Chapter Text
Tommy was floating just beside Dream as they stared out towards L’manburg from the top of the prison.
“Any ideas for what to do next loop, Dove?” Dream asked, swinging his feet off the edge of the large building.
“Maybe, I mean it depends on when we loop in. We have been doing supernatural loops. Maybe we should keep that going? If we loop early enough maybe we could do like a werewolf thing?” Tommy responded then hummed in dissatisfaction. “No, not werewolves; too obvious and a bit boring. Maybe pretend to be vampires?” Tommy settled on.
“It definitely depends on when we wake up but we can definitely do a vampire loop.” Dream agreed.
They started chatting idly about true vampire lore and what it would be.
“...Ready to loop?” Dream asked when they both felt they got everything down.
“Like I can stop you” Came the snarking, echoing reply “But yeah, I’m ready. Let's do this”
And Dream fell with Tommy right next to him the entire time.
Tommy woke up on the floor of the camarvan smiling. It was early enough that the vampire loop as a go. He waited a few minutes for Dream to enable their hub inventories, and enderchests. When he was sure they were enabled he grabbed a quick spell book and using it Tommy gave himself the appearance and abilities of a vampire. When he was done he took a picture of the pages and sent them to Dream.
Wilbur came in as Tommy shot off the final message to Dream and made a noise of confusion.
Tommy looked up and pretended to scramble for an empty book, muttering “Shit. Bitch. Fuck. What was that memory thrall again?”
Before Tommy could ‘find’ the page he was looking for, Wilbur snatched the book from the blond’s hands and demanded “Tommy, I will ask this just once. What the fuck.”
Tommy sighed and leaned against the wall of the van “Fine, I'm a vampire.”
“Bullshit, I've seen you in the sun, and eating garlic.” Wilbur refused.
“Ok first of all, I'm an elder vampire, so ‘Standard weaknesses’ Don't affect me the same, if at all.” Tommy made air quotes as he spoke. “ Secondly, sunlight is annoying but I'm old enough to be able to ignore it, though it does make me hungrier. Third, It's only thralls and young turns that have issues with garlic; the rest of us quite enjoy it!” Wilbur still didn't look satisfied by that answer, so Tommy groaned “You know what if you don't believe me you can meet my childe, we are meeting soon as the sun is setting and he still needs to learn to hunt.” Wilbur grunted and kept an eye on Tommy until it was time to go meet the other vampire.
When Tommy and Wilbur stepped into the clearing it looked empty just as Wilbur was about to ask if the other was late. Tommy spoke up, “Oi, get your ass down here childe, he already knows I'm a vampire, might as well learn you are one as well. Not like anyone would believe him.”
At Tommy’s words, Dream dropped from one of the trees popping his neck when he landed, stretching out the rest of his body as he stood up. “Is that why you are late, sire?”
“Yes, and because he's here, I can't really teach you to hunt tonight, but we will still be making this a way to learn. So sit both of you and ask questions one at a time. Wilbur first.” Tommy sighed, and sunk down to sit on the ground with Dream quickly following.
Wilbur spoke first. “Will either of you two drain someone’s blood?”
“No.” came the immediate reply from one and a delayed reply from the other.
“No,” Tommy said again, “That is why I'm teaching Dream to hunt. We can survive off animal blood, or each other’s if times get hard enough. But that kind of desperation hasn't happened in centuries.”
A spiteful, sarcastic mutter came from Wilbur at the length of time Tommy mentioned “Yeah like you’d know.”
“I would actually, considering I'm the one who found out we could survive off animals. It's also why the older vampires are usually livestock farmers, or fucken’ crop farmers. Took a few decades but the trades have settled, and thus been going real well.” Tommy piped up, smiling calmly.
“Wait, how old are you?” Dream asks this time. They never discussed how old Tommy would be pretending to be.
“Around 14 thousand I think.” Tommy replied, tilting his head and tapping his finger on the side of his jaw. “Honestly, It's been a few decades since I thought about it.” he shrugged.
“Can you eat things other than blood?” Wilbur asks next.
“Kind of.” Tommy hums leaning back on his arms. “Most human food doesn't have the nutrients we get from blood. Eggs are the best human food we can eat. A lot of us just cook blood into food since we can still taste human food.”
“If you’re so knowledgeable about vampires, then why do they burn?” Wilbur blurted snidely.
“Why do humans?” Tommy deadpanned. “No, seriously, it's the exact same reason, it's just that a vampire’s reaction is a lot more….hmm…. volatile when they are young, which helps curb being hunted before they can mature.
“What fashion do vampires wear?” Dream asked this time.
