Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Escher didn't quite know how the argument had broken out.

He and Ravenovia were visiting Rattlesnake, his little bat excited to see her big brother again and, of course, Shepherd was always a pleasure to see, so they'd made the journey over to Yona.

The first day had been lovely, Tommy and Ravenovia playing and having fun, while Shepherd showed him his town and his flock, beaming with a pride and joy that Escher had never seen in him before, fulfilled truly in his job as sheriff.

Escher didn't notice the frustration that seemed to bubble up in Ravenovia until the next evening, when it finally overflowed.

“You aren't my papa anyways! Why can you tell me what to do!”

The loud cry of his daughter from the other room sounded as Escher sat comfortably on the couch, absorbed in a book.

He moved quickly to the kitchen, book abandoned, to where Ravenovia stood, pouting and crossing her arms stubbornly.

Shepherd stood ahead of her, hands out placatingly.

“I ain't tellin’ ya what ta do, I was jus’ hopin’ you'd give yer brother a hand with puttin’ away the dishes. Like yer pa says, y’ should help out with yer family.”

Escher observed as his daughter's pout grew larger, confused at her reaction as, as much as he gave her what she wanted and spoiled her happily, with all she'd gone though, she deserved it, she'd never opposed helping with chores so vehemently.

“But I'm not part of your family! I don't have to help people who don't like me! You dont like me as much as Tommy and I know that! So why should I help you!”

Shepherd glanced over to him, sharing Escher's own expression of pure confusion.

“‘Course I like ya as much as Tommy, what makes ya think I don't?” Shepherd said, kneeling down and attempting to calm down the small girl. He paled as she burst into tears of frustration, jolting backwards involuntarily as she hissed sharply at him, eyes blood red, displaying her pointed fangs.

She gestured at his reaction, the white circles that served as his irises having contracted as he took a step away from her, “See! You don't like me because I'm a vampire! It's like my real mama said!”

With that, she turned away, stomping a few feet before shifting into the form of a small bat and fluttering off.

Escher and Shepherd simultaneously winced at the mention of Strahdanya. Shepherd's shoulders slumped, “...Fuck.” he rubbed at his eyes and turned his gaze wearily towards him, “I'm sorry ‘bout that Escher, I d'dn't mean to upset her.”

“It's alright darling, I'll go talk with her.” Escher brushed a strand of hair out of Shepherd's face, placing a kiss on his nose before turning to follow his little bat.

Shepherd still looked downcast, but Escher heard him chuckle slightly as he turned away.

He walked outside, following the fluttering of bat wings and then the soft thump and sniffling as she landed back in human form.

The sounds led him out to the ramshackle barn, left abandoned in the Doc's old age and Shepherd's new duties as sheriff.

He saw the small, curled up form of his daughter in the hayloft, with only the light of the few moonbeams that could peak through the weathered roof. She rocked slightly, sobbing as quietly as she could, a horrible parallel to the way he had first met her.

He made sure to step loudly enough that she would know he was approaching, not wanting to startle her.

“Ravenovia?” She squeaked at the sound of his voice, a hiss rumbling through her as she curled up smaller.

Escher scaled the rickety ladder quickly, seating himself beside her. He opened his arms, to allow her to crawl towards him, but she shook her head, turning away.

He lowered his arms but placed a hand next to her, in case she wanted to take it. She sniffled a bit.

“Go away!” It was more of a growl than words.

“Sweetheart-” he began.

“No! I know I was mean and you don't want me anymore! Go away!” She raised her head with these words, her tears still streaming steadily down her face and her voice crackling as she spoke. Her red eyes almost seemed as though they glowed in the moonlight as she glared at him, cat-like pupils contracted into slits.

And oh, how that hurt to hear from her. Escher felt the anger that still lingered in him towards Strahdanya, towards his daughter's biological parents, for having tossed her out like she was nothing, boiling and bubbling in his veins.

He forced his expression to stay calm, reassuring, not wanting to accidently hurt his darling's feelings any more when she was already in so much pain.

He took her hands lightly, looking her directly in the eyes as he spoke firmly.

