Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wilbur heard his blaring alarm and only responded with a resigned sigh, one full of knowing what he had to do but didn’t want to: go to work.

Wilbur didnt like his occupation, he went to fucking college and has a fucking degree, but no one would take him so now he has a shit paying job at a gas station and another at small cafe to pay for his really shit apartment that probably has several health violations, and could probably be charged with fasle advirtisement as a it’s a studio apartment and doenst have any benefits other then being near his jobs.

Wilbur finally takes his head out of his less then comfortable couch pillow that he had to substitute for an actual bed pillow and grabs his glasses on the side bade of old boxes to look at the time, „fuck… I hate.. ugh,“ he’s got to get up or he’ll be late

Wilbur gets up and slams his hand on the off button of the alarm, he stretches knowing he’ll still be sore by the time he’s out the door, he goes to the bathroom to look at the cracked mirror and starts his morning routine.

Wilbur fixes his slightly greasy hair, brushes his teeth and swears at the fact he’s nearly out, puts on deodorant, gets dressed in a simple black T-shirt, dark gray slacks that look slightly worse for wear, his yellow converse, his black puffer jacket, and lastly his very best up yellow back pack that looks more like a dark brown then yellow.

Wilbur grabs what he’ll need for the day, his two name tags for both of his jobs, his wallet, a re-usable water bottle he’ll fill up elsewhere to avoid raising the water bill as much as possible, and his trusty multi tool.

Why would Wilbur need his handy dandy multi tool? Because sometimes Wilbur needs to unscrew the panels on machinery at his gas station job to fix whatever the fuck is wrong now, despite never learning anything about machines at college cause he has a bachelors in music but he’s successfully graduated from YouTube college so he’s done fine so far….

 Okay, that was off topic , anyways, it also has a knife so he can avoid getting mugged 5 dollars and a coupon he’ll probably never use.

Now his jobs are both not in the greatest areas, the gas station especially, but the Cafe was by far the better one of the two. His manager and owner of the cafe named the sweet tooth, Niki „the Angel from above“ Ni-chu, is incredibly kind and generous. The women helped him even though his resume had nothing of the sorts that would help with making coffee, the pathetic vibes probably radiated off of himself but he’ll take what he can get, half the time the people who come in aren’t complete assholes, and the job usually isn’t overwhelming. 

Though Wilbur has only had the job for 2ish months so he’ll have to wait and see what happens!… sadly that job is the evening shift so he’s going to the shitter of the two jobs first. 

His god forsaken job at the Gas station that he refuses to remember the name of as an act of spite that he’s had for the past year, he’s had to wake up at 6 in the fucking morning for, and had to listen to the absolutely grating voice of his manager, Jared, cry over his 7th girlfriend leaving him because he accidentally cheated on her.

Sometimes he wish he could rip his vocal cords out-

-Wilbur decided to focus on his walk to his job so he didn’t walk into someone now that he’s thought over his grievances of his life. The weather felt cold as the sun slowly rose into the sky, the sidewalk was shaded by the tall imposing buildings of the city, Wilbur half sulks his way to work as he thinks of what he should get for dinner that isn’t just leftover pastries at the sweet tooth.

When he realizes he’s reached the street that the gas station is on Wilbur takes a deep breath, „you need to keep jobs Wilbur, you can‘t get fired for assault again Wilbur, just take a breath Wilbur,“ He mutters to himself as he walks up to the door of the gas station and tries to keep a neutral face as he opens the shitty door to the out of place building.

When he walks in he already hears Jared moping and ranting to his co-worker Clara about how women should just appreciate him. Wilbur hopes Clara finally smacks the shit out of Jared one of these days, that are Wilbur thoughts when he sees Clara sweep and give out many monotone responses such as „yep,“ or „alright,“ as Jared asks questions both Wilbur and Clara know would get screamed at for if it was any sort of criticism of Jared’s character.

Wilbur passes by the two quietly and discreetly, he takes off his jacket and bag and puts them under the counter he then puts on his apron, clips on his name tag that reads the wrong name, „William,“ and walks up to the scanning counter.

 Once he leans on the counter both Clara and Jared scream,

 „GOD DAMN IT WILLIAM!“ Jared yells out after  a moment of silence, Wilbur just looks at them blankly, Clara has a hand on her chest as she goes to pick up the broom she dropped out of fright, Jared looks at him angrily with wide eyes, „what?“ Wilbur asks them both, clearly exhausted. Jared rolls his eyes and huffs before speaking to him directly, „you did the weird thing!“ Jared said, like it explains everything( it does, Wilburs just being purposely annoying),  Wilbur raises an eyebrow, the manager groaned angrily, „the thing where you just fucking appear out of nowhere!“ Jared explained, frustration shown clearly in his scrunched face.

Wilbur still doesn't get how people can’t hear him when he walks, from what people tell him it’s like his steps are lighter then most which is a weird description but the only way people seem to know how to describe it. Wilbur tries to keep in a sigh, „I don’t know how to not do it Jared, it’s just how I walk,“ Wilbur 100% knows he could purposely be louder and not give Jared a heart attack every time he comes into work but he hates Jared so he’s kinda, maybe, doing it on purpose. Sorry to all those like Clara that happen to be collateral damage.

Wilbur turns away from Jared puts his chin on his hand as he waits for a customer to enter, Jared gives out a frustrated sigh as he leaves Wilbur be, Clara is out of sight, presumably continuing to do her job but now free of Jared’s horrible love life talk. 

And that's how he spends his next 10 hours of his existence at the shitty gas station, completely brain dead and doing things by instinct, he gets yelled at by 4 different customers and Jared. One of which spilt their slushy on him while they were telling him how awful he is, so now when his shift is over he’ll have to go home and change and head over to the laundry mat to clean it all up, and yes, Jared did make him stay at work despite the fact he was fucking covered neck down in cherry slushy.

