𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔰 - H&S

Nico, too, could smell blood. He could ignore it, for now, but it had been at least a day and a half since he’d last fed, so he’d need to find a source at some point. He was so tired of this, trying to find a target who wouldn’t mind if he took a little bit extra, or trying to live off rats and other animals. He was just… tired. He had never asked to be turned, and he didn’t want to hurt people, but the time to regret that had long since passed. This was what he was, and he was going to have to come to terms with it at some point. He might as well start trying now.
The blood was covered by a different scent, though. Two different blood types, one still pumping warm through someone’s veins and one stuck to another animal – an animal it didn’t belong to. The scent of that blood was masking another scene, Nico realized as he got closer. It was a wolf, and its blood smelled… well… off. It smelled human, but like someone had injected something into human blood and had left it there to fester. It didn’t matter, though, because the wolf was stalking someone. He could see the way its hackles raised, could see the way its eyes were sharp and focused… and the girl it was hunting was terrified, pleading with the wolf to stand down. Nico winced, trying to ignore the situation, trying to just move on… he couldn’t make himself. The girl needed help, and what good was he if he couldn’t even save one life?
Nico dropped from the rooftop he was on, landing lightly on his feet and standing up a few feet back. He was careful to stay in the shadows for a long moment, trying to figure out his plan of attack.
“Stand down,” Nico murmured softly, trying to get the wolf to pay attention to him. He knew he had power over wolves, he knew it was part of the package, but he was loathe to use it if he didn’t have to. It didn’t seem likely that the wolf was going to back down without it, though.

Nico could see the way the wolf’s muscles tensed, could practically feel his anticipation and hunger as he bunched his hind legs up in preparation for a jump. Nico felt that same hunger echoed in his chest, but he pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time to pay attention to that, now wasn’t a good time to give in to his hunger. He could find something in the morning to satiate himself. This… this was more important. The girl didn’t have to die. Nico had taken more lives than he was proud of. He had done his best to avoid it, but there were times when the hunger took over and he didn’t have a choice. He knew he would need to feed before that happened again, he just… didn’t know where he was going to get blood. It didn’t matter. He took in a deep breath, watching the moment unfurl before him almost too quickly.
“Stop!” Nico commanded, power flooding his voice. He was a vampire, whatever that entailed. He could control bats and wolves, he could run fast and lift things far larger than himself. He was controlling this wolf, now, flooding all of his willpower into it as he commanded it to stop, to stay where it was, to not hurt the girl.
“Stop,” Nico repeated, just a little bit more quietly as he moved forward, one hand out towards the wolf’s pelt. “It’s okay,” he murmured softly, letting a soft breath out as his hand made contact with fur.

Nico watched the girl run away, relief flooding through his bones as he realized he’d actually managed to save her life. Of course… she wouldn’t stop to thank him. She likely assumed that he had sent the wolf after her in the first place, or, at best, that he was just a very neglectful owner who hadn’t noticed until the last second that his wolf was about to hurt someone. She wouldn’t realize that Nico had never seen the creature before in his life. She wouldn’t realize that Nico was putting himself at risk here, too.
Slowly, Nico let his hand sink into Kelsier’s fur. He didn’t want to hurt him, and he didn’t want to deprive him of a meal, but… it seemed likely that he could find something that wasn’t human. Was it possible the wolf was rabid or something? He hesitated for a long moment, then blinked as he realized the animal was trembling beneath his grip.
“It’s okay,” he said again, letting his fingers relax and his hand move down to his side. He let his power slip away, ready for the wolf to turn on him in anger. Ready for it to decide to maul him because he had interrupted its dinner. He could defend himself, but he didn’t want to do that unless he had to.
“I’m sorry,” he added, in case the wolf cared. He didn’t like the idea of imposing his will over another living being, but… it had been the only way to save a life.

