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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[She'd asked for this, it's entirely true. She'd named it specifically, the danger, the thrill of trusting him so utterly as to know his fangs are there yet to be equally certain that they'll never once touch her. She can almost, almost feel them as he delicately takes hold of the fabric of her nightgown, tugging at the wide collar until it slips to one side and tumbles off her shoulder like something straight out of a romance novella, and the noise she makes is a little more strangled now, urgent with the competing desires to squirm and to melt into a puddle in his utterly capable hands.]

You are a tease.

[It's a miracle she made it to four words at all; her capacity for them is currently sitting closer to "none".]

That's the point, isn't it?

[He shouldn't sound smug about this. But he does, at least for a moment, because this is going to stop being teasing very soon. Sypha's power is through speech after all, and even when she's just making her pleasure known in all her little vocalizations. Up until now, Alucard's focus has been on Sypha so much that he's ignored any reactions from himself.

Warmth is always the big one, isn't it? That and the weight of his own body, Alucard feels how heavy the hand he has on Sypha's thigh as he moves it carefully. Stroking down there would be a terrible and teasing thing, so it moves downwards instead.

Then up, because the only reason it bothered to move down at all was to gather up some of the nightgown's fabric and ensure that it's out of the way.

He sighs her name as he does so, picking up his head.]

What would you have me do then, if not tease?

Ngh...ah, are we...waiting for Trevor, or...

[She points her toes, stretching her legs out and squirming just a little at the feeling of the soft fabric whispering over her skin.]

Or are you just...

[Going to keep her for himself, a little, presumably.]

Will you be able to wait?

[The question's asked softly, and to fill in the moments, Alucard's lips move down Sypha's shoulder, beginning to linger on her back. He'd like for the answer to be genuine, which means slowing down for just a moment.

(He is not slowing down at all. He is still moving the fabric of the garment, hand resting halfway up her thigh now, everything else exposed.)]

I'd like for him to return and see you in such a state.

Right. Yeah, yeah. Careful, and all.

[ He's... pretty sure that's what she means? He's not unaffected by the wine himself. Less than Sypha, certainly, and in different ways. Some words come easier, others become more difficult, and a flush is beginning to start at his ears and spread forward into his face.

And he considers it. It might have been an easier thing to ask before the incident, perhaps, when the sight of bruises or red marks on her generally only meant that she'd been dancing too hard after a little too much to drink again. ]

Mmn.

[ It's not unappealing. It's just- coloured by horrible things, right now. ]

You have to- not tell me to. But tell me that you want me to. And maybe put down the wine a moment.

[ They're in so much trouble if they spill it on the couch. ]

Shortness of breath was referred here, so was dead man. Broken toe dragged herself in, looks like.

[ He's referring to all of them by symptoms, instead of names. It's wrong of him. It's dehumanizing. But they're not people, just puzzles to solve. ]

Shortness of breath looks to share a doctor with the boy, unless it's two men with the same name. Dead man doesn't.

Assume it's the same doctor for now, I can ask Dr. Scarpa in a bit.

[Alucard turns so that he's leaning against the lab's workbench, arms folded across his chest. There have to be other factors....]

They're in the same hospital because of a shared geographic region of the city, but that makes me wonder if the shared geography goes beyond just this hospital's jurisdiction. Is there a common neighborhood at hand?

Not between all of them. Shortness of breath's about a twenty minute walk from the boy, the others are further out.

[ He thumbs through the reports again, sighing. ]

The other hospitals you have arrangements with. Could you get in contact with them? Tell them the symptoms of turning, see if there's anything going on there? I'd like confirmation that it's restricted to this area.

And- the blood samples. Anything from those? And how many strings would you need to pull to get them out of the hospital?

[ He might be able to learn more from them, but he's not going to be doing any fucking magic in a fucking hospital full of sick and vulnerable people. ]

[Lack of names isn't something the vampire is going to fuss about. If anything, he prefers it. Keeps it clinical. Impersonal. Much easier to focus. His own mind is only focused on the stack of reports that Trevor is touching.]

I could, yes, but that'd be something to do at home. Don't need official phone records here tracing anything back to this matter. [But confirming the area, that's good.]

The samples from the victims confirm what we already know. The ones from the current blood supply are all non-vampiric in nature, which means that that this has the chance to not be an infected supply issue. That's already supported by the matter you were attending, as there would have been no blood transfers in the course of chickenpox unless he was hospitalized at some point.

[Alucard uncrosses his arms, brushing over the microscope gently.]

It'd be easier to just take some sample slides out rather than the entire set of samples. I don't know if there's much value in doing so though.

Mm. I wanted to try some of the tracking shit on them. But it might not be worth it. I don't know that I can get that much out of a slide, and I already have the boy's blood to work with. If it's liable to be the same source, I probably shouldn't push my luck.

[ And he shakes his head. ]

The boy didn't even come to the hospital. We treated him at Bunicuta's house. Whatever it is, I doubt it's anything here.

