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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[Alucard removes his forearm from the hunter's throat, taking custody of the fire arm before removing the sword from the wall. There's no satisfaction in watching the man go, just as there's no joy in putting the sword back into it's sheath so Alucard can get to why he's actually here.

He walks over to Trevor, reclaiming the medical kit. The first thing that come out are a few pieces of gauze, and there's a small advantage of being in the bathroom: the sinks. He wets the gauze and then presses it to the cut, dabbing carefully.]

Hm. It is shallow enough to not require stitches, from what I can tell. The angle is bothersome though, I'll need to find a way to bandage it so it doesn't impact your sight.

[He's treating this as if nothing's happened. Because this is their normal.]

Rightfully so.

[It's uncanny, how much bitterness she manages to embody in just two words.]

So you don't want me to leave, but it was right for Trevor to? Is that because he told you how stupid this is? Because that's his job, that is what he can do, he sees what you have to be to hold this city together and — and you think it's this and he told you it isn't, didn't he? Because Trevor always knows what you have to be. He always knows. And all I do is coddle you.

[She pauses a minute, swallowing back the lump in her throat.]

And what if you die? What if you die, what then?

I only meant to say I understood the action. Nothing....nothing like what you implied.

[He's worse with words when he's like this.]

Trevor wanted to do this instead of myself, so that means him dying instead of me, Sypha. Because that's somehow better in his stupid head. [It's really stupid.]

If I die then...I wallow in guilt wherever I end up because I begged you to leave everything behind and this is how's it's ended.

I'll be honest, I only said to bring the medical kit because I thought you'd get mad if I didn't mention it. [ He just got shot in the head. That's it. He's fine. ] But- thanks.

Sorry for the trouble.

[Alucard focuses on cleaning out the rest of the cut rather than on Trevor's words. It doesn't take long to do. Fishing around for the right bandage is the more time consuming effort.]

Easiest thing in the world to do.

[Far better than sitting and planning out how to avoid his own death. Alucard presses a large bandage to Trevor's head, then uses medical tape to begin to hold it in place.]

That is not an answer and you know it.

[She's pressing her lips tightly together to keep her mouth steady, refusing to let it tremble.]

I know you've thought this through. What happens to me. What happens to Trevor. What did you tell yourself, to make peace with this plan of yours before you put it into motion.

[ He just holds still and lets Alucard work. It's been a heck of a day, hasn't it? He's lucky to have got out of it with a cut that looks nastier than it is and what he imagines will be a collection of pretty hellish bruises. ]

Not just this, for- shit. I should never have let it come to this. You should never have had to- any of this.

Spoken as though he has virtue to steal.

[Goodbye, dark minion Trevor. She will miss you, you were a lot of fun. But beautiful damsel Trevor might be just as fun to play with, once she manages to find the right key and lock, and so she draws over to sink down onto her knees near them, within arm's reach but still letting Alucard have his fun.

Her hand comes to rest between Alucard's shoulderblades, that same idly possessive gesture she's done a few times now before; the difference is that his hair is long enough to play with when she does it, and she wastes no time in twisting her fingers through the strands while she regards Trevor carefully.]

This one looks like he might be susceptible to my wicked love spells.

[Those are a thing that dark mistress vampire queens have now, apparently. Wicked love spells. Or at least the power of compulsion, which — there are interesting possibilities to that, to be sure, but not without permission.]

What do you think, my dark heir to the moon and stars?

Agatha has a copy of my will. James does too, he's possibly the only person who I don't hate among their numbers at this point.

[He's just been a presence at parties to talk shitty science with. An oasis in a sea of politic.]

Everything that's mine directly is yours. The bank accounts will give you security for travel for decades to come. I can't give you the castle. Every book this castle has about the fae is in the demon car, so you can get Trevor out of that horrible deal. [Because that's a priority too.]

Agatha will give you custody of my remains, I don't expect that you'll have time to bury them with my mother's. For all that I care, leave my body with them, they can take care of burial. [Of course that's where he wants to be, when this is over.] If the match goes until dawn, you leave immediately. If it doesn't, the castle is the last stronghold until that happens. There are go-bags in the car and I trust both of you with protecting yourselves.

In Texas, you'll find the Morrises, they're Belmont cousins. Safest place, and it'd require legwork that Carmilla wouldn't have time for. She has to consolidate power first, and if she's earnest about wanting the city, she'll focus on that.

[He manages it all with a brokeness to the words.]