“Ravenovia. You are my daughter, the light of my life. I would never want you gone. Now, was the way you hissed at Shepherd nice? No, but an outburst like that when you're frustrated and upset is entirely understandable, and I want to help you feel better, darling.”

She sniffled a bit, tears dying down, and he felt as her small hands tightened their hold on his.

“You promise you don't hate me now?” Her small voice wavered as she spoke, and Escher felt as his heart crumbled into pieces.

“Never. I would never hate you.” He pulled her into his arms. She gripped tightly onto his shirt. He ran his hands through the dark curls of her hair soothingly.

“Why do you think that Shepherd doesn't like you? Because I believe that he does, that he cares for you a lot.”

She curled tighter against him, her answer beginning as a mumble, “He always liked Tommy more than me. And now I am a vampire and he doesn't like those. Strahdanya told me to kill him and his friends too.”

Escher frowned a bit, “Sweetheart, I'm a vampire, and Shepherd doesn't hate me, and besides, he certainly doesn't blame you for what Strahdanya did.” His answers were simple, but she seemed to relax a bit with them.

“He still prefers Tommy over me though. He gave Tommy a name and adopted him but he left me with the name our stupid old parents gave me.”

Escher chuckled a bit, “Well darling, to be entirely fair, your brother's name used to be “Freek”, I don't know that he realized you disliked your old name as well.” He ruffled her hair softly, “And Tommy practically attached himself to his side the second he met Shepherd, his adoption had nothing to do with him preferring Thomas over you.”

She sat up a bit straighter, a small chirp bubbling from her lips as she hugged him.

“You're sure he won't hate me now that I hissed at him?”

Escher pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I'm sure. How about we go back inside now sweetie? And maybe you should talk with him a bit, and tell him about why you were feeling upset, so that he knows how you're feeling.”

Ravenovia nodded shyly, as both of them got to their feet and began to walk out of the barn and back towards the house.

The evening went on, and ended with Shepherd holding her gently, by the fireplace. She'd worn herself out with the heavy feelings and the big conversations, and curled up with him.

Escher watched the two of them happily, pretending to still be reading his book, as Shepherd tried and failed to not doze off in his armchair, Ravenovia already asleep against him.

Escher crept over once the two of them had fallen asleep, draping a blanket over them after he'd put out the fire, and softly pressing a kiss to both of their foreheads.

Chapter Text

Escher awoke in the middle of the night to sniffles. His ears, adapted to his stronger vampiric senses, picked up the sound even several rooms away.

Escher was used to waking to Ravenovia, her nightmares, though they were improving over time, still bothered her once in a while.

However this time, he was sure the sounds did not come from his daughter. Their tone and timbre were different, and the room they came from was not Ravenovia's.

It took a moment in the grogginess of suddenly being awoken to remember that Shepherd and Tommy were visiting. The warm form of Shepherd was curled directly beside him, seeming to sleep quite peacefully, and so the soft cries were certainly coming from Tommy.

He extracted himself as carefully as he could from Shepherd, not wanting to wake him unnecessarily, and began walking through the cold hallways of his castle towards the child's room.

He gently pushed the door ajar, light falling across the cozy room onto the sleeping form of Tommy, whose face was crumpled in distress as he shook, whimpering out small noises.

Stepping across the floor of the room in moments, Escher moved to him, placing a hand onto the small shoulder of the boy to shake him awake from the nightmare.

“No… no please don't.. don't eat me.. don't hurt me please…” his small voice mumbled between hiccups and sobs. He sounded even younger, like this, his accent fully Barovian, all traces of the Yonan he'd picked up from his father lost to his nightmare.

The moment Escher's hand brushed his shoulder, Tommy awoke with a start, jolting up in bed and staring at him with wide eyes, his face tear soaked.

“Wh- where's my pa? What are you doing here?” He demanded, reaching towards a dagger he kept at his bedside.

Escher took a step back, hands out placatingly.

“I heard you crying from our room, so I came to check on you. Your father is asleep peacefully, I didn't want to wake him.” he said, attempting to calm the young boy.

