Work Text:
The night was quiet, as so many of them had been in the months since the town was freed. It was… haunting, almost. Or it would have been, had they been alone for it.
Cleo stood in the ballroom, a broom in hand as they swept up the latest pile of dust, remnants of the construction they’d been doing on the castle. Well, calling it a castle was perhaps a bit generous, it was still not much more than a great hall and a ballroom, but there were plans. Scott had shown them a little hidden spot down in his tomb where some of the original sketches of the castle had been stashed before he was put to rest. They had to admit, it must have been gorgeous in its prime.
The sound of the broom against the wooden floors was broken up only by the occasional swish of their dress around their ankles, and the flurry of wings as bats clustered in the tall ceiling. Then, faintly, the sound of steps.
Cleo turned in time to see Pearl burst into the ballroom, a smile already forming on their face at the pure excitement they could see on her face. Pearl quickly crossed the space, pressing a chase kiss to their lips, then beaming. That was still relatively new, but the warmth lingering on their lips was so welcome they had to force themselves to focus on what she said next.
“Some of the wildlife is finally coming back!” Pearl said, explaining the bounce to her step. “I was over in town, and there was the cutest little sheepy who wandered up! I think, if we’re good about it, we’ll have no problem getting a steady supply of food.”
Their grin grew even brighter, something they hadn’t even known was possible before they met Pearl. “That’s great! Are you going to stay low enough to breed them, then?”
Pearl bit her lip but nodded. “I think I should. You know how hard it got, we really don’t want to run into that again. Besides, if anyone happens to stumble across the town while we’re rebuilding, I’m a little more subtle than you are.”
Cleo pretended to look over their outfit in shock, ignoring the pang that always went through them while looking at their mother’s dress. “No! You don’t say.”
Pearl rolled her eyes, an act that looked much sweeter on her than it likely ever had on Cleo. God, when had they gotten so cheesy?
Belatedly Pearl seemed to notice the broom in their hands, “D’you need any help in here? It’s looking pretty good.”
“I don’t need help,” Cleo responded, almost on instinct.
“I know,” Pearl replied, getting a strange look on her face, “I asked if you wanted it.”
Cleo froze, trying to process Pearl’s words, though before they could react Pearl had stolen the broom from their hands, sweeping up the small pile they’d made and dumping it out one of the open windows.
Then commenced a sort of half-chase, half-dance as Cleo tried to swipe their broom back, though the laughter building in their chest must have shown on their face, Pearl’s own grin only growing as she dodged out of the way just seconds before Cleo could reach her.
She paused in the middle of the room, though she held the broom behind her back so Cleo couldn’t reach it. They crossed their arms, raising an eyebrow at her and trying to smother the amusement playing at their lips.
“May I have the broom back?” they asked.
Pearl considered the question for a moment, then smirked. “I dunno, I like this broom. It’ll cost ya.” And just to tip Cleo in the right direction, which was probably smart considering they would’ve just offered to do some of Pearl’s work, Pearl tapped a finger to her lips.
Rolling her eyes, Cleo grabbed the front of Pearl’s shirt, pulling her down into a kiss, and waiting for Pearl to lean in before snatching the broom from her now loosened grip, darting around her to move to another part of the castle that needed sweeping.
They heard Pearl squawk in indignation, then footsteps trailing after her. Silly puppy.
Oakhurst was, to put it frankly, a mess. Most of the houses were burnt, and those that weren’t were covered in slashes, blood, and who knew what else. They’d decided to clean up first, before they began to rebuild. No point building over the rubble.
They’d gotten into town early that morning, Pearl splitting off to take care of the animals they’d managed to track down. Cleo had decided to pick a house and get started. After wandering for town for a while, almost starting on one and then stopping again, she settled on Scott and Shelby’s old cottage.
It had been burned down a while ago, Avid, if they remembered correctly. At least their house didn’t smell like them, like their blood. At least they were still alive.
