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 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?

Something like that.

[ Bold of you to assume that anything Trevor has ever done is 'coping'. He sighs. This would be getting to the point, except that the point is about seven different things and half of them are 'let me hold you'. ]

Tell them my name. We should have done it before. They'll accept an executioner in your place if you tell them my name.

You know these ways better than I do. That will not be accepted. It is simply a greater deterrent.

[He's too far up his own ass, Trevor.]

But...New Year's for your surname. A reminder of what will lie ahead in years to come if things like this happen again.

It will if it's played right. If it's the House of Belmont brought to heel, acting as your attack dog.

[ And therein lies the problem, because 'playing it right' is not something Alucard will ever accept. ]

Just tell me how much of a scary fucker you need me to be.

That is a discussion for after Christmas.

[It's too much to bear at the moment. Alucard breathes out. The dish is as scrubbed as it can possibly be. He moves it to the dish rack.]

I'll need a few more days to make peace.

Of course.

[ They'll both be here for him when he does. But he wants to be here now. He wants it so desperately. He's not had instructions to follow in so long that he's forgotten what it's like when one conflicts with his basic nature so strongly. He wants to hold Adrian. He wants to let Alucard have space. ]

But you didn't answer me before - is this what you need?

[Alucard reaches a hand out for Trevor's dirty dishes. His hands need something to do.]

I...don't know what I need.

[There. It's said. He's humiliated for having to say it, and there's a churning in Alucard's stomach that goes with the thought. (Although maybe he overate.)]

Not being a person helped.

[ He doesn't offer the dishes. Instead he reaches out his hand. It hovers above Adrian's. He can't touch him, but he can offer it. ]

If you don't know- humour me?

[Alucard pauses just long enough to dry his hands. No one wants wet, cold vampire hands, those are just gross. Once he's satisfied, his fingertips ghost over Trevor's hand. Unsteady and unsure.

It doesn't feel right.

But they're both worried. He knows that.

So his hand goes into Trevor's regardless of how wrong it feels from Alucard's perspecitve.]

[ It's funny, that this of all things would be what feels too intimate. But here they are. Alucard's hand slips into his, dry but cool, all thin, delicate bones, nothing like a claw at all, and his fingers wrap around it. ]

We love you. Both of us. We still love you. And we know that what you have to be is not what you are.

[Alucard doesn't know if Trevor's heard much about the first time he let Sypha into the house. (Not this one. The townhouse in the city itself.) That she made the stupidest fucking excuse to hold his hand (palm reading) and that made the whole world shift. It's a gesture that carries too much meaning. There's more weight to it than just Trevor's hand acting as a tether to humanity.]

I know. Logically, I know.

[But there's no logic in this. There is, however, some richness from Trevor. Who Trevor once was and thought Alucard ought to become.

He lets himself be drawn closer. Still no eye contact, but closer still.]

I cancel any stupid commands I've given in the past week that you're still bound to.

[ He hasn't. This is - was - simply the only connection that he could manage.

But now it's not. ]

Punch me or something if you want me to stop.

[ He murmurs before pulling Alucard close, arms only around him loosely at first but slowly tightening. ]

[On a better day, he'll share it. For now there's this.

Alucard's not really reacting. He lets himself be pulled closer, but this still feels strange. He's there watching this unfold, outside of himself and the emotions he should be feeling. Usually when there's this much to feel there are tears, not the wall of ice.

The wall of ice is for work, not for them. And yet it remains steady.]

[ It's like holding on to a doll. A thing, rather than a person. The coolness of Alucard's body hasn't really bothered him before, but now it only adds to the effect. It's-

-selfish of him. He got what he wanted. He got the effective leader this city needed. And now he wants something else. (Sypha accused him once of wanting Alucard to be more like a Belmont. She was more right than she knew. If he was stronger. If he was prepared for this. If he had the great family surrounding him and making sure that nobody was alone, then maybe this wouldn't be so terrible. But then he wouldn't be himself, and that would be a terrible thing of its own). ]

Adrian.

[ It's all he says, holding Alucard so tightly now what he's liable to bruise one of them if he holds any tighter. As if that should end it. As if giving him permission to stop being Alucard should be enough. Because he's a fucking fairy, and it's a true name. ]

[It is easier to shoulder this as Alucard. A regent cannot flinch or feel guilt or even disgust about dispensing justice. A regent must be even handed in all things, following examples set and keeping order until those who are rightfully in charge return. A regent does not have to worry about morality or examples set within the home, a regent does not fuss about betraying anyone unless it means their own death.

Adrian's the one watching from the inside and screaming about every inch of this horror. He's been buried since coronation. Before that, when he was forced to accept that he was not the only face this vampire had now. Adrian is the one who betrayed everything he was raised to be, and all because what? His father can't handle grief.

He can feel how tight Trevor's grip is. He still can't go beyond just lightly moving his hands to Trevor's side. True names are true names, but what do you do when you aren't sure if you have the right to that true name anymore?]

[ There's a shift. Only a slight one, yes, but Alucard's (Adrian's) hands grazing against his side - the touch is light, but the gesture carries more weight than he's certain he can carry.

(He's hurting him. If not with the force of the embrace then with what he's forcing him through. He knows it. But- sometimes it takes a knife to heal a wound. Sometimes the bone needs to be reset before it can heal.) ]

We love you, Adrian. We still love you.

[ He said it before, and he'd said he understood it logically. Trevor isn't fucking addressing logic right now. He's addressing Adrian. ]

It's...I know. She'd be...

[She is not Sypha. Trevor's likely to figure it out, because she is why any of them are here in the first place.

None of this hurts. Most of the force barely registers. It is terribly hard to articulate anything happening right now. This feels closer to mourning than anything has felt in a long while.]

You're doing this to help people. To keep them safe.

[ He doesn't know a lot about his mother, in all honestly. Everything he does know is through the babas, or from the context of the records, which never mentioned her by name but made perfect record of how Dracula's work shifted drastically away from the castle twenty years ago.

But he probably knows enough. ]

She'd know that you're doing this in service of what she believed in. She'd understand.

[ If there's one thing he knows about- so very well. It's becoming monstrous to protect people from monstrous things. ]

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