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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It also has a bed, for you, that you should be in.

[With her free hand, she reaches to lightly touch her fingertips against the fabric of his robe, gently against his chest where she knows his bandages sit a few layers beneath.]

You need your rest.

I need to know you'll be able to sleep first.

[He can nap at the drop of a pin these days. He has been, wherever he can find a comfortable enough space and a few hours of silence. There's memories that go with it though, of being angry enough over some slight in childhood that he simply put himself to bed but...

...those aren't memories for right now.

Carefully, because Sypha's hand is still where it is, Alucard starts to corral them both in the direction he came from.]

It's this way. I'm sorry I didn't think to draw a map to my room, at least.

I'm sorry you had to get up. How did you know I was up and about?

[She hadn't...thought she was making that much noise, but...]

I just had a feeling that wouldn't go away.

[He isn't even sure what's going on with the castle, so like hell he's going to explain.]

I see I was right.

A feeling that wouldn't go away.

[She's quiet a minute, following along with him, and then a slow and almost sly smile starts to creep across her lips.]

So you were thinking about me.

Of course. Why wouldn't I when I know it's your first night here?

[Far more focused on what's ahead, Alucard misses that look on Sypha's face. She's close, he can hear her, and there's still a few more doors to go.]

Wait. [He the turns and looks, catching that...Sypha...] What did you think I was thinking about you for...

Oh, I don't know. Alone in your room, after whisking me away to your castle, having a feeling that would not go away...

[Know what else is not going away? That little smile.]

Thinking of me so much that you had to come looking for me...

[Oh he is never telling her about the castle now.]

Now that sounds like something out of a film. [Never mind bad romance novels, that's for later.]

How does that story end?

Badly for your thoughts, with that injury of yours getting in the way.

[Still, she's perking up a little, which is a good thing. It's not doing much for the prospect of her getting to sleep, but at least she's not anxious anymore, either.]

I suppose your thoughts will simply have to stay that way, until you're healed.

[There's a soft laugh, but that's more to Sypha's manner than how the story ends.]

We've managed so far, haven't we?

[Just barely, at certain times, but the point remains. Alucard's head tilts to the right as they approach another door, one that's ajar.]

Through here.

...I truly cannot tell if you're making overtures at me or not.

[Luckily, they're at the door, so the point may wind up being moot in light of the fact that they've reached their destination.]

This is your room? Just...this door?

Well, fair is fair on that front.

[Alucard opens the door for her, although he sneaks in first to turn on the light.

Alucard's room is clearly in one of the castle's turrets, made clear by the part of left the room that seems to be a part of a hexagon. That part has a few chairs and a sofa, all upholstered in dark, rich reds. There are no visible pieces of wood framework there, and the curtains are currently drawn. On either side there is a set of bookshelves, and those do have elaborate cabinet work. The house's carpets have long seemed ahead of their time with their style, but now, now they're essentially Art Deco and so is much of the furniture.

The right actually has his bed, and the woodwork there (bird's eye maple) is much the same. Beyond it is a door for the closet, and opposite that door is the dresser itself with an overly large mirror. There's another door near the dresser that leads to the bathroom, and right opposite of the doorway into the room is the aforementioned fireplace. There's only one armchair in front of it, and it seems the least used.

There's a few old things of childhood placed in the sitting corner, because things are hard to say farewell to entirely. A plush wolf is given the entire sofa, and a few other friends sit on one of the chairs. Framed on one wall is a painting from his father's collection - an impressionist's view of a river at twilight. There's a map near one of the bookcases, but the mantle is kept very bare.

It's a mercy that there's firewood in the fireplace.]

The wood might be a bit old. I think it's been there since I moved into this room.

You don't need to light it on my account. You don't...have to go to such lengths, just for me.

[Her attention is immediately drawn to the stuffed animals, though, just because their presence is somehow so incongruous with the rest of the room — the furnishings stylish and fashionable, yet littered with things that speak of youth and innocence. If she were a little braver, she'd go over and pick the wolf up, give it a soft squeeze to her chest.

She's not, so she stays where she is, and nudges Alucard lightly toward the bed.]