Nico breathed out, eyes widening as the wolf turned on him. He didn’t want to have to fight it, but he would if that was the only option. He took a quick step back, putting a hand in front of him to stop Kelsier. It wouldn’t do much, but it was enough of a warning. He shook the thought off, eyes wide as he stared at Kelsier.
“It’s okay,” he breathed, uncertain if Kelsier was able to understand him at all. His power had made the wolf stop, but that didn’t mean the wolf had understood any of his words. Hopefully, he understood this. “It’s okay, I’m sorry I had to stop you. I’m sorry…” his breath built in his chest, though he didn’t strictly need it. He could feel his heart thudding, though that wasn’t strictly necessary anymore either.
“Wait,” Nico murmured, eyes catching on the blood on Kelsier’s muzzle. That was what had caught his attention at first – the scent of dried human blood masking something else. Was that what had driven the wolf into this bloodlust? Was that the reason he had attacked? It didn’t seem very characteristic of a wolf to go mad like that. Nico dared to look away from the wolf, hand reaching into his pocket to grab his flask. He didn’t really need water, either, but it made him feel a little bit better when he was stressed, and that was… almost always.
Slowly, Nico dripped some water onto his hand, then reached out towards Kelsier’s muzzle, whispering under his breath to calm him. He just needed to be able to clean the blood away.

Nico didn’t know if he was going about this the right way. As far as he was concerned, Kelsier was a threat. Or… at least… he had been. Nico wasn’t entirely certain what the wolf was now. He was just a creature that needed to eat to live, and Nico had taken that chance away from him. He was also a creature who deserved his own free will, and who was obviously either frightened or uncertain. Nico couldn’t fix that for him. All he could do was just… hope that Kelsier was okay with him coming closer.
“Hey,” Nico murmured, kneeling down and reaching a hand out for Kelsier to sniff. “It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay, you know that? I just want to… I want to help get you cleaned up, alright? And then you might feel a little bit better.” Nico didn’t actually know if that was true, but he wanted to believe that it was. He wanted to hope that he could help this creature. They lived in a world that insisted they were both monsters, but neither of them had to be. He cast his gaze down, inclining his head to try to show Kelsier respect. This could easily end in his death, but Nico di Angelo wasn’t scared. He just wanted to help, and this was the only way he saw to do it. Bit by bit, he had to gain the wolf’s trust. And then he could clean him up.

Nico blinked, Kelsier’s warm breath tickling the tips of his fingers. He wasn’t sure what he had expected, but he was fairly certain at least part of him had assumed that he wouldn’t have a hand anymore after trusting Kelsier with it. But the wolf had stopped, had slowed down and sniffed, and now they were at an impasse. Nico didn’t want to hurt Kelsier, even though he probably had the power to if he really tried, and Kelsier didn’t seem certain at all about whether or not to attack. Very, very slowly, Nico lowered his hand until he was touching the very tip of Kelsier’s nose, then raised the strip of fabric he had dampened a few moments before to the fur right at the edge of Kelsier’s muzzle. He was going to try to work the blood free. The scent had to be maddening to Kelsier, just as it was to Nico. He could feel his need to hunt kicking in, could feel his eyes narrow as he tried to stop them from turning red with hunger. He could hold off for another few hours. He just had to make sure this wolf didn’t hurt anyone else. He just… he had to make sure that Kelsier got home alright, wherever home was. He hadn’t seemed to put together the scent of almost-human blood with the full moon, but they were in the middle of the city. Kelsier had to belong somewhere, even if it was just to an extremely neglectful pet owner.

Nico took a deep breath, eyes wide as he watched Kelsier. He wanted the wolf to stay calm, but he seemed… uncertain. Afraid. Not calm, but at least he wasn’t lunging for Nico’s throat. He could, of course. Nico might not be fast enough to evade hm, and then it would be over for both of them. He didn’t know if vampire blood would be good for wolves. Somehow, he doubted it. Once it was in his system, it wasn’t really human blood anymore. It probably smelled as off to Kelsier as Kelsier’s blood smelled to Nico. They were… well, they were in an odd situation here, one Nico hadn’t truly expected to ever find himself in. He wasn’t used to dealing with wild animals, and while it would be easy enough to take control of Kelsier again to make sure he didn’t attack, he didn’t want to do that. Kelsier was a living being, too, and he deserved free will. He deserved to be able to make his own decisions.
Slowly, Nico began to wipe the blood away from Kelsier’s muzzle, gently stroking the top if his nose as he did so. He continued to whisper, the words in quiet Greek this time. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Kelsier to understand him, it was just that he was more comfortable in the language, and he wanted Kelsier to be comfortable, too. Besides, it seemed unlikely that he even understood English.
“There,” Nico murmured, taking a step back and letting his hand fall to his side. The fabric strip he had torn off was blood soaked, but he had managed to clean most of the blood off from the wolf’s face.

