Chapter Text
A particularly loud clap of thunder startled Avid into dropping one of Drift’s favorite mugs. As if college classes weren’t enough to deal with, now he had yet another thing to feel anxious about. Thankfully, a quick glance to Drift in the living room told him that she hadn’t heard the accident over the torrentious downpour they were currently experiencing.
Avid pressed his palm against his growing headache and took a deep breath to compose himself. Assessing the damage at his feet, honestly it could have been worse. The breaks were pretty clean, so if he scrounged up all his arts and crafts skills from K-12, he might be able to put it mostly back together.
Avid knelt and carefully transferred the broken ceramic pieces onto a tea cloth. He winced as he sliced his thumb, praying he wouldn’t ruin two kitchen items in one night by staining the tea cloth with blood.
He licked the cut to semi-contain the mess, then hurriedly lifted the tea cloth full of sharp mug bits onto the counter. Perhaps he should be more careful since he already broke it once, but his thoughts were already in a tizzy and he wasn’t thinking with the most logic.
Avid went to the bathroom cupboard for a bandaid, but the first aid kit was missing. Of all the times.
“Drift!” Avid called as he rounded the corner into the living room. “Have you seen the first aid kit? I can’t find it, and I sorta…” Avid gestured with his bloody thumb.
“Avid! Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Drift asked as she hurriedly set down their book–a lot more carefully than Avid did with the mug–and got up. “How did you manage this?” She took his hand and turned it this way and that.
“Haha, so, funny story,” Avid rubbed the back of his head with his uninjured hand, “I was making hot chocolate for us since, the storm and all,” Avid’s eyes flicked everywhere but drift, settling on the rain racing down the window pane behind her, “and I might’a, sorta–AAHH!”
Just as Avid was about to admit he broke the mug, something slammed into the window so hard, Avid was surprised it didn’t break. While Avid stood, shocked, Drift had run over to the window to investigate. Avid cautiously crept up behind her, peaking over her shoulder as a small form peaked over their window ledge, tiny claws scrabbling to keep it from falling.
“No-no wait–Drift what are you doing??”
Avid was too slow to stop Drift opening the window, and suddenly they were assaulted by water and wind. Drift leaned out to scoop up the tiny animal and Avid slammed the window shut as soon as she was clear.
“I couldn’t just leave it out there!” Drift yelled at him.
“But you don’t even know what it is! For all we know it could have a disease–”
“Then we bring it to the vet!”
“After you’ve been infected?”
“The chances of that are basically nothing.”
Avid wanted to keep arguing, but Drift was giving him a determined look, and he was already feeling guilty about the mug.
Avid sighed. “Fine, we can keep the… what is it anyway?”
Drift held out their open palms to reveal a shivering ball of fur. As Avid looked closer, he noticed the leathery texture of wings and two little spiked ears.
“I think it’s a bat,” Drift said.
Avid stumbled back against the wall, getting as much distance as possible without leaving the room.
“You brought a vampire into our dorm!?”
“Avid.” Drift sounded exasperated.
She was sympathetic to his concerns, but she never actually believed him when he discussed vampires being real–because they were.
“It’s not a vampire, its just a poor little bat that was caught in the storm.”
“Yeah–a vampire bat!”
Drift looked closer at the bat in her arms. “Huh, it actually is a vampire bat–NOT, a vampire.” She pinned him with a look. “It sure is a long way from home though. Vampire bats don’t normally live around here.”
“That! Vampire bats don’t live around here, so obviously, thats. A. Vampire.”
“It could have escaped from a zoo or something,” Drift said, petting the bat. “Or, it could have been brought here by careless people who didn’t realize it would stress the poor thing out.”
“Yeah, some rich douche like the Goldsmith family I bet, which need I remind you are also most likely vampires?”
Drift shook her head. “Just look at him, we should be helping this lil fella out instead of talking. Come on.”
Avid followed Drift as she fussed over the bat, bringing it to the kitchen and wrapping it gently in a towel. Then she noticed Avid’s mess and just stared at him with an unimpressed look.
“Ahahah, I was going to fix it, but I thought I should take care of this first.” Avid gestured to his still bleeding thumb.”
“I’ll let you off the hook for now, but only because this little guy is more important,” Drift said. “Oh, actually this is perfect that you’ve got a cut.”
“Umm,” Avid was not following, “why is it perfect that I’m injured?”
“Because vampire bats only eat blood.”
