lockesmith / crossfangs role swap AU where Scott is a powerful rich manor lord vampire who works in cohorts with the Organization as a powerful ally both politically and financially as well as an asset (with a gun <3), and half-vampire Abolish who methodically kills his human prey to feed on like a highly efficient serial killer, leaving not a single hair as evidence at the scene of the crime.
He is an elf to me, even though his canon art has him with human ears, lol. I am biased towards Elf Scott, the same as how I am biased towards Elf Shelby, lol :) His ears are tipped white because I do imagine he is specifically a Snow Elf, even though he wasn't actually born in Tegrith, apparently. I still wanted to make him one with the Ice and Snow, lol. Especially since he has gained ice and snow powers in the Academy.
Yes, I did change his expression slightly in the 3rd full body art where his roots are turning blue. Figured it would fit :D
And yes, I still couldn't figure out how the heck to draw his snowflake cloak so until I can figure that out, here is the cloak I went with in the meantime lol <3
Next will be Pyro, hopefully by the end of this week, since you all voted for him to be drawn next <3
Any crossfangs would be awesome! I love how you write them and their relationship.
Oh boy this one got away from me. Somewhat of a continuation of this scene, with some vampire biology/dynamics once again inspired by the incredible @audioeidolon
cw: morally ambiguous characters, mildly suggestive in a secret third thing kinda way. I dunno what their vibe is here but it... it sure is something.
****
The fledglings had finally settled down to rest. Scott left them curled up together in the coffin and slipped out into the night. He had forgotten how ravenous fledglings were. They were burning through their reserves quickly, and while Scott was loathe to leave them alone in the Castle, he had no choice but to go out hunting.
It would be easier if Owen was pulling his weight, but at least he was self-sufficient, and not an active drain on resources. It just meant it was up to Scott to do all the hunting for the fledglings. Which was fine, he was more than capable. But he had gotten used to a certain kind of luxury, with a coven that looked after itself and a town that offered respectful sacrifices. It had been some time since Scott was a sole provider.
Nighttime cloaked him comfortably, as he moved into the forest, flitting into bat form to swoop over the ravine. He didn't plan on venturing far, just deep enough to snatch a few unsuspecting animals, fill the collection of bottles he had brought with him, and return before the fledglings even knew he was gone. But as he landed in the bough of one of the ancient pines and retook his vampiric form to scent the air for prey, he caught the whiff of something else in the woods. Something human.
There was a human near his Castle. That simply wouldn't do.
He wrapped the shadows around himself easily, disappearing from sight, and begun to move towards the offensive scent.
He was beginning to wonder if it was time to make a proper example of one of the humans, if they were going to keep coming so close to his home with nothing to offer in return. He had put up signs and tried to be civil about it, but if they were going to keep ignoring the polite warnings, perhaps it was time for some good old fashioned heads on pikes, or corpses dumped at the gates of town with threatening messages carved into them. A little gauche, for Scott's taste, but needs must.
His plans shifted a little less murderous, though, when he saw exactly which human was lingering near his home and his fledglings.
Abolish emerged from a small rocky outcropping — too small to even call a cave — with a bag hoisted over his shoulder that Scott could tell was full of freshly mined silver.
Scott had been watching the hunter carefully over the last few weeks. There was something fascinating about him, how unaffected he was by it all. Calm and focused, he slipped under the notice of the panicked humans. But Scott had noticed. He had also noticed, after the first few weeks in Oakhurst, that Abolish's scent had changed.
What had once been a clean and neutral odour (deliberately neutral, by Scott's guess), had shifted to something earthier, and more naturally human. But what had caught Scott's attention was the scent that lingered around Abolish's throat. He had only noticed it the rare chances he got to get close to the hunter, so faint he needed to lean in and breathe deep to scent it. But, after their last encounter in the woods, Scott was certain he had not been imagining it. Abolish had a coven scent.
His initial instinct was that Abolish must be an escaped thrall, like the farmer was, but he had none of the haggard desperation to suggest it. An attack dog, then, perhaps? He had known some covens to keep skilled humans close at hand for easy feeding and to be disposable weapons. Scott thought it was far too much work, especially when you could just turn the skilled ones to keep forever, but to each their own.
"Can I help you, Scott?" Abolish asked over his shoulder, continuing down the path towards town. Scott had to admit he was impressed. That was twice now Abolish had been able to sense his presence, even through invisibility. He slipped out of the shadows in easy step next to the hunter.
"You're the one practically at my doorstep," he said. Abolish shrugged.
"I figured y'all wouldn't be wanting this silver anyway," he said, giving a vague gesture to his bag. Scott hummed, and leaned in. The coven scent was almost entirely faded, but Scott had a sharp nose, and his instincts were clearly telling him that the hunter carried the scent of another Elder vampire, one that Scott didn't recognise. He shifted his steps to move into Abolish's path and forced them both to a halt. The hunter twitched an eyebrow at him, but that was the extent of the reaction.