You take care of each other. It's all I trust in the world right now.

[Alucard keeps working. Even when he's done with the tape, he puts pressure to the bandage, careful as he observes how much blood seeps through.]

It doesn't matter. We're here now. [There's no point in regrets.] If we are to play that game, then I'll take it to the beginning. I could have left this city when my mother died. Abandoned it like my father did.

That is slightly unkind. Consider virtue in spirit.

[Which is also bullshit, but Alucard has accepted that the name of the game has never been consistency. It's what is going to be both hot and ridiculous? and it is an amazing game.

With Sypha's hand on his shoulder blades, Alucard stills his attention to Trevor. Her hand has such power over them both, after all, and playing into that sounds terribly fun. There's a soft huff that is released against Trevor's neck, so close and yet never moving.]

Your spells sounds an awful lot like I must release my hold on him, my Queen.

Mm.

[ So that attempt at dancing around the topic's failed. He'll try another strategy in a moment, but before that there is one important concern. ]

Mind if I go back with you? I was meant to be staying here to support this place's hunters though the night, but it sounds like the district's safety was part of their deal with Carmilla. Don't think I'm needed.

[ Also a guy shot him. But mostly he's not sure he's needed here. That's the important part. ]

[Alucard is careful as he withdraws his hand, and he spends a careful moment or two making sure that the medical bag is sealed up and can be ready for action at the next call. He slings it over his shoulder again and starts walking.]

You said you were going to check maps anyway. No point in doing anything else, and your grandmothers need to know where this group has put their lot.

[He's moving slower, well aware of Trevor's wound and how it might impact him.]

Alas! The dark mistress is saying terribly cruel things about my virtue-

[ Okay he doesn't manage to keep that one going and it dissolves into loud, rumbling laughter. And in that moment he's struck by how completely joyful all of this is. This is what it's like, this is what it can be like, when they're all allowed to be at their most human.

Which makes it a little sad that it's never happened earlier. But they can make up for lost time. ]

Please, oh please don't place me under your terrible love spell, Dark Mistress! My heart could never betray my true love- [ AND HE SCRAMBLES FOR A NAME AND POINTS TO ONE OF THE MANY POTATOBRANDS ON THE MANTLE ] -my dearest, starchiest Godbrand!

...Then why don't I just leave now?

[He'd looked down and away from her, earlier; it's understandable why. He'd had to do this with Trevor, before her, and now he has to do it again, just more weight and more weight on top of everything else he's carrying.

(She's always noticed the weight of the burdens he carries. She always coddles him.)

She doesn't look away. She won't, because Speakers don't avert their eyes from tragedy. It's always their job to watch, when no one else will, because someone has to remember.]

Why didn't you just buy me a train ticket, Alucard? You don't want me at your fight. You already want me gone if something goes wrong. Why not just send me away now?

[Her voice cracks, but her will doesn't.]

You could just take it all back. The house. The car. My room and all the little drawers. The dresses. The toys. You could've just taken them. The money — just take it all back. One bag and a set of robes, that's all I came here with. Trevor's gun, now, too. You could make me leave. This isn't my home. I don't have a home, I never have. I didn't need one, because I had you.

[Her vision blurs; it's hard to see him anymore, but it doesn't matter. The sight of him is burned into her mind's eye and etched into her heart.]

Safe, happy, here. Trevor told me I get two. But I don't — I get one, and you've already picked it for me.

[Safe.]

This city has never been safe for Speakers.

[It wasn't back then. It isn't now.]

Why don't you just get rid of me, so that you can at least die knowing I'm safe?

Right. I'll get in contact with Agatha once we're back.

[ It's so unnatural, to call her by name. But the other names he uses- those are for family. And Alucard isn't family anymore.

He's fucked up in all kinds of ways, hasn't he? ]

[Fire.

That's all he thinks of as he speaks, fire. It was fire that brought everything down in this house the first time. He had come to her after that, shattered and broken and incapable of anything more because the rest of the emotions had been squeezed out of him.

He's the one that's burnt everything now. While the look on his face is the same as when Alucard first came to the Speakers, pale grey and broken into a thousand pieces, it isn't at someone else's hands this time. It's his own. He's done this to all of them.

Alucard wants to register something. Anything. Words. I'll walk away from this alive. He wants to scream it at them both because that's how these conversations have both gone. The assumption that he'll die, even he's living under it, but if he doesn't. Victory is considered and shoved aside right now.