As they’d figured, there wasn’t a lot to clean. There hadn’t even been much there to begin with; neither of them had stayed long. Briefly, they wondered what would have happened if they’d noticed Shelby acting differently, if they’d stepped in. They still had…issues with Scott. As much as he’d seemed to have changed, that had been a very recent development.
They shook their head, picking up another scrap piece of wood they might be able to reuse later and adding it to the pile just outside the house. There was no point worrying about theoreticals. If they did, they’d have never survived.
The wind shifted, sending shivers up their spine as the scent that flooded their nose changed from trees to blood. They returned to their efforts with a renewed vigour as images flashed in front of their eyes. Doc, Ren, Martyn. Doc, Ren, Martyn. Blood in the town, on the ground, in the soil. Blood she couldn’t smell because they’d died far from here. Avid, Pyro. Owen.
Cleo turned their back to the wind, focusing long enough to get most of the rubble sorted into workable piles. They’d have to do a bit more to get this plot ready to be built on again, but it was a good start. Right now they just wanted to find Pearl.
To their surprise, Pearl was not with the animals but inside just next to them, staring over the fields of crops they’d begun for the sake of feeding the livestock. Cleo sidled up next to her, taking her hand and staring out over the crops as well.
Eventually, Pearl sighed. “Is it strange that I miss food the most out of everything?”
That surprised a laugh out of them. “Maybe. I didn't eat a whole lot while I was human here, and it’s been so long I don’t remember what I ate when I was human before.”
Pearl stilled beside them, and it was only then they realized how odd that must sound. Sure, Pearl knew about their time as a thrall, but Cleo supposed she hadn’t really considered everything that meant, not yet at least.
Cleo sighed, leaning their head on Pearl’s shoulder, the two of them standing in silence for a long moment as a lazy breeze carried through the remnants of town. They could tell Pearl was thinking hard about something, and they hoped she wouldn’t ask more about their past. It wasn’t a very pleasant topic.
Their thoughts drifted as well. Thoughts of those they’d met and lost, those, like Pyro and Owen, who they felt like they hadn’t even really known, and never would, and those who were out in the world.
“We should build a graveyard,” they said, half surprising themself with the words.
Pearl looked down at them, the hints of a frown etched on their face, “A graveyard?”
Cleo nodded, “Yeah, maybe just outside town. Even if they’re not buried there, it would be… nice, to have a spot to honour everyone. Vampire or human, no one deserves to be completely forgotten.” Memories of mass graves, rotting corpses of humans drained of blood. Names that would never be remembered
“That sounds lovely,” Pearl replied, "How about along the path towards the castle?”
It would be a nice spot. Cleo nodded, allowing Pearl to tug her along, walking side by side with their hands swinging between them as they found a spot. Once they did, Pearl set off to find some wood for a temporary fence, plans to build a more permanent one added to Cleo’s mental list.
They set to work gathering stones, heading back into town to find where pieces of foundations had cracked off, lugging each one back and setting them up in neat rows. They made two sections, with the beginnings of a path up the middle. Briefly, they considered making one side vampires, and one humans, but then they thought about Avid.
Avid, who by their own words had been called weak, or a liability. Avid, who had been so paranoid, then so insane, and yet…
They marked a stone for Pyro, then for Owen, crossing the path before marking out Ren and Martyn’s. Then they moved towards the front of the space, setting up another stone on the vampire side, but out of respect, for Drift and Shelby mostly, set Avid apart from his murderers.
Pearl came up behind them, sweat beaded on their brow from the heavy labour of putting the few marker posts into place. “These look lovely. Have anyone left?”
“Just one,” Cleo replied, biting at their lip. Another one that they weren’t quite sure where to put.
Perhaps the Doc would have liked to be placed next to Owen, perhaps they’d torment each other for all eternity. The thought brought a wry smile to their lips.
No, they’d put him next to Ren and Martyn. That felt right. That felt like where he should rest. Even then, these weren’t graves, so if they changed their mind in some years to come, they’d just roll his stone to another spot.
