic. His tiny fangs still visible, though. "It's so beautiful!"

He calmed down a bit, relaxed, even though he was still hungry. The paintings were a great distraction.
#14
Blood would be transfered into a cup and Luka would bring it over to this new friend.

"T-thank you. I m-mostly do commissions to make m-money."

He use to model in college, though he had cut that off when he had been turned. Didn't want to loose control in that situation. Maybe he could try it again. He felt more in control then he had at the beginning.
#15
Blood from a cup... that was quite new. It almost made him feel human again.

Theo took a sip... oh, finally. He greedily continued to gulp it down. Warm, delicious and feeling...

"Mmm..." he almost purred. "T... thanks..."

He should repay him one day.
#16
He had already feed earlier or there might have been a fight over the blood. Well as much as a fight between to very anxious people could be.

"I d-drink mostly bagged b-blood."

Which he tended to get from Ms Stewart. She probably wanted him to hunt but he didn't think either of them wanted to deal with the consequences of if it went wrong. Ms Stewart did a lot for him. He was really in her debt.

"H-how are you liking the c-clutch?"
#17
Theo smiled softly. He usually tended to hunt or sometimes even got volunteers. Wasn't judging Luka by the way he fed. If he wasn't so usually well-behaved, he'd do the same.

"I love it here... Miss Catrina is so wonderful." he said truthfully. "I finally feel like I belong somewhere..."
#18
He of course agreed. Ms Stewart was wonderful. He couldn't think of a single member of the clutch she hadn't immensely helped. Well maybe not Tatiana, but she had her sire still.

"Im g-glad you like it. T-there's a lot of good p-people here."

Ender, Ms Stewart, Tati. He didn't really know the other members well. But just having those three, and now Theo as well.

"I-it was a bit lonely before we w-were a clutch."
#19
"There is..." Theo smiled softly, making himself comfortable. He met Goki, he met Tati... there was of course Ms Catrina herself and now Luka. "And it's been lonely... I've been mostly on my own before I got here."

He was glad he was lucky enough to find this group. And find Asha who pointed him in right direction.

"I'm still rather all new to this... I just got my first power-thing."
#20
He could probably never understand the feeling of being fully abandoned by ones Sire. Not that his was around anymore, but Ms Stewart had stepped in very quickly to help him with this new life.

"Did your s-sire leave as well?"

The last time he'd had a similar conversation it had been with Ender. He was glad Ender had come back, and felt secure enough to do so.

"I s-scared one of the weres when i got my power."
#21
"Oh no... I was the one that left." Theo winced and looked away. Yeah, still sore. Especially on new moon. "Personal reasons..."

Personal reasons he preferred not to disclose right now.

"Damn... I just scared my dad with my scream."

And he just continued to refer to Wolf as dad. Might as well...
#22
That was different, Luka wasn't sure it was even possible to leave a sire. He knew he wouldn't have survived without support. At least not in the same state of mind.

He wasn't sure who this Wolf was, maybe a different vampire, although Theo had called the person dad. Which was odd considering that the person couldn't be a sire. It wasn't his place to ask though. He could ask about the scream though, as he also wasn't sure what Theo meant by that.

"S-scream? D-do you make yourself l-louder?"
#23
Theo chuckled quietly and scratched the back of his neck. Yeah, it was a bit embarrassing.

"Yeah..." he said. "I have this high-pitched scream... I tend to scream a lot when I'm startled."

High-pitched and loud. If he kept it up, he could probably break glass with it, like in cartoons.
#24
Luka was more surprised that he had guess correctly. He didn't know much about abilities beyond the ones he had seen. Did it mean that Theo could make any noise louder or just his own voice? Could he amplify it like in the harry potter books? That seemed like a useful thing if they ever needed it. Although he also couldn't think of a situation that it would be needed.

"L-like a m-megaphone?"

Maybe it could be used as a distraction? Or was it similar to being in church? He use to go with his parents. Where the sound would get trapped in the vaulting ceilings until it felt like he was surrounded by the sound. It had been comforting, the hum of so many voices joined together.
#25
Theo now got what Luka meant. Oh, no...

"Ah... the scream wasn't my power..." he chuckled again in embarrassment and shook his head. "I'm normally that loud when I'm startled."

A pause. Young vampire just looked like he wanted to disappear.

"Aaaand a random raincloud appearing in my room was quite startling."
#26
Oh. Oh?! Oh. As was a usual occurrence if Luka could have blushed he would have been a bright red. He also wanted nothing more then to sink into the ground. Feeling entirely embarrassed that he had thought Theo was talking about a power. The level of his eyes changed from somewhere around Theo's ear to the ground.

"O-O-Oh.. R-rain c-clouds are cool."

He didn't even know how to address the miscommunication.
#27
Theo, seeing how embarrassed Luka is, decided not to address the misunderstanding at all. Thought it would be better to just move on right away and not bring any attention to that.

"Yeah, they're cool when they're not straight above your head. And only your head." he sighed.
#28
It didn't sound to fun, being constantly rained on. Still Luka though the ability was fairly interesting. If Theo needed to water plants he could so without even going to the sink. Or if there was a drought then Theo wouldn't have any problem of running out of water .. although now that he considered it Luka supposed Theo didn't really need water.