“Well, it depends from vampire to vampire, but Victorian, specifically either early or late Victorian, are the most popular last I cared. Honestly this,” Tommy gestured to himself with one hand “is the most comfortable for me, so to each their own and all that shit. Though childes always have to cover up fully, or at least as much as they can, to avoid accidental sun exposure.”
“Wait, but you said you aren't affected by the sun. Why is Dream?” Wilbur asked
“Well, it depends on age. Up to the age of around 150 vampires can't go out in the sun at all. From 150 to 300 they can handle small day excursions provided they feed immediately after, and are wearing like a wide brimmed hat with a veil so very little sun gets in. When a vampire turns 500 they can go for longer in the day but still have to be well fed before and after going out. Once one hits 1000 the sun just gives you a headache especially in the winter with all the snow glare.” Tommy stood and gestured for Dream to do so as well. “Speaking of the sun, all vampires can sense when it is going to rise so the childes have time to get to a safe spot where the sun can't hurt them.”
“Oh,” Dream exclaimed “Is that what the buzzing under my skin is?”
Tommy nodded “Yeah. Now head on back to Sapnap and George, before they wake up and wonder where you are.” Dream nodded and ran off towards the Greater smp and the base he was sharing with his two best friends.
“So, big T, you’re a vampire?” Tubbo came up behind Tommy and asked.
“I am, Wilbur told?” Tommy replied, closing the chest he was organizing.
“Yeah, couldn't believe it so asked if I knew before.” Tubbo said, hopping up and sitting on a random chest as Tommy leaned against the one he just closed.
“Questions?” the blond sighed.
“Please? I have a few.” the brunette cajoled.
“Fine.” Tommy agreed, even though he could never think of Tubbo as his brother the brunette was still a friend if a distant one.
“Ok! Can you see yourself in a mirror?” Tubbo started.
“As long as they aren't backed with silver, yes, vampires can see themselves in modern mirrors as silver backing fell out of style a while ago.” Tommy explained easily.
“Is there a preferred blood type to drink?”
“Every vampire has a different preference as each type has a different taste and the general health and nutrients the person has also affects taste, but AB and O- are the most popular ones.” Tommy explained.
“Is it considered eating or drinking?” Tubbo asked, bouncing where he was sitting.
“Either. The terms are used interchangeably by vampires but most use drinking as the term when around humans. I personally use feeding when talking about it.” Tommy assured.
“One more before I'm done for today; Aren’t vampires supposed to have like an accent or lisp or something?” Tubbo asked, unknowing of the landmine he just stepped on.
Tommy sighed loudly and violently through his nose before explaining, “It’s not a species accent. It's more akin to a lisp, especially in young vampires. Our fangs will sometimes get in the way of us talking so we have a hard time pronouncing words correctly sometimes. The ‘vampiric accent’,” the sarcastic air quotes made an appearance. “Was because of Dracula, the bitch, had a lisp to begin with and when he was turned he had larger teeth than any normal childe and refused to learn how to shorten his teeth because he thought that longer teeth were attractive, and a sign of dominance in vampiric society. It’s not by the way. His Sire, and the rest of vampire society continuously told him it wasn't and was liable to get him killed via one of the elders. Honestly, it was so satisfying to be the one to kill him.” Tommy purred. “And he absolutely deserved it trying to thrall and take advantage of one of the kind girls who donated blood to vampires semi-regularly.” Tommy leaned back against the wall in memory “Clementine was so scared when she came to me pleading for something to be done about Dracula. She had been a donor for a while and knew what the thrall of young vampires with no experience felt like. She was so worried that the council of elders would take the fledgling’s side. We didn’t of course, and when she heard of what he had done Dracula’s Sire gave him up and dragged him in front of the council herself and apologized profusely for her childe’s actions. We forgave the Sire but we did force her to watch us execute him. As the only elder with no sired I was in charge of protecting, and helping to distribute the donors, still am even though I have a childe now.” Tommy sighed, smiling fondly, “Clementine died happy, she refused to let us turn her. She was a strong woman, could and would absolutely argue with the elders on just about any topic if they were being unfair, or just plain dumb. Prime knows she beat the council over the head often enough to earn respect from the whole of the community.” Tommy opened his eyes and headed to the door. “Now come on, we have a war to win.”
Dream tried to sneak in through the window. It didn’t work.
George woke up when Dream left. At the 3 hour mark, he woke up Sapnap, and at the 7 hour mark they started gathering stuff to go find Dream. At 7 and a half hours Dream crawled through the window and cursed under his breath when he caught sight of Sapnap, and George.
"So, Dream where have you been?" Sapnap asked, disappointment lining his tone.
Dream cursed again, closing the window, and reluctantly turning to the two again, "Out for a midnight stroll?" The blond tried.
