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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Yes. You should. Go sit the fuck down, because all the family drama in the world isn't going to change the fact that your leg is still fucked up. I'll head back into the office with you.

[ He finishes coiling the whip and hangs it on the rack. It looks a little sad, with only the Vampire Killer there. ]

Whatever decisions I make as I bring my kingdom back under heel will not be questioned.

You remember that part? Because it's about to get really fucking relevant.

Can I simply take the floor in here? I think the office is best avoided right now.

[That probably counts as plotting or questioning decisions. Which is a no-go.

Speaking of that part, apparently. There's a soft noise of acknowledgement at the goddamn recitation, along with a soured face. Alucard's going to be damn good at following that part, because he's making a point to be living in ignorance of what, exactly, is going on in the wider world outside the castle.]

I have it committed to memory just as you do. Just tell me the thing that I'm going to dislike.

[ He motions to the stool he's recently vacated, sitting on the floor himself. VAMPIRE YOU'RE RECOVERING FROM A BAD LEG, YOU GET THE CHAIR. ]

I would be one of those decisions.

[ He could just leave it at that, couldn't he? ]

I'm to hunt down and punish her co-conspirators.

[Nope. Floor. He is very careful to float all the way up in the air, arrange his legs as needed, and then float all the way down so he's next to Trevor. Space is the opposite of what he wants right now. Even if it means cold castle florr.]

....Of course.

[There's just a tired noise.]

Don't tell me any more. At all.

[That way questioning lies.]

Oh for fuck's- [ FLORR IS HIS PLACE. ] -fine, fine. Come here.

[ He pulls Alucard down against his chest, sighing and leaning back against the wall. They could have gone to the room with a couch, or anywhere that doesn't involve him putting more strain than is necessary on that leg. But no. They're on the floor. ]

So I shouldn't tell you that I'll be back sometime tomorrow night? Or that I should be safe to be close to you when I am? Fine. I'll keep my mouth closed.

[FLORR MAY BE HIS PLACE BUT THAT IS WHY VAMPIRE IS HERE!!!]

Just those parts. Everything else just...I need ignorance on particulars.

[It's easy to settle down against Trevor. Muscle memory now, his head nested on Trevor's chest, one arm wrapped up and over Trevor's shoulders, the other resting on the other side of Trevor's chest. Legs carefully arranged to avoid pressure on the one wound that's still a problem. Alucard's not asked how much longer it will take to declare it healed.

He came down here to check on Trevor though. To be the one doing the reassuring, not vice versa.]

You'll be alright?

Of course. I'm careful.

[ He kisses the top of Alucard's head. It's practically a ritual by now. And it's easy, like this, with Alucard curled against him. It's easy to slip into at least the appearance of confidence. As if the stakes here were so much lower. ]

I've survived three encounters with Dracula, you know.

It's all I've been thinking about.

[Affection is usually the thing that soothes the vampire best. It doesn't work now. He is still a too taught string. Will be until this is all done.]

There's food, for when you need it.

[ This should work. Perhaps not the overconfidence, but the warmth of it. The affection. It's usually enough. It's part of the ritual, you hold the vampire and you kiss him and he just kind of melts for a while and everything else can wait. It isn't happening this time. ]

I'll come back. You know that.

[ Or- well. Maybe he doesn't. There's a pang of guilt at that. He did say that he was leaving, didn't he? And it had been Dracula who placed the thought that he ought to into his mind, but the words had been his own. He had been the one who acted on that thought. ]

Mmm.

[They all know it's not an absolute truth anymore. Not for the bullshit magic of Dracula, but because of where this can all end if there's even a hair out of line.]

And in between, you'll be okay?

[In between means a lot of things here. This bullshit job. This stupid month. Everything.]

I’ll live

[ There’s a lot he can’t say in response to that, because questioning Dracula’s actions is forbidden. But there are a few things that he can say. Just a few. ]

It’ll be worth it. Worth every second, to stay with you.

[Live. It has to be a good enough thing for now, and the vampire makes a soft, mollified noise at it. There's still so much guilt for forcing this, and there are deeper fears about the Belmont legacy and what doing Dracula's bidding might become in Trevor's worse moments.

He lies to himself. If his father wasn't here, if it was them after Carmilla, Trevor would probably be helping with this kind of work anyway. Insisting on it.]

So long as you declare it so.

[The hand on Trevor's chest catches in his shirt, getting knotted up in the fabric there.]

When you're back. [When.] I asked Sypha to share one of her favorite tales every day. So when you're around...

[If this work gives pause.]

Ask her to save it until evening, tomorrow. I'll be there.

[ He kisses Alucard's hair again, holding him close. ]

Am I stuck here, now? [ He sounds a little amused at the prospect. ] If you give me a couple minutes to finish preparing the whip, we can go somewhere that isn't all full of things for killing you.