He spent most of his dissociation thinking of ways he could’ve shown them what it looks like to see their own insides split-

-When Wilbur notices his shift is over when the clock hits 4 pm, he grabbed all his things hastily and walked out the door before Jared could try to make him stay an hour longer, which he wouldn’t get paid mind you, he had already sped walked down the street the moment Jared started yelling once more about being a good employee. Wilbur just walked faster at the voice and tried to get out of his manager's view.

Wilbur shivered as the coldness of the weather and his wet clothes combined, he didn’t put on his coat knowing he’d just get it wet too, so he walked as fast as he could to get changed.

The moment he turned to his street to his Apartment building, Wilbur became let out a sigh knowing he had moments before he could finally get the sticky and wet fabric off of his skin-

-He’s promptly dragged into an alley with his back against a rough brick wall and a sharp cold object to his chin.

Wilbur looks up to see a roughed up man wearing what only a hobo would wear and a poorly cut up beanie turned face mask. The man is shaking slightly as he roughly holds Wilbur’s throat, „Give me your w-wallet,“ the man said with a wobble in his voice, the man sounds close to the brink of a mental snap.. or atleast in fear, so Wilbur drops his coat to the dirty alleys floor and breaths a shallow breath.

„Okay..“ Wilbur responds, even as the man holds his throat slightly tighter, „I’ll give you my wallet.. I just need to take my bag off and open it and give it to you,“ Wilbur explained calmly, the man nods, „try anything.. and-d  I’ll kill you,“ The man let’s go of his throat and moved back an inch, his knife still held near Wilbur’s throat, even as Wilbur crouched to open his bag.

Wilbur opens the bag, using his left hand to make it seem like Wilbur’s just using it to keep the bag up right while using his right hand to make it seem as if it’s hastily looking for his wallet knowing damn well it’s in his back pocket of his pants, Wilbur sneakily moves his left hand to the pocket on the side of his backpack.

In a Instant Wilbur has inflicted his Multi tool into the side of the man’s neck, not caring what tool was being used, Wilbur’s glasses getting speckles of blood into them as the man’s throat gushes with blood like a waterfall onto the pavement and his arm, the man stutters and tries to  move away but Wilbur tightens his hold with his other hand and twists the tool making the man nearly scream in pain but Wilbur had already moved the lower half of the man’s mask into his mouth like a gag so the man’s gurgled yells sound more like a muffled incomprehensible sound. 

Wilbur roughly hits the man into the other side of the alley, the man’s head hitting into the brick with a crack. The man goes limp in Wilbur’s hold, he spots the back of the man’s head, it was turning a darker black and brownish hue, most likely because of blood, showing he had fatally struck the man into the wall.

Wilbur looked to the wall, finding it stained.

He looked back to the man in his hold, looking at the blood soaked mask…. Wilbur shakes himself out of his stupor before maneuvering the man into an awkward hug more easily hiding behind the dumpster from view into the alley.

Once he lays the man down Wilbur wipes his hands, glasses and his multi tool, which had luckily opened to the scissors, on the man’s coat. 

his left arm and most likely his face covered in blood, „god how am I going to clean myself off now?“ Wilbur sighed, he looked around and found a bag of clothes, he grabbed a shirt from inside and used it to wipe himself off. He grabs his phone to see if he had gotten it all off and is glad to see he had. His clothes still were stained in red but luckily he still smelt a lot like the cherry slushy that had poured on him so he could still say that’s why he was soaked if anyone asked questions.

Wilbur grabs the bag that held the clothes and wraps it around the man’s head and neck to cover the blood, he then grabs a few bags from the dumpster and dumps them over the body to hide it.

Wilbur then walks over to his bag and jacket, Wilbur opens his phone but to look at what time it was, „okay, 2 hours before my shift, I can get ready and there in two hours“ Wilbur says to himself, slightly nervous at the idea of being late, he puts his bag on and grabs his coat. 

Wilbur walks to his apartment to now take a shower and hopefully have enough time to at least start the cleaning process of getting blood out of clothes in the bath/shower and head to his other job.

Techno looked at the scene with a hidden concern.

The body’s neck was left in a horrible gash, the skin ripped off almost in chunks with two deeper holes close to bone, something almost in-human in how it was done. 

Actually, the whole reason himself and Phil were called was because of how the gash looked. And he couldn‘t deny that it looked like the doing of a desperate and feral fledgling needing blood and had gone out of control before hiding the man in guilt and fear.

„It’s concerning how much the man bled, it’s like the fledgling barely tried to drink anything,“ Phil said as he bit his nails, his sharp canines peaking out,“ and that the fight had gotten so bad that the fledgling hit the guy into the wall,“ Techno added on as he pointed to the blood stained bricks.

The whole scene was messy and obviously unplanned. But whoever had somehow not left any DNA behind, not a scent, blood, hair, nothing. The area was too poor to have many security cameras, this area being one without any nearby at least 2 blocks away. 

The only reason they had found the body was because the landlord of the building had many complaints of the alley's gross smells and had stumbled upon it. 

„We have to find this fledgling before it becomes a Tommy situation all over again,“ Phill whispered to Techno, he nodded in response. When Tommy had turned several decades before now, he had been abandoned and went on an uncontrollable rage that had killed anybody that came across him.

And now it was happening again with a whole different fledgling. 

When they found Tommy he was in pain, hungry and angry beyond comprehension. Techno wasn't willing to have what happened to his coven mate happen to some other vampire.

Techno and Phil are going to figure this out. Hopefully they could help this poor kid too.

Chapter Text

Wilbur dropped his dirty clothes into the bath gently to avoid getting splashed, the bath filled with detergent, his counter had a box of baking soda on it beside it was a bottle hydrogen peroxide. All left on it’s lonesome for him to work on once he got home from the sweet tooth. 

