Vampire Teeth - A Psychonauts Commission Fic - Part 2 of 2
Finally finished after a bit of writers block. A commission fic of Dr. Loboto investigating a den of vampires, featuring an OC by @n-sani-tea (again thank you for your patience).
(link to part 1)
***Enjoy!***
Suddenly, the countdown halted, and silence descended.
The doctor froze at first, confused, then looked up at the approaching vampire, who was also quite still.
Her eyes were no longer playful; they were darting about with a serious brow. The bottom lip he thought at first to be quivering, though observing with a zoom, Loboto saw controlled movement, as if Roxanne were whispering at a frequency he could not hear. The expression was that of an argument, he could surmise.
It lingered like that for a moment.
The Doctor pondered if he should... do something... Slowly, he began to stand.
Glowing reflection of night eye illuminated as the vampire focused suddenly back on him.
"DON'T. YOU. DARE. MOVE!"
A statue he became again, and the unheard discussion resumed.
His hand still in his bag, however, moved unseen, finding a wooden defense should it be required.
There was a sudden crescendo, a whisper almost discernible, before the fanged woman suddenly flinched, resignation evident.
Roxanne straightened, Loboto stiffened, hand tightening around the implement, waiting for what would come next.
"... Well. Seems you got a rep, Doc!"
The tone had regained it's playful manner, though that did not ease the tension, not until he was sure.
"Good reviews, I trust?" He asked warily.
Roxanne chuckled a bit, seemingly amused, "Apparently! You do machine work? You could have mentioned that at the start, you know! Now, THAT is something the higher ups have been looking for."
A job offer. Loboto relaxed his grip.
"Ah yes! I do my best work when materializing machine marvels, all to match my client's machinations. Is there something particular your masters have in mind?"
Jagged teeth ground like marble, "Something to do with the sun..."
The mad scientist's optics flared. That sounded like a challenge. Oh, he loved a challenge.
"Excellent. I can start right away! After we negotiate terms, of course."
There again was that sliding eye and hidden mutter, a message relayed, received and responded, resulting in a smile.
"Of course!" Ebony hair fluttered in a turn, a clawed finger inclined, beckoning to deeper interiors. "Follow me."
...
Loboto paged through his notes from the past few days, refining blueprint designs here and there. Nearly done... which may not be a good thing.
One page, truly flawed, was crumpled up like an offensive love letter and cast into the roaring fire he sat before. Gertrude raised her head slightly, then went back to warming her scales in the amber glow.
He stood up, and began to pace about the rather grand workshop. His heel clicks traveled up into the tall ceiling and were lost in the dark. Projects hung up there on metal chains that tinkled like bells faintly in the echo, along with all the machines that sung and hummed a tune he knew well in the sciences. It was truly a very well stocked laboratory, his hosts had provided every expense he could desire.
Too bad he had not met them, at least not yet.
There had been only one night dweller the Doctor had thus far made contact with, and that had remained Roxanne, acting as a mediator. The true lords of this mountain were keeping their identities hidden, at least for now. It wasn't the oddest job setup he had ever taken, but it did perhaps cause some communication issues, mainly due to the plucky vampiress they had chosen as a mouthpiece. He tended to think whatever was said to her was then paraphrased rather poorly... or perhaps she was the only one here and was completely over the molar. Didn't matter to him, so long as he got paid!
And paid he was, in glorious, glorious knowledge.
The terms were simple enough. He wished to study one of the blood drinkers, so Roxanne was provided as a test subject, a role she seemed rather... enthusiastic about. Again, no judgement, though he wished she would not hover so. Literally hover. He had gotten startled now, a good number of times, to find her floating just above his head like an observing feline.
His studies had found the vampires, or at least the singular specimen he was allowed to observe (his world for a larger control group), to be rather similar to psychics in a way, though with a completely different process in how their abilities manifested, of blood rather than brain power. A convergent evolution like that of crabs. Perhaps this was the cause for why the two sets of beings were at such odds; a fight for the same environmental niche.
At least the vampires were honest.
They were rather clear that "guest" was a rather loose term for what he was. He could not really leave and go as he pleased in this place, though if he did, he was sure to get lost. All he had been allowed to do at the start was retrieve Gertrude, and from there, he had been sequestered in this section of the interior. His needs were attended to, he was in no bad way by any means. But he was starting to miss Vitamin D a bit.
"Just a little bit longer," he told himself, cool rubber of his glove messaging his stitched temples, "They'll get their invention soon..."
But will they let him go after?
Doubt had begun to bubble up like a mire in the back of his noggin.
He would need to prepare an exit strategy, just in case.
"Hey Doc!"
"Eeep!" He nearly jumped out of skin. Roxanne had snuck up on him yet again. "Must you do that?!"
Serrated smile shone with reflected cinders, twisting to right itself from the floating position by his head. "Your expression makes it worth it," That impish giggle was all too familiar now, "How are you doing this fine evening?"
Loboto did a double take, "It's evening?" He looked over at the wall clock. Apparently he'd been thinking it was AM and not PM. Was hard to keep track of time in this eternal night. No wonder he was tired. With a grumble, he smoothed out the blueprints, "I just finished the schematic refinements. Now I will commence the real magic!" His optics wandered to the builders table. His vision swam, "Hmmm, but first, I think, a quick break. Then I will finish!"
He walked back over to the armchair by the fire, the presence of Roxanne hovering behind.
"So, you're almost done..."
Something was off about her tone. His gaze turned from the flames.
"Yes."
An emotion crossed her eyes that caused the bog to bubble. It was quickly masked with a smile.
"Hey, do you want to check my teeth again?" The enthusiasm was one of a child trying to get their parent to take them to the carnival. He smiled at that.
