Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Xander fidgeted with their bandana, uncomfortable under the faux-sunlight in the relaxation room. Sure, vampires didn’t actually die in sunlight, but going out during the day was rarely a pleasant experience for vampiric kind.

He preferred to go out at night, not because of personal safety, but because there were less.. well, humans around. If he blacked out from thirst at night, there was less of a chance they’d accidentally injure or, God forbid, kill someone.

He’s not sure why they accepted Nico’s offer to hang out here, since they picked possibly the brightest room in the entire building. It would’ve probably been suspicious if he outright refused them, though.

So here they were, sitting with his—to his knowledge—human friend, uncomfortably thirsty but trying to hold on to his control over themselves, lest they black out and attack Nico.

“Um, X- Xander..? Are you alright? You look d- dizzy..”

“H- Huh? Oh, I- uh.. I’m fine, Nico. Thank.. you for asking.”

“Are you sure? I can t- take you to the i- infirmary if you feel sick..”

“I- yes, I’m sure. Thank you, though.”

The pet therapist stared at them, their ruby eyes burning a hole into Xander’s skull. Obviously, they didn’t believe he was fine, but how could they take him anywhere against his will?

Xander barely had any energy, and felt like he was about to pass out at any moment. They tried to continue talking to Nico, but fell onto the turf before he could finish his sentence.

“I- Xander?! A- are you okay..?”

“…”

“Xander..?”

Fuck. Not now. Please , not now. Xander tried to speak, but his voice faltered and they swore that they accidentally hissed. Nico hesitantly tapped his shoulder, their face blanketed in concern for the redhead.

“N- Nico, I’m fine.. please don’t t- touch me right now, though..”

“O- okay, but I’m still taking you to the infirmary because you nearly passed out.”

“…Fffffine..”

Nico let him stand up on his own, but helped him out of the relaxation room and into the elevator. This was not good. If Xander blacked out here, then- no, no that wasn’t going to happen. He’d gotten pretty good control of that, right?

They left the elevator and Nico helped him into the infirmary, sitting him down on the bed.

“O- okay, you can go now.” He said, their voice wavering. Nico paused for a minute, mumbling something before nodding and leaving the room. Xander let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Making sure Nico was actually gone, Xander got up and walked towards the fridge in the infirmary. It usually had blood bags for transfusions in it, right? As long as nobody walks in, they should have enough in one to not starve to death.

Can vampires starve? Xander actually didn’t know. He had gotten so used to eating human food that it hadn’t crossed their mind. The redhead wasn’t particularly keen on finding out, though.

Just as Xander cut open the corner of the bag, he heard the door open. They froze, not even drawing a breath in anticipation for whoever had walked in. It’s not like vampires needed to breathe, anyway (they do).

“Xander, what are you.. doing?” David, who had started staring at them, his starry eyes wide asked. Xander hid the bag, praying it didn’t spill, and turned around. “M- Mister David! Hi! What’s up?”

“Nico told me you were sick, so I came to check on you.. also stop with the Mister thing, please.”

“I- of course! Sorry, David..”

“So, what were you doing before I came in?”

“I- uh- n- nothing important.. just.. looking around?”

“Has anybody ever told you that you’re a horrible liar?”

Xander blushed—well, he didn’t actually have blood of his own to make their face red, but close enough. The rebel averted his eyes, which were gradually turning crimson in colour as David walked closer to him. “So, what were you doing? I’m not going to judge you, regardless of what it is.”

If he knew what you are, what an absolute fucking monster you really are, he wouldn’t be saying that. Xander shook off their worries and took a deep breath, deciding that they’d done enough hiding. At least, with David at least. 

Would David actually believe him? Most people probably don’t believe in vampires, so who’s to say?

“D- David, I..”

“You..?”

Xander got flustered again, opening his mouth wide accidentally to shout. “G- give me a second!-” When he realised what they’d done, he shot up a hand to cover his mouth and, by extension, fangs.

“Wait… red eyes, pale skin, sharp teeth..”

Here it comes. He’s going to either run away or try to kill you. You’re going to have to kill him. Xander braced himself for David to finish speaking, wishing for the first time in his life to not be hearing the bluenette’s voice.

“Are you-”

“A vampire! I’m a vampire, okay?!”

David stood, somewhat in shock. His eyes had lost their usual golden glow, leaving them stone grey and opened as wide as they could. Was that not what he was going to say? Oh, god. What if Xander said that and David was thinking something completely different?!

“Xander, that’s..”

“Ridiculous? Yeah, I know.”

“Well, yes, a little.. but, I mean, that’s fine.”

“Just so you know, I don’t bite people norma-! Wait, what? That’s.. fine?”

“Obviously. You can’t really help it, can you?”

It was Xander’s turn to be shocked, and the redhead stood in stunned silence, watching David’s softening expression. “I’m guessing you were trying to eat something, then?” The speaker said, a somewhat cheeky smile on his face.

Xander nodded, embarrassed beyond belief. He couldn’t believe David hadn’t gotten mad or even tried to say that they were lying. If they were in his shoes, he certainly would have.

David seemed sympathetic, but most people did at first. Then they’d try to drive a stake through Xander’s heart or poison him with garlic. But there were no stakes here, nor any cloves of garlic.

They were alone. In the infirmary. Nothing was around them. Xander gradually let his shoulders drop, not even realising they had raised in the first place. David noticed the subtle loss in tension and smiled.

“I’m not going to kill you, by the way. Now or ever.”

“Most people say that. Then I wake up one night to them on top of me with a stake in hand.”

“Well, I’m not most people, am I?”

Xander didn’t answer. He didn’t feel scared now , but he can’t predict the future. David could come to his senses later and try to kill them or he could tell someone and they try to kill him-

“What can I do to make you believe that I don’t want to hurt you?” David challenged. He had crossed his arms and his face had become much more serious. “You drink blood, right? Bite me. I won’t pull away or fight it, swear on my life.”

Bite him? Was he insane?! Xander wasn’t a very powerful vampire—he couldn’t turn others, or put people in a trance.. yet—but being bitten, regardless of the purpose or who did it, hurt like Hell.

“W- what?! David, I’m not going to bite you!”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s fucking painful! Really painful!”

“It’s not like you’ve been bitten, how do you know?”

Xander sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. They knew first hand how badly being bitten hurt. They supposed if he had to reveal more about his life to convince David this was a horrible idea he would. 

“I know because I was born as  a human.” They stated, letting a breath escape their lips before continuing. “I was bitten and turned into a vampire when I first moved to the UK.”

“Oh… Oh.”

David looked dumbfounded. Was he embarrassed that he asked something that personal? Xander didn’t particularly mind telling any human that knew about vampires how he became one himself—the only time problems arose was with people who were born as vampires.

