Pops bristles at the knock, fur standing on end for a moment before he regains control. "Angelo, why don't you go let your mentor in?" Donatello's tone remains calm and measured. Mikey slowly, reluctantly pulls himself off of Leo to comply. Raph doesn't move a muscle, but he does catch sight of Casey Jr. peeking out from Leo's room. He takes a deep breath. Lets it out slowly. Tries not to growl while he's doing it.
"Uh, Barry… Who is that?" Mikey's simple question prompts everyone to whip their heads around towards the door.
Draxum stands there, amazingly awkward, with a limp body flung over his shoulder and a bag of things in his other hand. "Do not worry about it, Michelangelo," he says, as if that's going to work.
Mikey straightens, more sure of himself now. "Barry!" he says, brooking no argument.
Draxum fidgets. "It's, uh… Steve."
"My name is Ricardo Vigil, please don't let him eat me," a trembling voice says. Raph is vaguely aware that he's gone slack-jawed in shock.
"He is," Draxum pauses, clearly trying to find the explanation to sway them all, "for the ritual."
"I told you so!" Leo screams, although he told them no such thing.
"Barry!" Mikey cries, distraught now.
"It's okay," Draxum soothes. "His life is very sad. He is weak and pathetic. This will be better."
"There is no one else to take care of my mother! Please, please let me go back to her."
"See? This will only help him."
"What will help him?"
"You can't trust Draxum!"
"STOP!" Pops shouts, and Raph actually flinches, so caught up in his own head that he forgot to pay attention to anything else.
"Draxum, explain. Now," Pops demands.
"The ritual. It's a…displacement ritual. The parasite needs somewhere to go. We will put it in Steve."
"My name is Ricardo! You can't kill me and not even get my name right!"
"Relax, Steve. No one is going to kill you," Draxum says, sounding bored.
"And I'm not passing this curse onto anyone else!" Leo snarls.
"Draxum," Pops says, voice dangerously low in a tone Raph doesn't recognize, "put the human man down."
"He'll run if I put him down, and then we will be back at square one," Draxum reasons.
"Barry, we are not sacrificing some poor innocent citizen! Put. Him. Down." Mikey is physically shaking with rage, madder than Raph's ever seen him. Vaguely, Raph considers that if he's going to step in, now is probably the time to do it. But every time he's tried so far, it's only made things worse. Raph re-commits to his vow of silence. If Mikey explodes, that's on Draxum.
Draxum sighs like they're acting unreasonable and really putting him out, and he sets down the shaking man, giving him his first view of Raph and his family. The man trembles, shakes, and then wails, collapsing to his knees. Mikey starts towards him, heart ever large, but April is there suddenly. "Hey, Ricardo? I'm April. You're gonna be okay, okay? Excluding the big, annoying jerk behind you, believe it or not, these are the good guys. No one wants to hurt you, okay?" She rubs soothing circles over his back. "C'mon. You just need to stand up, and we'll get you home."
Ricardo grips onto April for all he's worth and makes her do the majority of the work in pulling him to his feet. Raph bets himself the man pees his pants. "Casey," April calls, having also spotted the boy, who had slowly made his way closer and closer to the living room. "A little help here." The clipped tone. The glaring. Raph realizes April is pissed at Casey. That's interesting.
Casey looks from Leo to April to Leo to April to Leo. "Maybe-"
"Casey Junior Jones! You will get your butt over here," April says through gritted teeth, voice rising and falling as Ricardo winces when she shouts. Casey snaps to obey the demand, taking weight on Ricardo's side, opposite of April. "If y'all are gonna kill him? You wait until I get back so I can see it for myself, okay?" she calls cheerily as the trio walks back out into the sewer.
"Nobody's killing anybody," Mikey says.
At the same time Pops responds, "Of course, Ms. O'Neil."
Mikey gives Pops a despondent look, but frankly, Raph agrees with his dad. One eye on Draxum in case he decides to run or re-kidnap Ricardo, Raph spares a glance at Donnie. His heart clenches, and he can't help it. His anger at his brainiac brother melts. Don's confidence has completely disappeared. He looks like a lost, little child. This was his only plan, and it just got ripped out from under him. For once, Donnie doesn't have the answer, and he's terrified.
