Stork sat on the side car of Aerrow's skimmer, wings flying out behind him. "So, Stork... how did you become a vampire?"
Stork looked at him for a moment. He owed the Sky Knight an answer for what he'd done. "It was shortly after I found the Condor. Something was living in her, I guess. I kept waking up with small bite marks on my body, but nothing I did managed to stop it. After a month... I remember pain. It hurts to become one, Aerrow.
"I did some research once I joined you guys. There's a subtype of Volca bat, small in comparison to the other kinds, that drinks blood. It's small because the blood-carrying creatures of the Wastelands are small... and very few." Stork shook his head. "It was torture, Aerrow. I was lucky if I got a meal once I month. Though I will tell you... It wasn't as bad as when I met you all. Being around that sweet scent of human blood..."
"Stork, why human? What about Junko?" Aerrow asked.
Stork thought for a moment. "To me, human blood is as meat and potatoes is to you. Wallop blood is like a fine wine. At least that's what is smells like. The hunger's gotten worse, since we haven't really landed anywhere overnight since I arrived."
"I thought you wanted to moor in the sky?" Aerrow asked.
"I did. It's more... comfortable for me in every other regard. When we landed yesterday I managed to catch several animals and feed, but the next day it was agony all over again. Several years of drinking animal blood had made me... immune to it. It makes a fine snack, but the next day it's as if I haven't fed. And can we please change the subject? I'm drooling."
"Sure thing. We're here anyway," Aerrow said. "Do... do you want help or anything?"
"You would, wouldn't you?" Stork said quietly. "You'd chase them right to me."
"Of course I would," Aerrow answered.
"I can't ask that of you, Aerrow. I just can't." Stork hung his head.
"Stork, are you strong enough to do this?" Aerrow asked.
"I... no. I'm not. I can't even fly, I'm just too weak." Stork sounded like he was going to cry.
"It's okay. It's why I wore civilian clothes. You're one of us, Stork, but we can't always do this," Aerrow told him.
"I know. I don't think I'll need it anyway. From what I've read, though it seems Finn knows more then I at the moment - huh, never thought I say that - a small amount a day should be fine afterwards," Stork explained as they landed. They both dismounted, Stork wrapping his wings around him like a cloak.
They walked for a while until they came to the small village, and there they saw the Talons patrolling. "Stork, wait in that ally there. I'll bring them to you."
Stork nodded and hid himself. It was only a few moments later that Aerrow's voice was heard arguing, and Stork heard him running in his direction. Aerrow was faster then the Talons and he came running down the ally and hid himself next to the merb. "There's six of them. How do you plan on..." He didn't finish as Stork's wings flew open.
"I'll be making their deaths quick." He moved into position so that he was blocking the exit of the alley. He didn't have to wait long.
Aerrow watched in awe, and some fear, as Stork landed on the group of men. He heard several loud snaps and cracks as Stork killed his intended meal. It seemed that as the Merbian vampire drank, he started to figure out how to feed without making a mess, as the last one fell to the ground with nothing but two marks on his neck.
"Stork? How do you feel?" Aerrow asked tentatively.
Stork turned around to look at the Sky Knight, his wings no longer drooping. "I feel... alive!" he answered, licking his lips and hands clean of blood. "I'd like to fly home myself." He spread his wings.
"Well at least let me fly with you, just in case," Aerrow said with a smile.
Stork nodded. "I'll take care of the bodies and meet you at the Skimmer, alright? I'll just toss them over the edge of the terra."
"Can you..." Aerrow started. He trailed off when Stork simply tied all six up and carried them effortlessly away. "Never mind then."
He returned to his Skimmer and waited. It wasn't long before the winged merb returned.
"Ready?" Stork asked, wings spread. Aerrow nodded, and they both took to the wind.
Stork laughed loudly as he flew. Merbs in general didn't take to the air, but he'd always wanted to fly, and now he was doing it on the most fundamental level. However, he didn't quite have it down pat yet. Aerrow chuckled at him slightly. "Not so good, I see?"
Stork grabbed the side car. "Humph, you try making a new pair of limbs work. Then tell me how easy it is."
