[ You know what? He's already verbally being an asshole, why is he trying to avoid causing the vampire distress by touching him? It's get a good reason anyway.
He is still struggling to justify it to himself as he snatches the needle away, but he does it. One hand is on Alucard's, trying to hold it still while he takes the needle so that the thread doesn't get yanked and nobody gets stabbed with a needle. The other plucks it from Alucard's fingers. ]
[For better or worse, Alucard doesn't fight it. There's a part of him, deep down, that realizes the help is required even if the rest of him hisses and spits and scratches at the mere thought. So he doesn't fight back.
He's still. Breath shallow, chest barely rising and falling. Still enough? he almost asks, but doesn't. He's just...he just ceases any major movement, and so at least it lets Trevor work.
Quick, he says. Alucard's ready to be proven wrong.]
[ He continues to hold Alucard's hand for a few more seconds, brushing a thumb over his knuckles. Even if he knows it doesn't help. Even if he knows it's making it worse. It's still his first instinct, from years of living with only his siblings, that this would be how to comfort someone.
But eventually, he does let go. He's working mostly blind, so he brushes his fingertips over the skin below the wound, feeling where the trauma has made it a little warmer to figure out where to sew without touching the injury itself. His work isn't as neat as Alucard's, but it's serviceable and quick. ]
There. [ He moves back, sighing. ] Was that really so hard?
[Alucard's hand stays where it is. He hates this. Hates how his chest freezes at the hand over his. Wants to withdraw and curl up, dragging his cloak over him and simply resting so he can help this wound heal faster. But no, the Belmont takes his sweet time thinking of him like a normal human, and Alucard nearly screams for him to just get on with it.
But there's only ever silence. Only ever holding his breath when Trevor's fingers touch the wound, and then, thank God, it's done.
Almost instantly, Alucard works to put as much distance between himself and Trevor was the wagon will allow for. Grab his cloak and pulls it tightly around himself, warm armor against the cold and the terror of having a butcher of vampires attend to a wound.]
Yes.
[He puts the needle away. That's all he does, before trying to make himself small.]
Now go inside and go to bed with her. There's only a few hours until morning anyway.
[ You know what? Fine. There's more to be done here. If he was going to be cautious he should clean up the blood, but the chances of someone going around rubbing bloody snow on an open cut are- well. hopefully slim. People around here might be into weird shit. He's tired. He's so, so tired. ]
You're welcome.
[ He doesn't go back into the inn, though. He heads off in the opposite direction, back toward the edge of town and the tavern there. Hopefully it's still open. ]
[Alucard turns his back before he even sees what direction Trevor goes in. He simply settles against the cold, hard wood of the wagon and readjusts the cloak. It is warm enough to keep out the cold, and Alucard quickly finds a comfortable position to sleep in. The cloak covers all of him safe his head, and that's just fine. He's warm. He's in pain, but that is so easy to ignore. And he sleeps.
It's not restful. It can't be, not in town. Not when anyone can walk up to the wagon, wake him, and do...anything. And he is up with the sun because of course he is, but still curled under the cloak. His eyes simply watch the world, knowing that the real sleep he needs will be once they're on the road. He doesn't trust the other two an inch, but he can sleep if they're moving in the wagon. Really sleep.
He sighs. Sleeping like that for a century sounds lovely right now.]
[ He returns after a while, but doesn't wake the vampire, curling up in bed for the few hours that he has left before sunrise. And Sypha's concerned that he's tired in the morning, but she's always concerned. She insists on checking over his own still-healing injuries and he refuses to take off his clothes in front of a lady and she demands he just pretend he thinks she's a man and deal with it.
He doesn't tell her about Alucard's adventure last night. There's not much sense in it. She'd try to make the ride smoother if she knew, but she'd also fuss. He's pretty sure Alucard would rather the discomfort of a bumpy ride occasionally waking him than the fussing. ]
Dinner.
[ His half-hearted attempt at waking Alucard comes in the evening, along with the sound of a glass bottle being set down next to him. Rabbit blood. He isn't certain what it is that Alucard snatches up when he goes hunting for himself, but rabbit is what his own hunt produced and so rabbit is what Alucard gets. ]
[He's the one that drives them at night. It makes sense, because he can still see the road and it permits them to cover much more ground if they don't have to camp for the night. He likes it, some nights. It's traveling and being as alone as he can be right now with the other two asleep in the back, winds brushing against the vampire's face and a sense of...he isn't safe, no, but this is his normal. Moving through the woods of Wallachia with the stupid desire not to die, because it's the only thing he can think of to please his mother right now.
