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Chapter Text

The second meeting is less accidental and more connected to the fact that Ranboo happens to be, you know, living in the territory his Clan owns.

He's sweeping the counters and preparing everything for the opening of the bakery, when he sees Tubbo and Tommy hurriedly moving through the streets, clinging to any available shadows and trying to avoid morning light.

Oh right. Fledglings are vulnerable to sunlight. Uh-oh.

He doesn't think much as he grabs his coat and rushes outside. There's no one on the streets (of course there's no one, it's 4 am) so he just speeds toward them and hovers above their heads with the coat laid across his arms, essentially shielding them like a living umbrella.

“Hello there,” he nearly purrs out (ah, embarrassing), looking down. Instantly a cold body collides with his chest and he nearly panics, only now registering just how bad the fledglings look. Tubbo, the one who collapsed against him, looks faint, way too pale even for a full vampire, definitely way too pale for a fledgling. Both of the kids have matching eyebags, contrasting too much with their nearly translucent skin. They look tired, but more than that—starved.

“Hi Ranboo,” Tommy groans out. He's barely any better than Tubbo, but at least he didn't collapse immediately upon making contact. The fledgling whines and lets his head fall on Ranboo's shoulder. “Fucking— Instincts are being weird. Sorry.” He sounds embarrassed, precious.

“Don't worry, okay? I'm gonna take you inside now, okay?” There's no answer, and the anxious part of his mind wants to shake the fledglings to check if they're still alive. “Okay?” He presses, hoping this time it will elect an answer. Tubbo weakly knocks his head back against his chest, and he takes it as a yes. He takes the fledgling into his arms, noting just how light he seems, and nudges Tommy to move. Thankfully the boy does, and they walk across the street at a relatively good pace.

Tubbo looks at him blearily, not quite present. He looks… really bad. Black veins protrude under his skin, much more visible and swollen than they should be, his eyes are nearly black too, irises swallowed by pupils.

“How did it get so bad?” he hisses out, trying to control his raging instincts. “When was the last time either of you ate?”

“Um, a week ago? A bit longer for Tubbs.”

“What?” That's… He wants to strangle someone. Unsure who. But he wants to. “You're babies you're supposed to eat once a day at least!”

It really speaks about their state that neither bristles at the name.

Ranboo doesn't waste time and tells Tommy to grab a key to the cellar. He directs the boy through the jars to pick it up, not wanting to let go of Tubbo, his instincts disliking the sheer suggestion of it. Thankfully Tommy finds the key quickly and follows him deeper into the bakery, then unlocks the door leading to the cellar. They go down the stairs into a dimly lit room with a small barebones nest left for emergencies. It's barely enough for them, but it needs to be enough for now.

He deposits Tubbo into it, and gently pushes Tommy to sit among the pillows too, then runs back upstairs for his phone. He shoots Niki a quick text telling her he's got an emergency, and closes the cellar door, shutting off the outer world.

Now there's nothing more important than the fledglings, and so he runs down to them, a worried purr rising in his chest. Tommy replies with a small chitter of his own, and immediately winces. Tubbo is unresponsive.

“Come on, you gotta eat,” Ranboo doesn't waste time and gets into the nest too, squashing down the urge to mess with the pillows. Later.

“We were trying but the sun caught us, and—” Tommy mumbles and only stops himself when he notices Ranboo rolling up his sleeves and bringing his wrist to his mouth. “What do you think you are doing?”

“Feeding you?”

“Your own blood?” He sounds way too incredulous for his state.

“Mate,” Ranboo tries his best to channel his inner Philza and not just force-feed the fledgling. “I can't just go out and hunt for you right now, and vampire blood will do you more good than human anyways.”

Tommy swallows uneasily, and after a too-long pause that makes Ranboo's entire being itch to move, he finally nods.

The youngling doesn't hesitate to slash his wrist and manhandle Tommy on his lap, to feed him more easily. The boy struggles a little, but calms down literally the moment he feels the taste of blood on his tongue. He really is starved, gulping down every single drop greedily, like he's worried it will be taken away.

In the meantime Ranboo reaches for Tubbo, and shakes his arm a little to get him to move. The fledgling murmurs something and tries to bat his hand away weakly, but finally opens his eyes again. He looks confused, and Ranboo takes it to his advantage, as he awkwardly angles himself to be able to reach his face, and bites into his other wrist to feed the other boy like this too.

Tubbo acts about as starved as Tommy, understandably so.

Barely a minute or so in, Ranboo starts feeling dizzy. Really, it's no wonder considering he has two bloodsuckers clamped down on his wrists, just gulping down his blood faster than it's recommended for either side. He should have probably called Niki and stayed on call for his own safety, but it's a little too late for that now.

It's not like he'd die from that. His regenerative abilities are much more advanced than normal vampire's, as if it is the universe's way of apologizing for not giving him invulnerability.

Still, it's unpleasant.

At least his instincts are pleased. He managed to help the fledglings. Safe Safe Fledglings Safe Coven his instinct babbles, and he tries to push the thoughts down. The kids aren't his.

His instincts don't care.

He wakes up to the fledglings asleep on his sides, an IV in his arm and Niki staring him down with a very sour expression.

“Hi, what's up?” He croaks out quietly. Niki's expression turns down even sourer.

“Don't ‘What's up’ me,” she says very quietly and very viciously in a way that spells out danger for him. “You've lost so much blood, I swear to god I was close to just letting you die.”

“I wouldn't die.”

“I would finish you.”

“I don't doubt that.”

He grins. Niki groans.

“You're insufferable.” The vampire flops down next to Tubbo, and reaches out to play with Ranboo's hair in a calming motion.

The fledgling squirms, probably in reaction to a new scent, but doesn't wake up. He's already looking much healthier.

On his other side Tommy raises his head and hisses.

Oh well.