"Who exactly are you, Abolish? I admit, I cannot figure you out," he said, taking another step into Abolish's space. As always, not even Abolish's heart rate gave a reaction. Scott let a low, almost inaudible growl rumble through his chest. The sort of sound he used to chastise the fledglings, or bring Owen to heel. Abolish simply tilted his chin to maintain eye contact. Definitely not a thrall then, any drop of vampiric blood in his would have caused at least some kind of submissive response.
"I told you, Scott," Abolish said, sounding downright bored. "I have a job to do. I just want to do it, and go home."
"And what job is that, exactly?" Scott asked. He took another step forward, slow and deliberate, just to see what Abolish would do. Abolish shifted his weight, taking a half step back, but not in a way that felt like yielding ground. It almost felt like a dance, Scott leading, pressing Abolish backwards as he followed easily, never breaking eye contact.
"It's irrelevant to you," Abolish said.
"And yet it has you poking around my home, while my fledglings are resting," Scott said, letting the threat hang clearly in the slither of air between them.
"Like I said," Abolish replied, "I was just getting the silver. You weren't using it anyway."
"I should kill you just for the fact you're traipsing another coven's scent through my territory." Scott let his growl build and flair into his words, stepping forward again.
Finally, there was a reaction from Abolish. That last step had pushed him back enough that Scott had him all but pressed against the trunk of a tree. He was not pinned, but he would have to be very quick and clever to be able to get away if Scott decided he wanted him to be. But it was not the scent of fear that rose from Abolish in that moment. Instead, he let out what was distinctly a huff of frustration.
"I was hoping that would have worn off by now," he muttered.
"It mostly has," Scott admitted. "The fledglings wouldn't notice it, I doubt Owen would either. But this is my territory. It's bad enough there's humans here, with their heartbeats and sweat-stink, I don't need someone else's pet getting their scent everywhere too."
He let disdain drip off his words. This close, he could see subtle shifts in Abolish's expression, the way his brow furrowed slightly and the edges of his lips tipped down in what could almost be a frown. Scott wasn't sure what reaction he expected. Humans usually got oh so offended when he spoke of them like that, but Abolish seemed mostly unbothered, if a little confused.
"I'm not trying to mess with your territory," Abolish said, and Scott was surprised by the honesty of the statement. "Like I said, I thought the scent would have worn off by now."
"The coven scent of an elder takes a long time to wear off," Scott said. "I'm assuming you were using something to cover it up initially. I should have scented it the moment I saw you."
"Yeah, but I ran out. So you'll just have to put up with it, I guess," Abolish replied with a calm shrug, like they were discussing the weather. Scott kind of wanted to bite him just to see if he would even react to that. Instead, another idea formed in his mind.
"I have a better idea," he said. "Something that won't matter to you, but will make me much more willing to turn a blind eye to you roaming about my territory."
"And what's that?" Abolish asked, but the slight narrowing of his eyes suggested he at least had some clue what Scott was suggesting. Scott smiled sweetly, and let a gentle purr build in his chest. It was such a soft sound, he doubted Abolish's human ears would be able to actually hear it, but they were close enough he would be able to feel the vibration of it.
There, Scott thought, as he saw Abolish twitch, just slightly. It was the subtlest tilt of his chin, a cut off motion as Abolish locked down whatever habit he had been trained into. Scott wondered how long it had taken the Elder who's scent he carried to train the young man to bare his throat at the sound of a purr without the help of vampiric instincts.
"You want your scent on me," Abolish said flatly, in a way that suggested there was a clench to his jaw as he spoke. Scott purred a little louder.
"Your silly human nose can't even smell it, and your Elder will happily cover it back up if somehow make it out of here," he said, grinning. He watched Abolish scan his face carefully, obviously looking for some kind of threat or trick. Scott waited, still purring softly, as the hunter finally came to a decision.
"Fine," he said, and Scott's grin widened. "But if I feel fangs, I will stab you."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," Scott drawled, and Abolish rolled his eyes. Scott waited one more beat, building the sound rumbling through his chest to it's full volume. Slowly, with the same care he seemed to approach every task, Abolish tilted his chin up and to the side, exposing the soft skin of his throat.
Scott could dive in, drive his fangs into the vein and drain the hunter faster than he could react. He might get a stab in, might even do enough damage to actually hurt Scott, but there was no real threat to his life. Not like there was to Abolish's. And yet, there he was, backed up to a tree and giving Scott full access to his neck.
Scott had heard Owen talk of a moment of trust, between him and the doctor. Perhaps this was something similar.
Scott leaned in, and pressed his cheek against the warm skin of Abolish's throat. He nuzzled in, stepping even closer to press his chest firmly against Abolish's, so he could feel every rumble of every purr that rolled through him. The forced proximity had Abolish resting a hand on Scott's hip, simply because there was nowhere else for it. Scott rubbed his cheek along the line of Abolish's neck and up over his chin, feeling the faint scratch of freshly shaven hair. This close, the unfamiliar coven scent was painfully obvious, and Scott's purr shuddered to a growl as he let himself melt into his instincts, desperate to cover it up with his own scent. His hand came up to press his wrist to the other side of Abolish's throat, coating him at every point where the intruder's scent lingered. The hand on Scott's hip flexed, ever so slightly. Out of concern or warning, Scott wasn't sure. He didn't care either way, he wasn't stopping until he was certain Abolish was drenched in his scent, and his alone.
