House Draculesti

Previously: Obsidian: Ash and Moonbeams – Chapter 12

“But where do your dracs come from? What’s the origin of your species? No creation myths?” 

That’s odd. Most peoples have creation myths which may or may not contain more or less truth. 

Not that her explanation of her personal origin story isn’t interesting, too. “Ate your future husband, huh?” he asks with a chuckle. “And, oh, that’s the one who’s half fae by way of really weird reincarnation situation, isn’t it? Yeah, if you like them furry, fae are not the way to go. Smooth fuckers in more than one way.”

~

Does her drac know anything? No, she doesn’t think it does, it’s giving her a shrug, and she pets it to tell it that’s okay, it’s not being bad.

“Maybe tăticu would know. Vampires don’t like dhampirs. They’d kill me on sight, so it’s not as if I ever learned a lot. I’m sure Radu would know. He knows so many things. But…” She sighs. “Mother went to the Court to run a silly campaign against him and my family doesn’t want me to have him. That’s just mean and not fair. Sorry. I don’t know. My drac is simply a part of me, my best friend, my soul, me. If I knew more, I’d tell you. But I know as little about where vampires come from as I do about where fae come from. Just that they are mean. Everyone but my Quincy. He’s smooth, yes, and Arthur says he’s pretty, but I’m… I’m not so good with the seeing sexy.”

Gesturing at her nose she pouts. “He smells flowery. Not like you or John… or Daddy.”

~

“Alfheim is where fae come from, but they’re secretive about anything beyond that.” He raises his eyebrow at her. “Okay, you are nose-oriented. Makes sense for a puppy. I see there’s another man joining your orbit. Is that a father-figure daddy or a having-fun-with daddy?”

~

“Alfheim must be where the nexus is. It smells all weird there.” Thinking of the nexus makes her think of Llew and how he tricked her. He always tricks her. She hates him so much. This time, he went too far. It’s his fault she isn’t with her men… her swarm. She’ll bite him really hard when she gets back and no, not in the way he likes!

Thinking about that doesn’t do anything right now, though, so she focuses back on their conversation with a scoff and crossed arms. “He’s mother’s territory. Which is so not fair. He has fur even on his legs! And he’s warm and big and just… no fair. But I’m sure John will get just as big. His fur is blond but it’s there, and I’m sure he’ll get more! He’s just a bit young, but he smells like Daddy and like tăticu and they both are just so nice. I just have to wait with John until he’s all properly grown up.”

~

She is so pouty about, apparently, her mother having snagged herself a lover she thinks is hot, too, Caliban can’t help but laugh before he smirks at her. 

“Well, if it’s leg hair you’re after…”

~

“Quincy teases that it’s older men I’m after, but he’s one to talk, he had his own dhampir crush on his tăticu, who, yes, is at least as sexy as Daddy, but I don’t know if he has fur. He probably does, he smells so nice, too. And so do you! So you must have really nice fur!”

Now she’s tempted to walk back down to his trousers. How far away is that silly camp? She has been too patient for too long. She doesn’t wanna wait no more! But also, she… she enjoys talking to Caliban. He should get to know that. “Nice fur for a nice monster! Thank you for being here with me. I would be so much more upset without you.” She adds a happy chirp and kisses all over the cheek she didn’t get to earlier.

~

Fates, she really is cute. 

In an actual, endearing, fearless way. 

“I’ve been so fucking bored, so I’m very glad you landed here and not elsewhere on this stinky rock. Of course it’d be even better if we weren’t stuck on this stinky rock at all, but two heads might be better than one on figuring out how to get us off.”

Whoops, that was actually more innuendo than he intended, but what can he say? He continues to be horny. 

~

“It’s not just two heads. We’ll try really hard, but we also just need to wait for my swarm! I told you, they’ll find me and I’ll tell them that you have to come with me, too. I’m not leaving you here! We run together. I’ll protect you. I’ll bite whoever put you here!”

