"[Y/n]..."

"[Y/n], are you awake?"

"[Y/n]?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm awake..." came [Y/n]'s tired, groggy reply as she tried desperately to crack her eyes open. The wall clock read 9:12am. [Y/n] looked over at the little boy who'd decided to interrupt her slumber. A head of brown hair and two big red eyes stared at her. "Good morning Draka," she mumbled. No response. It was only then that she noticed the small tears in the boy's eyes.

"Oh, gosh, Draka, what's wrong?" [Y/n] sat up immediately, suddenly feeling ridden with guilt at the tired, dismissive manner she had previously displayed. The boy shrugged, looking down. [Y/n] rubbed the back of her neck, wondering what she could do to help the poor boy. She patted beside her, encouraging the boy to sit next to her. He did so and leaned against [Y/n], his head resting on her chest.

"Has someone been mean to you?" [Y/n] asked softly, her arms wrapping around the boy in a comforting manner. He shrugged again. It felt strange to see Draka upset - he was always smiling.

"I feel lonely..." he said quietly, looking up at [Y/n]. "No one wants to play with me. Everyone's doing stuff with one another and no one wants me to join in," he frowned. [Y/n]'s brows furrowed and she frowned as well.

"That's not very nice," she said, shaking her head. "Why don't we all go and play a game?"

"They won't want to," Draka pouted.

"Whelp, now they've got no choice," [Y/n] grinned. "No one makes Draka sad and gets away with it!" Her tone was jocular and jubilant; infectious, in Draka's eyes, as he couldn't suppress a bright smile himself. [Y/n] scooped him up in her arms (which was now getting difficult as the kids were all so big) and carried him through to the living room, unbothered that she was still in her pyjamas. Everyone else was there and - as Draka had said - they were too busy doing their own thing to even notice [Y/n] and Draka enter.

[Y/n] cleared her throat, attracting the attention of the boys. "Right, the seven of us are going to play a game," she declared.

"Six," Seishin corrected, "I'm not playing a stupid game."

"You'll do what you're told, mister," [Y/n] scolded. Seishin rolled his eyes but [Y/n] didn't react, continuing regardless. "The seven of us are going to play a game I used to play when I was younger. It's called the Pirate Game," she explained, smiling. The room was quiet as they waited for her to continue. "One of us is the captain, one of us is the parrot and the rest of us are the crew," she began.

"Can I be the parrot?" Draka asked excitedly.

"No fair, I wanted to be the parrot!" Aytsa complained.

"We'll decide soon, don't worry," [Y/n] confirmed. "Anyway, the person who plays the parrot has to mimic one of the crew members - basically say and do things the person they're mimicking would do without specifically saying that person's name. The person playing the captain has to guess which person the parrot is mimicking. The captain only has one guess. If they guess correct then the parrot changes, but if they guess wrong then the captain changes. Got it?" Nods all around the room. [Y/n] grinned. "Great!"

"You can be the parrot, Aytsa," Draka offered, to which Aytsa beamed and nodded.

"I'll be the captain," Seishin announced.

"I thought you didn't want to play~?" [Y/n] sang in a teasing voice. This caused Seishin to pout and look away.

"W-well... it sounds kinda fun," he shrugged. [Y/n] giggled at this, nodding her head. She sat down on one of the sofas and encouraged everyone else to sit down as well, other than the captain (who sat on a chair) and the parrot (who stood up). Seishin seated himself on the chair and Aytsa stood in the middle of the room with a grin. [Y/n] said the words and the game began.

Aytsa began quite simply. He turned his head to stare at [Y/n]. He didn't say anything, he just stared at her totally unblinkingly.

"That's easy. Kori," he shrugged. Kori crossed his arms over his chest and blushed embarrassedly. This earned a giggle from [Y/n] who leant over to ruffle the grey haired boy's dishevelled tresses. He shrank into himself a little more at this.

"Right, Aytsa - you swap with Kori now," [Y/n] smiled. Seishin grinned at his victory. Kori shyly stood up and Aytsa took his place on the sofa. He stood and thought for a moment before suddenly his entire demeanour changed. For such a shy individual, it was amazing to see how he'd become an entirely different person. His back straightened and his eyes looked hard yet slightly determined. He paced backwards and forwards, miming writing a note. Seishin looked puzzled.

