"Are you a cat or something..?"

Ziggy crawled through the moist graveyard soil. His usual attire was covered in numerous dirt stains;- mud splattered across his young boyish face. Not that this was unusual on his part.

The moon was merely a crescent, making it difficult for him to distinguish the various shadows that lurked within the graveyards massive courtyard. His vampiric eyes were indeed keen, however, being trapped underground in his sewer home made his eye dilation process exceedingly slow. The fluorescent lights within his abandoned office room flickered throughout the whole day; never giving him the full enjoyment of complete darkness.

Ziggy continued to lurk within the shadows, occasionally knocking his head against a randomly placed tomb stone.
"Ah!" he yelped while throwing his palm against his bruised forehead, "What the hell!" he moaned while knocking the stone cross with the back of his fist.
"How did I miss you?" he mumbled while scurrying around the hard barrier.

Nicole crossed her legs and slumped onto the ground, her expression indifferent. She let her murky eyes run over the tombstone. Here lies Gregory Raine, He will be missed. Nicole let the tears slide from her eyes and blur her mascara. There was no indication of her father's life: the year he died, if he was married, if he'd known about her. It wasn't there. She wouldn't ever really know her dad.

A small thud alerted her to another person. She found it odd that someone would be out here at this time of night. Oh wait, she was here. Sniffling, she stood and pulled her sweater around her. If you glanced at her, at first you might assume she was a boy. She was dressed in a large hoodie, jeans, and old tennis shoes. Nothing fit right and she had her hair covered by the sweater.

"Hello?" She called and heard someone say something. The voice was vaguely masculine. Breathing in deeply, she frowned as she couldn't make out the smell. She straightened her shoulders, "Who's there?"

Ziggy froze in his crouching position as the soft calls from another were heard. His hazel eyes widened, as if that would do his eyesight any good. "W-who who's... here?" he questioned silently while trying to conceal his petite frame behind a broad tomb.
"W-why don't y-you show yourself?" he stuttered while trying to control his heavy breathing. His stomach began to knot in nerves, wondering what horrid creatures lurked within graveyards at this time of night. Aside from his self.

He didn't have much explaining to do for his part. He was simply hunting for rats and other delicious delicacies that would satisfy his overwhelming blood lust. Hunting rodents wasn't precisely accepted by other vampires, who often thought draining animals for blood was undoubtedly disgusting. However, for Ziggy, he found it much easier and convenient on his part since seducing others wasn't considerably easy for him to accomplish. Now.. it wasn't that others found him unattractive; It was the simple fact that Ziggy couldn't attract the opposite sex if it would save his life. When this young looking fellow approaches others, they often react by saying, "Sorry, we don't have any change."


Ziggy's inert positioning began to cramp up his stiff legs, and shaking arms. His startled mind began imagining awful monsters beyond his hiding place, and what horrible things they would be ready to do to him. He gulped at the thoughts, and decided the only way to save himself from such a horrible fate, would be... act tough.
"Y-you better s-sh-show your f-f-face, o-r else!" he stammered in a menacing-less tone. He cursed at his own lame attempts and decided remaining completely silent would be the best bet for his part.

Nicole peered through the dark, listening as the voice asked who was there. She stomped her foot slightly. What good was it to be a creature of the night if she couldn't see a goddamned thing? And why did this guy think she would reveal herself? Nikkie glanced around. Although, if there was a light she would be very visible. Standing up wasn't the greatest hiding spot.

Nicole turned to look at her dad's grave. It was the reason she was here. She'd been looking for his grave for a long time now. She'd left her home at the age of twelve and they'd moved. Since then, she had been desperately searching for him. Only, it turned out he was dead. Ha. Go figure. After all, she was a tad old.

Nikkie glared at the dark. Fine. She'd reveal herself. Just because this idiot was being stubborn. And maybe, possibly, also to boost is self-confidence. Not that she would tell him that. Flicking on her lighter, she called, "Over here. Follow the light." She giggled slightly.

