TES Summer Fest 2021 Prompt: Family or Apotheosis
A family can be a vampire, his half-vampire daughter, his werelion boyfriend, his daughter’s mortal god-mother, his werebear best friend, an orphaned werewolf, a Vampire Lord father figure...
Just thirty years ago, Dalamus would have laughed at the prospect. Him, a husband? A father? As if he could ever settle in one place without fearing a knife in his back come the morning. As if a vampire was something that could love and be loved. He was a wounded animal, trusting no one, and snarling at those who insisted they were different.
But oh, how he was wrong. When at last he dared to hide his fangs and let people approach, he found them to be kind. Warm. They held a thirst as insatiable as his own, but for understanding.
A Dunmer woman offers her blood willingly despite having only met. A Nord curiously asks what being a vampire is like, chatting while blood still stains his fangs. A werelion offers consoling words even while his Lion warns him away. A werebear warns Dalamus of his newly acquired Beast Blood to keep people safe, regardless of friendship status. A young werewolf cautiously greets and chats after a tragedy of his own. A Vampire Lord mistakes him for another and launches an assault, only to realize his mistake and apologize before injury can occur.
So many times he could have been warned away, brushed off, or flat-out killed. Yet these people became the closest to him over the years, becoming irreplaceable people in his life, and proving him wrong. He could love and be loved, even as a vampire.
Some vampires form clans--their family is made up of those they have turned into vampires themselves. Some are closely-knit, others function more like hives, and even some are discordant and function only because the Sire commands it. Dalamus chose his family in a different manner.
And though he would never refer to his family as a Clan, one can rest assured that he would defend them just as fiercely.