"Sorry. It's just funny watching your wings flap all akimbo like that," said Aerrow with a chuckle in his voice.
"Okay then, Captain Tightpants, how do I do it?" Stork asked, giving his Sky Knight a royal stink eye.
Aerrow kept giggling for a moment before answering in a much more serious tone. "Just relax. Feel the wind, Stork. Spread out those wings and concentrate on the feel of the wind moving over them." Stork looked at Aerrow like he was mad, but did as suggested. "That's it. Now, with wings that size they're meant for strong slow flaps, not short quick ones."
Stork flapped his wings several times, slowly and he felt himself begin to lift a bit. He looked at Aerrow who smiled encouragingly and Stork started to let go of the side cart. "I'm... flying." The merb was stunned.
His lift faltered, but he was caught by Aerrow gripping his hand. "Don't worry," said Aerrow kindly. "I won't ever let you fall."
Stork smiled back at the Sky Knight and nodded, then clung to Aerrow as he tested his new wings all the way back to the ship. By the time they had arrived, Stork had gained much more confidence in his flying. His landing, however...
"Dude Stork, I've seen Talons land better," said Finn, laughing hard. Stork glared at him from his faceplanted position - face down, feet in the air.
Aerrow walked in from the hangar a few moments later as Stork was getting up. "We'll work on those next. But first let's get you cleaned up. You're, um..."
Stork looked down at himself. His chest was caked in dried blood and he quickly covered himself up with his wings as he watched the others blanch just a bit. "Yeah, ahem, maybe I should clean up." He walked out of the room, Aerrow right behind him.
"Hope you won't mind company. I..." Aerrow started.
"I know," Stork told him. "You're a Sky Knight, after all. I'd honestly be surprised if you didn't feel dirty after that."
Aerrow gave Stork a relieved smile as they headed into the bathroom. While Stork stripped off his pants - he hadn't put his shirt back on after letting out his wings - Aerrow started the bath. "How hot do you want it?"
Stork just shrugged. Aerrow looked over and noticed that Stork's pants, now inside out from being peeled off, were sticky. "Um, Stork?" He raised an eyebrow at the merb.
Stork looked at him, confused for a moment, then followed the Sky Knight's gaze to his pants and blushed hard. "Oh, um, that." He gave his strange little not-quite-laugh. "Yes." He cleared his throat, ears drooping just a bit.
Aerrow looked at him as he finished stripping off his own clothes. "What's wrong?"
Stork slipped into the tub, the water immediately turning pink from the blood on his body. Aerrow followed with soap and scrubbers.
"Remember what I told you?" Stork asked. "About only getting one meal a month if I was lucky?" Aerrow nodded as he began to wash Stork. The merb made a contented sound as Aerrow pulled him closer to himself, the younger man seeming to want to make sure every last inch of his pilot was washed clean. Stork extended his wings, allowing Aerrow to wash them as well, before he continued. "It feels so good to feed, Aerrow. Down there, in the Wastelands, it was so hard to find a meal. Eating is pleasurable, you know that, and feeding is the same way. Could you scratch that?"
"Here?" Aerrow asked, running his nails over a spot on Stork's wing.
"Yes, right here..." Stork's wings fluttered as he allowed Aerrow to scratch the itch for a moment, before going back to his tale. "Well when one is starving, sustenance..." The merb paused to moan softly at the thought. "Feeding becomes downright erotic. It turns me on to feed, alright? And to finally feed on what's been tormenting me ever since I joined you guys... being pressed against my victims' bodies was enough to warm me up. I couldn't hold it back. I just came." Stork hung his head shamefully.
"Is that why you were so... enthusiastic yesterday? You'd fed?" Aerrow asked as he continued to scrub.
"Yeah. That's exactly it. But this time... Aerrow, I knew I was going to feed till I was full. Something I'd never done. And my body... all it took was a little bit of friction." He inhaled sharply as he felt Aerrow kiss his neck, and fingers brush against his erection.
"Seems like just thinking about it turns you on," Aerrow said teasingly.
