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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Weren't you taught that it's rude to ask someone's age?

[There's a light tone with the question, then there's no more words to be said. They don't have to rush, Alucard knows that, but there's still a terrible desire to dive in so fast. He knows why it is, a hot mess of fear and excitement and looking to find any way to channel his emotions into something that isn't the bathroom on a larger scale. So moving slow, that's on purpose.

But there are other reasons to move slow too, and that becomes apparent as Sypha allows this to go further. Beyond tongues there are fangs, and Alucard moves so carefully as to ensure that not even a hint of them enter into this moment. Sypha is perfect in this moment. Fangs would destroy it.

Being a gentleman it is, in the end.]

I miscalculated in the moment.

[Alucard opens up the front door, and it's a testament to the build that the front is just one long seat, as is this back. It means Alucard can climb in without letting go of Trevor's wrist, it means he can keep applying pressure even as he gets comfortable in the driver's seat. Turns the engine on. Puts his free hand on the wheel.]

It won't take me long to deal with the question of paperwork, the nearest hospital is one of the ones within the city that there are the standard arrangements with. [Blood. He means blood, because in the end, it's always about blood, isn't it?]

They'll need to keep records of the treatment administered, but names will be redacted, and then after a week I can make everything else go away. The only reason anything has to get documented is for the sake of their supply tracking.

[He takes that seriously, because it helped any such place function. His mother would disapprove of doing anything less.]

[ That, at the very least, is a relief. Last time, it had been one of the hospitals that doesn’t have any dealings with the supernatural community. This whole thing is going to be a nightmare for secrecy. He doesn’t need to make it worse just because he managed to slice through something important.

He follows Alucard into the car carefully, allowing him to keep applying pressure. He’s not resisting the idea of going to the hospital, only apologfising for its necessity. That’s probably a bad sign. Usually he puts up at least a token resistance to this kind of thing. ]

No deaths other than the tamer, at least from what I could see. A couple injuries, some severe. An ambulance was leaving with the worst of them when I got out.

[ He lets his head fall back against the car seat, sighing and repeating something he’s been saying all too much lately. ]

This is what success looks like. [ This- this horrible shit. This is the best they can hope for right now. And that’s upsetting. ]

We'll know for certain in a few hours. A severe injury could add to the death toll.

[As they begin to drive away, Alucard catches the hint of smoke in the air. Good. That much is done, and he can be happy for it. It is permission to slam his foot on the gas pedal, and pray his own car handles half as well as the demon car does in a real emergency.

He still hasn't let go of Trevor's wrist. He can feel how wet his own hand is with Trevor's blood, and it is a blessing he took that nutrition earlier tonight otherwise this situation would actually be worse.

Except Trevor's comment does make it worse, as there is a dark reply that Alucard cannot stop from escaping his lips.]

It wouldn't be his definition of success by any measure.

[ The bandage and dressing are just about useless by now, having grown saturated all too quickly. It’s the pressure that’s keeping the situation just about managable, but even with that-

This would usually be the point at which the conversation died, because sometimes even Sypha can’t do much for Alucard’s spirits when he gets like this. But the conversation is serving an important medical purpose right now, keeping him concious. Which means it has to continue. Which means it’s time to clumsily fuck around with Alucard’s feelings about his father while too lightheaded to think through his words. That’s probably fine. ]

This whole fucking thing is him succeeding. He wanted to fuck off and damn the consequences. And lo, he has fucked off and the consequences are damned all over the place.

You know what I meant.

[The response is sour, and Alucard hangs a sharp right. He's in a terrible mood, this has all gone terribly, there's a forgemaster running around, and his father would have probably killed the man by now. Alucard snarls at that particular thought, speeding merrily through a traffic light.]

We have a five minute drive left, three if I'm quick.

[Let that terrible statement be what Trevor latches onto instead. Please.]

He isn’t doing to be disapponted. He doesn’t fucking care enough for that.

[ It’s harsh. He’s got better at softening himself without being asked to, but it’s difficult where Dracula is concerned. Not even out of old Belmont grudges anymore, just because he remembers the state that just seeing him for a second left Alucard in. ]

If it were reasonable to expect you to be his equal, we wouldn’t be needed. If you’re not then the failure is ours, not yours.

[He doesn't care is...not delicate wording. The good news is, Alucard is almost certain that Trevor doesn't see him flinch from that statement. The only reason he flinches is because it is all too true. His father doesn't care. His father hasn't cared in over a year and it still aches some days.