"Don't forget to eat," he began, his voice the clearest anyone in the room had ever heard it, "if you don't eat you blood pressure will drop."

"Uhh... [Y/n]?" Seishin asked, clearly not knowing what Kori meant. [Y/n], however, knew exactly who Kori was impersonating. She only wondered how the boy knew of that interaction.

"Nope," Kori said quietly, now speaking in his usual voice. "It was Nyais."

"Nyais?!" Seishin huffed. "But he's not one of the crew members! Is that allowed?!" he huffed, looking over at [Y/n] with a glare. [Y/n] shrugged.

"Technically no, but he did carry out that impersonation very well," she chuckled. "Though it wasn't technically allowed-"

"Aww, I'm not invited?" a faux hurt voice came from the door and [Y/n] turned to see Nyais in the doorframe. She smiled softly, beckoning him inside and encouraging him to sit down on a sofa. He did so without hesitance.

"You playing, Nyais? I take it you've already heard the rules," she chuckled, to which he gave a nod in response to both questions.

"Indeed I have. So, does that validate Kori's win?" he asked, leaning back a little. Seishin was glaring daggers at Nyais - who knew the little boy was this competitive?

"It does," [Y/n] confirmed. "Alright. You get to be the captain now, Nyais," [Y/n] smiled. Seishin stood up with the same somber expression and, in a strop, switched with Nyais. Nyais bore an amused expression the whole time, watching the scene unfold with curiosity. It looked as though he'd never seen something like this before. "Right, Kori. You may begin," [Y/n] grinned.

Kori straightened himself a little again, however not as much as when he'd impersonated Nyais. His hands reached for one another in a slightly nervous gesture and he put on a small smile. "Well, I just want all of us to be friends," he began. Nyais remained silent, furrowing a brow. Of course, he'd listened to every conversation, but he wanted to be sure before saying a name. Kori looked thoughtful for a moment, as though trying to remember something. "Friends treat one another like equals. We don't eat our friends."

"[Y/n]," Nyais smiled. Kori grinned at this; despite knowing that meant his turn was over, he was glad he'd managed to portray [Y/n] well. [Y/n] giggled softly at his impersonation - she was glad he'd chosen that part of her as opposed to the groggy wake-up face she seemed to always pull.

Nyais remained in the chair and [Y/n] stepped up to swap with Kori. Then, a small smirk formed on her features. "Can you help me?" she whined. "Nyais~ I need help!" Of course, the subject of the slight ribbing knew exactly who she was talking about. He just managed to keep a straight face. "Please? Can you help me? Please? Please?" she continued. Nyais chuckled.

"Aytsa, right?" [Y/n] nodded with a grin. Aytsa huffed and looked away, but a small laugh escaped him too. Maybe more so out of the fact that [Y/n] had chosen him instead of the others.

* * *

It seemed the game was a success as all the boys went to bed chatting about who'd said what, jokingly commenting on accuracies and inaccuracies during the game. Nyais stayed the whole time, now helping [Y/n] tuck the boys in.

"You haven't eaten at all today," he observed, looking over at the door absentmindedly. [Y/n] looked down at herself and felt a massive rumble escape her stomach. She smiled childishly.

"Oops," she giggled, finishing tucking Mitzu in and walking out of the room, Nyais following soon after. "I have some leftover bolognese from last night that I can eat. I'll just reheat it and put some fresh spaghetti on," she shrugged, walking over to the kitchen.

"Mind if I stay and watch?" he asked, walking over to stand beside [Y/n] and observe her taking a small container of leftover bolognese out of the fridge. [Y/n] nodded with a smile, opening the container and putting the sauce into a pan before shoving it on the oven. She then filled a pan with water, putting it on a separate hob. "So... what are you doing?" he asked with a small chuckle. "I thought water was something humans drink cold?"

"It is," [Y/n] laughed, "well, unless you like it hot," she shrugged. "I'm putting the water on so I can cook the spaghetti."

"Why do you need water to cook spaghetti?" Nyais asked, sitting down at the table with a slightly perplexed expression.