No. Raph can't give up now. His brothers need him. Raph needs to rally. He takes a breath, tries to figure out what he's gonna say, decides to let it come from the heart.
"See-" Leo beats him to it. Then his eyes go completely black. He stiffens, head snapping up and wheezing for air. Abruptly, he goes limp. Unconscious again.
"Leo?" Raph says, barely recognizing his own voice.
Draxum is there, suddenly, chanting, doing something mystical. The rest of them stand by, helplessly. Raph would give up everything he has to fix this. Ironically, he can do absolutely nothing.
is vampire leo coming back?? also I absolutely love your writing <3
you always wonder that. is Leo coming back? when's the next time I'll get to see his stupid smirk and his hypnotic dark red eyes? his eyes... they're really something else. they're not the bright synthetic red you had thought they'd be, like contacts worn by alongside clunky fangs by actors on tv. they're a deep, deep red, so deep they look nearly black in some light. the kind of red you see in the bottom of a glass of cabernet sauvignon at a dinner party, or the velvety, dew covered petals falling off a black baccara rose, or... blood. not in little capsules from spirit halloween, but deep dark pooling bloood in a vial or melting fresh snow. real blood. human blood. you're in the kitchen of your little apartment, pondering just this. your train of meandering thought is interrupted when you suddenly feel a cool breath blowing on your neck. you jump, startled, and spin around, nearly dropping the glass you'd been washing and there he is.
you clutch your heart, catching your breath while he chuckles at your adorable, very human reaction.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" you protest, swatting him plafully with your dish towel and he smirks. he just looks at you and smirks and his fangs glint among his teeth in the dim lighting from your kitchen. he catches the towel in his hand eith no effort, using it to pull you closer. his skin is cool to the touch, everywhere except a small part of the center of his palms, and a little spot on the tip of each of his fingers. you've seen what those warm little spots among his icy, undead skin can do. you've watched him light candles with his fingertips and roast mini marshmallows for you in his hands. but now he just pulls you closer and closer, wrapping his arms around you and giving you that look that makes your stomach flip.
"c'mon," he teases, inching his face closer to yours until his curls tickle your forehead and make you giggle, "you know you love me. besides..."
Serious question. How does Vampire!Leo eat tomatoes?
I spend a lot of time thinking about this actually.
We’re assuming this is in a Vampire AU where Vampires are capable of eating human food without getting sick or something. In that case I think that Leo would pierce the outside with his fangs and suck as much of the juice/moisture out as he could.
I also imagine that he doesn’t just eat one, he buys a whole bunch of tomatoes and binge eats them. Once he’s sucked all the moisture out he then he probably salts them, seasons them with some herbs, and throws them in the oven to create little dried tomato chips that he can save for later.
And yes, Takumi does think this is absolutely disgusting. Especially after Leo offers him some of the little tomato chips and doesn’t tell him the process by which he came by these snacks before he eats them.
Taekwoon had always been fascinated by dreams, always asking you about them, how they feel, how they look. He never had one, when he slept it was nothing.
That changed during a nap he took to avoid his duties for the day. He had a beautiful dream about you being a family of three, a stunning little girl with sparkling red eyes running around and infecting everyone with her happiness.
When he woke, he decided to go and wake her up also so they could spend the night together. Of course, no such child was in your home, which caused your husband to panic.
You heard him rushing around, all of his silent grace gone as he searched for his little girl.
He ended up slamming the door open to your room, pulling you attention to him. “I lost our baby,” his eyes held worry in them as he looked at you, hoping you’d tell him your child was fine.
You looked up from your book, taking in his state before raising a brow. “We don’t have a baby…” you informed, making his eyes widen more.
“But she was running around and laughing…” he fretted, making you giggle at him.
“I can assure you we have no children. Yet.”
“What’s wrong with me,” he frowned, body hunching over slightly, running a hand over his face.
