Inherited Hunger (cookie run)

interrogation

A/N: uh ok so uh. Potential trigger warning!!! Y'all know how bad lil vamp has been before. So yeah, he's gonna talk about it. So um. S/H warning.

--

"okay. So tell me again, once more. What has he been doing?" Herb asked, with a serious look on his face.

"Well.. after the uh, incident, he's been completely locked away, he didn't eat anything until I made him this morning. He still.. seems affected. Like it won't go away." Alchemist relayed, looking around at the plants filling the room.

"So he decided to starve it out? Sounds pretty stupid if you ask me. But this is Vampire.." herb sighed, leaning back in the chair he'd pulled out for himself. "Has he.. uh.. yknow. Like last time?"

Alchemist paused, she hadn't thought to check that. "I.. I don't know. I mean.. the room looked tidy enough but I know how good he is at hiding things-" her rambling was cut off when Herb let out another sigh.

"That's another thing to check then.."

Alchemist tilted her head towards the door, she could hear something, Vampire's voice. Herb seemed to pick up on it too.
"Wanna check it out?" He smiled a little, not sure what to expect, but the lack of fright was a good sign.

The pair stood up and made their way to the door, where they saw something they didn't expect.
Sparkling and Vampire, just joking around with each other. It was obvious Vampire had cried, but things seemed.. better. What did catch Alchemist's eye was the suspiciously red beverage that had been served to Vampire.
"Is.. is that?" She turned to Herb, who just gave her a little nod.
"He's been, well to put it simply, harvesting his own jam for him. He's got quite the big supply here. I keep on telling him it's probably not healthy to purge so much but he just keeps insisting." He sighed, turning away from the door. "Just because he can heal himself doesn't mean he should do it. I mean- what if he does too much and passes out? How's he going to heal himself then?"
Alchemist just smiled, turning to watch them interact again.
"It's nice to see him happy again, I think he just needed something like this to happen."

"Well, we've still got to check him over, haven't we?" Herb turned and went back to his chair, "we'll give them a few minutes, but then we've got to do this."

---

Alchemist emerged from the back room, claiming back her seat from before, all while patting Vampire on the shoulder to get his attention.
Vampire was still eagerly engaging in conversation, briefly looking over at his sister, who motioned to the door she'd just gone through.
"... Ah. Sorry Sparks but we're gonna have to cut this chat short, I think I'm needed." He awkwardly laughed, standing up. Sparkling just smiled, and waved him off.

"..so... Heard you've been making a special brew." Alchemist raised a brow, looking at Sparkling, who now seemed a little thrown off.
"How did you-"
"Herb."

Vampire made his way to the back room, and once in, could feel a rather strong stare land on him. Oh boy, this felt like it wouldn't go too well.
He glanced up, but as soon as he did, herb seemed exceptionally happy. 
"Sit, please!" He chirped. How could he say no to that tone?
"So uh..."
"Your hunger hasn't gone away. Has it?" Herb spoke in a matter of fact manner.
Vampire shook his head, simply earning a nod as a response.
"Have you been.. yknow. Like you used to?"

Vampire paused. He knew he couldn't lie to him.
"..yeah."

"Will you show me?" Herb's expression had changed. Was it pity that lined his features? Or was it something more? Vampire couldn't tell, but he'd seen worse.
"I suppose. Just- don't react too badly please- I don't think I could handle it."

"Of course." Herb smiled, staying still as Vampire slowly took off his cloak, and more, until his top half was bare.

"It's.. not that bad." He said, as he looked over Vampire. Normally he'd be ashamed to be so weak in front of another, but this was with Herb. Everything was okay with Herb.
Vampires entire chest was covered in claw marks, some rather deep, some shallow. But almost all of them seemed new. His shoulders were the same, the wounds were everywhere but his hands, and from the top half of his neck up. The worst marks trailed over his shoulder blades and across his chest, they were clearly over done, repeated, consistently redone.

Herb reached out his hand, and Vampire immediately moved over, Kneeling on the floor before him.
"Oh Vamps.. Let me heal you, then we'll talk some more." Herb always had such a good way of handling things like this. Vampire was unstable, but Herb never made it worse. Even if he didn't balance him out, he'd tip him that little bit closer to stability. No one would be able to put how grateful Vampire was for him into words. Not even Vampire himself could explain it. He leaned closer, at this point his forehead pressed gently against Herbs stomach. Herb was safe, was all he could think to himself. He was safe.

As Vampire lay on his lap, Herb gently focused his magic into those deep wounds, healing the broken flesh and sealing the worst of them. He knew he couldn't stop him permanently, but he'd atleast make his suffering less intense.
"Alrighty, if you don't mind me asking, why do you do it?" Herb used the softest tone he could, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. Sometimes quiet works best.
"Sometimes I get these.. thoughts, they're always such stupid little things but they stay in my head for so long- they won't leave me alone-" he paused, shuffling the slightest bit closer. "they build up so much that I can't think anymore. But if I'm hurt it all goes away. It's like magic, really. Stops me doing even more stupid stuff.. yknow?"
Herb subtly nodded, and began to run his free hand through Vampire's hair.
"I don't mean for it to get this bad but, it's the only thing that works every time."
"Hey, it's okay, I get it. We'll work on that together. Promise."

"You don't have to suffer alone. Not anymore."