Who: Tyler and Katherine What: Tyler wakes up with a hankering for Katherine's blood When: Yesterday, April 14th Where: Katherine's hotel room Rating/Warning: Teenish/Brief description of a dream death and Tyler drinks some blood from a cup
Tyler’s dreams had never been pleasant, but the last stretch of dreams had hardly been kind. He’d finally left Mystic Falls, something that was long overdue. But when he’d come back for Caroline’s baby shower, Damon had put him into a coma that had carried over to the real world. He’d left again, but somehow Damon had found him on the road. Tyler had known that Damon was in a dark place, and he knew what in store, and yet he’d still tried to talk Damon out of it.
Of course it wouldn’t have worked. Damon was the last person on earth who would ever listen to reason. The last thing Tyler remembered, after Damon nearly ripping out his throat, was being locked in a truck and bleeding out.
Tyler woke, coughing. The first thing he did was bring his hands to his throat, and he was never so grateful as he was now to not wake up with a mortal wound in his throat. He sat up, legs hanging over the edge of his bed, sweaty and breathing hard. The dreams had shaken him, and at first that’s what he thought was wrong. But he quickly realized that wasn’t it. That that couldn’t explain the pain.
He’d felt this way once before, and it didn’t take him long to figure out where. It had been in his dreams, when he’d been transitioning to hybrid. He didn’t have much time, not before he died. And he’d be damned if he was going to die now.
Somehow, he managed to get to his car. The early morning sunlight burned his eyes, and he fumbled for his sunglasses in the center console. He could barely keep his hands on the steering wheel, slick with his sweat, but somehow he managed to get to the hotel Katherine had said she was staying it. He parked haphazardly, the front half of his car pulled up onto the sidewalk. He quickly tumbled out of his car and to Katherine’s hotel room. “Katherine!” he called, banging on the door with his fist. “Open up!”
Katherine thought her insurance company could have sought better accommodations while her condo was under some necessary renovations after the OC’s latest stunt, but it’d due - it was a one bedroom suite with a kitchenette, feathery pillows and duvets, and the tub at least had the luxury of bubble jets. Perks of all this included daily housekeeping (meaning she didn’t have to lift a finger to clean, ever) and room service, which she would take advantage of if the quality of food wasn’t equivalent to something you’d get served at Hooters.
It also had people she didn’t know, so in the scenario the fangs and bloodlust kicked in overnight and she had the sudden craving for a vein - well, it’s not like she’d be eating anyone important. A little harsh but that the truth of the reality, and there was a part of her that felt dread every time she crawled into bed at night.
By this time she was up, having gone out for a quick jog and then returning for a shower and some light breakfast - toast, juice - and she’d been in the middle of fixing her hair for the day when someone distinctly not housekeeping came at her door.
The hot hair curler set down she went to open the door, annoyed but she wondered if it had something to do with Jeremy? Because why else would Tyler Lockwood come here in person losing his shit.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” came her greet, brown eyes slanting into a glower. Her clothes consisted of a navy tank top and jeans. “Can you be any louder, Tyler? Seriously?”
Tyler squeezed past Katherine into the hotel room, closing the door firmly behind him. At the nape of her neck, he could see her pulse beating lightly under her skin, and he had to force himself to tear his eyes away from the sight and look at her face. “I need your blood,” he said bluntly. No point in beating around the bush.
“You need my -” Katherine stopped for a second there, pinching the bridge of her nose because what?
Upon further inspection the guy looked like shit, really, similar to when she almost saw him go completely wolf that night. He was cured, wasn’t he? Human? “I’m missing the context here, Little Lockwood. What the hell do you need doppelganger blood for?”
If he needed normal blood, he could get it somewhere else. The only time someone ever needed hers is for the properties it held.
Tyler swallowed the urge to yell and take her blood by force. He would if he had to, but he’d much rather she give it to him willingly. It would be a lot easier, a lot less messy, and he’d feel a lot less guilty afterward.
“Klaus,” Tyler said. He wondered just how much information she needed. “Klaus turned me into a vampire-werewolf hybrid a while ago in the dreams. I don’t know why it decided to carry over now, but there you go. Doppelganger blood’s the only way to finish the transition. I’ll die without it. Please, Katherine.:”
Funny how that name could make her heart skip a beat out of fright even here.
“I’m not going to let you feed on me,” she snapped icily, having a million questions she wanted answered but figured time was of the essence - and she also didn’t want someone brand new to vampirism (or half of it, she didn’t know how the hybrid thing worked) to take a bite out of her veins. Katherine didn’t trust his resolve.
But it didn’t mean she was about to let him die, either, or let him lunge at her in desperation if she denied him what he needed. There wasn’t much of a choice for her. “Keep your teeth to yourself, Tyler, and let me just - I don’t know, put it in a cup for you?”
There was a knife set that came with the kitchenette in the room, and she cautiously pulled that and a glass out. And all the while she cursed her damn luck, she squeezed her hand around the blade for a slice into her skin. “How much do you need?” she winced, voice grouchily pained.