“Nothing’s wrong with you,” you giggled, welcoming him into your arms. “You just had a dream.”
Includes: Vampire!AU, Dark Vibes & Master/Blood Doll Relationship
Rating: PG-13
~*.*..*Yes, Master...*..*.*~
A/N: As you will learn when reading through my later works, I am OBSESSED with Vampires. All kinds. Doesn’t matter the type, origin of mythology, species, cause, pathogenesis--I fucking love Vampires. That said, I can’t stop thinking about Leo as a Vampire. It literally plagues my thoughts. He’s given me Master Vampire vibes since day. Oof. I hope you enjoy this little rendition~ Give it some love. ;)
Musical Inspiration: Rose For The Dead - Theatre of Tragedy
Asks Open for Feedback, Comments, Kudos and Thoughts. <3
The room was dark and all you could hear was the sound of footfalls as they approached you from the other side of the room. The dim light of a candle burst above you, and your vision became blurred as it tried desperately to adjust. You could make out the shine of expensive black shoes, and the flowing fabric of a velvet Victorian coat, the hem of it hitting just at the ankle and framing, making the black clothing beneath it look all the more tailored. Your brows wrinkled and you stared at what you could make out, your face pointed down, obscured by the shadows cast from the light above.
You were mortal, though you felt as if it had been a lifetime since you had seen the light of day, or shared joy in the rays of moonlight that kissed Earth’s bosom at night. You found yourself unable to be scared, or sad, as if some sort of ancient anesthetic had settled in your veins and made you unafraid, willing and at times begging to be taken by your master. You found yourself fatally entwined, and heaving in his presence, the candle light above you only signaling his coming. Your heart quickened, and body warmed, you settled your hands on your thighs and braced your knees against the ground, waiting obediently.
A hand, from the darkness itself, came forward, snow white fingers pressing to the underside of your chin, tipping your face up to settle your gaze on the face that had surfaced. Hair black as raven, eyes deep and stunning like the patina of antique brass. Thick lips slowly changed to the most stoic of smiles as he looked upon your face, and you felt your entire body submit with just a flash of fang. At the sight of that hypodermic porcelain, you heard the whispers of thousands who had fallen prey, drained into oblivion, lost to the realm of no return.
“Taekwoon…”
Your lips had never once parted, yet his name had left you like a prayer, dancing from the mouth of a sinner and into the presence of their God. Your mewling tongue traced your lips, dried blood at the vermilion border making the muscle reel away—it would find no fang in the line of enamel, not one painful inch of protrusion. Your knees were searing with pain as they supported your weight against the pebbled, harsh ground, and as you lifted shackled hands, you reached for him like a follower to worship, fingers finding little purchase at his slacks, though he remained still and allowed you to touch him.
With one step forward, he rested his hand to your head, nails like glass against your scalp, and you leaned forward, pressing the flat of your cheek against his groin, clinging as if your life depended on it. He would pet your head slowly, allowing the length of his fingers to drag down and through your locks, settling in the hair at the base of your skull. You nuzzled at his core, and he twitched, quickly grasping your hair harshly, using it as perfect leverage to jerk you up, forcing you to stand on weak legs. With all the strength in his ancient bones, he kept you elevated, his sharp cheekbones catching light deviantly, his smirk having fallen.
He would never speak a word, the silent guardian of never-ending night. Like hell on Earth, he tainted all he touched and passed—yet, you were hopelessly, madly and fatally in love with him. You wanted him to rip you apart, settle into your mangled bones and warm you from the inside out. You wanted to hear his voice, hear him speak unto you, and force life back into your weary body—but he never would. Your eyes begged him to let you hear his voice, but you were sure such an act would damn you, and you wouldn’t live a breath past the word he would utter. Settling in silence, you would stare at his face, a tear falling down your cheek slowly, carving its way to your chin, stinging as it met a small scratch from previous meetings with rubble. You shook at his focus, and visibly you submitted to him, your body relaxing, heart in your ears and blood rushing so loudly through your veins you swore you couldn’t hear anything else. Your lips peeled apart, and nothing escaped them, a whisper of ‘take me’ written on your expression.
