#vampire leo

It was nearly sunset. Leo was out of life elixirs. He was in the rec room with his family who were very conspicuously trying to make it inconspicuous that they were watching him, waiting for the moment any minute now when he was to change over from his 'sunshine vampire' appearance to his 'blood vampire' one.

Everyone was in the rec room except for April, but that was only because she had to work. Even Splinter was there instead of watching his shows in the living room like usual, as well as Casey, who came over from home when Raph texted him that they were home. Despite this, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Overall, the room felt like a hospital waiting room. Stale. Lifeless. Like the breath had been sucked out of the air itself and they were expecting a doctor to show up any moment to give them all bad news.

Mikey shuffled.

Splinter cleared his throat and continued with his pretense of inspecting a fake plant for dead leaves.

Donnie blinked. Leo swore he could hear it. He couldn't take this anymore, so with a disgruntled sigh the vampire in the family got up.

As soon as Leo got all the way on his feet, the room became a flurry of activity.

Raph jumped up so fast he knocked Mikey over with a: "Woah!" and let the now forgotten comic fall to the floor. Putting his feet out in a wide stance, the protective big brother raised his hands as if preparing to catch Leo like he expected him to suddenly fall for no reason.

Donnie stood up along with Leo, mirroring his movements. He raised his arms, prepared to type data into his wrist tech and never taking his wide eyes off Leo as though his twinsie was another one of his time-sensitive science experiments that was about to blow.

Splinter looked up from the plant he was inspecting, letting the watering can in his hand hang down so that he was watering the floor at his feet without realizing it.

Everyone but Casey talked at once:

"You-okay-bro?" (Raph)

"Is anything the matter?" (Splinter)

"Do you need help?" (Donnie)

"Someone boil some water!!" (Mikey)

Donnie looked at Mikey, questioning: "Boil water?" wishing he could pick apart that brain of his to understand him better, and Leo threw his hands up in frustration, stopping short of grasping the sides of his head. "I'm just going to the bathroom!" he snapped.

"Oh." came a chorus of responses.

Raph eased himself back down to sit beside Mikey but stayed at the ready in case Leo needed him to jump into action. Splinter realized he was watering his feet and tipped up the watering jug to stop the flow. Donnie stayed where he was as if frozen in time, still ready to click at his wrist tech. And Casey resumed watching videos. With the exception of future boy, all eyes were on Leo, and the tension in the room tripled.

Leo cleared his throat uncomfortably and then briskly headed out of the room without another word.

Donnie tried to follow him.

Leo let known his feelings on that matter by reaching back to slap his hand on Donnie's face and pushing it hard enough to make him fall back on his bum with a *thud* and an: "Oof!" Then he was gone, ignoring Donnie's incensed: "And ow!" coming from behind him.

Raphael scratched the back of his head. "He, uh. He probably wants some privacy."

Lazily in an almost carefree tone that did a good job of hiding the secret anxiety he held inside, Casey commented: "You think? You guys were watching him like a krang hound."

"Huh?" Mikey hummed in confusion. Donnie filled in the gaps by explaining: "In our timeline that would translate to watching him like a hawk."

Feeling bad about unintentionally making Leo uncomfortable, Mikey mumbled: "I didn't mean to..." "Blue knew I was here to water the plants, heh-heh," Splinter interrupted, ending with a nervous laugh and earning the rebuttal from Donnie: "Ah yes, the polyester and plastic plants you have definitely watered before today, he said without a hint of sarcasm."

"Oh." Splinter looked sad-faced at the growing pool of water seeping through the wicker basket containing one of the fake plants he had watered, blushing and feeling somewhat foolish for his mistake.

Allowing a little of the frustration he was feeling to show through, Casey laid his headphones aside, pocketed his phone, and told them: "Just try to act normal around Leo when he comes back, would you?"

With an air of over-confidence, Donnie announced: "Yes, of course. 'Normal' is my middle name," making air quote at the appropriate time.

"Pfft, yeah, maybe if your first name is 'not', 'never' 'nuh-uh' or 'no way'," Mikey crossly countered with an over-exaggerated use of air quotes in the hopes of showing Dee how not normal he looked when he did the same thing.

"Scoff!" Dee cried out in offense, actually saying the word instead of scoffing. He and Mikey were clearly about to get into a disagreement but Raph put an abrupt stop to it by stepping between them, planting a hand on each face, and scolding: "Not now!" He lowered his hands, Mikey rubbed his sore nose, Donnie readjusted his skewed mask, and Raph continued in his serious 'I'm the big brother so you better listen' voice: "Casey's right. Leo's been through enough and he needs our support! So when he comes back, no matter what he looks like we're not gonna treat him any different than usual." He glared at Donnie, barking out: "That means no data collecting!"

Completely unbothered by Raph's angry outburst directed his way, Donnie calmly countered: "Technically, data collecting is normal for me. Sooo..."

Raph gritted his teeth in annoyance and Mikey - trying too hard and putting too much mental effort into 'acting normal' - over-dramatically slapped both hands on the sides of his head and exclaimed in a borderline panicky voice: "Oh no! I forget how to act normal!"

Casey rolled his eyes and let out a groan.

Donnie started arguing with Raph, insisting that since data collecting was normal for him, he should be permitted to collect data about Leo's transformation as soon as he came back. Raph argued just as forcefully: "There's no way I'm lettin' you do that to Leo!"

Mikey nervously repositioned himself over and over again, switching from standing to sitting to laying down, drastically overthinking this 'acting normal' thing to the point he looked somewhat like a snake who just sprouted arms and legs for the first time and didn't know what to do with them.

