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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[There's a groan that says it all. Not enough. Not nearly enough, he wants to be out for two days at least. No one's stupid enough to pull shit after something like an execution, he can sleep for 48 hours.

He's looking at the wall opposite Trevor. Not at him.]

I don't want either of you touching me at the moment.

Would it help, if we don't?

[ It's a genuine question. Because maybe it would. He has more than enough fucked up coping mechanisms not to question those of others too much. He has times where company hurts more than it helps. But his distress is heat and gunfire, the kind that warmth and sound can compound and become too much. Alucard's is ice and silence, the kind that reaches out to pull warmth into it even when he himself does not.

It might be true, that Alucard does just need to be left alone. It might also be that this is self-sacrificial bullshit, or some weird kind of punishment for himself, or some ridiculous attempt to not worry them. ]

If it would, I'll leave. And I'll keep her away. [ Easier said than done, but he'll try. ]

[Two thirds of Trevor's suspicions are correct. Alucard is horrified at himself. Everything his mother expected of him is undone. How he copes at the start, he cannot bear for the other two to see. They are already dealing with this burden, he does not need to increase it further.

(He's still doing that by refusing to be around them. But better that than whatever this is.)

Maybe he'll sleep better if he asks Trevor to leave. Maybe he won't. And instead of responding to anything Trevor's asked, Alucard asks something else instead.]

How did you find peace after the first time you...

[You fulfilled family duty.]

Trained for it. Both times.

[ There were two first times, after all. First vampire (eleven, only meant to observe his sister's work rather than doing his own). First human (looked like a plane, couldn't see the person inside it). ]

From birth, for the vampire. For a couple of months, for the humans. It was easy, by the time I had to.

[ That last part- is only partially a lie. The killing part is always easy. Enough to be fucking scary if you think about it too hard. ]

Sister carried me home, after the first vampire. Checked me for bites or other open wounds that might get blood in them, helped me wash myself when I couldn't manage it, sat me by the fireplace with the dogs. After the first human- [ His tone turns bitter. A little humourous, in that way Alucard can't stand. ] -cognac, if I remember correctly.

Hm.

[Training. That must make it just a little easier both times. Knowing, being able to prepare, doing it for weeks or a lifetime. Being a Belmont helps, they're meant to do this. And then there is mention of dogs and...

...and maybe that's the right way forward. Alucard stretches out just a little, and his movement gives him enough time to transform. Humanity is hard right now. Being a wolf may not be. Silly to be a wolf under an entire blanket, but that's the situation right now.

He huffs out. It already feels better like this.]

Not quite how it went back then.

[ The laugh is very, very fake. But it's warm instead of the cynical chuckle from a moment ago. ]

Also, this is unfair. You're going to be a dog when I'm not allowed to pet you.

[He doesn't like that fake laugh. Or anything. But at least he rolls over so that there's a big dog face looking at Trevor. It's not great at disguising misery, but at least he's on a wolf's face, not Alucard's person face.

There's a snuffle of apology.

Then he curls back up again to try and sleep.

Fine, fine.

[ He takes the book, kind of invested in the horrible plot of it now, and brushes the edge of that against Alucard's face. ]

But you didn't answer my fucking question, so I'm not going to keep her out.

[ And he doesn't. He explains, and so she refrains from just curling up with Alucard in the bed and holding him the whole time. But she does spend a while each day stroking Alucard's fur and talking quietly to him.

When Alucard wakes, there's a glass of water by the bed. One of Agatha's tins of pastries. A collection of short notes from Sypha, keeping Alucard up to date on where she is (the latest one says she's gone driving, which isn't particularly helpful and could mean she's just about anywhere). There's the sound of the castle doors openning and closing. It's a Sunday, and Trevor is just back from church. ]

[It's two days of needed rest.

He sleeps soundly in wolf form. Not peacefully, there's twitching. Growling. His paws keep trying to run. But it is two days of quiet that he very much needed.

When he wakes, he realizes that he can't have that water or the pastries without being a person again. He grumbles about it, damn opposable thumbs, but he transforms. Takes the water, then opens the pastry tin. He's in wolf form to devour it all, because fuck it, and then he maintains that form as he finally leaves the room.

The kitchen. The only other place that feels right at the moment. Alucard is quiet as he sits on the floor for a while, debating if he should cook or just hold onto this form a little longer.

His stomach answers for him. He's barely eaten, and then he slept for two days. Food is more important.

So that means that when Trevor walks in, there's a normal sight greeting him. Alucard is standing over the stove, cooking.]

Normal-shaped again, I see.

[ He didn't stay long after church today, though he still has his knitting bag with him when he comes into the kitchen, setting it down next to one of the chairs and sitting down. ]

You still look like shit.

I haven't washed in...a few days. That is natural.

[He also still feels like shit.

He takes the bacon out of the cast iron pan, then reaches for the eggs.]

How do you want yours cooked?

You really ought to. It'll help.

[ He pulls out his knitting. It's probably easier to talk when both of them have something to look at other than each other. It's another potatobrand. The most recent ones have a whole lot of wooly hair and pompoms for eyebrows. ]

Scrambled sounds best. [ It's the one that involves beating the eggs up, which seems like it might help. ]

I'll do it after breakfast.

