I hope you all are enjoying this AU. If not...too bad! eg I write what I like. However, any good (and clean, I won't accept anything past PG-14) suggestions will be taken under consideration.
Part Eight: Conflicting Input
Letting out his pent-up breath, Nicholas sighed in relief. "He's left. I think."
Neither digimon nor vampire was terribly displeased by that realization.
"You are afraid of him." his guest said solemnly in a way that was not a question.
Nicholas shrugged. "Lacroix is older and stronger. And a poor teacher. He's made no bones about have kept certain skills from my 'curriculum' so I stay at a disadvantage with him." It was the closest De Brabant would come to admitting aloud his fear of Lacroix's displeasure, of what his sire might really be capable of if he became irrevocabley ticked off.
Wizardmon looked thoughtfully up at the chair Lacroix had sat in. "He is concerned. Afraid for you...because of me." The mental voice from the digimon hesitated, the unseen corners of his mouth twisting downward.. "I am a danger to you?" Sharp eyes fixed on his host, demanded honesty.
Feeling oddly reluctant to answer the question, De Brabant sidestepped it.
"Not directly," Nick said, running his hand through his hair. He went to his refrigerator to get himself an unmarked wine bottle, taking another goblet from the cupboard. "But you don't look human and he's concerned that you'll be seen. Finding you, humans might take another look at my kind---and people tend to be afraid of things that are unfamiliar to them. How do you know what Lacroix felt anyway?"
"I just do." Wizardmon replied as he searched for, found, and proceeded to secure the cowl back over his shoulders. (Having worn the thing for so long for pure necessity's sake, he now felt a little uncomfortable without it.) "The less intelligent, the more I can pick up." He chuckled a little. "The Bakemon are easy, their thoughts are distinct words in my head---its almost impossible not to read them. Lacroix and Myotismon are very hard, a thick hide with only little chinks in it to peer through."---the sound of an amused snort came from the kitchen---"Now...your feelings are like a cloak that you wear," the digimon went on. "At times, they open and I get clear thoughts as well." He tilted his head as if studying the human as he re-entered the main area. "You are not afraid of me. Unsure... but not afraid."
Nick smiled woefully as he poured out some of the cow's blood into his glass. "I'm not human," he said, saluting the wizard monster with with the glass before downing his 'breakfast'. "And I was a little afraid when I first saw you. It's not every century that a vampire meets a digimon."
The Champion froze.
A vampire? He hadn't read that!!
Wizardmon looked askance at the empty glass, but said nothing, his mind awhirl of conflicting thoughts.
Why had he not realized this before? He had not known that his rescuer was a vampire until now, but it made sense. Lacroix had been about to bite him. He was Nick's father. Nick had said he was on a restricted diet. Both sported fangs. The talk of blood. Memories of Myotismon's elongated eyeteeth in his neck came to the fore and he shuddered. If he had found out earlier about his host's sanguinary diet... Should he be accepting this Real Worlder so readily? Still, Nick was not acting like Myotismon---quite the contrary. But he was a vampire! Had not Myotismon possessed a stately bearing as Nicholas did? On the other hand, Nick was caring for him as Gatomon had done so long ago.
'Vampires cannot be trusted,' part of his mind argued. 'They are crafty and self-serving. What happened to Gatomon alone showed this. Myotismon tricked her with lies.'
'But I want to trust this one,' the other countered.
'Why?' his own voice shot back, demanding an answer.
'I...don't know, but I do, despite what experience says. I do not believe that Nick is Viral in nature.'
'Yet neither does he feel as a Vacinne. And are you so experienced at reading the intentions of Real Worlders? Human or vampire, these here are not digimon. This is not even Kari's Earth, let alone a place you are familiar with!'
'And where, exactly, should I go to?'
'Anywhere but here. This Lacroix is stronger, jealous of his own--- and he hates you for the sake of this one.'
His imaginary 'devil's advocate' let it drop then, but not before having made a telling point. It was too risky to trust a vampire---even a polite one. This place was not safe to stay in. Having just suffered deletion, he wasn't anxious to experience it again so soon! Yet... where else could he go?
