Alucard \\ Adrian F. Ţepeş (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cryptsleeper) wrote2018-11-10 11:26 pm
cryptsleeper) wrote2018-11-10 11:26 pm
We'll get a new wagon.
[For God's sake Trevor. He just shakes his head, so fond and so exasperated.]
Or I can show up the way I did before and scare you half to death.
[For God's sake Trevor. He just shakes his head, so fond and so exasperated.]
Or I can show up the way I did before and scare you half to death.
Fuck off, that was the correct reaction to lightning striking three feet away when you're in the middle of an awful dinner.
[ And he lets go of Alucard's shoulder to shove him for that, down into the grass. ]
But now you know you can do that shit, and that's good.
[ And he lets go of Alucard's shoulder to shove him for that, down into the grass. ]
But now you know you can do that shit, and that's good.
[Well Trevor, the problem with shoving the vampire is he still has an arm around your waist. Which means he's going to try and drag you with him.]
That shit is the most exhausting magic I've done in...some time. As good a skill as it is to have, I am very keen to avoid it in most cases.
That shit is the most exhausting magic I've done in...some time. As good a skill as it is to have, I am very keen to avoid it in most cases.
[ This is awful and was not at all the plan. Oh no. The dog yips in alarm as they both pull each other into the grass, jumping out of Alucard's lap to climb onto his side instead. ]
Well fuck. So you can't just come visit us while we're away?
[ What do you mean you can't use vampire magic for booty calls if you get lonely ]
Well fuck. So you can't just come visit us while we're away?
[ What do you mean you can't use vampire magic for booty calls if you get lonely ]
[Just as planned! Alucard smirks in triumph, even if the dog's climbing on his side instead of Trevor. He got the Belmont laid low, so that's what's important.]
If I am needed and missed so desperately, I could be persuaded.
[He didn't say no now did he?]
If I am needed and missed so desperately, I could be persuaded.
[He didn't say no now did he?]
You always are.
[ He brings a hand up to Alucard's cheek, stroking it softly. It's soft, and it's tender, and maybe he could imagine Leon being soft and tender in a way that he certainly couldn't imagine him swearing and shoving people over. But it wasn't unique to Leon. Any fucker would be soft and tender if they were here with someone so very precious. ]
Could never touch you through the mirror.
[ As Sypha liked to make sure they were all very aware of. She had a particular fondness for talking in great detail about the things that they would do if they could. ]
[ He brings a hand up to Alucard's cheek, stroking it softly. It's soft, and it's tender, and maybe he could imagine Leon being soft and tender in a way that he certainly couldn't imagine him swearing and shoving people over. But it wasn't unique to Leon. Any fucker would be soft and tender if they were here with someone so very precious. ]
Could never touch you through the mirror.
[ As Sypha liked to make sure they were all very aware of. She had a particular fondness for talking in great detail about the things that they would do if they could. ]
We need a scale of....11 to 20, then.
[He blushes at the touch. Leans into it because of the tenderness and because it feels so good in this moment. Endless summer, the garden beating out the smell of the stables on the wind, and God he just wants this moment to stay like this.
And okay, there's the right amount of contrast between tender and exactly what Sypha's mirror time tended to lead to in the evening. There's a hand in Trevor's hair, trying to hold him where he is.]
No. I don't think there's magic to help with that in any form.
[Sypha's way with words was a problem some nights.]
[He blushes at the touch. Leans into it because of the tenderness and because it feels so good in this moment. Endless summer, the garden beating out the smell of the stables on the wind, and God he just wants this moment to stay like this.
And okay, there's the right amount of contrast between tender and exactly what Sypha's mirror time tended to lead to in the evening. There's a hand in Trevor's hair, trying to hold him where he is.]
No. I don't think there's magic to help with that in any form.
[Sypha's way with words was a problem some nights.]
Use whatever scale you please. You'll always be needed.
[ He's not going anywhere. It's summer, and the weather's unlikely to turn any time soon (if it even can, rather than just being stuck on this one bright, warm day forever). He's perfectly content to just stay out here until night and then sleep in the grass. They'll probably have to go back inside to eat and to invite Sypha, but that's something for future Trevor to worry about. ]
Once or twice while we're away, at least. To keep us from doing anything stupid. And we'll be with you while you rest it off.
