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 has been three very long weeks. Alucard has not been able to communicate his own defenses to the others, that is plotting, but his routine was set since day one.

He sleeps twelve hours every day, 10 at night until 10 in the morning. It's enough for his father to administer medical attention, and to keep back any comments about care. The time asleep has worked wonders for healing, as has the (required) pint of blood a day, replacing the vampire's usual habit of once every three or four days. When he wakes, he's quiet. Cooks, then sits in the library so he's laying down as he reads. Everything is predictable. He is an obedient son, and takes extra steps to prove it. He hasn't left the house beyond sitting on the steps of the castle in the sunshine, guiltily relying on the other two for the real needs. (Library books. Groceries. Other requirements. Trevor's been trusted with Alucard's card.) Dracula is informed when his son rises, when he sleeps, and when one or the other are going out to take care of things.

It is effort. Alucard doesn't know if it will work, and he barely hides his fear of failure. It shows when he curls up around one or both of them or settles in their arms, all possessive grabbing with an undercurrent of something rawer. He can't lie that everything will be okay. He just tries to clamp down on the fear as best he can.

He's sitting in bed tonight, pajama top on but bottoms not pulled all the way up yet. A curtain of hair hides his gaze, but what Alucard's hand brushes over has hitherto been bandaged since he was brought home as a bundle of wrecked dhampir, recovery probable but not iron clad.

There's a soft sigh at the scar on his leg. It's the first he's seen it. It shall not be the last, because it is far too close to the vein in the leg, and high up for that matter. Every intimacy will feature it.]

[ He's been careful. Very careful. In a way that he didn't realise that he could be. And so he's never come back from Dracula's errands with worse than a few bruises.

And this is good, not because he's suddenly grown a sense of self-preservation, but because he's not permitted to talk overmuch about Dracula's errands. This is hard enough for the other two already. They don't need him showing up bloody with no way to tell them how it happened or whether it's likely to happen again.

He's claimed the shower before Sypha, because he, in his own words, has the most powerful smell. And so he's the first of the two to be ready for bed, emerging with still-slightly-damp hair and the smell of rose oil (the only clue about what he might have been dealing with). And he emerges to Alucard sighing dramatically at the space between his legs.

So he laughs. ]

Soon. [ He says, leaning over the bed to kiss the top of Alucard's head. ] Promise.

[Alucard's promised himself not to rankle at his father using his fiance. It is an absolute annoyance, but he doesn't do more but grumble and force the thought away. He'll vent about it one day when this is done and they're not in the house, far from Dracula's ears. It will start with how dare and end with the vampire speechless and making the angriest noises.

So he didn't do more than grumble when Trevor claimed the shower first (he did smell), and he does precious little more than lean against what he can reach of Trevor's now. One thing Alucard doesn't have to hide, nor more accurately refuses to hide, is the effect of the other two on him. The happiness it brings. A silent prayer for some kind of intervention to let it remain that way.]

Ass. [He murmurs it softly.] That wasn't even close to what I was thinking about.

[The smell of rose oil is a double edged sword. In days past, Alucard would ask what happened and need to be informed of details. Now, now he has to be ignorant against all better judgement.]

Not even close? That's harsh.

[ He remains close to Alucard for just a moment longer before kissing again as he pulls away. Pajamas first, then he can be close and stay. ]

What- oh. [ He figures it out just as the question begins to leave his mouth. ] She got you good, huh? Takes a lot for shit to heal that slowly on a vampire.

Mmm.

[Alucard moves his hand, and the scar is clear. It's dark, deep, angry looking red thing, one that starts low with a sharp indentation, then moves up for an inch or two before it tapers off. It's from claws, not the morning star Carmilla used to dig into the vampire's psyche just a little bit more, but the effect is much the same. At the right angle, it nearly looks like a thorn.

The problem of where it is goes without saying. The fact it looks fresh doesn't help, and Alucard's father made only a single remark about marred skin. It was more than enough, both to unsettle the vampire and anger him, given the deeper gash slashed down his chest.]

It's age related, I think.

[ He gives up on buttons about halfway up and returns to Alucard, climbing into the bed next to him to look at the scar. And it's shitty. Far from the worst he's ever seen, but still shitty. ]

Oh, shit, yeah. Age'll do it. [ He holds off on the anecdotes about knife blades carved from an elder vampire's bones. It'd probably come too close to plotting. Instead he puts a hand on top of the thigh, not touching the scar, but fingers grazing close to it. ]

It hurting you?

Not physically.

[Physically would be impossible, given his father's skills. But there's baggage with this now, the kind that scars tend to carry when they're the product of being incredibly bugfuck stupid.

And Trevor's there, which means that the vampire leans against Trevor's side out of finely honed instinct now.]

And it is nice to have the bandages off.

...bothering you, then? [ He pulls Alucard close with his free arm as he asks. Theirs. At least for the moment.

As much as any of them are still each other’s, right now, rather than simply borrowed from Dracula. ]

Mmm.

[Theirs, even if Sypha's still in the shower. Alucard settles in the same way he always has, his arm going low across Trevor's waist and face resting against Trevor's chest.

Warm. Safe. As much as any of them are safe in the house right now, but at least they are all in for the night.]

I could've done without it in that particular spot. Rather not force any of us a reminder of this in the most important of moments.

Don’t know about the two of you, but I don’t really think too much about scars during that.

