The fkficfest story that released today is one that I wrote in response to the prompt "finding out the truth."

Told alternatingly from Natalie's and LaCroix's points-of-view, the story begins very shortly after the events of the season 3 episode "The Games Vampires Play" (the one with the vampire virtual reality game; yeah... that one) with Nick being forced to take some time off work. Natalie hopes he won't keep backsliding like he did in the episode while LaCroix hopes for the exact opposite.

Teen rating. Nick/LaCroix and Nick/Natalie. Brief violence and vampires doing vampire things (about show-level on both fronts). Kinda dark, but also kinda not. We've got ships, but this isn't a romance. I fear I might be sounding like a bit of a killjoy, but, IMO, this is a fun story, if you bear with it to the end.

The Strangest Inklings



If you had asked me during my rewatch of season 3 if I'd ever write a fic tied to "The Games Vampires Play," I'd have said, “LOL, no, what for?" Because, yeah, that episode was not a personal favorite. I thought it was largely forgettable (and, indeed, I barely had any memory of it going into the rewatch). Nonetheless, it was interesting for the dark direction it took Nick. He was enjoying virtual killing and also had zero problem drinking human blood when LaCroix offered some to him. No amnesia, demonic possession, or vampire fever to blame there. Nick made conscious choices about his behavior. Massive backslide for him. Both Nat and LaCroix remarked on Nick's bend toward vampirism in the episode—Nat, of course, with disappointment, and LaCroix with delight. It was 100%, a dark Nick episode. When I looked back at some of the thoughts I had written down about the episode, I had asked, "Is this show even about a vampire who wants to regain his humanity anymore?"

I meant to play with reader expectations with this story, particularly coming off that episode. I did not tell the story from Nick's POV because I wanted to obfuscate what was truly going on. The summary also suggests Nick is just being passively pulled along when that's not the case. At any rate, the setup and progression is all meant to give an impression that Nick's totally gonna cave and go munch on some humans as he spends more and more time with LaCroix.

At the start of the story, Nick says to Nat that he hasn't given up on seeking his humanity and won't give in to LaCroix. All that is true because from the get-go, Nick is the one running the Nick/LaCroix show, reeling in LaCroix just as surely as LaCroix thinks he's doing the same to Nick. But I hid what was going on behind Natalie's and LaCroix's perceptions. Natalie has serious doubts about Nick at the start of the story (and why shouldn't she?). LaCroix, arrogant as he is, assumes he's the one in control. It never even occurs to him that it could be the other way around. He does not see the trap until it is sprung, and likewise, the reader was not meant to either.

Hands down, the BEST thing about writing this story was inverting the dynamic between Nick and LaCroix. I mean, talk about the games vampires play. LaCroix is an absolute master at mind games and pulling tricks that Nick never sees coming. Even when LaCroix is being passive about it, his manipulative behavior often appears to impact Nick (like when LaCroix talks to Nick on the radio, Nick often looks unsettled as LaCroix seems to be tapping into whatever psychic-ish connection they share to zone right in on Nick's feelings). I found it deeply, DEEPLY satisfying to have Nick turn the tables. Sorry, LaCroix, but game, set, match, bitch.

The only things Nick really does here in terms of the dark aspects of vampirism are (1) finish off LaCroix's drink at the Raven, which for me, was part of his subterfuge, and (2) whammy a very bad human to try and make him not as bad. I mean, otherwise, he's just flying around, calibrating his vampire radar, feeling some feelings (and, outside of the BMV memory, those are only depicted through LaCroix's interpretive lens), and getting bitten (but NOT biting in return). No snacking on any live humans like LaCroix wanted him to.

The other episode relevant to this story is “Be My Valentine." I had an idea quite a while back about more that might have happened between Nick and Nat at the restaurant than we saw on screen. I've mentioned before that I write a lot of random little scenes untethered to any story. This was one of them (albeit somewhat truncated here from what I originally conceived). Nice to find something to do with it!

Nick doesn't come totally clean with Nat at the end, keeping what he was doing vague and keeping the extent of his feelings for her to himself. But he starts to move the needle between them just a tad.

I had a total blast with this one, playing with truth and deception. It let me have fun twisting things around, and, by the end, gave me a chance to to inject a leeeeettle bit of hopefulness into this dark point in season 3.