He tries it anyway. Through a choked noise that's absolutely a deep bellowing sob about to happen.]

Because I'll come back.

[It isn't confident. It isn't even close. But he has to say it. Start saying it because if he does not go in with the ice cold assurance of victory, then he is lost.]

[Has she gotten any of Trevor's reaction to this shitty plan?

It's a bitter thought. Alucard doesn't voice it. He stays dead quiet as he gets to the car. Climbs in, revs the engine, and just waits.

He gets called for this, but nothing else. It will have to do. Alucard will abide it, because at least he is good for an emergency.]

[The noise she makes is utterly undignified, halfway between a choke and a snort, and probably entirely unbefitting of a proper Dark Mistress, except that when you're a Dark Mistress you get to do what you want.

She's very fond of the "lean down and murmur against someone's ear" trick. It always works on Alucard, because it's easy to get into his head. She's tried it less with Trevor, for various reasons, but she'd seen the look on his face when she'd told him earlier to make Alucard whine, and —

Well. She's admittedly been wondering about what sort of creative things she might be able to get up to, when it comes to making him heed her commands.

So she bends and puts her lips against his ear, nuzzling a little to warm him up to her, and then murmurs: ]

You want, desperately, for Alucard to kiss you right now. Convince him to give you what you want.

[She strokes his hair, drawing back again, and presses a kiss to Alucard's cheek for good measure.]

Be nice to Trevor, my love — or don't. It's your decision.

[The second that Trevor brings Godbrand into the madness is when Alucard breaks character himself. There is a gale of laughter that ends up in a coughing, spluttering fit, and he almost drops Trevor because of it.]

Please, never, ever, ever bring that into the bedroom again....

[He's still laughing as Sypha gives her orders, even if his grip on Trevor is firmer and no longer in danger of letting Belmont head be introduced to florr.

It means he almost misses Sypha's command, such as it is. He doesn't though, and when she kisses his cheek he dares, dares to steal the briefest of kisses from her.]

As you wish.

[ He takes the passenger seat, at least. He doesn't do that unless he wants to talk even normally.

Sadly wanting to talk and being able to talk are not the same thing. He gets into the car, tugs twice at the seatbelt to make sure that it's tight enough (and he has only become weirder about seatbelts since the brakes incident.) and looks over to make sure Alucard has remembered his.

And he sighs, because this is as good a way to talk as they're going to get. Neither of them actually looking at each other. Neither of them able to leave or to get so emotional that it might become dangerous. Just words.

It was how they actually managed to talk civilly the first time, wasn't it? ]

...you could have told us about it before the arrangements were made. Made your case. We'd have still fucking hated it, but- we could have fucking hated it productively. Found a way to make it better. This- you might be gone, just like that, and there's nothing either of us can do about it.

Edited 2019-02-19 01:54 (UTC)

[The vampire's forgotten to put his driving gloves on. He has the medical kit between them as a buffer, and he's going faster than he'd dare under normal circumstances. His car doesn't have a demon inside it, and he's terrified that someone will see him out now. He doesn't have twenty four hours to waste in healing. They need to be home.

He doesn't want to talk. Not really. But the silence is so much worse.]

I know.

[What else is he supposed to say now? It's set, how this is going to be.]

You know I wouldn't have done this if I didn't know I'd win, correct?

You'd swear it to me?

[She hasn't stopped looking at him yet, and she's not going to. She can't, because all of a sudden she doesn't know how many more times she'll be able to, before all this is over.]

Right now, right here. You would swear to me on bended knee that you will come back to me.

A thousand times over, on my mother's grave, whatever you demanded.

[There's a part he doesn't say. If not in flesh, then in spirit. He thinks of Orpheus, and knows if Sypha went down that road she would be so much smarter than such a melancholy Greek.]

I'd walk into a church, hold silver over my heart until that scarred just...

[He tries standing. It requires that Alucard keep both hands on his desk, as there is such a tremor in him.]

Let me get on my feet first.

And Carmilla would find a way to weasel out of this if she didn't know that she would. That she hasn't means she has a reason to be confident or she's not planning to fight fair.

[ It's a little better, at least. He still fucking hates this. Alucard still thinks he's right. But he can talk about it, for now, without hearing someone else choose death over what protection he can offer them. Without every word out of Alucard's mouth morphing into I have never known. ]

Edited 2019-02-19 02:11 (UTC)

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Page 80 of 141

20s AU Post

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