"Follow the light?" he hissed sarcastically, "What? Am I dead again?" he chuckled while pressing through the darkness; realizing the voice was merely a female. Ziggy never was able to comprehend the dangers women were capable of inflicting, despite their gender. He followed the faint flickering light that spit low flames from behind yet another gravestone.

He cautiously lurked from the shadows of solitary and peeped his head around the corner. His mouth hung ajar from the anti-climatic anticipation, quickly raising his arms to cover his face.
'Ah-ha-ha!" he cackled while jumping out from behind his tombstone. His eyes quickly lightened as he revealed himself to a rather petite looking female. Well.. he was still smaller.

"Oh." he mumbled while realizing the girl was obviously not a threat. "It's.. uh.." he began while slightly leaning forward, sniffing the females aroma, "A...were..cat?" he mumbled while scratching his head in utter confusion, "W-what?" he questioned himself while sitting back against a broad oak tree.

Nikkie choked as the boy jumped out at her. How had she missed that smell? It was awful. Her light disappeared as she lashed out instinctively. Some how, the leech had managed to sneak up on her. "Holy crap! What the Hell did you do that for?"

Nicole eyed him as she knelt to find her lighter. Flicking her hair away from her freckled face, she ran her fingers through the patchy grass. Ugh. This was useless. She would have to get a new one. She glared at the vampire and got to her feet again. She noticed that he was pretty short. Probably the same height if he didn't slouch so much.

"I am not a cat!" She protested. She glowered at him, her lower lip sticking out. "I may not be a wolf, but I can still fight."

Ziggy's jaw dropped as the snippy girl shot her strong remarks back at him. He raised his arms, waving them back and forth, "W-wait wait!" he snapped while curling his nose up-pinched, brows pulling together, "So you're not a werewolf?" he questioned while beginning to tilt his head to the side. He was temped to lean in closer, in trial of getting a better smell of the strange creature; but his manners told him otherwise.

"A-a-are you s-sure you aren't a c-c-cat?" he stammered while stealthily scooting closer. He just wanted one more wiff. He couldn't help it! He was a Gangrel for God's sake.
Her aroma was indeed strange, and her appearance didn't come off as being a creature of the night.

If anything, she looked like a lost kitten roaming in the wrong parts of town. Ziggy scratched his snarly locks of brown hair, a completely puzzled expression dappled across his young looking face.

"A-a-are you s-s-ure?"

Nicole listened to his nervous stammering. It made her feel a tad better, but she leaned towards him. He obviously wanted to smell her. She grinned. "Trying to figure out what I am? Go ahead, take a whiff."

She took a moment to breathe in his smell, too. He smelled like a vampire, but something else was there. The stinky scent of little animals. Rats, possibly? He must live near a lot of them. The sewers? She blinked. "Do you live in the sewers? Jeez, you smell awful."

Smiling, Nikkie bit her lip . "Do you want to see my animal form?"

"Eh!?" Ziggy spat while self consciously raising his arm to his nose; breathing in his own rancid scent. It would be impossible for him to lie about living in the sewers, especially since he smelled like one. His eyes fell to the floor, embarrassment spreading across his face like wildfire in a forest.
"Y-yeah." he pouted while folding his arms tightly across his chest, "S-so w-what?" he continued while keeping his gaze safe on the cemetery floor. He avoided all eye contact at that point, until the girls uncharacteristic offer broke his self loathing.

"R-really! I mean.. y-you don't m-mind??" he gushed while instantly leaning his head inwards. He didn't wait for her reply; far too anxious by the abrupt proposal.
He took several quick sniffs, unsure of what to make of it. It wasn't as horrible as the aroma of a werewolf.. and it definitely wasn't the familiar smell of a vampire.. As puzzled as he was, he attempted to put two and two together.
"Uhm.. w-well.. If y-you're n-not a cat.. t-then.. Perhaps.. a.. f-f-fox?.. Or a raccoon?" he asked in a puzzled tone. He'd never heard of a werefox, yet then again.. The world he lived in had endless possibilities.

