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[ The change is immediate. The agitation returns, but this time it's excited. And he's barely opened his mouth before the speaker whispers something in his ear.

It isn't really a reasonable request, not to call his husband his husband. But he follows it regardless as he scrambles to sit at Alucard's side, positioning himself to be sat close but not touching. ]

You missed me. [ There's a note of satisfaction to it, and Sypha winces just a little. ]

I'll- let you talk. [ It's for Alucard's sake, mostly, so he doesn't have to have the pressure of an audience for this conversation. ]

Thank you. [And to Sypha, he adds a request, that she stay within earshot. Speakers would understand the real meaning of "we need to talk," after all, and this one seems to understand the situation.

Alucard turns a little, so that he's sitting more across from Trevor than before. So he can hold full eye contact.]

Fae. [He doesn't have the man's name, after all.] Do you know how courting differs between this world and your own?

[ He considers the question. He understands that humans have their own rituals for courtship. Leon had had a bride once, a human one. Some of the speakers are married, or at least a speaker's version of such. But those examples are few, and the ones that he has hunted down are many. ]

Humans beat their wives and husbands and put poison in their meals.

[ He says it matter-of-factly, like that's simply his understanding of human courtship. Until the speakers, and side from Alucard, his time with humans has been limited. He only really sees the ones he hunts, which means he only really sees the monsters. ]

...That's a lot less common than you think.

[Alucard breathes out. This is harder than he thought.]

My father did not walk up to my mother in the middle of the night, declare her his wife, and take her with him. Such action, that would be considered monstrous by many. They were friends first. They knew who each other were, and then they decided they wanted to be husband and wife.

[He wants that part to connect.]

You can't walk into my life, declare a thing, and expect it to be so.

[ He considers this, though he wants to be defensive about the suggestion that putting people in cages is bad, actually. ]

I know who you are. You are half of a vampire. And you like books. And you like stabbing me. And you don't like me touching your hair.

[ HE KNOWS SO MANY GOOD ALUCARD FACTS. Is that good enough to do a marry???? ]

[Well, this is a start.]

No. You know things about me. Facts. What do you know of my personality? Why I am the way I am?

You are the way you are because one of your parent was a vampire and the other one wasn't.

[ There's a snort of laughter from Sypha, and he glares at her. Rude. He's trying! ]

If I learned more about you, would that make you happy?

That's....okay, that is in fact correct, but beyond that, you've proven my point.

[Alucard's glad for the speaker's presence. That much he knows for sure.]

I don't want happy to be your focus. I don't want marriage to be your focus. These kinds of things, they happen naturally or they don't happen at all. And...

[Alucard breathes out.]

Do you understand that what you say normally terrifies me?

You- think I want to touch your hair?

[ So no. No, he doesn't. ]

I do. But I wouldn't.

No. The...the rest of it. Talking to me like I'm some kind of prize to be won and carried away.

...does that scare you?

[ He seems genuinely confused by it. ]

I wouldn't hurt you. And you would be safe and I would bring you books and food and blood and whatever else you wanted.

Yes.

[The response is emphatic. Underlining the word.]

You understand what it is to hunt monsters. You say those things, and to me it sounds like another hunt, even if your intentions seem good on your end. You haven't asked if I wanted any of those things either.

[He leaves aside the fact that it'd be a terrible idea because he's the son of Dracula.]

I like being here. Doing things for myself. Having the freedom to pick what I do and don't want. What you're describing sounds like death to me.

[ He is quiet for a long while, turning that over in his head. Humans like to be safe. They like knowing that there will be a next meal, and that nothing will hurt them. They like being given things that make them happy. He knows all of this. It's strange that Alucard wouldn't want those things. ]

You- want to be free to go to places that aren't safe. if you want to?

[ It's a difficult concept. ]

Yes. Of course I do, to do so means I am free and my will is my own.