Wilbur was changed into an old sweater in faded dark blue color, black jeans, and the same shoes he had on before the messy encounter. His hair was still a tad bit wet as he messed with it he then sighed as he looked at the mess of his bathroom and cursed how this was going to raise the water bill but he knew he couldn’t just bring bloody clothes to the laundry mat so he sucked it up and prayed that the water bill won’t be too bad in the future. 

Wilbur had also just finished cleaning his name tag for the gas station but left it on the counter, but he did grab his newly cleaned multi tool. All scrubbed of blood using the Hydrogen peroxide like it was new, he smiled as he put it in his back  pocket and then retrieved his phone from his other pocket.

He looked at the time, “I have to get going, don’t want to be late,” Wilbur said to himself as he walked out of his bathroom to his bag that laid on the bed beside his jacket. He shrugged on the jacket and grabbed the yellow/dark brown jacket and hefted over his shoulder before heading out of the apartment and locking the door behind him. 

Once he reached the outside of his building and walked down the street he notices as one side of the street is taken up by police cars, what looks like reporters, and people itching to see the commotion behind yellow tape. Wilbur soon realizes someone had found the body and keeps his calm pace that he had before the realization, a reaction like panic would only draw attention to him.

Now he’s experiencing unnecessary stress he doesn’t need, he hopes he finds whoever reported the body so he could tear their-

-Once he’s far from the scene he takes a breath, because that was spooky, and decides to set his sights on just getting to work and avoiding the thoughts of possible capture. When he reaches the less shabby and shady parts of the streets he knows he’s close to the sweet tooth. Once he spots the cutesy corner store his face breaks out in a small smile. 

It’s a cute building, built into the bottom of a much taller city building, the small overhang is in pink shingles, cherry oak paneling beneath the windows, there’s dark oak supports, the glass is rose tinted, their sign is in a swirly font with words that spell out the sweet tooth, and their logo of a tooth with a little cartoon strawberry on top is beside the words.

Wilbur walks in and the scent of chemicals from his apartment's bathroom are replaced by pleasant smells of pastries and coffee in the works, “Wilbur! Your just on time,” a cheery accented voice calls out, and is waving at him, her blonde and pink hair bouncing as she does so, “hey Niki, I’m glad I’m not late,” Wilbur smiles a small soft smile to her as she opens up the way to the back counter for him, Her amber eyes look to him happily in return, “same here!” Niki agreed before she excitedly explained, “Now I've got some regulars you haven’t met because they were on a trip, I think you’ll really like them,” Wilbur looked on curiously as he went to the back to put his bag and jacket away, “alright,” Wilbur responded as he put on his apron and tag that said his name correctly unlike a certain other job he had.

Once he came to the counter Niki hurriedly went to through the kitchen door, presumably to ensure Jack didn't mix up an order and almost kill someone with a nut allergy again, Wilbur turned back to the counter and started attending to customers they came and ordered.

During Wilbur’s shift the people that came were few, as it was 7:30, so many of them were tourists that wanted to explore as much as possible, students of some kind: whether it be college or Highschool, workers that didn't get to be graced with sleep, or night owls that were most likely plagued by insomnia. 

When the clock strikes 10:25pm Wilbur is sliding a coffee down the dark oak counters for a coffee pickup and yelling a name he had just called, the door of the cafe is clicking open just as Wilbur returns to the register.

It’s a group of 3 men he doesn’t recognize, all different ages and looks; 

the youngest looking that is at least 18  years old with curly golden hair and red-violet eyes, tall but not the tallest of the 3, pale, skinny but seemingly not to an unhealthy degree, he's wearing a simple baseball tee with the sleeves a bright red and the rest a creamy white, a gray jacket tired around his waist, blue jeans with some wear and tear but no actual rips, a golden chain with an emerald gem handing on his neck, and is wearing red converse. 

The next is a man in his late 20s, his as more place then the last guy, amber eyes that remind him of Niki’s, he's taller than the boy by an inch or two making him massive, his hair is pulled into a long pastel pink braid, he wears a decent amount of golden jewelry along with a matching emerald to the boys necklace as a earring, a button up in a simple white color, a red sash around his waist with a golden chain belt on top, he wears baggy black jeans, and black combat boots.

The last man looks to be around in his 30s, he’s an average height for a guy, he’s pale like the other two, red-violet color for his eyes that match the boys own eye color closely, his hair is around shoulder length and pulled into a low ponytail in a light blonde color, he’s wearing a gold ring with a simple emerald like the other two but also has another ring on his finger the band is a dark purple and the gem is in the shape of a heart and the color of a ruby, he’s wearing a gray t-shirt, a green flannel in a variety of greens and whites, blue jeans, and simple work boots in a black color.

They all chatted happily and Wilbur smiles, careful to make sure his slightly sharper than normal canines hide behind his lips, when they stride up to the counter Wilbur speaks, “hey, what can I get for y-“ “who the fuck are you?” The teenage one asks him slightly aggressive, Wilbur blinks at him in surprise, the question cements that these people could be the regulars that Niki was talking about, the pink haired one sighs dejectedly at the blonde kid while the older face palms, “I’m Wilbur, I started recently,” he explained as polite as he could before continuing on, “so what would-“ “thats a shit name! Who names someone after like, a fucking cartoon pig?” The blonde insults, making Wilbur look at him sharply and ignores the kid’s companions, the boy's confident face stuttering by a fraction as Wilbur gaze locks on the boy.

Wilbur tries to keep his emotions under control but finds himself slipping out an insult, “I’d like to hear your name,” Wilbur says so passive aggressively it should be classified as aggressive, the boy and his companions look at him a little surprised, “I bet it’s something like Tomathy, it’s just as mouthy as you,” Wilbur says with a smile on his face the entire time, perfectly calm. The boy looks at him in shocked offense and sputters, the pink haired one looks away and hides his lower face as if to hold in a laugh, the older man lets out a cackle. 

