miraclewhip: (5wkkWeZ)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Acceptable. Helium balloons don't exist yet, so Trevor sadly has no frame of reference to make the completely sensible suggestion that Alucard just float and let Trevor pull him around to sidestep the problems of stairs and uneven ground entirely.

And uneven ground is a problem, occasionally in places where it probably wasn't on the rare occasions that Alucard's been in this part of the estate before. Trevor warns him, and they go slowly, and thankfully nobody falls over. And then there's a pause, the sound of something being opened, and Alucard is led forward again, and then it's closed again behind him. ]


Open your eyes.

[ It's. Very bright. It's a small building, made with a wooden frame covered with white cloth that's gone slightly transparent from being treated with linseed oil, and the sunlight filtered though the cloth is- everywhere. There are wooden boxes at each side of the narrow path through the middle of it, about knee high and filled to the top with soil.

And Trevor is sheepish, not meeting Alucard's eyes and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. ]


It's- it's for Sypha.
miraclewhip: of 'soap', 'shaving' and 'basic human decency'. (Wallacia man confused by concepts)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
It's- Leon wrote about it. That your father was working on something to keep Sara's people from going hungry, before they were called off to war and it all went to shit. Except he never fucking finished it, so- most of this is a guess.

He had the place heated with alchemy bullshit, so that he could trick plants into thinking it was summer all the time. And I thought that raising the beds off the ground would at least keep them from dying to frost, but I'm not certain now that it's finished, and I can't exactly light a fire in here to keep it warm because it's made of wood and cloth and oil and-

[ This is so fucking awkward, and he's not even looked up to see Alucard's face. He's not good with the 'giving' part of gifts. Or even the 'talking about giving' part of them, in this case. He likes working on this shit, he likes people having the shit he's worked on, and he hates the step in the middle. Because it involves admitting that he cares. And it doesn't help that this is him asking Alucard to fix his own mistakes. ]

-and also fuck, Pliny the Elder has a lot to fucking say about emperors who are far, far too fond of cucumbers.

[ YOUR DAD REFERENCES SO MANY STUPID FUCKING TEXTS IN HIS WORK. HE HAD TO READ SO MUCH TO FIGURE THIS OUT. ]
miraclewhip: (aPk7qgU)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
Fucking Romans.

[ He repeats with a put-upon sigh, because it's easier to say stupid shit than to acknowledge that he's doing something that's A Big Deal and that he's put effort and feeling into and then he actually looks at Alucard and. Fuck. Fuck. He's making that face. What is he even meant to do about that face? It's so bright and perfect and really they could just leave Alucard here the problem would be solved and all the plants would grow toward him, that smile is so bright and warm.

And- shit. He just wants to make him keep making that stupid perfect smile. ]


This was the last of it. If you want to see the rest.
miraclewhip: on this one fucking pretty nerdlord vampire (Wallachia man blames all problems)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
There's- not a lot to explain, really. This is the only thing that needs it, and you understood it the second you saw it.

[ Because Alucard's brilliant. Both of them are. He loves them both so much. And in truth this doesn't feel like enough, but it's what he can achieve with what he's good at - work and not being afraid of filth and memorizing the fuck out of every relevant text in one of the smaller sections of Dracula's library (because what use does a vampire have for texts on the best soil conditions for growing certain kinds of fruit? He half-suspects that most of the books in that section were acquired as gifts for his wife). ]

But I'll show you. Come with me.

[ He opens the door of the he-doesn't-know-that-it's-called-a-greenhouse-yet to lead Alucard into the old kitchen gardens of the Belmont house. It's split into two parts, now, with a wall between the parts closest to the old house (where the mass grave is, and the whole thing is alive with wildflowers this time of year) and the part where he's been working.

He's been working a lot.

The plants that were there for Belmont Reasons, the aconite and dogrose and hawthorne and sloe, all of them have been dug up and moved into the great mess of wildflowers. Still there if they're ever needed, but far enough away and controlled enough to not be a danger to the vampire and forming a tight barrier of thorns around the grave. In their place, the garden is- right now it's a lot of dirt, because things take time to grow. Some of them won't be ready for this harvest season (though the spinach is already showing signs of being an overachieving little shit that's going to take over everything if left unchecked, and the strawberries are already starting to bar fruit). But they're there, even if some of them are still only barely visible above the ground. Along the garden side of the wall, close enough to the mess of wildflowers to hopefully attract occupants come next spring, are five bee skeps.

