final chapter huhu. ;-;

...

“No… Wan-ah, no.”
 

Joohyun eyeballed the clutched bent tail slowly being lifted to nibbly teeth. And Seungwan eyeballed right back. If it was an attitude Joohyun didn’t want, then it was an attitude she was bloody well getting anyway. The first time she’d been caught with the tip of her tail between her gnashers, Seulgi and Yerim had to essentially pin her down, kicking and screaming, whilst Sooyoung carefully prised her jaws open so Joohyun could wrap it in an effort to let the wound close fully. Seungwan was so mad about it they thought she’d burst. For the next few days, Joohyun’s unsuspecting fingers fell victim to those ghastly little needle teeth. She didn’t mind, though, all too used to the little grump using any part of her she liked as her personal gnawing post and distraction. And the other three eventually stopped complaining about finding the straws to their blood bags all chewed up or returning to unsupervised cup handles lovingly coated in puppy slobber.
 

But after having the stitches out, it was at the awkward in-between stage of healed but not completely. Dangerously vulnerable and oh so chewy. The doctor had advised to let it breathe, and Seungwan immediately set out to purchase a one-way ticket to Nibble City as soon as they were out those doors.
 

It was itchy, alright?
 

… …
 

“How long, unnie?” Yerim asked between mouthfuls, motioning briefly to the sounds of distant frustration coming from the living room.
 

Joohyun shrugged, not looking up from scrolling. She had herself into uncharted territory, turning to the internet for instructions on rapid wound care. But something about those differing opinions and medical advice from strangers was oddly engrossing, and it had her hooked, fully committed to clicking on thread after thread.
 

“Dunno,” she said matter-of-factly, “till she learns.”
 

Sooyoung took an irritated swipe at Yerim, who managed to save her burger in the nick of time.
 

“Mm! Woh wong wih you,” she grumbled through stuffed cheeks, frowning.
 

“Seriously?”
 

Sooyoung slammed an open palm down on the table, startling both Yerim and Seulgi at once. Not Joohyun though, and mainly Yerim.
 

“Why are you eating mine!?”
 

Yerim swallowed before curling her top lip in confusion as she raised an eyebrow, genuinely perplexed.
 

“Huh? You told me to get two…?”
 

“What the actual hell?” the other vampiress threw her hands up in disbelief, adding another layer of annoyance to go with her existing one, “yeah, for me, you little-”
 

She stopped when she noticed Yerim’s fingers and lips dusted with crumbs from precisely what she was upset about. Her scowl deepened as much as Yerim’s smugness did. And it wouldn’t be a wild goose chase just itching to happen without a snide remark to top it off.
 

“What? You should’ve specified, unnie. And I was hungry. You yell, you lose.”
 

The absolute audacity. Okay, Sooyoung may have lost her burger, but Yerim was about to lose more than a finger. In the name of love, of course. After all, what were good unnies for, if not for turning you into a quadriplegic and then signing you right up for the Paralympics so you could shine like the goddamned star she’d always known you were?
 

“YAH!” she spat, shoving her chair, sending it sliding back and toppling over, “YOU’RE NOT FUNNY, I’LL – OI! GET BACK HERE! YE – RIM!!”
 

Yerim disappeared, echoes of ‘you yell, you lose’ now kicking Sooyoung’s legs into gear too.
 

Wanting to get the last word in as usual, she bolted after the escaping, cackling Yerim as Seulgi shook her head, standing up and slinking after them like the designated ‘hoser-downer’ and reluctant mediator she very often was.
 

As the house dissolved into chaos for the third time today, Joohyun scrolled on.
 

… …
 

“Stop! Stop! Enough!”
 

Seulgi’s frantic yelling was punctuated by, herself, actually, when she heroically threw herself in the line of fire, only narrowly missing a flying foot to the face in the haste of this poorly run gladiator fight. It wasn’t a fight fight; it never was, more a ‘fight’ fight. One sparked by an unsatisfied craving, perhaps even by someone who knowingly ate the food you ordered and paid for, but never ending in actual pain, and definitely not a lost finger.
 

The three were already tuckered out, now just trying not to roll over each other in the midst of laughter.
 

Joohyun brushed past the commotion like it meant nothing, mentally thanking them for so gracefully keeping the marble tile shiny.
 