[ Which is more concerning than it sounds. Because there are hospitals that aren't going to be getting in contact. ]

I can always request additional samples later at the price of sharing something like this. [His shoulder rolls back to the microscope. Is he bringing doctors with nerd power? He sure is. Alucard's pretty sure it's the least compromising thing he's ever done for this job.]

Hm.

[Alucard's eyes go back to the blood samples, thoughtful.]

If the geographic factor is true for all of these patients, then in theory it's true for the vampires that live in the area as well. I'd like to know how many vampire territories these individuals cross over. One or two wouldn't be strange, but if it could in theory be a different vampire per-person that's...an issue.

The boy's Bunicuta's territory, I can get you a list of active vampires there easily. Everyone else is just outside of it. There'll be information about older vampires in the records, but these things change hands all the time over verbal agreements. I'll- do my best.

[ He puts down the reports, then walks back to a chair and lets himself flop down into it, head in his hands. ]

Shit. Just- shit.

We have our own records of these things too, it can be crosschecked.

[They're in work mode. They're in public, in a lab, looking through records and blood, and all the vampire wants to do is swoop in and wrap himself around the Belmont. There's no good way to do it. Not without drawing too many questions.

The most he can do is walk over to Trevor's side and rest a too-cool hand on Trevor's shoulder. Squeeze gently, trying to pull Trevor from his own thoughts.]

When have the odds ever favored us?

Fucking never. Should be used to it by now.

[ The Ascension. They have until the Ascension. If this is all the same vampire, then it's the work of a few hours to find the culprit once he's rested. And then they'll capture them, and there'll be an execution, and Alucard will be half-broken for a week or so in the aftermath and it'll hurt for everyone, but they'll all be safe. ]

Think I've got everything worth getting from the reports. And I'm guessing you're not allowed coffee in the labs. So I'm going to head back out to the car and sleep 'till you're done. Reaching the point where I'm a little useless.

Then we'll be fine.

[It's false confidence. They should never take refuge in a terrible fact like they're always in the position to fail. But they all need something to cling to right now. A way to keep head above water.

Alucard reaches into the inner coat of his suit jacket to fish out the keys. Once he finds them, they're offered to Trevor rather than the more usual toss.]

I'll wake you up when we get home. I want to see if I can ask the patients anything before we depart, and you don't need to be around for that.

Hmmm.

[She thinks about it a minute, contemplating him, and then the glass, and then the couch, and then the both of them together. She thinks about it, and about her mug, and then she carefully sets the mug onto the table and even remembers to put a coaster underneath it so as not to ruin the finish.

She thinks about it, and then she gets up off the couch and moves around so that she's standing in front of Trevor, facing him, and then leans forward and lightly pushes him back by the shoulders as she climbs up onto him and finds a comfortable seat on his knees, straddling his lap with her own bent legs on either side.]

Sometimes I wonder if you know how much I trust you with me. My Trevor, so careful with me. You could tell me to jump and I would move without question, even if to do it would seem to mean a fall. Because you would never let me fall.

[She leans forward, softly kissing his cheek.]

I want...I want to feel your bite. I want to know how it feels. Please?

Oh.

[Now that's quite the mental image, isn't it? Not just the thought of Alucard doing this to her, but the thought of him doing it deliberately, making art of her as he unravels her with lips and hands, a display to be looked at and admired. A gift for Trevor, perhaps, that in practice would be a gift for all of them.

He'll feel her shiver, she's certain of that.]

And — once he's seen me...then, ah, then what will you do with me...?

If I tell you, you're not going to last long at all.

[He picks his head up, shifting so his chin rests on the shoulder he was kissing only moments ago. The hand that had been resting on Sypha's middle, the one not preoccupied with fabric and settling down right where thigh and hip meet and threatening fingers but never moving, begins to migrate up. There's fabric in the way of Sypha's breasts, but that makes everything far better so far as the moment goes. Everything is about what might happen in another moment or two, the anticipation.

That shiver means everything. Alucard realizes there's another way for him to settle and wait for Sypha to make a decision, and so he shifts his head just enough so that his cheek is pressed lightly against Sypha's neck. Hair spills down and over, brushing against bared skin, smelling of the hair oil he's been experimenting with lately, all cedarwood and soft ambers.]

Your decision, Sypha. He may make it for you instead.

Mm. 'f I forget to tell you later - really, really don't touch the fucking laundry hamper, once we're home. I'll deal with it when I can.

[ In truth, just admitting he needed to sleep's knocked most of the awake out of him and he takes the keys with a mumble of thanks (it's good that Alucard handed them over, because he'd have never caught them). It's hard to believe right now that he's sober, let alone that he's a soldier and a vampire hunter trained from birth.

And he does go to sleep in the back of the car again, upper half of his body sprawled over the back seat and tangled up in seatbelts. And he sleeps through the drive back, only waking once the car pulls to a halt. ]

Mmph.