"The sewers. Hmm. That's an interesting place to hang out." She was thoughtful for a second. "Is there a lot of privacy?"

She nodded at his question, but he was already sniffing her. She listened to his guesses with a smile. She bounced nervously. "You can't tell anyone. God that'd be a mess. Promise not to tell." She grinned and took a step back, shrinking into a small fox. Two and a half feet tall, at the shoulder, she let her tail swing back and forth impatiently.

Ziggy nodded his head enthusiastically like a puppy welcoming his owner home, "I-I won't t-tell! P-romise, Promise!" he bounced eagerly while straightening his back against the oak that supported him. His hazel eyes were fixed straight-forward, not realizing she was standing that low to the ground as her petite fox form. He looked blankly at the nothing before him, until finally realizing her height was merely several inches from the ground. His eyes dropped lower to the ground, finally able to view her dainty animal form.

Low bratty giggles crept from his throat; though the intense desire to pick her up and cuddle drove the humor from his mind. His brows furrowed together as he rested his chin in the palm of his dirt covered hand.

"W-well.. you're n-not that m-menacing." he chuckled while stretching his free arm forward, gently patting her atop the head, "B-but I have t-to say.. y-ou're a-a-awfully cute." he mused while continuously scanning her up and down.

"W-why would y-you get in t-trouble?" his curiosity finally taking hold of him yet again.

Nicole gave a foxy grin as he petted her. She padded forward and jumped at his arms. Letting him catch her, she rubbed against him like a cat. She let her bushy tail hit his cheek with a small bark of laughter. But as he said she wasn't very menacing she fluffed up her fur and clamped her teeth around his arm. She let the blood run a little bit before backing away and growing into her human self again.

She blushed as she realized that she wasn't wearing clothes. She looked over the ground to find them. Ugh, it was too dark. She glared at the boy. "Don't look at me I need clothes. They must've fallen off when I changed."

"Agh!" he snapped while grasping his punctured arm. Though he felt minimal pain, a small smile crept onto his face. What a cute attempt.. He thought to himself. He considered overreacting, but that would undoubtedly be silly and moronic on his part. Plus.. her small nip was awfully painful.

Ziggy's placid expression turned upside as the fox transformed into her human form.. naked.

"Uh... uh....uh..." he stammered while quickly jumping to his stumpy legs, quickly covering his eyes with the fabric of his trench coat's high neckline. He could feel his stomach flutter with nerves,- reddened cheeks longing to merge onto his bloodless face. "A-are you d-d-done?" he choked out, still concealing his head within the darkness of his jacket.

Nikkie spotted her clothes and picked them up. "Ah, crap. My shirt." She sniffed her clothes inquisitively. She whined, not sure what else to do. "Ewww. A rat? One of your meals took my shirt. And my hoodie doesn't zip up!"

Ugh. This was the worst. Stupid little animal. Pulling on her flare jeans and hoodie anyways, she crawled over to the leech. She tapped his shoulder and stared up at him with big puppy-dog eyes. The sides of her sweater barely covered her chest. "I don't have a shirt."

Ziggy parted his fingers into a V shape, stealthily peering through his nervous hands. He looked up at the fox girl, completely bewildered by the fact a rat of all things, stole her shirt. A sudden wave of mortification crashed down on him like a forceful wave. His shoulders hunched forward, head hanging low in self shame. As if him contorting himself into a cowering ball would suddenly make him invisible. A low sigh parted his lips as he slowly peeked his head out from the crevices of his self hugging position.

"Uhm..." he croaked out while beginning to peel off his long green coat, "Don't look!" he hissed, while bashfully pulling the only clean particle of clothing from his short body. He quickly slid back into his massive coat, hastily buttoning the snaps all the way to the base of his chin. Ziggy wasn't the most confident person when it came to revealing himself with missing pieces of clothing. He preferred a well covered body.