Yes, that feels very right. Her drac approves. And Caliban is such a nice monster, she’s sure her men will like him, too. Who wouldn’t?

~

There’s a dangerously fond warmth in his chest. (Nor does he miss how she’s adopted the term ‘swarm’ now.)

“A puppy like you is going to protect me? Bite the Aesir for me?”

~

“A puppy grows into a big bad wolf! And I’m not alone. Arthur will set them on fire with a look, John is going to punch them right into dreamland so that I can get close enough to bite them. And if they do mean mind things, Quincy is going to yell them into obeying him. So there. Those meanie Aesir have to go through my swarm if they want to be mean to you!” She can’t very well stomp while she’s on his shoulders, but she can snap her fangs loudly. But that’s lots of barking, and while she loves protecting, Quincy also always points out that caring is important, so she pets his cheek. “And when they can’t be mean to you anymore, we’re all going to go home and I’ll brush your hair much better. Get you a bath and some new clothes and just make you comfy. I don’t know yet what you like to be comfy, but you are a nice monster, you’ll tell me.”

~

The crazy thing is, he believes her. Not so much that she would succeed in biting any Aesir as she is right now- she can’t really bite anything in fog form, from what he’s seen, and a millenia-old Aesir warrior isn’t going to let her close in any other form- but that she would try? 

That he believes. 

And, as he thought earlier, he’s curious to see what she’s going to grow up into. 

“Planning to grow up into a great big guard wolf, are you? Going to give Fenrir a run for his money?”

~

Not that she knows who that Fenrir is, but she doesn’t have to. “If that’s the biggest one you can think of then yes, going to be bigger if I have to! Tăticu turns into a really big dragon, so there.”

Also, can they be there yet?! Annoyed again with the long walk, she turns bat, small one, on his shoulder and flaps several times, only to pout and turn back. “Silly gravity. But I know my physics and I’m really hungry anyway, so I won’t even consider if loosing some weight would help. Especially not since I would need to carry you.”

~

“I’m a lot heavier than you,” he agrees. He’s not entirely convinced of her plan to fly him around, speaking of physics. Surely, her wingspan is the size it is to get her own weight places, and he’d add a significant bit to that. 

He has a feeling, though, that she’ll declare something about how she’ll just have to grow larger, then, or something of the sort, if he says as much. 

“We’re going to get there, puppy.” He pats her thigh while his eyes track the familiar ridgelines that are starting to emerge from the gloom.

~

“Of course we will, but it’s been a week! A week! And I’m so hungry despite all the blood, and that makes me impatient. Also…” She doesn’t like admitting it but she’s still scarred from having been obsessed twice. “Also, I’m worried about that. It’s not healthy for a dhampir to not have a varied diet. I don’t want to hurt you by getting too hungry. And I don’t want to get obsessed with you, either! No, never again!”

~

He finds himself more concerned by her words than he would’ve thought possible a few hours ago. But… now that he has some company, he really doesn’t want to go back to being bored out of his mind. 

“What makes for a varied diet for a dhampir? I’ve eaten a bunch of the wildlife, and it’s all tasted terrible.”

~

Does he smell worried? Taking another sniff to confirm, she thinks it’s pretty clear, yes, he’s worried for her. Aw, that’s so sweet of him! That deserves another round of kisses all over his face!

“I normally go hunting with Quincy. It’s one of the things we do for dates, a man or three every second night so that we don’t both drink too much from John. I was obsessed with him once before and it was the worst, the very worst, to have to wean myself off. If Mother hadn’t bloodlet me on that final night, I am so scared that I would really have ripped John to shreds to get back at his blood.”

With a whimper, she hugs herself tight against Caliban. She doesn’t want to be bad like that. “I don’t drink from animals. I like animals! My night friends, I’d never hurt them… And, well, when I’m John’s hunting wolf, I might chew on some of the things he shoots, but Mother said that’s not enough, anyway. It needs to be the blood of people.”