And he's watching Alucard's face so carefully now, watching for any reaction at all. ]


I- don't think bee stings should hurt you. So it seemed like a waste not to have them.
miraclewhip: (U2rYBgs)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 02:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Alucard's face is filling his entire vision right now and it's terribly overwhelming. He's figured out how to react to warmth, how to react to warmth even when he can't just make a stupid comment to shrug it off. This is too much. This is him being looked at the way he looks at Sypha and Alucard when they're too busy talking about some magic bullshit to see him. Being looked at in that way that it's only really fair to look at people when they can't see you because what the fuck is he supposed to do with a face that bright and lovely and perfect? ]

I needed something to keep me busy. [ What he does in the end is to busy his head in Alucard's shoulder, because he can't fucking talk while looking at that face. It's too much. His heart might just burst. And- it is true what he's saying. Because at least the first week of his recovery wasn't spent working, just on sitting here and processing everything once the adrenaline was gone, and keeping busy was an excellent way to keep him from going too far into his own head. ] You know how I get when I'm not doing anything. It seemed as good a thing to work on as any.
miraclewhip: well shit. (Wallachia man has first crush)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Well good, because you're making this fucking weird.

[ That was probably meant to come out a little harsher than it actually does, because it comes out sounding so ridiculously adoring that he's not sure the words actually came out of his own mouth. ]

It's good to see you smiling, you dramatic fuck.
miraclewhip: (8Zyjbae)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
I'm going to blame this shit on you when Sypha sees it, because I'm not dealing with this twice.

[ But he's putting his arms around Alucard, pulling them closer. He's maybe, maybe a little bit proud that he has it in him to make one of the two best people in the world so happy. ]

You both deserve all of this. You both deserve so very much.
miraclewhip: bra and hat, vandalises church property (Wallachia man wearing nothing but)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Then I'll just hide in the hold until everyone's done having feelings at me.

[ Oh, he's laughing as he says it, but it's a legitimate threat. This is overwhelming. But it's also wonderful. So, so wonderful. They've been through so much for his sake, it's nice to be able to start repaying that. ]
miraclewhip: 'I don't like it, I don't like it at all' (Wallachia man has feeling)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
Well shit. You should have told me that before I got attached. Too fucking late now.

[ He'll always be a little like this. It's hard to grow accustomed to being surrounded with this much love after so long of being deprived of it completely. But he'll try. Maybe. Every now and then. ]

She won't buy that, either. Because I'm not going to tell her about it until the thing's finished. And I saw you looking at the strawberries. You're going to serve them to her, because of course you are, and so she's going to know that you've known a while as soon as she sees the plant.
miraclewhip: with iguanas after 2 week stalemate (Wallachia man reaches alliance)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
Not yet. I got lucky with the strawberries. They were already here, just needed replanting. I was going to dig up some of the wild blackberries to plant them here, but they’re a little too far away.

[ He’s still technically recovering, after all. Well enough to be left to himself and to work, but not well enough to be out of yelling for help range of the two of them. And more important, he’s actually trying to care about that. Following the rules and everything. Actually Behaving, and not just doing it to try to fluster the vampire. ]
miraclewhip: (8blQFIT)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
The fuck kind of question is that?

[ Yes.

This is the man who told a horse that he was fucking a vampire with a completely straight face, and now here he is, struggling to talk about gardening. ]


I started it back before we knew if I'd be able to use the whip again. [ It had been in doubt, for a little while. Alucard's recovery had been painful but certain, but it didn't work that way for humans. Very little has ever been certain with humans. ] So I'd have something I could do. And- fuck.

[ It's easy to talk about the concept of being stuck here. Less easy to talk about choosing to stay. And so he falls back on his old reliable means of communicating with Alucard: sassing him by throwing his own words back at him. ]

I'm yours. You know that.
miraclewhip: (8Zyjbae)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
You are.

[ And it's unfair to tell him things like that right now, because how is he meant to say no? How is he meant to say anything at all when the vampire is crying at him. Of course he has to keep building. Of course he has to stay. Of course he has to do every last thing Alucard says, because he's crying at him.

He doesn't know what he's supposed to build, because really they don't need that much, but he'll have to figure something out. Because this is, apparently, what happens when he builds things. And he hates it and it's wonderful. His arms were already around Alucard, but now his hand is at his back, rubbing awkwardly because that's what you do when people cry at you, right??? ]
miraclewhip: does not expect it to last. (Wallachia man happy for once)

[personal profile] miraclewhip 2019-01-04 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He isn't letting go. And so Trevor doesn't let go. This is nice. This is comfortable. It's still overwhelming to look at Alucard's face, but if he cants his head to one side, settles against his shoulder again to look up at him from a different angle, it's a little easier.

And this is theirs. Like the little bedroom that they've made their own and lost and rebuilt. He made this for them, and it's not something left to them by some ancestor. Just theirs.

The secret's going to be out if they stay here for too long. But maybe- maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Sypha would see her gift incomplete, of course. But then she'd be all too eager to leap into the work of figuring out how to heat it, and he could watch her all excited, throwing solutions at Alucard for him to consider.

He's happy. He's happy here. And he's going to be happy here for a long time yet. ]