[Hunger is more important than smell. Which, his probably rank at this point.

One egg goes in. Then just the entire dozen because the vampire is extremely hungry and pretty much going to snarf whatever Trevor doesn't.]

How many Potatobrands can you spare for destruction?

Let me join you?

[ It'd probably be difficult if the no touching rule still stands, but he may as well offer anyway. It seems like the kind of thing that might help. ]

I think I have three that just need finishing, but you'll owe me new yarn.

Destroying Potatobrands? Gladly.

[He's aware of the other option, and he's ignoring it. Entirely.]

I think there's a new yarn store open anyway. May as well go assess it if your grandmothers haven't already rendered their verdict.

Yeah.

[ Well, no. But that's okay. Touching is still off limits, and he'd rather it wasn't, but he can deal with it. (Sypha wouldn't care. Sypha would be able to do more to help. It's hard not to feel a little sore about how useless he is in comparison.) ]

Can't. Bunicuta's friend's granddaughter got that job at the old one. Going anywhere else would be a terrible betrayal.

[In fairness, if he was not asleep Alucard would have recoiled from Sypha as well. Perhaps even harder than he already has from Trevor. He can't articulate why right now, but...no. He can. He wants to be a little bit more at peace with everything before falling into old and comfortable ways. This is still death, this is still an act he's done. He's different for it. That differences needs to express itself.]

Well, then we'll need to go and take care of the problem tomorrow. Since I assume the shop's closed today.

[The eggs are done. They just get scraped into a serving bowl, then the bowl is placed on the table along with the wooden spoon that he was using to cook it all.]

Whatever you don't take, I'm eating. Fair warning.

It is.

[ He puts his knitting back into the back, serving himself a portion of the- ridiculous amount of eggs. He's taken his usual amount and barely made a dent in it. But then Alucard hasn't eaten in two days, and he's not entirely sure he was eating in the time leading up to this. He waves a hand to gesture that that's all he'll be taking. ]

We- should talk about this shit. In a- not-business way. Once we're done eating.

[ Not while eating. He can stomach it, but he's not sure he wants to make Alucard's first proper meal in days unpleasant. ]

[How do you know the vampire's in bad shape? He just takes the entire bowl and starts eating out of it. Not with the serving spoon, but still. It'd be comedic if he wasn't so overly focused on making this seem absolutely casual.

He can't counter that there's nothing to talk about even if it's the truth. All Alucard can really do is look at Trevor like he's finally been defeated by sheer willpower, and accept that there's going to be at least an attempt to talk about this.

In the mean time, eggs.]

[ He picks at his own eggs slowly, trying not to be too obvious about the fact that he's watching Alucard rather than actually being very invested in eating and being extremely obvious about it regardless.

It's probably just as bad a sign that Trevor isn't making any jokes about him just eating out of the serving bowl even though everyone else has so very many opinions about his own table manners.

Only when Alucard is done with his food and Trevor is almost finished with his own (which is ridiculous in itself, because Alucard started with so much more food to get through) that he starts speaking. ]

Was that- [ Was that the first time you've had to do that? He'd assumed that it wasn't, but- that was maybe a stupid assumption. He's used to everyone around him having a body count, and to most of them becoming part of someone else's. ]

[Vampire speed is good for so many things. Including inhaling food after barely eating over over a week. It also means Alucard's able to ignore Trevor's new version of Observing the Vampire: Concerned Boyfriend edition.

Alucard sighs when the first question tries to leave Trevor's lips. He stands up, bringing the empty bowl over to the sink. If this is to happen in the kitchen, then he's not looking Trevor in the face.]

Yes.

I didn't realise. Not until you asked about-

[ He sighs. ]

There was a celebration, the first time. Once we landed. We'd done well, and everyone still thought that the whole thing would be over in a matter of months and that what we'd done would speed it to a close. They all smiled and took photographs with us, told us we did well. Wanted to be seen with us, even though we were so, so tired. And- shit, I don't think any of us were twenty yet. I don't think most of us hit twenty at all. They served expensive shit there, and we decided to drink as much of we could of it out of spite. Woke up next to one of the other pilots, the next morning. Didn't speak to him again afterwards.

Spoiled princeling, if you recall.

[The words come out with too much venom. It's inappropriate, especially with what Trevor shares next. Alucard listens, and he just sighs when Trevor finishes. Coping is...hard. That much goes without saying. It can be self destructive. Like that. Like isolation.

He starts scrubbing the bowl.]

I see. That...well.

[He has nothing. But he appreciates the gesture for what it is.]

I know, I know. I was a shit. Am a shit.

[ He doesn't use that phrase much any more, at least not recently. When it comes up, it's usually in response to a disagreement about what needs to be done. There wasn't one this time. ]

You deserved a better answer than I gave you before. It's- not easy, even when you're born for this.

[It's been the phrase his brain returns to when all other part of his emotions have faded away and he's left with raw repulsion of what he's done. Because part of Alucard still thinks this isn't what his life was supposed to be.

It's what his life is, and this is the final hurdle to accepting it.]

And you only learn to cope by doing it time and again, don't you?

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