~

“If that means the blood of humans, then we’re really fucked, because there aren’t any here. But what’s the big difference? Like… there’s a magical component, right?” Again, not a mage, but… “It sure looked like there was some kind of Helheim-magic happening when you killed those lava worms. If it’s ‘more complex life form’ you need, maybe we can find something?” 

Okay, it’s a stretch. He hasn’t found anything he’d consider particularly close to sapience in all the time he’s been here. 

It would really, really suck if he found her just for her to starve on him.

~

It’s not humans, she knows that. “No, fae and vampire and siren blood all work. And I have no idea what’s happening when I kill things here! Do you mean that green stuff? That’s never shown up before.”

He seems to only get more upset, and she doesn’t want him to be upset, so she pets both his cheeks. “We’ll figure something out. I said I’ll protect you, so I’m not going anywhere but home with you! You… you said there are jotunn here. We’ll just find some of those and I’ll go hunting. I’m no longer prissy about it. Quincy showed me. I’m sure I can do it. I just need to get my fangs close, that’s all, nobody runs!”

~

“Yeah, that green glow, that looks like a Helheim shade of magic to me, and we are close to it down here- on a world tree scale. A lot closer than you would’ve been on Midgard, anyway.” He tilts his head. “I’ve been here for at least 150 days and I haven’t seen a jotunn yet. How long do you think you can last on animals?” If it’s a while… yeah, maybe they can find some jotunn.

~

Helheim? That word means as little to her as Muspellheim and Alfheim did earlier, but she can guess that it must be other planets. She’d really, really like to just ask him a hundred questions about that. 

To be excited about living in one of the science fiction books now. 

Much better than the stupid political drama with the sirens.

But he is still upset and that means she’ll have to focus on that. Although, she doesn’t know what to answer. 

“I’ve drunk so much. I’ve drunk more than when John took my arm off with his shotgun. And I’m still hungry. I can’t possibly be still healing myself, right?”

Poking at herself, she remains unsure. It doesn’t feel like anything is still hurt. She’s not noticing any pain or healing shadows. But… what even was the longest she went without blood? Chewing a lip, she groans. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone without blood for more than two days? Maybe? And I’m already wolf-brained.”

It’s really not what she wants to suggest, and she knows she’s blushing about it: “I wouldn’t be immediately obsessed with you, so that might give us extra time.”

~

“What’s the signs of you being obsessed? Sounds like we’ll have to do a bit of experimenting, but maybe we can supplement you with my blood, as long as you’re getting something from the animals?” 

She looks almost embarrassed, or shy, which… “And why are you blushing about that?”

~

“Because I lost my virginity and official marriage to a demon I was obsessed with and thought I loved. I don’t ever want to be obsessed again. If I get more feelings for you, I want them to be real. I care about you! I don’t just want my drac to be possessive and entitled! That’s how you tell: I insist that you and your blood are mine, that I have a right to it. Essentially… I behave about you the same rapey way the demon did about me.”

Night, she can’t decide which of her obsession memories are the worst. But he also never asks about Gregory and she’s happy for that. She doesn’t want to have to think about Gregory. 

But it still tumbles out: “And I didn’t even realise he raped me and that I was just obsessed until my men rescued me.” 

It’s a sob and a growl and she hates it so much that she sticks her face into Caliban’s hair to hide from it.

~

“Well, that sucks. About the demon. Did you eat him? Rape him back?” 

Yeah, that sounds like the lapdog upbringing of his puppy again- she shouldn’t even need rescuing.

~

“No… I’m still married to him. It’s hard for a woman to not be ruined if she makes a mistake in who her legal husband is.” 

She nearly forgot about that. Last she saw Gregory, he tried to kill her, she thinks. Or at least, he nearly did. “It’s… only been a few days since Arthur learned that his best friend is a demon and hurt me and Quincy. I was so worried Arthur would leave if I tell him something so mean.”