As the boy continues to sputter in shocked silence he goes back to what he was trying to originally say, “so what would you like to order?” Wilbur asks as he grabs his notepad and pen, the blonde man gets his composure and then looks to Wilbur with a smile, “I’d just like a chocolate mocha,” the man supplies with a happy tone, Wilbur nods and then looks to the pink haired man, “London fog,” the pink one said with a flat voice that left no room for emotion and an equally blank face as if he wasn’t about to laugh moments earlier, Wilbur once again nods and then goes back to the blonde man, “what would the child like?” Wilbur points to the boy who now has a very fed up expression, the man is seemingly close to laughing again but keeps it in with a wobbly smile, “a hot coco,” the man says with a laugh at the end of his words.

Wilbur smiles and writes it in his notepad happily before pointing to a booth, “okay, after you give me a name for the order just sit over there and I’ll be with your drinks shortly!” He explained, the pink one grabbed the still buffering  boy's hand and dragged him to the table, the blonde man stayed back, “call the order Phil, thank you,” Phil(?) said with more composer he had before he hand, “your welcome, your order will be done soon” Wilbur explained with a small smile, the man nodded and waved as he headed off to the booth that was now filled with semi-quiet bickering.

The moment Wilbur went to start making the drinks Niki came out of the Kitchen and looked around before her eyes landed on Wilbur, “hey, did you see a group of three guys come in?” Niki asked, “one is tall with pink hair-“ “Their in that corner booth, was just about to make their order” Wilbur interjected and pointed, “are they the regulars you were talking about?” Wilbur asked leaning closer the manager, a curious glint in his eyes, Niki looks to him with an incomprehensible emotion before a smile takes over her features, “yeah..,” she answers with a odd infliction in her voice that he chooses to ignore, “they like their coffee made a certain way that I make it,” Niki explained, the infliction fading away replaced with a fond smile, “so I’ll make it and you can go take a moment to get to know them, they practically live here with how much they come over,” Niki sounded fond as she encouraged him to walk over to them, she moved her hands in a shoo like motion, Wilbur smiles once more before walking over to the booth.

He’s excited to meet new faces for once.

Chapter Text

Phil had missed Niki and her store dearly when they were away settleing a vampiric dispute between two opposing covens, her ability to make any human delicacy edible for him and his family especially was a factor he had missed from the long 3 month departure, and with the case Techno and himself had been pulled to earlier made him want nothing more than to relax before he had to dive right back into the fray.

So when he and his sons had walked into the store to see a new face Phil couldn't help but smile at the young man walking up to the register, but also be slightly worried by the young man’s appearance; the man’s clothes at least looked comfortable, he wore a well loved faded navy blue sweater, he didn’t know what else the man wore as he stood behind the counter but he could say the man was very tall, as tall as Techno to be exact, his skin was as pale as Technos too which wasn't a healthy color for humans to be, his pale skin showed off his deep eye bags as if he had put a near black-purple eye shadow on his lower eye lids, dark curly hair was tangled and hid most of the left side of his face, and was so lean that he looked a bit boney as when Phil’s had spared a glance at the guys boney hands. 

The man overall looked a little ghostly, but his eyes were the most unique in Phil’s opinion, they were darker than any brown he had ever seen on a mortal face. 

The lights in the room that were supposed to leave a light bouncing off the young man’s eyes, were seemingly swallowed whole leaving no light left to shine. like a deep dark pit where the light couldn't reach the bottom of. 

It was unsettling as it was saddening in an odd way,

As there were two parts of Phil were telling him two very different things as he looked to the man before him, first off, the man looked so meek and frail that he almost wanted to give him money to help the fellow with his troubles. 

The second part of himself tells him something was fundamentally wrong with the man, he just wasn’t sure what, just that the man was wrong in a sense.

He was also quite concerned about the scents of chemicals that covered the young man, the average human probably couldn't smell it at all, but to Philza and his sons heightened senses it was as if the man jumped into a lake of the stuff.

Concern?- realization- hehe

Philza felt something inside deflate as he realizes he let his feelings fill the bond and so now Tommy was most likely going to leave an awful impression on Niki's newest employee in order to either prove the young man before them was fine so Phil would stop being a worry wort or to the very least give Phil an opportunity to be kind without seeming odd for wanting to take care of a complete stranger.

Phil looked to Techno quickly and saw that he also had faded into acceptance of whatever fallout was going to be in Tommy’s wake.

The poor fellow smiled at them politely as they reached the counter and began to speak, Phil holds in a sigh as as he prepares for the immediate interjection “hey, what can I get for y-“,“who the fuck are you?” Tommy spits out with a confused glare, Phil can’t help it as he smacks a hand into his own face at the question Tommy asks, when he hears Techno sigh he can tell the vampire was thinking similarly.

When Phil looks up he sees a stunned expression on the young man before them, a slight twinge in his brow and a small hesitation to continue speaking, the young man’s expression changes quickly, in a way that's got Phil a little surprised by how fast the man does it.

“I’m Wilbur, I started recently,” Wilbur introduces himself, still ever polite with the same smile as before, Wilbur goes to continue his sentence, 

Gremlin mode activated- Mischievous - confident

Phil feels dread at the emotions and quick thoughts cast in the bond by Tommy.

“ So what would-"that's a shit name! Who names someone after like, a fuckin cartoon pig?” Phil looks to Tommy, about to reprimand the boy because of the comment but then he feels a familiar hand on his shoulder. Phil looks to Techno confused, but his friend is looking at someone who wasn't Tommy at the moment. Phil looks over and finds himself feeling instantly uncomfortable by Wilbur.

Wilbur was still, so still that Phil had asked himself if the man was breathing even as he heard  each shallow breath.

His body was tense, as if the man was straining to keep something together, like he was holding back.

Wilbur looked at Tommy with the same smile as before but it felt sharper in comparison, like it was dangerous, like a vampire's razor sharp fangs.