[ The seatbelts. He can't figure out how to free himself from them. ]

[The anticipation is thrilling, and it's certainly one of the key influences that are making her heartbeat race, her breath shudder, her pulse thunder in her veins. But equally so is the level of implicit possessiveness Alucard is showing — touching her because he wants to, because he knows he can, doing as he pleases with her because it's a liberty he knows he has the right to exercise. It's the way he moves with purpose, with a plan in his mind, that has her eyes falling closed and her head falling back as if baring her throat, unfocused and dizzy and acutely aware of the pressure and warmth of each and every one of his fingers.]

My...my decision...?

[She's hypersensitive; she's tactile in the extreme, every touch magnified, the brush of his hair, the nudge of his cheek. His scent seems like incense, heady and rich, and most of all distracting.]

What decision?

Understood. I think it's your turn this week anyway.

[Because there are jobs the vampire always does (cooking) and there are jobs everyone rotates on. Dracula's demon castle still has domestic upkeep requirements, after all.

Alucard doesn't leave the hospital for another four hours. He asks for permission to see each patient. He's introduced as Dr. Carte, and the questions begin. Questions about the last few weeks, strange encounters, anything and everything that makes vampirism clear and obvious. When that fails there is discussion of doctors, of pharmacies, of any little thing that could provide the right clue.

He's ready to give up when the last patient (she's young, would be hale and hearty otherwise, she has a fighting chance against this with the right care) says something about trying something new from a vendor at a market. Alucard goes still at that. Gets the name, gets the market name, and then asks Dr. Scarpa to ask the others if they've taken something similar. (Alucard makes his excuses for leaving. Mostly he's sickened by the half-turned states he's seen and needs to process the more awful parts of the people he's supposed to lead.)

Alucard's just getting out of the car when he hears Trevor fighting with the seat belts. In truth, he had almost forgot Trevor was back there.]

For the love of--

[He opens up the back door and clicks the damn thing open.]

We're home. Let's get you to bed.

Waiting for Trevor?

[The vampire senses that this is absolutely not a wait for Trevor time. That's all right, there will absolutely be other opportunities for this. Perhaps for this exact scenario, contrast of a nightgown that Alucard suspects was for this exact conversation against the far too fuzzy cableknit sweater and trousers he has on. Absolutely her this far gone, Sypha's nightclothes angled to fall off of her every which way, the sheer of the arms catching the firelight just so.

But he isn't moving. Going still is perfectly deliberate, trying to bully Sypha into focusing for just a moment longer. It's also an exercise in selfishness, as Alucard's attention has been so focused on Sypha that the chance to admire her in this state has eclipsed him entirely.

The fire is what makes it, in the end. Shadows playing across the two of them, the fort's construction helping to intensify the shifts between light and dark. She's always beautiful, always will be, but nearly undone by the firelight is a new way to see Sypha and Alucard could stand to get used to it.]

Or we'll move to bed. We're bound to break this entire fort if we stay in it.

I want to stay by the fire.

[It's not an answer to his question, not exactly, but as enticing a thought as it is, to be carried off to bed in her vampire's arms, there's something about the warmth and the glow of the fire that adds an element of significance to this moment they're sharing. Hearthfire, he'd called her, on another night similar to this, and she likes the way the light and shadow plays over them as he covets her like a man who'd stolen her from the hearth of the gods.]

Please...

All right.

[He says it softly, and for a moment, Alucard's eyes go up. There's a consideration of clearance, and it's just a blanket that's over them both. His head has an inch or two before it would be a problem, and Sypha's tiny. He knows he'll turn her around in another moment or two, make it so she can just wrap around him entirely, let him see her entirely illuminated by the glow of the hearth.

It's a hell of a thought, one that finally causes Alucard to shudder for the sheer delight of it.

She's not turned around yet though, not by a long shot. Instead the hand that has occupied the liminal space between hip and thigh moves in, brushing against the close outerfold. Alucard would be a liar if he said he wasn't curious how Sypha's current state translated below her waist.]

[The rasp of her breath is something beautiful in its own right; the soft keening noise that escapes her lips when his fingers move is yet another. She squirms for him, robbed of words and the capacity to say them, and thus left to express herself by the language of her body alone.

It's a funny reversal, almost. She's compared him to a foreign language before, the need to read his nuance to pick up all the things he can't find words to say. Now here they are, and he's the one still possessed of his words, and she's the one left acting in the bare hopes that she'll still somehow be understood.

But it's all there, for a scholar who knows her well enough to interpret the signs like constellations in the night sky. The flush of her cheeks, the tremor in her arms. The shiver down her skin. The slick heat near his fingertips.

For the second time tonight, she fits her arms along the tops of his, her breath so ragged it's audible as she squeezes the arm that's holding her in place, grateful for the anchor it provides.]

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Page 68 of 141

20s AU Post

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