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Tommy looks young. He knows he does. That isn’t a fact that he tries to hide.
No, he uses it to his advantage.
Vampires as old as him don’t really have to drink human blood. They can get by on animal blood. So he usually just buys a pack or so of steak using his incredibly useful and full bank account.
Does he invest in small businesses so that he makes his money back? Yes.
Does he have to? No.
With how good the current bank’s interest on his savings, he could easily live for the next 1500 years without having to earn money back.
But sue him, he’s trying to be a responsible ancient being.
And he could take another fledgling. In theory, he could. But he doesn’t want to. Techno still refuses to leave the nest, and Wilbur pops back in from time to time.
He has a full coven. Or... almost.
But there was something about this barista at this coffee shop that was different.
Phil Zah. But Tommy preferred to call him Philza.
Reminds him of his mother’s default name for every male video game character she made. When she visited. The Goddess of Death was a very busy woman after all.
She was a vampire, not actually a goddess, and she was Tommy’s Sire. And… technically she was Wilbur and Techno’s Sire, too, but Tommy helped! He helped turn them so his mom could do important super old vampire things!
Why was he turned so young, you may ask? Well, Tommy found Kristin during the Black Death. He was starving and she was starving. So he decided if he was going to die, he’d die helping someone.
Well, his mother’s maternal side demanded that she save him, and thus, he was her first fledgling.
Stuck as a fledgling, of course, because anyone under the age of 25 gets stuck as a fledgling for the rest of time. To be fair, Techno and Wilbur were both technically fledglings, but not as fledgling as Tommy was.
The only reason he gets to venture out like this is because of how old he is. He’s like 500 years old. Or something. Him and his mom lost count of the years after the Americas were founded.
Techno had been turned sometime around the American Civil War. Wilbur had been turned later, sometime during the de-colonization of British India.
So technically, Wilbur was the youngest, but also the oldest.
Wilbur was turned at 24. Techno, 22.
Tommy?
Well… Tommy was turned at 14.
Yeah… not an amazing age to be, but at least he didn’t have it as bad as Ramón. That fledgling had been turned by a rogue vampire and taken in by one of his mom’s friends.
Eight. Eight years old.
And still technically older than both Techno and Wilbur, much to Tommy’s amusement and their horror.
Then there’s the whole thing with vampire instincts. Since Tommy is technically older than his brothers, he’s at the top of the hierarchy. But since his brothers are mentally older than Tommy… he finds that sometimes he just wants to be held by them.
It’s really confusing. They deal with it, since they’re all fledglings by nature, cuddles are expected.
“Philzaaa,” Tommy complains as the older blond hands him his coffee.
“Tommmyyy,” Phil grins.
“Mom won’t be home for another week! Can you believe it?! Work is stupid,” Tommy pouts. He leans forward, knowing that if he plays his cards right-
Phil’s hand ruffles his hair.
Bingo.
He leans into the affectionate touch. He needs to keep rewarding Phil if he wants to eventually get the man to come home with him.
And because Phil gives the best head scratches. And hugs.
Even better than Techno’s, but don’t tell him that.
“Sorry, mate, there’s nothin’ I can do about that,” Phil says, chuckling as he ruffles Tommy’s hair from across the counter.
“Sure you can, you can come over to my house!” Tommy grins. If Phil just takes one step into the house…
“Who’re you trying to kidnap?” Techno asks coming up behind Tommy.
Tommy pouts.
Phil laughs.
“Aw, mate, I’d love to come over for dinner sometime. Is this one of your brothers that you talk so much about?” Phil sticks his hand out. “Phil Zah, but Tommy calls me Philza or Phil.”
“Techno.” He shakes Phil’s hand.
Tommy sticks his tongue out at Techno.
“Nice to meet you, Tommy talks about you and your brother all the time.” Phil chuckles and ruffles Tommy’s hair again.
He seems to really like Tommy’s hair.
