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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[ They're both close enough now, and not in charge enough now, for him to wrap his arms around the both of them, pulling them in close. Sypha is soft and warm and he can feel her heartbeat flutter even through the skin and her dress and his shirt wherever they touch. Alucard is cool to the touch and all hard, smooth muscle. Trevor's sure that he must represent the point between those extremes, more fat that Alucard and more muscle than Sypha, none of her life of pacifism to keep him from growing rough and none of Alucard's healing to be restored from it.

It's impossible, to feel like an ugly, broken thing when you can see yourself as the middle point between two perfect ones.

He can't quite reach Sypha's mouth like this, and so he nuzzles against her cheek instead, lips opening and closing just to the side of her face. ]

So, [ And he doesn't really want to interrupt this, he really doesn't want to try to wrap his mind around logistics, but also he wants the end result of both of those things so, so much. ] what does everyone want?

Mm. I'll be fine.

[ He'd really rather Alucard not be concerned, because that means he won't drop the subject and-

-this is his own fault, really. He's an idiot who can't maintain a professional relationship with a vampire, of all things, and the woman said vampire is practically married to. (Alucard's arms are different to his. Paler. Unscarred. All muscle, instead of the muscle and fat of his own. He looks like a fucking painting more than he does a real living thing, even in a pair of ridiculous goggles and gradually becoming more and more stained with grease.) An idiot who can't just accept normal kindnesses for what they are and be grateful, who always has to want and want and want.

(That's the difference between humans and monsters, there. Humans can be happy with what they have, monsters will never stop wanting more.)

He's pathetic, isn't he? A useless thing that grasped onto the first kindness it was shown and demanded more from people who had no more to give. ]

Want me to let you be?

You're certain?

[Alucard's tone makes it clear that he has some doubts to the veracity of Trevor's claim. But he still has his head under the hood, and that means he can't give Trevor disapproving looks. The most he can do is murmur a few doubting noises, and then get his head out of the car entirely.

There's some grease on his left cheek, and his hands are going to be gross soon. He looks down at said hands, offended, and then walks over to where Trevor is.]

Forgot gloves.

[Which, helpfully, are right next to where Trevor's sitting. He takes out a pair of leather gloves, but they're thinner than most and pretty gross looking. Work gloves. He then squats down next to the Belmont, grabbing one of those sliding planks so he can get under the car.]

Besides, it's useful to have a second person around when I'm doing this.

You can use salt for it. The grease.

[ That, at least, comes out fairly normal. Because if there's one thing he can manage even when weighted down by self loathing and useless, pointless attraction it's discussing the virtues of salt.

He makes a point of turning away when Alucard approaches, because he can feel his ears burning red and he can't imagine the rest of his face is much better, and the old work shirt isn't fitted like his others and hangs off him, making his frame look narrower and-

-it really isn't helping to think about how well his arms would fit around Alucard's (his boss! a vampire! dracula's fucking demon son!) chest. ]

Not- [ And he struggles to keep his voice steady, even as he can just about manage words on the topic of salt. ] not in the bullshit Belmont way, just in the using it to scrub the shit off your hands way. Sugar works, too.

Hm. Makes sense, since it's an abrasive. I'll keep it in mind for later.

[The lack of eye contact is...weird. But Alucard is smart enough to know that prodding the Belmont about it is just going to make him angry and huffy, and tonight's been rather nice overall. Neither of them need that right now.

With the board in hand Alucard moves right back to the car, crouching down so he can get the board under the car, and then lowers himself down onto it.]

Thank you for helping get Sypha around this evening without any broken glass being involved.

[With that, the vampire just slides under the car, only his legs visible from where Trevor sits.]

Ah, you saw-

[ Shit.

Shit, shit shit. The vampire saw him carrying around his girlfriend. Which means he saw his girlfriend kissing him.

Which means, at least as far as he can tell, that it's shamefully obvious what the problem is here.

It's easier to talk, at least, with most of Alucard being hidden. Easier to not think too hard about how with his hair tired back like this, his long pale neck is exposed and inviting. Or how soft his hands look, despite apparently doing this sort of work with them. How pretty they must look, long and pale against Sypha's rosier skin, all unmarked and ethereally beautiful against her more human body.