Pearl followed her as they approached the last stone they’d brought over, watching as they wrote the Doc’s name across it in charcoal. They’d need to find the time to chisel the names into the rock, something with a little more permanence, but this would do for now.
They stood, glancing around to admire their work, then saying a silent goodbye to those they’d lost as they and Pearl headed back towards the castle.
The feeling of wind rushing past their face was blinding, in the most amazing way. They were sat upon Pearl’s back, their fingers clinging desperately to the fur on her neck as she soared over the terrain, trees whipping past in a blur. The full moon absolutely glowed in the sky above them, the symbol of the one time a month they set aside for testing.
Cleo had never encountered or heard of someone being both a vampire and a werewolf before, and Pearl hadn’t even known about vampires prior to Oakhurst, so they were trying to figure out what exactly was going on.
So far, they’d discovered that her bloodlust was actually fine, considering he drank blood the entire rest of the month anyway. Her senses were even sharper, and her hearing and sense of smell were much stronger than Cleo’s on the moon. And, obviously, they’d discovered Pearl was big enough as a wolf for Cleo to ride. That was their favourite part so far.
Pearl threw back her head, a silent signal to Cleo, who looked up just in time to see the cliff they were heading towards. They twisted, launching off of Pearl’s back and into the air as a bat, watching as Pearl shifted briefly to human, then to bat as she reached the rocky edge. She was getting faster at that; Cleo was pretty sure she’d be able to skip her human form eventually. That was the theory, at least.
They grinned at her as she flew up beside them, the two of them close to hovering for a single moment before taking off, dipping and diving as they flew around the landscape. Cleo spotted one of the ruins ahead, tucking in their wings and slipping through a narrow crack, before opening them again on the other side, a laugh bubbling in their throat.
”Show off!” Pearl yelled, catching up on the other side of the stone,
Cleo grinned at her, knowing the action probably looked strange as a bat. “Race me to town?” They called in response.
Pearl got as close to a smirk as she could on her face, barely giving them a nod before flapping up higher, already darting towards town before Cleo could blink. They laughed, a wry, slightly dark, laugh, then shot off after her.
They saw a dark blur beneath them as they flew, realizing with a start that Pearl had shifted back to wolf. Oh, it was on.
Ducking down, they flew just above Pearl for a long moment, sure she could hear them, then swooped in front of her face, barely containing a laugh at the indignant sound that Pearl produced. They put on a burst of speed, darting ahead towards the edge of the forest. It didn’t take long for Pearl to recover, and within seconds they could hear the steady beat of her paws as she gained on them.
Cleo levelled out as they reached the edge of the clearing the town sat in, their wings carrying them even faster across the flat terrain. They turned back to human just in time to press a palm to part of the remaining wall, looking back with a grin to see Pearl a few feet back, also turning back.
“I don’t know why you turned back to a wolf,” Cleo said, twisting to lean against the wall as Pearl crossed the remaining gap between them. “Pretty sure we're faster as bats.”
Pearl rolled her eyes, then shrugged, "Probably, but being a bat feels weird during the moon. Speaking of, should we head to the farms? I haven’t checked on the animals today and we’re right here.”
Cleo nodded, following Pearl as she headed around the wall and towards their pens. They drifted towards the farms, looking for crops that were ready to harvest while Pearl checked on the sheep. They bent down, tugging at a few carrots that seemed about ready, setting them aside in a small pile.
When they looked up next, Pearl had moved to the pig pen, opening the box next to it where they’d been keeping the feed and frowning. She looked up, catching Cleo’s eye and glancing at the slowly growing pile of carrots next to them. “Toss me some of those, yeah?” she called.
A silly idea popped into Cleo’s head, and in an effort to continue what Pearl called “gaining a non-morbid sense of humour,” they spoke it aloud. “Let’s see if you can catch them as a wolf!”