[ Or they could just stay here, if Alucard can't bear to be let go of for that long. He doesn't mind all that much. ]

I will. Said that she'd need time to make choices anyway.

[Which was a wonderful, wonderful side effect. Alucard had wanted to give her a way to distract herself, and Sypha had took hold of it immediately. It's not enough to make the situation any better, just like the next kiss against his hair isn't, but it's not about improving things. It's making them bearable.]

Mmm. I probably shouldn't distract you from work. [He's resigned about that.] Just...just needed to check in.

You couldn't distract me from work if you tried. Just from everything else.

[ It's a shame things are like this. He can't just be stupid and useless for an entire month, which would have meant following all of the rules and probably gone at least some way to keeping Alucard content. He has to be an active Belmont, just one who can't act against fucking Dracula.

But at the same time, work is always the easiest thing for him. It's a decent thing to throw himself into, and it's something that needs doing. Distasteful but necessary. What he's best at. ]

I don't leave until early morning. You let me finish preparing, and you can distract me as much as you please for the rest of the afternoon.

[Stupid and useless feels like the name of the game from where Alucard sits. The easiest way to move forward, and it'll be harder and worse once the wound in his leg is declared as healed as it can ever be. (He's not really looked at the mark.)

Work's probably what Trevor needs. They all know that too.]

Mm. It won't be exciting distractions.

[Just the vampire being useless and clingy, like this.]

[ He clicks his tongue. ] Shame.

[ Useless and clingy is- not fine, because it means the vampire is upset. But he's more than content to be clung to. He wasn't really expecting anything more. They're all exhausted. So, so exhausted. ]

Suppose we've had enough excitement lately. Boring distractions don't sound too bad.

Don't think I'm sturdy enough for that yet.

[The vampire is going to be upset for at least a month.]

It'll just be like this then. Very boring. [Just a vampire being clingy.]

If I gave you a shopping list, could you take care of that while you're out too?

Excitement when you're feeling stronger, then. We'll still be here when you are.

[ Hopefully. He laughs at the request, because really, isn't that just an apt description of their whole lives, being asked to collect groceries on the way back from combing through a dead elder vampire's home? ]

It'll be late, so I'll have to pick through what they have left. But I think I can do that.

You will. [I hope.

Alucard's not sure where the humor is, but it feels like the first laugh this house has heard in too long of a time. For that fact alone he nuzzles against Trevor's jaw, slow and careful. Memorizing how the scruff feels against his skin.]

That's fine. And my car keys are in the basket next to the garage door.

[Trevor's pretty much the only person driving this month.]

I'll drive safely. Promise.

[ And also, you know. Try not to get fucked up while doing his work. But the work itself is an off-limits topic, so- ]

Whatever happens, don't got fucking taking credit for your dad's work. This isn't your fault. None of it.

Oh, with you I never worry.

[Trevor's constant refrain of seatbelts alone means the vampire doesn't worry about Trevor driving. He just is far too protective of his car.

The second part provokes a deeper rumble from the vampire. He's not convinced. But further discussion is probably still ill-advised.]

The origin of everything is no one's fault except for one very stupid man.

[That's all he can manage on the topic.]

[ He isn't convinced. He probably isn't going to be convinced. No matter how little they blame him. No matter how hard they argued (against him!) to stay with him only a few days ago. He's blaming himself. For his father's actions. For not letting them go. ]

I want to stay with you. Both of you. In your too-big country where everything's made for cars instead of for people. And I don't want things. I'm shitty at wanting things. But I want that.

Whatever comes of this month, it'll be worth it, to stay with you. As long as this ends with the three of us in each other's arms, I'm happy. Just- tell me how I can make this easier for you in the meantime.

[Of course he is. Because for all that he had said that safety was important before fucking off to deal with Carmilla, he had denied them that same safety when it mattered most of all. He was selfish in that moment, worse than ever before. So his mind is convinced that the reminder must come to pass at every waking moment, until this is all done.

There is a comfort though, and even Trevor articulates it. The Belmont never wants anything, and it's when he first says that word is when some of the tension finally, finally leaves the vampire.

Because it means he maybe didn't make the selfish choice.]

It's always stunned me how little you express needs and wants. I know why but...

[That's not the topic at hand.]

This. This is fine just...when you need things, tell me.

[If he can give, then he wants that. The only thing that will make this easier will be to help them through.]

Both of you.

I’ll try.

[ And he gathers Alucard up in his arms, standing before putting him down on the chair. ]

I’ll get back to work. The sooner I’m ready for tomorrow, the more time I have with you tonight. But first- hold out your hand.

20s AU Post

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