Go lie back down. You really should not be up; I'll help you get settled in again.

Sypha, you just said you couldn't sleep.

[It's important, as far as the vampire's concerned. She's staying here, she needs to be as comfortable as possible.

For once, he doesn't let himself be nudged back to resting. He stays there, eyes resting on Sypha worriedly.]

Fussing isn't a one-way street.

It's not the lack of a fire that's keeping me from sleeping.

[Which sounds ungrateful, a little, but. Now, finally, she does go over to the couch and sit down on it, only hesitating a moment before pulling her heels up onto the edge of the cushion and hugging her knees for the sake of having something to hug.]

I think...I miss my family, perhaps.

[Alucard closes the door behind them both, then follows Sypha to the sofa. He doesn't like the sound of her voice being distressed, and when she reveals the reason, Alucard aches. When he sits, it's right beside her (carefully moving the wolf onto the arm of the sofa.)

He's still not at a good angle for this, but it is easier now to wrap both of his arms around Sypha and pull her closer, making sure that her head rests on his good shoulder.]

That's understandable. Besides this house is...hardly welcoming to most.

There's nothing wrong with it.

[On this, she will insist. She's not ungrateful, not turning up her nose at the kindness of having a house to stay in at all.

But there's something about the move to the castle that really sinks home that the Speakers are gone. Maybe it's because at the townhouse it was easy to pretend that the camp was still there, just waiting for her, and she was the one choosing not to go back to it yet. But this? This is lonesome, and different, and there are no Speakers, because there's no one. There's only her, and her Alucard.]

But...could I stay here, tonight, even so?

[It's Dracula's demon castle, yes, there are many problems with it.]

Of course.

[He'll take the sofa. It isn't the first or the last time he's slept on it, and it's strange being in his own bed with everything that has changed. He doesn't like it, and Sypha's concerns are a welcome way to ignore his own.]

I should have simply offered you that option to begin with.

You're too much of a gentleman for that.

[More like he gets too tongue-tied around her to even come close to suggesting it, but gentleman works, too. She knows him well enough to know that casual innuendo isn't something he does well (or at all), but overthinking is something that happens all too easily.]

There are pillows enough, and I don't need the fire lit to appreciate it.

[...She is, evidently, figuring on sleeping on the floor.]

Take my bed.

[Which is hardly the problem, but it really does prove the gentleman point.]

I can sleep on the sofa without any issue, and if it's truly too much then I'll join you.

[It's also a chance for Sypha to veto the waiting period. Alucard's real concern is not only gentlemanly, but born of the fear of aggravating the wound. There's so much left to heal, and the vampire suspects that they'll cuddle up just a little too hard.]

You can't sleep on a sofa with your stitches still delicate.

[Are they going to bicker about this? MAYBE.]

I don't need to take your bed from you. I just don't want to be alone in a strange place, for the night.

In this form, no.

[NO YOUR BOYFRIEND IS JUST GOING TO MAKE IT WEIRD.

Alucard's slow to stand, but that's because once he's on his feet, he's no longer a person. Where Alucard was is instead a white wolf, one that carefully turns around and sinks it's head into Sypha's lap.]

[Things she was expecting to find in her boyfriend's bedroom tonight:

NOT HIS FURSONA, THAT'S FOR SURE.

Suffice to say, she goes very, very still when he rests his chin on her lap, because her nightgown is thin and he is large and furred and boyfriend or not, one does not grow up living the Speaker life and not have instincts that make one immediately wary of very large, very close wolves.]

...What?

[No, seriously. What.]

You —

...What?

[There's a very gentle tailwag from the wolf, before it backs up a few paces and transforms again. Alucard's there, looking no worse for wear. There's a few stray white hairs clinging to his bathrobe, but that's normal enough.]

I would have told you earlier, but it's far easier to do that than it is to explain it verbally. Transforming earlier would have distressed the stitches.

[Alucard continues like THIS IS FUCKING NORMAL.]

Resting in that form is sometimes easier anyway.

You can change. Into a wolf.

[...]

But you are still yourself, as a wolf? You still know it's me?

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