"Aerrow, whenever I found something I could eat down there, I'd pleasure myself while I ate. To feel something so good in a place that's a struggle to survive in, let alone keep yourself entertained..." Stork sounded ashamed.
Aerrow nuzzled the merb's neck. "Shh shh shh, nothing to be ashamed about, Stork. There's nothing wrong with that." Even as he spoke his hand began to work the merb's erection. Aerrow smiled to himself as he heard Stork begin to pant. "That's it. You need this. Let me give it to you." Stork merely nodded, his wings trembling, causing Aerrow to giggle. "What? It's cute." Stork just rolled his eyes and leaned back against the Sky Knight. He always felt taken care of when Aerrow was around, and it wasn't long before his wings flared out to their fullest length and his fluids added to the mess in the water.
Not long after, both the Sky Knight and his helmsman were cleaned and dressed - Stork was still shirtless due to his wings - and they entered the bridge, where the rest of the crew was waiting. "So like, what do we do now?" Finn asked.
"We continue as planned," Aerrow told them. "In the morning, we help the local Sky Knight remove the Talons from his terra."
"Well duh. I mean after that," Finn clarified.
"I'd like to go to Terra Atmosia and look in their library," Piper suggested.
"Let me guess, you want to look up vampires," Stork said, rolling his eyes.
"Exactly. Maybe I can find a cure."
"Before we start debating what we're going to do, I want all of you to get some sleep," Aerrow ordered. "We have a long day ahead of us."
Once everyone filed out, Aerrow turned to Stork. "I take it you're not tired?"
"Humph, you're not sleeping either," Stork commented.
Aerrow sighed deeply. "Probably not. You want company?"
Stork shrugged. "Not like I'll be doing very much. Just trying to modify my uniform so my wings can fit."
"Heh, beats the hell out of staring at my ceiling all damn night," Aerrow remarked with a humorless laugh.
Stork went and gathered several shirts and some sewing supplies, and returned to begin his work. For a while they sat in silence before Stork spoke up. "I'm sorry."
"Stork, don't. There's no reason to be," Aerrow told him kindly. "I'm just glad you didn't kill us all in our sleep, and that you're feeling better." The redhead smiled and patted the spot next to him on the sofa.
Stork scooted over. "I can't thank you enough, either," he said.
Aerrow chuckled. "Call us even, then. If you hadn't found the Condor and fixed her up, we'd've all been Lava-Worm food."
"Aerrow, I almost killed you. I had the very tips of my fangs in your skin-" Stork started.
"Hush. You didn't kill me. You stopped yourself from it," Aerrow told him.
"That's not the point." Stork paused in the middle of sewing zippers to the sides of the newly cut and hemmed slits in the back of his shirt.
"Stork, once we've done our job here, we'll take a break. Go on a vacation, and figure this out. Will you need to eat again tomorrow before the fight?" Aerrow asked.
"No, I won't need to feed again for at least a few days. At least that's what I've read. Finn seems to know more about vampires than I do, and I fucking am one." Stork snatched up his sewing and in doing so pricked his finger, causing it to bleed. He looked at the drop as it formed on his thumb like it was a foreign thing. He tilted his head like a baby bird as he watched it well up and drip down the length of his thumb, before licking it off and sucking on the tiny pinprick for a moment, his saliva healing the wound. "I haven't seen my body do that in years. Normally if I needed a drop of blood, I'd have to bite down to the bone or to rip open several veins... it's strange to think that the thing that makes me everything but normal is the one thing I need to be normal."
"Why on Atmos would you need to make yourself bleed?" Aerrow asked, alarmed.
"To keep track of what was happening to me, or in one case find out why I felt like I was dieing - turned out something I'd eaten had been riddled with parasites. Trust me on this one, that's not a pleasant experience to deal with."
"How did you keep track of it?" Aerrow asked.
"Oh, just a microscope I found on the Condor. I'll show you my findings after the battle tomorrow. Assuming we win, of course." Stork smirked at Aerrow and went back to his work.
"I'm holding you to that, buddy," Aerrow told him, returning the smirk. The two sat in amiable silence for the rest of the night as Stork worked. The merb felt contentment here and now... more so than he'd ever felt anywhere before.