20s AU Post

[cryptsleeper]

"Land of the Dead" (Watch on YouTube)

Current Carmilla plot outline
--Post-fire, Carmilla and Mr. Peanut team up mostly to use each other. Carmilla's spent the past several months (since November, it is now February 1925) networking, and it's clear to her that Alucard's not suited for the position and that the other two are the obvious weakness. Mr Peanut needs something back, so this is perfect on her end. Mr Peanut can only imagine the joys of vampire blood in his work, and he'd like an army of vampires for his own ends.
--Shit stirring from Mr Peanut (all of March?)
--Mr Peanut also begins to sell mis Miracle Serum, which has vampire blood in it.
--Gang is very much trying to murder Mr Peanut during this.
--Start of April, vampire gets a call from one of the blood bank contacts that 3 patients have come in and are displaying some bizarre signs. Investigation yields the fact that they're in process of turning, and they've all taken the same serum.
--Additional investigation reveals O FUCK IT MR PEANUT
--Meanwhile Carmilla's been made aware of a familiar she didn't sire, so she knows something's up. Big fight with Mr. Peanut and thus Mr. Peanut is left depowered
--Gang commits a murder
--Carmilla's well sured up on her contacts now, and it's time for open rebellion (mid-April)
--In a more subtle attempt to let Alucard just step aside, she cuts the breaks on demon car and shows up to gloat/suggest he not pull a dad and go to deal with his grief quietly while she runs the city. The how he wants to do it is up to him (black widow joke goes here.) Treffy and Sypha walk in.
--1 week of straight up rebellion; feedings, no help from allies, need to do damage control instead of fight carmilla, every dracula rule is
--MEANWHILE IN GRAVITY FALLS, triangle shows Vlad what's up to try and psyche him out, somehow this finalyl snaps Vlad out of his depression and he heads home
--Just in time for Alucard and Carmilla to be tearing each other to bits in one of the bayous, it's not going well
--Vlad coming in means the king of vampires is accosted by a belmont with a pair of blessed knitting needles and a speaker with a fucking gun and he's just like what the shit happened to the world while i was gone
--Wards around the fight means that only demon car can break the wards, everyone has to pile in.
--Carmilla gets her ass kicked AND SENT TO THE JUSTICE DIMENSION

THEN THERE WERE FAERIES.
--Prior to all of this the vampire and Sypha have done a shit ton of research on how to get their Belmont back
--Sypha has also been practicing debating with dad, which leaves everyone Very Tired.
--When Trevor is actually snatched up (1 year after marriage, it takes fae effort. Taking Arn's shape fails, so it's a lot more kidnapping by force), Sypha and Alucard go into Faerie
--But they're playing this as politics, not as heroes rescuing their damsel, so that means the faeries are just "wait what now excuse u?"
--There are 3 gates and 3 trials (the particulars we're still bullshitting.) Each is asked to sacrifice 3 things. (Alucard: voice, his titles as bestowed upon by his father and his people, i forget the third; Sypha: her human form (she's a birb), fuck what were the other two)
--They enter the court at the end of the third trial. After LITERALLY ALL THE TITLES Sypha declares she Speaks for Trevor Belmont
--Claim debate over Trevor, turns out that the rules are in Sypha's favor.
--But that means debating to leave Fae without giving up what they've chosen.
--Sypha lawyers it all out, Alucard is a safety deposit and hangs out with Fae!Trevor
--In the end, safe passage out of Faerie consists of Sypha giving up her memory of the necromancer (billed as a great mage she studied under), the vampire gives up his immortality, and Trevor is replaced with Carmilla (dad was aware of this option and OK with it), but Trevor has his ability to swear taken. He now soundslike a rubber ducky when he tries
--Everyone gets home okay, except for the AU of this AU where the gang fails, but Trevor's on their doorstep like a bat out of Hell because time doesn't work right and he's been in Hell for a WHILE.

Comments

[cryptsleeper]

Should've gotten exact words on that. [He sighs, nuzzling what he can reach of her.] Sorry.

[It's the only word left in his vocabulary. It'll be the only thing he has period if this all goes to Hell and beyond, and at that point he'll choke it out at the foot of their far too large and far too lonely bed until he has to be dragged away. (He knows he will have to be.)

That thin noise is not a Sypha noise. Not something Alucard wants to hear ever again.]

I want you here. Both of you. I...[It has always been need with him, hasn't it? Need because of the grief or support or every comfort that they share.] I would be so much worse without you.

[miraclewhip]

[ The warning is good. The warning helps. He knows that Sypha's hand is coming, and he doesn't flinch when it touches him. For a while, it's too much. Strangling. Suffocating. But he's suffocating anyway, isn't he? (There's glass. There's glass. There's glass.) Slowly, slowly, he tries to time his breaths to those squeezes. It's painful. This can't possibly be the right amount of breathing to do. But Sypha wouldn't lie to him. Wouldn't let him be hurt.

