Chapter Text
"I think we should tell Crash."
"I'm sorry, we?"
"Yeah, we're in this together now. Anyways I was talking to Mel and she pointed out that you probably need more blood than you're getting but that she didn't necessarily want to donate her own to you too much since she's O neg."
"But isn't Victoria O neg too?" Dennis was pretty sure he remembered that from the day of Pitt Fest. Come to think of it, a surprising amount of his coworkers were O negative.
"Yeah, and you remember why we know that? Because she brought it up while also saying she was afraid of needles. This could be a way for her blood to be useful, since she won’t donate it otherwise."
"You know, one could argue that her blood is being pretty useful to her right now."
"Oh come off it Huckleberry. You know people have blood to spare. Anyways, I happened to sneak a peek at her phone the other day and you'll never guess what she was watching on TikTok."
"Do I even want to know? Wait, scratch that, I know the answer. I don't want to know."
Trinity continued as if Dennis hadn't even said anything. "VampireBabe101."
"Who?"
"Oh my god, did you ever even try to look up vampires after finding out they were real?" she asked in feigned annoyance.
Dennis glared at her.
"VampireBabe101 does a series on the potential scientific accuracy of fictional vampires. She also does a lot of ranking of vampire romances and shit."
"Okay, what does this have to do with me?" Dennis asked with a frown, already not liking where this was going.
"It means Crash thinks vampires are cool. She'd probably be totally into it."
"Trinity, you can't be serious. First of all, you know I'm gay. Secondly—"
"Ew no, I didn't mean into it like that. I meant she'd probably love to get confirmation of what a vampire bite is actually like. Get some real insider knowledge that she's clearly wondered about before."
"I wouldn't say clearly—"
"Anyways that's all beside the point. The point is that Mel and I both think we should tell Victoria and see if she'd be interested in donating. She does seem to like you well enough."
"What about her fear of needles? You know, the fear we were just talking about?"
"I doubt that extends to teeth. You can just bite her like you do to me and Yolanda. After we do a blood test of course," she hastily added after seeing the look on Dennis's face.
Dennis sighed. "Mel really thinks this is a good idea?"
"Yes, you can ask her yourself tomorrow. Anyways we thought maybe we could do like a movie night and tell her then. Then you wouldn't have to do it by yourself, and we could help if she freaks out."
Dennis could hardly believe he was considering this, but the truth was, they had a point. He could use more blood, and so far he was four for four on getting positive reactions.
After confirming that Mel did in fact think this was a good idea, Dennis gave Trinity the go ahead to organize a movie night for the four of them.
~~
“You want to watch Twilight?” Dennis confirmed with a dubious expression.
“Oh my god Huck. No, I don't want to watch Twilight. What I want is for us all to enjoy movie night together, and I know Mel and Crash like Twilight, I like making fun of Twilight, and your Huckleberry ass hasn't seen it so you're missing out on all the Twilight references I'm sure people make around you.”
Dennis didn't think people made a lot of Twilight references around him, but he wouldn't exactly know, which meant he couldn't really argue with that.
“Alright, fine,” he acquiesced.
“Besides, who can say no to watching Kristen Stewart?” she asked. She then looked at him and added, “or Robert Pattinson for those of us who swing the other way. Hey, maybe after we're done we can watch it with the commentary track on. I hear Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are pretty funny on it.”
Later that night, Mel and Victoria showed up just before the agreed upon time of 5:00pm.
Victoria sheepishly handed over her Twilight Blu-ray disc to Trinity, who gleefully grabbed it with a quick “you're the best, Crash!”
Mel placed the pizza she'd picked up on her way over onto the counter at Dennis's gesture.
They watched the movie while eating their pizza, then watched it again with commentary turned on per Trinity’s suggestion.
The movie was even less relatable than Dennis might've expected (sparkling in the sun? Really?), but he found himself enjoying it and even more so his friends’ reactions to it much more than he would've expected.
He wouldn't admit it to Trinity, but he also thought now that she probably did have a good point about him being able to understand peoples’ references more. He was pretty sure he remembered someone from his theology major days saying something about sparkling that he hadn't understood and had elected to ignore at the time, and who knew how many instances there were that he didn't remember?
Aside from that, it was just genuinely enjoyable to watch something that at least some of them already had a fondness for, and that they were all willing to comment over with amusing quips and their own interesting commentary. Dennis felt closer to Mel and Victoria after learning small tidbits from the things they mentioned or seeing their reactions to whatever happened on screen or whatever colorful commentary Trinity shared.
