- The Mentalist imagine -
How would it look for Vampire AU Patrick Jane to be dating a human
[Content warning: mentions of Jane's trauma, typical vampire stuff like mentions of blood and such, other than that it should be fine]
Just a silly little idea to get me back into writing headcanons. Might make additional hcs some other time.
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Patrick Jane || The vampire
General:
his wife was a human, which means he already has experience cohabiting with a human partner.
however, that does not mean that Jane jumps into pursuing you or the eventual relationship headfirst.
he experienced severe trauma that shattered his psyche, and moving on is something Jane continuously struggles to do, mainly because he isn't exactly willing to.
and the fact that Angela was human adds to the reasons why Jane would have some reservations when it comes to dating you.
after Red John murdered his family, Jane can hardly imagine building a connection and having a close bond with a human anymore.
because he couldn't keep safe his human wife and dhampir daughter, Jane's preferred company are other vampires - or occasionally strong dhampirs - as they're more capable of keeping themselves safe if push comes to shove.
however, Jane keeps even his own kind at arm's length due to his fear that he brings misfortune upon anyone that gets close to him.
Courtship:
though Jane tries to stay away from humans, he can't help but find them genuinely charming, irresistibly so.
hence, you showing even a little bit of interest in him - no matter if in a bold or flustered way - would disarm him ever so slightly.
you being confident and open in your attraction to him is definitely an effective way to get him, even partly, hooked.
but if you're more shy and self conscious, no need to worry - such humans are somewhat of a guilty pleasure to Jane.
the thing is - Jane won't actively pursue you even if he does feel a pull, simply because he's worried about being unable to protect you.
he'd need a little push forward, whether by you actively pursuing him or a third party pointing out the truth he's afraid of admitting to himself: that he likes you.
but with a bit of an encouragement, Jane would eventually start to court you - not in an in your face way, but still in a way that makes it clear he's interested.
the courtship itself is slow, not hurried, and perfectly accustomed to the fact that you're a human.
despite being a vampire with no human heritage, Jane, as the mentalist, knows exactly how to bridge the gap between the human reality of living versus the vampire way of living.
he knows how to read you, how to tend to your differing needs and nature, and most importantly: he knows how to blend in.
unless he decides to explicitly tell you the truth of just what you're dealing with, you won't ever know that he's literally a human-devouring monster that could make you disappear in an blink of an eye if given the chance.
but luckily, Jane isn't one to invite you out for a pleasant night just to turn you into a meal - his hunting methods are much different, much more terrifying, and so is his chosen prey.
Dates:
dates with Jane are casual yet definitely sophisticated.
they aren't all that frequent as Jane is a busy man - not to mention his main priority is catching Red John.
but he tries to keep in touch with a few text messages and one phone call exchanged throughout each week, and one or two dates within the span of two weeks.
Jane's preferred places to take you to are different kinds of cafés, not that extravagant but still elegant restaurants, butterfly houses, art galleries, museums, and such, and, of course, places of your preferences too.
but most importantly, Jane, even if he's a vampire himself, would actively avoid taking you to vampire frequented places.
even during the stage where you're already in an established relationship, Jane would rarely take you to places that are popular amongst vampires.
not because he'd be embarrassed of being seen with a human by his side, not at all - but because he knows how majority of the vampire community acts and thinks.
and he refuses to endanger you like that, even if you were to beg him to let you be a part of his world.
Dating:
as already stated, Jane already has experience dating and living alongside a human.
hence, entering this relationship is no foreign territory for him - he knows exactly what he's doing.
however, Jane is still a severely traumatized man and his way of loving you would differ from how he loved Angela.
back with his wife, Jane was rather blind to just what it means to date a human as a vampire.
he didn't see the risks, the dangers, none of that.
he didn't need to - or more like, he thought he didn't need to, because Jane was confident in himself.
he fully believed in his capabilities of securing his family in any necessary way.
and it never crossed his mind that Angela or Charlotte would ever get hurt, especially not because of him.
but now, with you, Jane is almost paranoid of the possibility that you can get hurt because of him.
because you getting involved with him is not dangerous just because he is a blood sucking monster.
it's dangerous also because Red John could decide to make you his target at any given moment.
and unlike years ago, Jane isn't confident when it comes to his abilities of keeping you safe.
hence, asking you to officially become his partner would take Jane a really long time.
and on many occasions, he would've considered never asking you to date him and instead sabotaging the growing bond and pushing you away.
but, with a little push from the team - mainly Lisbon - he would eventually ask you to date him.
it'd probably take Jane somewhere between a month and half a year to confess he loves you and wants to be with you.
all would depend on which season Jane we're talking about.
the most important thing though, would be Jane deciding to tell you he's a vampire.
he wouldn't tell you right away, when you're simply going on casual dates - that'd be too risky.
but he also wouldn't tell you after you've officiated your commitment - that wouldn't be fair to you.
so, he'd tell you the truth about what he is during the moment he's confessing his love for you.
first, he'd tell you that he loves you and genuinely wants to build a life with you by his side.
and then, he'd say that because he loves you, he cannot keep lying to you, and he'd tell you he's a vampire.
he'd do it this way so that you know your connection is real, but you can back out if him being a vampire is too much.
but in any case, even if you accept to be Jane's partner despite what he is, not that much would change in terms of how he behaves.
technically speaking, Jane doesn't go to any great lengths to hide he isn't human - he simply knows what he can and can't say around different people.
and even if he does or says something unconventional, people would write it off as typical Jane eccentricities.
to put it simply, regardless of whether or not people know Jane is a vampire, Jane is still Jane through and through.
and as already stated, because Jane's late wife was a human, and because he's a mentalist, he's well-accustomed to life with a human.
hence, you wouldn't feel much of a difference between your previous human partners and Jane - at least difference in terms of dating different species.
generally, Jane operates outside traditional vampire values and ways anyways - and at times, you'd probably easily forget that you're not living with a human.
the only big reminder of Jane's true nature would be his need to feed.
because Jane is quite paranoid about Red John or some other vampire possibly hurting you, he won't leave you alone all too much.
and due to this fear, when it comes to his feeding, Jane mostly disappears only occasionally and his venturing usually takes two hours at max.
most of the time, Jane already has picked a target days, even weeks, before the night he goes out - impulsive, unplanned picks rarely happen.
and usually, Jane's targets are criminals - being a part of the CBI is definitely useful for a vampire that refuses to feed on the innocent and vulnerable.
another thing is that once Jane does go out to hunt, he almost always brings home some of the blood, in some small containers, vials, anything he can find.
and so, here and there, even if he tries to avoid it, you get the sight of Jane coming home late at night with the packages of blood he harvested.
no need to worry though, he keeps all the gathered blood in a separate, out of sight fridge, so that you won't come in contact with it.
when it comes to Jane's feeding, there's always the option for him to take just a little bit of blood from you - he did exactly that with Angela.
however, Jane is a much different man after what happened to Angela and Charlotte - his entire mindset, values, morals and everything changed.
and nowadays Jane no longer wants to take blood from someone who's generally a good person - especially not you.
not to mention that Jane is fully aware that even the most controlled vampire can get overwhelmed and lose control when they're feeding.
and there are many cases where vampires lost control while drinking blood from their human lover, and they ended up devouring them.
that risk is something Jane didn't heed much years ago, because he was young and a bit reckless, and he also believed in his ability to control himself.
but now, Jane is older and scarred, and more insecure - and most importantly, he doesn't want to risk losing you in any way, especially not by his own hand.
being the one at fault for his closest people's suffering is something Jane is extremely afraid of and therefore he'd avoid taking blood from you unless absolutely necessary.
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