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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[Relinquishing his hold on Spyha means that Alucard's hands are free to go wherever they'd like now. One hand settles for simply resting on Trevor's arm, the other goes to Sypha's hair to try and smooth down a few flyaways that are nearly lifting off into orbit.

Overwhelming feels like the word of the day when she finally says it. This really is too much, the sheer silliness of the set up, their various states of undress (Trevor still has his shirt on, Sypha's practically fully clothed, the vampire's the one with an open shirt and no trousers), the sense of joyfulness in how they've simply traded around their roles and are now at the point where it doesn't matter anyway.

His smile is soft, his laugh warm and languid, and the vampire kisses Sypha's forehead as well.]

You are as well.

[Standing is also really trying right now, and the hand resting on Trevor's arm squeezes gently.]

Let's take advantage of that rug. Please?

[There's a little whine of distress as Trevor has to extract himself. It's silly, given where they'll be in just a few moments. The blanket helps though, just as the promise of being back against Trevor's chest does.]

You will be made very aware.

Are you the one in charge right now? I've lost track.

[ Really the only constant of this is that Trevor is never the one in charge, which might be terribly unfair if he minded it at all. He nods, kissing Sypha's forehead again as apology for moving her around all over the place and moves back to the rug, Sypha in his arms and Alucard being dragged after them by Sypha's grip on his shirt.

When they reach the rug, he sits slowly, because they're all attached to each other and any sudden movements would break that, putting Sypha down in his lap. One arm keeps her propped up against him, the other now free to meander up and down her thigh. ]

I'll try to be more- whelming? For you.

[ That whine of distress is fucking heartrending, and it's hard not to give in to the temptation to crawl back into Alucard's arms to make it stop.

But no. He's a Belmont, and he won't let vampire tricks tempt him away from doing the right thing.

He goes silent when he lifts Alucard, pulling him up against his chest, all his focus on keeping him supported and steady, as if he were made of cobwebs. ]

[This is good. This is cozy, and even if there's a dull ache or two, Alucard's shrugged off far worse pains. Trevor's warm without it being a furnace, and there's warmer days to come anyway. The blanket helps too, it's like a buffer for anything that would be jostling against Trevor directly.

He breathes out, settled and certain that this'll do.]

You're fine.

[It might be more of a walk than normal, but that's fine. It's just a minor obstacle so that they can be all together again.]

[ It's rare for him to attend the parties. There's little trouble expected at them, and if there was then he'd likely be the one to start it.

And yet there are exceptions to every rule. October is a season of many things. Changing leaves, mud, looking over one's shoulder every waking moment. And of turnings. An appropriate time, really. Which also means that there are a lot of fledglings entering their first year as a vampire, starting to find their feet. Attending events for the first time.

And when there are young, stupid, too-powerful people and alcohol, there is trouble. And so he attends.

'Trouble' takes the form of a table being thrown over, food and drinks and glassware scattered over the floor. It's not even the new fledglings doing it, but a pair just over a decade old, fighting over a shared name. He doesn't need to intervene because their elders do. At the end of the day the greatest trouble they face is that Sypha is stuck in the middle of a dance floor covered in broken glass, her shoes left by a chair at the other side of the room because the heels were too high for dancing.

And this is where the problems begin. His first mistake is lifting her in his arms rather than on his back, because in his arms she's delicate and soft and so, so warm and he can feel the beating of her heart through every part of her that he's touching and she leans against him and puts an arm around his neck to keep herself balanced and

and then he puts her down, lowering her into her heels, and she kisses his cheek when she thanks him for the rescue, and he mumbles something he doesn't remember and doesn't say anything intelligible for the rest of the night.

The car's been in the garage for about five minutes, and he's not even noticed that it's stopped. ]

[October, Sypha had reminded the vampire, meant that fae nonsense might well be nigh. It was something the vampire tried his best to be aware of and sensitive about, especially since the demands of Regency meant little time to devote to looking at ways to see if there were ways out of the deal.

But October also meant the weather cooled. Meant the castle's yard needed to be made ready for cooler months, and the car needed it's own attention too. Meant that the few fledglings that did happen this year (it was at the normal numbers, as some turnings tended to be a long time in the making) were just finding their feet and they would never know any vampire in charge of the city besides Alucard. (He hated that thought.)

October parties were always the wildest, as long nights lay ahead and everyone wanted to welcome that fact. Tonight's was no different, complete with drama for no reason. Alucard was relieved as anything that he didn't need to lift a finger to address the issue, and Sypha's safey was something he was beaten to the punch to. (Maybe the Belmont wasn't as oblivious to what he and Sypha had spent the last few weeks trying to signal.)

The vampire is back in the garage to attend to his car's needs now. Autumn also means it needs an inspection, and now is as good a time as any. He's there in the crappiest shirt he owns and black trousers, and Alucard has the hood of the car up and is about to start his inspection when he realizes that he isn't alone at all.]

