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Haven't had my coffee yet...
[Terrible protest. But true, there's no point in doing that before coffee. Speaking of, the water has hit a boil, and he nudges Sypha gently to request that she let go for now.]
I intend to make that true for a lifetime. But I suppose that means I must give other things as well.
[There's a very thoughtful hum.]
I've been thinking about the other space in the garage, you know.
[Terrible protest. But true, there's no point in doing that before coffee. Speaking of, the water has hit a boil, and he nudges Sypha gently to request that she let go for now.]
I intend to make that true for a lifetime. But I suppose that means I must give other things as well.
[There's a very thoughtful hum.]
I've been thinking about the other space in the garage, you know.
Oh? The one occupied by neither science nor car?
[She SUPPOSES she can be generous, just this once, and at length releases him from her trap. She stays on the counter, though, because it's a fun vantage point for watching him. Sometimes she likes being tall.]
What about it?
[She SUPPOSES she can be generous, just this once, and at length releases him from her trap. She stays on the counter, though, because it's a fun vantage point for watching him. Sometimes she likes being tall.]
What about it?
[Once at the stove, Alucard turns the burner down to a simmering heat, and he knows the timing by heart now. The rest is easy. To the fridge first, for bacon, potatoes, and other leftovers. He's sick of eggs, so for today, it's hash.]
If I got you two a car to experiment with, would you leave mine alone?
If I got you two a car to experiment with, would you leave mine alone?
...Our own car?!
[Was there a second half to that question? Probably. Did Sypha hear it? Verdict is still out. There are, after all, much more pressing things to be concerned with and all of them are their own car.]
That I could drive? Whenever I wanted?
[Was there a second half to that question? Probably. Did Sypha hear it? Verdict is still out. There are, after all, much more pressing things to be concerned with and all of them are their own car.]
That I could drive? Whenever I wanted?
In theory. Once you proved to me that you won't crash it and kill yourself immediately in a 90 mile per hour death machine.
[Because that's an honest fear. One punctuated, for some reason, by the sizzle of bacon being placed into a pan.]
[Because that's an honest fear. One punctuated, for some reason, by the sizzle of bacon being placed into a pan.]
Well, if that's how it is, then you'll just have to watch me drive and see that I can handle myself. Which means letting me drive your car. With me.
[She's actually kicking her feet a little, she's so excited by this.]
Are you sure this is really about preserving your car, and not just that you want to do something wonderful for us, as usual?
[She's actually kicking her feet a little, she's so excited by this.]
Are you sure this is really about preserving your car, and not just that you want to do something wonderful for us, as usual?
Oh no, we'll buy you this thing and teach you on it too. This is absolutely about keeping my car pristine.
[And about doing something nice, but he's terribly worried about that car. It is less about the expense and more about the sentiment, as it was a precious last thing that he and his father considered before everything went to hell.]
We could take care of the matter after breakfast.
[And about doing something nice, but he's terribly worried about that car. It is less about the expense and more about the sentiment, as it was a precious last thing that he and his father considered before everything went to hell.]
We could take care of the matter after breakfast.
That soon? You really have been thinking about this in advance. You've got something already picked out, even, haven't you?
[Leave it to Alucard to make an entire plan and only then reveal it to the world.]
...You'll still let me sit in it, though, won't you? Even if it's just when you're in it, too?
[Leave it to Alucard to make an entire plan and only then reveal it to the world.]
...You'll still let me sit in it, though, won't you? Even if it's just when you're in it, too?
Oh, of course not. You have to be comfortable behind the wheel, and that is a very personal choice.
[He smiles, quite pleased at all of this, and removes the bacon from the pan it has been frying in. It goes onto a plate, and then all the other components of the hash go right into the pan.]
There's a few sellers that are all on the same road.
[He exchanges the tongs used for the bacon for a wooden spoon, and is careful as he moves everything in the pan.]
And of course. I just know that one day theory will become practical application
[He smiles, quite pleased at all of this, and removes the bacon from the pan it has been frying in. It goes onto a plate, and then all the other components of the hash go right into the pan.]
There's a few sellers that are all on the same road.
[He exchanges the tongs used for the bacon for a wooden spoon, and is careful as he moves everything in the pan.]
And of course. I just know that one day theory will become practical application
Aha, see, so you did have it all figured out. How much trouble will I be in if one of your pieces of bacon goes missing before breakfast is ready?
[It's not a non sequitur if you say it real casual and all in the same breath.]
...It's an expensive gift, a whole car. Even if I'm sharing it with Trevor. Have I done anything for you that is equivalent in how special that is? Not equal, perhaps, but at least comparable.
[It's not a non sequitur if you say it real casual and all in the same breath.]
...It's an expensive gift, a whole car. Even if I'm sharing it with Trevor. Have I done anything for you that is equivalent in how special that is? Not equal, perhaps, but at least comparable.
None. I just needed the fat from them.
[He pauses, and one of the three plates he put aside is grabbed. Two rashers of bacon, and he offers the plate with a very smug smile indeed. He knows.]