Tommy narrowed his eyes suspiciously, though he still trembled slightly, eyes still watery.

“I want my pa.” he sniffled, “I don't want you.” It hurt Escher a bit to hear this, but it was not a surprising statement.

Tommy had every reason not to trust him, as a vampire, and his past connection to Strahdanya, and especially after a nightmare about Barovia, so Escher did not argue with him. He just hoped that Shepherd would forgive him for waking him up if it was for his son.

“Alright then, come on, let's go to him” he offered the boy his hand as he stood.

Tommy looked at him, still suspicious of the offered hand, but shakily took it.

Escher led him quietly back through the halls, towards the still open door of his and Shepherd's room. Escher saw that Shepherd had woken up, and was sitting up in the bed groggily, squinting in the dim light towards the opened door.

Tommy scampered into the room quickly, climbing onto the bed and into his father's arms.

Shepherd looked up to Escher as he held his son, “Nightmare?” he asked. Escher simply nodded, watching as Shepherd pulled Tommy closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Wanna talk ‘bout it?” He said, this time speaking to Tommy, who gripped the fabric of his shirt and shook his head quickly.

“Alrighty then, let's jus’ go back t’ sleep.” Shepherd moved back to lying down, keeping Tommy held close. It was clear that Shepherd was probably still half asleep.

Escher watched as Shepherd's eyes closed again, and as Tommy relaxed a bit more into his hug.

After several minutes of standing, Escher moved to sit lightly on the bed. Tommy's eyes flitted over to him quickly.

“Is it alright if I sleep here as well? Or must I find somewhere else for the evening?” Escher said, only a bit dramatically.

Tommy squinted a bit, and then, glancing to Shepherd, sighed.

“No. It's ok. You can sleep here too.”

Escher smiled as softly as he could, lying down as well.

It took minutes for Tommy to stop watching him with suspicion, but eventually sleepiness overcame him and he seemed to fall into slumber, though as Escher felt himself falling asleep as well, the small voice of Tommy piped up, whispering so that he wouldn't wake his father.

“Thank you…” Tommy trailed off, though for a moment it almost seemed as if he was going to say something more. As he pondered this, he felt Tommy's small hand wrap around his.

He looked over, and found Tommy fast asleep, a small smile on his face, and his heart swelled with joy.

Escher closed his eyes, preparing to fall back into sleep. As his consciousness began to fade, he heard the soft pattering of feet from the doorway and felt as the small form of Ravenovia clambered up to join them.

With everyone now all together in this room, Escher slept peacefully.

The next morning he awoke, the soft light of dawn filtered through the tinted windows of his castle so that it would not harm him or Ravenovia.

Escher felt small arms wrapped around him, and looking down, he expected it to be Ravenovia at his side, but instead, he saw the tousled black hair of Tommy, who was nearly wrapped around him in sleep.

Ravenovia was nowhere to be seen, until he noticed the small form of a tiny vampire bat curled up on Shepherd's chest, fast asleep.

Escher tried to move a bit, to attempt to get up bright and early and get some sort of breakfast ready, as well as coffee for Shepherd, especially as an apology for waking him up in the middle of the night, but the arms wrapped around his waist tightened, and he heard a soft mumble, “Don' go ‘nywhere pops, ‘s still sleepin’ time.”

He looked down to the young boy, who was still half asleep as he blinked up at him with round eyes, nearly identical to Ravenovia's except in color, and was unable to resist.

He looked to Shepherd, peaceful in sleep and almost seeming to shine in the morning light, his tail wrapped gently around Tommy's leg, and Ravenovia asleep on his chest.

Perhaps a while longer in bed with his family wouldn't hurt.

Chapter Text

“Look. We understand that Thomas has had a difficult time, but that does not excuse his behavior, Mr. Morgan.” 

Shepherd sat, increasingly pissed off, in the principal's office of the Rattlesnake school house. Tommy was waiting outside, Escher and Ravenovia sat with him, while he had a meeting with the principal himself. A stuck-up little man, who looked down his nose at Shepherd.