...Belmont?

[ The drive's taking longer on the way back than it did here. The car's been still for so long, and he doesn't understand why. The traffic shouldn't be this bad in the middle of the night and- and the hood of the car is up, and that can't be good. And why is there nobody in the driver's seat and

...oh. ]

...Car's stopped.

[ He's Being Helpful. ]

Yes, yes it has.

[Alucard doesn't close the car's hood, but he does walk over to the side that Trevor's on so that it isn't in the way either.]

Are you well?

Mmmmmmm.

[No one in this scenario is wearing pants and that sure is something to recognize at a time like this, isn't it. Still, this is — really very nice, actually, the makings of a Sypha sandwich, which in a way just makes sense because she's the smallest of the three, which means that if she's snuggled up in the middle, that both Trevor and Alucard can reach her but they can still reach each other over and around her, too. And that's how it should be, she thinks with some satisfaction. All of them together, not just sides of a triangle but a circle of the three of them, one continuous thing, indivisible.]

Perhaps no one is in charge.

[She leans back heavy against Trevor, using the momentum of the action to pull Alucard toward her, and takes advantage of the fact that she's got the use of her arms back to shove them underneath the hanging tails of Alucard's shirt to trace over the ridges and valleys of his torso.]

No more ganging up. Perhaps now we just...enjoy.

[Alucard's so happy to be dragged closer once Trevor is settled and Sypha has made herself well and comfortable in his arms. He's far enough away to appreciate the sight of them and how ridiculously, painfully wonderful they are together like this. Trevor's arms are still the beefiest, strongest things he's witnessed, and they're holding onto Sypha like she's the most fragile thing in the world. Arms that could take him easily in a fight if it ever came to it.

The vampire sighs happily, and that's all before Sypha uses his shirt to drag him in closer. He doesn't wobble from the momentum of the movement, but there's a lot of control being used up right now, and Alucard is aware he won't have much more left. As Sypha's hand traces over his chest, he places his own atop hers, clinging to the warmth of it.]

I...yes, perhaps that'd be best. However this sorts out.

[The particulars are always the tricky part, admittedly.]

I- yeah.

[ You don't go around telling very possessive vampires that you want to kiss thier girlfriends.

And- maybe also them, come to think of it. He's not been at the forefront of his mind for most of the night the way Sypha has. But then he hasn't been spending most of the night dressed so casually, like he can afford to have his guard down, shirt almost worn through in places and hair pulled back into a bun that's entirely practical and nothing more.

Well. Shit. ]

I- ate. The bad food? Maybe?

[ Lying is hard. ]

[Trevor's taken the car to stock up on food. Town is a half hour drive each way, and with daylight out, there was only one thing to do: keep exploring.

Alucard's noticed the change in both of them. With Trevor it's much more obvious - he feels at home in all the cold. He's been without changing weather in any meaningful way for two years now, and to have a shift in seasons means to have every missed comfort at his hands again. In Sypha, it's another side of her magic revealing itself in full. Alucard's witnessed her ice work time and again, but seeing it against a backdrop of snowy trees, to watch breath from all three of them cloud up, to see how she transforms the landscape, it's like watching her cast her spells for the first time.

He's not sure how he feels about all of it. Some aspects are great, like being curled up under a pile of blankets with them both, or lounging in front of the fire. (The pillow fort is good for a lot of things, as they've learned.) He doesn't like moving through snow on foot though, at least not in human form. As a wolf is easier, but he can't transform. There's definitely local packs and he doesn't want to anger them.

Ice skating, he has decided, is very much not his thing. For the fun of being bundled up in so many warm layers, the vampire doesn't like trying to move across the little ice covered pond they've found not far from the cabin. (Sypha's ensured it won't break.) If anything, the vampire is at the point where sitting with his butt on the cold ice is better.]

I think that I'm defeated by two blades on a pair of shoes, Sypha.

I'm not sure that food would impact your verbal ability this much.

[Alucard folds his arms over his chest, giving Trevor a look that is, in fact, worried. His eyes are concerned, his eyebrows are raised, and there's a slight tilt to the vampire's head, like he can divine the problem here by just looking at Trevor for long enough.]

Do you need a hand out of the car? I need to start to winter it, and I don't want you in there just in case something goes awry.

I can car.

[ HE CAN CAR.

He proceeds to demonstrate his ability to car by successfully getting out of the car all by himself, thank you very much. ]

D'you need to winter it? Doesn't seem like- cold. Happens. Here.

I use it as an excuse to take stock of all it's parts, change the oil, and any other repairs that require my attention. Oh, speaking of.

[The vampire moves past Trevor for a moment, heading toward the garage's work bench and the two sets of drawers that are underneath. He opens a top drawer, and he pulls out honest to God laboratory goggles. That he proceeds to just put on.]