“I’m so sorry, oh my God.” David buried his face in his hands, obviously blushing from embarrassment. “I thought you were, like, one of the really old vampires that was born as one. Like in movies.”

“Well, those do exist. I’m only around 18 years old, though.” Xander said, laughing a little bit. “But, more on the topic, I’m against biting people because of that. But.. if you’re absolutely certain, I’ll do it. But only your wrist. I don’t bite necks if I can help it.”

He fidgeted with his gloves, waiting for David to say something. Anything. David cleared his throat, drawing the rebel’s attention back to him. “Okay. You can bite my wrist, since you’re clearly, pardon my language, fucking starving.”

David held out his wrist and tensed up, probably trying to make sure it wasn’t as painful. Xander gently lifted his arm towards their mouth and sank their fangs into it.

“MMPH!-” David bit back a pained scream. Xander told him it was going to hurt. Tears formed at the corner of the speaker’s eyes, and he let a gasp escape his mostly sealed lips. 

Xander could tell he was in agony, how could he not be? However, he couldn’t exactly pull away on a moment's notice without worrying about accidentally opening a vein with his fangs.

The speaker let a half-scream escape his mouth, and tears were flowing down his cheeks. Xander couldn’t see his face, but that was probably for the better. If they got distracted before they were done, he could seriously hurt David.

The bluenette’s face paled and he looked dizzy, so Xander held him as still as possible and pulled away from his arm. David swayed where he stood for a second before falling into Xander’s arms. 

Lucky catch. The rebel sighed and sat him on the infirmary bed. They probably overdid it, but at least he hadn’t accidentally killed David. Well, now the speaker knew they were an actual bonafide vampire. And Xander had some confirmation that David wasn’t going to make an attempt on their life in the next few days.

“…So. You.. are a vampire, after all.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t lying.”

“My wrist is still aching.”

Xander laughed, not bothering to hide his bloody fangs anymore. David’s wrist was still bleeding, glistening scarlet dripping onto the bed. “It’ll probably hurt for about a week. Sorry.”

David got up, staggering a little bit, and grabbed a roll of bandages from a shelf. He wrapped it around his wrist until the blood didn’t soak completely through.

“Are you alright? I mean, your wrist is bleeding.”

“Well, I just got my blood drunk by a vampire, Xander.”

“Aha, sorry..”

David rolled his eyes and smiled, his face still abnormally pale. “It’s fine. I asked you to do it, remember?”

“It’s about twelve, wanna go get lunch? Wait, do vampires eat human food?”

“David, you have seen me eat before.”

“Right. I thought you just did that to hide your, well, vampire-ness.. what’s the word?”

“Vampirism.”

“That. Right.”

Xander nodded and started to leave, letting David follow behind them. They walked in silence—par for David occasionally wincing in pain from his bleeding wrist.

Chapter Text

The redhead opened the door to the cafeteria, holding it for David so he didn’t have to strain his wrist. When the speaker walked into the room, a few people gasped at the bandages on his wrist.

“David, are you alright? What happened?” Hu asked, walking up to him and lifting his arm to see his bandages. David smiled and chuckled. “Aha, I’m fine. I..” He looked over at Xander, and the rebel subtly shook their head. Nobody had to know yet. “Fell! In the infirmary. Cut my arm on a scalpel. I’m okay though.”

“Oh, you poor thing. Do you need someone to help you with anything?” She gently prodded at his arm, trying to see how badly hurt he was. Xander coughed into his hand, and Hu looked up at them. “Oh, are you helping him? That’s alright, then. I trust you to help him.”

They both nodded and hurriedly sat down at a table, waiting for Eden to call everyone. She and Levi were making lunch today, so it was probably going to be something sickeningly sweet.

Xander was about to speak when he realised Teruko was sitting opposite them. Fuck. She can’t know about it. Not yet. She didn’t pick up on Xander’s uneasiness and chatted with him as if it was any normal day.

“So, Xander, I heard you fainted earlier. How are you feeling now?”

“I- ahem, I’m feeling better, Miss Teruko. Honestly, it’s a stroke of luck I happened to be there when David.. fell. I caught him and sat him down in the bed.”

“I see. That’s a pretty small wound for something like falling onto a scalpel, consider yourself lucky, David.”

David looked up at her and smiled, laughing nervously. “Yeah, I- I’m sure it could’ve been a lot worse. It hurts pretty badly, though. Like I’ve been stabbed or impaled.” Xander shot him a look, and he muttered a hushed “Sorry.” 

“You should be happy I wasn’t there. With my luck, you’d probably have ended up in a full body cast.” She laughed and fidgeted with her bow. Xander perked up and pointed at both David and Teruko’s arms.

“Hey, you’re almost matching!” They joked, gesturing at the bandages wrapped around both the speaker and lucky student’s respective arms. “Oh, I suppose we are.” David said, fixing his hair clips.

Eden poked her head out of the kitchen door, smiling. She was covered head to toe in flour.

“Food’s ready!” 

“Alright, Eden, be there in a minute!”

Xander stood up, pushing David down as he tried to join them. “Your arm, remember? I’ll get yours and bring it out, okay?” 

David nodded, averting his eyes and absently rubbing his wounded arm. Xander was being too nice over it. Sure, they bit him… But he asked, didn't he? What if he thought Xander was just trying to win his trust and kill him?

He walked into the kitchen and caught sight of his reflection—well, he didn’t actually have one, but anything that wasn’t his clothes or Xander himself showed up—on a pot and saw the blood on his lips. Fuck. They forgot to wipe their mouth, and they’ve had David’s blood on it the entire time.

“Hm, Xander? What’s wrong?” Levi, also absolutely doused in flour, asked. Xander quickly wiped the blood off of his mouth and smiled nervously. “Oh, nothing! I just, um, had something on my face.”

The redhead stepped away from the pot, hiding his reflection—or his lack thereof—from Levi and Eden. Neither of them seemed to find it odd, or at least, they didn’t say they did.

They grabbed two plates of.. pancakes? At 12pm? Doesn’t matter. One for him and one for David. Levi was about to question it, but Eden—who had seen David’s bandaged arm when she called everyone in—gestured for him to not bother.

Xander returned to their, David, and Teruko’s table. Setting the plate in front of the speaker before sitting down next to him. He was engaged in conversation with Teruko, so he didn’t notice Xander until they sat down. 

“So, then I- oh! Thank you, Xander.”

“No problem.”

Teruko stood up, gently setting her hands on the table. “I’m going to get my lunch too, then.” She walked into the kitchen, and within moments there was a crash, and Eden shouted.

“Oh, no! Teruko, are you okay?!”

“Mmnn.. I’m fine..”

