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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[His mother kept a smaller lab at home. She was a doctor, she had an actual office and there she kept most of her work equipment. Home was for matters that required advanced medical technology, along with her housecalls bag. It's a big, brown satchel, carefully organized and with a ew more advanced pieces of equipment than a dcotor might ordinarily have.

Alucard walks with the same sense of calm purpose his mother did when she had that bag. It meant emergency. It meant the utmost professionalism. It meant not reacting with any more than a grunt at walking into the room and seeing Trevor out of bed, leaning against the drafting table. Alucard only heads over so he can take Trevor's hand and start to guide him back to bed.]

Trevor, I want to ask your permission to invoke following orders right now. I don't know if any of that will override pain sensors, but it's vital I take a look and try to assess damage right now.

[ He could have done it. He could have got there. He was halfway there. He just needed to push off from the table and walk to the wall, then use that to brace himself and- then he'd be at the light switch, and this could all be resolved. He gives an almost feral noise when Alucard takes his hand, trying to pull away and do just that, but one step away from the table and he's already lost his way and his whole body slumps forward painfully in despair. He lets Alucard lead him. ]

Fine, do whatever you have to. Just turn on the fucking lights before you do.

[This is going to be a nightmare.

Alucard says nothing until he has Trevor's hand in his, and they're at the edge of the bed. He stands for a moment more, carefully considering what the right order of words is for the moment.

There.]

Trevor, sit down on the edge of the bed. Hands on either side, use the bed frame to brace yourself if the pain becomes unbearable.

[Alucard feels sick just even saying the words.]

The lights. Turn on the fucking lights.

[ He knows. He knows that the lights are on. But at the same time, they can't be. This cannot be a thing that's happening. Not now. Not with the city wrapped in such chaos.

But he sits as he's told, bracing himself for pain. ]

Please. Please turn them on.

[Every word hurts. Every word is a reminder of just how badly they have miscalculated, because for Trevor to lose vision even temporarily is the worst possible thing to have happen. They city is barely under Alucard's control right now. It will explode if they aren't careful and...and Trevor makes them be so very careful.

Alucard focuses on the requirements of now. He reaches into his mother's bag and pulls out a small flashlight. Clicks it on.]

Stay still. I need to check your eyes, okay? If you even see a bit of light, tell me.

[He uses one hand to make sure Trevor's eyelids don't blink. The other hand shines the light in, and Alucard tries to assess how the eyes are reacting to light at all.]

Please.

[ His pupils shrink as they should, but Trevor doesn't react at all. His voice just cracks into something raw and tiny and pathetic. ]

I'm trying.

[That's not a lie. The clinical voice is gone for those two words, panic laced throughout them. He hates this. This is his boyfriend, and he's hurt and scared and the vampire can't do a goddamn thing about it.

His eyes are acting correctly. Shit. Shit.

Alucard does one last test, just waving the light from side to side slowly to see if the eyes even react. If they do, then that's actually worse.]

[ They react as expected, the pupils dilating as the light moves between them and contracting again when it shines on either of them directly. One pupil is still slightly larger than the other, but it shrinks and grows as the other does. ]

Why-

[ It's such a simple request. To just hit a switch. It would take seconds. Why is he not doing it? ]

[His mother did this all the time.

Alucard puts the light back into the bag, and rests his hands atop Trevor's thighs gently.]

Listen to me.

[Calm. Calm. Not pleading. Calm.]

Trevor, the blow to the head has impacted your vision. Your eyes are reacting to the light, but there's something blocked between what they're seeing and the part of your brain that processes that information, leaving you blinded right now. [He managed the word. Good.] If we are lucky, it's because of swelling in your head from the strength of the blow. Once it goes down, your sight should come back.

[ And there's the word. His pleading stops at that, because there's no need. Maybe the lights are already on. Maybe Alucard can work in the dark. It doesn't matter which is true, because there's no appreciable difference. ]

Fuck.

[ That's all he can manage for a moment, hands gripping the frame of the bed until his knuckles are white. ]

...if we're unlucky. How long will it take then?

[ He knows. He knows. ]

[Alucard knows he could bear those hands and their grip.]

If we are lucky, maybe a week. Head injuries are...

[His voice wavers, and Alucard forces himself to keep going.]

Because head injuries are internal, it is often hard to give exact estimates. What we will do is keep icing what we can, check everything, and I will dive into my mother's notes for anything and everything that can help.

[Alucard knows that there's precious little. He has to try anyway.]

And until then, I'm here. Your eyes.

You didn't answer.

[ Because there's no need to. They both know how long it will be if they're unlucky. ]

If we're unlucky, I'm useless to the two of you. Permanently. Is that right?

You're not useless.

[That comes out immediately, and that's laced with fear. He anticipated that horrible fucking thought process. It's already here. Great!!!]