"Wrong, try again. The trees said you went pretty far towards L'manburg." George spoke up sitting on the kitchen counter.
"God damn it. I hate how you two can sniff out my lies like fucking blood demons- I don't even want to hear it Sap, you've already told us Bad is one." Dream caved, dragging his ass to the dining room and sitting at the table answering semi-honestly this time "Fine, I was meeting my Sire so he could teach me more about being a vampire, and vampire culture as a whole. Happy?"
That got Sapnap's attention, he never knew of this "Can you turn me or George into a vampire?" He asked without thinking.
"No." Dream answered firmly.
"Aww, why not?" George asked, as a young witch, by witch standards, and never having had a mentor he had to learn everything himself.
Dream sighed, "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics so I'll have to ask my Sire, but from what I know: witches have magic in their blood and when they die they lose that magic as it returns to nature. As for demons and demon hybrids, again as far as I know, they lose their demon status if a vampire tries to turn them. Bad would probably know more."
"Huh." George hummed leaning back, while Sapnap asked his dads to come over cause he has some questions. And Dream texted Tommy asking if he made it back OK.
"Wait, what about the thing with sunlight?" George settled on.
"I can't go the whole day, but my Sire can. The older we get the more of an immunity we build to it." Dream answered easily.
After about 20 minutes of calm silence, Bad and Skeppy enter the house.
"Hey, muffin, what happened?" Bad greeted Sapnap
"Hey dad. Apparently Dream is a vampire." Sapnap deadpanned quickly.
"Childe." Dream corrected. "I don't become an acknowledged vampire until the council votes on it, my Sire deems me ready, and I can go at least half a day without getting a sunburn."
"Oh! Cool, how long ago were you turned?" Bad asked, shifting his attention away from his son.
"Four centuries, give or take a few decades. Time…. Time gets weird after a while." Dream settled on.
"Yeah, I get it kiddo. If you are comfortable sharing, who is your sire? Or at least their turned claim?" Bad asked, being respectful and knowing that a vampire’s Sire is a sensitive topic.
"He does not wish for his name to be out, as he is a part of the council, and has many enemies among other species, but his claim is 'Danger' in common." Dream allowed hesitantly.
Bad nodded, accepting the answer. "Oh, what about garlic? Some of the vampires I knew could eat it. Is that still true?" He remembered, and asked
"Kind of. It’s a blood thinner and mildly poisonous, like capsaicin is mildly poisonous to humans. Younger vampires can't eat or stand the smell of garlic while older and elder vampires love it. Plus as a blood thinner younger vampires can't process the nutrients from garliced blood. Congealed blood is given to younger, and new childes as it is very close in texture and consistency of jello, so easier to eat for the younger ones and it helps with the teething process, and pains." Dream explained
"Oh, I see. Honestly, I thought vampire society fell. If I say or do anything unsocial for vampires let me know? I'm working off what I knew of the last era of vampires." Bad nodded, and confessed.
Dream noticeably hesitated before speaking quietly, as if confessing a deep secret, "It very nearly did. From what my Sire told me, the population got low enough to be counted on a single hand with missing fingers. Many of the council fell, either to hunters, or to starvation. My Sire is the only of the old council to have survived. From what he tells me there is a new council consisting of himself, and the only other 2 survivors and society is slowly being rebuilt."
Skeppy bounced in carrying a tray of drinks and asked "Oh, what's a vampire's favorite time of night?"
"Not a vampire yet, Skeppy, but mine is just before sunrise or just after sunset, where the sun isn't strong enough to hurt new childes but you can still feel its warmth."
"That's kinda sad, man." George whispered softly.
"Yeah, but not much I can do about it now aside from aging so I can feel it more." Dream sighed, drinking from his cup.
A few minutes later Sapnap spoke up again "Wait, if you're a vampire and sleep during the day how do you fight in the war against L'manburg? Isn't that like pulling all-nighters constantly?"
"Not really? A vampire's sleep schedule can change just as fluidly as anyone else's. Childes sleep during the day so they avoid the sun and most vampire's just never bother enough to change that habit. Plus we don't need 8 hours a time like many other species. 8 hours is our monthly requirement unless we get hurt, or so my sire says." Dream answered, shrugging at the end.
"Wait, is your sire a part of L'manburg? Cause that's where the trees said you went when you went to go meet him!" George snapped up from where he sprawled on the counter.
"Yes, he is. He isn't Wilbur before you ask, but he is a part of their army. As far as I know he got curious and wants to stick it through. So here we are." Dream answered, trying to keep Tommy's identity secret.
Skeppy burst out laughing "ha! Dream’s in his teenage rebellion phase!"