Like today. Like right now.

He wants to find something to argue about. Alucard needs it, it'll be enough to get him through this horrible fucking car ride with Trevor still too bloody.]

That isn't how any of this is judged and you know that. If it were, we'd have outright rebellion for a Belmont and a Speaker running this city instead of his son.

[ It’s a reasonable point, even if Trevor is doubtful that the judgement of people not named Dracula is half as important right now as the judgement of a man who will never care enough to pass it. ]

We’ll have this in hand before anyone gets the chance to judge. And if they do, enough to be a danger- your father didn’t escape judgement and rebellion by being infallible.

[ He just crushed it. ]

Methods to be abhored.

[He says it softly, and there's the sign for the hospital. Thank God, thank God, thank God, there is only one more horrible fucking minute of this. Of falling into the oldest argument, the first argument they had when Trevor was first on Alucard's doorstep.

He hated them for what they'd force himself to be, but now Alucard has other reasons to hate them too. What it would force Trevor to be, what it'd demand of Sypha. That is too much to ask of them.]

I think I managed to get a scrap of that forgemaster's clothing. Can you use that?

[She has a retort all ready, because she wouldn't be a Speaker at all if she weren't handy at getting the last word, but then his mouth is covering hers and she's not particularly inclined to draw back away from it, even if it means regaining primacy in the verbal sparring.

The physical one is all the more interesting for it, anyway; it's good that he's being careful with his own fangs, because she's certainly forgotten they're even there, too focused as she is on drawing him out and deep into her kisses, and relishing each one as one links into another into another.]

[In the future, Alucard will learn that in picking a fight of retorts with a Speaker, he will not be the victor now or ever. His best way of winning any kind of fight is to follow the path of past victories: fluster the Speaker with compliments and well timed observations.

Right now the only observation Alucard can manage is that to move onto the sofa was the best idea he's had all day. Here, now, Sypha over him and encouraging a deeper kiss every time one has to break for the sake of air, it'd be overwhelming if he didn't have to hold onto one little scrap of himself.

It's only his fangs that he focuses on, which means that his hands? Those are free to travel by virtue of Alucard not exactly considering where they're going at the moment. One, one travels up Sypha's back slowly, as if it has to catalog each and every vertebrae there for no reason other than it's there and it's a part of her. The other slides up her side, pace considered but also with the intention of her breast as a final destination.

(He's supposed to be resting, isn't he?)]

Mm, Adrian.

[She makes herself pull away just long enough to talk, and more importantly long enough to catch a solid breath, because she's been dealing in shallow and truncated ones for a while now because they're the only sort she can steal between their flurry of kisses. But her eyes are molten as she gazes at him, rich and heady with heat, and she arches her back just a little into the feeling of his hand, watching him through half-lidded eyes.]

Will you do something for me...?

Of course.

[Up close like this, it's possible to pick out where the vampire is actually flushed. Pale as every part of him is, there is the faintest bit of color in his cheek, the contrast coming not from his pale skin but his hair.

He's not so fussed for air as Sypha is, but there is a respite from absolute and utter grief in his eyes. A rare thing, even with her around. There's a bewildered contentment instead, suggesting that he still can't believe this is real but he's delirious with joy from it.]

Promise me that you will show me all of you, someday.

[She strokes her fingertips over his flushing cheek, her own skin just as rosy with fluster and excitement as his, her lips softly bruised with the remnants of his kisses.]

Not today. Not even soon, perhaps. But...someday. Promise to show me even the parts of yourself that you don't like.

I...

[He wants to ask if she knows what she's really asking. Those things that are a part of his nature are not pretty things, things done in private because they must be not...not something he'd ever want anyone to see. Never mind her. Never mind anyone that would entertain the thought of loving him even a little bit like this.

But she's so red and flustered and looking up at her right now, seeing the little marks of what they've done together already, he can't give any other answer except for:]

Yes. Over the years.

[Maybe that's expecting too much, years. But she said not even soon, and so that means years.]

Good.

[She smiles softly, bending to kiss him again, and just this once it isn't so much about passion as it is about sweet, soft understanding.

Even now, in her mind's eye, she can recall the claw marks in his bathroom walls.]

I don't want only the best of you, my love. I want all of you. And...I know that for you, it will not be easy. But I refuse to love you only halfway. Do you understand?