"I s-still think i-it's a cool ability. I j-just make people f-fall asleep."

And experience their dreams, neither of his experiences with it had been good.
#29
Theo smiled now, rather happily. Making people fall asleep at your whim? How cool was that...?

"Hey, it sounds cool. Sounds like a life saver in difficult situations." Just make them drop asleep... "Does it work on vampires?"
#30
He had never really talked to anyone but Ms Stewart about his ability. With everything involved in the move he'd never gotten around to mentioning it to Ender.

"Y-yes, b-but vampires don't d-dream so it just d-dead sleeps us."

Something he had learned from Ms Stewart after accidently using the ability on Asha.
#31
"That still sounds useful." Theo said, relaxing a bit. "In case of being attacked and such..."

He wasn't attacked yet by any vampire, but still... Knowing the other clutch wasn't too friendly, from what he heard.
#32
Luka really really hoped they would never be attacked. He knew Ms Stewart didn't get along with the other clutch but there had never been any altercations (that he knew of). If there had still been problems with the people who had changed Ender, maybe he's ability could have been a reassurance.

"I h-hope we n-never get attacked."
#33
"I hope so, too..." Theo sighed. But he could never get too comfortable. There was always a possibility. "I guess I could zap someone in case of being attacked. But making a thuder storm really drains me..."
#34
He had almost forgotten that the abilities came with side effects. The first time had been on of the scariest moments of his life. (he did his best to forget about Poppy).

"D-do you have b-bad side effects? I g-go blind after I use mine."
#35
"I get very hungry and it's almost scary..." Theo nodded and sighed. "The longer the cloud is above my head, the hungrier I get."

Which was why he had trouble hunting lately. His hunger got... irregular.
#36
Getting hungry sounded much more alarming then losing his sight for a little bit. What if Theo attacked someone?

"You c-could carry b-blood around in v-vials maybe?"

It wouldn't fully sate hunger but it would help, at least Luka thought so.
#37
"That sounds like a plan..." Theo said with a smile. Ah, he was really dumb not to think about it... "Thanks."

Maybe not a vial, but a small pouch. A juice box, perhaps...

Ridiculous. But could work.
#38
He was happy his suggestion meant anything. Weather it would help or not he didn't know.

"Im n-not a very g-good vampire but if you n-need help im always a-avaliable."
#39
Theo handwaved it.

"I'm not a good vampire either, you seem much smarter than me." he said what he thought.
#40
Luka could only shake his head at the complement. He didn't think he was particularly smart, not compared to the other vampires. Not wanting to continue in the same vein he grasped for something else.

"D-do you work at the c-collection as well?"
#41
"Ah... No, I'm an independent accountant." Theo said, scratching the back of his neck. "Doing accounting for a couple of local businesses..."
#42
Accounting sounded very hard. A lot of numbers and money.

"Oh t-that's n-nice. D-does it keep you busy?"

He floundered for conversation points. Luka wasn't the best at small talk or any talk really and he didn't know where to go with the conversation.
#43
Theo shrugged. He wasn't exactly passionate about accounting, but it made money and he was good at it!

"When I was a kid, I wanted to be a professional dancer." he said. "But eh, it will do."
#44
"Why d-didn't you do d-dance?"

He questioned unsure if it was a subject he should ask about. But Theo had brought it up so it was probably okay to talk about.
#45
"My mother thought it wasn't manly enough." Theo said a bit bitterly. Luckily he got away from her... God, how could he be so blind and stupid. Then he thought, scratching his unshaven chin for a second. "Hey, I thought... I could help you market yourself."

Luka was shy. Incredibly so. Theo knew himself people like that could be easily swallowed and go unnoticed in the business. That's why he himself had to go 'fake it until you make it'... And Luka was so kind to him. He wanted to repay him somehow.
#46
Luka privately disagreed with Theo's mother, he thought dance was fairly manly. Though he had been raised on Russian ballet and opera. Still he thought anything a person did could be considered manly or feminine as well, it just depended on the person doing it. He did not voice this as it seemed a bad subject for Theo.

"Marketing?"

He said rather surprised, more at himself for not thinking about it before now. Although he didn't even know where to begin on such a subject. Everything he knew involved being social, something he was not good at.
#47
Theo was good at making people money. He thought Luka deserved more credit for his work and definitely more money for his work. Maybe the young vampire didn't knew much about art world, but he knew he could always learn.

"Yeah and like... getting you contracts with galleries and what not." He said, crossing his legs and leaning forward a bit.
#48
He had been in one gallery once, at the end of college. It had been rather nice except for having to be there. He hadn't liked that one bit. Maybe that was unusual though, if he just had to get contracts and send the art he could do that. Easily with Theo's help.

"I-if you w-want to do that, I w-would appreciate it."
#49
Theo gave him a warm smile. He clearly was happy to help him and deeply believed he deserved better.

"We could conjure something up when it's not new moon..."
#50
Luka had almost forgotten about the reason they had come. Their conversation had been nice and the fear of bloodlusting seemed distant.

"Of course, we'll s-see more of each other"
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