[In the end, they make it home with no one's blood being consumed save for two unfortunate deer. Hardly the best thing to eat after an ordeal, but stubborn shits are going to stubborn and that first deer allowed Alucard to become an active enough member of their little band again. Driving shifts, night watches, all of it. His movement closer to that of a mortal man's, and that was enough to see everyone home.
There's a bed big enough for three there, and the first day is spent with all three in it, a mess of limbs and finally indulged exhaustion. The heated floors help. The fireplace helps. All three of them help, and the rest is so deeply needed.
Two weeks before heading out. That's the thing they agree on eventually, over a stunningly late breakfast that's mostly protein. Then it's back to all regular activties and time left to heal.
And to the surprise of utterly no one, Alucard withdraws more than normal. Spends more time down in the Hold, adding Index entries, and swearing every time he finds some stupid artifact he's allergic to. He's gotten used to it, but his mood's darker for an hour afterwards. He comes to bed later. Gets up earlier. And is thinking too fucking much as Trevor so bluntly puts it.
Lab today. His mother's, because a few books from the lab ended up down in the Hold, and they're not meant to be there. He's quiet as he stands in front of the bookshelf, returning everything to it's proper place.]
[It's not so unheard of, what happens one night in the midst of the two weeks the three of them spend at the castle recuperating. Sypha has heard stories of the phenomenon, certainly; it shows up often enough in tales from around the world to be at least familiar, if not curious. Trevor's religion shares some of the same: sleepers being visited with dreams and prophecies, and awaking the next morning with the guidance offered to them during their slumber.
It happens just once, in the right place and at the right time — on a night when Alucard has finally relented enough to sleep in the middle of the tangle of three, with Trevor's arms around him and Sypha's head tucked under his chin, and the castle still and quiet, and the blankets warm and thick.
It's a dream that begins like a memory: his father's study, the great tall chair by the fire. It faces the door, this time, the way it had for all his years of growing up with these corridors as a playground. The fire is glowing, red-orange and warm. The room is quiet, and still, but oddly not lonely.
It's only after he sits in the chair, and faces the door, that something changes. He'll look once, and find the open portal to the corridor empty.
If he looks twice, he'll find that it's empty no longer — filled now with the figure of a blond woman in a sensible burgundy dress, her soft hair so much like his own in the way that it frames her face in waves.]
[The first day is a total wash. Alucard's rapid vampire healing powers apply to everything but being totally fucked into oblivion by Sypha and Trevor, meaning that he's not articulate beyond a few words for the first half hour, and the idea of moving is just off the books for half an hour more. Food gets made eventually, but the rest of the day is dedicated to lazing about on the other two, and reminding Sypha (when they get into bed that night) that vengence will find her.
The second day finds a good mood enduring, and Alucard refuses to spoil it. Third? He can't, because then Trevor will declare, "and on the third day, vampire Jesus was depressed again" and Trevor can go to hell for that. So the fourth day it is in order to investigate the notes that might help the castle move again.
Alucard never locked the door that lead to his parent's room. It was closed a year before he returned home, and as the door opens, a time capsule reveals itself. Dust has long since settled over every inch of the place. The fire has long gone cold. (It was there just because his father had wanted it, not for real actual warmth.) And the rest well...the rest was in media res.]
[There's a lot of time spent in the engine room these days. After completeing what Alucard simply has called "the damage assesment" he spends too much time matching the destroyed bits to the completed diagram his mother had (he's made a copy already and tucked the original back away for now). They have a map of everything that is broken now, and the jobs of the mechanisms as well.
So the only work left to do is to make anew what must be made anew and to hope that the attempt finds success.
There's other work too, work he does in secret. And for that work, there is, one afternoon, a large lump of something wrapped up and placed on Sypha's part of the bed, along with a much longer bolt of fabric. (Harder to disguise.) The blue is deep and rich and threaded with gold, catching ever-just-so in the light. Heavy fabric, the kind meant to keep out winter's chill, and yet soft to cause no complaint.