Free hand dropping, he forced it against you, pushing it between your thighs, making you quake where you stood, your body straining as your moved to your toes, muscles twitching hard. You were hot against his fingers, and he ran them against your strained muscles perfectly, your eyes rolling away from him and tipping back. Teeth bared, Taekwoon leaned forward, extending from thick layers of velvet to drag fangs against the pulse of your neck, threatening to break skin. You moaned densely, your lungs filling with fatigued breath, drawn in by the lips of a sinner, and forced down by the concubine deep in your heart, the blood doll in your soul. Your blood in his ancient flesh, you were always with him, and he with you. In some twisted way, that comforted you in the passionate love you held for him. There was nothing but pleasured sound between your forms, your heat meeting the depths of his harsh cold, colliding like steam born from pain alone—and your heart spoke for you.
“Drain me…take all I have…I am your doll, Master. Please.”
He can't help the mental wince when he catches sight of his own hand. At this point, even he can't deny the gray-ish tinge his scales are taking on. He physically shakes his head, clearing the thoughts away. Right now, he needs to focus. He's been leaning hard on Raph, glad he still has his big brother there to take the lead when he still doesn't really want it. Doesn't really deserve it. But father has been pushing hard for Leo to step into the role, and Raph is being surprisingly supportive about it. Whatever vestiges of self-doubt and insecurity the change up had originally brought, Raph seems to have worked through.
He breathes in deep, involuntarily taking in the diesel-y scent from the road, the rotting smell coming from the dumpster, and the pungent odor of Meat Sweats toiling below. He blocks it all out, acknowledging it but letting it float away, and lets the breath slowly out. Donnie has been sitting in place for ten minutes now, distracted by something on his phone, but Leo knows he'll be all in when the signal is given. Raph finally slides into place across from Don, sandwiching Meat Sweats between the two of him. He glances up where Mikey has been waiting on his level on the rooftop across from him. Mikey grins, showing off his tooth gap, and gives him a thumbs up. Leo nods.
It's not that big of a deal. This isn't a high stress situation. They've dealt with Meat Sweats before. Leo can handle this. He knows he's choreographed this perfectly, and if not - he and his brothers can handle it. They're smart and capable and they were beating Meat Sweat's butt before they'd been training as hard as they had been. His brothers trust him. He has just has to trust himself, too. He lets out three, loud pigeon coos.
Don and Raph both pop out of their hiding spots, calling to Meat Sweats and distracting him. Meat Sweats slams the lid on his pot, tries to warn them off, but they're both already running for him and the inevitable fight. Raph reaches him first. He fights like he prefers to, tackling Meat Sweats to the ground with bruising hit. Don skirts around them to the pot, intent on his goal of putting the fire underneath out. Meat Sweats, grappling with Raph, manages to grab him, tripping him up. Raph is already squeezing and pulling him away, even as Donnie rotates to avoid falling on his face, kicking his feet out to disrupt Meat Sweats' hold on him. Just like that, Raph's got Meat Sweats back to their one-on-one, and Donnie's taking out some gadget to smother the fire.
Leo waves the hand signal at Mikey, who immediately jumps to the fire escape, quickly making his way down to Meat Sweats' hostage. Leo had wanted to put himself in the midst of the danger rather than everyone else, but everyone had suggested that perhaps Leo shouldn't tempt fate giving into his violent cravings. If he was going to lead, he needed to listen to his team. There was still clearly work to be done in building up trust. It hurt, a little, but Leo had to admit he understood the worry, even if he felt good about his judgement and his own level of control. So, he'll play strategist and back-up for the time being, choose the tasks that aren't centered in the middle of the fight or being the one who rescues the random civilians.