Dennis had to admit that it was a pretty enjoyable way to spend the night.
“Okay, so now that we're all friends, we have something to tell you Crash.”
“Trinity…” Dennis scolded. Dennis appreciated her quirky and direct manner, but he knew Victoria didn't always appreciate it. In fact, anyone could see the girl was immediately on edge.
“What does that mean?” Victoria asked, while looking between all three of them.
“Sorry Victoria, I think what Trinity meant to say is that Dennis wanted to share something with you, and we thought it'd be best to do outside of work,” Mel told her before Trinity could say anything further.
Victoria did not look relieved at that.
“Oh my god, you're making it sound like a crush!” Dennis protested.
“It's not a crush?” Victoria asked the group.
Dennis tried not to take it personally that she looked a little relieved when they confirmed it wasn't, in fact, a crush.
“Okay, so what on earth could you want to talk about that you can't say at work?” Victoria asked Dennis directly.
He decided to be direct as well.
“I'm a vampire. And before you ask, Twilight was not my idea! Trinity picked it.”
“This isn't a funny joke.” Victoria looked a little hurt.
Mel rushed to assure her. “It's not a joke! I would never want to risk hurting your feelings! Dennis, show her your teeth.” She gestured towards his mouth.
Dennis obliged, making sure to give Victoria a good view as he let his fangs down.
“Wha…how…?”
“Yeah, so vampires are real. Not like in Twilight. The movie choice was actually pretty unrelated,” Trinity informed her.
”Oh…” Victoria sounded a bit faint.
“Anyways, we figured it was time you joined the club. Mel and I found out when Dennis needed help, but we thought maybe you could be the first person he told before he actually desperately needed help.”
”I technically didn’t need Garcia’s help,” Dennis mumbled.
”Garcia and Abbot both know too,” Mel added helpfully.
”Oh wow, that’s actually a lot of people who know,” Victoria commented.
”Yeah,” Dennis agreed. “I didn’t originally want anyone to know. It does feel like a lot.” He shot a mildly annoyed look at Trinity when he said it.
”So why exactly are you telling me now?”
”It was Trinity’s idea,” Dennis began.
”First off,” Trinity said, “I want to make it very clear that I would’ve wanted us to all have a movie night aside from any of this. It made a good opening for us to talk, but was otherwise totally unrelated. Continue.”
”Trinity thinks I should let more people in, especially in case I need help.”
”You said everyone else found out when you needed help. What happened?”
”Abbot was the first to find out when someone called an ambulance for me because I was vomiting blood. It was before my ER rotation, and Abbot kept it quiet.”
”I found out when he was obtaining animal blood of dubious quality.”
”It was not dubious!” Dennis protested.
”Well whatever it was it wasn’t helping you enough.”
”I found out when Dennis got bitten by that patient. He needed blood to be able to heal.”
”Oh my god, I remember that!” Victoria gasped. “Was the patient okay?”
”He got taken into custody, but I think he was alright?” Dennis answered with confusion in his tone.
”I mean after biting you,” Victoria clarified.
”Oh! Yes, something like that wouldn’t have much of an effect on a person.”
”Dennis’s saliva can help heal wounds. He’s used it on me a few times,” Trinity added.
”Huh.” It was a lot for Victoria to take in.
”We wanted you to know for practical reasons as well,” Mel told Victoria. “You can be another person who can help if anything happens while he’s at work. We don’t think he ingests as much human blood as a typical vampire, so he’s pretty vulnerable to harm and needs extra help if he gets injured. I gave him some of my own blood to help after that bite, but bagged blood works too of course.”
”Um, so you aren’t getting a lot of human blood. Where are you getting the amount you do eat?”
”From me and Garcia,” Trinity told her with a grin. “He was just eating animal blood alone before that and it was not going well. You might remember how extra sickly he looked back when we all first met.”
”Now that you mention it, you have been looking a bit less…peaky,” Victoria said tactfully.
”He could probably use more,” Trinity began.
”I’m doing fine,” Dennis interrupted her, not wanting Victoria to feel pressured into offering some of her own.
”I wouldn’t mind donating,” Victoria told them immediately.
”Are you sure? You’re really under no obligation,” Dennis told her.
”I don’t mind.” Victoria’s face seemed to flush a bit at her own quick answer.
Trinity gave Dennis an “I told you so” look over Victoria’s head. Victoria was looking at Dennis, so he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Trinity.