What was most uncomfortable was the man’s unblinking eyes.

If Wilbur’s eyes resembled a deep never ending pit before they now resembled a never ending black hole, something that takes over leaving nothing behind, nothing to ever indicate something was there in the first place.

Those eyes felt all encompassing, all knowing.

Uncomfortable- what is he doing?- uncertainty 

The feelings are practically radiating from Tommy as he the young fellows gazed upon him and Phil couldn’t say he didn’t feel similar, But Tommy also deserved to get glared at because of his very unneeded comment. 

but in an odd way he almost wanted to take Tommy far away from Wilbur.

 Like, Wilbur was the vampire with heightened abilities and Tommy was the human with what was most likely below average strength.

After an uncomfortable minute of Wilbur seemingly trying to make Tommy as uncomfortable as possible he spoke, “I’d like to hear your name,” the tone was almost chipper but clearly filled with condescension as Wilbur looked to the hidden vampire before him. Tommy couldn’t find his words it looked like, but as Tommy was about to respond he was immediately interrupted like some sort of cruel irony, “I bet it’s something like Tomathy, it’s just as mouthy as you,” Wilbur said less aggressively than before, like he had cooled his caged temper he had within, and so, the tension was cut just like that.

And the moment Tommy sputtered in response was when Phil couldn't help letting out a cackle, he felt Technos emotion read out funny- shock- intrigued, Phil even saw from the corner of his eye of Techno holding in a laugh.

The man had done two things hadn’t seen his two boys do in ages, Tommy without an instant comeback and Techno showing a shred of emotion in a public area.

Even with how Wilbur had an odd aura about him Phil couldn't help but like the guy already, despite the feeling of a hidden threat (one he was pretty sure Wilbur couldn’t hold onto because of Tommy being a century old vampire), ‘Wilbur was just a fellow rather than a threat to keep an eye on, is what Phil thought as the man relaxed at their reactions to his own comment.

 Phil just also felt like he should just ignore Wilbur’s oddness from before, he wasn’t going to hurt them, he couldn't hurt anyone.

“So what would you like to order?” Wilbur said with a more casual tone, clearly back to before Tommy had riled him up, Phil took a moment to get his composure so he could answer as he saw the man grab a notepad and pen.

“I’d like a chocolate mocha,” Phil answers with a smile, he had been told by Niki’s friend, Jack, that it was delightful and he had wanted to give it a try, Wilbur then looks to Techno. Unsurprisingly, Techno had returned to his cold and blank demeanor the moment he could control the laugh that had wanted to break out, so as Wilbur non-verbally asked Techno what he wanted Techno answered blankly, “London Fog,” Wilbur nods before going back to Phil, Who looks back in slight confusion as to why he wasn’t looking to to Tommy to- “and what would the child like?” 

Oh-

Phil once again couldn't help nearly losing his composure, it’s harder than before because he feels as Tommy’s side of the bond saying frustrated- upset- bastard, but Phil keeps it together to answer, “a hot coco,” 

Wilbur nods happily as he writes it down, “okay, after you give me a name for the order just sit over there and I’ll be with your drinks shortly!” Wilbur explains as he points to a corner booth with his pen. 

Tommy was fuming as Techno dragged the boy to their booth, Phil himself stayed behind and looked to Wilbur, “call the order Phil, thank you,” Phil said to the barista with a smile, “your welcome, your order will be done soon” Wilbur said in kind. Phil waved to the man before he walked to the booth Techno and Tommy sat at, hearing Tommy mutter complaints about Wilbur while Techno rebutted the statements moneytonely when he neared the area.

As Phil sat down across from Tommy the vampire grumbled, his arms were crossed and he was slumping back into the magenta cushion of the booth chair, "the man’s a wrong’un, a true bastard,” Tommy grunted, teeth slightly bared as the boy stared holes into the cheery oak table.

“Your just mad you couldn't think of something to say back,” Techno murmured as he messed with his golden jewelry, obviously still thinking back to the case they were assigned to earlier in the day, Tommy stopped sulking and looked to Techno with a sharp glare and a pointed finger, “now you listen here you bastard-“

“Tommy,” Phil warned with an unimpressive expression, the vampire turned to him with his arms once again crossed and a scowl still present on his eternally young face,”next time you want to prove someone’s not in need of help, please don’t do it like that,” Phil expressed to the other, Tommy still scowled but seemingly agreed by how his bond went annoyed- fine- 

Phil smiled and the other, but before they could continue Wilbur walked up to their table and leaned on it, "Hello," The man said with a small smile, “Hullo,” Techno said back in a stale tone, Tommy’s anger slightly simmered at seeing the barista but he managed a stilted ‘hi’, Wilbur only smiled back at the boy, “hey mate,” Phil greeted, “why have you come back over soon?” Phil questioned as the man had just gotten their orders, maybe he was double checking?

“Niki said you guys like your drinks a certain way only she can do-“ Phil hummed knowing it was because she was definitely adding the "raspberry sauce”( aka blood) into their drinks so it only made sense that the man didn't create them himself, “-so she shooed me off over her to get to know you guys because she believes we’d get along well,” Wilbur finished off with a small open mouth smile that barely showed his teeth, Phil looked on in pleasant surprise.

 Now, the reason Phil was surprised was the fact that most humans often got a sense of uncomfortability when around vampires for certain periods of time, usually depending on how long the vampire has lived equals how quick a human feels the need to scurry off, kinda like in the story of fae that were to perfect  feeling to humans; vampires felt too alive.

But some humans never felt that wrongness, only acknowledge they were different from normal people and went on with their lives, albeit mostly being people who are also a little wrong themselves but other wise people who didn’t care or mind.

This is a reason why Phil thinks Niki has a hard time finding new hires that happen to be human, she's not as old as Phil’s coven, but definitely old enough to send most humans running after a week of multi hour exposure. But if Niki believes Wilbur will be fine around them he must have had the job at least around 3 months for the younger vampire to be so sure they would be fine to interact. 

