cryptsleeper | Catch All

The castle, then. Anyone aiming to bring Dracula back will want it. It’s as good a place as any to start. London will have to wait.

[ He gets the message when Alucard moves away from his hand and withdraws it. It’s still weird to be sitting next to that thing that he was dragging around until now. ]

I don’t think there were vampires other than the captain aboard. Once you’re ready, could you double check that for me?

Then we let it be. It...it'll stop, I think.

[Maybe. Who's to say? Alucard leans forward, and now his forehead rests on his knees. It's as small as he can be for now.]

It'll be after daylight. I'm sorry.

No need to be. I’m the asshole who woke you up just to smell Godbrand. Take your time.

[ It does leave him in a difficult position. He can’t leave Sypha unprotected all night. But he’d rather not leave Alucard unprotected either. ]

...you going to be able to protect yourself, if anything comes after you?

[A small, pained attempt at a laugh escapes Trevor. Godbrand is the universal solution to being sad, it seems.]

Yes, that was a bit rude.

[Sypha's capable of taking care of herself.]

I...may take another form for a while, if it is all the same to you.

You mean like the bat? As long as you can defend yourself, I don’t mind what shape you feel like being.

[ He looks up at the ceiling, listening to the creaking of the boat. ]

Should have known better than to drag you into a trap like this. But I’ll make it right. And if you don’t want a new coffin, you don’t have to have one.

[Alucard says nothing at first. He tucks the letters into his coat, which at least means picking his head up off his knees and moving around slightly.]

Very well. Thank you.

[Then without any other say so, Alucard is a wolf. One that curls up beside Trevor immediately, making it clear that he's miserable but...he can manage as a wolf. That much is a basic truth.]

[ With a shove, Alucard's wolf head slides to the floor, waking him. ]

Don't do the whining noise at me, my legs are just falling asleep. [ She says it preemptively, before he even has a chance to do the whining noise, as if this is a problem she has fairly often. Just usually with actual dogs. Juliet Belmont massages feeling back into her legs before stretching them out, wiggling them a little. ] You're the one who decided to be something heavy.

[ Her fingers sink into his fur, combing through it, flinching as they brush against skin. ]

God, you're still so cold. That's not normal, is it?

[ Did he answer, back then? Whether or not he did, she just continues. Rearranges her legs to be comfortable again and pulls Alucard's head back onto her lap, rearranging her cloak so it covers both of them. The castle can't warm itself, no matter how much it wants to help Alucard, not without giving away their location. The cloak will have to be enough.

It smells of earth. There's dirt under her fingernails and bits of leaves in her hair no matter how many times she runs her fingers through it. Just rubbing against her is enough to leave grass stains in Alucard's fur and the noises her nose makes when she falls asleep again sound like the song of a small but particularly aggressive bird. ]

[ Trevor is still for a long time. He should go, but- fuck it, let Sypha have the room. It's the safest place on the boat, and it means he doesn't have to deal with sharing with her.

His hand sinks into Alucard's fur after a moment. And there's dirt under his fingernails, too, but Alucard is warmer now. Healthier, at least in body. ]

It's weird as fuck. Having you be alive, I mean. But- shit, all the rest of this, too. Going to take a lot of getting used to.

[ He chuckles. ]

Shit, though, you could have been a bat in that coffin the whole time, and you went and decided to be something heavy.

[Alucard's wolf form shakes suddenly. It's memory. It's emotion. It's the fear of not knowing what time he's actually in, and it's her voice he's hearing, crystal clear. Her hands combing through fur, and oh he wishes he had never fallen asleep. That his body could have suffered a slower recovery process in consciousness, because at least he'd be there.

He wants to be properly cold. Not this luke warm thing that's neither alive or dead, just...

...it doesn't matter. If all the religions are right, they'd be far apart. He's a patricide, and those only ever belong below.

A soft whine escapes Alucard when Trevor's voice anchors him to the present. He hates it. He wants to shrink away from the touch, but he's curled too tight upon himself to manage even that much.]

[ He doesn't say anything more - he's been around enough dogs to know that whine. He just takes his hand from Alucard's fur and closes his eyes.