"You're father is afraid of me," Wizardmon said to the vampire as he re-centered his awareness on the outside.
"Lacroix?" Nick snorted, pouring himself another glass of steer's blood. The rim of the goblet hesitated before his mouth as De Brabant reconsidered. "Possibly. Though it is hard to imagine him afraid of anything."
"He fears.. and, perhaps with reason. When I am at my best, I have the power to damage him," Wizardmon told him. He did not mean to brag, but it was the truth. Real Worlders were frail compared to digimon. "And you are not afraid that I could do the same to you?"
"As I said before.. a little. When I first realized you were not anything I had ever seen before."
"But not now?" he pressed the vampire, trying to gauge what he should do. "You do not fear me now.. even a little?" ---and felt a wash of mixed emotions as his host verbally confirmed his earlier impression.
"No," Nick responded after giving the question a few second's thought. A glance at a clock made him frown. "I'm going to be late for work." Quickly, he rinsed out his glass and set it down to dry. "I'm sure now that you mean no one harm---unless they mean you harm first." He smiled. "Call it a detective's intuition."
Wizardmon felt himself flush with pleasure that the vampire trusted and accepted him so readiy---which sparked another wave of confusion as well as a little guilt that he wasn't able to reciprocate as easily.
'I should not be pleased! This is a vampire. It would be better if he did fear me. What is to keep him from attacking what he does not fear?' And yet there still was no sense of subterfuge--no threat--emanating from Nicholas. From what Lacroix had stated, it was he, himself, who threatened the vampire's well being.
Was that bad or good?
Well... there was an obvious solution to his dilemna.
Wizardmon's torn heart recoiled at his mind's suddenly made-up intention, but it was necessary. His very being screamed both to run away from those fanged teeth and to keep this one safe as he had tried to do for Gatomon.
According to Lacroix's words---which Nicholas had not gainsaid---the best way to do that was to leave. And the sooner the better before this compelling Real Worlder became even more fixed on his mind. Leaving was the best compromise to soothe the cival war raging within him. Bowing, Wizardmon took up his hat and set it back on his head, features once again hidden save for around his eyes and the long hair.
"I thank you for your trust and kindness, Nick. But I do not wish to endanger you. I will depart. If caught, you have my word of honor that I will not give your secret away."
"What? You want to leave?"
"It is for the best."
"Like hell!" Nick growled. "You're better off with me. Stay here." He looked with dismay at the sun-shaped clock on his wall. "Look...I'm really late for work now, but as soon as I can I'll book off and we'll go see Nat." Without waiting for a reply, Nick flew upstairs and got dressed, flying back mere minutes later to retrieve his wristwatch and police badge from a wooden box. He used the remote to turn on the television from which a rerun of The Day The Earth Stood Still was just beginning to start. "Watch some tv, make yourself comfortable, okay? And let the answering service pick up any calls. The less people who find out about you, the better or you may find yourself the object of a monster hunt. And here, being a monster is not considered normal or a good thing."
Reluctantly, Wizardmon nodded is assent---though darned if he knew what an answering service was. With a sigh, he settling onto the couch. He was really too tired to travel just yet anyway. Resting for a short while might be better than falling into another dead faint outside. However, afterwards he would depart regardless of the vampire's warning not to.
Smiling reassuringly back at Wizardmon, Nick opened the stair doors, locking it behind him, and went down to his waiting cadillac, a 1962 teal convertable---but not before keying in some instructions into his security computer.
The vampire frowned as he settled in the driver's seat and started up the engine of his beloved car. He was definitely going to be later for work than he had ever been before! Schanke would razz him no end even if Captain Cohen did not give him the evil eye before docking him for being tardy. He sighed as he pulled out of his warehouse abode and into the street.
Damn, but if he didn't miss the little digimon's presence already. But at least now he was assured that---barring Undead meddling---the Digital Worlder would still be there when he got back.
