I genuinely apologize that the stairs aren't functional or safe yet.
[Upon Trevor's and Sypha's departure, one of the things that Alucard had occupied himself with was reconstructing the staircase that led down into the Belmont Hold. Well. Removing all the blood, then reconstruction. It was something far easier said than done, even after he found the original plans for the structure within the Hold's curious collection of architectural drawings. On the old sheets of vellum were attempts to understand the layout of his father's castle, coupled with construction plans for the old Belmont estate. The Hold's last staircase had been redesigned in the 1300s by a Theodora Belmont, and the details within proved to be not only accurate, but incredibly helpful.
But being only one person meant that the work took time, and even now, there's things yet to be done. Railings line only one side of the stairs, the stairs themselves cut off about halfway through, and so all access to the Hold has been with the use of the single rope ladder that dangles all the way down to the ground. Alucard usually floats himself up and down, but with a perfectly human guest, it's wrong to not share the burden of going down and up the thing.
Alucard is quick to go past the watchful eyes of Leon Belmont (he hates that portrait, swears it judges him every time he must walk by it), and his hand rests on the doorknob that opens down to the Hold proper.
He looks over his shoulder for a moment, just to ensure Dorian is still with him.]
Do I owe you a view of the sea monster first, or should I simply point you towards the index so you can get lost in all the texts here?
[At the apology, Dorian gives a laugh, half mirth and genuine disbelief at the state of the stairs - and the alternative route being offered to him now. Through his stay in the castle thus far, he's grown more accustomed to its nature, so clearly beloved even in its relative disarray. Without Alucard's presence to attend to it, he could see it falling to beautiful ruin, preserved in dust and stone.]
Oh, don't apologize, I'm certain I need a bit of exercise after all this lying around on couches I've been doing.
[That's not exactly true, as he's taken to a habit of wandering - wherever he's deemed allowable to go, at least - in the evenings. Part of it is to get a better mental picture of castle's layout, part of it is to entertain himself. Most of it serves to distract him from thoughts of home, thoughts of Alexius, or thoughts of the men who have sold off everything valuable he owns including his amulet. Ah, well.
Dorian climbs down carefully, then joins Alucard where he stands at the door. There's a sharp attentiveness to Dorian's expression. He's not trying to conceal the bright light of his interest in this excursion.]
You can hardly expect to get away with mentioning a sea monster, so yes, I'll take that view.
[Alucard lets out a soft laugh at the first comment. Dorian's humor is a good match for Alucard's own sense of it, rarely veering into Too Dark territory. Letting the man have free run of the castle has hardly proven to be worrisome either, save for the few times early in Dorian's residency (and maybe that's the best way to think of it, a scholar in residence) where Alucard became worried after a prolonged absence.
The Hold then. Alucard opens the door with no fanfare, and he steps in first. His hand moves to the left, clicking the lightswitch on. (It was a requirement that the Hold get up and running on eletricity, because like Hell he was happy using torches around all the books.) It isn't the dramatic thing that was his first encounter with the place, Sypha's flame lighting every torch, but oh, it's still something.
Alucard steps aside to allow Dorian in properly, fully expecting the man to run down the stairs to begin exploring. All the same, he points right ahead, to where the sea monster skeleton remains hanging from the ceiling.]
As promised, the afformentioned monster. 1200s, dragged out of the Black Sea.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
In which Dorian probably just go be BFF with Sypha instead, set like, set halfway thru BS thread
[Upon Trevor's and Sypha's departure, one of the things that Alucard had occupied himself with was reconstructing the staircase that led down into the Belmont Hold. Well. Removing all the blood, then reconstruction. It was something far easier said than done, even after he found the original plans for the structure within the Hold's curious collection of architectural drawings. On the old sheets of vellum were attempts to understand the layout of his father's castle, coupled with construction plans for the old Belmont estate. The Hold's last staircase had been redesigned in the 1300s by a Theodora Belmont, and the details within proved to be not only accurate, but incredibly helpful.
But being only one person meant that the work took time, and even now, there's things yet to be done. Railings line only one side of the stairs, the stairs themselves cut off about halfway through, and so all access to the Hold has been with the use of the single rope ladder that dangles all the way down to the ground. Alucard usually floats himself up and down, but with a perfectly human guest, it's wrong to not share the burden of going down and up the thing.
Alucard is quick to go past the watchful eyes of Leon Belmont (he hates that portrait, swears it judges him every time he must walk by it), and his hand rests on the doorknob that opens down to the Hold proper.
He looks over his shoulder for a moment, just to ensure Dorian is still with him.]
Do I owe you a view of the sea monster first, or should I simply point you towards the index so you can get lost in all the texts here?
no subject
Oh, don't apologize, I'm certain I need a bit of exercise after all this lying around on couches I've been doing.
[That's not exactly true, as he's taken to a habit of wandering - wherever he's deemed allowable to go, at least - in the evenings. Part of it is to get a better mental picture of castle's layout, part of it is to entertain himself. Most of it serves to distract him from thoughts of home, thoughts of Alexius, or thoughts of the men who have sold off everything valuable he owns including his amulet. Ah, well.
Dorian climbs down carefully, then joins Alucard where he stands at the door. There's a sharp attentiveness to Dorian's expression. He's not trying to conceal the bright light of his interest in this excursion.]
You can hardly expect to get away with mentioning a sea monster, so yes, I'll take that view.
no subject
The Hold then. Alucard opens the door with no fanfare, and he steps in first. His hand moves to the left, clicking the lightswitch on. (It was a requirement that the Hold get up and running on eletricity, because like Hell he was happy using torches around all the books.) It isn't the dramatic thing that was his first encounter with the place, Sypha's flame lighting every torch, but oh, it's still something.
Alucard steps aside to allow Dorian in properly, fully expecting the man to run down the stairs to begin exploring. All the same, he points right ahead, to where the sea monster skeleton remains hanging from the ceiling.]
As promised, the afformentioned monster. 1200s, dragged out of the Black Sea.