"I think it's something to do with surface area and osmosis? I don't really know," she laughed. She held up the packet of spaghetti and took out one long, straight piece. "When cooked, spaghetti absorbs the water and changes shape to become a bit more like slippery rope I suppose... it goes floppy and also expands, which has something to do with osmosis." Nyais nodded, though he didn't really understand.

"Science, then?" he asked with a laugh.

"I guess so," [Y/n] responded, pouring the rest of the spaghetti into the now-boiling pan of water. She walked over to sit opposite Nyais at the dinner table. "Mind if I ask... how is the whole 'letting me live' thing going?" she asked softly. Nyais shrugged.

"It's going alright. You'll have to meet the king at some point," he shrugged, "he mentioned something about drafting up a contract when he meets you."

"Wait, me? Meet the king? As in, the king of the vampires?" [Y/n] exclaimed in shock. "B-but, I'm hardly qualified to talk to someone like that! I don't know what to say, how to behave... oh, gosh, what if I upset him and he decides to kill me then and there? What's he like? Is there anything I need to know?" Nyais chuckled, placing his hand on hers in a reassuring manner.

"Don't worry. King Olli is a kindhearted man. He can seem a little scary but he's good on the inside," Nyais confirmed. "All you need to know is to bow when he enters, but I'm sure you were planning on doing that anyways. Also, there's an unsaid 'only speak when spoken to' rule so bear that in mind as well, though he usually doesn't really care if you don't abide by that rule," he smiled. [Y/n] sighed in relief. "You'll be the first human he's ever had a conversation with so don't be surprised if he talks about you as though you're not there or a strange sort of animal. He should get over that quite quickly," Nyais explained.

"Right... thank you Nyais." She stood up again and grabbed a wooden spoon, stirring the bolognese. "Can you tell me a bit more about your society?" she asked. Nyais rubbed the back of his neck, seeming a little unsure.

"Well, I suppose," he trailed off, looking at the table thoughtfully. "There's sort of a ranking system. Ordinary humans are at the very bottom of it as you are merely our source of food. Then there are carers - they're next on the list, second to the bottom. You're one of them - a special human chosen to bring up the children left behind by their mothers."

"Special?" [Y/n] echoed, perplexed.

"Your blood pressure. It's naturally below average - a delicacy to us, if you will," he trailed off. "That's another reason why I encourage you to eat. If your blood pressure drops too much then I run the risk of drinking you dry," he explained. "Any normal human I would be able to stop myself, same goes for you when your blood pressure is at its norm. However when it drops too low it only gets better for us," he sighed. [Y/n] nodded slowly.

"I see..." [Y/n] trailed off.

"A-anyways," Nyais began again, "after the carers are the mothers. The married females who exist to birth children," he sighed. [Y/n] frowned at how backwards this system appeared to be but allowed him to continue. "After them are the workers - basically people who perform normal jobs for our economy. For example cleaners, barbers, overseers... any job that doesn't require an education. Then there's the hunters - they can be either male or female. If a female beats a male in combat, she's given the choice of moving to whichever rank the person she's beat is in," he taps his fingers against the table. "The job of a hunter is to collect humans. They often disguise themselves in ordinary society for a while, taking the place of teachers and such. People who work with lots of other people."

"The Dewdale School incident..." [Y/n] suddenly realised. A school near her hometown had been on global news as every single student and teacher had suddenly disappeared. No one ever found out where they went.

"Yes, that's right. That was the work of the hunter Kaist, who was only a couple of years ago promoted to an elite and is now the leader of the whole hunting system," he shrugged. "Kaist is Seishin's father." [Y/n]'s eyes widened slightly. 'Seishin's father was responsible for the Dewdale School incident?' [Y/n] thought, shocked. "After the hunters come the soldiers. Soldiers are exactly what they sound like - people who work within our society in a way following the militaristic rule," he elucidated. "These can be anyone who has a job that requires a specific education, also. Engineers, lawyers... those sorts of people." He paused, scanning [Y/n]'s expression to see if she still understood. She nodded to confirm she did.

"Then there are elites. Elites are few and far between - the strongest of the vampires chosen to lead certain groups of people or guard the king. I'm one of these elites and my job is to run the nursing programme from the selection to the 21 days. I have another job too but... it's complicated." [Y/n] nodded slowly, taking this in. "There are two ways you can become an elite - win a fair fight against an elite or perform a feat recognised and commended by the king."

