Tatiana and Humiya were both in the same chemistry class, so the vampire took it upon herself to walk the tanuki to the classroom. "So, how are you liking America, Humiya?" Tatiana asked.
"Very much, Tatiana-san," Humiya responded, her smile wrinkling her chubby face. "You are an excellent host."
"Thanks," Tatiana said. "Please, call me Tats."
"As you wish, Tats-chan," said Humiya. "So, you're a Western vampire, huh?"
"Yes, the Common Nosferatu," Tatiana nodded, "or the vampyra nosferatu, if you care about our scientific name like Whisper does. I believe the dominant vampire breed in your territory would be the jiangshi, right? Whisper says their scientific name's Vampyra jiganscia. Ugh, that one's a serious tongue-twister!"
"Yes, the jiangshi," Humiya nodded. "We call them the kyonshi in Japan. Your kind seems much more supple and flexible than them. They have to hop everywhere they go on account of the extreme rigor mortis in their arms and legs. Is it true that the nosferatu are vulnerable to garlic? It's sticky rice that repels the kyonshi."
"Yes, it's garlic," said Tatiana. "Shame about how the jiangshi have to hop around everywhere. It sounds majorly inconvenient."
"It is awfully undignified, yes," Humiya agreed. "The hengeyokai never let them live it down."
"Hengeyokai?" Tatiana repeated.
"The shapeshifting yokai of Japan," Humiya explained, "our local equivalent of werebeasts. Kitsune, tanuki like me, bakeneko, and kawauso are all hengeyokai."
"And they have as much trouble with the local vampire species as we traditionally do with the werebeasts?" Tatiana asked.
"There's a pretty strong rivalry, yes," Humiya said. "Hey, if it's the same in America, how can you be Selena-san's mate?"
"Shi and my clan are progressive," Tatiana smiled. "We think the rivalry's a relic of a more barbaric time, and Matriarch Carmilla fully agrees. Unfortunately, Selena's parents are a different story. They lead a werewolf pack, and they have no love for vampirekind. Selena's mother Artemis is particularly bad."
"At least your clan is on the right side of history," Humiya said encouragingly. "Hey, you never told me what Liesel, Claudia, and Lenora are like."
Tatiana's eyes lit up with eagerness to talk about her three (biologically) oldest siblings. "Oh, you'll love Liesel! She's a really sweet hippie girl who loves gardening. She works as our clan's seer, and she's training a secondary seer, Jinx."
"A seer is like a priest, right?" Humiya asked.
"Yeah, she receives omens from Mother Night and interprets them," Tatiana answered. "Liesel's good at it, too. She's the most spiritually attuned vampire I've ever met in my unlife. It's kind of funny how unlikely it was that she'd become a vampire at all."
"How so?" asked Humiya asked.
"She was the daughter of a monster hunter," Tatiana explained. "Her birth name was Lisa Vordenburg, and she was being groomed to take up the trade alongside her brothers. But, hippie that she was, she couldn't get over the idea that so-called 'monsters' are people, too. Then her life changed forever when she met a mysterious young woman called Claudia at Woodstock. As it turned out, Claudia was one of us, and she opened up Lisa's eyes to the beauty and majesty of our moonlit world. Once Lisa decided that she was truly in love with Claudia, she asked Matriarch Carmilla to turn her. She became a vampire, was initiated into the clan, and was given the name Liesel von Karnstein. She's been our gentle ray of moonlight ever since."
"And what about this Claudia?" asked Humiya. "What's she like?"
"Punky!" laughed Tatiana. "She wears black leather, she goes to Morgana to recieve magical tattoos and piercings that can stand up to her vampiric healing factor, and she loves her motorcycle like a daughter. Seriously, she's always tinkering on that thing. She was born in 1901, and her birth name was Gertrude Rosenbaum. She was a part of the flapper movement in the Roaring Twenties, and she's been in the thick of counterculture ever since. That's why she was at Woodstock when she met Liesel."
"I can't wait to meet her and Liesel," said Humiya. "That only leaves Lenora."
"She's the oldest," Tatiana said. "She was born in 1690, and she was turned in 1714. She's been with Clan von Karnstein for a long time, and she's very protective of our family. She can even make a downright hostile first impression around new people, I'm afraid. She's a little paranoid. Once you get to know her, she's a delight. She's cultured, polite... and beautiful. Prepare to be awestruck when you first see her."
"I look forward to it," Humiya smiled. "Oh, we're here. Let's talk more after class, okay?"