Here is the first part to the follow up of this scene, where Morcant arrives in Oakhurst, this time with Legs' reaction to being reunited with his sire. Part two is almost done and should hopefully be out tomorrow.
[cw: very briefly referenced disordered eating]
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The first sign that something was really wrong was the unfiltered pulse of someone else's panic in the back of Apo's mind.
No, that wasn't true. The first sign was some random-ass old man rocking up in the middle of town after they'd all been trapped in by a fucking magical barrier for a month. The second sign was the really weird vibe she got from said random-ass old man — a Lord Thornvale, apparently. He felt… important? They couldn't quite put their finger on it, but something — one of those instincts she'd been warned about — told her that she needed to pay attention to him.
So, really, the jolt of panic and confusion from the Doc when he spotted Lord Thornvale was basically the nail in the coffin for Apo. Something else has gone very wrong, apparently. Because why not. Fuck.
And then Abolish walked up to the old man — his grandfather, apparently, which didn't sound right, didn't Abolish say his last name was Veylocke? Plus they didn't look anything alike — and Legundo was still frozen in place. He hadn't locked the bond down, like he usually did when too much emotion began to leak through, so he was clearly really rattled by whatever was happening. Apo huffed, and shuffled over to stand next to him.
"Doc," she said softly. "You good?"
Legundo blinked slowly. He was wearing that monocle with the dark lens he had put on after turning her, disguising the way his remaining eye had gone from bright green to deep red. It seemed to take him a moment to realise they were talking to him, but the second he did, the connection between them snapped closed again.
"Apo, I—" he stammered. "I need to—"
He looked around wildly, and took a half step backwards.
"Hey, come on, let's go to the clinic, yeah?" Apo said. "It's loud out here."
It was loud everywhere, since she'd been turned. But the clinic was at least less loud.
She didn't really want to take her eyes off the weird stranger, but Abolish was leading the guy back to his house, so that decided that for her. She placed a hand on Legs' elbow, and he let out a shaky breath.
"That's… a good idea," he muttered, still staring as Abolish and Lord Thornvale stepped into Abolish's house. It took another moment before Legundo actually started to follow her, but she was eventually able to drag him into the clinic and shut the door firmly behind them.
"You know that guy?" she asked, once the Doc had slumped down in the chair by his desk.
"Morcant Thornvale is… an ancient vampire," he said.
"So, not Abolish's grandfather, then?"
"I don't— Abolish never mentioned—" Legs shook his head, looking very lost. Apo shuffled on the spot, not quite sure what to do with herself. She was still— all of the vampire stuff was still so… new, and confusing, and honestly kinda fucked up. Legundo looked upset, and seeing that made her feel bad, and she didn't know if that was cause of some weird instinct bullshit, or just cause she didn't want the guy to be upset. Maybe it shouldn't matter, but… it mattered to them.
The Doc rested his hands on his knees and sighed heavily.
"Is he gonna hurt people?" Apo asked. Legundo frowned.
"I don't know."
Great, Apo thought bitterly. Another unpredictable vampire, just what this shit show of a town needed. Then another thought hit her.
"Is he going to hurt Abolish?" she asked. Abolish had literally just invited the guy into his house. They clearly knew each other, and Abolish seemed to be one of the few almost sensible types in the town, but still…
"No, I don't… I don't think so. And… Abolish can handle himself. He'll be okay," Legs said, almost sounding like he believed it.
"How did he get here? The barrier—"
"Is very possibly a one way passage. Things can enter, but not leave," Legs muttered. "I'm not worried about the how, I'm worried about the why."
Apo watched as Legundo slowly removed his monocle, and scrubbed a hand over his face. He looked… exhausted was probably the kindest way the put it. 'Like shit' was probably the most accurate.
"You look like shit, Doc," they said, because he had asked her to be honest with him. He let out a huff that was almost a laugh.
"Thanks Apo," he said, rolling his shoulder in the way he did when he was tense.
"No, seriously, Doc," she said, finally making herself step close to him. "When did you last eat?"
"When did you?" he asked firmly. Apo swallowed. Yeah, okay, she walked into that one.
"Recently enough," she muttered.
"Apo."
"Look, Doc— I'm fine, I'm good. It's— I'm fine."
The way Legs raised an eyebrow at her said that sounded about as convincing as she thought it did. She sighed.
"Apo, you need to eat," Legs said softly.
"Obviously," she grumbled. "Can… can we talk about this later? Just forget I said anything. More important things to worry about right now."
Legs kept staring at her, looking upset and downtrodden and tired, and it made that part of her brain she didn't like want to curl up in a ball. She gritted her teeth and stared him down. Thankfully, she did not have to fight off the instincts long, because they were interrupted by a knock on the clinic door.
Legs sat up, and quickly popped his monocle back in place. He was on his feet just as quickly, pushing down whatever stress and exhaustion was pulling at him, the potential of work to do clearly enough motivation for the mask to fall back in place. Apo would have been frustrated, but she was mostly just glad for the interruption.
He opened the door, and Apo felt the stab of anger, confusion, guilt through the bond that told her who it was before she even looked. Abolish and his not-grandfather were at the door, the old man leaning a little on Abolish's arm. Legs' shoulders stiffened, and when he spoke it was through very gritted teeth.
"Abolish."
"Doc," Abolish replied calmly. "I was hoping you could give Morcant a check up. Make sure he's okay after his journey."
Apo knew that Abolish was a good liar. He'd apparently been the one to carry her back to town after the Doc turned her, and had helped spin the story well enough most suspicion was kept off her. So she had to respect the guy for that at least. And he'd mostly left her alone, which she appreciated, even if she didn't like whatever the fuck he had going on with Scott. And maybe Legs too? Yeah, no, she wasn't going to touch that shit with a ten foot pole. Better she stay away from Abolish.
"Of course," Legundo said, still definitely gritting his teeth. "Come in."
