To Face the Truth

“Don’t you think that’s a little rude, Hershel…?” Even if he’s of agreement. He just likes to mess with people.

“...”

[Oh great. Is this another one of those that get to stay alive and not alive? At the rate things were going, Hershel wondered if all of his acquaintances and friends would get to have entire lifetimes worth of banter long after he himself died.]

Happy Ending

Hershel is a very much a tsundere in this case. Their liaison started with an electric amount of chemistry. They say that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. And Hershel just cannot bring himself to be indifferent to Jean. B-but it’s not like he likes likes you b-baka.

This results in a long list of teasing, flirting and insulting that you can never quite figure out which it is at the time. Nevertheless, they do share tender moments of genuine emotion here and there. And when Hershel lowers his guard, he eventually decides to bite the bullet and admit how his feelings have been bubbling over beneath his icy facade.

Once they are together, there is still some teasing. But there is much more time for gentle nothings.

Bad Ending

Again, Hershel has a strong chemistry with Jean. They tease, flight and flirt, as you do. They also share a deep connection where they get “real” and talk about their vulnerable points. They confess and actually get together. In fact. Everything seems to be the same as in the Good Ending.

With one difference.

Good End

Hershel is a bit more tsun than dere when it comes to romance, unless you’re someone very special. And he can’t help but admit that Teddy had a je-ne-sais-quoi that is very... compelling. Despite his frigid disposition at first, it was actually quite nice to be with someone that wasn’t a nightmare to deal with. Just a straightforward, honest and mature person to be with.

Hershel knew he had a thing for him. But he simply refused to admit it to himself. However, after a day of warm cuddles and bright days... “I love you” just slipped out. As if it was nothing. 

Well, now this apparent vampire seems interested, and as he listens, his pale amber eyes bore into Hershel, filled with some hope that perhaps he could turn back this accursed affliction and not have to live as a spook forever. “Hold on. Fixable? How did you turn back? Was it a spell? A tincture?” He’s riled up, and it’s distracted him quite readily from his own thirst.

“What happened that your turning was temporary?”

“The vampire that bit me was of the sort that could still bleed. Apparently, vampires that still have blood have a sort of vampirism that links the life of victim to the original vampire’s, which means that the thrall has incentive to not harm their master. However, this vampirism also has the weakness in that a turned vampire can lift the curse by partaking in the blood of their master.”

[Hershel flexed his left hand. He could still remember the searing pain he was in when he had tried to attack his ‘master’...]

“He turned several of us. We all banded together and fought until we managed to obtain enough blood to change us. I didn’t dare to kill him once I had returned to being human. Considering the number of victims he had turned in such a brief amount of time, I shudder to think of how many he has had accumulated across the years. Killing him would have resulted in countless casualties. Even I couldn’t bring myself to do that...”

bleedinghearth​:

“Mm, and I am that misfortune, I take it? Well, they’re right on the coin there. I suppose, then, folklore will work in our favor, young prince. In his lust for ores and gems to sit upon like one of my kind, he has awoken the real deal, and he is up to his neck in shit.” He gets the feeling that this king is the reason for the prince’s missing arm, but deigns not to draw attention to it.

“You want your noisy piece of crap back, then? Come on.” The dragon raises himself up, and wanders the short distance to where the wall of his home had been breached. The stone is relatively sturdy, but the hole is large, and ragged, and he’s very upset about it.

“We will see what His Majesty has to say for himself. My first order of business is to get this wall fixed.”

[Hershel nodded and, with the direction clearly set, he began to get to disassembling the excavating machine. It would have been much easier if he had all of his usual tools he had in his little lab in the castle. But for now, he had to make-do with the small deployable screwdriver he had integrated into his arm for emergency repairs. However, once he was committed to the task, he didn’t let go of his focus until he was almost done. The prince sat up and stretched, feeling his back ache from having sat still for so long.]

“Well, I’ve got some scrap to throw together a cover for the hole the excavator made. I just need some help putting it in place.”

[Should he try welding it in place? Or just making it some sort of door mechanism? He still had the heart of the excavator, which should be of help for the latter, but...]

bleedinghearth​:

“You wouldn’t be part of it at all. What I mean to say is that I want to be compensated for the destruction of my home. That you have seemingly perished to my assault and been falsely accused may get him to lower his guard. That, my dear lad, is crucial. You hinted at a checkered past, aye? With that lout? I might be of some assistance in the interest of a common goal.”

Sure, it sounds fishy, but Hershel’s lack of cowardice in the face of a huge, angry dragon bolster’s Theo’s confidence that this man is not guilty of directing the machines.

“It depends on how willing you are to cooperate. I will need my wall to be fixed if I’m to stay in this cave and continue minding my own business. As it stands, that brainless, gluttonous king has brought trouble onto himself.”

“...”

[Well. He didn’t quite know whether to trust the dragon would pay off. But Hershel didn’t quite have a choice. He was, quite literally, at the dragon’s mercy. He sighed and pushed back his hair.]

“Alright. Cards on the table.”