And.. another crash. Christ, the woman was grabbing a plate !- Just how unlucky could one woman be? Xander looked at David and they both laughed. It was a little mean, but Teruko’s misfortune was a little funny.

She came out with her plate at last, absolutely covered in flour and sugar and God knows what other ingredients. Xander’s eyes were, obviously, drawn to the bleeding wound on her head. Even though he had.. fixed his little problem earlier, he was a literally bloodthirsty vampire. David placed his hand on their arm to distract them. 

“Xander.” He whispered, gently squeezing the rebel’s arm. Xander turned to him, shaking his head as if he was coming out of a trance. They smiled, keeping his head turned away from Teruko as she sat down.

This was not how he wanted anyone to find out he wasn’t, well, human. Teruko wouldn’t judge him or try to kill him if she found out though, right? Right..?

The lucky student coughed into her fist, trying to draw attention to herself. “Xander, what’s up? You’re.. avoiding looking at me. Do I look that ridiculous?”

“A- ah.. no, Miss Teruko. It’s just, I’m.. I’m uh.. afraid of blood! It makes me really sick and you have a bleeding cut on your forehead.” Xander said, trying to keep their eyes from the blood dripping down her face. Teruko nodded sympathetically.

“I understand, I noticed Charles shutting his eyes too, but everyone already knows about his phobia of blood. I’ll eat quickly and go patch it up, so you two aren’t uncomfortable or nauseous.”

“Thank you, Miss Teruko.”

Xander stared at his plate for a while, before slamming his hands on the table and standing up. “Actually! I’ve lost my appetite, sorry. I’m going to.. go.”

Teruko perked up, her brown eyes widening slightly. “Are you okay, Xander? Do you want someone to go with you?” Xander quickly shook their head, shutting his eyes and looking down.

“No! Definitely not! I’m alright!” And with that final sentence, Xander ran out of the cafeteria. They hid in the empty laundry room, trying to calm down from the blood-induced frenzy he was in.

The rebel didn’t notice the footsteps or the door opening until Teruko sat down next to him, her head in a clean bandage.

“Xander? Are you okay?”

“Miss.. T- Teruko..? I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You look really pale. Are you feeling well?”

If they were in other circumstances, Xander would have laughed. Of course, Teruko was under the impression that:

1. Vampires do not exist.
2. Xander was a completely ordinary human.

Both of which were not true. Xander couldn’t just say that though, could they?

Teruko seemed like she’d understand, so Xander decided to chance it. He was going to get killed if they kept this up…

“Miss Teruko?” The rebel asked, not looking up from their knees. Teruko tilted her head, confused. How would she react? Would she… no, Teruko wouldn’t try to kill him, right?

“Yeah, Xander?”

“Do you.. ah.. believe in mythical things.. like werewolves or monsters..?”

“I haven’t really given it much thought, but I do believe in the paranormal and supernatural considering my luck.”

Xander held his breath, looking up at the brunette for the first time in the entire conversation. It’ll be okay. It has to be. “Miss Teruko, I’m…”

Why can’t he say it?

It was so easy with David, all he has to do is say two more words.

Why are they so scared this time?

He bowed his head again, terrified of the reaction they would get.

At last, the words escape their lips after a flaming eternity of silence.

“…A vampire.”

Teruko didn’t answer, instead taking the rebel’s hand into her own. Xander stared at her, waiting for her to push him back and threaten them.

But she didn’t. Teruko smiled, an understanding, loving smile. She didn’t want to hurt him.. she didn’t… want to hurt him.

Maybe she just didn’t believe them, and was waiting for him to laugh at the joke.. but… no laughter came, and yet she still smiled at them. She still fucking smiled at them.

“Xander..”

The redhead tensed up, afraid of what the lucky student could say. She didn’t say anything.

She pulled them into a hug, a comforting hug the rebel didn’t realise how badly he needed. Their shoulders dropped, and he finally let out that breath he was holding.

“I don’t really understand what you mean, and I do find it a little unbelievable, but I trust you not to lie to me.”

“…”

“You were scared of me hurting you, right?”

“…I’m scared of everyone hurting me.”

“You have nothing to fear, Xander. I’m here for you, David is here for you, everyone else too.”

Xander didn’t know if he was still able to cry, but he felt damn close. Their eyes stung with painful familiarity and God, their chest ached. They stayed together for what felt like a century, not moving or speaking. 

When Xander pulled away, he wiped his eyes. No tears had fallen, but they found doing this anyway helped with the stinging.

“I.. I’m a vampire, like I said. I drink blood and I’m.. more or less immortal.” He said, sighing. There was no pressure this time, like there was with David. Xander felt innately safe . “I do bite people sometimes, but only when I have to.”

“This might sound stupid, but can I see your fangs?”

“Huh? I mean, I suppose so.”

Xander opened his mouth wide and showed her the four sharp teeth at the front, still red from biting David prior. “Why are they…”

“Wait. David hurt his arm in the infirmary, and you happened to be there… did you b-”

“Yes. Yes I bit him. He asked me to do it and I did.”

The rebel buried his head in embarrassment, making a silly sounding noise that was close to a squeak. Teruko laughed a little. It felt… weird for her to not even be slightly disgusted at Xander.

He was a monster, right? A bloodthirsty monster… he didn’t choose to be this way, but he was who he was. That was the one thing he could never change. He hurt people to survive.

“..Are you gonna bite me?”

“No! I mean, if you wanted me to, I’d probably do it, but I would never bite a friend of my own free will.”

“Your own free will?”

“Right. Because I’m a.. younger vampire, thirst has a worse effect on me than on older vampires. I’m not as used to it as they are.. I black out and basically go on a rampage. It’s not pretty.”

“Ah.”

They sat in comfortable silence, blissfully ignorant to anything except each other. Teruko seemed like she was full of questions, but didn’t know which to ask.

“How old are you anyway?”

“Same age as you.”

“Did you get turned recently? Or were you always a vampire?”

“I got bitten when I was eleven. So about seven years.”

“Hm.”

She didn’t answer for a moment, taking in Xander’s words. “Sorry if I’m asking a lot of questions, Xander. You’re my.. well, really one of my only friends and I want to understand what being you is like.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind answering questions since you’re.. human. Most people that find out ask a lot worse questions. David asked for me to literally bite him.”

“That would be awkward. Don’t you have a cr-”

“Shut up.”

“Haha, sorry.”

There wasn’t really anything left for Xander to say to her. Well, maybe they could apologise for lying about having hemophobia earlier. That was probably important.

“Miss Teruko, I.. ah, I’m sorry for lying about my hemophobia earlier.”

“You lied about it?”

“Miss Teruko, I drink blood. Do you think I’m scared of it?”

