I fly into the forest, trying to avoid making noise. I think for a minute, then activate a protective forcefield around my skin, just in case. I hear some noise from my left and I veer that way, slowing my wings, taking a deep breath and holding it, and dimming the slight glow of my body. Once I feel I’m camouflaged enough, I approach the noise. It is a strange brownish-gray color and round. It’s maybe the size of a sheep. It has claws like a cat and looks like a cross between a wolf and a rabbit with its large ears. I consider it for a moment, watching it lumber about. It doesn’t look terribly strong, but I want to be cautious. It looks more fat than anything. There's a nest of branches around it, and it nudges them a few times. I hold one hand out towards it and focus on my gravity magic. It takes a moment, but I figure I’m doing it right when I see its front legs buckle and it bellows. I push a bit harder with my magic, and it falls to the ground. It struggles to take a breath, and after a few smaller and smaller breaths I let up quickly. I’m not sure if vampires need their prey alive, but I'm not willing to kill it anyways. And besides... Trigger said he just needs a pint a day, so maybe he can leave it alive? I take the gravity off of it until it floats into the air. It’s breathing more normally, but it seems like it has a cracked rib or two. This creature, whatever it is, tries to swat at me with a claw, then whimpers in pain. I kinda feel bad, but I grab the fluffy tail gently and pull it with me as I fly back. Once back, I heal its injuries, then settle in the clearing. I see Trigger swinging an axe. I flutter closer to him and offer him the fat fluffy wolf rabbit.

“Here?” I say, pushing it over to him. The creature tries to run, but in the zero gravity it just makes it spin and slowly flip over so its feet are in the air. It stops struggling, looking extremely confused. Trigger smiles and thanks me, then swings it over his shoulder and walks out of sight.

I bite my lip, thankful he isn’t doing it in front of me, and embarrassed that I care. It’s just his feeding, but… I turn away from where he went and look at what he’s done. There are a few trees down already, and Twila is sitting on one of them. I walk over.

“Umm, how’s it going?” I ask awkwardly, trying not to think about and definitely not hear Trigger. She smirks at me.

“You like him, don't you?” She teases me.

“What? No. Why do you think that?” I protest.

“You just hunted for him even though you don’t like killing things.” She points out. I shake my head.

“No, I mean, he has to eat too, right? I’d share food from my replicator… Besides. I didn’t actually kill whatever it was. I just… broke a few of its bones so it didn't run away. But then I healed it again!” She grins at me and waggles her head. I scrunch up my nose and turn away. Seeing Trigger’s tools, I pick up one that seems like it could take a branch off a tree. I might as well be useful if I don’t want to hear Twila’s teasing. I’ve never really done this before, but between my AI and practice, I do my best until I hear a footstep behind me. I turn and see Trigger walking back.

“Good job,” he comments before picking up his axe. I don’t have the heart to ask him if he meant my hunting or my small pile of branches. I just nod awkwardly.

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He pauses, “Let’s see… a tree is 2 feet in diameter, we need at least 6 feet, so that's four logs per wall, four walls, three smaller ones for the rafters…. 16 full-sized trees.” He looks around. There are 5 trees laid out so far. He resumes felling trees as I trim branches with Twila.

We manage to get the trees down, branches trimmed, and hauled over to the foundation by the time the sun starts to set. Trigger flops onto the sand next to the foundation after hauling the last log by himself.

“Well, that was a fun day. I only need about 2 hours of sleep, then I can get back to it.”

I blink at him. “You need 2 hours of sleep and only a pint of blood a day and you can do all that?” I ask.

“Improved Biology.” He winks.

“So, vampire superhero.” Twila comments.

“To an extent, I suppose.” He smirks.

‘Definitely a superhero, he’s selling himself short!’ I hear in my head. I smile.

‘Nice to hear from you again, Alastor.’ I think back. ‘Can he hear us?’ I ask a second later.

‘Only if I let him.’ Alastor tells me. I nod.

‘But you can see and hear everything he does? I’m just curious.’ I ask.

“Technically, I control what he sees and feels, right now, he sees me sitting to his right on the log pile.’

I blink at that, looking where Alastor indicated. I can’t see anything, but I had to check.

‘Alright then.’ I say.

‘I usually hang around him, it keeps him from being quite so lonely.’ Alastor says. I nod.

‘Makes sense. That’s nice of you.’

‘He is my master, his happiness is my happiness.’

‘Can you hear my thoughts aside from the ones I'm sending you?’ I ask after a pause.

“I told him not to try, neither of us likes the pain you cause us when we attempt it.” Trigger says aloud, butting into the silence and startling me.

“Okay,” I say.

“Well, we should probably sleep, and you two should sleep away from here so I can work on the cabin.” Trigger comments after a moment. I look at Twila and nod.

“Should I sleep in my house?” I ask after a moment.

“It would be safer than here, you may want to forcefully eject any malevolent entities that could have wound up in there to be on the safe side.”

“I… never considered that.” I nod firmly. “That sounds good. Twila, do you want to come with me?” I ask. She nods, and I pull out my ring. “You’ll be ok, right?” I ask Trigger, unsure how to leave.

Trigger snorts, “Superhero, remember?” I smile at that.

“Well, goodnight superhero. See you tomorrow.” I say, then activate my ring and step inside. I scan the house with my mind, and am relieved when I find no one but myself and Twila inside. I ask Twila what she wants to eat and she shrugs. I’m too tired to spend much time on it, so I ask my replicator for my favorite energy bars and hand one to Twila, then find the bathroom before walking into the blue bedroom that I liked the looks of last time I was in here. I blink sleepily and change to a long t-shirt and underwear for pjs before crawling into bed. I barely notice the window dimming to a starry night sky before I drift off.