"Again? Really? Hmmm..." He had exhausted every test he could think of now. What else could he learn? Perhaps... "Would you be willing to let me take a mold of your teeth?"
The false girl's eyes alighted, "OK!"
"Good, after I finish, I can make-"
"Aw, but-" An impatience bordering on desperation, "Can't you do it now? Please? Pretty bitty pleases, with crackers and cheeses?"
The puppy dog eyes were his downfall, half suspecting a subtle hypnotic suggestion might be involved. Nonetheless, he arose, ignoring his fatigue.
"All right, all right, you little monster. Let me gather the materials."
~
Roxanne took a seat at the hearth, watching the Doctor work intently. Gertrude lifted her finned head, stretched lazily, then waddled over to curl in Roxanne's lap.
The vampire smiled, gently scratching the gills of the strange creature, continuing to observe as the smell of a putty filled the air.
"Hey, Doc..." Roxanne's tongue felt like lead, "Would you ever want to be a vampire?"
A clatter of a pan, a small fall, but the noise made Gertrude start a bit.
Red and green focused back on her, the shape imposing as any ancient.
"That would be rather... inconvenient. For me at least. I'd rather not be ruled by the sun's schedule, especially with deadlines to worry about."
He rummaged around a bit, a copper smell now, faint, but it perked her attention. Gertrude suddenly moved away from her, an instinct.
"Are you alright? You cut yourself."
A nervous laugh, he turned with two small molds, "Cut, no, but this stuff can be rather atrocious in taste to sit in your mouth, even if for a few minutes, so I... provided a flavor I know you'd enjoy!"
The dilation could not be helped.
"How thoughtful..."
The molds fit to the top and bottom sections of her mouth, the gummy paste an unpleasant sensation. But she endured. It would need to set, Loboto instructed, for a few minutes, enough time for him to mix the plaster. So she sat, thoughts her own and numerous, watching now Gertrude get comfortable on the stone and drift into a dream.
With it something dusked on her; this taste. A familiarity, where had she... it took a moment, but necrotic synapses finally connected with the association of where she knew this flavor. Psychic blood. No mistaking. Was he...?
She looked over to him, to the scars and stitches that mapped his head like war-torn topography, and understood.
The poor man... he didn't deserve this...
"Finished!" He returned to her, removing the semi solidified molds from her mouth, and walked back over to the table to fill them with the plaster. She remained sitting, contemplative.
"Alright, that should take about an..." A yawn caught his speech, "... an hour or so I think for the initial set. I'm going to take a nap, then get finished up the project. Better to have a recharged mind before operating my tools. Wouldn't want anything bad to happen!" The slightly ominous laugh he gave was endearing.
"Alright... You mind if I look over your notes?" Roxanne moved over to the papers, clawed hand hovering over, awaiting permission.
Loboto got comfortable in his chair before the warm burning, Gertrude seeing another opportunity and jumping up to continue her lounging in his lap. "Eh, knock yourself out." And with that, he was out with a snore.
~
Embers had near cooled to crackling whispers when Loboto was nudged awake. His rising voice was quickly quieted with a frozen palm covering his mouth, starting him.
In the dim, Roxanne's eyes were like headlights, wide and serious. He could see enough to recognize the sign of 'be quiet' raised to her lips.
She motioned him to get up and lead him over to the table. Pointing to a note he had not written, he quickly read it, feeling sweat start to bead.
DO NOT SAY A WORD!
They are not going to let you go.
As soon as you finish building what they want, they are going to either turn you, or kill you, no other choice.
They can follow your schematics though, so if we go now, they will not pursue you past the mountain. Building it will be more important.
Get what you need to bring and follow me, we don't have much time.
He looked to her with silent understanding.
They shared a nod.
Loboto quickly gathered his things, as much as he could carry without making much noise, Gertrude included, and then they fled.
It was pitch black. Guided by a marble hand, Loboto wondered how he hadn't tripped. And further did he wonder if the walls of this hidden inner world moved, as this route seemed unfamiliar from how he remembered his descent. But then, a smell, fresh breeze against his cap, and a brighter square in the gloom. The paling sky greeted them with stars still hanging, nearing dawn.
Roxanne looked back into the depths, then whispered, "It's safe to speak now, but not for very long, they'll know you're missing soon."
The Doctor smirked wiry, despite himself, "Thank you." His crescent grin eclipsed some, "Are you going to be, ok?"
It was her turn to smile, "I've gotten into trouble for worse." The scar over her eye seemed highlighted in the growing dawn.
That wouldn't do, not at all. Repayment had to be greater than words.
Without a second thought, he held the bulky body of the mutant fish out to the vampire.
"Will you keep care of Gertrude for me? I think she'll just slow me down in this escape."
Gertrude made a rather unsure burble that was surprised and slightly insulted.
Roxanne looked positively star struck, immediately hugging the fish creature to her. A fitting thing to remember him by, to be sure. "She'll be safe, don't worry, no one here's a fan of fish blood." Gertrude eased at this, purring.
A sudden turn of the head from the night creature told the Doctor his time was short. He ended it off with a bow. "Until we meet again then! It's been a pleasure!"
Sun rose over distant cliffs as he descended, quickly, down volcanic slopes sleek black with obsidian. Not the most graceful and profitable exit to a job, he did hate to see his work unfinished and left in other hands, but such were the joys of freelance. He did learn some pertinent info that he could incorporate into future projects, as well as gain a potential asset and ally in the dark down the road.
The plaster fangs gnashed in his bag, grinning till the end of time; a tune he would never forget.
~FIN~
Sorry this took so long. Stuff has been tough as of late with a lot of moving parts!
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