“Right.”

“I lied because.. I kind of got put in some kind of frenzy seeing your blood and I didn’t want to freak you out.”

“Ah. That’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t.”

It felt awkward, and not at all like Xander expected telling someone he was a bloodsucking monster of his own free will would be.

Teruko stood up, brushing off her olive skirt and offering a hand to Xander. The redhead took it, pulling himself up with her. “So,” she said, her usual tone back in her voice, “is there anyone else you want to tell?”

“I mean.. if I’m going to, getting Ace and Veronika out of the way would be nice.”

Chapter Text

After some time, Teruko helped Xander work up the courage to begin telling the rest of their class about his… unique traits.

Even if it was terrifying to do, finally being honest about what he was felt so liberating. Like a weight had been pulled off of his back and they could finally stand up straight again.

First on the list was the horror movie ‘buddies’, Ace and Veronika. Veronika would probably take it well—maybe too well, actually—but Ace was another story.

The jockey was notorious for his fear of.. everything. He’d probably scream like a child at the idea of Xander biting someone. If it wasn’t so terrifying to have someone be scared of you for something you couldn’t control, Xander would’ve found it funny.

Walking through the corridors, the pair stopped outside the movie screening room. Xander stared at the door. Could they really do this? What would Veronika and Ace say? What wouldn’t they say, more importantly?

Teruko set her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “You can do this. I’ll be right here, Xander.” The redhead nodded and hesitantly pushed open the door.

Veronika and Ace both turned to look at him. “Hm? Xander? Do you want to join us? We're watching a movie!” Veronika said, pointing excitedly at the screen. Ace’s expression looked like a terrified plea for help.

“Ah, no.. While that would be nice, I-” the rebel looked back at Teruko, who was standing at the door. “I need to tell you two something. It’s important.”

“Anything’s better than these horrifying attacks on my mental health..!” Ace cried, covering his eyes as a gory scene played out on the screen. “If it scares you so much, why do you keep coming here and watching them with her?” Xander questioned, crossing his arms.

“I- never mind that! What did you want to tell us, jackass?!”

“Yes, I’m curious as well. What’s this important piece of information you have for us? Are you going to confess to being some kind of bloodthirsty creature of the night, toiling away as you wait for the next unsuspecting human to satiate your hunger?”

Ace stared at her, appalled. “ WHAT THE FUCK?! Xander, you’re strong, protect me from this madwoman..!” The jockey was almost in tears, but most of his fear was probably from the scary movie. “There’s no way she’s telling the truth, or is even remotely close! …Right?”

“Actually, Ace.. Veronika’s pretty much spot on.” Xander admitted, “Except for that last part. I’m not.. ‘toiling away’ so to speak.” 

Both redheads stared at Xander like he’d just confessed to murder. Veronika’s surprise quickly faded to excitement and Ace’s to fear.

“What are you? Are you a werewolf? A vampire? A dhampir? A-”

“The.. second thing, Veronika. I’m a vampire.”

“ A VAMPIRE?! A- are you going to bite me?!”

“No! I don’t try to bite humans without their enthusiastic consent.”

“Stop saying humans like we’re some different species to you!”

“But we are, Ace. Xander is a completely different species to us, he just happens to look like a human.”

“Wow, thanks for that, Veronika.”

“You’re welcome!”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Oh..”

Talking to them about his vampirism actually proved easier than expected. Veronika was full of questions for him, especially. “So, how have you been eating here? Have you been feasting on your classmates?”

Xander shook his head. “The blood bags in the infirmary. I’ve only bitten one person in our class and it only happened once .”

“Who did you bite?” The horror fanatic inquired. She’s probably only so interested because Xander reminds her of a horror movie character, but it was a nice change in pace from Teruko and David’s attitudes. 

“…David.” Xander confessed, a little embarrassed. Ace, who was being uncharacteristically silent, suddenly spoke up. “Is that why his arm was suddenly injured?! Holy shit, if you can do that to someone you like, what’s stopping you from doing worse to the rest of us?!”

“My morals? I may be a vampire, but I’m still the Ultimate Rebel, Ace. Plus, I know what it feels like to be bitten, I don’t wish that on anyone.” Xander said, slightly annoyed at Ace’s accusatory tone. 

“Then why did you bite David?” Veronika asked, twirling her red hair between her fingers. “As far as I’m aware, you were on good terms with him, no? Why give him that pain?” Xander, already exhausted, sighed. “He offered. I tried to tell him no but he wouldn’t budge about it.”

“Ooh, I see, I see. So you’ll only bite a person if they offer themselves up to you first? What a poetic and fair way of going about it.”

“There’s nothing fucking poetic about it! They kill people, Veronika!”

Xander stared at Ace, frustration blanketing his face. “I don’t kill people. The worst I’ve ever done to someone is knock them out for an hour or two… at least, that’s the worst I’ve done consciously.” 

“Consciously?! You mean you can, what, fucking black out and kill someone?!”

“I- Yes.. I can. But only if I don’t drink some kind of blood for at least 3 days—that’s when a human would die of dehydration, right?”

“Ooh, I get it!” Veronika chimed in. “You must obviously have originally been a human at one point, and as a result your body functions similar to ours. With the addition that you drink blood, of course.”

“Yeah,” Xander said, “and I don’t have any blood of my own.” As if to demonstrate, he brushed his hair out of his face and lifted his eyepatch. “Eugh, Xander that’s fucking gross!” Ace yelled, turning his head away.

“I’m just trying to show you. There’s no blood, just cuts where there should be blood.” Xander explained, dropping his eyepatch back over his eye and letting his hair fall back over it. “But you’re right, it is pretty gross. Cool, right?”

“C- cool?!”

“I wouldn’t say cool, but it is interesting. What caused such an injury? Your eye is completely gone.”

“I… have no idea. I just woke up one day and it was like that, with no memory of when or how it happened.”

“I see, I see. That must’ve been disorienting, waking up one day with half of your vision gone.”

“Actually, I was already blind in that eye. My mystery attacker did me a favour by removing it.”

As glad as Xander was that Veronika and Ace didn’t immediately try to kill him, all of the questions were starting to overwhelm them. “Is.. that every question you have? Especially you, Veronika.”

“Hmm, I suppose I am curious about the physical aspects of being a vampire—and your powers, if you have any—but I can just study your behaviour and mannerisms when I’m around you.”

“That’s… not threatening at all.”

Ace seemed to calm down a tiny bit. He was still obviously on edge with Xander, but that couldn’t be helped. The rebel looked back at Teruko, who had stood watching the exchange.. just in case.

“Hey… you’re not gonna bite me, right?” Ace asked, for what seemed like the thousandth time. “No, Ace.” Xander exhaled. “Though, it is becoming increasingly tempting as a method of getting you to stop asking that.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?! I was just starting to get comfortable around you!”