But Arthur didn’t, Arthur was all about being at fault for it. And she wanted to fix it. Love it better. 

“But then we didn’t have the time. Gregory caused trouble for Daddy, and then Mother had to come help, and we only just got attacked by vampire hunters, too. And John’s fiance arrived and I was still feeling a bit hollow from Gregory trying to make me all empty and crystalline and then Llew tricked me to talk to Marcas. And Marcas wanted to steal my love, so I didn’t sign his contract and fought with him and now I’m here.”

It’s selfish, terribly selfish, but she growls it anyway: “I hope John and Quincy get so annoyed with having to find me that they just have Gregory dealt with. I don’t ever want to have to see him again!”

~

“Right, I remember some Midgardians make things way more complicated than they need to be. But anyway, if he’s still around when we get back, I’ll help you disappear him. No evidence, no ruin, right?” He smirks, with his teeth out. “And good going on not falling for a fae ploy, but unfortunately, they are very good at screwing you over another way if you don’t let them screw you over the way they meant to.” He pats her thigh. “And in the meantime… Guess at least that’s not something you need to concern yourself with here.”

~

That… The way he’s patting her is just like Papa! Not those horrid soft and gentle touches. Aw, he is being sweet with her again, being all considerate of her drac and her preferences!

Yes, she doesn’t need to concern herself with Gregory when she’s around a man like him. He’s protecting her from the bad emotions just like John would and he takes care of her like Quincy would… and with the way he talked about making Gregory disappear, he’s being just like Radu was about that meanie Harker!

What a man. She sighs and melts into him. “You are so swoon-worthy! And so sweet! Thank you… Calidear!”

Yes, he should have a nice pet name. Pet names are important. Of course, he’s also her dog fishie, but ‘Calidear’ sounds nice, just like him.

~

He looks at her, disbelieving. 

“You are the only being who as ever considered me ‘sweet’,” he informs her. “Or ‘nice’, for that matter. You really have very strange standards.” He finds himself grinning again. “I like it!” 

He does. It’s like her- cute but not soft. 

Like that pet name she just came up with, which is possibly the silliest thing he’s ever been called. 

He wants to see the face of anyone who knows him at being called that. The thought alone makes him laugh.

~

“Good. I want you to like it! Like it for a long time when I’ve brought you home and we are a big, happy swarm together.” Nuzzling into his hair, she puts a kiss on it. “Don’t worry, I know you’ll be happy, and I know I can give you a home. Don’t deny it, no barking and posturing needed. You haven’t mentioned anybody, so I know that you don’t have a good place to go back to.”

Not that she doesn’t fully expect him to maybe deny it. Men are silly like that sometimes, so she hopes he is a better monster than man.

~

That brings him up short, because… Asgard is home. 

Asgard is also complicated. 

“Huh,” he says. “I miss the comforts of Asgard, that’s for sure. And Midgard is fun, but it’s also… restrictive. Can’t really show off what I am without getting the little humans all riled up. On the other hand… looks like I’ve more enemies in Asgard than I was aware of, what with Heimdall feeling entitled to kick me onto this rock.” He bares his teeth for a moment. “So, maybe a good idea to stay away for a while. Not like anyone there is going to go anywhere in the next couple of centuries. Or like there’s more than one person I’d really actually like to see…”

~

Doesn’t she ever know what he means! She didn’t intend to, but yes, that’s a foot up at her chin, scratching at the mask that isn’t there, she’s really wolf brained, normally she uses her fingers for the scratching at least. Never mind, it works.

“Masks suck. The demon put one on me so much, but my true husbands rip it off, always. It’s not everywhere, but at home with me, you can be who you are. And the grey world can stay outside!”

Nodding to her own words, well, Quincy’s words, she clutches onto Caliban’s neck again. “Your loved one is welcome, too!”