Ranboo reaches out blindly and pats the fledgling on the head. He gets an annoyed warble for that, but Tommy settles down and cuddles into him again, this time holding him much tighter.

“Man, you really went and did the vampire equivalent of becoming a teenage father, huh?”

“Niki, please, just shut up. Don't you have a bakery to run?”

“Oh boy, you were really conked out, huh? Will's already upstairs. I called him so he'd come an hour earlier.”

Oh.

William usually didn't come until later, to handle the bakery while Ranboo napped, then stayed to prepare the dough for the next day for the youngling to bake.

He is also a human, completely clueless as to who his co-worker and boss are.

If Wilbur is already working, it means… Ranboo has been unconscious for a long time.

“What time is it?”

“Around 1 pm.”

“Oh.” That’s… not ideal.

“Don’t worry, I got everything ready and Will’s doing a good job too,” she reassured, sensing his anxiety. “You stay there with your fledglings, I’ll get some food for you and we’ll deal with the rest when they wake up.”

“They’re not mine…” he protested weakly, but Niki just smiled, got up and left. “They really aren’t mine,” the youngling whispered to the empty room.

Chapter Text

Niki's honey buns are the best things to ever exist, Ranboo decides as he munches on one. Or perhaps he's just hungry. Feeding two starving fledglings will do that to you.

The kids are still napping, both waking up for a few seconds to check their surroundings every once in a while, but the moment their instincts register they're still in the nest and near their latest caregiver they settle right back down into slumber. It's normal for fledglings to do that. Most of their time should be spent eating and napping, only staying active to play with some of their covenmates to establish positive bonds.

Those kids didn't get to experience that.

Ranboo can clearly see the clean, wide and deep claiming mark on Tubbo's neck, now looking much paler than it's supposed to, probably following the kid bashing his sire's entire skull open. It was a smart plan. Fledglings might be vulnerable and weaker than older vampires, but they're nearly unaffected by typical vampire repellents like holy things and silver. They might feel a little weakened, their instincts might wail to get away from them in preparation for other stages of their development when those will hurt them, but they won't get hurt.

Ranboo's chest rumbles with pride at his fledgling being so smart and resourceful. Nope. No. Not his. He's just feeding him. Nope.

On his other side Tommy rolls over and presses into his side, exposing his own ragged turning mark. The fledgling clearly struggled through it, not wanting to be bitten. This struggle was probably how he avoided death and turned instead. Vampires naturally prefer easy meals, not those who fight against them.

That leads to a lot of turnings.

Vampiric venom is activated by very specific hormonal changes happening in the body as it dies, as long as there's enough blood to circulate, and some venom gets to the heart and brain first. Of course after a while vampires realized ingesting their blood in bigger quantities has the exact same effect, if a little slower. Gods bless experiments, and may you keep the souls of the ones who died because of them safe. (That's how they learnt that no, you cannot give humans venom to drink. It has to be administered into veins.)

Tommy twists again, clearly unhappy with his position, then again, and again, uneasy and searching for something.

Ranboo feels the slightest tug at his mind, a phantom pang of hunger, and he sighs. Of course they're hungry again, all the blood he gave them probably didn't even satisfy the deficit. It will take a while to get them back to health. Yet he was hoping that what he gave them would be enough for a while.

Heh, fledglings are known for their appetites and he's a moron.

Ranboo wriggles out of the kids’ hold and slips out of the nest, mindful of the IV needle still in his arm. The bag is already empty, but Niki has brought him another one since, with a knowing look, alongside some baked goods, a jar of animal blood and iron supplements. He detaches the empty saline solution bag and replaces it with the new one, takes the supplements, then takes the jar and settles back down with his the fledglings.

Man. Instincts suck.

It makes no sense, he’s a youngling, he shouldn’t feel any of that bullcrap… On the other hand, he is kinda special when it comes to all the maturing processes of a vampire. Could he be actually… forcefully growing up?

He checks his fangs, presses on his scent glands, sniffs at the animal blood. Nothing has changed. Yet, his anxiety helpfully supplies. Well, his instincts have, so that’s something to consider. Besides with his weird aging it would be fully in the realm of possibility that his instincts would change first, and then his body would follow. That’s how it was the last time, when he met Niki and Techno.

Mmmmmmmm…

He dislikes the notion that a forceful change might be happening again. The last one was troublesome, besides he doesn’t feel ready to be any more than a youngling. Adult life can wait.

Tubbo chirps—Sire hungry—snuggling closer into his side, seeking comfort. The entirety of Ranboo's essence wants to claim him, feed him, scentmark him and tuck him into a proper nest.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm… Goddammit.

The youngling sighs and cracks open the jar again, tipping it to take a big sip. It's about as unsatisfying as blood gets, at least for him. Niki claims there are worse kinds, but he disagrees simply on the basis that even werewolf blood tastes better. Well, perhaps not better, it does taste rotten, but at least it's not bland. And animals won't do much to sate him properly for a few next decades. It takes a lot of aging and adaptation for a vampire to be able to live off animal blood.

But oh well, he cannot hunt now can he, besides sires feeding fledglings are supposed to drink from multiple sources, not only humans, to give the fledglings all things they need. Younger vampires are picky eaters after all.

It's really a wonder Tubbo and Tommy were able to live off human blood. It isn't the worst choice, but it's really preferred for fledglings to be fed vampire blood, and in the best case their sire's for the case of compatibility. Other blood can just taste… bad. Unappealing.

Speaking of that,

“What the fuck are you drinking?” Tommy murmurs, lifting his head only enough to show a displeased grimace on his face. His nose is scrunched, clearly put off by the smell.

“Blood.”

“Blood doesn't smell like that, boob-boy.”

“Boob-boy?” Oh the gall— He lets out a long breath, not wanting to continue the teasing. “Don't call me that, anyways animal blood does.”

“Ew.” This time Tubbo is the one critiquing his dietary choices. “Don't tell me you're gonna make us drink this.”