“Ace, I’m only joking!”

“FUCK YOU! That’s not funny!”

Xander rolled his eyes—eye?—and laughed. A real, genuinely happy laugh. Ace teared up and yelled something to the effect of “STOP LAUGHING AT ME!” While Veronika and Teruko joined in laughing.

For the first time in a long time… since he first turned, maybe, Xander felt happy. They felt safe. Hopefully telling everyone else would go this well, and Xander could peacefully coexist with his classmates.

Eventually, after what seemed like an hour of jokes and laughter (mostly at Ace’s expense), Xander left the movie screening room with Teruko.

“So, who’s next?”

“I think Nico deserves an explanation for what happened earlier… but can it wait until tomorrow? Being honest about this is exhausting.”

“Sure, Xander. We can wait.”

Chapter Text

Over the next few days, Xander worked through telling every other classmate that he was a vampire.

Some took it better than others. Min and Charles were curious about the scientific aspect of it. Arturo got upset discovering that Xander had been staving off starvation with the blood bags in the infirmary. Arei tried throwing garlic at him as a “prank”.

That last one wasn’t very funny, by the way. Xander nearly died. Hu gave her a piece of her mind over it, though, which was pretty funny.

Speaking of Hu, she took it better than most. She was curious but not insensitively curious like some others. Nico was pretty understanding about the whole fainting situation but, as is their nature, the conversation was fairly blunt and concise. Xander didn’t mind though.

So now, everyone in Xander’s immediate circle was aware that they were a vampire. 

What now?

Nothing really changed. Ace was maybe a little extra paranoid around them, but really nothing else. Oh, and Veronika was… strangely nicer.

Xander was pulled from his own head by David sitting next to him on the playground swingset.

“You seem out of it.” He said, gently punching the rebel’s arm. “Thought you’d be overcome with relief that you don’t have to keep that a secret anymore.”

“I am! It’s just…” Xander started, sighing. They kicked off the ground and swung back and forth a few times. “I expected you all to act differently, I guess.”

“Act differently, how?”

“Well, being more wary of me? Scared, even.”

“Why would we be afraid of you?” David asked, “You’re the same person.”

The bluenette matched Xander’s pace on the swings, gently holding onto the chains.

“In Ace’s own words, I kill people.”

“Ace is a fucking pussy, though.”

Xander hesitated, looking over at David. He looked back at them, confused. “What’s wrong, did I say something weird?”

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you swear.”

“No, it’s not. Remember when you bit me?”

“Okay, second time. Still, it sounds weird coming from your mouth.”

David laughed. “What’s so weird about it?”

“You’re normally so..” Xander began, trying to think of the right word. “Uptight. And formal. And all this other shit.”

“Yeah well, that’s when I’m on stage or at work.” David explained. “I’m actually pretty bitchy in private.”

“There’s no way. You ? Bitchy?” Xander laughed. “When pigs fly, maybe.”

“It’s true!”

“I do not believe you.”

David teasingly punched him again, a little harder than before, though. “You will.”

“That’s not threatening at all.”

“It’s meant to be.”

Xander flicked the speaker’s arm, making him wince. “Ow!” 

“You hit me first!”

“Yeah, but you’re stronger than a ten tonne truck.”

“Pfft, as if.”

“My arm is starting to bruise already.”

“Oh, dear.”

The bluenette stuck his tongue out and they teasingly hit each other until suddenly David gasped in pain.

“Shit!” Xander shouted, pulling their hands away. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, yes. You just hit the wound I got from getting bitten—No, I’m not okay!”

“I’m so sorry, is it bleeding? Do you want to go to the infirmary?”

“Fuck, I’ll be fine.”

Xander gently grabbed David’s arm, careful not to touch his wrist. Without even looking down, Xander could tell his arm was wet with blood. They pulled their hand away and wiped the blood on their shirt. “You’re bleeding. A lot. Let me take you to the infirmary.”

“I’m fine.”

“David, you-”

“I said I’m fucking fine!”

Xander could’ve sworn that—for a split-second—David’s eyes were the familiar red Xander’s occasionally turned.

The bluenette got up and ran out of the playground, clutching his arm. Xander got up and walked out too.

They didn’t really go anywhere, just walked around aimlessly. He thought about checking if David was in his room or the infirmary, but decided against it.

He decided to go to the cafeteria after a while of wandering around. Opening the door, he saw Eden, Rose and Teruko sitting at one of the tables. Eden waved them over excitedly.

“Xander!” She said, standing up from her seat. “Come over here, we’re painting!”

Xander walked over and looked at the small paintings on the table. As much as he’d never say it out loud, they could definitely tell who’s was who’s.

Rose’s were stunning. Though, that’s to be expected from the Ultimate Art Forger. Eden’s were good. Xander imagined making clocks took some artistic ability, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Teruko’s were… interesting.

“Do you like them?” Teruko asked, holding up her painting of a… bird…? Xander grinned nervously and nodded. “Mhm!”

Rose held up a blank page, gesturing for him to take it. “Do you want to paint with us?”

“Uh… sure, why not?” Xander took the page and sat down next to Teruko. “What should I paint?”

“Ooh, we should paint something spooky!” Eden exclaimed, clasping her hands. Xander glanced at her. She was staring directly at him. “I thought you’d want to paint something cute.”

“…^^”

“It’s because I’m here, isn’t it?”

“…Okayyy, yes. I thought you’d like those sort of things since you’re a-”

“Vampire, yeah I know.”

“Hwah..-! I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings!” She buried her head in her hands, embarrassed. Xander smiled, gently taking her hand into his to comfort her. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

They leaned in to whisper in her ear. “And, just so you know,” Xander started, “I do like spooky things, anyway.”

He sat back in his seat. Teruko lifted her paintbrush, splattering paint on herself. “Damn it! I just changed into a clean uniform.”

Rose laughed, covering her face with her hand. She looked up at Xander, handing him a paintbrush. “Xander, do you have any powers or anything?”

“I- I mean, I can turn into a bat sometimes?” Xander answered, slightly unsure of what she meant. “And I’m more or less immortal, if that counts.”

“Can you turn into a bat on command?” The art forger asked. Xander nodded. “I can, but it takes a lot of energy to do it for very long.”

“What about, say, twenty minutes?”

“I could probably do that.”

“Can I paint you as a bat?”

Xander was slightly taken aback. It wasn’t everyday someone wanted to paint him as a human, let alone in his bat form. “I- okay..?”

They pulled off their bandana, which they learned the hard way did not suddenly become part of his bat form like the rest of his clothing when he transformed. 

