[There's a very slow and very tentative nod from Shell as he averts his eyes. He doesn't mind Reign shifting closer, but at least right now, he won't take well to any attempts to cling to him.]

I don't entirely feel the same as I did before. But it's a little strange to say I wouldn't mind being a vampire as long as I didn't have to drink blood.

[That's a pretty big part of what makes a vampire a vampire, after all.]

But the one who helped me accept myself... that was One. After I told him how I felt about myself, he stopped treating me like a vampire and instead just-- [Like his slave-- yeah, he's not saying that, the context only makes sense to Shell.] --just treated me like a person.