Then why not give it a chance,

Phil moves over on the booth and pats the seat, “if your gonna be waiting for the order you might as well sit with us,” Phil stated happily, Wilbur’s smile widened for a fraction of a second before he sat beside the elder vampire. Wilbur rested his head on his hand before he spoke,” I do believe Niki had the alternative motive to help me make friends to be frank,” Wilbur’s voice sounded a little embarrassed as he talked, “she knows I’m mostly a hermit outside of my jobs so I think this is her way to make sure I’m not lonely,” Wilbur looks to the table with a chuckle, the man either chuckling at how sad it sounded or genuinely finding it funny, Phil wasn’t sure what reason it was.

“Welp,” Techno mumbled before he looked to Wilbur, who now sat across from him, and said, “time do friendship,” Techno said in the most apathetic way possible, in a way it seemed almost condescending and mean spirited to a person who didn't know Techno, but to Phil who did know Techno it was Techno just being socially awkward and completely unsure how to talk to humans. 

Techno didn't say anything after, just complete silence as he stared into the workers eyes. 

Wilbur just smiled back, and after a moment of Techno still staring back without a blink, Wilbur seemed to take it as a challenge as he didn’t blink back. 

After 30ish seconds Phil was looking on in confusion as Wilbur still didn't blink, Tommy leaned over to Techno, and looked between the two as they continued. After a moment, Tommy sat up, grabbed a straw from the little holder in the table that held little spoons and sugar packets and held it like a microphone underneath his chin, “we are having an absolutely riveting match of eye staring, one is the Blade, killer of all his competition and absolutely a big man underneath Phil-, ” Tommy announced excitedly like an odd British sports announcer, Phil smiled as he heard the vampire speak and let out a small ‘pfft’ sound at the last comment, “-The great Blades opponent was Wilbitch, a new man in the game, and definitely an emo kid that won’t admit it, and is definitely way below being called a big man and has the title of little bastard because he is a bastard,” Tommy announced once more, a bit more flat than he did Technos as he was obviously still salty at Wilbur’s comments when they came to the register, Wilbur only smiled wider at the comments before a hit his own chest that wasnt the hand that holding up his head, “I wear the title of little bastard with pride,” Wilbur responded without missing a beat or even losing eye contact with Techno. 

Tommy let out a laugh but obviously tried to hide it with a very fake sounding cough, Phil’s reaction was similar to Wilbur’s comment but without restraint. 

After 4 minutes of Wilbur and Techno’s staring contest and Tommy’s announcements that insulted both of the competitors but with one obviously more liked then the other, Techno lost stating, “if I do anymore eye contact with someone longer than that I’ll rip my own out,” his statement sounded factual, Wilbur let out a cackle before giving a hand shake to Techno saying,” truly an honor to win against the legendary Technoblade,” Techno let out a small smile that most would say was more of a twitch of the lips but a smile to the vampires coven it was a smile, Wilbur seemed to also think it was an attempt at a smile as he smiled slightly wider at the reaction.

Soon after that Niki and came quickly with their drinks and an added coffee for Wilbur, the man was going to get up a again but Niki told the man something quietly, after stating something Niki had said Wilbur smiled softly and stayed seated and quickly after she left she came back with a jacket, a very beat up backpack, and held out a hand presumably for the man’s apron in which Wilbur obliged. 

After that they started talking and asking Wilbur questions and let Wilbur ask them in return.

These are the few things Phil learns about Wilbur,

Wilbur has two jobs, one is several hours longer than the other, it’s at a gas station that Wilbur.. doesn't know the name of despite working there for a whole year, apparently Wilbur is doing it out of pure spite as he hates his manager with a burning passion. 

Which was… odd? But Tommy seemed to find Wilbur less annoying because of how Wilbur explained what he does to freak the fuck out of the guy and just overall fuck with him, Tommy especially enjoyed how Wilbur told a story of how he scared his manager so bad that the manager pissed himself. 

Phil and his sons then learn that Wilbur has a near silent walk and presence in general, and now that Phil has thought about it, Wilbur’s approach to their table was very quiet.

“Prove it bitch,” Tommy told Wilbur, obviously wanting the man to embarrass himself, Wilbur only smiled and got up. Once he walked on the tiles it felt trippy, the man’s sneakers didn’t make a sound, like the floor was a cushion instead of kitchen tile. Tommy had his jaw dropped, Techno had his eyebrows ever so slightly curled and his side of the bond whispered heh?-confusion-how, and Phil’s reaction was a mix of both.

“Does this happen when you stomp as well?” Techno asked the dark brunette while still looking at the man’s shoes in confusion, “no, when I purposely try to walk louder I can,” Wilbur explained, he demonstrated by stomping back and forth for a pace and the man did make sound this time but instead of it sounding like a loud smack of the shoes bottom on the ground it sounded like a regular walking, “that’s not fucking normal either!” Tommy semi shouted, throwing his hands out, 

“Really? What's wrong now?” Wilbur’s voice sounded very confused and when Phil looked to the baristas face and not his weird not sounding shoes he could see as the man looked to his own feet in confusion, “well,” Phil started and was then slightly startled when the man’s eyes snapped to him, “your stomping sounds like regular walking but just weirdly paced because your actually stomping and not walking,” Phil explained to the man almost gently, said man looked even more confused before he just sat with them once more,

 “So that's why I still jumpscare people when I stomp,” Wilbur said with understanding after a moment of silence, this led to more conversations of how the man defies the law of sound but eventually the conversation went back to Wilbur’s job.

This leads Phil to realize that Niki is actually paying Wilbur by much more than her regular pay for her employees, not that Wilbur actually seems to know that, and Phil can understand why. The fact that Wilbur had to work two jobs in the first place indicated he needed the money badly, especially how he’s still at a job that he hated, and how Wilbur states he actually lives in the much more dangerous part of the city.