Seungwan was uncomfortably sweaty; an expected result of all the writhing and squirming and yelling she’d been doing the past twenty minutes. The ‘Time-Out Blanket’, one of Joohyun’s many ingenious little puppy training inventions, involved exactly what you’d imagine. She used it sparingly though, only needing a very good reason to wrap Seungwan in it, but recently the rowdy little thing had been making it her god-given duty to list her reason after excellent reason.
 

It broke her heart to leave her like that, but it was effective, and she had to learn.
 

Dull tail thumps from a puppy very happy to see her mummy again made Joohyun’s smile widen, hearing them get pointedly quicker and more urgent as she neared. She sat down, mindful of the vigorous wagging against the sofa. Joohyun un-burrito-ed Seungwan, who upon realising her limbs were free, promptly wriggled into the vampiress, softly cuddling her apology out. Joohyun cooed, already pressing dino biscuits to Seungwan’s lips and kneading the base of her velvety ears, flicking as she chomped.
 

After time-out treats were somehow the warmest and butteriest.
 

“How much do I love you, hm?” Joohyun prompted.
 

Seungwan was learning quick, rolling onto her back and stretching her arms out as far as they’d go, perhaps even wider than the last time she was asked. “Dis much!” she squeaked, holding out a finger for no reason.
 

Seungwan was allowed to grow out of things, but by god if Joohyun had to strangle Yerim for spilling pigs’ blood all over the sofa that one time, then so be it! Seungwan was absolutely not to outgrow this.
 

… hm?
 

Anyway, Joohyun took her outstretched hand and kissed it once before releasing her into the doggy-pile of doofuses in the middle of the room.
 

… …
 

Joohyun wasn’t prepared.
 

Seungwan had started it when she toddled into the kitchen one morning, one hand behind her back, quite an obvious bulging from under her jumper, calling out for her mummy.
 

“Here, baby,” Joohyun cooed in response, halting her dishwashing to drop her gaze to the little girl preening for her attention, “what is it, Wannie?”
 

With all the vocabulary Seungwan didn’t possess, she tugged gently at Joohyun’s trouser leg, silently demanding the vampiress’ co-operation. Which, of course, she got without a moment’s hesitation. Clumsily leading her to the other end of the kitchen where she gave the countertop urgent little pats, getting her picked up and carefully plopped on it, and earning an intrigued eyebrow raise in the process.  
 

This was getting too amusing for Joohyun to stay quiet any longer.
 

“Alright, hun,” she laughed, smoothing Seungwan’s floppy ears against her head, “what do you want?”
 

She snorted when Seungwan started digging into the waistband of her sweatpants, producing a very familiar box after an un-coordinated little tussle with her own clothes. Joohyun raised both eyebrows this time, in surprise. Seungwan whined, upset but relieved that Joohyun had caught the box when her butter fingers decided to play up.
 

Almost at a complete loss for words, Joohyun looked down at what she was now holding and then back up at Seungwan. It suddenly meant so much more, now that Seungwan was initiating it.
 

“Real…” she paused, not quite sure if Seungwan herself knew was about to happen, “really?”
 

A small, sure nod had a frazzled Joohyun instantly fumbling around with the box, nearly dropping it twice, bringing who really had the child-like grip up for debate.
 

The girl on the counter giggled at the struggling.
 

Finally, she had it loosely grasped between quivering fingers.
 

A swell of pride and adoration bubbled inside her as she fiddled with the clasp, taking extra care to lift all Seungwan’s hair out the way so as not to catch even a strand in the buckle. But as soon as they both heard that final click, Joohyun’s smile faltered and something inside her crumbled. She retracted her hands from behind Seungwan’s head and rested them on the cold marble on either side of her, eyes downcast.
 

Seungwan cocked her head, giving a tiny whine. She didn’t understand how Joohyun wasn’t jumping for joy right now. They’d done it! It was official! Sure, they’d been pretty much official since Seungwan’s perfectly careless little blunder that night, but she’d remained un-collared the whole time. And when Joohyun had taken her shopping that once, she’d honestly thought she had meant to collar her that very day Seungwan picked it from the shelf. It seemed like the vampiress was in two-minds, however, the uncertainty and hesitation much heavier on her part. Seungwan never verbalised her discomfort at being out and about with Joohyun without a collar on, but those dreadful few nights away from home taught her quite clearly the importance of belonging; it mattered who you belonged to, and she belonged to Joohyun, that was for damned sure. It was just… an unspoken bond only her and Joohyun were aware of, she guessed. Still, it was rather unpleasant for her to parade around unclaimed, having to deflect the rude stares of strangers at such a young age. Until now, that was. Now it didn’t have to feel like a masquerade anymore… not to Seungwan, at least… this was official.
 

