Surprise!

[daddyderpest]

[as the dorkiest vampire hunter approaches the library this fine evening, streamers suddenly fall from the sky and a sparkly banner unfurls proclaiming:

'CONGRATULATIONS KAIEN CROSS, OVER TWO CENTURIES OF LIFE AND STILL NOT A VAMPIRE!'

Come, interrupt his staring in horror]

Comments

[futureinhand]

That's awkward.

[daddyderpest]

More than a little, yes. I suppose you didn't see this coming?

[futureinhand]

I'm sorry. Not early enough to stop the banner.

[daddyderpest]

It can't be helped. I can only hope Yuuki doesn't see it, unless all her friends see it, and then everyone will know but her, and, oh no, that's awful.

[futureinhand]

You should probably talk to her.

[daddyderpest]

I should, of course! I will. Oh, this is terrible.

[futureinhand]

Is it such a terrible thing?

[daddyderpest]

It's deeply uncomfortable. I have wanted so badly to be seen as normal for a very long time. Even among the other hunters I am an aberration.

[futureinhand]

I do know the feeling. But it might be easier in the - apparently very! - long run to find a way to be yourself.

[daddyderpest]

Certainly I would like to, but it's a difficult thing. Too much like a vampire for the hunters, too much a hunter for the vampires. Humans can accept me if they don't know what I am, but. . .

[futureinhand]

So it's a matter of finding the right people.

[daddyderpest]

Well, it's not merely a matter of that, though of course in life one often must deal with people who cannot accept you. Most people at home don't even know of the existence of vampires so there are the obvious problems that come with keeping advanced age a secret.

[futureinhand]

Oh, I know! One of my favorite things about being here is the chance to make friends without having to be as careful with that knowledge.

It helps just to have a family to accept you. And I think yours would, if you gave them the chance.

[daddyderpest]

Yuuki is a very accepting girl. Though, in actual fact, it's not a secret among the hunters, though I doubt Kiryuu-kun even remembers.

Did you ever have to fake your death to inherit your own belongings? I always found that really discomfiting.

[futureinhand]

[laughs] No. I didn't really settle down until Jasper and I joined the Cullens.

It might have been different if I had any connections left to my human life.

[daddyderpest]

You didn't keep in touch with your previous family?