Techno lifts a brow at Tommy.
this dude? really?
yes.
Tommy steps on Techno’s toes and the other huffs at him. Tommy glances at Phil to make sure the reaction the other gave is the correct one.
Phil looks amused.
Perfect.
“Tonight, Phil? Will you come over tonight?” Tommy puts both palms on the counter to push himself closer to Phil’s face.
Phil chuckles. “Didn’t you just say your mother wasn’t due home anytime soon?”
Tommy groans. Phil was using selective hearing! Didn’t he realize that Tommy just wanted him in the coven house so that he can’t leave until his mom comes home?
“Pleaseeee?” Tommy begs. “Techno, say please.”
Techno rolls his eyes. “No.”
Phil laughs again. “Alright, alright! I’ll come over at 7, how’s that sound?”
Tommy grins. “Perfect! I’ll have dinner ready!”
“Sounds good, mate,” Phil says, waving to Tommy as he and Techno leave.
Tommy practically bounces out the door in excitement. He isn’t sure he has the patience to wait for his mother to come home.
“Easy, Tom,” Techno chuckles, patting Tommy’s head. “Wil went with Mom, so they’ll be back in a week or so if you can wait that long.”
“No way! I want to see him in his instincts before that!” Tommy complains.
“He would be a fun fledgling. He’s so…”
“Dadza?”
Techno snorts and nods. “Dadza.”
“Mom’ll love him!”
“I’m sure she will. He’s perfect for her.”
“I’ve been saying Mom needs someone for a while, but she didn’t like any of the other options we tried!”
Techno huffs. “Besides, his name will intrigue her enough not to kill him at least. Remember the last person we tried to set Mom up with?”
Tommy crosses his arms. “Look, now we know that Mom isn’t into brunettes!”
“I think it was more so the fact that he was arrogant,” Techno teases, “But I agree, this Phil is different.”
“He’s meant to be ours! Can’t you feel it?” Tommy grabs his brother’s sleeve, tugging on it.
“Yes,” Techno says.
Tommy grins. If Techno agrees, then Phil is perfect for the coven. Sure, it wasn’t ideal for fledglings to turn humans, but his Mom could override the Sire bond later.
And sure, technically they had sub-covens that were turned by them, but they weren’t coven. They weren’t his.
Phil was his. Phil was meant to be his.
Tommy immediately starts to make sure that the nest would be ready for a fledgling. He hasn’t had to do this since his mom brought Techno home. Technically, there was Wilbur, but Techno had been more insistent on Wilbur being in the nest than Tommy had been.
He didn’t really remember exactly, it was ages ago.
Techno watches from the doorway, fetching whatever nesting materials Tommy demanded. His instincts are bubbling so close to the surface, and he can’t wait to taste Phil’s blood. Then… he’ll pump his venom into Phil.
Then Phil will be coven. Forever.
Tommy glances at the clock. 6:30. Still a whole fifteen minutes until Techno left to go pick up Phil, and half an hour until 7:00 when Phil said he’d be here.
“Techno, Techno, are you sure I can’t-”
“You better stay here. You’ll probably have him turned before we can leave the car, and I am not trying to deal with our instincts while in the car.” Techno crosses his arms.
“Ugh, so responsible!” Tommy kicks at Techno’s shin. The older dodges and picks Tommy up by the back of his shirt.
“Stop that,” Techno says.
Tommy hisses, letting his full irritation slip into the displeased noise.
Techno drops him and lets out an apologetic whine.
“I know why you’re saying it. Get to it.” Tommy was done pretending he was younger than Techno. And Techno knew it now.
Tommy wasn’t going to be bratty, but he also wasn’t patient.
Techno looks at Tommy then nods. He walks out the door without another complaint. He is glad Techno is the one to be here with him rather than Wilbur. Wilbur would’ve thrown a fit.