“Ohoooo no, we are not doing that.” Avid held his hand protectively. “Putting aside the fact that I’m not letting a vampire drink my blood, animal spit would probably get my cut infected.”
Drift rolled her eyes. “I’m not asking you to let it lick you. Just squeeze some blood onto a dish or something before you bandage it up. It’s not like we have anything else to feed it, and it’s so weak Avid.”
“Just give it some water or something!”
“It needs more than that! Just look at it.”
Avid looked at it, but only because he couldn’t bear to look at Drift’s pleading eyes any longer. It had stopped shivering, likely due to the heat from Drift’s hands holding it in the towel. It did look nearly dead–actually vampires were already dead so that criteria didn’t matter. Well, Avid supposed there was a slim chance–a very slim one!–that this was an ordinary bat. In that case, it did look pretty concerning.
Avid deflated. “Alright, give me a bowl.” Drift perked up and Avid slumped into one of their kitchen chairs. “Next time you want to feed it you’re giving yourself a cut,” Avid muttered.
“Next time it needs to eat, it’ll be in the safe care of a professional.”
Avid didn’t know how Drift could coo over a vampire while Avid was squeezing out his lifeforce to keep it alive. When Drift set the bat down near Avid’s little pool of blood, it immediately perked up. Avid watched it sniff his blood, and he felt a little sick watching it lap up the dark liquid.
He supposed it was worth it to see Drift happy… and it might lessen the blow of the mug. Speaking of, “do you still have that extra epoxy resin? I was thinking I could use it to fix your mug.”
Drift hummed, rifling through their bag. “No, I think I threw it out because it was getting old.”
“Alright,” Avid sighed, “I’ll pick something up when we go to drop off the bat or whatever.”
“Here, I had an extra one in my backpack,” Drift said, setting a bandaid on the table next to Avid.
“Thanks,” he muttered.
“Hopefully the storm lets up by morning,” Drift said. She leaned down on the table to watch the bat more closely.
The bat had pretty much licked the bowl clean and was now grooming itself on their kitchen table. He supposed it was a little bit cute. Then, Avid locked eyes with the bat, and a wave of dread washed over him.
“Okay!” Avid stood up suddenly. “I’m going to bed–and whatever you do keep the bat out of my room!”
Avid rushed to get ready for bed, and all the while, those beady eyes kept flashing through his head. If he had one word to describe them, it would be intelligent. It didn’t feel like he was looking at an animal in that moment. No, because vampires were monsters.
Avid pulled the blankets around him tightly, trying to drown out his thoughts with the rain still pouring outside. There was a vampire in his home, that he was at least 90% sure of. Wait. He left Drift alone with a vampire!
Avid tumbled out of bed, blanket tailing him like a cape.
“I changed my mind!” We’re having a living room sleep over.” Avid stated.
Drift looked startled from where she was petting the bat at the table. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me. I’m not letting you sleep alone with a vampire in the dorm. It’s for safety.”
Drift’s expression softened. “If you wanted to cuddle Avid, you could have just said so.”
“You–that’s not what–I didn’t say that! This is a safety measure and a safety measure only. Go get your blankets, I’ll watch the bat.”
“Alright, just don’t start a fight in the kitchen while I’m gone.”
“If there’s a fight, I’ll win it.”
Avid did not take his eyes off the bat, and after scratching its fur a little more, the bat didn’t take its eyes off him. It was a deadly staring contest. Anything could happen if Avid let down his guard.
“Are you going to grab anything besides that blanket?” Drift asked from outside Avid’s very focused field of vision.
“Yeah, could you grab my pillows?”
“Sure thing.”
Avid lifted his chin defiantly as his eyes began to water, and he definitely didn’t hallucinate the bat doing the same thing. Eventually, keeping his eyes open became too much for him and Avid had to squeeze them shut, groaning in defeat.
The bat let out a little sound like a sneeze, more like a laugh though. Well, Avid would rather be laughed at than killed–or worse, turned. So, he conceded this battle with an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture and helped Drift set up their makeshift bed in the middle of the small living room.
–
Avid woke up from being choked in a dream, only for the sensation to stay when he was conscious. A quick swallow confirmed that–yep–there was something on his neck.
“Gah!” Avid bolted upright, sending the bat tumbling into their pile of blankets. It scrabbled until it was upright and flew up onto the top of the bare couch–stripped of its cushions for their sleepover.
“Drift! Your bat is trying to kill me wake up!”
“Wuh–Avid what are you yelling about?” Drift asked sleepily.