[ And- Okay, so maybe anything as strenuous as sex might be out of the question after using that magic, if it always leaves Alucard as exhausted as it did before. But he can be there. He can sleep between them and Sypha can curl herself around him and bury her face in his hair and kiss the back of his neck and he can kiss his forehead and fall asleep to the feeling of cool breaths against his collarbone. ]
[ He's not going anywhere. It's summer, and the weather's unlikely to turn any time soon (if it even can, rather than just being stuck on this one bright, warm day forever). He's perfectly content to just stay out here until night and then sleep in the grass. They'll probably have to go back inside to eat and to invite Sypha, but that's something for future Trevor to worry about. ]
Once or twice while we're away, at least. To keep us from doing anything stupid. And we'll be with you while you rest it off.
[ And- Okay, so maybe anything as strenuous as sex might be out of the question after using that magic, if it always leaves Alucard as exhausted as it did before. But he can be there. He can sleep between them and Sypha can curl herself around him and bury her face in his hair and kiss the back of his neck and he can kiss his forehead and fall asleep to the feeling of cool breaths against his collarbone. ]
That doesn't help me determine how deeply I must abandon my post.
[Soldier, after all.
He'll have to get started on dinner soon. Probably. Maybe it'll be no cooking at all, just bread and cheese and meat taken outside instead of in, the three of them outside and then curled up when everything's eaten, and staying out until who even knows when. It's too charmed for what their circumstances are. Why they're here to begin with. It shouldn't be indulged.
But they'll do it anyway because that's the lesson from Carmilla, in the end? Do all of this before something happens and potentially removes the opportunity to do it ever again.]
What that sounds like to me is I take a day and a half, because the morning will be exhausting in a way that traveling isn't.
[But even if there isn't that, there's nights spent together in the two best pairs of arms. He can't protest about being near the door if they're out in the open. No doors on the road.]
[Soldier, after all.
He'll have to get started on dinner soon. Probably. Maybe it'll be no cooking at all, just bread and cheese and meat taken outside instead of in, the three of them outside and then curled up when everything's eaten, and staying out until who even knows when. It's too charmed for what their circumstances are. Why they're here to begin with. It shouldn't be indulged.
But they'll do it anyway because that's the lesson from Carmilla, in the end? Do all of this before something happens and potentially removes the opportunity to do it ever again.]
What that sounds like to me is I take a day and a half, because the morning will be exhausting in a way that traveling isn't.
[But even if there isn't that, there's nights spent together in the two best pairs of arms. He can't protest about being near the door if they're out in the open. No doors on the road.]
I can't imagine why that would be. My intentions here are perfectly pure.
[ No they are not. And then, with the worst and most shit-eating grin- ]
What did you think I meant?
[ No they are not. And then, with the worst and most shit-eating grin- ]
What did you think I meant?
You know damn well what you meant and now you're just being rude.
{That is the biggest shit eating grin Belmont and he's going to just scowl at it!!!]
{That is the biggest shit eating grin Belmont and he's going to just scowl at it!!!]
[ The grin does not become any less shit-eating. He's the worst. The actual worst. ]
Did you think I meant that I wanted to get my hands all over you? To see you all flushed and out of breath? To make you make that stupid noise you do when someone kisses you here?
[ And he punctuates that last one by moving his hand from Alucard's cheek to the back of his neck, scratching lightly at the top of it where his hair begins.
And yes he is being a giant shit and ruining the wonderful moment but in his defense he must bully vampires. It is his purpose in life. ]
Did you think I meant that I wanted to get my hands all over you? To see you all flushed and out of breath? To make you make that stupid noise you do when someone kisses you here?
[ And he punctuates that last one by moving his hand from Alucard's cheek to the back of his neck, scratching lightly at the top of it where his hair begins.
And yes he is being a giant shit and ruining the wonderful moment but in his defense he must bully vampires. It is his purpose in life. ]
[It is only bullying when they say it's bullying otherwise it is flirting and making promises that Trevor better make good on.]