[Hershel said, deciding to out the plans he had set in motion, long before the first drill even pierced his century-long slumber.]

“In the last couple of years, I’ve been working covertly with... like-minded individuals that consider my father has long overstayed his duties to the kingdom. He might have been moderately competent before, but his greed and his lust for power have blinded him to the most basic things.”

[Something of a smirk draws on the prince’s face. A smirk, laced with just a hint of contempt for his progenitor.]

“For example: our kingdom has known in folktale and in song that one must never dig deep into the East Mountain pass, lest they wish to bring misfortune upon the kingdom. However, he deemed the warning to be nothing but an interesting oddity. Not something that he should concern himself with, as he wished to fatten the royal coffers with the jewels and ores found within.”

[The prince looked at his prosthetic arm. A fine piece of machinery he could create out of sheer necessity.]

“As his heir, I have no choice but to fix his mistakes. Especially the ones that made me suffer...”

[He clenched the mechanic hand as tight as he could, before turning to look up at the dragon in the eye. Or as close to that as he could, considering the dragon’s size.]

“Does this look like the face of a kidder, Hershel? I just don’t wanna cause a stir. Does help me get my meat fix, though. Good steak they have here. Not quite as, ah..fresh, as I’d like to have it, though.” He only slightly laments that he has to, to keep up appearances, order his steak at least somewhat cooked.

“Tell me, lad. How much faith you got in faerie tales?”

“...Before I met you? I had some knowledge that unfortunately for me, the understanding human science could have was limited and there were things beyond the understanding of most common men.”

[He sighed and removed his glasses to rub his eyes. In doing so, one can see that Hershel seems to not have had a good night’s sleep in... a while. Probably he had stayed up all night fussing about the weight of this forbidden knowledge.]

“Can’t say I’ve had many chances to just happen upon a vampire in the last few years. I once was turned. It was a messy affair. I’m not proud to admit that I had been careless in my actions back then. But don’t worry, my situation was...”

[Well. He probably knew better than him about these things.]

you attract: longing

@characterdevelopmentasks

In any non-AU settings, Hershel just comes from a family of archeologist intellectuals and polymaths. I mean have you seen his baby bro? Geez. Unfortunately for the Reinels, this affinity for all things archeological drew a giant target on their backs for Targent to come in and do their nefarious deeds.

As a source of relative compensation, the Reinels actually have a considerable family fortune: enough for Hershel to genuinely consider just saying “fuck it” and traveling around the world with his family for the rest of his life and still leaving enough for his children to lead rather cushy lives with wise investments. However, since he felt some sort of social obligation to do some sort of service to society after his many many mistakes, he instead stayed in London to work at Human Advancements, and even help in the development of low-cost yet top-of-the-line prosthetics for the needy.

Hershel chokes and splutters on his blinker, and Teddy just keeps grinning, now that he’s outed himself. His fangs lock together so nicely, giving him a jagged bite, only the frontmost of his incisors not sharp in some capacity.

Then, in sotto voce, “I mean I’m a dragon on only a technicality. I can turn into one, certainly, but I’m not a full-blooded firelizard.” He’s not even a quarter-blooded “firelizard.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me...”

[Oh, how he’d wish he could ask his wife for help! She always had a wealth of knowledge about the seemingly supernatural and fairytales. Or-- in second thought. Asking Lilith would probably be easier. Considering that they were a supernatural being in the first place.]

“Well, it’s definitely something that would make use of all the teeth you do.”

bleedinghearth​:

Bargaining chip? Hostage? No. You said it yourself, your own father wants you dead. He now owes me, after indirectly putting a hole in my cave with his negligent, impatient, greedy miners, and he’s going to pay me by calling off his attempts at filicide, and paying me so much compensation that he goes half-broke.

Besides, I’m in agreement; word travels quickly. I’m sure his rats will please him with news that his un-favorite son was falsely accused for his wrongdoings and then devoured whole by a dragon. I can use this deception as a tactical advantage, aye?

He ducks into his lair, tucking his wings in as he worms his way inside, and he’s relatively quick to plod over to the pile of furs he calls his bed. Brace yourself; you’re coming out, and it’s gonna be cold as a bitch.

One heave, two, and then Hershel is ejected unceremoniously onto the furs, once again met with the dragon’s leering, agitated countenance. “So. Why don’t we discuss the matter with my caved-in wall and those smelly, loud machines?”

[When Hershel got out, he scrambled up to his feet and looked about the lair. Indeed, it was rather cold. Probably because he was slightly damp. Or, because the excavation efforts might have created a draft and they were high up in the many mountains surrounding the kingdom? Speaking of which: where were the machines? If he could look at them, he could maybe identify which division they were from.]

“I’m afraid I do not understand your plan, Scaly One. You want to charge my father for compensation for being rid of me and yet you’re asking to discuss the excavation machines?”

[Hershel had learnt suspicion since he was a young boy. Too young to understand what mistrust was. Too old to survive without it.]

@megxlo replied to your post “did you fuk jean?”

What a coincidence. I'd rather not be reminded, either.

“This is good. We are in agreement.”