“The bat was attacking my neck in my sleep! Hurry check–are there any bite marks??” Avid felt around his neck, not feeling anything but not ruling out the possibility. Then he realized how the vampire was so close to his neck in the first place. He wasn’t wearing his necklace!
Avid shot a glare at the bat then ran to his room, putting on his sterling silver choker that Drift gave him as a gift for his birthday. Although she didn’t believe him, she did know how to make him feel at ease most of the time. He really was grateful for her.
He struggled out of his pajamas and into something decent for going out, nearly running into a corner as he put his hoodie on while walking.
“Grab your shoes and the bat, we’re leaving,” Avid said, tugging on his own pair.
Drift yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Isn’t it still a bit early?”
“The vet opens at eight, if we start walking it’ll be open by the time we get there.”
“What about breakfast? Drift asked sleepily.
“We’ll go to that cafe you like after we drop off the bat.”
“Really?” Drift perked up.
“Yeah, and maybe that cute barista will be there too,” Avid teased.
“Ye-yeah, maybe.”
At least Drift was awake now. They couldn’t waste any more time with evil in their midst. Avid would try to kill it, maybe, but Drift would definitely never forgive him for that.
He bounced near the door until Drift was finally ready. Maybe he shouldn’t have teased her, because she spent forever trying to look nice for her crush and they needed to go.
He watched Drift hold out her hands for the bat to jump down, and it did with barely any hesitation. A normal bat probably wouldn’t have been so friendly, but vampires were masters of manipulation.
“Ready,” Drift said, cradling the bat.
“Okay lets go lets go!” Avid pushed her out the door and locked it quickly.
Avid watched the bat act unusually docile the whole way down the stairs. It absolutely could not be trusted. His suspicions were all but confirmed when they left the building and it immediately wriggled out of Drift’s hold and took off.
Drift made a startled sound then sadly watched it fly away. “We were only trying to help it,” she said.
“I’m sorry Drift, it probably sensed my bloodlust,” Avid half-joked.
Drift leaned against him and sighed. “I guess we’d better get that resin. Can we still go to the cafe too?”
Avid gave her tight side hug. “Of course.”
“Then let’s go!”
“Woah–”
Drift tugged Avid down the sidewalk. She was never this assertive when they first met, so it made Avid happy to see her like this now that they were in college.
The epoxy resin was a bit of a goose chase to find, but eventually they got something food-grade to fix the mug. Avid also picked up an extra package of bandaids since their’s seemed to be missing. Next stop was the cafe.
Avid didn’t miss how Drift was more than a little disappointed when her favorite barista wasn’t there. Shelby usually worked Saturday mornings, so Avid was surprised too. Or, perhaps he spoke too soon as a tangle of red hair swept past them.
“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Shelby was saying to her manager as she slipped behind the counter. Avid couldn’t help but eavesdrop as she continued rambling while tying her apron. “See, my roommate didn’t come home last night and wasn’t picking up his phone, and with that storm I was super worried. Luckily he showed up this morning so I didn’t have to call the police.”
Her manager kindly waved her off and she jumped on register just in time to take their order.
“Oh my gosh! Hi Drift! Hi Avid!”
“Hi Shelby,” Avid said, looking to his side to see Drift staring in utter adoration.
“Hi,” Drift said softly.
“Are you two getting the same as usual?” Shelby asked.
“Uhh–”
“ –Yeah,” Avid cut in to save Drift from her imminent embarrassment. “We’ll get that plus two croissant sandwiches.”
“Coming right up!”
There were no other customers in the store yet, so they waited by the counter for their order to finish and so Drift could watch Shelby work.
“Um, I couldn’t help but overhear, but is your roommate okay?” Drift asked
“Oh, Scott? He was fine. He said he stayed at a friend’s last night to wait out the storm. I didn’t even know he had friends besides me!” Shelby giggled and Avid watched Drift’s heart do flips.
Avid, meanwhile, was reeling with revelation. Shelby was roommates with Scott? “You don’t happen to mean Scott Goldsmith, do you?” Avid asked carefully.
“Of course! I don’t think I even know any other Scotts to be honest.”
“Neither do I,” Avid muttered. If he was putting this together right, his top vampire suspect had shown up in Avid’s dorm room in bat form last night during that storm. Suddenly, that bat’s head tilt felt awfully familiar.
Avid was aware enough to know that calling Shelby’s roommate a vampire would not win any points for Drift. So for once, he didn’t mention vampires. He was thinking about it though.