He took a deep breath and, shrouded in a weird smoke that appeared every time he used his powers, turned into a bat. 

“Ooh, cute!” Eden said, a little too loud for their new form’s sensitive hearing. “Ow, my ears…”

“Sorry..” the clockmaker muttered. “Wait, you can talk as a bat?”

“Yes.”

“But how? You don’t have human vocal chords.”

“Eden, I’m an immortal, ethereal, blood-drinking being that can turn into an animal at will. Magic.”

Rose held up her painting and it felt like Xander was looking in a mirror. Well, he can’t look in mirrors anymore, but that’s irrelevant.

“It’s done.”

“That was quick, and it looks… really lifelike.”

“Mhm… *yawn*”

Rose set her painting down again before promptly falling asleep. Xander flew around and caught her before she fell out of her seat. They set her comfortably on the seat before transforming back into a human.

Eden jumped in fright as soon as Xander reappeared. The redhead stared at her. “Am I really that scary?”

“Well.. no. But you’re really small as a bat and then really tall as a human!”

“I’m only six feet tall?”

“ ONLY?! ”

She stood up and her head only reached just below Xander’s shoulders, she had to look up at him. “I’m five foot two!”

Teruko laughed, spilling paint on herself again. She either didn’t notice or didn’t care this time, though.

“What’s so funny?” Xander asked, looking over Eden’s hair bow at the lucky student. “You’re.. you’re undead right?”

“Yes..?”

“And you’re six feet tall?”

“ Yes……? ”

“And vampires sleep in coffins sometimes?”

“Yes, I don’t understand what you’re talking about it for thou- oh. Oh, I get it. ‘Six feet under’.”

Teruko’s giggles slowly faded. “Sorry, I just thought of that joke and couldn’t resist making it.”

“Yeah, it’s not like you to joke, Miss Teruko.” Xander said, copying Teruko’s usual stance and tone. “Normally you’re all serious and grumpy and shit.”

“Wh- I’m not grumpy!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

Their argument woke up Rose, who sleepily told them to be quiet before she went back to sleep. Eden checked the time before hurrying into the kitchen, pulling Teruko and Xander with her.

Luckily, Xander could catch himself by turning into a bat before he fell from the sudden loss in momentum when they arrived. Teruko, however, was not as lucky. She fell flat on her face.

She looked up at Xander, still flying a foot or two off of the ground. “Help. Me. Up.”

Xander turned back into a human and offered her a hand. She took it and pulled herself up. “Eden, why’d you bring us in here?”

“It’s time to make dinner!”

“I’m not allowed to cook after the cake incident.”/“I can’t taste food, so I can’t cook well.”

Xander and Teruko stared at each other, confused. Xander was the first to speak after the awkward silence. “ What is the cake incident?”

“Me, Eden, Min, and Rose baked a cake, I dropped it and it splattered everywhere.”

“Oh.”

“Now you. What do you mean you can’t taste food?”

“I have a really weak sense of taste.”

“How weak?”

“I have to add so much flavouring to food to taste it that I’d be dead if I wasn’t, y’know, immortal.”

“Is that just because you’re a vampire, or?” Teruko asked. Xander shook his head and sighed. “No, I’ve always been unable to taste most foods.”

Eden, who had gone into the pantry to get ingredients, came out with a box full of god knows what.

“You guys want to make pizza? It’s a generally safe thing to cook for Teruko.”

“What about Xander?”

“He can add as much seasoning and all to his as they want.”

Xander spotted something in the box and looked closer at it. “Is that..”

“Oh! I totally forgot that you’re allergic to garlic, I’m sorry!”

“I’m not allergic to it.”

“You’re not?”

“No. Garlic is to vampires what rat poison is to rats.”

Eden mumbled something about a morbid comparison before putting the clove of garlic away and washing her hands. 

They, with some difficulty, managed to make a pizza that was edible.

Xander was, being the strongest, tasked with carrying it out for everyone to eat. He set the food on an empty table and spotted David sitting on his own. He looked horrible.

The redhead brought him over a plate and sat down. “Hey.” They said, leaning on the table. “Feeling any better?”

“Not really.” David mumbled, pushing the plate of food away. “I’m not hungry, either.” His breath was noticeably ragged and heavy, as if he was sick.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you…”

“Hey, no, it’s fine. You were upset and I wasn’t really making it better, so I don’t mind.”

Their conversation was abruptly ended by Teruko bringing Min over to sit with them.

“Oh, hello, Miss Teruko. Miss Min.” Xander greeted the pair with a wave. Min gave a tiny wave back and sat down, continuing to read a book she had been reading all day.

“Is that book good, Min?” David asked in as normal a voice he could muster. Min looked up at him and nodded, smiling. “It’s a record of European mythology.”

“What part are you at?”

“Creatures and recorded sightings. The page I’m at’s about werewolves.”

“Ooh, I’d love to borrow it when you finish it.”

“Say,” Min said, turning slightly to face Xander. “Since you’re a vampire, Xander. Are other mythological creatures real?”

“I, uh-” Xander started a little awkwardly. “Vampires—obviously—yes, werewolves yes, fairies and fae maybe, and that’s all I know.”

“Maybe?” Teruko asked. “You’re not sure?”

“I try to avoid people that aren’t humans or vampires, but I think I saw one once.”

“Why avoid them? Surely you’d have more in common with a werewolf than a human.”

Xander sighed. “You know how I was turned into a vampire?”

“Yes..?” Teruko said. Xander tapped his hands on the table nervously. “Well, ah, some vampires are born that way. If I had a kid chances are they’d be a vampire.”

“And?”

“Werewolves aren’t like that. All werewolves I know of, which is a lot, were turned and most see it as a curse. We don’t really get along because most vampires see their lack of humanity as a blessing instead.”

Teruko nodded in understanding. “So it’s like an ideology thing?” Xander shrugged. “More or less.”

They continued to talk about general topics like the weather or hobbies or just general chatter. David had pulled away from the conversation a few minutes into it and sat with his head in his hands, presumably with a headache.

When the conversation died down, Xander set his hand on the speaker’s back and leaned into his ear. “Are you okay?” They whispered. When David didn’t answer, the rebel got worried. 

When David fainted, their worry increased tenfold.

Chapter Text

“H— huh?!” 

Teruko jumped—and consequently fell—back at the thud from David hitting the table. Min stood up and ran around to help him. There was a commotion from the rest of their class because, well, David just fainted!

Xander stood frozen. They didn’t know why, but a knot formed in their stomach looking at David lying on the table. And they also felt a sense of familiarity.

They couldn’t move. Why remember that now, of all times? Running for his life. Screaming in an alleyway for anybody to save him. Being left to die. But not dying, no. Not Xander. Never dying.