Technoblade had been the first person to ever push Tommy’s wrong buttons. Tommy didn’t have many wrong buttons. But when he wants something and someone stands in his way…
Well… Tommy had taken at least a few heads for it.
In the past, it had been random trinkets and cool things. Sometimes Tommy would buy out an actor he liked just to make sure that he got to watch all their movies first. But even that could get boring fast.
This was different.
This was Phil.
The fifth person in the Lady Death Coven.
Tommy purrs, turning to perfect the nest’s arrangement. He can’t wait for Techno to return with Phil. It’ll be amazing. Perfect, even.
Techno hasn’t seen a fledgling since he turned Quackity a few years and that fledgling hated Techno. They’d had to send Quackity to Sam’s little subcoven because of how badly the fledgling hated Techno.
They still aren’t entirely sure how Techno managed to piss off the only fledgling he’d ever turned.
Techno is probably still a bit traumatized from that. Tommy sure was.
But Phil would be better.
Phil would be perfect.
Techno just didn’t know how to choose fledglings like Tommy did. Tommy purrs and gathers up more pillows from various places around the house. This nest needs to be perfect.
Well, it was perfect before, but it needs to be more perfect now.
Tommy’s purr titters off as he hears Techno’s car come into the driveway. Phil is here! Tommy can barely keep himself calmly (on the surface anyway) seated on the couch.
Phil walks in, chattering happily to Techno. Tommy can see his older brother’s pupils slightly dilated from the idea of their fledgling in the coven home.
Tommy is sure his eyes are starting to dilate as well.
Good thing Phil is kinda stupid.
“And- oh hey, Tommy!” Phil’s smile turns to Tommy and Tommy feels a fire spark inside his chest. Like the fireplace that Phil has in his living room.
Don’t ask too many questions about how Tommy knows the layout of Phil’s house.
“Tommy, I was just telling Techno how nice your neighborhood is! I can’t believe you didn’t buy out the coffee shop to get free coffee!” Phil chuckles and sits beside Tommy on the couch.
Tommy had bought out the coffee shop. He just paid the “owner” extra money to keep quiet. And he may have told his subcovens that if they didn’t support Phil’s job that he would cut some heads off.
But Tommy wasn’t violent. Nah. Never.
Techno sits on the other side of Phil. Tommy pushes pride and happiness through the coven bond to Techno to show how appreciative he is.
If Phil tries to run… Techno will stop him.
“Hey, mate, your eyes are kinda red. Have you not been sleeping well lately?” Phil’s concerned gaze fills Tommy’s vision, distracting him from Techno’s rubying eyes.
“Oh… well, I kinda have a secret to tell you, Phil,” Tommy says. He does his best to look pitiful.
Techno’s amusement in the coven bond says that he must be doing a pretty good job.
Phil lets out an ‘aw, mate’ before his hands tip Tommy’s chin up. Phil’s blue eyes look right into Tommy’s.
“Any secret you want to tell me will be safe with me, I promise,” Phil says.
“I know…” Tommy says. He does his best to look as hesitant and scared as possible. He subtly nudges Techno’s foot to tell him to start acting too.
Techno huffs and puts his face in Phil’s shoulder.
Phil, because of how perfect he is, doesn’t even flinch, he just pats Techno’s thigh to comfort him.
“Phil… T-Tech and I… we’re… well…” Tommy pretends to hesitate. He really badly just wants to spew it out so they can get it done with. But he wants Phil to be too concerned to actually think about the consequences of any actions.
And judging by the look of genuine concern on Phil’s face, Tommy was doing wonderfully.
“W-We’re vampires…” he whispers, looking up at Phil. He makes sure that tears gather in his eyes.
Phil’s eyes widen for a second before they go back to concern. “Are… are you hungry? Is that why you asked me to come over?”
Tommy sniffles and nods. “Tech and I… w-we…”
“We haven’t been doing so well at finding people who are willing to give us blood,” Techno says into Phil’s neck.
“And… you’ve been so nice…” Tommy whispers, “I thought… maybe…?”