[Mornings, even after long and mad nights spent in the city itself, have a routine. Alucard is the first to rise, and his eyes open to see the other two in bed with him, snugged up together or sprawled out, depending on the season. Sometimes he rises late, but even then, it is earlier than the other two. He slips out of grip as carefully as he can, walks over to the wardrobe and wraps the warmest, softest silk bathrobe around himself, puts on slippers, and walks downstairs to begin breakfast.
He woke to only Trevor in bed this morning, and Alucard knows full well Sypha was with the two when they all piled in last night. (Knows because there is a near collar of perfect bitemarks around Trevor's neck, and that sure as hell isn't his handiwork.) He followed the rest of the routine, but breakfast was not the thought on his mind.
The estate, such as it is, sprawls Most of it climbs high into the trees, but the east wing is firmly on the ground. It was an addition for his mother, and then for himself, and an accommodation of some of the modern things his father never did invent. Specifically, it had a garage, and Alucard knows that if there is a siren call that the other two can't resist, it is finding was to supposedly improve the car.
His car. A car that should not have magic or modifications made to it, in spite of protests and in spite of incremental changes over the years.
There's no knocking as he opens the door that connects house to the garage. (The garage is very neatly ordered, with space for three cars. One of those spaces long became dedicated to magic and science that needed to be done outside, not in the lab, and it is useful in that way.]
[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.]
[Sunday goes by in a blur. It's hardly surprising, given the fact that none of them have any intention of getting out of bed after the catastrophe that was Saturday night, and so the only real movement that occurs is when someone inevitably shuffles out of bed just long enough to retrieve a glass of water or stop by the bathroom or, in one case, hastily prepare enough food for three and halfway consider serving it properly before saying fuck it, the sheets will wash, and bringing it all back to bed.
There's a great deal of doting on Alucard, of course, but there's also plenty of letting Alucard dote right back, in equal measure. Sometimes it's all three of them, and sometimes it's two while the third watches, and sometimes it's two while the third dozes contentedly nearby, until eventually they all fall together into a tangle of limbs and contented sighs.
But soon enough Monday comes, and the time comes to rouse themselves again. While Trevor (and possibly Alucard) peel off for a shower, Sypha shuffles downstairs to check the newspapers and review what they know about the attacks on Saturday's party.
It isn't much. Just five hunters and the mysterious delivery of an invitation. Though if she could get her hands on the actual invitation, there might be something she could magic up to assist — but that would require both digging and a plan, and those things are better left for when all three of them are present.]
[Winters aren't cold here, not really. This January is an exception, with the usual weather dipping into the 40s at night. Very cold for the city indeed, and the house is colder without Trevor's presence at the moment. Some of the Church Ladies needed an extra set of hands for a weekend getaway, and that means Alucard and Sypha have been left at the house alone.
There's plenty of fireplaces in the house, even if his father mastered central heating ages ago. It's about the smell and the sound rather than the warmth, and Alucard has not been surprised to find Sypha dozing there on and off all day.
Which is where she is now as well, the night having creeped in after dinner was made and wolfed down. He's not shocked to find Sypha by the fire again.]
[Alucard never invites people to his house, she notices. No one, that is, except her.
For months now, there has been a tension in the air — as though the whole lot of vampires that reside here in this city and its surrounding areas are all collectively holding their breath, which is a funny thought given vampires and their lack of a need to breathe in the first place. But it's there, and she can feel it, and she's not even a vampire herself. She's only the ward of one, kept carefully behind closed doors, spirited to the mundane parts of the city whenever she has a need to get out, and always shielded from the supernatural half as thoroughly as can be managed.
At first, she'd thought that was for her own benefit. More and more, she's started to wonder if it isn't just as much for Alucard's, in its own way.
