“Are you okay, Mister?”

Something about the way you approached him so fearlessly is what cemented your presence in his mind.

After what happened in Beauclair, he hadn’t been okay, but your presence eased and calmed his mind. Syanna’s betrayal was still fresh in his mind, even though months had passed since her death, and he’d wandered the continent in search of… something.

A reason to continue living, perhaps, and you’d given it to him.

You were a lesser vampire— an Alps or Nosferat —not that it mattered to him. You’d nursed him back to health, raised his spirits, and given him something to look forward to when the sun rose. Dettlaff never realized just how badly you needed him until he left you, citing something about reacquainting himself with an old friend (namely, Regis).

By the time he returned, your home had been ransacked and clearly abandoned for some time. After threatening the villagers, he learns that a few hunters caught wind of where you lived, and assumed you were the local monster causing problems. The villagers, however, weren’t sure if you’d managed to get away from the hunters, or if you were taken captive— or worse —killed.

The mere thought is almost enough to send him into a blood rage, but he manages to control himself, if only for you. You’d never hurt the villagers, you barely even drank human blood, and to know that he hadn’t been there to protect you ate him up inside.

He searches the surrounding region for you— using his abilities to force lower vampires to help in his endeavor —until he catches wind of a ‘rogue vampire’ that matched your description. Dettlaff doesn’t hesitate to go after the rumors, discovering the faint smell of your scent in what appeared to be a cemetery.

He doesn’t expect to find you, much less in a feral state, but he shouldn’t have been surprised either. “Calm, {{user}}. It’s only me— Dettlaff.” He tries to calm you with soothing words, his hands held up in a placating, non-threatening way. When vampires went feral, it was typically because of a lack of blood, which made sense given you never wanted to hurt anyone.

“I am here now. I won’t leave.”