It will impact how you carry out your usual work, yes.

So I'll be useless.

[ He sighs. ]

You don't need to fucking sugarcoat it. Just say 'you fucked up, now you're useless to us. Better hope it's temporary'. I don't need to be condescended to.

[ They're going to discard him, aren't they? They'll deny it now, but give it a couple of weeks. He'll be a liability, and they won't be able to be rid of him fast enough.

So he may as well react to that being discarded now, instead of giving them a chance to actually do it. ]

I'm not condescending. I...Trevor, your brain is not a mystery to me anymore. You're already thinking words I want to scream at you for ever daring to utter, even in the dark recesses of your own mind.

[Alucard lifts one of Trevor's hands from the bedframe.]

You are not useless, Trevor. If I could tear the word out of your personal dictionary, I would.

[ He flinches, just a little, at the contact. Not for not wanting it, but for not being able to sense Alucard's hands coming closer, It's a strange sensation, like being snuck up upon. But he relaxes immediately when he realises what the contact is. ]

-let's act like we're lucky, for now. [ He manages to refrain, at least, from asking what the fuck he's going to do that's so useful he he can't fight and can't write spells. ] What do I do, to fix this?

[ Please don't say 'just rest'. ]

[Alucard places his other hand over Trevor's as well, keeping it wrapped up in his cold hands. His thumbs try to massage whatever skin he can, like that's going to fix any of this.]

Right now we really need to monitor your head. That means resting, I'm afraid.

[Worse. Without anything to look at, there's more time for Trevor's stupid possum brain to come up with shitty scenarios.]

I don't want you in your own head right now.

Not like there's many other fucking places to be.

[ He can't bury himself in work, like this. Not even the cross-stitch and knitting that are usually good tools to keep his hands busy when injured. He can't read.

He's just stuck here, trapped inside his own head with the windows shuttered. Alone with his fuckups, and the wine in the kitchen is an impossible distance away. His fingers twitch slightly, but he doesn't take Alucard's hand properly. ]

[There aren't, but the vampire is going to try anyway.]

Usually you're not supposed to let someone with a head injury sleep for a time, otherwise I would be reaching for that last bit of dreamless sleep stuff. [It seems the kindest thing that can be offered right now.]

So talk at me. Whatever you want. Anything that will keep you from withdrawing into yourself.

[Alucard already knows shit is fucked. Trevor's barely holding onto him for starters.]

Shit, and now I have to figure out something to talk about? You know I'm awful at this shit.

[ The only things he ever has to talk about are things that Alucard hates, after all. The tone is slightly more lighthearted than it was, at least, though that's not really saying much. ]

Oh, you should hear me try. I just recite scientific formulas, and that would put you to sleep.

[That's...that's an improvement. A small one, but a improvement all the same.]

Tell me about coming here then. You never explained the particulars, and I've never crossed an ocean.

Hm.

[ He closes his eyes in thought. ]

Left from Greece. Sailed cheap, so I was bunking with three other men. Journey was meant to take about six days, but the weather turned sour. It was- pretty great, at first. Felt like an adventure. Like I was actually doing something worthwhile, after a couple years doing fucking nothing. Upper decks were reserved for the first and second class passengers, so we just stayed down below and played cards and drank for the first few days. They seemed decent types. One guy was seasick as fuck, and we all took turns rubbing his back and directing the vomit to places that weren't any of the beds.

Went south when the weather went bad. In the 'turned bad' sense. The ship wasn't going south.

[Alucard strokes Trevor's knuckles gently as he speaks. It's stupid that he's never asked before. Learned how one of the the two most important people in his life came to be here.]

Being entirely turned around is a level of skill that's....truly impressive and horrifying weather.

[His other hand goes to Trevor's hair, and fingernails carefully card through it. It's a mess, and he can fix that much.]

Weather added a couple days to the trip, and not too many people had brought food for that long. That's when shit started getting nasty. Seasick had barely touched the food he brought, so he and anyone else who had it were turning around to extort people. Most people were going without, but there were people who couldn't. Families with children.

Shit got wild. Resolved itself by the last day, the way shit like this always resolves itself. But it wasn't a card games sort of atmosphere anymore, you know?

[ He shrugs. ]

But it was great, at first. I mean, I was coming here to kill your dad, so I can't imagine you'd share my enthusiasm for it. But it was the first time in years I had a purpose. Had something I was setting out to do. And it was the thing that all Belmonts set out to do.

Hmmmm. It's a shame that extortion was everyone's first thought, but not terribly surprising. [That's a bad trip, Trevor. Alucard keeps rearranging Trevor's hair, continuing even when all is well.]

There are days I understand the urge. [JUST WAIT.] I...I can only imagine how good it felt to have purpose though.

Where did you come into port?

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