I thought that much was the entire point of the proposition. [And speaking of that stupid noise, there it is. And then there's the fuming to go with it.]
You've been taking notes from Sypha, I see.
I thought that much was the entire point of the proposition. [And speaking of that stupid noise, there it is. And then there's the fuming to go with it.]
You've been taking notes from Sypha, I see.
We needed something to discuss while waiting for the metal to cool.
[ The grin turns less horrible and more genuinely delighted at that stupid, perfect noise. And there is a little less of that silly feigned-innocence voice that he has totally been doing. ]
Maybe we just wanted you with us. To enjoy your company.
[ The grin turns less horrible and more genuinely delighted at that stupid, perfect noise. And there is a little less of that silly feigned-innocence voice that he has totally been doing. ]
Maybe we just wanted you with us. To enjoy your company.
Productive. Very productive.
[Ht's being a shit about that.
Mostly.]
Maybe. And maybe I want both things, hm?
[Ht's being a shit about that.
Mostly.]
Maybe. And maybe I want both things, hm?
Well if you're going to come all that way to visit us, it's only fair that we try to arrange that.
[ Until whatever needs to happen for them to stay together finally happens, they're both going to miss him bitterly whenever they're apart. It's a lot to ask of him, to exhaust himself using that spell. But they're selfish, and they want him to be selfish, and then nobody has to be lonely. ]
[ Until whatever needs to happen for them to stay together finally happens, they're both going to miss him bitterly whenever they're apart. It's a lot to ask of him, to exhaust himself using that spell. But they're selfish, and they want him to be selfish, and then nobody has to be lonely. ]
Oh yes, a very great hardship to arrange.
[It's the easiest thing in the world. That spell, it won't be as bad if they're in Wallachia. It was how he and Sypha first tested it, and he had only needed to sit for half an hour to make all well again.
He smiles, knowing that the exhaustion is worth it. He's bad at being selfish, so framing it as the other two needing, well. What else can he do but give?]
[It's the easiest thing in the world. That spell, it won't be as bad if they're in Wallachia. It was how he and Sypha first tested it, and he had only needed to sit for half an hour to make all well again.
He smiles, knowing that the exhaustion is worth it. He's bad at being selfish, so framing it as the other two needing, well. What else can he do but give?]
[ Their first return to what-it-still-felt-odd-to-call-home had been. Strange. Difficult. Emotional. Most of the castle was still unsafe. It wasn't ready for them. Alucard hadn't been ready for them either, Trevor suspects. The castle never saw a Belmont twice, up until then. And maybe its master hadn't been expecting them to return either. They'd spent the night outside, that night, in the late spring air and on the same bedrolls they'd been dragging around on the wagon. And he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen anyone so simultaneously joyful and anguished as Alucard had been when he'd watched Sypha curl up into his arms to sleep.
Because he and Sypha made a different shape, these days, and they still had to work out how to fit Alucard against it.
It had been simple enough in the end. Or rather, it had been simple enough for Sypha. She was good at this shit. She mediated, and she slept between them, and they both adored her. They set up the room where they would sleep between them, and Alucard figured out which areas of the castle were safe and things were- whatever fucked up kind of thing passes for normal in his life nowadays.
Sypha isn't here now, called off to aid one of the caravans with some kind of magical bullshit that he doesn't understand, and so once again they've been left with a pair of shapes that don't quite fit together so much as they both fit against her. ]
You don't have to pretend to sleep for my sake. That shit must bore you out of your mind.
[ It's the early hours of the morning, and it's a deeply weird feeling, after a few weeks of the three of them being piled into a definitely-not-large-enough-for-three bed, to be sharing a bed with someone and determinedly not touching them. And he still has his eyes closed, his back turned to Alucard, but he can hear the way he's breathing. And he's still a Belmont who Must Observe the Vampire. He knows what awake-Alucard's breath sounds like. ]
Because he and Sypha made a different shape, these days, and they still had to work out how to fit Alucard against it.
