#maestros

For the vampires of New Capenna, hunger was a much more abstract matter than it had been in their mortal lives.

Feeding on blood was nothing like eating food. The physical process was similar, of course - blood still entered through the mouth and into the stomach, where it was processed into fuel for the body - but it satiated a need for mana and lifeforce, rather than for physical fuel. And the lack of it felt much, much different from simple hunger.

Hunger gnawed at your gut, caused you physical pain if you ignored it too long. Vampiric hunger was far less courteous with its reminders.

There were no physical symptoms if a Maestro vampire waited too long to feed. This made sense, as they were, after all, dead. The stomach could still be used, and it did its job if asked, but it no longer cared how long its host went between meals. There was, after all, no more life for it to sustain.

The organ that cared about such things was now the mind. Notoriously, a much more subtle and complicated beast.

Vampiric hunger, for those of Lord Xander's bloodline, came on slowly. It started with a simple, mental fixation on blood, usually 3-4 days after their last meal. It soon devolved into quick, sudden surges of violent instinct, most noticable when first waking up, or when presented with an opportunity to feed. They happened fast, and were hard to control, especially for those still considered fledgelings.

The urges would steadily get worse if ignored. Waiting too long would eventually bring a dangerous twisting of reality. Mania, obsessions, paranoia - each Maestro experienced their own flavor of madness if they ignored or denied their hunger for long enough. Many, if pushed that far, never quite returned to their previous state of mind.

Renaissance hadn't fed in...about a week. Maaayybe a week and a half. They always had trouble keeping track of the exact dates, but they knew they needed blood soon.

The cravings had started five days ago. The urges had started two days ago.

They'd almost gotten an opportunity last night, when they'd hooked up with the Rakdosi Prince, but...they'd been stopped. That little demon was surprisingly strong. In hindsight, they wondered if there might've been...unwanted side effects, from consuming such directly demonic blood, that she might've been protecting them from. The young Lord had certainly made up for it in...other ways, but he'd still left them with at least one need unsatisfied. Plus a bruised, bitten, and slightly burnt neck, on top of it...

None of their other usual partners were available to help, either. Malone had a bar to run, and while they were fairly certain she'd agree if they asked, they always felt bad seeing her tired and sluggish the day after. Sommers was far too busy, and even if by some miracle she wasn't, there was no way in the whole city she'd agree to letting them bite her. They needed both of them at the top of their game, anyway, if they were going to get anywhere with this fae case.

They pondered their options as they walked the streets of the Mezzio. And there were options, they knew, other than a full-out hunt. Even with how far the Maestro family had fallen as of late, there were still plenty of people in New Capenna that would willingly bear their necks for the chance to bed a member of the Family. But the idea of hooking up with a complete stranger in return for blood...it made their stomach turn. It had been different from the other angle - as a young, still mortal assassin, they had loved the thrill of it, the danger - but from this side of the dynamic it just felt...Wrong. Cold. Transactional.

There were places in the city that sold bottled blood, but it was...prohibitively expensive. Even with the significant increase in salary that their new position had brought. Plus, the few times they had been able to try it, they'd found it much less satisfying than they'd hoped. The cravings had returned far quicker than if they'd just gotten it fresh.

The only other option was, unfortunately, the simplest, and the one their instincts would try to enforce if given enough time - Pick someone out of the crowd. Anyone. Wait for them to wander off alone, down a dark alley or under an overpass. Give them as quick and silent of a death as you see fit, and drink your fill. It was the option their brain was currently screaming at them to pick, as their eyes scanned the crowd restlessly. Hungrily.

So why weren't they doing it?

Renaissance sighed. Maybe Sommers was right. Maybe they were going soft.

They could go to another plane to do it. There was a certain level of detachment they felt, when hunting anywhere other than the city they called home. Or, they could go to the Family bounty boards, and use the excuse of a job as a buffer against the reality of what they were doing. But one way or another, it had to happen. They knew that, so why did it feel so damn wrong?!

Killing had been so easy when they were just an assassin. So...simple. Now, they needed it to survive, and they feared they were starting to hate it.

With a quiet growl, they turned off into an alleyway, letting themself melt into the shadows. There was no shortage of easy prey in New Capenna. Maybe, if they just leaned into it, it would get easier. Maybe, like with their other skills, they just needed a bit more practice.

The hunt left them more satisfied than any banquet ever could.

Blood tasted different almost every time Renaissance drank it. The mana alignment of the person it was taken from, the emotions of the moment, the recent experiences of the victim - all of it seasoned the blood in a myriad of ways, a delight for the senses every time they fed. The Maestros had long debated their preferred species and alignments, arguing against or in favor of specific hunting methods to bring out desired flavors. Even the fall of Park Heights couldn't stop such a long, honored Family tradition.

The Broker enforcer Renaissance had killed had tasted like oranges and bitter chocolate. Too bitter. Too much fear in the blood. Didn't kill them fast enough.

Maybe, they thought, they just preferred how blood tasted when it was taken willingly. Malone usually tasted like cinnamon and rum, spiced and intoxicating. They hadn't gotten to bite Sommers yet, but they just knew she would taste like coffee and elderflower syrup. Dark, and sweet, and floral...much better than this waste of a meal.

They kicked the Broker's corpse into a nearby canal, not wanting to look at it anymore. Let the skeletons deal with it.