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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...Go find a place to lie down.

[She leaves this disaster of a man alone twelve whole hours and look what she comes back to.]

The rest of it, whatever it is, can wait until after you've let me take care of you.

[It's deliberate phrasing, designed to remind him as subtly yet emphatically as she can: she's here. She's taking care of him. He's not alone. She's here.]

[Look he thought you weren't coming back and there were just a lot of feelings that got had all at once, please let this disaster man have this.

There's no protesting. But Alucard does go into the kitchen because the lighting is better and if there's blood in there, it is easier to clean up.

(There is, in fact, blood in there. In the blood compartment of the refrigerator, which is actually the meat and cheese drawer, but never mind all of that.)

He understands what she really means though. He'll thank her for it stupidly and desperately when she comes back in.]

[...So.

She sees what he meant about not wanting her to fetch the bandages, when she sees the state of the bathroom. The abandoned needle, the poorly-discarded bandages. The half-closed hamper with a shirt sticking out. The claw marks in the walls.

It makes her heart ache; she closes her eyes, taking a slow breath, and then makes herself take up the medicine chest without touching anything else in the bathroom, pausing only long enough once she's left to close the door and then duck down to his room to find a clean shirt to bring with her.

Then, it's back downstairs, making plenty of noise the whole way so that he's aware of the presence of someone else in the house, unable to forget that he's no longer alone here.]

Kitchen.

[He calls it out so that there's no searching for him. He heard how quiet she went in that bathroom, and when Sypha walks in, he has the grace to look embarrassed by his behavior.

Apologetic even, if the thin smile on his lips is anything to go by.]

I...I did say I trashed it, did I not?

You did.

[And here she comes, draping his clean shirt over the back of a chair before hauling the big medical kit right over to him and crouching down to get a better, closer look at his stitches.]

...Did you redo these yourself? — What am I saying, of course you did, I saw the needle. Mmm.

[It's far better doing this in a house than in the actual fucking forest. For one thing, the kit has gloves, and she snaps them onto her hands efficiently before reaching carefully for him.]

They'll do, I suppose. I'm not going to take them out and redo them again. But you shouldn't have hugged me at the door, it'll need to be disinfected now.

It won't happen again.

[The big medical kit is, actually, not the Big Medical Kit. Alucard knows that the Big Medical Kit is thrice the size of the thing Sypha has, and it's divided into people, vampires, and unsure? because his mother was nothing if not extremely well prepared for dealing with the weirdness of the life she ended up living.

Alucard's careful not to move as Sypha completes her inspection. The stitches are competently done, and that's the best that can be said for them. The little bit of blood that is there is already dried.]

I know, I know. [He pauses to push some of the hair that has escaped and tried to dangle over the area instead.] You knocked before I could start and...what would you have done if I didn't answer right away? I could do nothing else.

I would have waited, you silly thing.

[She's humming under her breath as she looks around for a wad of gauze and something labeled as salve, and inspects it a minute before daubing it onto the pad so that she can start carefully cleaning him up.]

...And then I would have broken a window.

Sypha!

[It's incredulous. It's delighted. And he's laughing for it all, because he hasn't learned that such a response is standard for her yet. He'll still laugh in the future, but it will be fore the predictability, and for the lightness of it all.

The only person in this city who'd break into one of Dracula's homes for no reason than to just see Adrian.

Such a laugh means he doesn't hiss or recoil from the salve, or even register much of the work she's doing.]

I see you are calling me Sypha now, and not Miss Belnades.

[Admittedly, the laughter makes it a little harder to clean him up, but she's not about to complain. She'll never complain about the sound of his laughter, not when it's filling him up too full to leave behind any room for tears.]

There. That should hold you, my love. Now let's get the bandages on.

[She's already reaching for them, neatly discarding the gauze in a small bag for easy disposal later.]

Forgive me the impoliteness, this...felt close to permission to do as I might ever imagine.

[In truth, he's amazed the matter wasn't corrected on the first or second date. Or third. Or until now.

His laughter slows, and as she reaches for the bandages, Alucard inches forward in the kitchen chair. Sypha needs more room to wind the gauze around - sitting with his back against the chair just won't work.

And here she's commenting on just using a name, Sypha has said my love and there's a stupid, awestruck look on his face for it. (He won't ask if she means it, he knows she does but...)]

It's my name. I've been calling you Adrian since the day you gave me yours; I don't know why it took you so long.

[With deft, sure movements, the pads go on to cover the stitches, and then she nimbly holds them in place as the bandage wraps around and around him to secure them.

She's nothing but efficient, until she finishes. It's only after she's done that her fingers move back to his chest and wander a little, tracing aimless lines against his skin for the sole purpose of touching him.]

Politeness with a stranger at first, I suppose. Then you never corrected me, and there never felt like a right time to switch.

[He's good at being still and letting Sypha do what needs to be done. Alucard chides himself as she does it, makes himself promise that there will not be a third time that Sypha must deal with this wound bleeding.

Then she is done. She is done and her fingers are wherever this wish to be. Which means that his own are free to rest at her elbows, then slowly, steadily slide up. It's unreal. Sypha is here, here and simply touching him, and it feels like there's been a great shift in the world.]

We can move to the living room...

Let me take care of the mess.

[Because — there's something important in that, too. That this isn't the rushed, frenzied passion of yesterday and the day before. That there is time to go slower, to do things properly. That in this new ordering of things, what needs must be done can come first. That there is no need to disrupt the natural order for the sake of seizing every moment they can, because there will be time for all of those moments and still the work that needs to be done.]

And now that all of this is finally done...