“I actually live a few blocks south,” Wilbur says easily, and Phil feels himself tense, “the way where that crime scene is?” Techno asked, knowing it wasn’t going to be any crime Wilbur thought it was, and Tommy was perking up, “crime scene?” Tommy asked looking really confused, “what are you talking about?” Tommy looks to Techno and then to Phil once he feels Phil’s side of the bond's concern for the brunette, he singles out to Tommy, later- firm, Tommy sends back a confirmation. Wilbur only waved them off, “I’ll be fine, knife fights happen all the time in my area, I’m sure this one just got out of hand,” the young reassured, and Phil wanted to ask more but could tell the man wanted to skip the topic. 

“Wait, what time is it?” Wilbur asked suddenly, he reached for his phone, “oh, I should head home, I have work at the gas station in the morning, “ Wilbur stood and Phil stood with him, “are you okay to walk home alone?” Phil questioned, worry shown through his expression, as Wilbur shrugged on his jacket and bag he merely gave a reassuring smile back at Phil, “I’ll be fine, I’ve lived in the area for like 18 months now,” Wilbur said before he headed off.

Tommy then spoke,” are you two gonna tell me what crime scene Wilbur apparently lives next to now?” His tone is a little accusatory. Phil looked back to Tommy and spared a glance to Techno who nodded, a confirmation that told him no human was gonna be getting into the building. Phil sighed before he sat back down at the booth, Phil knew this was a good time to tell Tommy what happened in the afternoon. 

“Me and Techno were……”

Wilbur walked down the road, perfectly calm and at peace. 

It was nice getting to know Techno, Phil, and the kid, probably good for Wilbur too. He doesn't often talk to people and in whole honesty has a hard time genuinely liking people either as they tend to point out his oddities but the three he met today his co-workers have been nice so far.

Wilbur looked to the moon as it shined on him as he walked down the street, he preferred walking in the evening opposed to the day, it was just nice too feel the evening breeze and no sun to blind him when the large buildings couldn't give him cover.

Wilbur breathed out a refreshed sigh, he still had a bit of a walk before he got home, he was only a block away from the sweet tooth afterall.

When Wilbur rounded a corner he felt a sense of Deja vú when he was roughly grabbed, once again a knife to his throat.

Chapter Text

When Wilbur felt the cold sharp metal against his neck he merely held in a sigh, he really didn’t want to do this so late, he was just enjoying his walk before he had to deal with the already blood soaked clothes he had at home!

And now Wilbur was most likely going to ruin his favorite sweater!

The held in breath sounded like a hitch so as the man held the knife tighter and closer to Wilbur’s neck the fuck most likely thought Wilbur was scared instead of irritated. 

“OH MY God! dude calm down-“ “-this is the only way we can get you what-!” 

Damn it, Wilbur’s gotten caught in some weird ass hostage situation in a dingy alley way.

Wilbur started to pay attention to the people who had him in this shit alley in the first place to observe what he was dealing with.

There was a guy that looked around his age in front of him, clearly frightened and unsure what to do, he was also lacking much muscle so he wasn’t going to be able to do much in this situation. The guy did look similar to those regulars he’d met at the cafe weirdly enough, it was only because the short man’s pale skin and reddish tinted eyes, but nonetheless a trait he’s started to see a lot in people who lived in this city.

 Though this guy looks kinda sickly with his veins being so noticeable in a dark alleyway with only one street light, said light barely reaches in the small area they all currently stood in.

Wilbur decided to pay attention to the man currently holding him hostage and looked to the arms keeping him in place, a decently large guy, he smelled like shit and alcohol, the asshole had a hand around Wilbur’s mouth and the hand with the knife that was practically digging into his throat without cutting it.

Wilbur was really only held in place by the man’s hands around his face but was otherwise fully mobile.

So yeah this shit was doing a horrible job actually restraining him, the knife against Wilbur’s neck was only slightly concerning, so he overall wasn't nervous.

What he was worried about was this guy in front of him running off to tell someone Wilbur beat the shit out of an alcoholic.

But, Wilbur wasn't in a position of power in this position so he was just going to have to prepare himself to run after the skinny guy, hopefully he was sickly enough that he wouldn’t be able to run off or he’d hopefully get frozen in fear and wouldn’t be to run.

 freezing in fear has helped Wilbur in the past many times and he hopes this is the scenario once more.

Wilbur moves his hand to his back pocket quietly… he finds the handle to his multi tool easily.

John didn't really expect this to happen; he just wanted help.

John was a recently turned and abandoned vampire, he freaked out and had no idea what to do but ask for some help from a friend, though his friend Max has always been on the less ethical side of morals he thought he’d be the most chill with his new found vampirism, John was correct about that.

He just wasn't sure how he was going to get blood, Max decided to surprise him and bring him to a dingy alley.

So now here they stood, arguing about what to do as Max held a freaking hostage.

The guy Max had looked like someone’s wet sad cat, so he instantly felt awful, John thinks he’s seen the guy working at two separate stores before so the guy is most likely poor so now they have a sad, poor hostage.

When Max had yanked the guy in the alley without a word to him, he had no clue what to do and still doesn't, god this was awful.

“Why did you think this was a good ide-“ John asked Max desperately once more only to be cut off towards the end, “-there’s no way we can get you what you need without being thieves or looking like cannibals!” Max whispered back.

John tensed at the word usage, not because he didn’t acknowledge that was what he was now, but because the guy being held in Max's grip was no doubt gonna freak out.

But… the man… didn't, he looked vacant.

It was incredibly unnerving as the man looked forward without a word, the man’s breath sounded shallow, he just overall looked…. creepy.