_______________________
After the movie ended, Wizardmon pondered its storyline. Such a sad tale. But at least the silver mechanoid digimon 'Gort' had managed to save the life of his human partner. That was good.
He thought of Nick and felt a wave of guilt. Nick was alone. He should not be alone. The vampire had requested that his guest stay put, but what if Nick got into trouble? Was attacked? Who knew what sort of dangers this reality contained.
'What do I care? He's a vampire!' Wizardmon reminded himself for the upteenth time. 'Vampires are my enemies. I am not interested in being near one let alone watching over him!'
Yet the more he tried to push the feeling away, the stronger it got. "This is ridiculous!" the wizard monster upbraided himself, gently tugging on the pointed tips of both his ears. "I am not partnered to him. We are not bonded." And yet the feeling just grew stronger.
So did his hunger---and a quick perusal of Nick's cabinets did not yield any more of that pop corn stuff. He did find a metal container of something marked 'Yuban' and ate it wth a goblet of water. The taste was not nearly as good as the smell had suggested, however it gave him a nice burst of energy. Enough to lighten the awful weight that he'd been having to drag around since landing in the reality.
Yes, that did nicely. For starters.
Faced with a demanding stomach and an equal need to see the vampire again, Wizardmon moved over to the stairs, but found the door wouldn't budge. A few minutes later he discovered the service lift and tugged until it opened. The digimon pushed against the walls, including the buttons he found on one side, tried different spells, but nothing happened. The vampire's portals must be damaged or something, he thought, not knowing that Nick had shut the lift down and locked the stairway so that the digimon was not disturbed by unannounced visitors. The human variety anyway. Getting out again, he searched for another exit to no avail---sturdy metal covers had come down and covered the large windows not long after the vampire had left. The place was locked up tighter than Myotismon's lair after dawn. So much for vacating it! Was he meant to be a prisoner?
He was about to give up...until he remembered Lacroix's disappearance act. Going to where the elder vampire had last stood, Wizardmon studied the floor.
Nothing there. No hidden trap door of any kind that he could see.
Frustrated, he looked up.
And grinned.
Part Eight: Conflicting Input
Letting out his pent-up breath, Nicholas sighed in relief. "He's left. I think."
Neither digimon nor vampire was terribly displeased by that realization.
"You are afraid of him." his guest said solemnly in a way that was not a question.
Nicholas shrugged. "Lacroix is older and stronger. And a poor teacher. He's made no bones about have kept certain skills from my 'curriculum' so I stay at a disadvantage with him." It was the closest De Brabant would come to admitting aloud his fear of Lacroix's displeasure, of what his sire might really be capable of if he became irrevocabley ticked off.
Wizardmon looked thoughtfully up at the chair Lacroix had sat in. "He is concerned. Afraid for you...because of me." The mental voice from the digimon hesitated, the unseen corners of his mouth twisting downward.. "I am a danger to you?" Sharp eyes fixed on his host, demanded honesty.
Feeling oddly reluctant to answer the question, De Brabant sidestepped it.
"Not directly," Nick said, running his hand through his hair. He went to his refrigerator to get himself an unmarked wine bottle, taking another goblet from the cupboard. "But you don't look human and he's concerned that you'll be seen. Finding you, humans might take another look at my kind---and people tend to be afraid of things that are unfamiliar to them. How do you know what Lacroix felt anyway?"
"I just do." Wizardmon replied as he searched for, found, and proceeded to secure the cowl back over his shoulders. (Having worn the thing for so long for pure necessity's sake, he now felt a little uncomfortable without it.) "The less intelligent, the more I can pick up." He chuckled a little. "The Bakemon are easy, their thoughts are distinct words in my head---its almost impossible not to read them. Lacroix and Myotismon are very hard, a thick hide with only little chinks in it to peer through."---the sound of an amused snort came from the kitchen---"Now...your feelings are like a cloak that you wear," the digimon went on. "At times, they open and I get clear thoughts as well." He tilted his head as if studying the human as he re-entered the main area. "You are not afraid of me. Unsure... but not afraid."