Tyler nearly did lunge at Katherine when she said she wouldn’t let him feed on her. Of course Katherine wouldn’t give him her blood willingly. If the dreams had taught him anything about the woman that he’d gone to high school with, it was that Katherine didn’t care about anyone but Katherine.
But then she was offering to put it in a cup, and he had to admit that that was probably a better option than going to town on her jugular vein. The smell of her blood was nearly intoxicating, and he had to clench his teeth to resist going straight for the source. “I don’t know,” Tyler said, his voice strained and trying to think about his dreams and not the blood that was pouring into the cup. “Not a lot, I don’t think,” he said after a moment. “Klaus only gave me a test tube of Elena’s blood. I think.” Man, it was hard to think with his mouth watering like this. He took a few steps toward Katherine. “I think that’s enough. Give it to me.”
Katherine always did an excellent job of masking fright, but the beat of her heart - the quickening pulse - it probably wouldn’t escape his heightened senses. And she hoped to hell that wasn’t making her a more tantalizing meal than she already was with her blood leaking into a cup.
“I’ve taken the role of magical human bloodbag, that’s great,” she scowled, pushing the glass towards him. With that distracting him she quickly went to rinse her hand and then wrap it in paper towel - a lame bandage, but she was a little rushed here. “Take it, Tyler, and this is the first and last time you’re drinking anything of mine.”
“Last time I’d want to,” Tyler said, trying not to sound too annoyed. After all, she had just cut open her palm for him. He did owe her.
He looked into the cup, and braced himself for what was coming next. He drank down the blood, all of it, and once the last drop of blood passed his lips he felt the pain rush through him, like fire running through his veins. He cup fell out of his hand, and he followed it to the ground, convulsions wracking his body. As the pain died, he let out a cry, his eyes yellow and fangs protruding from where his human canines had been. He took a couple of steadying breaths, and his feet returned to their normal brown, his fangs turning once again into canines.
What the fuck.
That entire show had her grip the edge of the sink tightly, muscles tensed, jaw clenched, with a strange wave of helplessness as she watched - because what else could she do? Katherine’s priority was her own safety, and here she was, closed in a damn hotel suite with someone that fit the ‘apex predator’ bill and she hoped, oh she hoped that werewolf side of him quelled the bloodlust she knew was overwhelming during the beginning of it all.
“Ma’am?” came a knock on the door. “We heard something - is everything okay?”
Probably not. “Everything’s fine!” she called out convincingly and waited until she heard those footsteps scamper off before letting her eyes fall back to Tyler. He didn’t look too well. “You’re going to at least be fine, right?”
The smell of blood was heavy in the air, and it was only with some concentration, and squeezing his eyes shut, that Tyler was able to retract his fangs. When he opened his eyes again, they were the deep brown eyes that they always had been.
He’d known that vampires had stronger senses than even werewolves, but he hadn’t been expecting it quite this much. Katherine had already wrapped up her wounded hand, and yet the coppery smell of her blood still permeated the air. He was glad that he’d managed to get used to the slightly heightened senses and emotions of a werewolf already, because he would have been completely unprepared for this onslaught of smells, sounds, and feelings. As it was, a couple more steadying breaths got him under control.
“Yeah,” he said, climbing to his feet. “I’m okay.” Better than okay, really, now that the initial onslaught of everything had passed. Short of getting his heart ripped out or his head chopped off, he was immortal. He could already feel the strength coursing through his muscles, strength that he’d never before possessed. “I feel great, actually. Thanks, Katherine.” Which was something that he never thought he’d ever say. His eyes were drawn back to her hand, and he swallowed. “You uh, want some blood for that? Or do you want to let that heal the old fashioned way?”
Katherine glared. She glared daggers. But she knew better, and she knew that throwing knives at Tyler wouldn’t end well for her either - his senses were heightened, electrified, and she was particularly fond of her jugular being where it was, perfectly in tact.
“No,” she answered evenly, the beat of her heart slowing. It wasn’t safe yet, but it was better than it was a minute ago. “You owe me, Lockwood.” In truth, she didn’t want to see him die. There was a heart in there somewhere buried beneath the vanity, and there was a part of her that was almost proud of herself for playing a part in saving him, but again, vanity. Pride.
Couldn’t let him know the elusive Katherine Pierce cared a little, so the best thing to do was to not let it show like she did it from whatever goodness she had. “But I’ll be fine. I can handle a cut. Just make sure to keep your fangs to yourself while I’m still vulnerable.”
Tyler frowned, not entirely sure if he wanted to commit to owing Katherine Pierce a favour. He had to remind himself that she was Katherine Gilbert, not Katherine Pierce. At least, not yet. “Yeah,” he said. “I owe you. And I promise not to eat you.” Look at how generous Tyler was. He probably should find something to eat though. He wondered if Caroline had some extra blood bags lying around. “I’m going to take off though. That cut of yours really smells.”
“Please get out,” Katherine sighed, sounding relieved, and held that wounded hand against her chest. What she had refused to tack onto that was ‘you’re making me nervous’ but that was a given. This whole situation only reinforced the fact that she needed to get some of her blood taken out before her own transition - human doppelganger blood was a hot commodity. “I need to try and make the rest of my day remotely normal without further interruption.”