"What about you?" [Y/n] asked softly.

"I'm a bit of both, really. The king recognised me for my hearing and intended to make me an elite anyway but I refused and said I didn't want to be an elite unless I proved my hearing was actually useful. So I went down the combat route," he shrugged. [Y/n] smiled at this.

"That was very honest of you," she grinned.

"Others said it was very bigheaded. Especially seeing as I went against Jay, one of the strongest elites of all time, and the kingdom's Marshal and ex King Regent, so our third highest ranked individual," he laughed. "I only won because he wasn't able to land a single hit on me. I used my hearing to work out where each attack was headed."

"How?" [Y/n] asked, her expression flashing with intrigue. Nyais chuckled at this.

"I listened for muscle movement and his thoughts through his breathing. When you try a faint, your muscles prepare themselves for the actual blow and contract at a later time to when they would if the faint was real. Plus, half the time I could practically hear his thoughts. Syllable rhythms told me all I needed to know," he smiled. [Y/n] gazed at him in awe for a moment before suddenly standing up and rushing over to the spaghetti bolognese. She took it off the heat and grabbed a bowl, placing the pasta in the bowl and pouring the sauce over the pasta.

"Are vampires able to eat human food?" she asked curiously.

"Well yes, but actually no," he began with a chuckle. "It tastes revolting to us," he sighed. "A bit like how humans view the bare essentials of some foods. You wouldn't eat raw gelatine, would you? But you can. It's just that it tastes disgusting," he smiled.

"What about sugary stuff?" [Y/n] mused.

"Vampires can eat chocolate... but it costs a fortune and doesn't have any nutritional value for us. We can also drink wine and rosewater but they're really only for special occasions and such - they don't hydrate us or anything," he smiled. [Y/n]'s lips formed a small 'o' shape in realisation. "I've heard humans like chocolate. If you'd like I can try and get you some, but I probably won't be able to get very much..."

"Oh, no, you don't have to go to that effort!" [Y/n] reassured, placing her knife and fork down at the table before going back to get her bowl of spaghetti bolognese and doing the same. She sat down at the table and began to eat, trying to pay little mind to Nyais' curious gaze observing her every movement.

"Don't worry. It would be my pleasure," Nyais chuckled, an amused glint in his eyes. [Y/n] felt a little heat rise to her cheeks, growing a little self conscious at how intently he watched her eat. Nyais clocked onto this and clearly tried to turn down the intensity of his gaze. "I should have it for you tomorrow. I'd also like to learn how to do this... cooking thing," he hummed. "I'd like to be able to bring you meals sometimes..."

[Y/n] rubbed the back of her neck with a smile. "You don't have to do that Nyais," she chuckled, "I don't mind cooking my own meals. Plus, it won't be fun cooking something you can't eat," she said, her head tilting to one side slightly.

"I won't know until I try," he shrugged, smiling. "Plus, I found a few of those... ahh... cook books," he recalled, "I'm sure I can make sense of them somehow," he grinned. [Y/n] tilted her head softly to one side, a small laugh escaping her at Nyais' determination.

The two went quiet for a while as [Y/n] ate and Nyais watched her. The smaller female grew used to his stare eventually, understanding that it was simply his curiosity. Eventually Nyais broke the silence, standing up and stretching his arms in front of him.

"You need to sleep tonight, [Y/n]," he began, "specifically through 2am. I can't tell you why but it'll become clear tomorrow morning." [Y/n] nodded slowly, tilting her head. "Well, I'd better be off... I've got paperwork to complete," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck with an exhausted smile. "Don't worry about washing up tonight, by the way."

"O-okay," [Y/n] responded finally, a response previously being kept down by the food in her mouth. And, at that, Nyais slipped out of the kitchen and left the female on her lonesome. The distant click of the exit door locking informed [Y/n] that Nyais had left properly.

2am? She wasn't going to question it. She expected everything would be clear when she awoke.

Hiyaaa~ today I have something a lil bit special. I've drawn Nyais! I'm soooo sorry about how bad my art is - I'm not a very confident artist! :,)