“Nope, that's for older vampires.”

“Ha! Serves you right, grandpa!”

“Excuse you, I'm the equivalent of a teen, you're the equivalent of a toddler!”

The boys gasp, deeply offended, and Ranboo gets a pillow straight to his face for his trouble.

At least nothing gets destroyed in the process.

Chapter Text

So perhaps… perhaps, mind you, he's doomed.

He cannot move out of the room, his instincts will straight up not let him if he tries. And boy did he try. Each time he even thought about leaving the fledglings alone, his inner voice floods him with enough anxiety to keep him frozen in place. It's… it's A Situation, alright.

Niki keeps checking up on him every few hours, sending him more and more pitying looks each time. He tries to not comment on it, he knows about her past fully well and would rather rot away in this cellar than risk triggering her. She's a strong person, but chances are the situation is putting more pressure on her than on him, despite him being the one actively taking care of fledglings.

She's being brave and understanding, and it's already more than he could ask for.

Besides, so far, aside from the inability to leave the room while the fledglings are still in it, and feeding them, it hasn't been… eventful. The boys are in a semi-coma, something expected after not drinking for a week and now being in a safe place. They wake up, say a few words, get fed and go to sleep. Thankfully they don't seem annoyed by it so far, their instincts keeping them complacent and calm.

That's good, because he doesn't have a clue what he'd do if they weren't like that, especially with different bonds pressing into his mind every once in a while.

Niki is an expert at closing her bond, and so he doesn't have to deal with a single thought of hers. Techno on the other hand… Werewolves aren't known to be good with vampire magic of all things, and it clearly shows with bonds. Switching blood with one can cause a fully-functional bond, something rare even among other supernaturals, except… well, werewolves are made to share. And that includes emotions. Ranboo didn't have to worry about it on day one, but as Techno learnt about the situation he got more and more worried and now whenever the man thought about him, the bond flickered with—pack incomplete pack worry worry want closeness pack pack why not close incomplete pack worry—so loud and strong Ranboo itches to go to his nest. Except he is in a nest, his to-be fledglings' nest. And his instincts don't want to leave it. But his instincts also want to go to the other nest.

Ugh. It's a mess.

He feels… awful. He hasn't felt like that in a while. He's a vampire halfling so his instincts usually just aren't a trouble. The last time he felt like that was about 30 years ago, because of a big fight with his clan. Now there's no big outer cause he can fix, there's just a need in him that splits him in half.

He wants to whine for his ahp and chirp at Niki like he used to before he learnt better. He can't though. He shouldn't.

A sleepy yet insistent chirp of—hungry hungry—escapes Tommy's mouth and he sighs dejectedly. Fledglings' appetites are really undefeated.

Techno might have been pacing the nest for a few hours now.

But he'll deny it if anyone asks. Especially if Niki asks. His sister is gonna nag him if she realizes just how much the situation is stressing him. And he knows, okay? He knows he shouldn't be so worried, but he is also imprinted on the youngling to the point where his instincts recognise him as a pup, and really the insistent voice in his head asking him why his packmate isn't there, isn't helping the whole anxiety thing.

He wants to call the kid, but he's pretty sure that would only make the longing worse. Archaic instincts don't really understand the concept of someone's voice being available, but not the rest of them. Similar to a dog sniffing for their owner when hearing their voice on a phone, his inner wolf demands Ranboo be close that much more insistently.

So he can't even ask how he's managing. Gods, taking care of a singular fledgling can be taxing, not to mention two.

He itches to rush over and help, but he knows that his scent would only make the kids more fussy and anxious, and if Ranboo's instincts were rebelling as much as Niki described it, chances are even he would be negatively affected.

It sucks, everything sucks, he just wants to cuddle his pup again to calm his nerves and help him out.

He curls up in a ball in the empty nest and tries to sleep away his worries. It doesn't work.

Chapter Text

About 60 hours after he found them, the fledglings woke up properly, not a hint of protective haze in their eyes. They're both eerily quiet as they watch Ranboo resting.

He can understand why.

“Mind passing me another bag?” he croaks out, wincing at how rough his voice sounds even to him. Tubbo doesn't look at him as he passes him a saline solution bag. He tries to sit up straighter to reach the IV rack, but all he accomplishes is some wiggling and trembling movements that don't let him raise.

Tommy curls on himself and curses.

“How do I…?” Tubbo takes the bag away from him and gestures towards the spent one on the rack.

“Just take out the plastic needle and pierce it through the foil part of the new bag.” The fledgling does as he instructed, and soon enough he can feel the cold liquid seeping into his veins again. He feels like he's got more saline solution than blood in his veins at this point.

He feels absolutely drained and he would kill for some human blood in his system right about now. He'll have to hunt with Niki, doing it alone would probably have no result.

Tubbo fiddles with his hands and settles down next to him, close enough he can feel it, but far enough they're not actually touching. The small pangs of guilt and longing he feels through the forming bond tell him that the fledgling would love nothing more than cuddle with him right now, but feels too bad to do so. Tommy is much the same, with an additional wave of fear here and there.

Ranboo wishes he could open their bond fully and know exactly what the two are thinking.

“You look like shit.” Unsurprisingly the first one to break the silence is Tommy. He seems to be the more foul-mouthed of the two, even if the other boy isn't that clean of profanities himself.

“I mean, yeah. You try to feed two starving vampires for three days,” he quips with energy he doesn't have. He wants a long fat nap right now, not another quarrel.

“So it is our fault.” …heck.

He wriggles around more, this time succeeding in sitting up a little straighter. The kids tense, the bonds pulsing with—fear fear he's mad fear—as they scurry a bit away. His instincts immediately demand he pulls them close and purrs at them until they relax, completely ignoring that he's the cause of their distress. Typical of instincts really.

“Are you two anxious pouting messes because you feel guilty?” he asks, and really that's a rhetorical question with the way they avoid his gaze and curl on themselves.