[She tips her chin up to look at him, expression soft, eyes unguarded.]

...I came back. I found the letter.

[There's no protesting from Alucard. It's one of the things he has realized just happens when she's around. He doesn't second guess. He'll try to argue something, but that never goes anywhere. It is more likely that he'll let whatever Sypha's decided be the law of the land and...that's okay. She's gained his trust so quickly, and all of that is for her willingness to help when he needed it most.

Anyone's trust is fragile right now. Alucard knows the world that belonged to his father can't be given any part of his trust, for there will be Politics soon and harm unto him. Sypha's human. She doesn't care about that world, she barely knows of it. Everything done is because she has wished it so, and because of the part of him that is so very human.

She's terribly soft right now. Alucard's own eyes reflect uncertainty, not for the fact she came back but...well, writing a letter to a master of language is a little intimidating.]

I didn't want it to be too hard to find.

It wasn't.

[She doesn't take her hands off him, doesn't stop moving them. Her fingers are exploring his chest and shoulders like she's relearning something familiar but forgotten, needing the sight of his reactions to her as much as she needs any other means of survival.]

But still, you didn't think I would come. You thought I would find it, and read it, but still go.

Can you blame me for that thought?

[He asks it with a little hesitance, because he doesn't want to elaborate. He said it in the note, he's asked her to give up so much. They both know it, and yet here she is. Here. In the city. In the house. Her fingers moving wherever they please.

On his face is relief at this point. Relief that she's here, but also relief that he's not bleeding everywhere. Relief that she hasn't judged the bathroom too harshly, because of course that's a vampire priority.]

I don't know what else to say. Everything I had in me, you've already read.

I don't blame you for it. I bring it up only because I need you to understand.

[Because she's seen the bathroom. Because she's seen the torn stitches. Because she's seen the mess he still is, the red eyes, the blotchy face, the mess of his hair. Because she's heard the disbelief and the rattle of almost-hysteria in his laughter. Because she knows there is still such a deep wellspring of sadness inside of him, even now.

She lets her hands drift up, taking his face in both of them, cupping his jawline on either side in her palms.]

I am here. I picked you. I was as good as gone, and came back, because I wanted to be with you.

[Idly, she traces the pad of her thumb over the swell of his lower lip.]

You must remember. Promise me, that you will remember how loved you are.

[He understands. No need to say it, because as she's said, he's better with actions. When her hands rest on either side of his face, his own move down to wrap around her waist and draw her close. (The chair's in the way. So be it.) When her thumb traces over his lip, he angles his head just a little to put the softest of kisses to it.

There's also so many things he's undertaken in this moment that she doesn't know about. She's here which means that should anything supernatural find it's way to the door, he will prioritize her life over his. Anyone who'd think of looking at a Speaker as easy for any number of reasons will be met with himself and all the anger that's simmering away deep in his stomach. The rules of the city's night things, he'll have to show her how to navigate that world, because by picking him, she has taken that on as well.

She still needs to hear words.]

I promise. Give me something and I shall swear upon it.

[She smiles at him, softly, and releases his face just long enough to run her hand down the length of his arm, easing it away from her hip and bringing his fingertips up to rest over her own mouth instead.]

If you must swear, then swear on my voice. My lips. My tongue.

[Lightly, she kisses his fingertip, the same way he'd done to her thumb just a moment before.]

May I never speak another word, if ever you forget.

[Alucard lets Sypha guide his hand where she wants it, and there's a low glow inside of him as she kisses that finger tip. Like an ember in a fireplace just starting to come back to life.]

I swear it. Every inch of it, and under my own name of Adrien Tepes.

[What else can he do but seal that? Gently move his hand away from her mouth, mirroring the way her other hand is still holding his other cheek. Lean in and kiss her again, making it clear that he takes those words as a vow.]

[They're never going to make it to the living room, at this rate. But that's all right, really, because there will be time for that. There will be time for everything — there's nothing but time, now. No train schedules. No endings. Just the two of them, now, one day at a time.

It is a slight shame that she probably oughtn't just climb on top of him right there in his chair when he'd so recently torn his stitches, but there'll be time for that, too.]

Good.

[She sighs, almost dreamy, and closes her eyes as she shifts to pillow her cheek on his thigh, letting exhaustion from the run and the stress of her flight from the train finally start to catch up with her.]

[Alucard's pretty sure Sypha just stopped having bones. She's shifted and is resting in such a way that suggests it, and there are no more bandages to fuss with. She shouldn't be in such an uncomfortable spot.

His hand didn't move from her cheek. Now it moves to stroke her hair, long fingers finding knots from all of her running. He'll undo each of those in turn.]

There are more comfortable positions than the one you're in.

[No, he doesn't catch that.]

What makes you think I am not comfortable?

[She could genuinely fall asleep like this. Yes, like this, crouching and leaning and gnarled up like a little redheaded pretzel. Why not?]

But if you have another idea, I am listening.

You know that there's sofas in the living room.

[His hand escapes from her hair, catching in some of the tangles. (Short hair isn't supposed to get this tangled, is it?) It moves along her jaw line, gently tilts Sypha's head up when it reaches her chin.

Because if she looks up, she'll see him, smiling and mildly worried at once. Looking for permission to stand up, because he won't disturb her if she really, really does want to sleep right here.]

Mmmm. That might be for the best. You should rest.

[Of course she's thinking about him and not her. He needs to rest, after all. They'll both be more comfortable if they move.]

I didn't even move my things out of the front hall.

[With a yawn, she eases herself up and gets back to her feet, freeing him to rise as he pleases.]

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