Maybe he was dissociating because Max said they were both cannibals? So he was freaking out but in like a panic attack-

All of the sudden the guy slammed his left foot on Max's foot, Max yelped and moved his hand with the knife away from the guy's throat, both startling at the sudden action and pain.

 in one fluid motion the man lowered slightly as he twisted around to face max, a object in his right han-

“AHCK-“ Max yells was cut off with gurgles, the sound of flesh as it was impaled, and the sound of something snapping that had Max falling over with the frail looking man following soon after.

Blood splattered, and the struggle of a fight between the man and Max ending in moments as the… as the man stabbed some part of Max over and over.

John couldn't move, even as his vampire senses ached for the taste of blood in his mouth, he couldn’t move as he watched the man from behind.

John wasn't sure why he couldn’t move.

He’s usually the first one away from the dangerous situation.

The man came up and down as he stabbed something into the corpse that was once his friend.

There was no manic laughter.

No monologue of a villain's evil deeds. 

Only the sound of blood and flesh as it was messed with. 

Only the sound of stabbing from a perceived frail man’s weapon.

They didn’t find a poor guy down on his luck.

They had found a monster worse than what John had become.

And now? 

The monster was after him.

Wilbur kinda got lost in it as he let out his frustrations on the bastard who had taken up his precious time.

as his jacket and pants were very much covered in blood and some of the man’s flesh as he had gotten was mixed with the viseria,  the pliers instead of the scissors or knife and ended up pulling some of the flesh off, it was whatever.

Good thing his jacket covered his sweater so at least that was fine.

Once Wilbur took a moment to catch his breath, he stood and looked to where he expected there to be no one there, but was pleasantly surprised to see the skinner guy had fallen over and scrambled up against the alley wall instead of running off.

The freeze response of fear made his life so much easier.

“Well,” Wilbur started,”this isn’t something I usually do 3 times in one day,” Wilbur felt a little awkward, he stepped closer to the guy who shook like a leaf in fear,

”you… you killed the man… down the street didn’t you..? the… the one earlier today...” the guys voice trembled, realization glinting in his now pin prick pupils,

Wilbur decided to answer as it was the man’s last moments alive, “yep! Right on point,” He smiled at the man before him, not fearing his sharper teeth glinting in the low light. 

The man somehow paled further into something akin to a sheet of paper, his body shivering as if experiencing hypothermia, every step Wilbur took the man started to most likely realize this was his last moments.

Wilbur kicked the man in the head, the man hit his head so hard into the brick that a crack ringed out, the man fell to the side.

wow, how anti-climatic.

Wilbur kicks the man’s head again, and again, again, and again.

Once he’s done the man's face is unrecognizable and mangled, his facial bones no doubt shattered, blood leaks from the man’s nose and mouth, a few teeth hit out from their place.

Wilbur’s still kinda angry.

If you couldn't tell.

Wilbur wasn’t completely paying attention to these idiots conversation, he was more concerned about getting a knife away from his throat, but he caught it was most likely because the guy he just curb stomped needed something and the other guy couldn't think of any other way to get the thing without grabbing a random off the street.

It was really unfortunate for them that Wilbur was who they napped.

Wilbur crouched down and dropped a hand to the guys throat, Damn! This guy still has a subtle heart beat.

That's a shock, he was sure his foot had hit hard enough for the man to get brain damage and therefore go brain dead.

Oh well, more stomping for Wilbur!

He stood again and raised his foot right above the man’s head, and then smashed, “oh shit!” Wilbur yelled, “oh, I've never done that before,” Wilbur took his foot away from what used to be the man’s head and shook off his lower leg,” damn! I guess all this walking has really improved my leg strength,” Wilbur murmured to himself, 

As Wilbur looks upon the newest situation he’s found himself in he decides he needs to wipe off the excess blood.

Wilbur walks over to the guy he had ripped the throat of and uses the guys jacket to wipe the blood off his glasses, jacket, face, leg, and hands.

He’ll have to get home by alley way, an annoying endeavor but a needed one so no one sees him covered in blood that can't be mistaken for a slushy this time.

With a plan in mind, Wilbur walks deeper into the alley to find a more complicated way home.

Techno thinks this scene is so much worse then the last one.

Probably because the feral fledgling had killed a fellow vampire, one that was also a fledgling, and because of all the gore.

This scene was only found the next day but is calculated to have happened late in the evening around 1am. 

One man laid near the center of the alley, dried and still wet blood poured onto the ground from the man’s mangled and maimed neck, similar to the one that had been found the day before.

But the man’s neck was destroyed, tendons ripped In chunks laying delicately in the crimson  puddle, the neck bone that held the head up was cracked and nearly snapped, the neck muscles were torn to shreds and practically non-existent and if it weren't for chunks that still remained on the ground he would’ve thought the fledgling had caused the injury ate it.

The man also had a shattered foot, the bones becoming glass shards in the skin.

The first man was a new level of violence that Techno hadn’t ever seen before from a fledgling.

Cause while Tommy’s rampage was devastating it was only sucking peoples blood dry, it wasn't ever a maiming of this caliber, Techno had always thought Tommy’s rampage was the most violent he’d ever get to see.

But this case had proven him so wrong.

Especially with the other victim.

The man’s skull was so destroyed that they couldn’t identify him.

It’s like the fledgling had taken their foot and continually stomped on the man’s head.

The skull was caved in, brain matter and blood exploded all over the pavement, the man’s eye balls were mashed and now looked like a morbid version of a popped water balloon, the jaw was dislocated and teeth had fallen out and shattered like porcelain, even the sharp fanged teeth were broken.

The only evidence, other than the bodies, that someone was there was a blood trail that only went a couple feet deeper into the alley way until disappearing.

Even hounds that were released into the alley way only went one or two feet deeper into the trail before being unable to trace where the fledgling had gone too. 

Whoever had sired this fledgling had to be someone as ancient as Phil to be able to give a feral fledgling enough strength to shatter a skull like this.