He opens his mouth to sigh, or perhaps tell them something calming— but he very suddenly is reminded of something he didn't realize at first. And oh fuck. Wait, no, bad him.

“Wait, wait, you two have no idea about fledgling law, oh no, jeez…” The sudden spike of panic he just sent through the bond to Niki and Techno is going to earn him some fussing and scolding from them, but he doesn't care. The boys have no idea about fledgling law. Two questioning pangs travel back through the bonds but he ignores them, offering no explanation.

“Is that… bad…?”

“Yes!?”

Fledgling law is perhaps the most important piece of the vampiric law system, which is lax at best and nearly nonexistent at worst. But this one law is holy, existing for centuries and never changed, aside from specifics and wording.

Any normal vampire knows this… unless they never had a chance of being taught it. Like loners, accidental turns, escapees.

“It honestly explains so many things about you two…” Because fledgling law is a double-edged sword, acting both in favour and against fledglings, protecting them, but also threatening.

“Okay, I know you're delirious from blood loss and all, but hurry up and tell us, bossman, you're stressing us the fuck out.”

“Well…” Ranboo's throat feels unnaturally dry. How is he even supposed to… Mmmm. With his words, he supposes. “Fledgling law basically states that once unclaimed fledglings are detected on claimed territory, they're to be offered hospitality unconditionally… twice.”

“What the fuck do you mean twice?”

Here comes the hard part.

“Twice as in two times in a row. Any unclaimed fledgling that gets detected is offered hospitality, and if they choose to refuse or take it and then go away, that information gets passed down to neighbour covens and clans, and they also offer them hospitality… and if they refuse again… they get exterminated.”

“Wait, what!?”

“What the fuck, why??”

“Because it's… dangerous?” Ranboo has no idea how to properly convey what needs to be said. “Like, unclaimed fledglings are dangerous.”

“How are we dangerous,” Tubbo deadpans, looking more pissed off than curious now. That irks the youngling more than it should probably.

“You specifically should shut up. When you were brought here three days ago you were like, on the verge of starvation. You know what happens to starving vampires?”

“They… die?” Tubbo's side of the bond pangs with unease. Good.

“Wrong answer! They go into a bloodlust state and murder everyone around them in a spurt of hysterical strength!” Is he using his theatre kid persona to scare them a little? Perhaps. “...and then they die.”

“OH.” Both boys look rightfully horrified. Good. They should be aware. Especially with how close to that they both came.

“So yeah, fledglings are their sires’ responsibility, and if a fledgling does something like that both they and the sire get exterminated. It’s a decent motivator for the sire to keep their fledgling in check. Now, imagine, what happens with sireless fledglings?”

“Oh.”

“Right, makes sense now?”

“Okay, but why?” Tubbo, frankly, in Ranboo's opinion, should stop asking stupid questions.

“Has either of you known about vampires pre being turned?” Two matching looks of no comprehension, and two ‘no’s serve as a reply. Ranboo sighs. “If you haven't known, you can assume the general public doesn't know…” He paused, waiting for them to catch up. Tubbo just blinks at him. “Oh holy cow, kids, what do you think would happen if a vampire was let loose killing people left and right!? The populace would know! The secret would be out! And that's no good!”

“Oooooooooh…”

“Ah, kids these days…” He allows his body to slide down so he's lying on his back again. Both Tubbo and Tommy hover over him, unsure of what to do next. “Okay that was tiring, I need a nap. Who's in?” A pang of longing goes through the bond, clear instinctual reaction from the fledglings with no conscious follow-up. Ah jeez. “C'mon kids, cuddle time. I'll feed you again once I'm up and then we can talk about your future options.”

The fledglings slowly, slowly, do as they're told and settle on his sides. Tubbo curls up on his left, conscious of the IV needle, Tommy takes his right and immediately koala-holds his entire arm, shooting him an angry look conveying just how embarrassed he is about his instincts acting up. The bond is doing a good enough job of telling him that anyways.

Ranboo laughs and uses his ultimate weapon—purring. The kids are out like a light in a matter of minutes. He himself drifts in awareness, not quite awake, not quite asleep. His instincts demand he keeps awake. He's weakened, so he cannot protect his fledglings physically, but if he just keeps awake, he can at least warn them if danger comes. Logically he knows there would be no danger, but as it is, his instincts still don't care.

He tries to calm himself. His fledglings are next to him, he's recovering at rapid peace, his clan would come to him if he was in actual danger.

The bakery front door creeks and he holds his breath, listening to the intruder. Their steps are loud, irregular—human. They whistle… Ah. William. The man goes through the motions of putting his coat away and putting on an apron, then washing his hands, preparing for work.

Ranboo listens to his co-worker filling in for his duties and feels equal parts guilty for forcing him to wake up so early, and grateful that the man did. He feels more at peace, knowing his duties are getting fulfilled even if he's unavailable. And just like that, he falls asleep too.

Chapter Text

Niki barges into the nest several hours later, while the fledglings feed. Both boys startle, immediately stopping and licking up his wounds in record speed, while eyeing the pink vampire with wide-blown eyes.

“What happened?” she asks with faux gentleness that makes both kids hiss. Ah jeez. He presses them closer and purrs gently. He used to think fledglings having an off-switch was weird, but now he appreciates it. The boys instantly relax, now just eyeing Niki warily instead of being downright hostile.

“They didn't know about fledgling law,” he offers in lieu of explanation, and Niki squints. Her bond opens just a little and Ranboo is flooded with disgust and fear. He tenses, fighting to not react in any way that would betray this, and not receive it in a way that would transfer the feelings to Techno, probably already worried as heck, or worse, back to Niki as a sort of echo chamber.

“Ranboo, they're too young to stay,” Niki's voice is ice-cold and commanding. One that she'd use on a misbehaving youngling of hers.

But Ranboo has never been and would never be hers.

