A thin, distressed whine pulled Vukasin from sleep, causing the Serbian to poke his head from under the covers. "Vhat? You have bad dream again?" He made to get up, but fell back as his body didn't quite seem to move right. Wiggling and pawing at the covers until he was free of them, the Priwen archer slowly attempted to sit up. "Fuck," was all he could say when he saw the black-furred state of his own body. He felt his ears track noise from the bunk above him.
"Why are there scales?" Vinny whined, "I hate scales!" He was not happy to have woken up, and discovered he was in a situation similar to the good doctor and his boss. It rubbed further salt in the metaphorical wound with the fact he now had scales going down his back. "Vuka! This is worse than exploding!" He tried to get his legs under him, panic and the new configuration of his body fighting him. "As soon as I figure out how to move like this, I'm gonna' kick your ass!"
Snorting, Vuka began testing how his limbs moved. "Need to get out of bunk vithout breaking neck, first." Once he had a better idea of how his limbs moved like this, the Serbian made another attempt to get out of his bed, landing on the floor with a clop of hooves. He craned his neck up, looking at the bunk because Vincent had gone quiet. "Vinny?"
"FUCK!" The sniper exclaimed from the top bunk, his head peeking over the edge. He glared down at Vukasin, soft green eyes hard in annoyance. "Go get Da."
McCullum jerked awake at the racket loudly making its way towards his office. A groan left him as he groggily sat up, brushing the curtain near his bed away, squinting as he saw the sun was still high in the sky. "It's too early for this shite."
He rolled out of bed, searching for his pants. He'd managed to get one leg in before his office door was thrown open. "What now?" Geoffrey growled out, ears pricked forward as he could hear heavy footsteps and multiple, clumsy hooves on hard wood. He shoved his other leg in his pants before glaring at the doorway.
"Well, boss," O'Connor walked in, tossing an unimpressed look over his shoulder. "It seems a certain pair can't listen." The lieutenant moved further into McCullum's room, revealing the two equines that had been following him on unsteady legs.
One was a strongly muscled unicorn with a black coat and mane, sharp aqua eyes watching for his reaction. The other one had a tan coat, dark curly mane, and soft green eyes. They also had emerald green scales down their back, and down the middle of their face, stopping at the end of the muzzle. The curious thing was this one also had a horn, but it was red, and had a small branch at the tip, in addition to the markings in the middle of it.
McCullum moved over to his desk with a sigh. He stood, leaning against it, head propped on one hoof. Geoffrey noted the unique characteristics of the pair, and he had a fairly good guess who these equines were. More-so thanks to the scarring the one with scales had down their forelegs. "So, Babic, Bonner, didn't learn a thing I see from what happened to me and Reid."
"Vinny being pussy about it." Quipped the large, black-coated and maned pony. "Bet me to touch it, for half booze rations." He turned his head to look at the odd looking pony next to him. "Still think I should get some of them."
Bonner wobbled as he jabbed at Babic's chest with one hoof. "Oh no," he shook his head vehemently, "that bet was on the condition you didn't wind up like you did." A displeased snort left the irate scaled equine. "Not only did you get me caught up in it, I wound up with scales, Vuka." A growl left the transformed sniper, "Fucking. SCALES!" And with that yell, Vincent erupted into a ball of blue fire, coat turned black, with hints of emerald green around his hooves.
Vincent stalked closer to Vukasin, leaving tracks of eerie azure fire behind him. " I CAN'T STAND THE FEELING OF SCALES, VUKASIN! " The dark coated unicorn slowly backed away from the ball of fire that his friend became.
Geoffrey and Beamard jumped when their resident sniper combusted. O'Connor rushed to McCullum's washstand, and grabbed the pitcher. He dashed back, quickly upending it on Bonner. Leaving him back to his normal coloration, if soaking wet. Beamard then stamped out the smoldering tracks Vincent had left. "Well, can't say I expected that to happen."
