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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[ The needle is, at least, very sharp. Not so sharp that he can't feel it going in, but this could be a lot worse. Has been a lot worse. He doesn't thrash or try to move away from it, and he manages not to sound too distressed. He really doesn't want to distract Alucard right now. He clenches harder at the bed, and he's probably going to pull the sheet free and need to remake it, but that's hardly a great problem. ]

[It's impossible for Alucard to accurately account for how long he's been in the bathroom. (In the future there will be a room in the castle for this, the other two will jokingly call it the tantrum hole, and all three are going to need to make use of it.) All he knows is that he has voiced every feeling he has, and now there is just exhaustion.

Exhaustion and the need to change his bandages, because there are spots of red in his shirt. He's gone and tore his stitches like an idiot. He had managed to avoid that this entire time, even with picking Sypha up and moving her about. Figures that this happens when se's gone (gone west), and he has to do it on his own.

Alucard sheds his shirt, and when he looks in the bathroom mirror (also a medicine chest, far better stocked than any home in the state), there's a wreck looking back at him. His hair is every which way, his cheeks are flushed red, his eyes are no better. There's matted dampness all down to his chin, and he pauses just long enough to use his shirt sleeve to dry those tears.

The shirt goes into the hamper there (it's just his clothes within), and he starts to undo the bandages. Looks down at the scar that is forming underneath them, and winces from it all. His father's handiwork is a horror of burnt flesh, stitches, and now red seeping out from the middle. He can sew it, but even glancing at what's down there makes him want to collapse on the floor again. How he isn't dead from this is still beyond Alucard. How he managed to get to he Speakers camp in the first place is probably a miracle.]

You're doing fine. Just keep holding like this.

[He says it with more of a doctor voice than an incredibly worried boyfriend voice. The first one is the priority right now, and it takes Alucard more time than he'd like to finish it all up. Takes time because he can't touch Trevor and it's as much a professional pain as a personal one, it seems.

When it's all done, Alucard recalls the needle to himself. Returns it to the water bucket (it isn't hot enough to sterilize anymore, but that's fine), and breathes out tiredly.]

Can you bandage it on your own?

[She knows the way, by now.

She could do this with her eyes closed; it's only difficult from the prospect of doing it with the weight of her few worldly possessions on her hands, on her back. It's also ludicrous, madness; she's running through town in her Speaker's robes, the very town where she knows there is no Dracula to prevent some opportunistic vampire from taking a bite from her, and she doesn't care. It doesn't matter, not right now, because the only thing that does is running, and she is running.

She knows the way. She finds the house, ascends the steps. She's just run a mile, perhaps more, on foot and in sandals and in the daytime heat, and when the exertion of that finally catches up with her, it's going to hit her like the train she's just jumped off of, but for now it hasn't yet.

She drops her bag to free a hand; there's nothing breakable in it, anyway.

There's a bell, and she rings it, but when it's rung she simply switches for banging on the door instead.]

[ Excuse you, it's only weird if people get emotional about it. Until then it's just business as usual. ]

Halloween, some year or another. It's meant to be once every seven years, but- I may have lost count. [ nbd right? ] After stormy season begins, which is going to be the big test for the princeling. If he does fine, it's not a problem. If he doesn't, I'll- figure something out.

[He's finished stitching himself up when the doorbell sounds. It took longer than it ought to, and that is for all the terrible thoughts that came with every pull of the needle. He should bandage himself up before opening the door. It'll invite infection if he doesn't do this simple thing, this thing his mother would berate him for forgetting. (That's...that's a thought he hates, if only for the little bit of heartbreak that goes with it.)

The doorbell and now a terrible banging. There's force behind them, but only so much. There's no breath in his lungs. Hope is...it's dangerous right now, isn't it?

Dangerous and enough to power him down the stairs faster than he ought to be moving. Enough to nearly rip the door off it's hinges when he opens it, and by the grace of God she's there.

She's there, she's there, she's there, she's going to yell at him for bleeding again, she's going to see the wreck of the bathroom, and that's just fine because she's there. She's in his arms because he's already moved forward to embrace her, she's made a choice and it is to be here.

He's still without breath. There's nothing but adoration as he murmurs her name, face buried into the top of her head.]

Sypha.

[She never told him to use her first name but too late. This is permission, so far as he can tell.]

You lost count.

[Repeats the Speaker whose entire culture is founded around REMEMBERING IMPORTANT THIIIIIIIINGS this is the worst]

But they count from the year you were baptized, yes? And if I remember correctly, the church does baptisms upon infants so...

[...]

Are you saying you don't know how old you are?

I — stop! Stop, I'm covered in road dirt, what did you do to your bandages — stop!

[Except that she doesn't want him to stop. She doesn't want him to let go of her. The magnitude of what she's done hasn't even caught up with her yet because right now it still feels like any other day, any other arrival, except that the Speaker camp is gone and there's nowhere to go back to, and she's not leaving here again.]

I'm here...I'm here, please, stop — what have you done to yourself...?

Look, it's- not as stupid as you're making it sound.

[ He's actually kind of embarrassed about that one, gosh. Also yes, it is exactly that stupid. ]

I forgot a lot of shit. It happens. And I don't know if I was baptized before or after Halloween, so there'd be a year's wiggle room even if I knew.

[ He watches the needle float away with a snort and a slight smile. He's been smiling a lot, throughout this shit. Makes it easier. Makes it feel like he's at least trying to do something to make the whole situation less shit for Sypha and Alucard. ]

Clever.