Shit, he thought about it. ]

-I wasn't going to just leave her there. I'm an asshole, not cruel.

I want to be held.

[It's a good place to start, at least, both in terms of getting the ball rolling on stating preferences and on figuring out what those preferences are to begin with. Alucard has one of her hands pinned against his chest, and she leaves it there with him, liking the feeling of having it held; the other reaches back and around a little gawkily, but in pursuit of finding some patch of Trevor's hair to brush and run her fingers through in appreciation for his little kisses.]

And to have both of you, preferably, but that might be greedy of me.

[Funny how she doesn't sound at all ashamed of that greed, either.]

And to watch you both kiss each other. I liked that quite a bit.

You are trying too hard to treat the ice as though it is dry land, I think.

[Not that she's really an expert in this herself, by any means, but this much of the art form, she has managed to pin down.]

It's not. You have to accept it as its own thing, and treat it as such. The movement is different. The way it moves with you is different. To slip on the ground is an unexpected event, yes? But here it's not just to be expected; it's a part of the experience. So, you must not fight to stand still; you have to learn to accept how the ice moves you, instead.

[ Dracula is all but ignoring the two of them - he only needed Sypha to wrangle the demon car, never needed the Belmont at all, and needs neither of them now. He strides into the house, and his shadow in the streetlights seems to fall into the building and be devoured by it. ]

We need to stop Carmilla and get Adrian to safety. Whichever of those he does, we do the other. [ Trevor says, giving chase. Because he has no clue what Dracula means to do here, and it's hard to do so much as trust that it'll be in Alucard's interests. ] If we're separated and you think he's a danger to Adrian or yourself, shoot once in the body to buy yourself a second to aim properly, then once in the heart proper. If it doesn't kill him, I'll at least hear the shots and know where you are.

[ Sometimes you gotta have a plan to off your father-in-law, just in case. ]

Edited 2019-02-21 22:31 (UTC)

I never accused you of being either.

[Lately, he means. The vampire is well aware that in the past that he has accused the Belmont of a great many things, namely wanting to sacrifice Alucard to the city's political machine. Such as it is, Alucard and Sypha were both privately hoping that tonight Trevor would get it through his head that any affection he had would be returned, but...

...they'll have to talk to him about it. Set a deadline for themselves on when to have the talk, plan it out properly, then either alienate Trevor utterly or have a halfway decent resolution.]

You are very bad at accepting gratitude, Belmont.

I am not.

[He's...no, he's not pouting, just nearly. Alucard frowns, but he listens to Sypha carefully before he even tries to formulate a response.]

I think I need to learn by doing. You went perhaps a little too poetic in description.

[Which actually is an excuse to hold Sypha's hand. Shhh.]

Greed isn't so much the issue as what's at hand.

[Meaning fuck no the vampire isn't leaving the room to go get any additional requirements. He doesn't trust himself not to be too overwhelmed to make it to the bedroom nightstand. He breathes out, aware of how shaky that sound is, aware of Sypha's hand, aware of Trevor's arms around him, and this is really too intense on all fronts.

His next breath is steadier, but that's because he forces it to be. He's already so stupidly close to Trevor, and so it's the easiest thing to just bury his face in the Belmont's neck for a moment.]

You're in a far better position for her than I am. I'll be right here in your arms.

I'm- sorry? I'm sorry.

[ His face falls forward into his hands, voice becoming mumbled from it. He sounds confused at first, then soft and genuinely apologetic.

He doesn't know when he fucked up, but he must have fucked up somewhere. ]

Sorry.

[Right, none of this is normal. The vampire slides himself out from under the car at that, and when he does, he moves his goggles up so that they're resting on his forehead. It looks deeply silly, the vampire staring at the Belmont like this, but he's also careful not to move closer either. Alucard's back braces against the front of his car, and his feet are flat on the floor, forcing his knees to be more or less parallel to his shoulders.

There's naught but genuine concern on his face.]

You're not okay.

[That's just a statement of fact.]

I always think he is a danger to Adrian.