"H-here." he murmured while holding his hand outstretched, a large plain black tshirt dangled from his loose grasp. "It's.. kinda b-big.. b-but it's c-clean." he mumbled while keeping his back faced opposite of her.

Nikkie closed her eyes respectively as he moved to remove his shirt. She smiled. "My name's Nicole, by the way. Nicole Raine, but you can call me Nikkie."

Opening her eyes, she thanked him for the piece of cloth and pulled it over her head. She sniffed it. "Smells like you. Nice."
She watched him button his coat hastily, catching a glimpse of his pale skin. She poked him in the stomach. "I have a few questions about vampires. Since you're one of them, you can answer right?" She plowed on without hesitating.

"Do vampires need to work out? To be all muscled? Or are they just like that? And can you have kids with a girl? Why do have blood? Does it just sit in your body until you bleed it out? How do you bleed if you don't have a pulse? Wait, do you have a pulse?"

"Zand- Uh.. My n-name's Z-Ziggy." A loud gulp merged from his throat as he noticed the sly fox inch her way closer to his tense frame. As her finger poked him gently in the stomach, he twitched, stepping back while holding himself tightly.

"Uh-uh.. W-well.. I s-suppose I could a-answer those q-q-questions.. Since.. I am a v-vampire." he began while pursing his lips tightly together. The boy still couldn't understand her full intentions, and was unsure if this was all just a cunning joke. Nonetheless, he proceeded with her questions, attempting to answer them as well as he understood himself.

"W-well.. I'm n-not really that m-muscley.." he admitted while flicking his fingers against his stone abs. A dumbfounded look spread across, "Eh, I g-guess v-vampires a-are n-naturally strong..." a soft giggle escaped his stuttering lips.

"I d-don't h-have any k-kids.. S-so I wouldn't k-know.. I t-think we c-can.." he muttered while losing himself at the own thought. He wasn't the most well informed immortal; yet than again, he never really searched for answers.

His subconsciously began to rub is hand against the brim of his chin, brows pulled together closely. "I d-duno r-really.. I think it j-just e-evaporates after a-awhile.." he looked up, slightly puzzled by the numerous questions he yet to find out for himself, "W-we h-have blood.." he protested while pulling his hand from his face, "S-see?" he choked out while brushing his hand against a sharp pointed stone that stuck miserably within the mossy dirt ground. A small scratch tore along his pale flesh, small drops of garnet colored blood dripping to the moist grass.
"W-we a-aren't just s-sacks of f-flesh you know." he chuckled while rubbing his cut hand against the side of his baggy jeans.

"I'm not really good at this stuff." he admitted while scratching the top of his head nervously.

"W-what about y-you? I've n-never heard of a w-were-fox."

Nicole watched him attentively, her eyes following his movements. She giggled at his thoughtful pose. Then, when he cut himself, she winced. That looked stubbornly painful. She snatched up his hand, remembering her bite, as he finished talking. She poked the wound. "That's fine. I still got some information out of you. Wow. That looks uncomfortable. How do you heal? Sorry if I'm bothering you, but I don't hang with immortals a lot."

She frowned at his arm and prodded it again. Dropping the arm, she smiled up at him. "What's your name again? Ziggy, right?"

Ziggy was pleased to know the foxgirl accepted his poor answers to a topic he should have known. Ah well. He was no scholar back in the mortal days.
He giggled while lifting his hand to the front of his face, slowly unfolding his clenched fist. The small scrape was already gone; mere specs of dry blood took the place of the measly cut.
"W-we h-heal extremely q-q-quickly. I d-don't really k-know h-how..." he continued while quickly adding in, "Uh, y-yes! Ziggy." he beamed while pulling his knees closely to his broad chest.

"S-so.. I d-don't know much a-about y-your kind.. W-well.. I d-don't know anything.." he looked at her curiously, while motioning her to enlighten him with the secrets of werefoxism.