But then some unknown clock had struck, or some thread of tension had snapped, or some decision had been made. Someone had determined that the city needed to stop holding its breath, and breathe again. Alucard had perceived the opportunity for what it was, and saw in it both the potential for danger, and a risky chance that he would never have cause to seize again.
He often tells her what she needs to know, about the vampire politics, but always only what she needs to know. So she knows the ones who will leave her alone, and the ones to stay away from. She knows where she can walk and where she must avoid. She knows everyone is waiting for Dracula. She knows that Alucard has no idea where he is.
But tonight, one way or another, the business of the city will resume. The gears will turn, the politics will set again in motion. And if they do, while a vacuum of power still exists, then sooner or later that vacuum will be exposed, and there will be chaos as all manner of vampires rush to fill it.
So. Alucard has come up with a different solution. A riskier one, but a better one altogether.
And tonight, she is to be a part of it. No more hiding, no more sneaking. Tonight, they will see her for what she is, too, and that prospect would be daunting were it not for the fact that Alucard will be at her side, always, to keep her safe.]
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[In the end, they make it home with no one's blood being consumed save for two unfortunate deer. Hardly the best thing to eat after an ordeal, but stubborn shits are going to stubborn and that first deer allowed Alucard to become an active enough member of their little band again. Driving shifts, night watches, all of it. His movement closer to that of a mortal man's, and that was enough to see everyone home.
There's a bed big enough for three there, and the first day is spent with all three in it, a mess of limbs and finally indulged exhaustion. The heated floors help. The fireplace helps. All three of them help, and the rest is so deeply needed.
Two weeks before heading out. That's the thing they agree on eventually, over a stunningly late breakfast that's mostly protein. Then it's back to all regular activties and time left to heal.
And to the surprise of utterly no one, Alucard withdraws more than normal. Spends more time down in the Hold, adding Index entries, and swearing every time he finds some stupid artifact he's allergic to. He's gotten used to it, but his mood's darker for an hour afterwards. He comes to bed later. Gets up earlier. And is thinking too fucking much as Trevor so bluntly puts it.
Lab today. His mother's, because a few books from the lab ended up down in the Hold, and they're not meant to be there. He's quiet as he stands in front of the bookshelf, returning everything to it's proper place.]
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drops this onto this post because i do what i want
It happens just once, in the right place and at the right time — on a night when Alucard has finally relented enough to sleep in the middle of the tangle of three, with Trevor's arms around him and Sypha's head tucked under his chin, and the castle still and quiet, and the blankets warm and thick.
It's a dream that begins like a memory: his father's study, the great tall chair by the fire. It faces the door, this time, the way it had for all his years of growing up with these corridors as a playground. The fire is glowing, red-orange and warm. The room is quiet, and still, but oddly not lonely.
It's only after he sits in the chair, and faces the door, that something changes. He'll look once, and find the open portal to the corridor empty.
If he looks twice, he'll find that it's empty no longer — filled now with the figure of a blond woman in a sensible burgundy dress, her soft hair so much like his own in the way that it frames her face in waves.]
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The second day finds a good mood enduring, and Alucard refuses to spoil it. Third? He can't, because then Trevor will declare, "and on the third day, vampire Jesus was depressed again" and Trevor can go to hell for that. So the fourth day it is in order to investigate the notes that might help the castle move again.
Alucard never locked the door that lead to his parent's room. It was closed a year before he returned home, and as the door opens, a time capsule reveals itself. Dust has long since settled over every inch of the place. The fire has long gone cold. (It was there just because his father had wanted it, not for real actual warmth.) And the rest well...the rest was in media res.]
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So the only work left to do is to make anew what must be made anew and to hope that the attempt finds success.
There's other work too, work he does in secret. And for that work, there is, one afternoon, a large lump of something wrapped up and placed on Sypha's part of the bed, along with a much longer bolt of fabric. (Harder to disguise.) The blue is deep and rich and threaded with gold, catching ever-just-so in the light. Heavy fabric, the kind meant to keep out winter's chill, and yet soft to cause no complaint.