Sypha's found her way to them when he wakes. She's leaning on him, snoring quietly, and the bedding from his room is wrapped around the two of them. Alucard has gained a blanket, too. And she's warm, so warm, enough to banish the cold dampness of the boat from his bones. He has no idea why the fuck she'd give up having a room of her own but- shit, this is nice.

...and shit, this is real. Is there a word for a hangover, but instead of drinking you get it from weird, awful shit happening the night before? Because that's exactly what the headache he's fast developing right now is. ]

...fuck.

[Alucard doesn't sleep. He doesn't want to, nor does he need to. He's been asleep for so many centuries, and now he's scared to even attempt.

So he knows when Sypha finds her way to the other two of them. He feels the blanket draped over him, and that's enough to make him try and inch away finally. They'll get this over with and he'll just go find a way to end this sadness.

Trevor swears, and Alucard's head lifts. Another soft whine, this one with a head tilt.]

I just- fuck. That all really happened, didn't it? This is all really happening. You used to be a guy in a coffin and now you're a dog and also fucking Dracula is happening and-

[ He shakes his head. ]

-it doesn't matter. She'll lead us to the castle, you sniff out anything that wants us dead and I'll keep the two of you safe. Easy enough.

[A huff follows.

Alucard doesn't want to say anything else. He can't, Trevor's not really talking to him. Just the idea of the man that used to be in the coffin.]

Wff.

[He then just meets Trevor's eyes. What else ca be done?]

[ There's another part to this, as well. Alucard doesn't want to go back into the coffin. Which means- when this is done, he's going to be an awake, alive person who can go where he wants. Who can go away. And with the coffin itself destroyed-

-the last thing he has left of his family, and he's going away.

Shit. ]

No need to fuss, I'm just miserable because it's too fucking early. He's not back yet, and all that needs to be done to keep him not-back is to kill some vampires. And that's what I'm good at.

[ ...as long as they don't take Alucard hostage, apparently. ]

[Alucard's look is sketpical. But he says nothing, choosing to stay a wolf. His paws stretch out just a little. They brush against Trevor's feet and--

there's no value in being a wolf right now. So he becomes a person again.]

Belmont, I believe you. Just...if a sacrifice has to be made, please do so.

[ Oh.

Shit.

He should have known that Alucard would catch on. He seemed to know that something was up ever since the incident last night, but-

-Shit. He looks downward, at the shimmering of tiny pieces of glass between the boards of the cargo hold's floor, and for a long time he stops speaking. ]

I can't. [ When did his throat get so tight? ] I can't promise that.

Why?

[It's not a demanding why? It is soft and unsure, aware he's treading on dangerous ground.]

[ He thinks, then sighs. He'd have to bring this up some time, wouldn't he? ]

Why do you think you're here, on this fucking boat, and not back in the Hold?

Belmont, I genuinely don't know.

[Alucard frowns at him slightly.]

Fuck, how do I-

[ -explain the politics of the last 20 years without taking a whole week, let alone the last four centuries. ]

-Wallachia is- 'gone' is a strong word. But it's not there anymore. [ That's a good start, right? ] So is the Belmont family, except 'gone' isn't really a strong word for us.

Politics changed it's identity. I understand that much.

[The rest of it though? Alucard goes somehow even more still.]]

You're the only one from your line?

Yeah.

[ There's no emotion in it, really. Nothing beyond tiredness. ]

The coffin was the only thing that was left. You're all that was left. I fucked up at protecting everyone else, but I can still protect you.

[Tired seems to be the universal mood. But Alucard's face is so very still, he's all that's left. The house then. The hold. It's all...]

...Politics did it then?

[ He nods, then looks over at Sypha. ]

They said that her people, any people who didn't worship at our churches, weren't protected by the law. We disagreed. Shit went bad. Church saw it as a declaration of war against them. New Domnitor saw it as a grab for power.

[ He sighs as Sypha snores quietly, tugging the blanket around herself more tightly. ]

Couldn't protect them, either.

[Alucard breathes out only two words, soft and truly pained.]

Oh, Belmont.

[No wonder Sypha's continued on with him. No wonder to so much.]

I'm so sorry.

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