It's the only reason he didn't try dying a long time ago.
The wound's moved closer towards healing. Alucard knows that much when Trevor declares dinner and the vampire is required to truly wake. Dinner means it'll be his turn to drive, and driving demands constant vigilance.
He doesn't sit up yet though. Alucard grabs the bottle and brings it over to himself, then slowly, carefully sits up so he can consume the contents. There's no indication that the movement hurts aside from how his shoulders flinch, and soon enough, the empty bottle is placed down with a thud.]
Thank you.
[It's enough. Alucard's used to hunting and eating as a wolf rather than a man, all raw flesh and blood rather than things cooked by human means. Just taking blood right now is more than enough. He can let the human diet go a few days so long as there's blood every night.]
How many more days are we out from our intended destination?
Three days to Braila - we'll make it in two if you're well enough to drive and the horses can handle the work - and the castle's about a day out from there. We might need to make the journey between them a few times for supplies.
[ Which is a less horrifying way of saying 'if vampires have taken over it, we might need to be prepared to do a siege'. Dracula's operating out of his childhood home. He knows how it feels to lose home to an enemy force, and it's a shitty prospect to bring it up to Alucard. He is at least trying to be nice. ]
You going to be up and about again by then, or should we stop a few days?
[The sooner this is done and over with, the sooner Alucard can withdraw from the world again, alone and if not content in that loneliness, then able to accept it and know that the world is truly better off for his father's death.
Or maybe he'll just entomb himself properly. Use his father's coffin deep in the castle for his own, lock it, and be if not at peace, then asleep and dead to the world. Oh, it is a fate to be wished for after the last decade in change, one that means no hiding, no need to keep hunting for scraps of food, no dealing with humans or vampires or anyone. Just rest, and hopefully rest without dreams.
The other two have each other. The night world will have a Belmont to enforce order upon it again. It all works out in the end.]
We keep going. This is a distraction, nothing more.
[ He nods. It's- if not about right, then about what they've come to expect from each other. They all keep their time together at a minimum. It's only sad if one stops to think about it, and the only one who ever stops to think about it is Sypha. ]
Here.
[ The thing he hands over is a damp cloth sack, being used to contain a thick black paste. ]
We passed some blackthorn while you were asleep. It's for- [ He pauses. ] -I told her it was for the big nasty one, but it should help numb whatever you want to use it on.
[The response is automatic. Rude and bitter, because Alucard should be the one taking care of these things himself, not relying on the other two to take care of him. He's never needed it before. He shouldn't need it now.
But he opens the sack, putting his nose to it. His trust in Trevor doesn't exist, and...smell checks out. That's fine. He puts the sack down to one side, and while his movement is hidden by the cloak,the fact his hand reaches into the bag after a few moments makes it clear he really is using it.]
...Thanks.
[It'll be enough to get through the night.]
It'll be done with soon.
[This. The whole awful adventure to kill Dracula. Then they'll part and get on with their lives as they need to.]
[ Not the 'you're' alucard was referring to, but after last night he's still primed to expect insults aimed at the Belmonts. His tone is colder. Flatter. He doesn't sound angry or hurt, just tired. Maybe a little disappointed. ]
It will.
[ He was going to leave with that, but he can hear frozen grass crunching a little way away now, Sypha returning from her foraging. He sighs, looking over in that direction. ]
[There's time for the other two to eat while Alucard shifts things around in the back of the wagon, and then it's his turn to drive for the night. The horses don't like him at all, but they move when he urges them two and they only need to rest a few times in the night. They'll have to take a longer break in the morning to allow for them to rest, but that's fine. Alucard feels safer being moving at night.
They're not on smooth roads. Alucard takes quite a few bumps, and under normal circumstances, it should never be a problem. But one awful bump sends Alucard almost flying off the bench, and then he hears the sound of tearing flesh. He doesn't make a noise, but he can tell where.
It's the stitching Trevor did. Of course.
He does nothing. Doesn't stop. Doesn't reach for clean bandages, does nothing. The horses keep moving, and Alucard only has them stop a little ways past dawn, because there is a fresh water stream ahead and the horses need that more than anyone else.