[Guess whose memory of Dracula's sins against his son is even longer than Trevor's. Guess who remembers a grotesque wound and a forest path, and tears and claws and an awful pallor above too-brief letters that arrived in envelopes with postmarks from far and far away. Sypha's had a long time to think about what she would do to Dracula if she ever were able to get her hands on him, and right now she has the opportunity and a gun and if it weren't for the fact that this situation is fraught with risk and too many moving parts already, that would create a dangerous combination to see unfold.

As it is, she's running along with Trevor, heading for the doorway that waits like the maw of a beast ready to devour anyone that draws too close. There are too many vampires in this situation, she thinks grimly, and hopes that their combined efforts will prove to be enough.]

Are you going after Carmilla?

If you fall and pull me down with you, you're going to make it up to me for a month.

[She huffs a little, but lets him hold her hand, waiting patiently for him to take the lead so that he can go at his own pace as he starts working out how to glide across the ice.]

And I will hold you accountable for the bruises.

So I spoil you even more for a full month. At Christmas. Which means that we won't see hide or hair of Trevor to begin with. Yes Sypha, that's an excellent threat.

[That sounds like the BEST IDEA. But that's for later. Now is about actually trying to figure this out, and the vampire wobbles forward inch by tiny little inch, working to find balance first.

Which is stupid because he is good at balance. Excellent, even, and aware of that fact. His next few glides are just as wonky, like he's thinking too hard about which foot must be where and when.]

Don't forget the part about the bruises.

[She clucks her tongue, shaking her head slightly as she watches him, and an idea comes to her gradually.]

Mmm. Are you afraid to fall?

I haven't forgotten about the bruises!

[He's trying not to gesture as he responds. Which isn't going well.]

And don't be ridiculous. That's normal enough.

[However falling in front of her...]

Hmm.

[ One hand - only one, because he wants to keep at least one arm around both of them - goes to Sypha's hip, fingers hooking under the fabric that Alucard didn't quite manage to remove before and sliding it downward over her thighs. ]

Does that sound acceptable to you, alouette?

Then why are you skating as though you are afraid to?

[She makes a slow turn, wheeling a half-circuit until she's in front of him, facing him. She's not nearly good enough yet to try skating backward, but she's at least steady enough to not fall over when Alucard inevitably bumps against her from his forward trajectory.]

I think what you should do is commit to falling. Accept that on this next pass of yours, you're going to slip and fall. You can catch yourself by floating, anyway, so it won't even hurt. But — try it with confidence, having already accepted that you're going to tumble. And see what happens.

I at least know the answer to the question is because you are better at understanding my inner motives thoughts most days than I could ever be.

[It is one of the many reasons the vampire loves Sypha.]

All right then. But you also need to move. I don't want you underfoot.

Not unless Dracula doesn't. And not if it jeopardizes our chances of getting Adrian out.

[ Alucard is the priority. Has to be. None of this fucking matters anymore if they can't bring him out of this alive. He can hunt down Carmilla even if Dracula doesn't, and she's powerful in a fair fight but Belmonts have never been in a position to fight vampires fairly.

Grimly, making sure to keep himself between Dracula and Sypha, he enters the house. ]

Under-skate, you mean. But yes, I would prefer not to get caught on your blades.

[Using one of his hands as steadying leverage, she shuffle-steps a little way over so that she's out of his path and able to pivot to better watch him as he goes.]

Edited 2019-02-21 23:55 (UTC)

[She knows what it means, the endearment that Trevor calls her. It's lovely and fitting, but it's not the translation of it that has a thrill racing down her spine; it's the way his voice lilts over the syllables, the way some small part of her instinctively finishes out the rest of the song (gentille alouette; alouette, je te plumerai) and that's precisely how she feels, a bird in the hand and in the cage of their love of her.

She squirms a little, trying to help him in his pursuit, which by extension means he's left with the torment of a lapful of squirming Speaker, but so it goes.]

Yes.

[Nimbly, she tugs her hand free of Alucard's hold and runs it down his body toward his hip instead, not quite reaching to take him in hand just yet — but close.]

Yes, yes, yes.

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20s AU Post

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