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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You should be asking the both of us. [Matched set, Belmont.] You don't have to do it right away.

[Actually plan it. It's not just distracting the vampire. Alucard knows they're all under stress because of this fucking job, and maybe they're better off not thinking about any of this until after Agatha's deadline goes.

He scoots himself up a little bit more on Trevor, just so he can press a kiss to the underside of Trevor's jaw.]

You could kiss me more.

I know, I know. I just didn't fuck up and accidentally ask her already.

[ She might??? Say no??????? And that's difficult to think about??????? ]

But you're right. I could kiss you more.

[ And he doesn't. He lowers his head down, lips close to Alucard's face- and then he blows a few strands of hair out from in front of his eyes. ]

[Trevor. Trevor the vampire will sit down and talk to her about it if you need her to just!! Say so!!!

The vampire actually pouts. Really pouts, because the Belmont is teasing and while yes, the vampire's hair is probably a disaster, that isn't kissing!]

Please stop teasing and kiss me more.

[ He laughs at that, because- well. There's a lot of expressions they've not seen on the vampire's face in too long, and that's one of them. ]

Of course.

[ And he leans forward to do that, catching Alucard's lower lip between his own for just a moment before releasing it. ]

[The part of the vampire that can still only think of work protests at any of this. You have a crisis to avert, and you are indulging like an emperor in his last throes of hedonism. The rest of the vampire tries to fight back with the Belmont said it's okay.

Alucard tries to let both parts of his mind war it out while on mute. He's only realizing now how very, very badly he's wanted to be held lately, never mind kissed.

He chases after that first kiss, trying to follow up after it, all while keeping the sense of desperation out of the gesture. Alucard doesn't know if he manages, but there's lips against lips, and the quiet request for more than just that.]

[ This is how his basic nature has changed, isn't it? Before this, before so recent as Sypha's capture, he would have let Alucard work himself to nothing. Now-

-They have to win this. They have to survive this. But Alucard has to survive this as himself, and that's as desperately important as anything else.

(It would be easy, if Alucard didn't need to survive as himself. He has so many more options open to him, so many more than he did against Sypha's captor, and all he has to do is to let himself be a badly-controlled war dog. These are vampires. Things that he can kill easily. He can kill anyone who whispers anything. He can end all of this, and all that it would take is to let Alucard put down his rabid dog at the end of it.

And there lies the problem.)

He kisses, over and over, and they're short and soft things, quantity over force. ]

Beautiful. So beautiful. [ Not as much so as he ought to be, worn and tired as he is. But still beautiful, even now. ] I love you so much.

[At every kiss, Alucard wants it to settle. Linger. Cling. That's all he can think of doing, he's already practically wrapped around the Belmont like a koala. Over a year of knowing Sypha and his words are terrible. Every emotion translates into action, and at the moment the overriding emotional state of the vampire is terrified and needing any and every kind of comfort that can be crammed into a single day.

What Trevor has already thought of as greater options Alucard has not even brushed against. It is against his own nature to think of either of them as anything but themselves, not...things to be moved around for the sake preventing a war. Maybe it would be better, but only in the short term. Should they survive this, they would still need each other both emotionally and to continue to keep hold of the city.

I love you. Those are words worth forgetting a certainty of death for. Worth mirroring, and the vampire does just that, the hand slung across Trevor's chest moving to stroke at his cheek instead. Hold it, fingers threatening what possessiveness Alucard can stomach.]

I love you. [I'm yours.] Whatever happens...

[He still can't stop thinking about the future.]

[ He wants to say that nothing will happen.

He can't. He couldn't lie to Sypha and he won't lie to Alucard. There will be blood before the end of this. Their blood. He can't promise to keep them all alive. He can't promise a way to succeed without giving up something desperately important. ]

You do not face this unarmed. [ Is what he settles on instead. Because that's what he said to Sypha, wasn't it, if significantly more literally. He can't promise a good end to all of this, but he can promise every tool that he can give them to better their chances. ] Whatever comes, I will see you have all you need to return from it whole.

[ He kisses Alucard again, deeper this time. ]

Whatever happens happens by our hands. Trust us.

[They're measured words. Alucard knows that much, because Trevor knows how important they are. Just like Sypha does, but for so very different reasons. Even if this is survived, what comes next? The fae. It nearly makes Carmilla look like something easy to deal with, as she is a vampire and she at least has easy weakensses.

Whole feels like too much to hope for. Alucard clings to it anyway, the same way he leans into that kis. The same way his thumb traces soft circles on Trevor's cheek, savoring each touch. Memorizing the feel of stubble against skin, and knowing that their trials do not end when this is over.]

You two are the only thing I've trusted for a long while now.

[That is a terrible truth to say, but it is worth voicing. They're abandoned by all. They only have each other.]

Will be the only thing I trust.