[ And slowly he begins the process of untangling his arms from where he moved them to. It's slow and uncomfortable, but not half as much of either as the bandaging is going to be. With some effort, he pushes himself into a sitting position. The stitches hold. Good. ]

Yeah, should be able to. You have clean bandages there?

Hn. Lucky.

[A needle is just a very small sword, after all. That the skill transfers at all is a miracle, one that Alucard is grateful for even as he hates that he had to figure it out in the first place.

As Trevor sits up, Alucard reaches down to the pile of bandages in sterile little wrappings that he grabbed. When Trevor asks for them, they're piled right next to the Belmont, all neat and ready to be used.]

Yes. Let me see your hand before you proceed.

A little of both.

[ He holds out the hand. Right now, there's no change. The discolouration is still about where it was earlier. Even the yew is not an instant solution, though it's one that can be applied quicker than the salt in future to prevent the damage from spreading this far. ]

About sixteen hours for it to move down to the first knuckle with the salt. I'll measure how well the yew does when I wake up.

[This is Alucard ignoring reason and sense, refusing to let go. Even if he's being yelled at for something he absolutely should be yelled at for. Because he is an idiot.]

Nothing, it's fine, I was changing them...

[It was more important to answer her at the door. She can see him all broken like this now, she saw him far worse already. The only thing ruling Alucard in this moment is emotion.]

[This time, Alucard knows better than to take the hand. Knows better and still fights instinct because Trevor is injured and it's his job to fix that. If he can't protect, he has to heal, and now even that capacity is limited.

He hisses, unhappy.]

That'll have to do.

[He. Hates. It.]

Adrian.

[ He turns his arm over, setting about bandaging himself. It's difficult, but he manages it. And then- he can't touch Alucard himself, but he can reach up very carefully to brush his fingers against his hair without touching his skin. ]

Thanks. For taking care of me.

[Alucard's face nearly shatters for that comment. They're all making such efforts to reinforce the fact that the other two are the most important things right now, even as hell sits on their doorstep. The little callbacks, they're worth everything.

He doesn't care about the burns. He grabs Trevor's wrist for just a moment, a terrible and painful one, squeezes carefully, then lets go.]

It's all I can do.

[A fact that devastates him in this moment.]

[ It's like the blood keeps Alucard from him and Sypha, except the danger is more clear. He can feel the blisters forming on Alucard's skin when they touch. And it's hard to smile, knowing that he's hurting him like this, that Alucard is allowing himself to be hurt for his sake.

But he does, and he lies back down. ]

You don't need to do more. This is- just what succeeding looks like sometimes.

Looks like hell.

[His hand withdraws. Sypha's going to yell at him for doing something so stupid. Alucard can't bring himself to care. He can do as much as grab blankets and try to drape them over Trevor as carefully as he can. They're light ones, good for the city's warm winters. In truth, it's more about the act than any required warmth.

He has to let them go at Trevor's chest. Fuck.]

Feels like it too.

Then at least, in the future, you will —

[But then she stops abruptly, biting off the thought before another sound can leave her mouth, and very slowly and carefully pieces together the rest of her sentence in her head before finishing it.]

...likely see some benefit, perhaps, in sharing important things with me, who is good at remembering, and can help you if you so choose.

Adrian —

[She doesn't want him to stop, doesn't want him to let go or to listen to reason, but she remembers — she remembers, and one of them has to be sensible, and he'll regret this more later if she doesn't.]

Adrian, you're bleeding, you don't want me to touch your blood, don't you remember? I'm here, I'm here, but you must listen to me now —

[It's only mention of blood that sobers his thoughts. Shit. Shit. He knows better.

He doesn't let go. He only takes a step back, hands still on Sypha's sides, careful to lead her into the house. There's none of his blood smeared on his robes, so this is fine. She's fine, there's no danger, he just has to get bandages from the bathroom and fix the problem then everything will be well.

It means Sypha can see the horrible mix of utter joy and total depression on his face. How they manage to exist at the same time is a question for the ages, one no one wants an answer to. New on his face is relief. Relief that she's here, that she's willing to do any of this that...

...that seriously, he needs to not be bleeding in his own hallway.]

I'll...be right back.

Heh, well caught.

[ He shakes his head. ]

You don't always need to be so careful. Just- when there'd be intent behind it. There would have been this time, because I'm guessing you do actually want me to tell you. Apparently you just care a hell of a lot about your show.

Sure does.

[ He pulls the blankets up the rest of the way. And it is awful. He wants to just let Alucard and Sypha take care of him - he's only just started to accept that doing so isn't some horrible burden, just as it became impossible. But right now it won't work. And in all honesty, in the absence of comfort he just wants to sleep. Recover quicker.

And he wishes he could be more help, but he doesn't know how to make it better. This kind of bittersweet victory is just the best that one can hope for in his family. ]

Go have Sypha ice the burns. I'll be back with you in a few days.

I'll leave dinner for whenever you're up.

[He has to eat. And that's an excuse to check on how things are healing. It'll have to be enough. He'll train himself to accept this for now, just as Alucard's done for so many other shitty parts of this job.][He withdraws slowly. Gathers everything up, and lingers at the door to make sure that Trevor at least closes his eyes.]

I do. What I want is to help you, if I can — how I can, I mean.

[She sits back a little in her seat, fiddling idly with the fringe lining one of the throw pillows near her hands.]

Sometimes I don't know if you even realize that I like you, you surly man.

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Page 40 of 141

20s AU Post

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