Nandermo Ficlet Snippet - The Kids
"So, Master," Guillermo called softly, a light tremor in his voice that couldn't be missed. He looked down as Nandor glanced up from his reading, the familiar wringing his fingers together nervously. "Y-You remember how we agreed that we'd have no more secrets?"
Nandor tensed. The last time he had heard such a tone from Guillermo... Nandor closed his book in his lap, inhaling sharply as a dangerous scowl settled over his lips. "Guillermo, not again."
Realization came quickly. "No! No!" The younger man's eyes widened in horror. "Not that! Definitely not that!"
Well. Nandor gave a curt nod. So long as it wasn't... that. He didn't want to have to stake another vampire, even if it was for Guillermo. "What is it, then?"
Guillermo shifted on his feet. "There's, um..." A small smile wobbled on his lips. "There's someone I want you to meet." A pause. "W-Well, a few s-someones, really."
It was then that the bottom dropped out of Nandor's stomach. Someones? But... He'd really thought... After all that they had been through? "Mn," he hummed, if only to cover the sudden sense of disappointment that didn't belong in his heart. "Who are these someones, exactly?"
Guillermo took a deep breath, and then a step to the side, revealing... "The kids!"
Which is how Nandor found himself staring, dumbstruck, at three very small, very inhuman looking-"Kids?"
"Hi!" one screeched, the fluffiest of the bunch. If he didn't know any better, Nandor would have thought them a lamb. The child - she? Nandor wasn't sure - came running up to the vampire, their arms wrapped around a small stuffed animal. "Daddy said to be nice, and say 'Hi!'."
Nandor nearly choked as he knelt on the carpet. "Daddy?" He looked up to Guillermo, who seemed a bit flustered. Oh, it was getting worse and worse, this knifey-stabby-pain feeling in his chest. He wanted to know who, he wanted to know when, and why. But, naturally, the burning question that left his tongue was a hissed, "Exactly what did you mate with, Guillermo?"
And Guillermo, lunatic boy that he was, giggled. Before he could answer, the second child stepped forward, this one looking like some sort of puppy dog. He held his hands - paws? - at his sides, and looked Nandor in the eye. "We are not conventional children," he advised, a level of wisdom in his words that was well beyond his apparent years. "We are the by-product of a process in which the one you call Laszlo-"
"Laszlo," Nandor cursed. He bared his fangs at the thought, unnoticed to himself, until Guillermo stepped forward to put a hand on the head of each of the startled children. Behind him, a third child, resembling a small piglet, clung to Guillermo's pant leg.
"Like the Baron and Sire's children," Guillermo murmured in a soothing tone. It was clearly for the sake of the little ones, but, Nandor was loathe to admit, it was working for him, too. "Kind of. There was no..." Guillermo pulled a face. "Mating involved."
Digesting the words took a moment, leaving behind a feeling that was quite close to shame. All Nandor could utter was a small, "Oh." It seemed he had made a rather hasty assumption. He returned his attention to the children, taking in more details of their appearances. It would have been difficult for anyone else, Nandor was sure, but he could spot little bits of Guillermo in each of them. He did, after all, know the man better than most anyone out there. Even that loathsome, repugnant, fumbling fool of a fucking guy who thought he could just turn another vampire's familiar all willies-nillies!
Anger clouded back in, swirling in his memory with such force that he nearly missed the little lamb-child step even closer to him. Wide, innocent eyes stared up at him, and, yes, there was definitely a lot of Guillermo in this one.
"Daddy said you were important."
Nandor fought the barest twitch of a smile. "He did, did he." A darting look to Guillermo found the boy turning a faint shade of pink. How amusing. "Well, your... Daddy and I have a long history together."
Nandor's head darted up again, he and Guillermo sharing the same shock. Guillermo seemed to be floundering for what to say, jaw working soundlessly, open and closed. Nandor swallowed, which did nothing for the growing tightness in his throat. He looked back to the child, who hugged their toy tighter, eyes widening even more in anticipation. He should have said no. He should have straightened the record on that before it could cause further issues. The expression in those innocent eyes, the eyes of his favorite human on Earth, just wouldn't allow it.
"I suppose," he agreed, placing a gentle hand on the child's shoulder, "that would be all right."