“He was defendin’ his lil sister, may I remind you. This wasn't him bullyin’ some other child, this was protectin’ someone who was gettin’ bullied.” He tried desperately to keep his tone even, through gritted teeth as his tail lashed angrily behind him. “I raised ‘im to not take shit from people, and to help those who needed it.”

The principal looked unimpressed, adjusting his glasses and sighing. “I understand that you may not have had the proper guidance, growing up without a proper family, nor the same… ability to raise Thomas as if he were truly your own, but I should think that as sheriff of this town, as the mayor has trusted you to be, you should be aware that punching others will not be tolerated.” 

Shepherd did his best to not grow angry at the unsubtle comments about his family, his fists balled tightly enough that he was sure his nails were digging into his palms, “I do understand that. But the other kid ain't gettin’ any sort of suspension?”

The principal cocked an eyebrow, as if the idea were ridiculous, “Why would he? A black eye is punishment enough over some hurt feelings, I'm sure the young one will get over it soon enough.” 

Shepherd imagined tearing off the man's head. He remembered the way that, only hours before, Ravenovia had come home sobbing, blaming herself for Tommy getting in trouble no matter how much her brother tried to convince her it wasn't her fault. He remembered the way she hiccuped as she told them how one of the older boys at the school had pushed her over, calling her a "damned beast" and a “monster”. He remembered how Tommy had told them that when he ran up, seeing the commotion, the kid had jeered that “of course the devil boy had come to her aid”. 

“Some hurt feelings” were about the mildest way to put it.

Shepherd restrained himself from lunging over the desk and strangling the man, though he imagined it vividly, and, deciding that there was no way that he'd be able to change the bastard's mind, got up stiffly and walked out the door, tail swishing angrily behind him.

The principal, startled at his sudden movement, said nothing as he slammed the door behind him.

Escher was sitting on the small bench facing the office, Tommy curled up beside him and Ravenovia sat in his lap. He looked up the moment Shepherd stepped through the door, and quickly took note of his mood. 

“I suppose it didn't go well then, love?” 

Shepherd just grumbled, letting a soft hiss pass through his lips. Escher just sighed, standing up with Ravenovia in his arms, and holding on to Tommy's hand.

Tommy's eyes were still red and puffy from crying, and Shepherd walked over to pull him into a hug.

“I still think ya did the right thing bud, it's a shame that ol’ bastard can't see that.” 

Tommy giggled a little bit, though it was still watery, and let Shepherd ruffle his hair. 

Supper and bedtime were a quiet affair that evening, both of the children emotionally exhausted from the day and ready to get some rest.

Shepherd watched from the doorway of the kid's bedroom as Escher tucked them in, with a kiss to each forehead.

Despite the fact that Shepherd had gone through the effort to place a second bed into the room for when Escher and Ravenovia came to stay, the little vampire always curled up with her brother, no matter the day.

Escher strode out of the room, and the two silently made their way to Shepherd's. Slumping on to the bed and flopping onto his back, only a bit dramatically, Shepherd sighed deeply.

Escher sat down next to him, looking down at him with a soft expression, “Are you alright, darling?” he asked.

Shepherd just groaned, “Fuckin’ asshole of a man.” He muttered, a low growl bubbling from deep in his chest.

Escher just hummed in understanding, “Would you like me to go… speak with him?” He asked, playfully.

Shepherd just glared up at him, though there was no real anger behind the look, “Y'ain't allowed to go ‘round killin’ innocents, hon, no matter how shitty they are.”

Escher pouted a bit, though the slight smile he was failing to hide was obvious, as he lay down beside him, the two draped sideways on the bed, “I am wounded that you'd have so little faith in me darling, you never know, maybe I was just going to injure him a bit. Maybe just give him a bit of a scare.” 

Shepherd tried to stifle the chuckle that got out of him, rolling his eyes a bit, “I mean, didja see how old he was? “A lil’ scare” might be ‘nough to kill ‘im all on its own.”

It helped his frustration, he reflected, to laugh about it, however morbid the jokes were.

It was a nice thing to have, a family to remind him that no matter how annoying or terrible some people are, there were people to complain and laugh about them with.