“Niki, listen if we take them in—”

“I'm not gonna do this! I refuse to claim them!” The panic is rising on the bond, putting tremendous pressure on it. Ranboo catches his breath with trouble. Jesus. She's certainly not thinking straight, and he's losing his ability to do so too, as her emotions are bleeding with his own.

“You don't have to—”

“Then who exactly is gonna do it instead, huh!? You!?”

There's a beat of silence, Niki opens her mouth to scream more and Ranboo is ready to take it… But Tommy chirps at his side, terrified of the stranger vampire invading his space and peace. —Sire help Sire Sire fear—

“YES! ME!” He lunges forward, shielding the kids with his body. “Maybe if you talked to me instead of assuming things and sending me weird looks for three days straight you'd know. My mind is set, I didn't even consider you as a possibility.”

Niki blinks. Backs down. She steps away from the nest, facing him, then turns around and walks away. The bond is shut closed on her side.

Techno is about this close to breaking his resolve and dragging his packmates to the nest. Both of them.

They're being unreasonable. Niki is a mess of emotions, which is fair. But he'd rather she came to him to deal with them, and not play cat and mouse with him. He's been chasing her for two hours now, and she keeps moving, not letting him catch up. Ranboo on the other hand is unreasonable because he shut himself off completely from the bond, with only a single message of—sorry—half a second before he did so.

Techno skitters to a stop as the trail of Niki's scent he's been following suddenly cuts off. It's the middle of an alley, and he's pretty sure she went for the rooftops. There's really no way that he'd find her like that.

Perhaps he'd have a better chance with his pup.

With his mind set he sighs—the sigh sounding weird through his muzzle—and turns around to get to the bakery.

Throughout her entire life, Niki has only lost her shit at her clan five times. And not a single one has been righteous. She knows this.

She knows this, alright!?

But it's not like she can go to a therapist and get help, not unless she wants to spread the truth about the supernatural, and that would get her killed, so obviously, that's a no-no.

Her only option really is to isolate until she's calm, and then try to glue back the pieces she has scattered. It's so hard to keep calm though.

The fledglings are never good news. They weren't good news when she was in her old coven, they weren't good news when Ranboo joined them, and they aren't good news now. Fledglings are the scourge of this earth, demanding so much for so little. They drain their sires out, both literally and figuratively; taking their blood, peace, quiet, privacy, freedom of movement… Having a fledgling is the worst fate a vampire can take upon themself. Ten long years of sacrifice.

There's no happiness in this, no reward, and the moment you're done the newly made youngling can just leave, go away, with no regard to the feelings of their sire.

Niki would rather die than go through it again.

And she would rather Ranboo hate her, than for him to go through it too.

This is her resolve as Nikita of the Great North Coven.
This is her resolve as Niki of the unnamed clan.

Chapter Text

Techno is at the door.

Ranboo can tell he's at the door.

He wants him away. Now. Immediately. The werewolf hasn’t even entered his nest and he’s already freaking out, and he’s pretty sure someone is going to get hurt if he crosses that line.

“Techno, I miss you too you dumb mutt but I really need you to go away.” His voice is cracking, breaking into a snarl, barely held together. “I'm serious.”

“I have a plan,” his ahp's monotone voice usually brings him comfort, but right now it just strokes his instincts to throw hands with him.

“Does this plan include something that will stop my instincts from wanting to tear you to shreds?”

“…I have a plan.”

“So that's a no.”

“I have no idea who you are, but get the fuck away!” Thank the gods the fledglings are taking this moderately well. Their instincts forced them to cling to Ranboo and not leave his side, hidden in the nest and behind his back, which makes the noise a little muffled, but if Tommy has his mind clear enough to shout at the apparent danger, then it's clear enough to oppose whatever's going on in his heart.

“Feisty,” Techno remarks and shifts audibly on the other side of the door. “I'm not there to hurt either of you, so please make a conscious effort to calm down, will you?”

Two hisses and a guttural growl answer him and he sighs.

“Listen, if we cooperate this encounter might help us all.”

Ranboo has to stop himself from continuous growling and hums in agreement, hoping that for once in his life his ahp has actually produced a plan that does not hinge on his ability to escape and fight the danger in case he can't avoid it. Like sure, the wolf could take him on and not die, but he'd rather not risk breaking bones and traumatising the fledglings further.

“I am going to back away from the door now, just a bit, and I want you to try and let go of the kids, okay?”

Everything in Ranboo screams ‘no’ at the proposition. There is danger right in front of him. He's not letting anything go.

“Okay.”

“Good, good. I'm moving away.” The three vampires tense as they hear and feel the werewolf rise from the ground, but settle as his presence becomes less imposing. “Did that do anything or do I have to move further, because you know, this is kinda experimental if you hadn't noticed.”

“It's easier to breathe at least!” Ranboo informs him, and slowly works on detangling himself from the fledglings' hold. It's pretty hard with how much he doesn't want to let go, and how hard they clutch at him, but he manages. He cannot move away though. H. “I am no longer a koala hugging post, but I can't get away anyways.” The fledglings squeak indignantly, offended by the description, and Tommy actually has the gall to bite him. Oh come on, sure it's typical for fledglings to react to stressors like that but come on. “Never mind, should have described them as piranhas!”

Techno chuckles, and they can hear him moving just the slightest bit away again.

Ranboo exhales, flexes his muscles, and stands up. He can't move, his instincts won't let him. He squats again, thinking maybe moving in crouch will help him. His instincts still say no.

“Well, I tried? But nope!”

“Okay, one last trick in the book and hopefully neither of you three mauls me.”

“Techno I swear to gods—”

Techno thrills, the way wolves thrill asking their family to come back to the den. Ranboo's instincts stop for one blessed second before roaring back full force, this time split between following his ahp and protecting his fledglings. A startled chirp escapes his mouth, followed by a more wolfish whine, a taught reaction, not an instinctual one, still running nearly as deep as the other.