The heat of Abolish's living flesh added another layer to Scott's scent, an undercurrent of something almost herbal beneath the sweet metallic tones of the Goldsmith coven scent. He ghosted his lips across the line of Abolish's jaw, letting his breath dance over his skin. No was no trace left of the unfamiliar coven scent as Scott breathed in deep through his nose. An edge of tension in his chest began to ease. A threat removed. Slowly, with one last nuzzle against Abolish's cheek, he leaned back.
Abolish's expression was a blank mask. But even someone with such brilliant self-control clearly had limits. It was subtle, but Scott could hear how Abolish's heart rate had stepped up, ever so slightly. Still no scent of fear to him, but for the first time, Scott could see Abolish was not entirely unaffected. He grinned down at him.
"There," he whispered, "much better."
"Are you done?" Abolish asked. Whatever emotion that had pushed into his heartbeat was not audible in his voice, as he maintained eye contact with Scott.
"Yes, yes," Scott said with an airy laugh, finally stepping back to allow Abolish to move away from him. "On your way then, Abolish. I look forward to our next meeting."
Abolish gave him a flat look, re-shouldered his bag that had been discarded on the floor, and walked away without another word. Scott watched him leave, comforted by the way his coven scent lingered in his shadow.
****
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Idk if you are still doing this but could I get Abolish being a menace to Scott <3
Abolish gets a bit of teasing & flirting in, as a treat. Poor Scott can't help that he has a thing for confident, competent & dangerous men.
(I deliberately left it vague so you don't need the context of the fics, but this can definitely be read as CoY!Scott & Abolish, or just them in any sort of post canon established relationship).
****
"I thought you said you knew how to fight with a quarter staff?" Abolish commented blandly, as Scott picked himself up out of the dirt. He tried not to pout as he brushed the dirt off his knees and collected the staff off the floor.
"Yeah, a thousand years ago," he muttered. His Sire had liked his fledglings skilled, and had supplemented Scott's already decent skill set from his noble upbringing, adding quarter staff and hand to hand combat to his passable abilities with swords and bows.
Abolish was standing to the other end of the courtyard, watching calmly as Scott gathered himself. He had said he wanted to brush up on some weapons skills, and Scott had volunteered to spar. He wasn't so arrogant as to think he would be able to easily beat Abolish in combat, but he hadn't expected to be knocked onto his ass within a few seconds of their first bout.
"Do you need me to go easy on you, then?" Abolish asked and he sounded so goddamn genuine Scott actually growled at him. Abolish raised an eyebrow back at him.
"I'll take that as a no, then," he said. Scott didn't bother responding, just took his position again near the centre of the courtyard, waiting for Abolish to make the first move.
Scott managed to survive a couple extra beats in their second bout before Abolish landed a solid hit on the back of his knee and sent him to the floor again.
He rolled over onto his back and glared at him. Abolish just stepped back, giving his staff a casual twirl around his body.
"You're doing this deliberately," Scott grumbled.
"Doing what?" Abolish asked, far too innocently.
"Distracting me," he muttered. Abolish was a little too slow turning away from him to fully hide the way a small grin appeared at the corner of his mouth, so Scott knew he was correct.
Abolish had changed out of his usual button down and slacks into a soft linen shirt and loose fitting pants. That had been bad enough — Scott was struggling to drag his eyes away from where the shirt hung open around Abolish's throat — and then Abolish had picked up the staff and Scott should have known he was done for. Abolish wielded the weapon with fluidity and confidence, stepping and twirling like a dancer, in a way that had Scott practically entranced. He never should have agreed to this.
"I have no idea what you mean," Abolish said, the neutrality in his voice finally sounding a little forced. Scott pushed himself back onto his feet with a scoff, stepping up to Abolish again.
He held his ground better in the third round, getting Abolish slightly off balance at one point, but it didn't take long before he was forced backwards, Abolish ducking easily under a swing of his staff and slamming directly into his chest. They both hit the dirt that time, Abolish's weapon pressed flat across Scott's chest as he knelt over him, pinning him to the ground. Scott didn't need to breathe, but still felt like the breath had been knocked out of him.
Abolish's hair was slightly tussled, framing his face prettily has he loomed over Scott. The open collar had shifted, revealing a slither of collarbone and the firm muscles of his neck and shoulder.
"This is deeply unfair," Scott hissed, and Abolish didn't bother hiding his grin that time. "Did you even want to do any training, or was this your plan the whole time?"
Abolish shrugged, and Scott had to resist the urge to growl at him again.
"The training was a bonus. I was mostly testing a theory," Abolish said, still crouched over Scott, knees either side of Scott's hips.
"And what theory is that?" Scott asked, though he kind of didn't want to know the answer.
"That you're easily distracted," Abolish said with another shrug. Scott did growl that time and, with a surge of vampiric strength, pushed his weight up, twisted, and flipped them over. He had the distinct feeling it only worked because Abolish allowed it to.