”That’s very kind of you. If you really do want to donate, I won’t say no, but just know you can change your mind at any point. Also — Trinity, Garcia, and I have all gotten tested for bloodborne pathogens. You should too if you’re serious.”
”Okay.”
Dennis would describe the look on her face as determined.
”That’s so kind of you!” Mel told Victoria. “I would’ve volunteered as well, but I keep a pretty consistent blood donation schedule and I don’t want to stop doing that.”
~~
Victoria got her bloodwork done the next day, and presented her results to Dennis as soon as she had them.
”All clean,” she told him with a grin.
”You seem kind of excited about this,” Dennis commented.
”I—oh, is that weird? I’m sorry,” she gave an awkward laugh, and Dennis stepped in before she could feel worse.
”No, no, I didn’t mean it like that! Just, I’m really happy that you’re happy to help. I didn’t really want to tell you at first because I was worried it would sound like I was only telling you to coerce you into giving up your blood. God, that sounds so horrible when I say it aloud.”
Victoria grimaced at the thought. “Don’t worry, I didn’t think you came across like that. I really do just want to help. Well, that and…I’ve kind of always wondered what it would be like to have a vampire bite me.” She said the last bit in an incredibly quick mumble.
”Oh.” Trinity really had been right.
”I mean, as long as that isn’t too awkward? Oh no, is that too personal? Does everyone else just have their blood drawn into vials?”
Dennis stopped her before she could worry too much. “Mel did vials, but I just bite Trinity and Garcia. It’s faster and easier, which they seem to prefer. It doesn’t really matter to me which way people do it. I’m just grateful I have so many people now who are willing to help me.” It was true.
”Okay.” Victoria took a deep breath and seemed to relax a bit. “Good. Well, I’d be interested in letting you bite me, as long as that’s okay with you.”
”Yes, that’s fine with me.”
They ended up deciding that Victoria would head over early to Dennis and Trinity’s place, before Mel arrived for their next scheduled hangout.
Dennis was starting to hope the hangouts would become a regular occurrence. Had got the feeling the other three were hoping that too.
~~
Trinity was in the shower when Victoria showed up, so Dennis was the one who answered the door.
“How should we do this?” Victoria asked as soon as Dennis shut the door.
“Oh, uh, however you want really. Maybe we can just sit on the couch and you can hand me your wrist?”
“Sounds good.” Dennis tried to listen for any nervousness in her voice — it did sound a bit nervous, but no more so than it did during any awkward situations at work.
“We can wait for Trinity if you’d like,” Dennis offered.
Victoria didn’t quite manage to hide her grimace. “No thanks, I trust you.”
Dennis didn’t even bother to hold back his beaming smile at hearing those words. He’d never get tired of hearing them from people.
They settled next to each other on the couch, with Victoria leaning a bit against the armrest. She held out her arm, palm facing up and wrist exposed.
“Will it hurt?” she asked. Her voice didn’t waver at all, she just sounded curious.
“Not much, according to Trinity.”
She nodded in acknowledgment.
“Ready?” Dennis asked as he gently grabbed her hand with both of his.
“Yes.”
He moved his face closer to her wrist, bent down, and bit. The angle was awkward, but he did raise his eyes as much as he could to check Victoria’s expression; he had to work not to laugh and smear blood everywhere when he saw her brow furrowed in concentration. She looked they way she did when learning a new procedure.
Satisfied that he at least didn’t spot any pain or worry on her face, he continued drinking gently. After a short time, he let go.
“Wow, that was fast.”
Dennis shrugged. “It doesn’t take much to make a difference. Anyways, I can get you a bandage from our first aid kit, or I can use my saliva to speed up the healing process.”
“Saliva please.” Dennis studiously ignored her blush. Yeah, it was mildly awkward licking another person, but it was pretty convenient.
He pressed his tongue gently to her skin and wiped away the remaining blood while he was at it.
When he was done, he looked back up and saw Victoria grinning.
“That was so cool!”
“Uh, thanks I guess?” he didn’t know the appropriate response to that.
“Thanks for showing me!”
Dennis blinked at her. “Uh, shouldn’t I be thanking you?”
“We can both be thankful,” she conceded.
It didn’t take long for Trinity to emerge from the bathroom, and shortly after that Mel arrived.
The rest of the night went smoothly, and they ended it agreeing to make movie night a regular occurrence.
For the first time in his life, Dennis Whitaker now had a friend group. Ironic that it was after he’d become a vampire.