FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Pyrex had made a habit of worrying too much in the past. In this particular occasion, though, it could be argued that the kobold wasn't simply worried - no, he was anxious.

Nyeogmi had a penchant for putting him in all kinds of uncomfortable situations. Last night, the vampire bat had broken into Pyrex's house with someone under their wing, a creature who showed visible effects of having been put under some kind of spell - well, Pyrex knew what kind of spell that was, anyway. They had apparently climbed to the kobold's window and chosen to enter the house that way instead of using the door. Vampire stuff, Pyrex kept telling himself.

"Hey, friend!" Nyeogmi had greeted him with a gesture of their free wing. "Uh, I could use some help! Do you think you could take care of this little snack here? I reckon he needs a place to fall asleep."

There had been an almost inaudible moan coming from under Nyeogmi's wing. Pyrex had felt tempted to complain, but then a green flash had hit his pupils and he'd found himself nodding. The white vampire bat had looked happy. They'd taken their new "snack", as they'd call him, to Pyrex's spare bedroom and then they'd flown away, back into the arms of the night.

They'd also left Pyrex with a pressing concern, perhaps unknowingly.

The thing was, the kobold hadn't seen much of Nyeogmi's new prey - except for some brownish fur under the white wing and a pair of glassy eyes that seemed to have recently lost the ability to recognize what they were seeing - but there was something that had inevitably caught his attention. Pyrex wouldn't have been much of a vampire if it hadn't, after all, and even though Nyeogmi had only converted him recently, there were a few things he'd already gotten used to.

Those two red markings on the creature's neck were like magnets calling for his attention. He'd only caught a glimpse of them, but it had felt like he'd been staring at the small red dots for hours, as if he could practically see the bite taking place in front of him.

And in spite of that, despite the growing thirst for blood this vision had stirred inside him, the thing Pyrex was worried was: had Nyeogmi tried to convert this new snack of his?

In case he had started the whole process, had he taken it to completion? Waking up from a vampire-gaze induced slumber and realizing your heartbeats were slower, your fangs were slightly pointier and your blood was... well, lacking, could be a frightening experience for anyone. Pyrex knew it would have been for him.

Of course, realizing once you had already been converted to a vampire was a completely different thing. Death brings a certain kind of calm to revelations, or at least so Pyrex wanted to think. Besides, you had a bunch of new powers to show off in front of your friends. That was always a plus.

Pyrex had been walking around the house restlessly for hours, wondering whether Nyeogmi had thought this through, and then had decided to sneak into the poor creature's room to check for himself. As he got closer to the bed, the kobold realized Nyeogmi's sleeping snack was actually a hyena in his late twenties. Carefully, he tried to open his mouth and, after a few attempts, he finally managed to. Pyrex's eyes, which had recently gotten better at seeing in the dark, had confirmed his worst fears - yes, Nyeogmi had tried to convert the hyena into a vampire and no, they hadn't fully converted him.

I can't believe it, he'd thought, then.Since when are they so reckless? They used to check these things. Maybe it had been an accident, the kobold thought. But if it had, why did he have to take care of it? What would he do once the sleeping hyena woke up and began asking why his fangs were just a bit sharper and he felt the tiniest pull to suck blood? What words could Pyrex say to justify they'd left him in that kind of in-between?

And what if the hyena asked to be changed back into a mortal? Pyrex knew that wasn't a possibility. Once the process had begun, you couldn't go back on it.

Oh gosh oh gosh. The kobold had always been bad at calming people down, especially himself.

Well. Maybe you don't need to have that conversation, he found himself thinking.

Yeah. That was another possibility. Perhaps Pyrex could just... make sure this poor creature wouldn't be shocked by his sudden change. He could do that, couldn't he? After all, he was also a vampire.

He gently pulled one of the hyena's eyelids open and focused on making his own eyes pulse with the familiar glow. It came naturally to him, despite the apparent lack of practice. Soon enough, the other eyelid flickered open on its own, and the slumbering hyena woke up from his deep sleep... only to be plunged into some other kind of deep sleep. It was like taking someone from a lake into the pool, so to speak. They were in a different place but still wet. Well, now that was a terrible metaphor, Pyrex thought.

"Listen, hyena," the kobold said. He tried to make his voice commanding and reassuring at the same time, and almost succeeded in both. "In a few hours, probably, you're going to wake up naturally from the state the vampire has put you in. When this happens, you're going to... uh, you're going to feel good about the changes in your body. You will find no reason to freak out. In fact, it's going to feel pretty nice. Does that sound good?"

The hyena's pupils had dilated and were now mirroring the glowing pulses of Pyrex's eyes. He nodded, his expression untangling like a loose rope.

"That's good. Good prey," Pyrex praised him, petting his head. He'd heard positive reinforcement helped in these cases.

He checked those fangs again, driven by an impulse. The drowsy creature allowed him to open his mouth and feel his fangs tentatively. They were still too short, not sharp enough, even if it was difficult to tell when the subject of the transformation belonged to a species known for their powerful bite.

Still, they were definitely not the best tool to pierce through somebody's neck cleanly. Attempting so would most likely result in a bloody mess... which terrified Pyrex. He had previously guessed the blood thirst in that state wouldn't be too pressing, but what if it was? What if the hyena decided to jump on someone's neck and... well, do things the wrong way?

Well. Maybe that doesn't need to happen, he found himself thinking again.

Yeah. That was another possibility. Perhaps Pyrex could just... make sure this poor creature wouldn't have any problem when trying to bite someone else.

After all, blood thirst could be a powerful drive. The kobold knew that. In fact, it might have been partly why the possibility to finish what Nyeogmi had started had popped in his mind. Biting the creature. Drinking his blood. Turning it into a full vampire.

Pyrex licked his fangs. The hyena looked still completely oblivious to anything going on. He seemed to be an irresistibly delicious target in his eyes. Biting him would be an easy thing to do. He only had to.

So he did.

His fully transformed fangs sank into the snack as if he was made of butter. Guided by an inner compass, the kobold found the vein easily and began sucking the last remnants of that colder, lazy blood. It felt like slurping from an almost empty milkshake that someone had left behind, but it was a delicious milkshake, one that Pyrex would have finished gladly.

He drank from the hyena's throat, arms holding the lukewarm body, which only showed the normal amount of squirming as the remaining blood was drained out of it. For the most part, it remained perfectly motionless and heavy.

That wasn't a surprise though - after all, he'd been put in a deep sleep several times by then. When he woke up, he'd be a fully-converted vampire at last.

And wouldn't that be a cool thing to brag about, Pyrex thought.