Pearl let out a laugh, shaking her head but switching anyway. Her doggy grin was huge, and Cleo aired until she seemed ready to toss the first carrot her way. It went wide, entirely because of Cleo’s terrible aim, but they just grabbed another carrot and tried again.
It took about five missed carrots for them to get their aim right, the sixth being met with a satisfying crunch as Pearl caught it in her teeth. Cleo let out a little cheer, then paused as she noticed an almost startled expression on Pearl’s face.
She bit down on the carrot, the ends falling from her mouth, before she looked up at Cleo with something akin to awe.
“Cleo, it tastes like a carrot!” Pearl exclaimed, bounding over towards her in excitement.
Cleo tilted their head, trying to figure out why this was so exciting for her, “Uh, yeah I’d think so?” she replied as Pearl stopped in front of her.
“No-” Pearl said, shifting back to human and taking Cleo’s hands in hers. “As in, it doesn’t taste like ash, like anything other than blood does!”
Cleo blinked. Huh? Oh, “OH! Oh you can taste it as a wolf!” they yelled, matching Pearl’s excited grin. “Well go on then, I have a whole pile here!”
Pearl dropped their hands, turning back into a wolf and diving at the pile Cleo had been making. It made something deep within their chest flutter to see her so excited, especially when they knew she’d been sad about missing regular food. Did this mean they’d have to learn to cook for Pearl’s time of the month?
They snickered at themself for their wording, but made a mental note to see if they could find anything close to a recipe in the castle ruins. If not, it might be worth seeing if they could get a letter to Drift or Shelby to get them to bring some. They’d mentioned possibly coming back around the anniversary, and they were only a couple of months from that now.
Pearl had managed to eat about 3 carrots while they’d been thinking, dog grinning up at them when they finally turned their attention back to her. “I never thought I’d miss vegetables this much, this is great!”
Cleo laughed, shaking their head, though a fond grin split across their face. “Don’t make yourself sick, puppy. You should also probably save some for the pigs!”
Pearl looked back towards where the bin by the pig pen still sat open, reminding her of the initial goal of their little game. She turned to Cleo, looking sheepish as she turned back into a human. “Right, uh. One moment.
Cleo let out another laugh as Pearl hurried to gather the failed attempts from earlier, tossing two into the pen and sticking the other three into the box for later. They leaned against the fence around the farm, watching her fondly while she worked, then linking their arms together for the walk back to the castle. This was certainly an interesting full moon.
The castle finally felt like a castle again, and not just a clustered collection of walls claiming the title from its long ago past. Cleo hummed quietly as they went through one of the upper halls, checking on the few spare rooms they’d managed to set up in time for the anniversary.
Drift had sent a letter about a month ago, asking if it was alright if they came back. How in the world she convinced someone to deliver out here, Cleo didn’t know, but they’d appreciated it. As weary as they still were about Scott, they would hesitantly call Drift and Shelby their friends, so they’d said yes.
Town was still a mess. Most of the buildings were little more than ruins, the walls were still in pieces, but they’d done a lot to clean it up, and their farms were going well. Cleo smiled to themself as they remembered having to expand the farm after their realization about food and Pearl’s wolf form. The full moon had been a few days ago, so they wouldn’t get to show off that particular party trick, but then again they hadn’t exactly told the others Pearl could even turn into a wolf.
They could just hear Pearl through the open windows, down in the small courtyard, trying to teach Oscar to hunt. Life was- sorry, death wasn’t always perfect, they still had moments where Pearl said something and they seemed to blank, or where they wanted to snap at her and hide until she gave up on them too, but they didn’t, and she didn’t.
It wasn’t perfect but it was theirs. They’d rebuild the town, finish the last of the castle, and live a life neither of them could have thought they’d have.
They heard Pearl chastise the cat, barely catching that he seemed to have attacked her foot, rather than the dead mouse they were practicing with, and couldn’t help the faint smile that pulled at their lips. Yeah, they’d be alright.