Alucard's working in the library for the day.]
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20s AU!!!
He woke to only Trevor in bed this morning, and Alucard knows full well Sypha was with the two when they all piled in last night. (Knows because there is a near collar of perfect bitemarks around Trevor's neck, and that sure as hell isn't his handiwork.) He followed the rest of the routine, but breakfast was not the thought on his mind.
The estate, such as it is, sprawls Most of it climbs high into the trees, but the east wing is firmly on the ground. It was an addition for his mother, and then for himself, and an accommodation of some of the modern things his father never did invent. Specifically, it had a garage, and Alucard knows that if there is a siren call that the other two can't resist, it is finding was to supposedly improve the car.
His car. A car that should not have magic or modifications made to it, in spite of protests and in spite of incremental changes over the years.
There's no knocking as he opens the door that connects house to the garage. (The garage is very neatly ordered, with space for three cars. One of those spaces long became dedicated to magic and science that needed to be done outside, not in the lab, and it is useful in that way.]
Sypha?
[Firm. Concerned. Very much not amused.]
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MORE 20s AU
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.]
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There's a great deal of doting on Alucard, of course, but there's also plenty of letting Alucard dote right back, in equal measure. Sometimes it's all three of them, and sometimes it's two while the third watches, and sometimes it's two while the third dozes contentedly nearby, until eventually they all fall together into a tangle of limbs and contented sighs.
But soon enough Monday comes, and the time comes to rouse themselves again. While Trevor (and possibly Alucard) peel off for a shower, Sypha shuffles downstairs to check the newspapers and review what they know about the attacks on Saturday's party.
It isn't much. Just five hunters and the mysterious delivery of an invitation. Though if she could get her hands on the actual invitation, there might be something she could magic up to assist — but that would require both digging and a plan, and those things are better left for when all three of them are present.]
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There's plenty of fireplaces in the house, even if his father mastered central heating ages ago. It's about the smell and the sound rather than the warmth, and Alucard has not been surprised to find Sypha dozing there on and off all day.
Which is where she is now as well, the night having creeped in after dinner was made and wolfed down. He's not shocked to find Sypha by the fire again.]
...Are you awake?
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For months now, there has been a tension in the air — as though the whole lot of vampires that reside here in this city and its surrounding areas are all collectively holding their breath, which is a funny thought given vampires and their lack of a need to breathe in the first place. But it's there, and she can feel it, and she's not even a vampire herself. She's only the ward of one, kept carefully behind closed doors, spirited to the mundane parts of the city whenever she has a need to get out, and always shielded from the supernatural half as thoroughly as can be managed.
At first, she'd thought that was for her own benefit. More and more, she's started to wonder if it isn't just as much for Alucard's, in its own way.
But then some unknown clock had struck, or some thread of tension had snapped, or some decision had been made. Someone had determined that the city needed to stop holding its breath, and breathe again. Alucard had perceived the opportunity for what it was, and saw in it both the potential for danger, and a risky chance that he would never have cause to seize again.
He often tells her what she needs to know, about the vampire politics, but always only what she needs to know. So she knows the ones who will leave her alone, and the ones to stay away from. She knows where she can walk and where she must avoid. She knows everyone is waiting for Dracula. She knows that Alucard has no idea where he is.
But tonight, one way or another, the business of the city will resume. The gears will turn, the politics will set again in motion. And if they do, while a vacuum of power still exists, then sooner or later that vacuum will be exposed, and there will be chaos as all manner of vampires rush to fill it.
So. Alucard has come up with a different solution. A riskier one, but a better one altogether.
And tonight, she is to be a part of it. No more hiding, no more sneaking. Tonight, they will see her for what she is, too, and that prospect would be daunting were it not for the fact that Alucard will be at her side, always, to keep her safe.]
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