Once parked, Alucard rouses the other two. Well, Sypha, who wakes Trevor and tells him to go take care of breakfast while she takes care of the horses. It's one of the few times all three of them are awake, and Alucard just climbs into the back. The other two are gone. He can pull his shirt up to assess the damage and --]
[ The hunting is bad, and breakfast comes with eggs from an abandoned nest but no meat. It wouldn't be a problem, save for-
-the blood bottle still gets filled, and that's what matters. Blood is blood, no matter what it comes from, and it's only a tiny thing. While Sypha busies herself with dealing with a loose shoe on one of the horses, Trevor enters the wagon with the bottle. ]
Before you sleep- [ He begins, and then actually looks at the stained white shirt. Then at the cut itself. ] -fuck.
[Alucard has peeled his shirt off to try and get a better look at the wound. That means the whole scar is visible, but more than that, the thin trickle of blood coming down his chest is an obvious contrast against his all too pale skin.]
[ Okay, that probably counts as saying something. To his credit, he at least doesn't say anything else. That's the part that he stitched. He's the one who did this to Alucard. He moves past Alucard, picking up the shirt. They have access to water and they're going to be stuck here until the horse is re-shod, so there's time to clean it. Sypha doesn't need to know about the blood. ]
[Alucard shakes his head no. He hates this. He is horrified by the words that come out of his mouth. He almost chokes on them.]
Can't reach, that much is clear to me. I'll assume you're better at this in daylight.
[Not bleeding is more important. Alucard knows his blood is dangerous, and he's around two humans. He isn't so awful as to insist that he put the other two at risk.]
[ He looks at Alucard for a moment, then nods solemnly. It doesn't take long to retrieve the sewing kit again and pick a needle. He digs out a leather strap as well, folding it upon itself and handing it over. ]
Bite down on this. It'll make it easier.
[ His tone is softer. Still flat. Still distant. Still with a far-off undercurrent of hurt, but softer and maybe a little warmer. He kneels by Alucard as he speaks, soaking a cloth with water. ]
[Which is the politest no he's ever, ever given the Belmont. Alucard simply stays still, waiting. He knows the needle was returned to it's little alcohol vial, and so it's sterile. It's just working quickly.]
She's still distracted.
[Sypha doesn't need to know. She won't know if they do it right this time.]
[ He raises an eyebrow, but sets about working. Cleans away the excess blood so that he can actually see what he's doing, then begins stitching.
It is, in some ways, more difficult to do this by eye than by touch. The daylight helps, but light isn't good for his bad eye and focusing both eyes on something for an extended period of time is difficult. It's slower work, but the stitching is neater and he manages not to touch Alucard more than is absolutely necessary. ]
She'll be a while. One of the horses had a shoe come loose. Probably what did this.
[ And his tone softens further as he says that, melting into admiration just a little. She sets things on fire with her brain and she's a half-decent farrier. ]
[That's all he can think of saying. Alucard wants Trevor to just pay attention and do the work, so he doesn't say anything else. It's better, being quiet. Being still so that the situation can get fixed. He's solved many a situation in just that way - hiding himself and holding his breath until the danger has passed.
He's so still. It's the touch but it's also knowing that it's effective for the work. The most Alucard does is look down and try to note if Trevor's stitches are too far apart. This time, it's fine.]
Should have time to destroy the shirt too, at any rate. No point in washing it.
[That's actually a lie, the spare got destroyed by Dracula along with most of Alucard's torso. Alucard doesn't say that though, just reaches for bandages so he can pretend he fixed some of this by himself.]
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[There's only half an inch left to do. He can do this. He can do it and he knows he can, so why is the Belmont even lingering.
But the word no makes him pull too hard, and there's a breathless choke of pain that blossoms up with it. Fuck. Fuck.]
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He is still struggling to justify it to himself as he snatches the needle away, but he does it. One hand is on Alucard's, trying to hold it still while he takes the needle so that the thread doesn't get yanked and nobody gets stabbed with a needle. The other plucks it from Alucard's fingers. ]
Stay still. I'll be quick about it.
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He's still. Breath shallow, chest barely rising and falling. Still enough? he almost asks, but doesn't. He's just...he just ceases any major movement, and so at least it lets Trevor work.
Quick, he says. Alucard's ready to be proven wrong.]
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But eventually, he does let go. He's working mostly blind, so he brushes his fingertips over the skin below the wound, feeling where the trauma has made it a little warmer to figure out where to sew without touching the injury itself. His work isn't as neat as Alucard's, but it's serviceable and quick. ]
There. [ He moves back, sighing. ] Was that really so hard?
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But there's only ever silence. Only ever holding his breath when Trevor's fingers touch the wound, and then, thank God, it's done.