"No," McCullum slowly agreed, watching his now sodden captain carefully. "Can't say I did either." He gave O'Connor a quick glance, before turning his attention back to the pair. "So, Babic's obviously a unicorn. Though I can't rightly say I've seen one with a curved horn anywhere before." One hoof tapped against the desk. "But what the feck is Bonner?" He waved a hoof at the sniper. "He looks a bit like a unicorn with the horn, but I don't know of any with… well." He let himself trail off.
Blinking, and wiping his wet mane from his eyes, Vinny turned and looked at his boss. Vuka whipped his head around to McCullum as well. The pair asked at the same time ""I have a horn?"" They turned to look at the other, hooves pointing, exclaiming, ""You do!""
He just buried his head in his hooves in exasperation. "It's feckin' too early for this." He looked up to watch as the pair sat on their haunches, probing at their foreheads in disbelief. Geoffrey gave his lieutenant a very tired look, "You have any idea, O'Connor?"
"I might," He rubbed his chin, "I'd want to go over some notes first, to make sure I have the right idea, but…" He looked at the pair. Most of his attention on Bonner, "It might be a good idea to keep water buckets and pitchers in all the rooms for a while."
Hooves massaging his temples, Geoffrey looked at the pair of captains that had found themselves in equine bodies too. "Aye, until Bonner gets a handle on the fireball act, that'd be for the best." He gave the captains a flat look, then, tapping one hoof in thought, he got a wicked grin across his muzzle. "In the mean-while, get them out to the training grounds and let them get used to moving and learning to use their hooves."
The pair stopped poking at their horns to look at McCullum. Vuka tilted his head to the side. "Vhy ve be outside to get used to being ponies?" He nodded to his boss, waving a hoof at him. "You and Doktore practiced inside."
McCullum pointed a hoof at Vincent. "Neither Reid nor I were at risk of potentially burning down the base."
"Hey!" Vinny exclaimed in offense, one hoof held up, mouth open. After looking around at the puddle of water he was sitting in, and the scorch marks he'd left, he lowered his foreleg, head hanging. "Alright, boss, you have a point."
A nod from the hunter, and a wave of dismissal was given to the others. "Good, dismissed." Geoffrey groused as he walked back to his bed. "Now get out. It's too fecking early for this shite."
That got a laugh from O'Connor as he ushered the pair of captains out with him. "Alright boss, we'll let you catch up on sleep."
"Da, boss needs his beauty sleep." Vuka quipped on his way out, trying to leave as quickly as he could without tripping over his new hooves.
In a fit of laughter, Vinny added, "Yeah, can't have him looking a mess for the good Doctor!" He was quickly hit in the back of the head with a pillow.
"Out!" McCullum hollered. He grumbled as he retrieved his pillow, "Bunch of wisearse."
Vincent and Vukasin were out on the training area, attempting to learn the finer points of movement with their new equine forms. The pair was getting better about not tripping over their hooves while moving on four legs.
"This is such bullshit." Bonner grumbled as he did his best to keep moving without his new muzzle kissing the dirt. "How the hell did the boss and doc make this look so easy?" He asked as he just barely kept from tipping over. Vincent slowed his pace, trying to get a better idea of how his legs moved, and in what order was easiest, and safest.
A snort left Babic, who turned to give him a flat look. "They cheat," he stated simply, while he switched to testing the range of motion his front hooves had.
He froze, and turned to the Serbian, squinting. "What do you mean they cheat?" Vinny asked, slowly turning around to face him, head cocked in confusion.
"Boss already had practice on hooves," Vuka stated, pawing at a stone on the ground in an effort to pick it up. "Just more this time, da?" He managed to get it off the ground for a moment before it dropped from his hoof. "Good Doktore is Ekon, moving good is part of type of leech he is." Babic had a triumphant grin on his muzzle as he got the rock off the ground further, held against his hoof vertically for half a minute before it dropped this time. With a huff, he turned his attention back to Bonner. "So, they cheat."