“Come on, come to ahpa,” Techno murmurs between thrilling, and the youngling manages a step, then another and another until he's opening the door despite his other instincts demanding he stays safe behind them closed. “Good job kid,” his ahp smiles gently and spreads his arms, and that's all it takes to overpower the barriers.

He jumps at the wolf, nearly knocking him out with how hard he hits the wall behind him, but neither of them cares as Techno transforms into his full wolf form and pins him down with his imposing and heavy furry body.

Two worried and questioning chirps come through the nest, but the bond remains calm as the fledglings observe them hugging/wrestling on the floor. It's a typical wolf-play, but with how much of a parent Techno became for him, Ranboo has come to enjoy it too.

Not really something vampires are supposed to do, but since when does either of them care?

Techno snarls at him playfully and licks him across the face, prompting a giggle from Ranboo and two—distress disgust—pangs from the kids. Oh well, wolves gotta scent and mark, nothing can stop them. Ranboo got used to it after several decades. Time works its way.

An uneasy chirp from Tubbo destroys the peace. His instincts roar back again, begging him to come back to the nest, telling him he's been away from it for too long. The way he tenses tell Techno the story easily. The werewolf shifts back into human, and leans away after leaving one last kiss on the top of his head.

“C'mon pup, up you go to your fledglings. We'll try again in a bit, and again, and see if we can make all of you calm enough to leave for our normal nest.” Ranboo opens the bond enough to let out the gratefulness flooding him reach his ahp, and he knocks their heads together, before speeding right back to his scratch-made nest.

Immediately Tubbo and Tommy are on him, hissing and snarling with their undeveloped throats and fangs. The sounds they're making are hilarious and so no one can blame both him and Techno for laughing. Unsurprisingly causing more displeased hisses.

“Techno's my ahp, that's like a dad but werewolf term,” he explains softly, nuzzling both fledglings in an attempt to rub some of Techno's scent into them. It will help them accept him more easily. “He's no danger, sorry for not explaining earlier.”

“I thought you said your father was a fucking bloodsucker.”

“Ever heard of adoption?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah I normally kill orphans, but Ranboo technically wasn't orphaned, just abandoned and neglected, so I picked him up by the scruff, threw him into my den and declared him mine in a sudden spurt of parental instincts, and then Niki tried to kill me about it.”

“...about it.”

“I never finished this English major Ranboo.”

The air is still a little tense with his instincts wanting him to protect and attack, but the easy conversation is putting him… well, at ease.

That is until Tommy pipes up.

“Is Niki that crazy bitch from earlier?”

“Please don't call my sister that,” Techno deadpans, but a corner of his mouth twitches into a smile.

“She's your sister? But she's a vam—… right. Adoption.”

“Right, adoption.”

“…and what was that about orphans?” The fledglings are uneasy now, the bond panging with fear and anxiety. …uh oh.

“Well I didn't bring my Orphan Obliterator here today to not freak any of you out more, but that's my weapon of choice, and its name was forged in sireless fledglings' blood,” Techno intones dramatically. The fledglings chirp in panic, and the werewolf sends them a flat look. “Why are you two like that, it's literally not a problem for you.”

“So… you were joking?”

“No.”

“Then how is this not a problem for us!?”

Ranboo and Techno exchange amused looks, as Tubbo thoughtlessly clambers onto the youngling's lap, instinctively seeking protection. Yep. A problem. Totally.

“Even if you don't stay there you'll still have a chance in another clan or coven you find. Your previous sighting hasn't been reported because Ranboo doesn't have a responsibility to do so as a halfling and a youngling. If you've met Niki that would have been another tale entirely but… well.”

“So… we probably don't need to worry about you?”

“If you don't accept a sire two times I'll probably be tasked with hunting you down, so no.”

“Fuck.”

Chapter Text

Niki has been observing the building for a few hours now. Techno was inside. And he hasn’t gone away, probably foolishly thinking the fledglings are just gonna get used to him.

That isn't how fledglings work. They're only accepting of their sires or potential sires, and they tolerate other vampires. Werewolves? There's a reason humans think vamps and wolves are mortal enemies. Fledglings react to any shapeshifters badly. No one knows why exactly, there are only theories, which doesn't change the fact that it takes a few good decades for the instinct to shut up, and as much as Niki can have fate in younglings to shut off their instincts and play nice, fledglings are stupid.

So she stalks the building waiting until Techno comes out. He will at some point. Then she'll talk to him.

He'll see reason after this.

Vampires are cold. Being undead will do that to you.

Werewolves are hot. Having high metabolism and having a literal animal thrumming under your skin will do that to you.

Vampires seek warmth, it makes them feel safer, more stable.

Ranboo really doesn't understand why fledglings don't have an instinct opposite to what they have, making them go after werewolves for warmth. After all, the furries are great heaters.

And now he can relish into the heat again, after a few days without it, and it's amazing. Techno is cuddling the three of them right now, his big, furry body serving as a giant, heated pillow for them, as they huddle closer to warmth.

The fledglings, after much hissing and even biting, finally settled, now enjoying the heat as much as the youngling. It took a while. A long while. Hours spent on running between Techno and them, slowly acquaintancing them to the smell, and Techno moving closer, closer, closer, until he could finally come into the nest and settle there.

That is perfect. His fledglings are great, and brave, and fought their instincts well.

And now they can rest a little, then feed, then—hopefully—move to the proper nest.

Something's wrong, he's not coming out.
He's not coming out, why isn't he coming out?

Niki has no clue what's going on anymore, Techno should be long gone from the bakery, he should be admitting defeat by now, not still trying! He's a reasonable man.

In contemplation she opens the floodgates that their bond is, and checks up on her family.
They're sleeping, she realises, baffled. They're sleeping and they're happy, content.

She closes the bond and frowns, thinking about what to do next.

She might need to ambush them… She'd prefer not to, but… complicated times call for complicated measures.