His breathing settles. Carefully, he moves back, shifting so he's sitting instead of resting on his hands and knees. ]

...-fucked up again.

[willpowerful]

Shh, shhh. Enough of that, now. You've said it enough, now. No more.

[It's not a night she'd want to relive again, the way each and every I'm sorry had spilled from his mouth, cascading from his lips like ice melt feeding rivers in the spring. It's also not a night she'll ever forget, because Speakers don't. They never do.]

He might let you keep Trevor. If the worst comes to worst. He might not take the both of us.

[miraclewhip]

[ He slumps in defeat, letting Alucard guide him. Didn't even make it as far as the door. Didn't do any better than he did last night, even. And now- now Alucard could be leading him anywhere. He trusts him, of course he trusts him, but it's unnerving, to not know at all where he is.

This isn't home, after all. It's a fucking demon castle. People like him die here. People like him come here to die. ]

Stairs. When are the stairs?

[ He asks, trying to get at least some idea of where they are. ]

[cryptsleeper]

Don't...[Don't start because it will sound like plotting. Don't start because the horrible thought is now in his head, and that's a new thing to panic about that he hadn't thought of before! Thanks!!

He can fall quiet though. It isn't easier, but it helps him remember the next part of this routine of theirs.]

I can't lift you onto the counter easily right now.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's already ushered them both out the bedroom and into the corridor of their wing. He's holding fast, like it's going to help Trevor get out of his own horrible head. (It won't.)]

A few more feet. We're not past the palace of Sypha's radio shows yet.

[The vampire got comfier furniture for just that a few weeks ago as a belated Christmas gift. They're moving at as normal a pace as Alucard can force, and then he comes to a stop.]

Okay, stairs are here. The railing is just to your left.

[willpowerful]

...Well. Perhaps just a little.

[She keeps her fingers on his arm even as he shifts, careful not to break the contact so that he can still track where she is. As he sits back, she lets her hand run up his arm toward his shoulder, then over the top and down until the flat of her palm is resting against his chest.]

But I am here now. I'm going to keep you safe.

[She lets her voice go a little lower and smoother, like velvet.]

You are always, always there for me when I need you. Now I'm here with you, too.

[willpowerful]

I can do it.

[She bumps her head lightly against him, a little affectionate headbutt before she draws back and looks at him, eyes soft.]

Show me where you want me? We can pretend you lifted me just this once, even if I do it myself.

[cryptsleeper]

[To determine where she can go, Alucard has to look away. It...it takes too much effort for him to do that, and even when Alucard does turn his head, he keeps Sypha in his periphery. He's lost her once.

Never-a-fucking-gain.

There's her usual spot. He pats it gently, a space a few inches from the cutting board and near the sink, with no cabinets overhead to make it uncomfortable to sit.]

I'm surprised the counter isn't molded to fit you already.

[miraclewhip]

[ His hand falls onto the railing, and he tries to take a step forward. He tries, but every cell in his body is screaming that this is a very bad idea. He can barely stand up. His grip on the railing isn't firm enough to save him if he falls. And he trusts Alucard. He trusts Alucard to catch him. But he'll still fall. He'll still risk making this worse.

He can't do this. ]

...Adrian, I can't-

[ He clenches his jaw. He can't do this. He can't go down the stairs. Not with just Adrian's hand. He needs to lean against him, to be certain that he won't fall if he stumbles. But in order to achieve that he needs to ask for it. ]

-I'm sorry.

[ Not quite. ]

[willpowerful]

I am not that heavy.

[But she shuffles along with him, orbiting him like a moon around a planet, always staying within his gravity — because she's doing the same thing, keeping him in sight, letting him see her in return.

When she makes it to the counter, it's easy to set her hands on it and lift herself up with a jump and a push, until she's comfortably on the lip of the counter with her legs dangling.]

Don't be mean to me.

[cryptsleeper]

Don't be. Even with just a head injury, you've done amazingly well.

[His mother would say it better. Alucard doesn't know what the right way to say it is, and so he can just pull Trevor by a little bit.]

Arrange yourself on me first.

[cryptsleeper]

Just there often enough.

[He remembers this part so easily. Sypha is settled on the counter, so he wraps his arms around her waist. Rests his chin on her, then looks up, up at her beautiful and perfect face. It's the easiest, most comfortable way to express all the vulnerability he has, and today that is overflowing.

There's a soft sigh, and Alucard settles like he always does.]

What is the traditional number for quests or trials, in those types of stories?

[miraclewhip]

[ Sypha's presence is calming. Soft and steady, like sunlight-warmed earth. He keeps timing his breath to the movement of her hand on his, trying to match her own. Tries to will his heart to stop racing. It's working. Slowly, slowly, it's working.