Vincent held one hoof up, mouth open. "..." He let his hoof lower as he let himself slump to the ground. "I want to argue against that, but I can't think of a way to." He held his head in his hooves, "Why does that make sense?"
Vuka just gave Vinny a sharp grin. "Because it's true." He went back to pawing at the stone, trying to pick it back up. Starting as a flicker of aqua light danced across it for a moment.
There was a scowl on Bonner's muzzle as he glowered at Babic, not noticing the stripes on his horn lighting up a soft green, or the stuttering aqua glow flickering over Babic's horn.
Vuka, however, did notice as the rock became enveloped in a soft green glow, and stared dumbfounded at it. "...Vhat?" He went to poke at it as both watched the rock, just as it pinged the Serbian right between the eyes. He shook his head and turned to look at Vincent, but his voice died in his throat as he noticed the same green color fading from the markings on the other's horn. "Did you do that? Horn was glowing like rock."
"..." Vinny looked between the stone, Vuka, and back to the stone, before poking at his horn. "Uh… Might be time to get Da again."
An unamused snort was Vuka's response before he slowly moved to go find O'Connor. His own horn briefly enveloped in an aqua glow before the stone pinged off Vinny's forehead. He trotted a bit faster hearing the string of cursing and the sound of flames erupting.
McCullum sighed, at least it was late afternoon this time when they woke him up. He sat at his desk, one forehoof tapping slowly on the top, as he looked between O'Connor, Babic, and Bonner.
Geoffrey massaged his temples with both hooves as leaned back. "So," he looked at his lieutenant first. "Let me see if I understand this." He turned his attention to Vuka, a hoof pointed at the Serbian archer. "Babic's a unicorn, simple enough, right?" At the nod all three gave him, he then pointed at Vinny. "Whereas Bonner is a…" McCullum snatched the note up, silently mouthing out the word written on it. "A kirin, similar to unicorns, but they're from the Far East, right?"
"Close enough, Boss." Beamard nodded, arms folded as he watched this unfold in amusement.
Geoffrey took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "So, you said they can't do things myths say they're supposed to; but can do things that aren't mentioned anywhere in the legends about them." He placed his hooves flat on the desk. "Such as Bonner's fireball act." A hoof pointed at the sniper, before gesturing at the both of them. "And that they can both apparently grab things with an- an energy channeled through their horns, at will and from a distance, is that right?"
The pair grinned before looks of concentration crossed their faces, as a halo of light flickered around Vuka's horn, and the markings on Vinny's began to glow, stutter, and then the light from both gained strength and stability as two of the notebooks on McCullum's desk were wrapped in matching auras.
He started as he watched mouth open as the notebooks shakily floated a few inches off the surface of the desk, before the auras around them cut out and they fell back down. Geoffrey took in the proud grins on both their faces, despite the slight sheen of sweat both had from the exertion. He gave a muffled groan as his head fell onto his desk. "God help us." He raised his head, glaring at his transformed captains. A hoof jabbed at each in turn. "You two are forbidden from using that in or for pranks while in headquarters or on Priwen grounds."
Vuka merely gave an amused snort at that. "Da, boss." He shuffled over to Vinny, nudging him with his shoulder.
"Awww, boss, do you really think we'd do something like that?" Vinny asked. He sighed at the flat look their boss gave them. "Fine, fine no pranks with the magic grabby light." He waved a hoof, "Anything else?"
"Yes. No fireball tricks inside." Geoffrey tapped on his desk. "Now get out, I've not had enough coffee or tea to deal with this shite."
Laughter echoed down the halls as the trio left McCullum's office.
Jonathan awoke once more as the sun set, ears flicking to track sound as he woke. He shuffled out of bed and over to where he'd left his clothing, rifling through his pockets for a comb. He didn't have everything he'd need in his coat for his normal upkeep, but he at least had that, and could tidy up a bit.