[Alucard doesn't know how much of this is really getting through. But it feels like the fae is making an effort. That is worth an awful lot]

You'll learn more from being around other humans as well.

But then you would go away and not come back. Or be hurt.

[ He frowns at that, even if he is overjoyed that his husband is talking to him! Properly! And not even stabbing him! There are a lot of things that hurt people, in the world. He never would have run into Alucard if there weren't, after all. ]

I don't like it.

That's the risk, yes. But I like those risks, and what I do and don't like matter just as much.

You like being hurt? I can-

[ He brightens, as if he's found a really obvious solution to this, but the sudden laughter from Sypha seems to indicate that he's misunderstood. Frowning in concentration, he tries a little harder. ]

You like- that you could be hurt. But not the being hurt?

[ This makes so little sense to him. ]

That's a simplistic way of understanding it.

[He very much likes this speaker. She has a good humor to her.

Alucard pauses, considering how to make sense of this for the fae.]

When you hunt, is there a thrill to it? Where does that sense come from?

[ He tilts his head, trying to consider how to explain hunting best. ]

From knowing that the monster has been hurting things and are scared of being hurt themselves, in Leon's hunts. And from chasing them. And from when they almost escape, and they think that they've gone unpunished, but you catch them anyway. And the meat. And from grinding their bones into meal and seeing the people they hurt picking flowers grown from their bodies. Or carving them into flutes and turning them into music.

[ As he speaks, his wings flick at the thought of it, eyes too bright and grin too wide. ]

[Okay, not as helpful as he thought. Alucard sighs, casting a side glance back to the speaker. They're better with words, aren't they? He's failing here, and he can feel himself failing. It's an unpleasant feeling.]

Doing all of of those things are choices you make. Choices that you make because they benefit you or give you pleasure in some way. They're also choices that have risks involved in them, because you could get hurt on a hunt. Or maybe someone will see you who shouldn't. But you make those choices all the same.

Where you go between hunts, those are choices to. Your will, your whim.

Why would you deny that to others?

[ He tries to process this. He really does. He frowns and considers. ]

Is there a better way? [ He asks eventually, cautiously. ] To make you not go away and find a different husband? I don't want that to happen.

I don't even know if I want a husband. Or a wife. Or anyone. I need to learn those things in my own time, and being declared someone else's husband denies me that.

[Those words are automatic and accidental, but in them there's honesty. The messy kind that isn't careful and thought out, the approach that needs to be done with the fae.

But it is too late. The words have been said, and Alucard knows he must own them.]

You...you can't think of me as a given. Or as yours already, or husband, or any other preconcieved notion that you've built up based on what, meeting me three times over seven years? That is the first part of this. Think of me as you think of the people here. Individuals you're meeting. Getting to know. Working alongside with.

I understand this hurts.

[ As Alucard speaks. Trevor coils his wings around himself. It does hurt, and it is confusing, and he doesn't care for it at all. ]

And there is nothing I can give you to change that?

[ It's pointless to ask. He knows it is. But making deals is what his kind does. ]

No.

[A single word, all too firm.]

Will is important. Mine is equal and as great as yours. Let us begin there, and see where things unfold. Who knows where the future goes from here.

[There is a pause, then a softer, more apologetic tone.]

And believe me when I say this? This is better than what would have been the fall out of doing things your way.

[Alucard 200% knows his father would start shit with the fae to get his son back. He'd rather not be Helen of House Tepes, thank you.]

[ HE'S NOT SCARED OF YOUR DAD OKAY????? Even if he probably ought to be. He nods, wrapping himself up tighter until he's just a pair of half-grown antlers poking out of a bundle of velvety wings and fluff. ]

Talking later. Tired.

[ Sypha ruffles what she can reach of his collar in sympathy on her way to sit with Alucard to make sure he is okay and offer awkward, awkward apologies for her caravan containing an unexpected fairy. ]

I will talk to him later. See that he understands.

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