The panic leaves a vacuum, though. There's nothing there when it fades. No bravado. No training. No determination. Even the self-deprecation that he's clinging to only fills it halfway. There's just a raw, empty place where it was. His steadier breath becomes ragged. His body curls in on itself. He's not realised yet that there are tears beginning to trail down his cheeks. ]

I'm sorry. [ How many times has he said that these last few days? It feels like that's just what it sounds like when he exhales, by now. Does it even mean anything anymore? ]

[willpowerful]

...Three. Always three. A beginning, a middle, and an end. Or, I suppose — simple, medium, and difficult.

[She pauses, regarding him softly as she dips her chin to nuzzle against his cheek.]

Or body, mind, and soul. Why do you ask?

[cryptsleeper]

[She's still running colder than she should be. All he wants to do is scoop her off the counter, curl up around Sypha, and stay there until the fire inside of her is burning brightly again.

There a not-chuckle from the vampire, soft and regretful.]

Oh, we're well over the three limit then, aren't we?

[miraclewhip]

Don't want- no carrying.

[ He can cling to that, at least. That he can do this on his own two feet, even if he needs support for it. He has to cling to that one thing.

(Being lifted into Alucard's arms is for happier times. If he lets him do that now, it's giving up on happier times ever coming to pass again, somehow.)

He reaches out to touch Alucard, trying to map him out, work out which parts are where. And he wants to wrap his arms around his shoulders, but he can't lift them that high. Not without the pain becoming unbearable. He settles for just leaning against his body, hands pressed against his chest. ]

Have to walk it. Just- I just need help.

[cryptsleeper]

Understood.

[It would be the easiest way to deal with it, but Alucard knows that if Trevor is insisting about something in particular, it is with reason. He has some thought in his head that has the request be a logical one, and the vampire has to honor it.

He's still, letting Trevor figure out what the best way to move for him is. All of this is under Trevor's steam, or it is not at all.

Alucard adjusts to the weight on him. It's nothing at the end of the day.]

Okay. When I stay step, that will mean move your leg down. Will that work for you?

[miraclewhip]

[ The logic behind it is the same logic behind the thought that coming here, that seeing Dracula with his own eyes and facing him, would make everything right. The exact same logic. There's a thing he ought to do, a ridiculous task that nobody else would think to ask of anyone, and he has to do it because somewhere in his head it's become the one thing that will make things better.

They're probably lucky that what he's settled on is as simple as 'going to the kitchen' ]

Yeah- yeah, that works. Just- humour me with this shit, and I'll humour you and try to eat.

[willpowerful]

It's only a little broken glass. No great harm done.

[She's aware, of course, that that's probably not what he meant — certainly not what he's apologizing for. But it seems kinder, for the moment, to avoid remarking on his sadness and distress. Better, perhaps, to keep from calling attention to it, lest it come back in force. Better, instead, to remain calm herself, in the hopes that he can follow her to find a calm of his own.]

Did your hand slip, when you were filling it?

[She doesn't take her hands off of him. She won't, not when that connection is his lifeline to knowing she's still there. One hand comes to settle on his arm, near his elbow, while the other leaves his chest and skims back up to pet at his hair.

She tries to make it idle, incidental, kind when her fingertips drift down to gently brush his tears away. She doesn't know if it works.]

[cryptsleeper]

That's a fair trade if I've ever heard it.

[Alucard's careful as they reach the edge of the landing. His grip on Trevor isn't iron, but it may as well be for all the vampire tries to pull Trevor to him and keep the Belmont there and as rock steady as the vampire possibly can.]

First step. You'll get sick of my voice soon.

[He's calm though, so calm. Trying to be a beacon in a storm, if only by voice alone. The kitchen is a good goal. Important.]

[willpowerful]

That depends on how we look at it, perhaps.

[Her nuzzling is slowly evolving into little butterfly kisses, which in turn are melting into more solid ones that linger. Kissing him feels natural, and familiar, and safe. She needs all of those things right now, and doesn't want to have to merely pick from among them.]

This might only be the middle, depending.

[cryptsleeper]

Explain? I would have thought that...the matter I charged into was the last of three.

[Damien. The Necromancer. Carmilla. That's three.

Alucard leans into every kiss, the thought of cooking now forgotten and abandoned. He's hardly been touch starved since waking, but he is clingy now, far clingier than ever before. It's desperate, it's trying to claw back something normal, it's not how he should be reacting but here he is, falling into the oldest and surest of comforts: Sypha.]

[willpowerful]

You were unconscious for our first...meeting...with your father.

[She won't call it a confrontation. No admitting to hostilities between them and Dracula. One of the rules is to abide by his laws, and Dracula has killed people for less insult than disrespect.]

The other day was the second. At the end of this will be one more, the third. That might be another three, itself.

[miraclewhip]

[ He makes a few attempts at answering, and isn't successful until the third. ]

Dizzy. Needed- hands. To not fall.

[ His shoulders sink with the effort when the last of those words leaves him. And he doesn't speak for a while longer, just trying to concentrate on Sypha's hands. The're in his hair. And then they're not, and- oh. He hadn't realised that there were tears there. Was he crying? (Pathetic.) ]

Can't- can't English. French?