cryptsleeper | 20s AU Post

20s AU Post

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.

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Not a monster yet, then.

[ He's been calm so far, that last sentence is strained. Yet. He might yet become a monster, and there's only one way that that can end.

(the Belmonts fight monsters, son)

Alucard looks away, and so he pulls him close again, so their heads are at each others shoulders. ]

It won't happen. I promise. I won't see you dragged away by what you are any more than you will me.

[Oh well fuck Trevor for that last sentence. That's the one that finally fucking breaks the vampire, in so much that the bonelessness just becomes condensed. Like he's still wolfshaped trying to become as small a ball of fur as possible.

Trevor's got a time limit. More than that, they have a time limit to figure out how to make sure the Belmont stays in the human realm. This...everything right now, that takes away from the really important stuff.

(And if this is to be a last year together, then this is a shitty way to spend it.)

He still can't manage words. But there's something muffled, which means he's at least trying.]

[ It's not words. But it's something. He'll take it. Maybe he should have waited. Maybe he should have given Alucard more time. Or maybe this was bound to happen sooner or later anyway, and he just hastened it along.

There's no way of knowing now. Just like there's no way of knowing if Alucard would have been happier had he never come here and started demanding he be a proper vampire. Had he not pushed him as hard as he had on to the path that he's on now, even if it was the only path there was.

He's kind of a shitty boyfriend.

But he stays here, kneeling on the kitchen floor, Alucard slumped over him, hands still now. And he'll stay here until Alucard speaks or moves, just holding him. ]

[And so it goes, and so they go.

They stay holding hands, as predicted, down to the ice cream shop and all the way up to the point when two hands become necessary to eat with, and then they simply stay close to each other as the evening winds its way into nighttime properly.

When they make it back to the steps of the townhouse, she doesn't ask him to walk her back to the Speaker camp, even though she wants to. He's still injured, and needs to rest, and so she leaves him at the door and makes her way back on her own.

He'd asked for two days, and that suits her just fine; she continues going to work, and earns her keep, and he'd been so generous with the supplies and the food that she doesn't feel altogether too guilty about separating out a few coins for herself from the income she brings back to the Speakers, and knows exactly where she intends to spend it that afternoon in town.

When their agreed-upon evening comes, she turns up right on schedule at the townhouse, with a bag tucked under one arm as she trots up and rings the bell.]

[Maybe. But at the time, Trevor was just the Belmont, and the city would be so very different if hands hadn't been forced. Better, worse, probably drenched in blood. The effectiveness of the action can only be judged as the years roll on and worse disasters are weathered.

There's a point where Alucard gives up with person form though. It really is easier to be a wolf, and that means Trevor goes from holding onto his stupid vampire boyfriend to his stupid wolf boyfriend, who seems at least more comfortable trying to burrow into Trevor's side.

Affection and touch feels less hideous like this. Not because it's what helped drag Trevor out towards the two of them (but because that), but because it's so much more natural in this shape.]

[No one Alucard knows (or would know of Alucard, in truth) crosses their path that evening. That thought doesn't occur to him until the next afternoon, when Alucard stirs and realizes he really ought to do the grocery shopping. His bandages are changed (a little better now), but before he sees to shopping, he drives himself to the library. There is research to do, and for food, it must be done at the library rather than the castle. It isn't a collecting area of his father's.

Finding the right recipe takes a little time, but he does find it. Copies it down. Then researches Italian grocers, and that is where he goes to do the week's shopping instead. A new world of smells and cured meats greet him when Alucard enters, and he emerges with the right supplies, plus bread, plus olives, plus polenta (which is grits? apparently?) plus fruit and veg.

When he opens the door for Sypha, the smell of a sauce that has been simmering all day greets her, all tomatoes and herbs and well, garlic, promising that whatever's next is going to be as close to what she saw as it could ever possibly be.

The bag under her arm gets a quiet lift of the eyebrows, but not much else.]

Come in, please.

[He's dressed as simply as possible. Black trousers and a grey button up shirt, because right now trying to pull anything over his head is terrible.]

Good evening!

[Oh, no, black and gray looks really good on him. She squeezes her bag a little tighter and heads in when he bids her to, idling in the front hall and closing her eyes to inhale the delicious aroma of cooking in the air.]

Oh — it's just like what I remember!

[Delighted, she bounces a little on the balls of her feet.]

May I borrow your — um. Is there somewhere I can freshen up?

Bathroom?

He closes the door behind her, then indicates a space just across from the stairs.]

On your right, about halfway to the kitchen.

[ It's laughable, a little. When he first killed a vampire, his sister had put him on the kitchen floor with the dogs to calm down. And now here he is. On the kitchen floor. With a dog. Who killed a vampire.

Things come in cycles.

It's comfortable (the nature of it, not actually being on the floor). Familiar. It's all come before, and it was survived then. He stokes Alucard's fur slowly, idly now without all of the emotion from earlier. ]

Thank you!

[And off she goes, closing the door behind her and rustling around a little bit inside, and when she comes back the sound of her footsteps has changed from shuffling to soft clicking.

Not very surprising, given that she's changed clothes.

It's not a perfect fit; the tailoring is a little off in places, where she's a little thinner and less curvy than the garment's previous owner. It's also a sort of boring shade of taupe, which probably explains how it ended up in the secondhand store where she'd found it in the first place. But it's a skirt that ends at her knees and a drop waist just past her hips, and closed-toe shoes with real heels, and a little sailor collar tie around her neck for an accessory, and she tried.

She doesn't say anything about it when she enters the kitchen, just stands quietly and watches him at whatever he's doing, and waits for the inevitable reaction.]

[The dog is also a vampire!