Once done, he caught sight of a wrapped parcel on the desk in the room. Curious, he walked over, spying a note with it. "Now what are you?" Plucking the slip of paper up, Reid carefully read over it.
"Dear Dr. Reid,
The coat you had me order for you was finished up a bit earlier than expected. I figured you might also like some better fitting clothing. Since the money you sent me off with was far more than what was needed for the coat, I took the liberty of ordering you a suit in your current measurements. You'll find them all in the bundle with this note.
Sincerely,
Gertrude O'Connor
P.S. I also used some of the funds to order fitting clothing for Mr. McCullum too. I didn't think you'd mind too terribly, seeing as he's stuck in much the same state."
An amused chuckle left Reid as he set the note aside. He took the bundle into his hooves, carefully unwrapping it. He was pleased to see a coat resembling the one he usually wore now, this version more suited to his new form. "Ah, it even has slits in the back for my wings, how nice!" A closer examination of the coat revealed numerous reinforced pockets. Jonathan made a pleased hum as he carefully set the new coat aside, he'd move some of the more critical items and commonly used weapons into it after he went through the rest of the parcel.
The ekon was more than pleased when he pulled out the fine cut dark slacks, crisp dress-shirt, matching vest, and a brilliant crimson tie. The undergarments were a surprise, one that would have left Reid blushing had he been capable of it at the implication; but he could not say he didn't appreciate it. Reid got dressed with a speed and efficiency of one use to having to get into finery at a moment's notice.
Jonathan just finished stowing the last of his serums and his hack-saw in his coat when there was a knock at his door. "Yes?" He called as he shrugged into his coat, brushing it down and making sure it was sitting on his frame right. "Ah, it even fits well while I'm in quadrupedal locomotion, useful." The ekon turned around as the door opened, head craning to look up at the captain of the Priwen Chaplains as he opened the door. Reid cocked his head to the side, ears twitching. "Mr. Strother? How can I help you this evening?"
A sigh left Bishop as he rubbed the back of his neck, and held out a bottle of blood to Reid. "I've been asked to give you your meal for today Dr. Reid, as Beamard's rather busy tonight." He handed the bottle off to the doctor, crossing his arms as tossed a glare at the room across the hall.
Hoof idly tapping against the glass of the bottle, Jonathan followed Bishop's line of sight He hummed, sipping at it absentmindedly. "So, what have Mr. Bonner and Mr. Babic done this time?" Finally noticing what he was doing, he quickly drained the bottle, ears flat against his head in embarrassment. "And has it caused anyone to need medical assistance?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, and not yet," the Chaplain said flatly. "But if you know any remedies and treatments for burns, we'd like your help in securing some." Bishop ran a hand down his face, sighing. "We might need that sooner rather than later." He took the empty bottle from the ekon, moving out of his room. "Did you have any plans today, Dr. Reid?"
Jonathan nodded, running one hoof through his beard. "I was hoping to visit home, actually." The ekon-turned-pony's ears and wings took on a sorrowful droop. "I've been away longer than I'd like, honestly." A sigh left Reid. "I worry for Mother's health." He ran a hoof down his face. "And Avery's too. The man tries his best to look after her health, but between their age and my Mother's… Well." Jonathan shook his head, trying to will the sadness away, not wanting to dwell on his mother's mental state. "Vampirism or not, pony curse or not, I'd like to be there for them where I can."
His hand clapped Reid on his shoulder. "You are trying, Dr. Reid," Bishop gave it a brief squeeze. "That's more than some can say, especially in your frankly extraordinary circumstances."
A small, sad smile crossed Jonathan's muzzle, "Thank you for that, Mr. Strother."