Xander had been just a kid when it happened. Eleven years old. They moved to England to attend a prestigious boarding school, and a kind boy in his last year had offered them a space in his dorm.

Xander had accepted, obviously. He didn’t know any better. Later that night, when that same student asked them to come out into the city to ‘play a game’, Xander had felt obligated to accept.

They went out with the boy’s friends, all much older than the young preteen that Xander was when they were still human.

Xander could still vividly remember every word those boys said to him.

“ We’re going to play a game with you, Alex.” One, Xander believed his name was Louis, had said with a warm smile on his face. “ It’s like hide and seek.”

“ I’d love to play!” Xander had replied, eager to make friends in a new environment. The rules of the game had been simple. Xander was to hide anywhere in London, and the boys were to seek him out.

It seemed simple enough to Xander at the time. Who could blame them for accepting? He was just a kid. He had hid in an alleyway behind a supermarket. It was almost laughable how easy the boys had found him.

When Xander asked what happened after he was found, he was met with no kind answer. The boy he had shared a room with had dragged him out into the street by the collar, ignoring Xander telling him that it hurt .

After being thrown to the ground, Xander had tried to get up. They were pushed down almost immediately. The Louis boy had knelt over them, a wicked smile on his face. “ We found you, Alex. You know what that means?”

“I— I get to seek out one of you…?” Xander had stuttered out, backing up against the coarse road. The group laughed and the boy had dragged Xander back over to him. “ Wrong. It means you’re going to die.”

“ Wh— what..? Gah—!” Xander had shouted as the boy he was roommates with lifted him up again, dragging him into the alleyway out of sight. And then the group of them had attacked him. Biting him. Kicking him. Drawing his blood.

Xander had screamed for help, obviously. Who wouldn’t? But it was so late at night that his cries fell on deaf ears. They had kicked and screamed, but the boys were so much stronger than him. They had held him down and sank their teeth into his neck. 

After a few minutes of agony, they pulled away and Xander’s roommate, apparently the group’s leader, chuckled and had pulled Xander to his feet. “ Tell you what, Alex. I’m in the mood to play another game. If you can run and hide until sunrise, you get to live. It’s one in the morning now, so good luck lasting until then.”

He didn’t have to tell Xander twice. They had booked it, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Not staying still for even a moment, they had sprinted halfway across the city. 

Xander had almost made it, too. The sky was beginning to turn that longed for shade of muted orange when a pair of hands had grabbed him and pulled him back. “ Found you~.”

Xander had cried and begged to be free, attempting to wrestle himself from the ironclad grip. He had been too weak. Too pathetic to protect themselves. Why was this happening to them? They were just a kid. He was just a little kid.

“Please, l— let me go! I’m only e— eleven, I’m just a k— kid..! I didn’t d— do anything to you—!”

“Tough luck. The younger you are, the better your blood tastes.”

“Wh— what…?”

That exchange had confused Xander at the time. Why did they want to taste his blood? He struggled the entire journey to where the boys were going to hurt him again, kicking and screaming as loudly as they could manage.

Once they got into a secluded spot, the boys had continued where they had left off, until every drop of blood that was going to come out of Xander’s wounds did so. They left him in an alley to die.

But death’s gentle hands never took Xander into their embrace. They had survived, albeit no longer human. The first thing Xander had felt upon awakening that morning was insatiable hunger. It disgusted him.

He had made his way back to school, and eventually graduated with the best grades in his year. The boys were never seen or heard from in London again. 

Xander had taken up exercising and working out as a coping mechanism for their trauma, leaving him both supernaturally powerful and about as strong as a teenager could possibly get. 

They were never going to be too weak to escape something like that again.

The flashback faded and Xander looked around, noticing David was no longer slumped over the table and ninety percent of the class were missing. “What… what happened..?”

“You sort of…” Whit started, sitting Xander down. “Blacked out. Not in the vampiric way you said you do sometimes, but as in like, you were totally unresponsive. It’s been half an hour, dude.”

“Sorry… I was having, I don’t even know, a flashback?” Xander said, holding their head in their hands. “How’s David?”

“Unconscious.” Whit said. “I was left here with you until you snapped out of it. Everyone else is in or around the infirmary.”

“Even Charles?”

“Yeah, even Charlie.”

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Xander abruptly stood up. “I’m going to check on David. I owe it to him, since this is… probably my fault.”

“Then I’m coming with, Redhair.” Whit got up and followed Xander to the infirmary, having to run a little to catch up.

Hu turned to greet them, a worried smile on her face. “Xander, you’re.. back! How are you feeling, honey?”

“N— not important. How is he?” Xander asked, pointing to the infirmary door. Hu sighed and shrugged. “I’m not sure. I haven’t been inside to check on him yet. Nico’s in there right now.”

Xander nodded and dashed inside, almost throwing the door off of its hinges with his strength. “How is he?!”

“A- ah! Xander! D— David’s alright. He j— just woke up.” Nico said, gesturing to David, who was sitting up and clutching his stomach. Xander sat down on a stool next to the bed. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry.”

“F— fuck , it’s not even pain, it’s—”

“…Hunger?”

“How did you—”

Xander pointed at his fangs and smiled wistfully. “I’m sorry.”

“ Stop apologising.” David practically growled. His eyes widened at his own tone and he covered his mouth. “What the hell—?”

“That’s totally normal.” Xander reassured him, “It happened to me, too.”

“ What happened to y— Xander, what’s happening to me?!” David questioned, his face wrinkled with stress and worry. Xander looked down shamefully. “You’re— you’re turning into a— a— …a vampire.”

Silence filled the room for a few seconds. That was, until David screamed. “ I’m what?!”

Nico repeated what Xander had explained. “You’re t- turning into a v- vampire.”

“Nico, how are you not freaking the fuck out?!” David asked, grabbing the pet therapist by the shoulders. They averted their eyes. “I— I’m just not.”

Nico fidgeted with their gloves until David let them go. The speaker held his head in his hands and started hysterically laughing. Xander and Nico shared concerned looks. Nico leaned into Xander’s ear. 

“Did that h- happen to you?”

“…Nope.”

David’s laughter died down and he sighed, sitting back with his head against the wall. “I’m dead.”

“Well, technically, you’re still alive..” Xander mumbled. David shot him a glare and they shut up. “No. I am basically fucking dead . I will never grow old. I will never be a granddad. I’ll probably never have kids at all if they’re all going to be like m— like us !”

“David, I’m so sorry.” Xander said, lifting one of the speaker’s hands into his own. “I really didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know you didn’t.” David replied, “You didn’t even want to bite me, it’s just…”

“I wanted to live a normal life.” He admitted, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “I wanted to be able to get old and get married and have kids and grandkids and maybe even great grandkids if I’m lucky.”