Are you saying neither of you are worth expensive gifts? It's far more practical than some others I might think of. And it will keep you thinking and experimenting for years to come.
[He pauses, and one of the three plates he put aside is grabbed. Two rashers of bacon, and he offers the plate with a very smug smile indeed. He knows.]
Are you saying neither of you are worth expensive gifts? It's far more practical than some others I might think of. And it will keep you thinking and experimenting for years to come.
Making bacon just for the fat is very nearly the definition of vice and excess, I think.
[Not that she's complaining, because she's about to be busy chewing on her prize of bacon.]
It's not about worth it! Just about being fair. It's harder to gauge when the things I do to make you happy are also things I don't go out and buy.
[Not that she's complaining, because she's about to be busy chewing on her prize of bacon.]
It's not about worth it! Just about being fair. It's harder to gauge when the things I do to make you happy are also things I don't go out and buy.
You eat the bacon, it isn't a waste. And there's a reason I do it, which you'll reap momentarily.
[Sypha, trust the dhampir with food.]
I don't know how many times I will have to repeat that having you here at all is beyond anything else I could ever ask of you. Either of you. That I can give you additional comforts makes me happy, there's no requirement to mutter about what is and isn't fair.
[Sypha, trust the dhampir with food.]
I don't know how many times I will have to repeat that having you here at all is beyond anything else I could ever ask of you. Either of you. That I can give you additional comforts makes me happy, there's no requirement to mutter about what is and isn't fair.
Oh, don't get grumpy. Making you happy just by existing is a passive thing. Sometimes I just want to know I do active things, too. Then making you happy wasn't just a phenomenon; it came about because of my intent.
[She loudly crunches her bacon as if for emphasis, or at least for punctuation.]
I want to love you actively, Alucard. I want to throw myself into it and love you so hard that I could go faster than a ninety-mile-an-hour death machine. That's all it is. I want to do, from love, and see the results in you. I love you too much to let my love sit still.
[She loudly crunches her bacon as if for emphasis, or at least for punctuation.]
I want to love you actively, Alucard. I want to throw myself into it and love you so hard that I could go faster than a ninety-mile-an-hour death machine. That's all it is. I want to do, from love, and see the results in you. I love you too much to let my love sit still.
I am not getting grumpy!
[He's just adding things to the pan at the exact right moment and letting the bacon fat sizzle and interact with all the water in the leftover potatoes first! So he has time for a better and less childish response!]
Maybe I should not have called the car that. [He says in very honest apprasial of his own words.]
But I follow your point. But I also can't tell you how to repay anything I do, because it's on you to figure out. I...actually don't know how to even make a suggestion on where to begin, if I'm being entirely honest.
[He's just adding things to the pan at the exact right moment and letting the bacon fat sizzle and interact with all the water in the leftover potatoes first! So he has time for a better and less childish response!]
Maybe I should not have called the car that. [He says in very honest apprasial of his own words.]
But I follow your point. But I also can't tell you how to repay anything I do, because it's on you to figure out. I...actually don't know how to even make a suggestion on where to begin, if I'm being entirely honest.
I could tell fortunes by the roadside until I save up enough pennies to buy you a flower as pretty as you.
[Maybe the needling has an ulterior motive. Alucard always cooks better when he's inspired, and the easiest way to inspire him is to get him grumping...]
But actually, I've been thinking I could start enchanting things for you. I'm better at making magic stick to objects than you are. I don't mean the car! But other things.
[Maybe the needling has an ulterior motive. Alucard always cooks better when he's inspired, and the easiest way to inspire him is to get him grumping...]
But actually, I've been thinking I could start enchanting things for you. I'm better at making magic stick to objects than you are. I don't mean the car! But other things.
[He turns the anger into food. And in this case that means just stirring with greater vigor than normal.]
Hm. What did you have in mind to start with?
Hm. What did you have in mind to start with?
Self-warming slippers. Which I know you need because your feet are always cold.
[Firsthand experience.]
[Firsthand experience.]
I'm half vampire I cannot help that fact.
[Don't bully him too Sypha, Trevor does enough of it.]
But that does sound quite nice.
[Don't bully him too Sypha, Trevor does enough of it.]
But that does sound quite nice.
Also I think I will tell your fortune sometime. Just for fun. Or perhaps not just for fun.
[She waggles her fingers at him, playfully.]
You won't believe my tricks, though, the way that most people do.
[She waggles her fingers at him, playfully.]
You won't believe my tricks, though, the way that most people do.
Hm, I think I'd be happier to not know.
[Right, time to crumble up at least one of those bacon rashers right over everything in the pan.]
It lets me be very surprised by the two of you.
[Right, time to crumble up at least one of those bacon rashers right over everything in the pan.]
It lets me be very surprised by the two of you.
[There's something a little profound about the fact that Alucard's birthday falls so close to the height of daylight, in Sypha's opinion. For all that he's often cold physically and reserved emotionally, one wouldn't inherently expect his birthday to fall in the midst of summer, warm and bright and when the world is bustling with life. But what most people don't realize is that the summer suits him — lovely and golden and just made for staying out all night.