"Ziggy? That's a cute name." Nikkie blinked at his inquiry. Being a were-fox changed her instincts and impulses. "Well, I tend to stay human, for obvious reasons, but I'll try."

She rested her chin on her fist, which in turn stood on her knee. Staring attentively, she was suddenly drawn in by Ziggy's face. He was so...lovable. Nicole found herself wondering...Nevermind. She let her thoughts draw upon her resources, ready for questions.

Ziggy fidgeted with the unraveling thread along his baggy fingerless gloves. His bashful gaze spread further as the foxgirl complimented his name. That was definitely rare for Ziggy to hear. He casually propped himself back against the broad tree trunk, trying to conceal his excitement that gushed onto his face.

His placid expression was merely facade to cover the overwhelming enthusiasm he felt towards the accepted questioning. Ziggy was a very curious young man, and anything out of the ordinary was his forte.

"S-so..." he coughed nervously while scooting closer to the girl's face, "H-how did it h-happen? A-are there m-more werefoxes? D-do you d-drink b-blood? Are y-you i-immortal?" he took in a deep breath, "A-are you.. d-d-dead?"

He slowly sat back onto the ground, not realizing he was slowly tilting upwards as the questions poured from his curious lips.

Nicole grinned at his questions. She thought for a moment. "Well, do you know how the first Werewolf was made? It was kind of like that. I was bitten by a fox when I...when I...was in the forest." She cleared her throat and continued. "I don't think there are any other were-fox's, but if there were I would want to meet them. And I don't d-drink blood. If I wasn't immortal I don't think I'd look like this."

She thought about his last question. "Are werewolves dead? I don't think they are. Do I have a pulse?" She leaned closer to Ziggy. "Hmmm?"

"Hey. What does blood taste like? Is it sweet? Like liquid candy? Can you eat human food? Or is it gross? Does a werewolf's blood taste bad?" She blinked at Ziggy.

Ziggy's questions somehow boomeranged right back at him. As she interrogated him once again, he realized just how stupid his questions really were.
"O-oh.. y-you made a p-point there." he murmured while resting his chin against his small knees.
'A-and n-no I d-don't have a p-pulse." he added while holding his fingers against his dead veins.
"I d-don't know.. it's all r-really c-confusing." he smiled while letting his gaze fall to the ground.

He blinked several times before answering her next questions inquiring the taste of blood. The thought made his empty stomach growl obnoxiously. He chastely wrapped his arms around himself, trying to control the loud rumbles that broke the silence.
"It's i-indescribable... v-very d-delicious.. P-perhaps it t-tastes l-like w-whatever that v-vampire d-desires m-most.. F-for example.. I h-have a s-sweet t-t-tooth. So, it's v-very s-sweet t-to me! Like n-nectar."

"Werewolves are d-disgusting." he moaned while imagining their foul blood curdling down his longing throat.

Nicole listened to his thoughts on the taste of blood. That sounded reasonable. Tasting what you wanted to taste. If everyone had the same food it would taste different to each person. She nodded to herself. Then, he made the comment about werewolves and her face fell. "Oh. Well, um. I suppose I should be getting home...b-before I'm found by some creep."

She got to her feet with a sigh. "Well, uh, thanks for the shirt. I can give it back if you want it. It's not like...like anyone can see me in the dark. And you seem uncomfortable around me, so I think I'll be leaving."

"W-what?" Ziggy mumbled nervously while quickly jumping to his feet, "D-did I s-say something w-wrong?"

His sorrow filled eyes fell to the ground as he toyed with the end of his coat, "Y-you can k-keep it.." he whispered while looking up at her hopefully.

This always seemed to happen, no matter the situation. Ziggy was unable to keep a conversation going for longer than 15 minutes, without making it seem compulsively awkward or unintelligent. Perhaps his uncharismatic ways is why he made such a perfect Gangrel. Even if he wanted friends, they always seemed to be unattainable.