Nico took a deep breath out, eyes wide as he looked at Kelsier. He half expected him to leap over and take him by the throat. He half expected the growl to return and for Kelsier to leap off back in the direction of another target. He didn’t know who it would be, and he didn’t know if he could stop it from happening. But there seemed to be a shift in the wolf’s behavior. He wasn’t trembling anymore, for one, but he also seemed a lot calmer. Or… as calm as a hungry animal could be. Nico felt a small bit of camaraderie with him… he, too, was yearning for blood. He, too, needed to hunt and kill in order to survive. For the moment, neither of them had to. For the moment, they were both okay.
“There we go,” Nico murmured softly in Italian, automatically reverting back to his mother tongue. Greek was great for soothing, and English was just fine for communicating, but neither of them were the same amount of comfortable as Italian was. Nico wasn’t quite as on edge anymore. He took a deep breath, then sat a few feet away from Kelsier, his back up against a wall. He wasn’t sure how to spend the rest of the night, but at some point he needed to figure out how to get this wolf home before he hurt anyone else. There was still something about him… the smell that wasn’t quite human, or maybe was human with something almost… poisoned about it. He sighed, tracing a finger through the dirt in front of him and creating an abstract shape. He was killing time as he figured out what to do.

Nico didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. He figured it would be easiest to find Kelsier somewhere to go where he could hunt something that wasn’t human, but the pieces were beginning to come together in Nico’s mind. The moon was full and bright. Kelsier smelled almost human. Once, Nico wouldn’t have believed that vampires existed, but he was here now. He was living proof that he should have believed in monsters long before he became one. Was it really that impossible to believe that werewolves existed? If certain folktales were to be believed, werewolves and vampires were mortal enemies. Nico could understand why, if vampires could control the wolves as easily as he had managed to control Kelsier, but… it didn’t seem to be written in their blood. Nico didn’t want Kelsier dead, he just wanted to make sure he didn’t kill anyone else.
“Wait,” Nico murmured, getting to his feet as soon as it became clear that Kelsier was about to leave. He didn’t have any power in his voice, so he didn’t expect Kelsier to actually listen, but he had to hope. Slowly, Nico moved to follow Kelsier. He didn’t know how much time they had before the sun rose, but he imagined it was a couple hours at the very least.
“There’s a forest just outside of town,” Nico murmured, wondering if Kelsier could understand a word he was saying. “You might be able to catch a deer or something.”

Nico caught up to Kelsier quickly, grateful that the wolf hadn’t decided to attack yet. He didn’t know what he wanted from this situation… he wanted to make sure nobody died, but was that too much to ask? Was it possible that Kelsier couldn’t control himself, just as Nico couldn’t control himself since it had been too long since he had eaten? He bit his lip, wishing he had found a way to purchase a phone. He didn’t make money, though, so… it was difficult to be able to afford anything quite as expensive as phone. He made due with what he could get… was it early enough that the garbage cans wouldn’t have been emptied? He wanted to ask Kelsier to stay, but he doubted the wolf would understand him well enough to listen unless he exerted his will on him.
“Follow me,” Nico said softly, beckoning with one hand as he headed towards where he thought there might be a fast food restaurant. It wasn’t the best idea he’d had, but if the wolf was hungry, thrown away bits of other people’s meals was going to be a lot better to feed him than actual human person. Hopefully it would be enough to keep the wolf satiated.