That's the cue, he thinks, and a flood of excitement rushes through him. He and The Bloodsucker are now more one than two, so the thought and emotions are his, but he's also vaguely aware that The Bloodsucker is definitely present here and ready to join in the action. The thought's not wrong, though. Don's got the fire out, and he and Mikey are quickly escorting the civilian towards freedom. Leo stands up tall and cracks his neck. Dad and Draxum are supposedly working together at home to make them a celebratory meal for their first successful outing (as everyone is confident it will go well). Casey will be finishing up hockey practice, and April's shift will be ending soon, and then they'll both head over to the lair for the party. Leo's surprisingly excited for the party - the first real family bash since Casey landed in their world. He could use it. They could all use it. Shell, they've all more than earned it.
He checks on Raph - winning the fight and clearly just toying with Meat Sweats at this point - before he leaps and free falls off the building, aiming for the lowest balcony on the building across from him. He'll tip over Meat Sweats' pot and its rare and hard to collect ingredients, foiling his ability to immediately go try to sacrifice another citizen once the Mad Dogs leave. He'll dramatically time it with Raph's knockout, then go discard any spare ingredients while his brothers truss up the mutant.
Leo was changing, and it was hard to tell how much of that was just a part of growing up and evolving from their experiences and how much of that was an influence that Leo couldn't escape because it lived in his head now. Raph wasn't sure about all the changes. He had started going back to the surface, starting mostly with safe places like Hueso's and always with the company of a family member, but there was a ruthlessness developing that hadn't been there before. Leo had always been the one before to take responsibility of the humans. They all cared about human life, of course, but Leo had cared about preserving that human life as it was - usually, unmutated. Leo was less likely to do that these days. The rest of them had begun trying to take up the slack there. It wasn't that Leo had become murderous, like they feared, just that he didn't seem to care so much about anything beyond the scope of their little family. Raph wondered if that was something they could improve over time. He missed the nosy, bossy Leo that bullied the rest of them into doing the right thing. It was just more fun that way.
Not all the changes were worrisome, though. Sparring Leo had always been fun - when Raph could convince him to train, anyway. Raph didn't have to do much convincing these days. Leo had a newfound hunger for violence, which was…okay, well, that part was less than great. But Leo channeled it through training and - if he could convince the rest of them to risk it - vigilantism.
Leo had always been fast with an innovative mind. That seemed to have been turned up to a 15 out of 10. Raph swung his fist around, trying to focus on speed and mobility, and not just strength. In order to hit your opponent, you had to be able to track your opponent's movements. Read where they were going to go next. Raph couldn't just focus on brute strength anymore, not if he wanted to take it to the next level.
Leo dodged with an overly fancy flip, grinning with his new mouth of permanent fangs that no longer only came out for feeding. He ran under Raph's arm like a whip, aiming a kick at Raph's knee. Raph was too big to drop, so he jumped. Leo's kick caught him in the calf - better than the knee. Raph twisted as he landed, preparing to kick Leo as soon as he got his footing. Leo dropped to the ground and rolled away. Raph was already following with a cross, ready to catch Leo as he popped up. Leo adjusted quickly, ducking instead of straightening. Raph's punch glanced Leo's shoulder. Thanks to his size, it was enough to force Leo off balance. Raph got excited and tried to backhand him. Leo caught his fist and flipped himself over it as Raph's momentum made him stagger. Leo sprung off of Raph's fist and drove into his shoulder, forcing him to the ground. They landed with Leo's mouth hovering over Raph's neck, his claws tapping excitedly on Raph's plastron. Raph groaned and tapped out. Leo laughed breathlessly and popped to his feet, offering Raph a hand up. Before, such a gesture would have just been for show. Leo's developing strength meant he actually helped pull Raph to his feet now. It was even more surprising since he also seemed to be getting even leaner. His muscles were clear and defined, but Raph would describe Leo as willowy now, not just his skinny little brother.
Raph took the hand and good-naturedly gave Leo a brotherly noogie at the top, taking the time to study his brother. Leo staunchly denied it, but Raph swore his brother was losing color, becoming paler. Secretly, Donnie had said that made sense. Something about how subsisting mainly off blood was going to change his "fizzy all oh gee" or something. Leo was still winning the majority of their matches, but Raph was determined to do everything he could to keep up. Raph knew that Leo knew that wasn't just brotherly competition. Someone needed to be a real challenge to Leo just in case. They could never get complacent enough to forget the worst could always happen.
