Work Text:
Night 24-27:
Almost a month after Zoldrak rescued Nick, he was running out of vacation time, so he had to go back to work.
Which meant that he wouldn't be able to sleep all day anymore. Moonlighters didn't need as much sleep as humans or vampires, but they did still need some sleep. He couldn't sleep on the job, so he'd have to find a way to sleep while Nick was awake. Which meant making sure Nick was safe being left unsupervised. That would've been fairly easy before Nick got mobile, but now he was walking most nights, so he needed some way to keep Nick out of things.
His first thought was a cage, just like werewolves tended to get, but a quick search turned up no good prospects. The werewolf cages, with silver-core bars, were out of his budget, and the cages meant for kink were all magic-neutral metals, which Nick might be able to break.
His next thought was adult-sized cribs—apparently also a kink thing, as well as something for people with dementia or similar issues, which Zoldrak supposed applied to Nick. Most of them were made of wood or plastic, which was good since vampire strength only worked on metals. Unfortunately, they were also extremely expensive, and none of them delivered quickly enough anyway.
But then it occurred to Zoldrak that a crib probably wouldn't be that difficult to make. After all, he'd made other furniture before—his bookcase, computer desk and one of the chairs in his kitchen were all his own handiwork. Not to mention he'd also made Nick's crossbow, which Nick must have lost when the duster captured him.
So, Zoldrak measured Nick's bed. Nick started out watching, but soon got bored and started wandering around, batting clumsily at anything that caught his attention. He knocked the mystery Zoldrak had been reading to him on the floor, then moaned in surprise when it fell. “You're like a cat, Nick.” Zoldrak commented, and Nick gave him a confused look, then headed to the window.
Once Zoldrak had the measurements, he fed and changed Nick, and tried putting something on TV. Nick's hearing didn't seem to be overly sensitive today, and he happily sat down to stare at the true crime show that used to be his favorite. Zoldrak doubted he was understanding much, if any, of it—his preferences now seemed more focused on movement and sound than on topic—but Nick still liked this show fine.
After Nick had gone to sleep for the day—in Zoldrak's bed, not in his own as usual—Zoldrak let himself get a couple hour's sleep, and then visited the hardware store with his measurements. He bought the supplies he needed, brought them home, and set to work.
By the time Nick woke up for the night, Zoldrak had finished all but the sliding wall, and he was exhausted. After feeding and changing Nick, he brought Nick to see his handiwork, but was disappointed to see Nick gave no real response. Maybe he was too out of it to notice the change.
Zoldrak did manage to coax Nick inside, and confirmed that he'd made the walls tall enough that Nick would likely struggle to climb out—especially with only one working arm. Zoldrak wondered why his right arm wasn't recovering at the same rate that the left one had. Was it more damaged, somehow?
He didn't manage to get any more work done until Nick went to sleep again. He was finished by noon, so he took the opportunity to get some sleep.
The next night, he tested out the crib properly. After feeding and changing Nick, he locked him in it and left him.
On the good side, Nick didn't manage to escape. On the bad side, after about an hour, he got bored and frustrated and started moaning loudly while repeatedly walking into the bars. Zoldrak had to let him out and give him blood fresh from the source to calm him down.
Once Nick was calm, Zoldrak moved the TV into Nick's room, turned it on, and tried again. This time, Nick stayed happily in his crib for five hours, only starting to complain when he got hungry. Unfortunately, Zoldrak didn't manage to get any sleep, too worried about monitoring Nick's mood, but that would change when he got more tired.
Zoldrak's first day back at work was rough. He was tired and out of sorts all day, and couldn't wait for his shift to be over. His partner Jon noticed, and teased him. “I thought vacations were supposed to let you rest up, not tire you out!”
When he got home, Zoldrak managed a couple hours of sleep, and then Nick woke up. After several nights with no change, Zoldrak was startled to find that Nick's right leg was paralyzed. Nick could brace himself well enough to stand alone, and he also managed to crawl, but he was unable to walk without help.
Still, Zoldrak fed him a large meal, changed him, and settled him down in his crib watching TV. Almost immediately, Zoldrak fell back asleep, and didn't wake until 2 am when Nick got hungry again.
Nick's leg was still paralyzed the next night. Zoldrak was starting to worry. Why did he keep getting worse again? What if he didn't regain movement in that leg?
But after a hard day at work, Zoldrak knew he couldn't waste time worrying. He had to grab what sleep he could, and that meant getting Nick fed, changed, and settled in his crib while Zoldrak slept.
“OK, Nick, same routine as last night.” Zoldrak said. Nick moaned, struggling to a stand clinging to the side of his crib. “Let's get you changed, fed and changed again, and then I'll put a show on for you and I'll go to sleep.”
When he started to lower the side of the crib, Nick, who was holding on to it, almost fell over, so Zoldrak hastily steadied him and helped him to lie down. Nick moaned and struggled a bit as Zoldrak changed him.
When Zoldrak finished, he raised the side of the crib and started to leave. Nick moaned and grabbed at the crib bars. “I know, you're hungry. I'll be right back with your meal.” Zoldrak said. Nick moaned more insistently. “I know, I know.”
He could hear Nick moaning all the way to the kitchen, as he warmed up the blood—more than he usually fed Nick for breakfast, since he was hoping it'd tide Nick over long enough for him to sleep. He waited for the microwave to finish impatiently. “I know, you're mad at me for leaving you there.” Zoldrak called out. Should he have left the crib side down? Nick couldn't walk, but maybe he'd be less frustrated if he was able to crawl towards him.
Finally, the microwave beeped. He took out the blood, gave it a swirl with a spoon to even out the temperature, and then headed to Nick.
“OK, buddy.” Zoldrak said, lowering the slats. “Here you go.” He helped Nick drink the blood in the cup, then finished it off by cutting his wrist and giving Nick some of his blood.
Nick drank his fill, and then frowned and looked at his diaper. “I know, you're wetting yourself.” Zoldrak said. “Let's just wait for you to finish, and then I'll get you cleaned up.”
He waited until he was pretty sure Nick was done, then changed him again. “Let's get you some TV.” He said, raising the side of the crib and turning on the TV. He set it to Nick's favorite channel—a nature channel that was usually calm and colorful—and then headed to his room.