It had been simple enough in the end. Or rather, it had been simple enough for Sypha. She was good at this shit. She mediated, and she slept between them, and they both adored her. They set up the room where they would sleep between them, and Alucard figured out which areas of the castle were safe and things were- whatever fucked up kind of thing passes for normal in his life nowadays.
Sypha isn't here now, called off to aid one of the caravans with some kind of magical bullshit that he doesn't understand, and so once again they've been left with a pair of shapes that don't quite fit together so much as they both fit against her. ]
You don't have to pretend to sleep for my sake. That shit must bore you out of your mind.
[ It's the early hours of the morning, and it's a deeply weird feeling, after a few weeks of the three of them being piled into a definitely-not-large-enough-for-three bed, to be sharing a bed with someone and determinedly not touching them. And he still has his eyes closed, his back turned to Alucard, but he can hear the way he's breathing. And he's still a Belmont who Must Observe the Vampire. He knows what awake-Alucard's breath sounds like. ]
Edited 2018-12-19 03:12 (UTC)
[There hadn't been particular notification that the two were coming back to the castle. Had there been, Alucard would have at least been able to eck out a spot for the two in all the glass and rubble and millions of repairs that needed to be done. The list was so long, and that didn't even include the Hold. (He hadn't even touched the Hold. He could float and getting in and out of it was still a pain.) He had barely enough food to feed three. In truth their coming back was a real surprise. (Sypha probably figured that one out in two seconds.)
So that tree it had been, and there had been half a dozen awkward parts that went with it. The same strangeness in the next morning, and a few days in, until Sypha made a simple decision and that was that. Alucard had managed to find at least a small set of rooms that were undamaged and not terribly deep into the castle's depths (the other two would get so lost so fast). And that had been that for a brief time.
It was a weird shape. He didn't dislike it, it felt nice when his brain turned off and he just enjoyed the weight of Sypha either curled up in his arms or trying to tug him close. He didn't really sleep, so he focused on her warmth instead. And on trying not to brush up against Trevor too much, because there were far too many questions. They couldn't demand Sypha mediate everything.
For that reason, her absence is keenly felt. The bed is weird, Alucard has his own he could just use instead, but he isn't because that'd be weird too. So he lays there in silence, his face turned towards the door. Expecting nothing.]
Anything I want to do at the moment would be extremely loud and wake you.
[Repairs are loud and the castle does echo.]
Go to sleep.
So that tree it had been, and there had been half a dozen awkward parts that went with it. The same strangeness in the next morning, and a few days in, until Sypha made a simple decision and that was that. Alucard had managed to find at least a small set of rooms that were undamaged and not terribly deep into the castle's depths (the other two would get so lost so fast). And that had been that for a brief time.
It was a weird shape. He didn't dislike it, it felt nice when his brain turned off and he just enjoyed the weight of Sypha either curled up in his arms or trying to tug him close. He didn't really sleep, so he focused on her warmth instead. And on trying not to brush up against Trevor too much, because there were far too many questions. They couldn't demand Sypha mediate everything.
For that reason, her absence is keenly felt. The bed is weird, Alucard has his own he could just use instead, but he isn't because that'd be weird too. So he lays there in silence, his face turned towards the door. Expecting nothing.]
Anything I want to do at the moment would be extremely loud and wake you.
[Repairs are loud and the castle does echo.]
Go to sleep.
Fucking guarantee I've slept through worse.
[ Usually as a result of drunkenness, but still. He's good at determining what's danger and what isn't in his sleep and tuning out what he needs to. It's a skill you learn, sleeping outdoors for the better part of two decades.
It's not a skill that fucking prepares you for situations like this. He can tell animals scrapping from a monster attack, but that's no use at all when the thing keeping you awake is the fact that you're sharing a bed with an infuriatingly beautiful floaty ethereal vampire and your muscle memory is screaming that 'right now, your arms ought to be here'. ]
Already did. [ His subconscious is being simultaneously better and worse than usual. On the one hand, no burning. Fucking fantastic. On the other, what the fuck is he supposed to do with its newfound habit of coming up with new contexts for the end of that fight in Gresit? ] Done now.