Seungwan sat there, innocently oblivious and playfully swinging her legs back and forth on the countertop, flashing her toothy grin at a barely put-together Joohyun, who shakily exhaled, reaching out to hold her.
 

The thread snapped and Joohyun found tears trickling down her face as she held her.
 

“Sorry… Wan-ah,” she mumbled into her shoulder, tightening her grip.
 

She felt so stupid, letting Seungwan see her like this, apologising to her over what was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Still, without having to say a word, Seungwan managed to lighten her world once again, like she’d been doing ever since she’d innocuously sat herself at the head of Joohyun’s priorities, occupying her would-be heart-space. Vampires didn’t have them, but she was hers, above and beyond anything a beating clump of muscle could ever provide.
 

She wanted so badly to tell, to say everything she’d just written looking at her. But she didn’t want to potentially upset her. Anyway, Seungwan already knew; besides, it was her who’d planted those tiny seeds in the lonely garden of her soul. Her presence in it was perpetual, tending, keeping her abloom; thriving in beauty and vigour. The way she held it, Joohyun prayed, trusted, she wouldn’t ever do anything to jeopardise that.
 

Of course she wouldn’t.
 

Eventually though, she got her emotions in check, and Joohyun managed to summarise, disentangle her jumble of feeling into the few simple words she knew Seungwan would find much easier to understand.
 

“I love you, Wannie.”
 

“Luvyoumummy!”
 

It was beautiful; perfect; and the midnight blue stood out marvellously against Seungwan. Joohyun admired it for the two second time frame she was allowed before the girl was practically vibrating with impatient excitement and Joohyun had to carry her down before she fell off. After a few reluctant head kisses, she was out the kitchen quicker than a flash, already screaming for the other three so she could show off.
 

“Wow! So pretty, Wannie! Did you pick this out?”
 

… …
 

Everything was right; and as it should be.
 

Seungwan close by, Seulgi begrudgingly cooking dinner, and Sooyoung and Yerim ripping each other’s hair out, turning her living room floor into a two-woman wrestling ring no one was interested in over god knows what this time.
 

Perfect.
 

Joohyun smiled, settling on the little girl who was perched on her haunches, velvet ears flattened and twitching, focusing way too hard on willing her adorably miserable excuse of a block tower steady with the power of her mind alone. She’d stacked them all vertically (and terribly), so try as she might, bless her, she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why that wasn’t the smartest choice of foundation.
 

“Come here, little puppy,” she crooned, beckoning Seungwan over with an arm curled out beside her.
 

The perfect nook for snuggles; very warm indeed.
 

Suddenly, trying to fix her flimsy scaffolding didn’t matter anymore. The pile of blocks fell into another abandoned project as Seungwan hopped over Sooyoung and Yerim and tucked herself into her arms, loving the way Joohyun squeezed her that extra bit tighter.
 

The vampiress gazed down at the girl who’d unknowingly hung the moon and painted the stars just for her. For they belonged together as surely as the sky missed the sun when it dipped past the horizon, Joohyun couldn’t imagine a lifetime without Seungwan; without whom there would be no sunset, but a final eclipse; noon withering into darkness where there would be no dawn.
 

So thank god she was home.

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want to thank everyone who's had the patience to stick around to the end of this, it's truly been a roller coaster writing this, and i'm mostly proud of my very first hybrid fic. admittedly, i could've done better in many areas, but it's only more practice from here, so look forward to that. 

side thought: idk but starting a small side series for these characters is kinda at the back of my mind, but i'm not sure if it's a good idea. what do you think?

also, if you read this far, i'd like to let you guys know i have tumblr now lol. it was a spontaneous decision and idk how successful it'll be. heck, i don't even know what to write on there, so if you want to talk to me about anything or send me prompts, you could be responsible for the next fic i put out here haha. look forward to seeing you guys in the next fic (and perhaps on tumblr, if i'm lucky). haha, but srsly pls come say hi to me cos i'm too embarrassed to post anything on there haha.  https://rvmmm21.tumblr.com/