[He could argue she's already seen the real worst of it, injured and too close to death. Sprawled out in a ditch, leaves in his hair. But that isn't what she means at all, because all of that has been external. The things that if not easy to talk about are easy to see and make sense of.

What she wants is against much of his nature. To be at his best to the world around him, calm and in control of both parts of his heritage, it is how he interfaces with the world. All the hidden things, they're out of sight with reason. Not for fear of appearing weak (in the future that will be a fear, because it threatens the city and his position within it) but for fear of scaring off those around him.

When Sypha leans down, he kisses back, but it is with a tiny bit of fear that one day, this request will fail. I'll try. I'll try, I'll try.]

I understand, but as you say, it won't be easy. It...there are many complicated things that go into it. But there is time.

[Time because she came back.]

Of course.

[This time, when she reaches for her kiss, it's one she presses against his forehead with affection.]

It's why I'm asking this of you so early. So that there will be time, all the time you need, to think about it. And I will be here while you do, each and every step of the way.

[There's a sigh that goes with the kiss to his forehead, a heady mix of contentment and relief that why Sypha has asked this has such a pointed purpose. She is thinking as far ahead as he might, and to know that both their eyes are looking that far towards the future, that means the world.]

If there are ever days when it is too much to bear, then take whatever time you need too...

[ Finally, finally he drops the topic. It’ll be a while before he can safely drink, after this kind of blood loss, but when he can he’ll sit with Sypha and only Sypha and they can go through a bottle or two (the priest at the church is always happy to give to his congregation, within reason) and complain about Dracula long into the night.

He’s growing too lightheaded to make decent arguments anyway. Alucard’s question, though, he can answer. He could talk this kind of shit in his sleep. ]

Ought to be able to, at least assuming that the good doctors’re willing to let me use the hand for writing.

...Do you think it will be? Too much.

[It's an honest question. Also the first real indication she's shown of an awareness that perhaps she's leapt into something much bigger than she'd originally contemplated when she'd made the decision to leap in the first place — a body of water that runs far deeper than she'd perceived when she'd jumped.]

Tell me what you're afraid of. So that I know.

[The hand traveling up Sypha's spine had stopped when she pulled away, when talking began again. Now, most of the way up to her shoulders, it finishes it's route, and finds it's way to where hair and neck meet. There's hair there, and Alucard idly wraps some of it around his fingers. Short like this is the style these days, isn't it? Yes. That's easier to think about than what he's afraid of.

Because the short answer is everything. Beyond her, he's alone in the world for the first time, and there is a difference between preferring time alone and being alone entirely.

There is also an easy answer. One that if he was with anyone else, he'd close his eyes before confessing. Alucard can only imagine that he will be chided for such an action, and so his gaze remains on her.]

Grief can be...overwhelming, most days. I'd hate for that to be the only bedrock of this.

Sypha can do the work for you if she must.

[He's not ignorant on that front, that they've been being magic nerds when he isn't around. Moreover, and far more importantly, the hospital comes into view. Alucard mutters something in relief, and the accelerator is pushed onto the floor.

From there it's easy. Park. Nearly drag Trevor into the emergency room, run to the desk there and explain that there is a vein in this man's wrist and for the love of God this needs to be addressed.

The reaction is immediate. A flurry of nurses. Alucard's own hand finally taken from Trevor's, and there's a terrible spray of blood for it. (He wasn't kidding someone says.) Then...

...waiting.

Because for this part, Alucard can't be there. He goes to wash off his own hands, then sits quietly. Fills out the paperwork, lies on every part of it except for what the injury is, then waits.]

[ In the care of the hospital staff, he finally lets himself slip into unconciousness. He’s cold, for the first fucking time since coming to this city, and that’s probably a cause for concern. Alucard is taken aside and offered the telephone if he needs it and once Sypha knows what’s happening-

-he wakes up to Sypha’s snoring. She’s on a chair by the side of the hospital bed but she’s flopped forward onto his chest, sleeping lightly and holding his hand on the non-bitten side, at a time that is absolutely not appropriate visiting hours. She’s very good at talking her way into places she’s not allowed. ]

...Mphh.

[ She wakes when he stirs, offering him a tired smile before leaving to retrieve Alucard and drag him into the room, whether he’s allowed to be here or not. ]

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Page 46 of 141

20s AU Post

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