Reid stared at the scene before him, once he got down to the Priwen mess hall. He held his head in his hooves for a bit, shaking it slowly. He raised his head, hooves clasped in front of his face as he approached the captains table. There was deep concern and weary exasperation in Jonathan's tone as he took the fact there were now two more equines at the table then there should be. "Do I truly want to know?" Sent, eye color, along with mane color and style let him quickly deduce who the ponies were. "Mr. Babic, Mr. Bonner," Reid looked between the two of them. "What in the world possessed you to do this?"
"Booze," was Vuka's immediate response. The black coated unicorn jabbed a hoof at Vinny. "He bet I couldn't touch pendant vithout ending up like you and boss."
A cloven hoof struck the table. "And I was right!" Vincent shouted, sending a smug look at the Serbian, before it soured into a frown. "I just wish you hadn't gotten me too."
Babic's hoof inched closer to the jug of water placed on the table. "Boss said no fireball tricks inside." He pointed to Reid. "Doubt good Doktore would be happy about it."
"What, exactly, did Mr. Babic mean by that, Mr. Bonner?" Reid asked, one eyebrow raised in curiosity, and concern. His attention on the scaled pony, "And what are you, by the way, if you do not mind my asking?"
A shrug was Vincent's response. "Kirin, best we can tell." He nervously tapped his hooves on the table. "As for the 'fireball', well…" Bonner trailed off, embarrassed. "Apparently I combust when angry? It doesn't hurt me or anything, just, woosh." He mimed as best he could a sudden rush of flames.
Reid buried his face in his hooves, sighing deeply. He looked up at the pair, focusing his attention on the kirin. "If that is the case, Mr. Bonner, as one of your primary physicians, I must insist you abstain from alcohol." He waved at the area around him. "If not for your own health, then from being a fire source around an accelerant." Jonathan gave a clap of his hooves before turning to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm heading home for tonight." He swiftly made his way out, nodding to O'Connor as he left.
"Well, fuck." Vinny let his head hit the table in disappointment.
Jonathan shifted from hoof to hoof as he stared up at the balcony that led to his childhood bedroom. It had been precarious at times, sticking to the back alleyways, and out of sight, but he had made it. However the thought of his mother seeing him like this, and how she might react left him nervous. Reid worried his lip with one fang, trying to muster up the nerve to enter. One deep, unneeded breath to steady himself, and he shadow-stepped up to his door, entering before he could lose his will to do so.
Wiping off his hooves on the mat he left for his coming and going, Reid looked around, noting the sheets on his bed had been changed recently. ' Bless Avery and his diligence. ' He thought, slipping into his blood-sight to check where both his mother and the loyal butler were in the house.
Spotting them in the sitting room, Jonathan bit back a groan. "Oh, I had hoped to see Mother without alerting Avery, but I don't think he's going to retire before she settles in for the night." He let his head hang in defeat for a moment, blowing a sigh through his nose as he squared his shoulders and he exited his room, hooves clopping softly on the hardwood floors. As he made his way down the steps, Reid called out. "Mother, Avery, I'm home."
"Ah, Master Jonathan. We didn't hear you come in." Avery started, exiting the room. "Welcome ho-" The older man's words cut off, shock taking hold of him as he stared at the small, odd equine standing upright on the steps, in an outfit similar to the one Reid had taken to wearing. The fact that the physical features of the beast matched many of his younger charge's led the elderly man to a few conclusions. One of which was surely impossible, and yet, he had to ask. "Master Jonathan?" He asked quietly, his focus on the equine in front of him.
The equine had a small, sad smile on his face, as he gave the butler a nod. "Hello Avery." Reid said quietly, ears flicking too and fro, trying to gather his thoughts and parse out how best to handle this. As he finally settled on a course of action, he gave the man his full attention. "I'm sure you have questions, and I will do my best to answer them, I just…" He let himself trail off, gaze turning to the sitting room, expression soft. "I've been an absentee son far too often as of late." Jonathan turned back to Avery, "Fear has slowed me in the past." He admitted, and then motioned to himself with one forehoof. "But I haven't let past difficulties stop me, and I refuse to let this stop me when the last year hasn't."