[ Usually as a result of drunkenness, but still. He's good at determining what's danger and what isn't in his sleep and tuning out what he needs to. It's a skill you learn, sleeping outdoors for the better part of two decades.
It's not a skill that fucking prepares you for situations like this. He can tell animals scrapping from a monster attack, but that's no use at all when the thing keeping you awake is the fact that you're sharing a bed with an infuriatingly beautiful floaty ethereal vampire and your muscle memory is screaming that 'right now, your arms ought to be here'. ]
Already did. [ His subconscious is being simultaneously better and worse than usual. On the one hand, no burning. Fucking fantastic. On the other, what the fuck is he supposed to do with its newfound habit of coming up with new contexts for the end of that fight in Gresit? ] Done now.
It'd be rude to guests.
[Because that...that's still true. This is his home, they're visiting. At least that's as far as Alucard's come to understand whatever this all is right now. Either way, he's sat up fully now, back still turned. Feet on the floor, and fairly certain that just getting out of bed is better than lingering in awkwardness.
Sypha's not here. So it's painfully awkward.]
My sleep habits aren't ones you should copy. And it isn't like you're inclined to read until dawn either.
[Because that...that's still true. This is his home, they're visiting. At least that's as far as Alucard's come to understand whatever this all is right now. Either way, he's sat up fully now, back still turned. Feet on the floor, and fairly certain that just getting out of bed is better than lingering in awkwardness.
Sypha's not here. So it's painfully awkward.]
My sleep habits aren't ones you should copy. And it isn't like you're inclined to read until dawn either.
Guests.
[ He does turn over to look at Alucard at that, because movement. He doesn't sit up, but he raises himself a little on one arm. Guests. It doesn't sound wrong, not for referring to him. For referring to Sypha, though. ]
Is that what she is, too? Figured you'd think of her as- closer.
[ He does turn over to look at Alucard at that, because movement. He doesn't sit up, but he raises himself a little on one arm. Guests. It doesn't sound wrong, not for referring to him. For referring to Sypha, though. ]
Is that what she is, too? Figured you'd think of her as- closer.
[He's on his feet. Going for the door, because he's awake and maybe he can at least justify working on returning the pages of books to their appropriate homes in the library. Bookbinding is an art he is learning by requirement now, and it is quiet work. Good night time work.]
I don't know what any of this is.
[There's honesty in that statement at least. What any of this is is beyond him, aside from moving forward with whatever this aftermath will eventually settle as.]
I don't know what any of this is.
[There's honesty in that statement at least. What any of this is is beyond him, aside from moving forward with whatever this aftermath will eventually settle as.]
Don't go around calling her 'guest', at least. She'll hate it.
[ It's honest, and not all that combative for once. Because she will hate it. Because it's taking something away from her, making the castle just another of many, many, many places that aren't really her home, just a place where she stays sometimes.
It's easier to talk about Sypha. She talks about how she feels so very much, and he has nothing better to do than to memorize it. ]
You're family to her. That's what this shit is.
[ It's honest, and not all that combative for once. Because she will hate it. Because it's taking something away from her, making the castle just another of many, many, many places that aren't really her home, just a place where she stays sometimes.
It's easier to talk about Sypha. She talks about how she feels so very much, and he has nothing better to do than to memorize it. ]
You're family to her. That's what this shit is.
...Mm.
[His hand lingers on the doorknob. (He has to unlock it first, because he is still Alucard.) Sypha's....open. And straightforward. And any call she makes is impossible to question because of those facts and because she has always known what she wanted.
It made things easier. Less complicated, because he could just respond to all of it. No thinking required than just going with what Sypha wanted and his own gut. The rest was...nebulous at best.]
And your take?
[His hand lingers on the doorknob. (He has to unlock it first, because he is still Alucard.) Sypha's....open. And straightforward. And any call she makes is impossible to question because of those facts and because she has always known what she wanted.
It made things easier. Less complicated, because he could just respond to all of it. No thinking required than just going with what Sypha wanted and his own gut. The rest was...nebulous at best.]
And your take?
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