“…But now you can’t.”

“But now I can’t.”

Xander tightened his grip on David’s hand. “I’m so, so sorry. I know you said you didn’t want me to apologise, but this is my fault. I’ve ruined your life.”

Nico, who had been watching their exchange, mumbled something under their breath. David turned to them. “What was that..?”

“I— I said… your life isn’t n- necessarily ruined .” Nico muttered, fidgeting with the button on their cape. “Y— you just won’t get old, but you can s- still do all of th- those other things.”

Xander listened to them, pondering something. “Nico, you seem weirdly knowledgeable about this for a human, what’s up with that?”

Nico looked at their slippers. “I— I’m not.”

“You’re not what?”

“…A h— human.”

Xander coughed in surprise, leaning over onto his legs. “ What?!”

Nico tilted their head, confused. “I’m a w— werewolf. I thought it was obvious.”

“I thought the animal thing was just an aesthetic!” Xander shouted, covering their face in embarrassment. “I didn’t know it was because you actually turn into a real animal!”

“…You’re kind of s— stupid.” Nico said, stretching out their hand. “Why do you think I d— didn’t panic when you fainted w- with me. I k- knew.”

Xander buried his head in David’s blanket. “I’m so stupidddd…”

David chuckled. “Well, now I feel slightly better about not being human anymore. Since even Xander couldn’t tell that you were a werewolf. There’s still hope for me to lead a… somewhat normal life.”

“Y- yeah.. somewhat.” Nico mumbled. The three of them sat in bordering-on-uncomfortable silence until David held his stomach and groaned in pain. “Fuck , that hurts so much —!”

Xander got up wordlessly and opened the fridge, pulling out a blood bag and throwing it at David. “Drink this. It’ll help.”

“Wh— I’m not going to drink human blood, Xander!” David knocked the bag onto the floor in disgust. “You might be fine with that, but I’m not!”

“David, you’ll starve .” Xander pointed out, lifting the bag. “You’ll end up killing someone if you put it off.”

“Can vampires drink animal blood?” David asked, backing away from the bag of blood. Xander hesitantly nodded. “But it doesn’t sustain us the way human blood does. It’d be like living entirely on soda and snacks as a human.”

“…B— but..”

“David, I know you don’t want to, but you don’t really have much of a choice.”

David reluctantly took the bag from Xander. “…Give me a pair of scissors to open it with.”

Xander lifted a pair of bandage scissors and handed them to him. “Arturo would kill me if he saw me giving you these for something not bandage related.”

“Oh well.” David rolled his eyes and snipped the corner off of the bag before putting it in his mouth. He recoiled almost instantly and coughed. “That’s fucking disgusting—!”

“It’s not that bad, you get used to the taste.” Xander sighed, “But you need to eat, so for now? Deal with it.”

David looked surprised at the tone Xander had taken in their voice. Very reluctantly, he put the bag into his mouth again.

When he finished drinking it, he threw the empty bag halfway across the room. “That. Was so. Gross.”

Xander laughed and picked up the empty bag, throwing it in the bin. Nico looked around kind of awkwardly. They fidgeted with their hands and got up to leave, but Xander stopped them.

“Where are you going?”

“W- well… you two s- seem fine and I’m not really— not really o- one of you.”

“What are you talking about, Nico? You are one of us.”

Nico shrank in on themselves. “I— I mean, you’re b- both… you know, vampires. And I’m n- not.”

“So? You’re still our friend!” Xander said cheerfully, wrapping his arm around Nico’s shoulders in a side hug. “It doesn’t matter what you are, silly.”

“B— but… you said to Min and Teruko you d— don’t like werewolves.”

“Not all of them. I meant like, in general vampires and werewolves don’t get along. Doesn’t mean we can’t.”

Nico smiled softly and covered their face with their cape. “…I’d like that.”

“You’d like what?” Xander asked, letting go of Nico and turning them around to face him. Nico buried their face in their cape to hide and whispered, “I— I’d like to stay your f- friend.”

“I’d like to stay your friend, too.” Xander said, a genuine smile on their face. David got up out of bed and joined them. “I’d like to stay friends with you too, but I suppose you’re already aware of that.”

“Ooh!” Xander’s face lit up with joy. “Since we’re all, well, not human, we should come up with a fun trio name!”

“I— I’m not doing that.”

“Me neither.”

Xander sulked and crossed their arms. “You two are no fun.”

“S— sorry—!” Nico stuttered out, panicking. “W— we can do i- it if you want.”

“Wh.. I was just joking, Nico.” Xander reassured them, gently patting their shoulder. “We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.”

David suddenly laughed. Not the hysterics from before, but a genuine happy laugh. He wiped a tear from his eye, but he didn’t look sad. Xander and Nico watched, smiling. “Someone’s in better spirits.”

“Well, I’m friends with you two.” David said, shrugging. “How could I not be?”

Hu stuck her head around the door and smiled. “I heard a bit of commotion, is everything alright?”

David nodded and smiled, still a little giggly. “Oh, we’re fine.”

“Oh, David! I didn’t even notice you were up.” Hu stepped inside and smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t feel sick at all. In fact, I’ve never been better.”

“That’s wonderful. By the way, Eden said she wanted to tell everybody something. So can you three go to the cafeteria?”

“Got it, Hu. See you there.”

The three of them walked out together, aimlessly chatting about whatever. Xander felt happy that biting David hadn’t ended in too much of a disaster. And Nico seemed to be warming up to them as well.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, David pulled Xander and Nico to a set of chairs and waited for Eden to speak. 

Eden smiled and waved at them excitedly. “Okay! Now that everyone’s here, I can get started!”

She rocked back and forth on her heels. “The past few days—especially today—have been pretty.. err, stressful. So I was thinking we could all go on a trip to unwind!”

Xander thought about the last time he’d been on a trip. It had to have been well before he even turned. “Where would we be going?”

David elbowed them. “ Shut up. It is so rude to interrupt a speech. ” He whisper-shouted. Xander whispered an apology and quieted down. Eden smiled and put a finger to her lip. “I was thinking, if the weather’s good tomorrow, the beach?”

“Eden..” David started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Me and Xander are… you know.”

“Oh, right! I totally forgot.” Eden covered her face with her hands. Xander coughed into his fist. “I mean, we don’t die in the sun. It’s just like, a little uncomfortable.”

“Oh! Well that’s okay, then.” Eden said, recovering her composure and smiling. “You two can just stay in the shade. Or bring a parasol, whatever suits you.”

“I’ll go find my parasol.” Xander said, nodding and getting up to leave. David got up to follow him, hurrying out of the room after the rebel.

A trip to the beach. That certainly wouldn’t go terribly.