It is absolutely better like this. Something about wolf mode makes emotions easier to handle, hell if Alucard can explain why. Easier to think about survival, maybe. Simpler to be in warm arms and not question if he's worthy of affection right now because the Belmont reaction to anything dog shaped is need to pet dog.

Maybe the floor is not the best place. But he's also not prepared to move at the moment, so floor it shall have to be until Trevor says something.]

[As it turns out, Alucard is dumping the pasta out of the water and into the strainer, so there's a cloud of steam around him at first. He hears Sypha come in, but he has to shake off the excess water first, get the pasta back into the pot, then start ladeling sauce in to make sure that the spaghetti is evenly coated.

The table's already set, because of course it is, and there's bread set in a basket too, all sliced precisely on the bias. Alucard turns to reach for the actual ladel and...

...oh.

He's staring. Because it's hard not to, and because shit, did she go out of her way to buy that?]

That's...incredibly flattering on you.

[Better than YOU CLOTHES NICE which was the first thought he had.]

I look like a girl, you mean. Instead of just another Speaker.

[She people-watches when she's out, of course. She knows plenty of what's in fashion and what isn't, what people from all walks of life wear at what times and on what occasions. She'd known what she was looking for when she'd gone looking; the options had been few and far between, for various reasons, but she'd picked the best of the available selection.

The shorter skirt feels strange, hitting against the backs of her knees. It makes her turn in a slow circle, causing it to flare out just a little as she completes a revolution.]

I'm not sure if I like it, exactly. But I feel...different. I like that much, at least.

Admittedly, the blue brings your eyes to the forefront more.

[He's going to focus on finishing dinner. Which means actually getting the sauce into the pot and stirring it carefully. No oversaucing. Satisfied with that, Alucard reaches for the first of two plates sat beside the stove, and he piles one with the pasta. Then the next.

He's rather sad that he can't cook and watch Sypha at the same time, but he promised dinner, didn't he? There's two meatballs per plate by the time he's done, and then both plates are down on the table.]

The movement of the skirt suits you. It's more expressive than robes allow for.

[ It's a while before he moves to do anything but stroke Alucard's fur or shuffle to keep his legs from going numb. It's pleasant, and it's easy to act like this is normal (insofar as petting your dog boyfriend is any kind of normal at all). Alucard is back with them. Things are as they were. ]

Back to normal? [ He asks eventually, withdrawing his hands. It's asking a lot, he knows. Alucard wouldn't have slept in this form if it weren't easier on him ] I know how to wash a dog, but I'm pretty sure it would get your clothes wet if I did it right now.

[Normal gets a head shake no. Normal is going to need to be redefined from where he sits, and that'll take a day or two more.

The other question just gets an annoyed huff. Because that requires an actual answer, and the wolf sits back on it's haunches. Enough movement for Alucard to be Alucard again.]

If I was being truthful, I don't actually know if my clothes would get wet or not. I've never conducted that experiment. Now is likely not the time.

[But his wolf nose knows that he really, really needs to stand under water for a while.]

You of all people should know how difficult it is to find something in Speaker blue.

[She's utterly engrossed in watching him, however, and that look of delight is slowly creeping back into her expression as he manages to set out a spread that looks almost exactly like the one in her memories that she'd envisioned when she'd made her request.]

You really did all this in two days?

True, but there are other complimentary shades I can think of.

[The food's on the table, which means he can sit down properly. There's less hesitation as he does so too, which speaks to something else much more important.]

Yes. Library and grocery shopping yesterday, and then I cooked today. The hardest part was finding the recipe.

Well, you can strip and turn back and I'll wash you as a dog, or you can stay that shape and wash like that.

I'm not offended by the smell, but you're the one whose nose is closest to you. And you're probably going to get upset that I've got dog-smell all over my church clothes.

[ He really doesn't care. And he doesn't put much faith in the idea that a wash would help all that much (despite the fact that it always does). But Alucard does care about that kind of thing, and the days of not washing probably aren't helping him feel any less like something that isn't him. Also, vampire blood. He knows him well enough to trust that there's absolutely no trace of it left. But it won't hurt to let him make certain of it. ]

She'll worry less, once you're fed and cleaned. [ Yes using Sypha for this is low. No he doesn't care. It's also true. ]

Wolf fur is too dense to wash. And my apologies to your church clothes, I'll work on getting the stench off them later today.

[That's something to do at least. Alucard's aware that he reeks and he's made Trevor reek too. This is all prompt enough to force Alucard up off the floor, and he moves carefully.

Carefully, and flinching at the mention of Sypha. Great. Fuck. Of course.]

She'll be a few hours yet if she's joyriding.

Well then. You can stay you-shaped and I'll wash you, or you can wash yourself.

[ This is starting to sound like a conversation that usually happens the other way around. ]

Longer, perhaps. Tanti's with her. Wanted to see what the demon-car could do.

[Alucard's all set to find something to say to the first part but...]

I'm sorry, that sounded like Florence is about to drive the demon-car.

Oh, it's worse. Sypha is driving the demon-car. Florence is cheering her on. And possibly also threatening the demon to make it go faster.

[ ...if it turns out that all he had to do to snap Alucard out of this was just horrify him with this information- ]

She used the demon car to collect me from church. The demon car had opinions about driving past a church. Tanti got involved. I asked them to leave me at home. For obvious reasons.

The demon car is going to go faster and start spewing fire from it's engine. While they're at a traffic light in front of a police officer. Then Florence is going to get into it, and...

[Why can he see all of this unfolding so easily? Why????]

I should have never gotten that car.

This would be why I asked them to leave me at home, yes.

[ He does not share this thirst for adventure and dying in a car accident that Sypha and his grandmas seem to have. ]

I should have just told you that in the first place, shouldn't I? No need for all the feelings shit, just tell you about the demon car to get our shitty vampire back.

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Page 26 of 141

20s AU Post

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