That's better.

[Satisfied, Alucard walks back over to the open hood of the car, and just leans the hell down.]

As you can see, I can also car.

[Admittedly, Sypha isn't that much better on a pair of ice skates than Alucard is, given that it's not like she and the Speakers ever stayed in a cold place long enough for her to try it out and pick it up, but this is one area where her natural sense of balance is serving her well. After only a few false starts and wobbles, she's largely figured out how to get herself around on the ice, and while not quite at the level of doing anything fancy, she's steadily improving when it comes to at least completing a turn or two around the far side of the pond.

Which is how she comes skating back over to Alucard now, bundled up in coat and trousers (for a change) and a scarf and earmuffs, exhaling clouds of mist in the frigid air from her warm breath, and smiling all the way.]

Oh, come now. If you're so worried about it, why not just float until you get used to it?

Isn't that cheating?

[The vampire's various collection of coats (never mind growing up in the south!) has served him well. He has his wool coat with gold embellishments on, and the cableknit turtleneck sweater is an absolute blessing against the cold.

All the same, he knows he doesn't look half as cute as Sypha does in this moment. It's the earmuffs that do it, in Alucard's opinion. Makes her look fluffier somehow, and thus cuter.]

I'll bet you Trevor's actually good at htis.

I have the gun! I would not be without it, at a time like this.

[It's true; she's got it strapped to her thigh in such a way that the tails of her robes fall just neatly over it, helping to conceal its presence from view while still being relatively easy to reach for, just by shoving the loose fabric out of the way.]

I have it, I'm ready.

[Probably.]

Ohhh, is that it. You want to be good at this to compete with Trevor.

[Ohohohohoho. She skates over a little closer, wobbling only as she tries to remember how to properly stop without crossing her skate blades and falling over herself, and reaches to take his hand in both of hers once she's managed it.]

Well, you won't improve just by sitting around on the ice. You have to get up and practice!

Ah. You're. Car-ing.

[ He needs to sit down. There's a few boxes that are solid enough to hold his weight, and he perches on one of those, and he doesn't really need to watch Alucard work but-

-he's watching Alucard work. He's very much watching Alucard work. From the perfect angle to see up his shirt when he leans down and the front of it flops forward. To see the thin line of pale skin between where his trousers end and where it's bunched up at the back. And the goggles are fucking ridiculous, but only in that way that makes it seem all the more appealing to anticipate him pulling them away from his face and resting them on his head the reveal his face and- ]

Any bad car that needs to be- made good car?

[ This is expert technical language from a man who can drive and repair most things. ]

Don't be ridiculous. I am not foolish enough to think that I'll be as good as anyone in a day versus a lifetime.

[Showing that he figured it out? That's different.

With Sypha taking his hands, the vampire gets to his feet by floating rather than demanding she take his weight. Sypha may be an ice mage as much as she is a fire one, but he's not going to knock her onto the ice if he can avoid it.

His feet land on the ice carefully, and there is an immediate wobble. From Alucard, it's like watching a newborn horse find it's feet.]

Are you sure you're okay?

[The vampire does not sound convinced, even as he begins to talk into the car's innards. He's careful not to speak when he's actually touching components of the hood, and there's a low noise as the vampire notes a few things to himself.]

Because honestly Belmont, you are starting to worry me.

[Trevor's speech is very not-Trevor. Alucard doesn't like it, it sounds like he's had some mini-stroke. He hasn't shown any other sign of some medical emergency though, so forcing the Belmont to keep talking is a way to find the root of the problem.]

Looks like there's a few parts with small cracks in there, that demands ordering new parts.

[The vampire leans in more, which means that the gap between trousers and shirt widens by accident.]

'm just. The bad food. And tired, maybe.

[ Very convincing.

The shirt pulls forward a little when Alucard leans in further, and- shit if he isn't apparently some kind of caricature of someone who is far too repressed, gasping in shuck at the sight of an ankle. It's maybe an inch of skin, being generous, and yet here he is, torn between dousing himself with cold water and just going straight to his room and making sure to remember to lock the door. ]

Safe to drive it in the meantime?

[ It's a blessing, he supposes, that the car requires so much of Alucard's attention. His face has been too-flushed since the start of this, and it's only getting worse. ]

I'd tell you to just go to bed, but I'm terrified you'd fall down halfway en route.

[The vampire's genuinely concerned about that fact, if his tone is anything to go by. Alucard's not moving to go help Trevor up and to bed, because there's something over in the front right corner that needs his attention instead. That means his shirt inches right back down to where it was before, but one of the vampire's arms is hanging loose, sleeve rolled up.]

Perfectly fine to drive in the meantime. I'll have to call the manufacturer tomorrow though and request the parts.

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20s AU Post

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