Avery shook himself from his surprise as Jonathan descended the steps and stood in front of him. He took in how the young master was doing his best not to fidget in his nervousness. "Sir, I must ask, what happened?" He cast his own gaze to where the Reid matriarch was seated at the moment. "How do you plan on breaking this to your mother? And why do you have fangs?" He noted Jonathan's ears gave away much of his emotion as he watched them droop.
"I will explain once we see how Mother reacts. About both my equine appearance, and the fangs." Reid said, ears pinned back against his head, and his wings shuffled restlessly as he trudged towards the sitting room. "As for how to tell her, I believe showing her might be the simplest way."
Startled by the wings folded against Jonathan's back, Avery quickly followed after him. "Master Jonathan, is that wise?" He watched him carefully. "What with her health being how it is?"
"She thinks I'm a ghost, Avery. As much as I despise that, it might work to soften her reaction." Reid stopped just outside the door, shifting from hoof to hoof. Low, and under his breath, he muttered, "Here goes something." He entered the room, gaze homing in on his mother where she sat by the fire. Slowly, he approached her. "Mother, I'm home, I just…" He trailed off, and sighed before shaking his head as he continued to approach. "Please, give me a chance to explain first?"
Emelyne Reid moved the ribbon hanging from the book to mark her place, closing it softly. "My dear boy, whatever could you need to explain?" She folded her hands on top of the book, turning her attention to the person drawing near. Emelyne let out a soft gasp as she saw the equine standing before her like a man would. Slowly, the beast lowered itself down onto all four hooves, and she could make out all too familiar pale blue-grey eyes, along with a distinctive break to its nose, and the scar across it and under it's left eye.
A shaking hand reached out to cup the beast's chin, tilting their head up slightly. Staring straight into those large, sad expressive eyes, She couldn't help the breathless question. "Jonathan?" When the head in her hand nodded, Emelyne reached out her other hand to card her fingers through his mane. "Oh my poor boy, whatever has happened to you?"
Without realizing it, Jonathan's eyes slid shut as his mother pet his head. He nuzzled into her touch, before slowly pulling away to better address both her, and Avery. "I'm afraid, Mother, that is a very long tale to tell. To get to how I wound up like this, I must confess a secret kept about my return last year, and some of the events that followed." He motioned to one of the chairs in the room. "Please Avery, sit down, this will take a while."
Once everyone was seated, Jonathan began with an apology to both Avery and Emelyne. "There is a reason I refuse food or drink when you offer to make it, Avery." He tapped one hoof lightly against the floor, gaze downcast, ears and wings low. "And Mother, you are not entirely wrong in thinking me dead, to an extent."
"Master Jonathan, if this is a joke, it is in poor humor." Avery stated gravely. "How in the world can you be dead, when you sit here before us?" He just did not understand where the young master was going with this.
A shaky, brittle laugh escapes Jonathan as he looks between the two. "Clarence is not as crazy as people think he is." He rubbed at a spot on the left side of his neck. "When I arrived home, I was attacked." He brushed his hoof over the spot along his neck, pulling down the collar of his suit and coat, revealing a pair of stark, silvery puncture scars, visible bald spots in his fur. "I could feel the life draining from me, and the next thing I'm aware of..." Jonathan broke off in a shaky exhale, voice cracking once he managed to start again. "Is waking up in Southwark, days later, clawing my way out of a pit."
Gentle fingers ran along his head and behind one ear while the pony tried to gather himself to continue. "Oh my poor boy." Emelyne continued to pet her transformed son, trying to sooth him enough to continue his tale. "There's still more to this, isn't there, Jonathan?"
