Wow, ok, so Frozen 2 happened and I've fallen behind on everything, but this writer is on a rollllll so lets do this.
-YD-
Almost the second the sky had begun to darken, Ingrid sent Vlad out to make sure there wasn't a hint of UV light left. He called back that it was safe, and found himself biting so hard on his cheek he tasted blood a few seconds later, because Ingrid would definitely have killed him for laughing when she walked into the castle wall.
"I thought vampires could walk through walls."
Ingrid groused when she'd come through the front door, having to open and close it rather than just float through.
"They can, but you have to focus. This is all new, don't try to do everything your first night or you'll start trying to juggle stakes and die of a splinter."
She raised an eyebrow at his comment, then rolled her eyes, tutted and looked around.
"I'm feeling distinctly underwhelmed by this vampirism so far."
"Ok. Well, now you have some space, try and flit again. That's the speed thing."
Ingrid nodded, mostly to herself, then seemed to brace for impact before taking one very dramatic step.
"Well, that didn't work."
"Of course it didn't! Uh, girls..."
"Dad!"
The Count shrugged unapologetically, floating down in a very clear attempt to show off his own control of powers. Given that he had six centuries of practice on Ingrid, Vlad thought he was being unfairly critical.
"Now, let me show you how it's done!"
Ingrid leant back, face a picture of bewilderment. Vlad couldn't blame her; the Count had hardly gone for family bonding experiences, mostly complaining about Ingrid being around to out him as a breather-breeder until Vlad told him to shut up.
Their father flitted off into the night, and didn't come back. Ingrid looked to Vlad for an explanation.
"He's just... like that. You get used to blocking him out."
"I heard that!"
His voice echoed back, and Vlad pulled a face up at the night sky in retaliation. Ingrid snickered into her hand, shaking her head.
"Weirdos. Right. How do I do this?"
"Close your eyes" Ingrid eyed him suspiciously, but eventually complied "now just imagine you're fast, weightless, like nothing can stop you. Got it?"
Ingrid's mouth was twisted in a small grimace, but she nodded.
"Now go."
She didn't flit. Ingrid did manage to turn herself into a bat, however, which was... close enough, he supposed. Quick and agile, and a vampire power. She seemed quite shocked to suddenly have wings, and managed to figure out how to fly well enough to attack Vlad with several high pitched shrieks before she landed back on the ground, human-shaped and irritated.
"You drew blood!"
"You turned me into a bat!"
Vlad rolled his eyes, wiping drops of blood off his face.
"You just got mixed up. Try again. It's easy, you just need to focus. Pick a spot at the bottom of the hill, and picture yourself already there when you move."
Finally, Ingrid managed it. Up and down the hill she zipped, back and forth, finally coming to a slightly ungainly stop next to Vlad again.
"I did it!" Ingrid cleared her throat and side eyed Vlad, tone changing to haughty again "I mean... of course I did it."
He didn't call her on her more excited outburst at the start. Ingrid wouldn't appreciate it, and Vlad could smile to himself about it later.
"You did it. Want to carry on with that or not?"
"What else could I do?"
Vlad tapped his fingers against his leg, thinking.
"Done bat, done speed. We shouldn't do fire until dad gets back cus he can put them out easier. You could try and turn into smoke."
"And how do I do that?"
Vlad shrugged.
"Don't look at me, you're the vampire. You have to sort of... detach yourself. It's a good way to almost be completely invisible without hiding in a wall, cus if you're in a room where there's dust you'll blend in."
"Hiding in a... never mind. I'm not doing that now. What if I get stuck that way?"
"It's more likely you'd manage and then the magic holding you like it would fail, and you would drop back on the ground feeling like all your limbs fell off. At least, that's how dad described it."
Shaking her head again, Ingrid looked around them, the dusty crumbling walls and the not-very-clear sky, the hearse parked nearby and the grass that had somehow not yet died from proximity to vampires.
"I'm hungry."
"You will be."
"No, I mean... for food. Not thirsty."
Vlad cocked his head. Sure, vampires ate, but generally what they ate also contained blood. Maybe it was remnants of her human half, making her want 'normal' food?
"Alright. There's probably some cake left. Your tastebuds will have changed, but some vampires like sweet. We can go try a few things, see if you've kept any favourites."
As they were about to head in, Ingrid glanced up at the tower, thoughts flickering across her face.
"Am I gonna sleep in a coffin now?"
"Up to you. You have a room in the basement, where there's no windows. You can sleep in the empty crypt, if that's your thing."
She hummed as they walked, and Vlad felt like he needed to add on.
"You can carry on sleeping in my room if you want, but you'll have to be careful not to like, click your fingers and open the window during the day, and I'll still have to get up to go to school and stuff."
"Click my fingers?"
"Yeah. Try it."
Ingrid lifted her hand with some trepidation, but when she snapped her fingers the nearest door flew open. Vlad had her focus on one of the empty wall torches, and another snap had it burning merrily, the following one extinguishing it.
"Huh. Cool."
They spent the next hour and a half in the kitchen, Ingrid experimenting with various foods and drinks to see what she liked now. The cake was still a hit, though she complained it was too sickly to eat too much of. Anything salty went down well, and all meats had survived the process to still be enjoyable.
"You can eat meat raw now. You can't get food poisoning like a breather. It'll taste different, but if you're really hungry, go for it."
Seeming largely occupied with her current choice of cheese melted on top of a barely-cooked strip of bacon, Ingrid stopped rather suddenly.
"Are there books on vampire lore?"
"You want to study vampire stories?"
She rolled her eyes and tsked in Vlad's direction.
"Not lore, law."
"Oh. Yeah, we've gone through a few looking for Dimidius laws before. Why? You're not usually one for rules."
Ingrid shrugged, wiping her mouth on a black napkin and discarding the greasy paper.
"Well, given how many times you mentioned execution as a punishment for breaking various codes the last few weeks, I figured I should at least know what rules I should be pretending to follow. And I'll need something to do other than ignore Count Dracula and sleep when you go back to that cesspool of hormones."
"Alright. I'll find some out for you."
Ingrid nodded, turning back to her assortment of foodstuffs. Vlad was pretty sure Ingrid wasn't telling him everything. Then again, that was pretty normal for her.
-YD-
Well, we're approaching the coronation soon. There's absolutely no way that can go wrong, right? *whistles*