[ He'll worry. He'll worry desperately about the fae when it's October. Now, they're the furthest thing from his mind. The threat is that they might take him away from the city at a vital moment, not anything more.

(Because despite everything, he is not anything more than his ability to protect Alucard and Sypha. What happens afterward doesn't matter, only that the fae can make him fail them.) ]

We'll be sure to earn it.

[ It hurts to think of. They have so many allies, and all of them lost to them. Still beloved, but no longer worthy of the absolute trust that they have for each other. And so instead of thinking about it too much, he kisses Alucard again. Sustained, this time, but still not forceful. ]

Tell me what you've missed. What you've wanted, while you were away from us.

Already have. Don't need to do it again.

[Everyone else, nothing will ever be given in full again. There are a few where Alucard has figured out what happened (Theodora's kindred are the leverage Carmilla has over her, he realized that last night), but that doesn't save them from never being above suspicion. It just explains some of the current state of the city. Trevor and Sypha, they belong to each other, owe each other more than they owe anyone else above or below them.

Trevor's question is the easiest thing in the world to answer though. The vampire pauses in all of their kisses, and when he laughs it is soft and uneasy and scared of the words that leave his mouth.]

This. Both of you. Everything. [It isn't helpful. He tries again.] Just being in your arms like this.

It's yours, then. All of it. Until dawn tomorrow. And then we begin again, stronger.

[ 'Begin again, stronger' is something he's having to get his head around himself. It's the only way to rationalize taking time like this to convalesce. But it's important. He takes the time to go to church and help with the sunday school classes. Sypha makes time for her radio shows. Even in this crisis. They're important. Whatever equivalent Alucard had, he sacrificed it long before Trevor was here. And so he has this in its place. Them. Their arms and hands and lips. ]

We still have a couple frozen meals. You could stay this way all day, if you need.

[Alucard's not convinced by stronger. He will be come morning, when he's capable of thinking without drowning in his own thoughts. When he can sit and talk strategy without bursting at the seems. It's then they'll find out that Trevor's display will have bought them a week of everyone being scared into obeying, and have enough to parlay with Agatha to perhaps rescind the entire declaration.

Food though. He can think about food, because cooking is one of his outlets. Grocery shopping had happened yesterday, before party prepartion, because he needed something to center himself.

Staying like this all day it shall be. Alucard sinks down against Trevor again, more firmly than before.]

That would be wisest, I think.

She'll be done in- three quarters of an hour, I think. I'll call her back then.

[ Look, keeping a notepad by the bed exclusively for abusing magic to tell the others to get to bed to hug someone was the best idea he ever had. It's been there since after he got his magic back after Sypha's kidnapping, to alert Alucard whenever she woke up. And it's been useful since.

For now, he reaches up to take one of the braids she left in his hair before leaving to listen to her show, moving it forward to show him. ]

She was busy, while I was at church.

[They's had lazier Sundays than this. Also far more active and involved ones. This feels right for the moment, especially when Sypha's handiwork is demonstrated in full. Alucard laughs at the sight of all the braids, shaking his head to determine how many she's added this time.]

I'm always surprised she stops at braids and doesn't move on to elaborate sweeps up and off my neck.

[Alucard's stomach picks this moment to make itself known though, and the deep rumble of it can be felt through the bed.]

....Ah.

[Yeah guess who's been living off microwaved blood and nothing else.]

[ They're both laughing, and it's- nice. Normal. The way things ought to be.

(One day, it'll be better. Alucard will be Adrian, and he'll be wearing himself to nothing still, but with university work instead of all of this.)

Alucard stops laughing at the rumble, but Trevor only laughs harder, pulling him close to whisper in his ear. ]

Has someone been neglecting to eat?

Not forgetting. It's just been minimal.

[One meal a day most days, usually at 9 at night. The vampire huffs, even if he's pleased to be so close against Trevor.]

The schedule makes it harder to remember appropriate meal times.

Well your timing's shitty. You know how she gets about anyone pottering about in the kitchen making noise while she's trying to listen to the radio.

[ He's still close to Alucard's ear, so he leans forward to kiss his cheek. ]

Hang in there until she's finished, and we can have dinner together. Been a while since we've eaten around the table.

Mmmm. That plan requires getting out of bed, you know.

[Which isn't to say it's a bad plan. Just a plan with one small, complicating factor.]

And I very much wish to remain where we are.

[Spoiled princeling wants two things in opposition to each other, news at 11]

Hmm.

[ He lets go of the braid to have both of his hands on Adrian's back, one at his shoulders and one at the small of his back. ]

I'm not sure how much I trust Sypha with heating up the frozen meals. I could have her come take my place, and I'll bring food for us all?

[There's a low, content rumble as Trevor's hands return to his back. It's better. Warmer. Safer, or at least it's the illusion of it. An illusion worth clinging to for the rest of the day.]

Mmm. I think I can wait 45 minutes for that.

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20s AU Post

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