Head bowed, he clasped his hooves behind his neck, his breath shuddering. "The world was a wash of black and grey, save for a singular point of red." Jonathan let his forelegs drop to his lap as he looked at his mother and Avery, his eyes red as bloody tears began to run down his face. "I didn't-"
He choked, "I had no idea what I was doing, only that at that moment, I needed that red light more than anything else." His hooves balled into the fabric of his pants, "The light grabbed a hold of me, and I- I held onto that red light, and bit into it, drinking it away." Jonathan's whole body seemed to wilt at this admission. "As soon as I regained enough clarity to realize what it was that had happened, what I had done-" He pulled his head away from his mother's hold, and buried his face in his hooves in shame and horror. "I tried to stop the bleeding, but it was too late."
Avery was startled by the rapid change to the whites of Jonathan's eyes. However, once the red tears began trailing, he understood, despite the obvious physical changes he had been through, the young master was still the same where it counted. There had always been a darkness to the Reid men, and yet, despite that, Jonathan was still a caring soul. "Oh, Master Jonathan…"
The Reid matriarch folded her hands on top of the book in her lap, and took in the sorrowful state of her son. Emelyne knew this was a serious matter for her, her son, and what this could mean for what was left of her family. "Jonathan," she said, one frail hand reaching out to brush against his fur. "Look at me, my boy." When he looked up, she gently brushed a thumb under his eye, smoothing the damp fur and brushing away the bloody tears. "Have you done that since? And do you need to feed from people since you've become a, well, I suppose you are a vampire?" She loved her son, but she'd not abide if he'd become a monster in the truest sense of the word. "When did our lives become a penny dreadful, Jonathan?"
He slowly shook his head as his mother continued to watch him, her hand against his cheek. A weak, watery chuckle left him. "No, Mother, I've not taken another life like that since my awakening." He sighed as he pulled his head from her hold. "And no, while my new state of existence does mean my diet is now rather strictly blood, it doesn't need to be human." One ear flicked in thought as he searched through his pockets for a handkerchief, "That reminds me, I need to see if any of the butchers near here sells blood, or if I'll need to find the one in Whitechapel."
That last comment caught Avery's attention. "Master Jonathan, if you've not been getting your…" He trailed off a moment, thinking how best to phrase it. "Your dietary needs from the expected source, and you don't know which butchers sell blood, how have you been feeding yourself?" He watched Jonathan carefully.
Jonathan's ears folded against his head as he shuffled in place. Despite lacking a blush to his face, and his non-human form, his posture told of a great deal of embarrassment. He muttered something under his breath.
"Once more, if you please, Master Jonathan." Avery asked, he couldn't help the slight smile that curved his lips as he was reminded of similar events of embarrassment in the man's youth.
A sigh left the ekon as his head hung down. "I have been feeding myself with rat blood." He admitted, dabbing at the damp patches of fur on his face. "It's vile, but it slakes my thirst, and allows me to work without being tempted by the patients." Jonathan worried the cloth in his hooves. "I will admit blood from the butcher's tastes better, and has less sanitary risks."
"Oh Jonathan, what happened that night was not your fault." Emelyne started, patting the top of his head with fond exasperation. "Also, I do love you my dear boy, and I commend you for resisting what I imagine is a great deal of temptation." She cupped his face and tapped him on the nose. "But really, some things do not belong in your mouth. Promise me you'll avoid feeding on rats if you can help it."
Jonathan sighed, but nodded. This had gone better than he expected, but he did not expect to be scolded on his dietary choices as an ekon. However, he allowed himself a moment to relax into the affectionate attentions of his mother.
"Very good, now, how did you wind up a little horse?" Emelyne asked, and resumed petting her son's soft fur and mane. "I do not imagine vampirism results in one becoming a tiny talking equine."
"Oh," he said softly, "That is related to the events of last year, and a group I had the misfortune of encountering at first." As Jonathan managed to gather himself together after his emotional outpouring. He gave himself a light shake, and gave the pair his full attention again. "Let me tell you about the Guard of Priwen, and their leader, Geoffrey McCullum." And thus Jonathan began his tale of the skal epidemic, as much as he thought his family could handle, at any rate.