Nick smiled woefully as he poured out some of the cow's blood into his glass. "I'm not human," he said, saluting the wizard monster with with the glass before downing his 'breakfast'. "And I was a little afraid when I first saw you. It's not every century that a vampire meets a digimon."
The Champion froze.
A vampire? He hadn't read that!!
Wizardmon looked askance at the empty glass, but said nothing, his mind awhirl of conflicting thoughts.
Why had he not realized this before? He had not known that his rescuer was a vampire until now, but it made sense. Lacroix had been about to bite him. He was Nick's father. Nick had said he was on a restricted diet. Both sported fangs. The talk of blood. Memories of Myotismon's elongated eyeteeth in his neck came to the fore and he shuddered. If he had found out earlier about his host's sanguinary diet... Should he be accepting this Real Worlder so readily? Still, Nick was not acting like Myotismon---quite the contrary. But he was a vampire! Had not Myotismon possessed a stately bearing as Nicholas did? On the other hand, Nick was caring for him as Gatomon had done so long ago.
'Vampires cannot be trusted,' part of his mind argued. 'They are crafty and self-serving. What happened to Gatomon alone showed this. Myotismon tricked her with lies.'
'But I want to trust this one,' the other countered.
'Why?' his own voice shot back, demanding an answer.
'I...don't know, but I do, despite what experience says. I do not believe that Nick is Viral in nature.'
'Yet neither does he feel as a Vacinne. And are you so experienced at reading the intentions of Real Worlders? Human or vampire, these here are not digimon. This is not even Kari's Earth, let alone a place you are familiar with!'
'And where, exactly, should I go to?'
'Anywhere but here. This Lacroix is stronger, jealous of his own--- and he hates you for the sake of this one.'
His imaginary 'devil's advocate' let it drop then, but not before having made a telling point. It was too risky to trust a vampire---even a polite one. This place was not safe to stay in. Having just suffered deletion, he wasn't anxious to experience it again so soon! Yet... where else could he go?
"You're father is afraid of me," Wizardmon said to the vampire as he re-centered his awareness on the outside.
"Lacroix?" Nick snorted, pouring himself another glass of steer's blood. The rim of the goblet hesitated before his mouth as De Brabant reconsidered. "Possibly. Though it is hard to imagine him afraid of anything."
"He fears.. and, perhaps with reason. When I am at my best, I have the power to damage him," Wizardmon told him. He did not mean to brag, but it was the truth. Real Worlders were frail compared to digimon. "And you are not afraid that I could do the same to you?"
"As I said before.. a little. When I first realized you were not anything I had ever seen before."
"But not now?" he pressed the vampire, trying to gauge what he should do. "You do not fear me now.. even a little?" ---and felt a wash of mixed emotions as his host verbally confirmed his earlier impression.
"No," Nick responded after giving the question a few second's thought. A glance at a clock made him frown. "I'm going to be late for work." Quickly, he rinsed out his glass and set it down to dry. "I'm sure now that you mean no one harm---unless they mean you harm first." He smiled. "Call it a detective's intuition."
Wizardmon felt himself flush with pleasure that the vampire trusted and accepted him so readiy---which sparked another wave of confusion as well as a little guilt that he wasn't able to reciprocate as easily.
'I should not be pleased! This is a vampire. It would be better if he did fear me. What is to keep him from attacking what he does not fear?' And yet there still was no sense of subterfuge--no threat--emanating from Nicholas. From what Lacroix had stated, it was he, himself, who threatened the vampire's well being.
Was that bad or good?
Well... there was an obvious solution to his dilemna.
Wizardmon's torn heart recoiled at his mind's suddenly made-up intention, but it was necessary. His very being screamed both to run away from those fanged teeth and to keep this one safe as he had tried to do for Gatomon.
According to Lacroix's words---which Nicholas had not gainsaid---the best way to do that was to leave. And the sooner the better before this compelling Real Worlder became even more fixed on his mind. Leaving was the best compromise to soothe the cival war raging within him. Bowing, Wizardmon took up his hat and set it back on his head, features once again hidden save for around his eyes and the long hair.