She hides her presence well and plans, while her none-the-wiser clanmates sleep.

Techno awakens first. Or well, second, because what wakes him up is a cute growl from a fledgling. He thinks this one's named Tommy. He's blonde, ragged, in dirty clothes, and Techno knows he'd do anything for him just from the way his blue eyes glisten with protectiveness over his brother-in-blood and Sire.

“You still there, bitch?” Tommy asks defiantly, even as his weak palms are intertwined in Techno's thick fur. It would be a shame to wake others up so Techno doesn't turn to reply, and instead huffs deeply, trying to convey his amusement with the situation. “What's so funny, whore?”

Two loud exclamations is enough to rouse Ranboo from sleep it seems, as he groans and turns around in his sleep, nearly dislodging the newly-placed IV in his arm.

Techno worries about him, greatly. But he can fuss around him when they're in a proper nest, later.

Ranboo raises and takes Tubbo with him, as the fledgling is still clinging to him like a koala. The youngling tries his best manoeuvring to take out the needle out of his arm without dislodging the fledgling. Techno snorts out a laugh, and finally moves to shift, letting his wolf back inside.

“So we're all up it seems.” A disgruntled rumble from Tubbo interrupts him. “So we're all up sans Tubbo it seems.”

“So we are,” Ranboo chuckles as he slowly and methodically peels the fledgling from himself. “What now?”

“Now you eat,” Techno says, letting the youngling know with his tone that no other option is viable for him. “You've been taking horrible care of yourself the past few days.”

Ranboo sighs in lieu of answering. It's a resigned sort of sigh that informs Techno he's given up. Good. The werewolf sits up straighter, cross-legged, and pats his lap. “Come to ahpa.”

Ranboo petulantly growls at him, but finally clambers onto his lap, and moves Techno's head to have good access to his neck.

Apparently that sight is enough to wake Tubbo up properly.

“Wait, wait, wait, isn't neck biting for turnings only?”

…what.

“No?” both he and Ranboo reply at the same time, sharing confused glances.

“Neck-bites are just more…“ Ranboo struggles for proper words that aren't just growls indicating emotions, “Intimate, I guess. You don't let strangers drink from your neck, it's a sign of a deeper bond.”

Both fledglings cringe, and raise their hands to move at their respective turning marks, mirroring each other perfectly.

Ah. Right.

“Let's add the word ‘consensual’ to the mix, hm?” Techno tries to relax them a little. “You don't let strangers drink from your neck, because consensual blood-drinking is a thing and different ways of it indicate different things.”

“But some vampires just prefer drinking from the neck,” Ranboo chimes in. “I don't get them, it's awkward with strangers, but that's their choice.”

And with that, using the element of surprise, he bites in, making Techno wheeze.

Ah kids, always troublemakers.

It doesn't really hurt, Ranboo's too delicate to actively cause harm, and the venom spreads a cool sensation around the bitemark. Later it will feel warm, feverish, as the venom tries and fails to interact with his cells.

The fledglings appear in his peripheral vision and observe him with weird faces.

It's probably fine.

Probably.

All too soon he feels Ranboo withdraw and lick up the wound until it heals. Hmm…

“That's not enough for you,” he says, eyeing the youngling.

“That's enough for now.” Ranboo smiles sheepishly. ”You can pester me about getting more once we're in our nest.”

Ah kids, always troublemakers.

“Fine, but don't think I'll forget that.”

“I'll hold you to that.”

They stare at each other for a moment, a battle of minds, but neither of them wants to give up.

Techno blinks first.

Ah gods dammit.

He opens his mouth to say something else, but before he can do that, the door opens.

His throat gets dry. It's Niki. And she has a silver butcher knife.

Well fuck.

Chapter Text

Niki expects the entire thing to be over quickly. After all, she has years of experience hunting fledglings that aren’t her own. She should be able to separate the two leeches from Ranboo and have them out of the perimeter within minutes.

She doesn’t take one thing into account. That Ranboo might have bonded with them more than she was willing to notice.

Before she can take a single step into the room, the youngling is already barreling at her, at a speed high enough she has trouble dodging and ends up getting hit, with surprising strength too, as she gets flung into the wall behind her hard, feeling her breath knocked out of her chest, and the knife slips from her grip. She’s too stunned to react as he grabs her and throws her across the corridor, away from the fledglings, and, most importantly, away from the nest.

Niki barely has time to react as she’s hit the ground, hard, and she can see the youngling flying at her again, his mouth open in a wordless scream, and his eyes… his eyes are black, completely black, as if all the light has been sucked out of them. Her breath hitches, all instincts screaming to get away, get away— She knows she’s in trouble. This is not a youngling she can take on her own, not anymore.

She scrambles to her feet and takes off running in the opposite direction, towards the staircase. She can hear him close behind her, his footsteps pounding on the ground, and she knows she won’t be able to outrun him.

There’s been a change. A change she didn’t notice, too busy in her self-loathing and hate.

Her opponent is no longer a youngling, that’s a grown-ass adult vampire she’s facing.

And she’s completely screwed.

The moment he sees Niki, with a knife no less, something in him just snaps.

There isn’t a single thought regarding his clan anymore. There are just his fledglings. And the need, not want, need, to protect them. And the vampire in the doorway has a silver knife, one meant for hurting fledglings.

A growl slips past his lips and he runs at her, knocking her into the wall on her left when she attempts to dodge. He growls with satisfaction as the knife slips from her grasp, and grabs her, throws her to the end of the corridor.

Something in him begs to kill her. Something else in him just wants her gone from the building. Something else wants to force her to come back and watch as he claims the fledglings for himself.

Choices, choices. For now he has to make sure that she isn’t any more trouble than she is already.

He runs after her, easily catching up to her, somehow. He doesn’t remember being that fast, that strong, but he doesn’t dwell on it, simply acknowledges it as he catches up again, and holds her in such a way that doesn’t allow her to break out of his grip.