Nico turned back to watch Kelsier, brows raised as he waited to see if the wolf was going to follow him. It was entirely possible that he wouldn’t. That he would decide it was safer to try to follow after one of the scents nearby, that he could find prey more easily if he hunted by himself. If that was the case, Nico would have to find a way to stop him. He didn’t want anyone to die tonight, but he also didn’t want Kelsier to go hungry. He knew what that was like. He knew how destructive he got when he hadn’t had a chance to feed in a while. He couldn’t always save humans from himself, but he could save a few tonight.
“Good boy,” Nico whispered, though he was almost surprised by the words as they issued from him. He had never been an animal person – animals tended not to like him, no matter how much he liked them. Kelsier, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind him. Maybe it was because he didn’t realize that Nico had taken hold of him. Or maybe it was because there was still a little part of Nico influencing him. Nico stiffened at that thought. He didn’t want to control the wolf.
“This way,” Nico said, trying to keep the tightness out of his voice. He could scent the fast food up ahead. He hoped Kelsier didn’t get the brilliant idea to go inside – there was nobody working at this hour anyway, but it would be easier if they could avoid property damage and setting off an alarm.

Nico turned as it seemed Kelsier was about to stop following him. Indeed, the wolf stopped and Nico stood where he was, uncertain how to communicate his intent to Kelsier. He didn’t know that what he was proposing was even going to be helpful, but he had to try everything before he allowed Kelsier to kill a human being. He didn’t know who Kelsier was outside of the full moon, but the vast majority of the population would be upset if they found out that they had murdered someone, especially someone innocent, so Nico was trying not just to protect the people Kelsier wanted to kill, but also protect the human that surely slumbered inside the wolf. Nico refused to think of him as a beast or a monster. He was just a human being who had ended up in this situation, and there was nothing Nico could do other than help him and make sure he didn’t betray any human ideals he might have.
“C’mon,” Nico said in Italian, trying to keep his voice cheery as he beckoned to the wolf. He could already smell the fast food, they woudlnt’ have to go more than a block or two to find a rubbish bin with plenty of half eaten food thrown away. It would be perfectly acceptable for a dog, he just had to hope it would satiate a wolf’s appetite as well.

Nico could sense Kelsier’s hesitation, but he wasn’t going to do anything to banish it. The only thing he was comfortable doing was just speaking quietly to the wolf, trying to make him feel as safe as possible. He wasn’t going to tell him what to feel. He didn’t want to ever take control of another living being again, particularly not one as intelligent as Kelsier seemed to be. There was something almost human about the way he was looking at Nico, and part of Nico had to wonder if Kelsier would remember this in the morning, even if it seemed like an odd dream. He shook his head of the thought. It didn’t matter. If Kelsier remembered him, so be it. It wasn’t like he was ever going to find him again. This was a one-night thing.
Slowly, Nico led Kelsier towards the dumpster in question, then ran at it at full speed, pulling the top up as he did and gathering as many discarded burger patties as he could hold. He didn’t know if anything else was safe for Kelsier to eat, so he avoided everything other than one pack of fries for himself. It didn’t seem to have touched much else, so he skimmed a few off the top before dropping the thing back in the trash. He ran back towards Kelsier at full speed as well, stopping a safe distance away before dropping his armful of meat at his feet.
“Eat up,” he said gently, hoping it would be good enough.

Nico couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face as he watched Kelsier. It seemed he had been right to try to find Kelsier an alternative to human. He took a step back, debating whether it would be best to just disappear and hope Kelsier found his own way home, but that felt irresponsible. He breathed out, bracing himself against the nearest building as a pang of hunger ran through him, too. His eyes flashed red for a long second before he managed to get them back under control. He wasn’t going to kill anyone. He was going to stay as human as he was capable of being. He had just saved a life from Kelsier, he didn’t need to take one himself tonight. He wasn’t going to kill anyone. He wasn’t.
Nico forced his gaze back up towards Kelsier, watching as the burger patties disappeared one by one. The wolf seemed to be enjoying himself, or at least… seemed to be relieved that someone had thought to bring him food. Food that was probably easier to acquire than killing someone would be. If the wolf made a habit of stealing from dumpsters that might be… a small issue… but it was better than him going after innocents. If people were going to throw away old food, maybe they deserved some of it being stolen by a hungry werewolf.
“That better?” Nico asked, crossing his arms as he managed to get control over himself again.