"I thank you for your trust and kindness, Nick. But I do not wish to endanger you. I will depart. If caught, you have my word of honor that I will not give your secret away."
"What? You want to leave?"
"It is for the best."
"Like hell!" Nick growled. "You're better off with me. Stay here." He looked with dismay at the sun-shaped clock on his wall. "Look...I'm really late for work now, but as soon as I can I'll book off and we'll go see Nat." Without waiting for a reply, Nick flew upstairs and got dressed, flying back mere minutes later to retrieve his wristwatch and police badge from a wooden box. He used the remote to turn on the television from which a rerun of The Day The Earth Stood Still was just beginning to start. "Watch some tv, make yourself comfortable, okay? And let the answering service pick up any calls. The less people who find out about you, the better or you may find yourself the object of a monster hunt. And here, being a monster is not considered normal or a good thing."
Reluctantly, Wizardmon nodded is assent---though darned if he knew what an answering service was. With a sigh, he settling onto the couch. He was really too tired to travel just yet anyway. Resting for a short while might be better than falling into another dead faint outside. However, afterwards he would depart regardless of the vampire's warning not to.
Smiling reassuringly back at Wizardmon, Nick opened the stair doors, locking it behind him, and went down to his waiting cadillac, a 1962 teal convertable---but not before keying in some instructions into his security computer.
The vampire frowned as he settled in the driver's seat and started up the engine of his beloved car. He was definitely going to be later for work than he had ever been before! Schanke would razz him no end even if Captain Cohen did not give him the evil eye before docking him for being tardy. He sighed as he pulled out of his warehouse abode and into the street.
Damn, but if he didn't miss the little digimon's presence already. But at least now he was assured that---barring Undead meddling---the Digital Worlder would still be there when he got back.
_______________________
After the movie ended, Wizardmon pondered its storyline. Such a sad tale. But at least the silver mechanoid digimon 'Gort' had managed to save the life of his human partner. That was good.
He thought of Nick and felt a wave of guilt. Nick was alone. He should not be alone. The vampire had requested that his guest stay put, but what if Nick got into trouble? Was attacked? Who knew what sort of dangers this reality contained.
'What do I care? He's a vampire!' Wizardmon reminded himself for the upteenth time. 'Vampires are my enemies. I am not interested in being near one let alone watching over him!'
Yet the more he tried to push the feeling away, the stronger it got. "This is ridiculous!" the wizard monster upbraided himself, gently tugging on the pointed tips of both his ears. "I am not partnered to him. We are not bonded." And yet the feeling just grew stronger.
So did his hunger---and a quick perusal of Nick's cabinets did not yield any more of that pop corn stuff. He did find a metal container of something marked 'Yuban' and ate it wth a goblet of water. The taste was not nearly as good as the smell had suggested, however it gave him a nice burst of energy. Enough to lighten the awful weight that he'd been having to drag around since landing in the reality.
Yes, that did nicely. For starters.
Faced with a demanding stomach and an equal need to see the vampire again, Wizardmon moved over to the stairs, but found the door wouldn't budge. A few minutes later he discovered the service lift and tugged until it opened. The digimon pushed against the walls, including the buttons he found on one side, tried different spells, but nothing happened. The vampire's portals must be damaged or something, he thought, not knowing that Nick had shut the lift down and locked the stairway so that the digimon was not disturbed by unannounced visitors. The human variety anyway. Getting out again, he searched for another exit to no avail---sturdy metal covers had come down and covered the large windows not long after the vampire had left. The place was locked up tighter than Myotismon's lair after dawn. So much for vacating it! Was he meant to be a prisoner?
He was about to give up...until he remembered Lacroix's disappearance act. Going to where the elder vampire had last stood, Wizardmon studied the floor.
Nothing there. No hidden trap door of any kind that he could see.
Frustrated, he looked up.
And grinned.