And Splinter stood alongside Casey, watching the three of them with his jaw agape and accidentally spilling the last of his water. When he realized what he was doing, he looked down at the puddle surrounding his wet feet, groaning and grumbling: "Uuugh. We are not very good at this."

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Bloodmilk:

The milk of gembeasts combined with the crimson gems that grow on these creatures' backs. Bloodmilk has the appearance of ordinary milk dyed red and tastes like blood-flavored milk. In an emergency situation, it can be used to provide a small amount of life force energy to vampires to tide them over until their next blood meal or life elixir. Animal's blood causes severe stomach upset and nausea for vampires, but drinking a glassful of bloodmilk first prevents this.

The Crimson Cafe:

A hidden cafe and bar run by Wendy the Healer witch from her basement that exclusively caters to vampires and Shinigami in the Tertiary Realm. The only way in or out is through a portal in her backyard that is located halfway in the Physical Realm and halfway in the Tertiary Realm, thus the portal is invisible to any who cannot see into the Tertiary Realm.

Crimson Cream:

A cream witches make from bloodmilk that is used in products sold to vampires and is popular in baked goods. It is favored by and only sold to vampires because of how it adds a blood flavor to ordinary food.

Crimson Gems:

Organic red gems that grow on the back of gembeasts and contain a tiny amount of life force energy. They can be harvested without harming the beasts.

The Dark/Black Alley:

A mystical alley in the Hidden City where rare and oftentimes illegal mystical items are sold. The main invisible portal entrance is located in an alley between two warehouses on the Hidden City Docks and can only be accessed by thieves, ruffians, crooks, sorcerers, and vampires.

Elixirs:

Mystical concoctions made by Masters of the Mystical Arts (sorcerers). Some are drinkable and can provide temporary power buffs such as levitation, increased strength, telepathy, etc. With the exception of life elixirs (which are made specifically for vampires), most have no effect on vampires and they taste different to vampires than anyone else. Masters of the Mystical Arts are typically very cautious regarding who they will sell some of the more powerful elixirs to and are known to hoard the best ones for themselves without ever actually using them.

Gembeast (modelled after Gachas in Ark Survival):

An endangered creature about the size of a small elephant that resides in special mystical lush caverns that can only be accessed through special, naturally-occurring portals. They have the appearance of giant sloths, walk on four feet, grow gems of varying colors on their back, and can be milked - although their milk tastes bitter unless mixed in with their gems.

Each color of gem has a different ability, can be harvested without harming the creature, and is used as an ingredient in magic potions or to add flavor to food and drinks.

Only witches - usually Healer witches - know where they reside and how to access the special portals.

Life Elixirs:

Amber-colored mystical drinks that provide vampires with a temporary life force energy, thus eliminating the need for blood. Among the yokai community, it is incorrectly believed life elixirs can cure, ease symptoms of, or slow the progression of terminal illnesses, and slow the aging process.

They are sometimes called Sunshine Drinks by Shinigami because of how they glow a bright yellow shortly before sunrise and sunset, and how they let vampires safely be exposed to sunlight. They only take effect for ten minutes twice daily before sunrise and sunset while they are glowing and provide a vampire with life force energy that lasts until the following sunrise or sunset. There are only a handful of places on Earth where life elixirs can be purchased - one of which is in the Hidden City, at the Dark (or Black) Alley.

Life Force Energy/Life Energy:

All lifeforms possess life force energy. Those with mystic powers draw their mystic energy from their life force energy, and for lifeforms with blood, the life energy is in the blood. Life force energy is transformed into pure mystic energy at the moment of death by Shinigami so the deceased can transfer to and live on in the Mystic Realm.

Moon Drops:

Coastal dewdrops created by moist air blowing in from the ocean that reflect moonlight and are mystically crystallized by vampires. Each moon drop is clear with what appears to be a tiny moon trapped inside. They can be used as a form of payment for vampire-specific items (such as life elixirs) and are highly valued as an essential ingredient for some rare and powerful elixirs and potions. Because they can only be created by vampires, they are exceptionally rare and hard to come by.

Pixie Dust:

Magical dust collected from pixies that witches add to potions sometimes as an ingredient, but more often than not just to give the potion a pretty, sparkly sheen. Healer witches can mix pixie dust with their magic powers and sprinkle it over items to transform them from the Physical Realm to the Tertiary Realm. Wendy uses this in her Crimson Cafe to serve drinks and food to Shinigami in the Tertiary Realm who would otherwise not be able to eat and drink unless they entered the Physical Realm.

Potions:

Magical drinks made by witches and wizards, not to be confused with witches' brews. Some witches know how to make one or two potions, but most potion making is done by expert Healer witches, who typically come from a long line of Healers and have been taught the art of potion making from a young age.

Potions are basically magical versions of pharmaceuticals, and Healers are basically pharmacists of the witch community. The three main types of potions are drinkable potions (liquid), splash potions (liquid turned gaseous when exposed to the air), and topical potions (ointments and creams). They provide a temporary boost (enchantment potions) or disadvantage (disenchantment potions and hexes) to the user.

Very few potions affect vampires, and the ones that do have the opposite effect on them than they do on the living, unless they are added to a life elixir, then they work normally.

Werewolves:

Fictional creatures. The belief in werewolves among humans came from a family group of wolf yokai who aligned themselves with Errtara (Dracula) a thousand years ago when he was residing on earth as a vampire. Faelan (who himself is a wolf yokai) is in no way related to this family group.

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