And speaking of staying out all night, they're set to be sooner rather than later; there's an event coming up this weekend that Alucard has hinted is one they Should Not Miss, which means it's important that he be seen there for one reason or another, which means they'll absolutely be spending the whole night there for the sake of those appearances. Not that she minds, really; she and Trevor get to reap the benefits of the fun, while Alucard has to balance entertainment and business, but so it goes.
Right now, though, she's on her way back from a drive, which superficially had been for the purposes of picking up some supplies from the market but really had just been an excuse to play with her car, and as she pulls up to the front of the house she holds off on putting the car away properly in the garage, mostly so that she can idle underneath one of the windows and honk the horn, hoping to draw out one of her two charming beaus.]
And speaking of staying out all night, they're set to be sooner rather than later; there's an event coming up this weekend that Alucard has hinted is one they Should Not Miss, which means it's important that he be seen there for one reason or another, which means they'll absolutely be spending the whole night there for the sake of those appearances. Not that she minds, really; she and Trevor get to reap the benefits of the fun, while Alucard has to balance entertainment and business, but so it goes.
Right now, though, she's on her way back from a drive, which superficially had been for the purposes of picking up some supplies from the market but really had just been an excuse to play with her car, and as she pulls up to the front of the house she holds off on putting the car away properly in the garage, mostly so that she can idle underneath one of the windows and honk the horn, hoping to draw out one of her two charming beaus.]
[The matter of a summer birthday was not as weird within the world of the strange and unearthly as any might think at first blush. Everyone knew that those born in June and July were those whose parents saw the beautiful autumn for what it was. Well, anything that started out human at any rate. Turning dates were often in autumn. Birthdates in June and July.
It means that the Important Parties happen all at once. Being forced into his father's position requires attendence at certain key ones, and this weekend is not going to be different. There has been some murmurs lately about unsettling elements at the edge of the city, stranger happenings that ought not to be happening in the bayous beyond. None of the information in full has made it's way to Alucard's ears, and so his presence is Required.
Sypha and Trevor coming is what makes it Not Work though. Plus the presence of a Belmont has a wonderful way of throwing everyone off, and Alucard's never going to get sick of that.
It all goes to shit when he gets the mail for the day though. Only 1 envelope, the style of it far too old fashioned for it to be anyone else. He recognizes the script. (There is a sheer hilarity of his father using stamps and the actual mail service, but that will be something noted much later on.)
Alucard's sitting on the sofa in the front room when Sypha honks. He doesn't register it. His eyes are glued to the page.]
It means that the Important Parties happen all at once. Being forced into his father's position requires attendence at certain key ones, and this weekend is not going to be different. There has been some murmurs lately about unsettling elements at the edge of the city, stranger happenings that ought not to be happening in the bayous beyond. None of the information in full has made it's way to Alucard's ears, and so his presence is Required.
Sypha and Trevor coming is what makes it Not Work though. Plus the presence of a Belmont has a wonderful way of throwing everyone off, and Alucard's never going to get sick of that.
It all goes to shit when he gets the mail for the day though. Only 1 envelope, the style of it far too old fashioned for it to be anyone else. He recognizes the script. (There is a sheer hilarity of his father using stamps and the actual mail service, but that will be something noted much later on.)
Alucard's sitting on the sofa in the front room when Sypha honks. He doesn't register it. His eyes are glued to the page.]
[It is, for all intents and purposes, a very short letter. It starts with the word Son as a salutation, but conspicuously lacks any sort of modifier — no my, no dear.
The next line of calligraphy is brief: You have been in my thoughts, of late. Word of your affairs in the city has reached me. I expect all is well.
And the next: I shall travel soon.
And the closing: Your father.
Meanwhile, the lack of reaction to the honking has Sypha sounding the horn again, and when that doesn't pan out, she shrugs and hops out of the car, leaving it out for the time being while she goes to investigate.]
...Alucard?
The next line of calligraphy is brief: You have been in my thoughts, of late. Word of your affairs in the city has reached me. I expect all is well.
And the next: I shall travel soon.
And the closing: Your father.
Meanwhile, the lack of reaction to the honking has Sypha sounding the horn again, and when that doesn't pan out, she shrugs and hops out of the car, leaving it out for the time being while she goes to investigate.]
...Alucard?
[The postal stamps indicate that it's from the northwest. Oregon specifically, which suits, Alucard supposes. Gray and gloom and mostly forests, limiting contact with the human world. Remote. What he needs, Alucard thinks with horrible bitterness, with only a care for home now. After so long an absence.
And no word other than soon.
He can't put the letter down. It's still in his hand when Sypha walks in, and the only greeting she is given is the worst, most weary sigh Alucard has ever managed to sigh in front of either of them.]
And no word other than soon.
He can't put the letter down. It's still in his hand when Sypha walks in, and the only greeting she is given is the worst, most weary sigh Alucard has ever managed to sigh in front of either of them.]
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