[ But it isn’t the scar, is it? It’s what came before it. There’s a slight twist of guilt in his stomach, because it wouldn’t mean a thing were is just Carmilla, and not every little thing the two of them had said in the hours before the confrontation.

His fingertips move a little closer to the mark. ] May I?

Most of yours aren't this fresh.

[Nor this emotionally charged. What would have happened if they put the fight off for a single day? Would his father have come home to a city poised at the brink of war only? Or would he still have kept away? The scar might not be there, and there would still be horrible words hanging heavy in the air.

Alucard exhales, chasing the thought away.]

Mm.

[If anyone's to actually lay a hand on it, let it be one of them.]

Won't hurt, don't worry about that part.

[ Carefully, he moves his hand slightly, so that his fingers can first ghost over the scar and then touch it more deliberately, traving over it. ]

Love you. [ He needs to say something. He knows that. Something that isn’t the words that must be associated with this mark. ] More than anything.

[It doesn't hurt, which means the vampire doesn't jump as Trevor's fingers move over the jagged line. There's less tension in him than normal (he's nothing but tension these days), and he slides down Trevor's chest just a little. Just by accident.

He tries to inch closer. Bask in the actual affection, and right now, action does nothing. So words it'll have to be.]

I love you too. [The four easiest words he can manage right now, and the grip on Trevor becomes a squeeze, just for a moment.] Need you.

I'm here.

[ He strokes his fingertips over the mark slowly, tracing the shape of it, and he lifts the arm that's around Alucard to instead stroke through his hair. ]

Is it her, or is it the day before?

[ It's not the most graceful way to ask. But he has to know what the nature of the wound - the real wound, not just the mark - is before anything can be done about it. ]

[There's no reaction as Trevor's finger moves over the scar. It's deadened flesh, there's no life or reaction in it. When the dhampir does stir, it's because there are warm, familiar fingers in his hair, and he melts just a little more for it.

Some of it is just a byproduct of the role he's playing for survival's sake, the rest is the real, genuine need to be taken care of in the face of everything. Alucard knows he needs it, even though saying it out loud brings a tidal wave of guilt. They need him to show Dracula that the three of them must remain three. He can fall apart after.

So there's quiet as Alucard considers the question:]

The whole of everything she caused, I suppose.

Everything.

[ He sighs at that. It'd be easier to try and help with one thing. But everything is- it's a knot, and pulling any one thread just risks making the whole thing tighter.

He strokes a little wider, grazing fingers just past the edges of the scar, and his voice is low and steady. ]

All of it can be undone. Most of it has. Everything except this. One little mark.

[Everything covers even now, with his father's terrible attempt at understanding the balance between protection and letting one life their own lie. Alucard murmurs nothing in particular at first, making sound for the sake of showing he hasn't dozed off.]

The worst of the three. [He pauses, then there's a soft not-laugh.]

And the smallest of them, of course.

[ At 'three', he lifts his hand from Alucard's thigh up to his chest, tracing over where the twin scars are through his pajama top before settling against his thigh again. ]

She's in all of them, isn't she? [ It's not Carmilla he's talking about. It's clear from his voice. ] One where she saved you. One where you saved her. And one where you fought to protect her, and she came to rescue you.

[That's a thought that gives the vampire pause. He's right, because of course he is. Sypha became a part of his life because of that very first scar, and the past year and change can be traced through all three lines.

But there's another element there, and one of Alucard's hands moves so it can interlace it's fingers with Trevor's, now also brushing against the scar.]

Needs more Belmont then, so it's an even count.

Pretty sure there's enough Belmont-related scars in the world. I don't need to be going around making more.

[ It's comfortable, like this. He moves both of their hands over the scar, stroking Alucard's thigh softly. There's more of Sypha in that scar than he can know, since they've resolved not to tell him about the blood. ]

I'll just have to settle for having touched all of them.

Mmm.

[Maybe Trevor is right. Maybe there will be one or two more yet to come. The future is impossible to think of beyond the end of the month, and it comes burdened with so much fear in it.

Alucard cedes control over where his hand goes to Trevor. Easiest thing in the world, and hardly the first time he's allowed it.]

I think that this is the time you'd tell me off for being sappy, if the tables were turned.

Please. If I was going to be sappy, it'd be so much stupider.

[ And he stops abruptly there, with a shit-eating grin on his face that indicates that he's just waiting to be invited to demonstrate how stupid it would be. ]

Oh, I'm all ears, Belmont. Especially if that means a Speaker is about to catch you saying it.

[ Only a little unwillingly, he peels himself away from Alucard to rearrange himself so that he's opposite Alucard, facing him. He leans forward , bowing low to brush his lips over the scar.

It probably looks like something very different from an outside perspective. ]

This is proof that you were willing to sacrifice anything to protect us [ His voice is low, reverent, and he kisses over the scar, following it with his lips. ] It's beautiful.

[There are certain things that break the vampire, given various contexts. It has never been a secret that the easiest way to his heart is real emotional sincerity, in no small part because he tries to give as good as he wants to get.

So while Alucard tries not to protest when Trevor rearranges them both. There's a reason, he knows that, and when the reason is made clear, there's a soft noise that sounds like the spring winds as they ruffle at new leaves. Or maybe just something soft falling onto the ground. Whatever it is, it's one of the noises that means the vampire is taken aback, but is so, so happy for it.

Whatever this looks like from the outside, he doesn't care. Alucard simply puts a hand in Trevor's hair, stroking through it like he always does. Too careful, like either one of them are made of glass.

There's no words. Just this.]

20s AU Post

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