~

Currently, there’s a grey world all over them, but Caliban takes it that’s a figure of speech she picked up from somewhere- it doesn’t quite sound like her style. Too metaphorical. 

He snorts. “I wouldn’t call Faomir a ‘loved one’- wouldn’t want to tempt him into trying to get me into a contract. And you’ve plenty of reason to bite any fae on sight, so you sure about that?”

~

Not that he’s wrong about that, but the thought of biting fae reminds her of Llew, and now she’s just pulling a face and making ew sounds. “Some fae like that far too much, and I don’t mean Quincy. So I’d only bite your Faomir if you told me to, also, he’s your fae, so he must be okay. Tăticu is very happy with his fae, I think. Must be. He searched for centuries for her. That’s big love!”

Yes, exactly, and wait, Arthur has said things about not thinking about people by what they are, hasn’t he? No, no, she should be better than that, so she nods. “He’ll have to prove that he should be bitten as an individual not just because he happens to be fae.”

~

Right, speaking off… “What about that fae, actually? We need a leyline ride out of here, and if she’s your, what… mother-in-law, she might be your best bet. She ought to at least know about the existence of the world tree and such, which, from how you were looking for countries when you landed, isn’t something you can say of the average Midgardian. …Not that I’m calling you an average Midgardian,” he adds with a grin and a squeeze of her leg.

~

She’s pretty sure he means that as a compliment, but she still giggles. “Papa did teach me math, I know that I’m not average! But thank you.”

Could Mina help? This is so strange to think about. Last she had to do with her, they were talking about being good wives and Mina teaching her things to be better for John. Now she knows that there are lots of memories in her head that Lucy Jr put there and that made her feel so bad that tăticu broke down their wards. Again.

“She’s black-haired. Didn’t you say it needs to be white? And her head is all swirling, I think. Maybe if she gets better?”

~

“Damn, autumn fae, then, yeah, no leyline surfing. And, right, you said something about her memories being messed up? Damn. I could go in for a miraculous fae rescue- that I don’t have to pay for.” 

The talking is doing a good job of distracting him from how long it is taking to get back to camp, but the terrain is rough going, and he is reminded when he has to slow down to a walk for a bit to rest. 

Still. They are getting closer. 

~

“Just give Quincy time.” 

What is her drac chuckling about now? Darcy goes chasing after it on the inside to wrestle and tickle it to tell her what she overlooked. “Tell me. Tell me. Tell me.”

It’s licking at her nose. Licking at its nose. 

Quincy’s smell? 

What about it? It’s silly. 

At least it’s not like Llew’s hay. Not as soft.

Wait. How can flowers not smell soft?

“Calidear, how does a winter fae smell?”

Actually, she knows that. She’s smelled Quincy’s grandfather!

With a blink, she snorts. Just to clear her nostrils. Not that it helps in this sulphur stink all around her.

But there is something. 

“Flowers. Mon sang du coeur smells of flowers. But not only. When he gets growly, when he gets competitive… there’s something nice to his smell. Like… like the flower bit you on the nose? Frost does that. Doesn’t it? Mina doesn’t smell like that. She’s like… petrichor.”

~

He was about to point out that he has no idea what a winter fae smells like, but his puppy seems to have it sorted out herself. 

“And?” he asks her. “So, confirmed no winter fae for her? Confirmed winter fae for your Quincy?”

~

“I don’t get fae. How does that work when she’s his mother?” Actually, what does it matter? Waving the question she just asked herself away, Darcy instead nods, to herself, her drac, her Calidear, the whole universe, as clearly, there are more planets, so she can’t just say the whole world. “Doesn’t matter how fae work, just that of course my sang du coeur is the kind of fae that will come and pick us up! So there.”

Finally finishing up with Caliban’s hair, too, she grins. “Speaking of him, you are all combed through now, best I can do here on helping you be pretty! If you want to be pretty… Do you want to be pretty?”

~

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