“You will leave my fledglings alone,” he hisses and doesn’t recognize his voice. It nearly makes him let go, the startling realisation that he sounds drained, like he’s in bloodlust. But he’s still in control, still conscious and aware of his actions, so he tries not to be too surprised and files it away as an information to deal with later. “You will leave them alone, and you will let me claim them, and you will tolerate them in my nest, do you understand?” Quick, ragged breathing answers him. A stress reaction, vampires don’t need to breathe. “Do you understand?” He shakes her a little, and she finally replies:

“Yes, yes, I understand, please don’t kill me.” Kill her? It’s those words that finally snap him out of whatever state he was in. He feels weaker, immediately, more sluggish. Tired. But somehow he’s still strong enough to be effortlessly holding up Niki. Right, Niki.

“Niki, I don’t want to kill you, I just need you to stop being a threat to my fledglings.”

“They'll ruin you,” she breathes out. “They'll drain you, they'll make you wish you're not alive anymore to see them grow up, they'll make the next decade a living hell for you.”

“Niki, they'll stay,” he tells her with conviction. For a moment it's silent, and then he hears a sob, followed by another. Niki shakes in his hold, and he turns it from constricting to caring.

“What if they won't?” she asks, her voice breaking with tears.

“They're not gonna be sent to war, that's for sure,” he says, internally cringing when she flinches. “I'm still gonna have the bond with them, they'll come back.”

Niki slumps in his hold, and knocks her head against his chest. He bends down to nuzzle into her hair. A silent, but recognized, apology on both sides. They only separate when the woman’s breathing gets under control.

“We have… a lot to talk about, huh?” she says, fiddling with her sleeve.

Ranboo nods, putting an arm around her shoulders, “Yeah… How about we do it in our proper nest?”

Niki knocks back her head again, bumping him, and nods. He smiles. They’re on a good path.

Techno expects the worst when he hears Niki whimper out a scared ‘Please don’t kill me’. He closes his eyes and hopes that the entire thing won’t traumatise the fledglings too much.

But he doesn’t hear any sickening crunches he’d come to expect from killing vampires, and instead listens as Ranboo reassures her softly.

He breathes out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding, and relaxes a little. Leave it to Ranboo to want to talk things out even after getting threatened with a knife.

The rest of the conversation is a little lost on him, said as quietly as only vampires really can, quiet enough that even his supernatural hearing has trouble picking up more than a few words. Thankfully after a moment he hears approaching footsteps and Ranboo appears in tow with Niki, both unharmed and relatively at peace. The fledglings are immediately alarmed, hissing and writhing away, but Ranboo calms them down with a purr and dives down to hug both of them, satisfying his instincts that demand he knows what’s going on with them.

Techno suspects he’s only left the nest because his clanmate (Techno) was left to protect the fledglings. One of the reasons why he didn’t even try to follow them.

Another was that vampires are fucking scary when dealing with in-clan fights.

He didn’t want to mess with this, no thank you.

Techno gets out of his head and meets Niki’s eyes. His sister looks at him with an appropriate amount of regret and an inappropriate amount of annoyance. Well excuse him, he had an excuse to not be a part of her and Ranboo’s squabble, and he had an even better excuse for not being on her side. The better excuse being: She was fucking wrong. Sucks to be her.

“Ready to talk?” he asks her instead of voicing all that. She nods, but her eyes speak ‘not yet’. He totally understands. Emotional talks? Brrrrr. Horrible.

“Kids, we’re going to have a change of surroundings,” Ranboo informs the fledglings, earning two angered hisses.

Techno pays them no mind as he gets up and walks towards Niki, keeping his posture forcefully relaxed. She’s standing in the doorway, the knife still glistens on the floor behind her. Techno’s tense, he’d like to say she’s not going to attack again, especially after a chat with Ranboo, but…

Well, their bond is still closed.

Closed-bond Niki is a dangerous Niki.

(He loves her to bits, but it would be disrespectful to not acknowledge her sharp edges.)

To be honest, Techno is horrible when it comes to vampire magic. Duh. He’s a werewolf. But he tries to nudge Niki’s end of the bond open. He probably looks hilarious, brows scrunched together, eyes closed, but he doesn’t care about that as he hears Niki snort out a laugh. Good.

“Okay, okay you mutt, I’ll open it, just… just give me a moment.”

He smiles, even as he feels the floodgates open, and days worth of emotions assault his subconscious. He clenches his fists at the amount of fear he senses. And so he throws himself at Niki and hugs her, ensuring she knows she has him, no matter what.

From the pleased hum he receives, he thinks the message got through.

Moving nests ends up easier than expected. The fledglings put up minimal fight, and the moment Ranboo purrs at them they relent completely.

Niki watches with bewilderment as the group sets out into the night, and swiftly arrives at the new location. And then comes Ranboo’s favourite part, introducing the fledglings to a proper nest.

“OH MY GOD IT’S SO FLUFFY!” Tubbo immediately starts rolling around on the duvet, squishing many various pillows as he goes.

Tommy is a little more cautious, but soon enough he too melts into a content puddle of a purring fledgling, content to half-nap at peace.

Niki settles on a beanbag, away from the fledglings, but not trying to put too much distance between herself and them. She immediately pulls out her phone and headphones, and starts playing a rhythm game, a clear sign she wants some time to put together her thoughts.

Techno decides to flop down on the pillowy hill next to her, closing his eyes with a content expression. As a wolf of course. The fledgling watch his switch with awe, before going back to their respective activities. Niki stares at them a little too long to hide it properly. Heh.

Ranboo elects to flop down between his, soon to be officially his, changelings. Soon. He’ll ask them shortly, and he knows for a fact that they’ll say yes.

There are things unsaid that need to be said, and some tension in the atmosphere, but his clan is alright, and that’s what matters.

He allows his consciousness to drift with that in mind.