"That kick into a cross move was good, big bro. Real good."
Raph chuckled and rubbed at the back of his head. "Raph's tryin'," he said, humbly. "Go again?"
"What do you say we try some meditation?" Even though the lights in the dojo were dimmed to accommodate Leo's worsening light sensitivity, he was still squinting. Now that Raph was looking for it, he realized Leo's hands kept going to his head. Headache.
"Sure," Raph said amicably, even though he hated meditation. "I'll get the lights." Leo gave a small sigh of relief. Along with his worsening light sensitivity, his night vision was improving. It was Mikey who had noticed how large Leo's pupils seemed to be staying now and how wide his eyes were (when he wasn't scrunching them up in pain), and Leo had admitted to the rest of them that nothing was wrong. He could just see more in the dark than the day now. No wonder he'd been wiping the floor with Raph's butt when they turned off the lights for a challenge. Raph was still kicking himself for falling for that lie and not digging deeper into why Leo wanted the lights off or how he was fighting in the dark so well.
Leo was already settled in a cross-legged pose by the time Raph flicked the lights and turned around. He walked mostly through memory to sit across from Leo. Raph didn't even bother trying to close his eyes or meditate, and from Leo's breathing, he wasn't either.
"So-" Raph started.
"Raph, I'm sorry," Leo shocked him into silence. "It's long overdo, but I'm sorry. I made all the same mistakes I made with the Kraang, and maybe if I hadn't, things could have worked out differently."
"Raph's sorry, too. Look, ah, I've always been the one to try and lead things because I'm the oldest, but this made me realize that I was never really leading. Not like a true leader. I should have listened to everyone and pulled us together. Of course you didn't react the best. This was happening to you. The rest of us should have pulled together to support you."
"Yeah, well, I didn't really give you a chance, did I? Agreed we both did things we regret and could have handled better?" Leo held out his hand. Raph grabbed it and shook. An agreement by the two leaders to not drown in their guilt.
"If I could do it again, I never would have run away. I would have let us try to solve it together instead of running out the clock and forcing my own hand."
"Yeah, but it's not all bad, right?" Raph grinned. "You're stronger and faster now, and that's pretty cool. Plus, you can still eat pizza. At least we know you'll always have pizza," Raph said, put extra cheesy cringe into his tone.
Leo laughed. "Yeah, that's a relief, alright."
They both settled into companionable silence for a moment. Raph knew Leo was never gonna let that settle, though.
"So. What are we gonna do about Mikey?"
Raph couldn't help a small wince. None of them knew what exactly had happened between Mikey and Draxum, but they'd all heard Mikey's heartbreaking cries to be let go, and then silence, and Draxum hadn't left Mikey's room for hours. It'd taken everything Raph had not to bust in and break apart Draxum's skull, but they were all worried about Mikey. Even Leo had started to trust that Draxum cared for Mikey - even if he still didn't trust Draxum regarding himself. It was most likely that Draxum was confronting Mikey over his reckless handling of the mystic arts during Leo's ordeal. So Raph hadn't broken Draxum's head in because someone needed to talk to Mikey, and it seemed like Draxum was the only one brave enough to be the first to try.
But Draxum wasn't Mikey's family in the same way the rest of them were. Draxum couldn't be the last one to talk to Mikey. "I don't know," Raph admitted. Feelings were supposed to be Mikey's realm, not his. "You got any ideas?"
"Radical idea. Hear me out." Leo paused for dramatic effect. Raph rolled his eyes, and he was pretty sure Leo could even see that. "We talk to him."
Raph started to snort but stopped himself. Not talking to each other was a part of their problem. Maybe there was no magical solution to that. Maybe they just had to start actually trying to talk to each other. "Yeah, alright," he conceded. "Maybe…maybe we should have a family discussion night, where we can all just talk to each other."
"I like that," Leo said softly. "Yeah, let's do that."