Almost instantly, Alucard works to put as much distance between himself and Trevor was the wagon will allow for. Grab his cloak and pulls it tightly around himself, warm armor against the cold and the terror of having a butcher of vampires attend to a wound.]
Yes.
[He puts the needle away. That's all he does, before trying to make himself small.]
Now go inside and go to bed with her. There's only a few hours until morning anyway.
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You're welcome.
[ He doesn't go back into the inn, though. He heads off in the opposite direction, back toward the edge of town and the tavern there. Hopefully it's still open. ]
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[Alucard turns his back before he even sees what direction Trevor goes in. He simply settles against the cold, hard wood of the wagon and readjusts the cloak. It is warm enough to keep out the cold, and Alucard quickly finds a comfortable position to sleep in. The cloak covers all of him safe his head, and that's just fine. He's warm. He's in pain, but that is so easy to ignore. And he sleeps.
It's not restful. It can't be, not in town. Not when anyone can walk up to the wagon, wake him, and do...anything. And he is up with the sun because of course he is, but still curled under the cloak. His eyes simply watch the world, knowing that the real sleep he needs will be once they're on the road. He doesn't trust the other two an inch, but he can sleep if they're moving in the wagon. Really sleep.
He sighs. Sleeping like that for a century sounds lovely right now.]
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He doesn't tell her about Alucard's adventure last night. There's not much sense in it. She'd try to make the ride smoother if she knew, but she'd also fuss. He's pretty sure Alucard would rather the discomfort of a bumpy ride occasionally waking him than the fussing. ]
Dinner.
[ His half-hearted attempt at waking Alucard comes in the evening, along with the sound of a glass bottle being set down next to him. Rabbit blood. He isn't certain what it is that Alucard snatches up when he goes hunting for himself, but rabbit is what his own hunt produced and so rabbit is what Alucard gets. ]
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It's the only reason he didn't try dying a long time ago.
The wound's moved closer towards healing. Alucard knows that much when Trevor declares dinner and the vampire is required to truly wake. Dinner means it'll be his turn to drive, and driving demands constant vigilance.
He doesn't sit up yet though. Alucard grabs the bottle and brings it over to himself, then slowly, carefully sits up so he can consume the contents. There's no indication that the movement hurts aside from how his shoulders flinch, and soon enough, the empty bottle is placed down with a thud.]
Thank you.
[It's enough. Alucard's used to hunting and eating as a wolf rather than a man, all raw flesh and blood rather than things cooked by human means. Just taking blood right now is more than enough. He can let the human diet go a few days so long as there's blood every night.]
How many more days are we out from our intended destination?
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[ Which is a less horrifying way of saying 'if vampires have taken over it, we might need to be prepared to do a siege'. Dracula's operating out of his childhood home. He knows how it feels to lose home to an enemy force, and it's a shitty prospect to bring it up to Alucard. He is at least trying to be nice. ]
You going to be up and about again by then, or should we stop a few days?
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[The sooner this is done and over with, the sooner Alucard can withdraw from the world again, alone and if not content in that loneliness, then able to accept it and know that the world is truly better off for his father's death.
Or maybe he'll just entomb himself properly. Use his father's coffin deep in the castle for his own, lock it, and be if not at peace, then asleep and dead to the world. Oh, it is a fate to be wished for after the last decade in change, one that means no hiding, no need to keep hunting for scraps of food, no dealing with humans or vampires or anyone. Just rest, and hopefully rest without dreams.
The other two have each other. The night world will have a Belmont to enforce order upon it again. It all works out in the end.]
We keep going. This is a distraction, nothing more.
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Here.
[ The thing he hands over is a damp cloth sack, being used to contain a thick black paste. ]
We passed some blackthorn while you were asleep. It's for- [ He pauses. ] -I told her it was for the big nasty one, but it should help numb whatever you want to use it on.
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[The response is automatic. Rude and bitter, because Alucard should be the one taking care of these things himself, not relying on the other two to take care of him. He's never needed it before. He shouldn't need it now.
But he opens the sack, putting his nose to it. His trust in Trevor doesn't exist, and...smell checks out. That's fine. He puts the sack down to one side, and while his movement is hidden by the cloak,the fact his hand reaches into the bag after a few moments makes it clear he really is using it.]
...Thanks.
[It'll be enough to get through the night.]
It'll be done with soon.
[This. The whole awful adventure to kill Dracula. Then they'll part and get on with their lives as they need to.]