Take the bait. You know you want to.
“Mate…” Phil hesitates.
He shouldn’t hesitate. Tommy can’t let him think too hard about this.
“I mean… it’s okay… Techno and I can go a few more weeks without food, right Tech?” Tommy’s tear-filled eyes move to his brother.
Techno, if you screw this up, you will never hear the end of it.
“Yeah… I mean… our Sire is gone… and we aren’t that good at being vampires ‘nd all…” Techno sends embarrassment to Tommy from the coven bond.
Yeah, admitting to being weak probably sucked, but this is for the greater good. Of Tommy at least.
And that works on Phil.
“No, no, you’re doing just fine, mate,” Phil’s eyes soften and he shifts.
Tommy could tell he was nervous. But who wouldn’t be? Having two vampires feed from you must be a scary thought.
But Tommy was on a mission.
“R-Really? Y-You’d let us?”
Technically, Phil hadn’t said anything about that. But Tommy knew human language enough to know that Phil would hate to say no now.
“Well…” Phil takes a big breath and nods reluctantly. “Y-Yeah. I will. Will… it hurt?”
Tommy shakes his head emphatically. Technically it wasn’t a lie. Tommy’s venom had a numbing agent that would make sure Phil didn’t feel what was about to happen.
Tommy pretends to weakly bite Phil’s neck, making sure a good chunk of his venom enters Phil before letting Techno bite the other side.
Phil makes a surprised sound before melting into their hold.
He’s perfect. He’s so perfect for the coven.
Ours.
He could feel his mother accept the claim and the new covenmate. She is interested, despite not having met Phil before. But she prods through Tommy’s memories of Phil and finds him interesting.
And just as Tommy had suspected, she is enthralled with Phil’s name.
Tommy purrs when Phil’s arms wrap around him. Techno sends a shot of jealousy through the coven bond, but Tommy ignores him.
He found Phil first, so he obviously should get the most Phil hugs.
Tommy sits back. It would take a few days for the venom to fully work through Phil’s blood. So they just had to keep him in the nest until then.
“Phil…? Are you okay?” Tommy pretends to be concerned.
But he’s struggling to hide how excited he is.
“Yeah, mate… just a b’t… drifty,” Phil slurs his words, his eyes glancing over Tommy and Techno. Phil lets out a giggle. “Y’r eyes… r’d…”
Tommy lets his true face show. Phil is officially theirs.
“Phil, I have an amazing place to show you.” Tommy reaches for Phil. Phil lets Tommy pick him up.
“R’lly?” Phil slurs, his head lolling into Tommy’s shoulder.
Techno follows closely behind Tommy as they walk to the nest room. Phil is going to look so perfect in the nest.
“Hmm… n’st?” Phil slurs.
Tommy blinks. That… isn’t something he’d expected Phil to know about.
“How’d you know that?” Tommy is more intrigued now.
“Re’d that v’mp’res h’ve n’sts like b’rds,” Phil giggles. “Y’re a b’rd, T’ms.”
Tommy rolls his eyes. “I am nothing like a bird, Philza.”
Techno snorts and nudges Tommy into the nest. Tommy huffs, but lets his brother guide him into the nest. He refuses to let go of Phil though.
And Phil seems equally content to cling to Tommy.
“Mmm… ‘m g’nna sleep n’w,” Phil mumbles.
“Alright, Phil… go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” Tommy buries his face in Phil’s neck.
Yeah, Phil was going to be a fun fledgling, but he’d be even more fun when he fledged out in twenty years.
His mom was going to either love Phil’s dad instincts or hate them. But she wouldn’t accept him if she hadn’t thought that she would get super upset.
Maybe she also wanted a second parent for all the fledglings in her coven. He doesn’t know. It’s not Tommy’s job to worry about that.
He just has to make sure his new dad doesn’t escape the nest or drink any dirty blood until his mom comes home.