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[ Not the 'you're' alucard was referring to, but after last night he's still primed to expect insults aimed at the Belmonts. His tone is colder. Flatter. He doesn't sound angry or hurt, just tired. Maybe a little disappointed. ]
It will.
[ He was going to leave with that, but he can hear frozen grass crunching a little way away now, Sypha returning from her foraging. He sighs, looking over in that direction. ]
Keep her safe.
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[There's time for the other two to eat while Alucard shifts things around in the back of the wagon, and then it's his turn to drive for the night. The horses don't like him at all, but they move when he urges them two and they only need to rest a few times in the night. They'll have to take a longer break in the morning to allow for them to rest, but that's fine. Alucard feels safer being moving at night.
They're not on smooth roads. Alucard takes quite a few bumps, and under normal circumstances, it should never be a problem. But one awful bump sends Alucard almost flying off the bench, and then he hears the sound of tearing flesh. He doesn't make a noise, but he can tell where.
It's the stitching Trevor did. Of course.
He does nothing. Doesn't stop. Doesn't reach for clean bandages, does nothing. The horses keep moving, and Alucard only has them stop a little ways past dawn, because there is a fresh water stream ahead and the horses need that more than anyone else.
Once parked, Alucard rouses the other two. Well, Sypha, who wakes Trevor and tells him to go take care of breakfast while she takes care of the horses. It's one of the few times all three of them are awake, and Alucard just climbs into the back. The other two are gone. He can pull his shirt up to assess the damage and --]
Shit.
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-the blood bottle still gets filled, and that's what matters. Blood is blood, no matter what it comes from, and it's only a tiny thing. While Sypha busies herself with dealing with a loose shoe on one of the horses, Trevor enters the wagon with the bottle. ]
Before you sleep- [ He begins, and then actually looks at the stained white shirt. Then at the cut itself. ] -fuck.
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[Alucard has peeled his shirt off to try and get a better look at the wound. That means the whole scar is visible, but more than that, the thin trickle of blood coming down his chest is an obvious contrast against his all too pale skin.]
Stitching by night was a poor choice.
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[ Okay, that probably counts as saying something. To his credit, he at least doesn't say anything else. That's the part that he stitched. He's the one who did this to Alucard. He moves past Alucard, picking up the shirt. They have access to water and they're going to be stuck here until the horse is re-shod, so there's time to clean it. Sypha doesn't need to know about the blood. ]
I'll- leave you be.
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Can't reach, that much is clear to me. I'll assume you're better at this in daylight.
[Not bleeding is more important. Alucard knows his blood is dangerous, and he's around two humans. He isn't so awful as to insist that he put the other two at risk.]
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Bite down on this. It'll make it easier.
[ His tone is softer. Still flat. Still distant. Still with a far-off undercurrent of hurt, but softer and maybe a little warmer. He kneels by Alucard as he speaks, soaking a cloth with water. ]
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[Which is the politest no he's ever, ever given the Belmont. Alucard simply stays still, waiting. He knows the needle was returned to it's little alcohol vial, and so it's sterile. It's just working quickly.]
She's still distracted.
[Sypha doesn't need to know. She won't know if they do it right this time.]
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It is, in some ways, more difficult to do this by eye than by touch. The daylight helps, but light isn't good for his bad eye and focusing both eyes on something for an extended period of time is difficult. It's slower work, but the stitching is neater and he manages not to touch Alucard more than is absolutely necessary. ]
She'll be a while. One of the horses had a shoe come loose. Probably what did this.
[ And his tone softens further as he says that, melting into admiration just a little. She sets things on fire with her brain and she's a half-decent farrier. ]
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[That's all he can think of saying. Alucard wants Trevor to just pay attention and do the work, so he doesn't say anything else. It's better, being quiet. Being still so that the situation can get fixed. He's solved many a situation in just that way - hiding himself and holding his breath until the danger has passed.
He's so still. It's the touch but it's also knowing that it's effective for the work. The most Alucard does is look down and try to note if Trevor's stitches are too far apart. This time, it's fine.]
Should have time to destroy the shirt too, at any rate. No point in washing it.
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But then you- won't have a shirt.
[ It'll be very distracting. ]
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[That's actually a lie, the spare got destroyed by Dracula along with most of Alucard's torso. Alucard doesn't say that though, just reaches for bandages so he can pretend he fixed some of this by himself.]
It's fine, Belmont. And it's better stitching.
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time for some EXTREME MOOD WHIPLASH
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