[Alucard knows that every time he talks, he makes the situation much harder to deal with.]
I'm...I'm barely awake, Belmont. I grew up in near isolation, and the only crowd I experienced murdered my mother. Cities are required for this, but I can't account for how easily I will be able to function in them as a man.
[ He sighs. He wants to say something along the lines of Well Too Bad, This Needs To Be Dealt With, but he can't. Instead he just nods. ]
We'll stay here for now, watch the city through the papers. Try to draw out anyone who feels like coming to us to attack. And we'll figure out how the castle chooses which buildings it can move into and- I don't know. See if any in the city match its needs. It'll be easier, right? If you have the castle to return to?
[ It's a plan, at least. Sypha can get the castle healthy again and the two of them can help however she needs it in between their other tasks. Alucard can hunt, he can go into the city and do odd jobs for food money and newspapers. ]
Can it talk back to you? If it can tell us what it needs, that'd help. Otherwise, I guess I should try to work out that makes the abbey similar to some creepy house with too many coops.
[ He shrugs. He's not great at making people feel better about themselves, so he's not going to try.
The next few days are- weird, but bearable. With a massive effort and against Sypha's advice, the castle manifests a corner of a soldiers' dormitory for them to sleep in. Trevor treks into town, finds work at the houses along the road and returns with supplies and a newspaper each day. It's not really enough, but they can supplement it with whatever Alucard manages to hunt. Spring Heeled Jack, the Jumping Devil, any of his other names - they show up in the newspapers regularly, but not concerning anything dramatic enough to warrant action. No matter how much it grates at Trevor to see the lists of London's missing and do nothing.
Eventually, though, Trevor doesn't return at his usual time. It's probably past midnight when he knocks at the cottage door. ]
[The big white wolf manages to drag in a deer early on, and so that's food for days. Sypha's ability to manipulate ice is an absolute blessing in this case, and so it goes that Alucard can at least prove himself by making the group's meals. It isn't fancy, but it works.
He reads the papers though. All of them. It's a struggle, getting up to speed with the world, and so for the rest he relies on Sypha and the wisdom of the Speakers. She doesn't mind, but some days her throat goes raw and Alucard apologizes profusely and lets her rest.
They don't worry much when one or the other comes in late. They can't, this is night work. So when Trevor approaches at midnight, the most the castle does is grumble in greeting.]
[ He enters, sighing and dropping the bag. Its contents are a little mud-splattered but the bread still seems edible and the paper still legible. Sypha's already asleep by now, but Alucard's usually still awake. ]
Someone's been following me. Took me a couple hours to lose them. [ A couple of hours and a lot of trekking, if the mud and the way he immediately sits on the ground in exhaustion is any indication. ] If they're human, I think I've lost them. If they're a vampire, I may not have.
[ But that's the ideal. They want to lure vampires here. They absolutely do not want humans seeing them enter this house. ]
[Alucard is still awake, sat up in bed while Sypha dozes. He doesn't sleep unless they're all home right now, if only for safety's sake.
He's spent today talking with the castle. Learning about what it has done in the centuries, and murmuring apologies all the while. He should have insisted the Belmonts bury him here. Not the Hold.]
More talkative today. [He says that and only that before seizing upon Trevor's words.]
Yeah. Means we can't rule out vampire. Little too determined to be just trying to rob me, and I like to think I don't look an easy target. Either a vampire, or a human who thinks we're up to no good here.
[ He strips to his underclothes while he speaks, falling into his own bed. ]
I'm going to stay here tomorrow, just in case. Then the day after I'll leave the town before nightfall, see if that helps us narrow it down.
Mmm, experience has long since taught me that one cannot rule out the human element. If you like, I can walk out tomorrow and see if I am targeted the same way.
[Alucard sighs, and while he does watch Trevor undress, there's nothing really there either. Just a man taking care of getting ready for bed.]
They don't care for the accent, I can tell that much. Not thrilled to have a foreigner about. But it's a big enough community that everyone doesn't know everyone else. Nobody asking too many questions, at least not openly. Worst I've had is folk refusing me work.
[ He sighs, combing his fingers through his hair to get mud and leaves out of it. ]
Probably best if you don't talk too much, if you do. You talk stranger than either of us.
[ Four centuries in a box will leave one's vocabulary in languages that are not even one's first language just a little weird and outdated. ]
Used to insist to my tutors that I'd never need to know old Romanian, but here we are. Guess they got the last laugh.
[ He grumbles - he's tired - but he stands and moves to perch on Alucard's bed. There's a decent sized clump of some sort of plant matter in his hair, just out of reach. ]
Fell in a ditch while I was trying to lose the fucker. But they didn't follow me into the ditch, so I suppose it worked.
You'll have to speak English, out there. Not Ancient Frengreekmanian, or whatever you'd call this.
[ First if only because of the lack of branches in the castle. He tenses at the contact, as if expecting something bad to happen, and then relaxes. It's the tiniest thing, but after so long without even the tiniest parts of being cared for- it's nice. He chuckles, at that and at their stupid chimera of a language and at Alucard's comment. ]
Jealous that you're not going to be the only one with a bark?
[ Is he laughing at his own joke? Yes, he is laughing at his own awful, awful joke. Loudly enough that he has to cover his mouth with a hand to avoid waking Sypha. ]
Oh, of course not. Why [ Ahem. ] wood [ Ahem. ] I do that?
[ God knows why this horrible side of him is coming out now, of all times. He's tired, he's being shown the slightest bit of care, and- apparently being made comfortable around people leads to puns. He's having a good time with it, at least. ]
[ There's a snort of laughter at that, and Sypha stirs. Trevor immediately claps both hands over his mouth while she turns over and returns to her rest. He's still chuckling when he withdraws them.
It's a relief. To just talk. Talk like normal people with terrible senses of humour. He's been able to do that with Sypha, every now and then, but Alucard is different. Too close and too distant all at once. He's known him his whole life, and yet they've never really spoken. But here they are, with terrible tree and dog jokes.
He leans back a little, not far enough that his weight is against Alucard but closer. ]
That's not all of it? Shit, I don't know why I go to the markets for vegetables. I just need to fall of a few more ditches and we'll be fed for a week.
[Alucard's own laugh is very soft. It hesitates, unsure and uncomfortable, but it feels nice. It's a break in the tension at least, and that counts for an awful lot.]
There's absolutely nothing edible in here, I assure you.
[Alucard tuts, but he manages to remove the very last leaf and then awkwardly pats the top of Trevor's head.]
Yeah, nothing worse than a couple bruises. And a lot of leaves.
[ He should probably. Stand up, shouldn’t he? Stop sitting on Alucard’s bed. He falls silent for a while before actually managing that, sitting down on his own with a tired huff. ]
Anything that needs doing around here, if I’m not leaving tomorrow? If not, I’ll check over the cottage again, see if I can figure out anything about what makes it so the castle can use it.
[It's a little sad, Trevor getting up. He's warm, warm and human, and his absence means nothing but cold. The castle is trying so hard to be warm right now, but it's a struggle.]
Let's just investigate the cottage. Go from there.
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[Alucard knows that every time he talks, he makes the situation much harder to deal with.]
I'm...I'm barely awake, Belmont. I grew up in near isolation, and the only crowd I experienced murdered my mother. Cities are required for this, but I can't account for how easily I will be able to function in them as a man.
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[ He sighs. He wants to say something along the lines of Well Too Bad, This Needs To Be Dealt With, but he can't. Instead he just nods. ]
We'll stay here for now, watch the city through the papers. Try to draw out anyone who feels like coming to us to attack. And we'll figure out how the castle chooses which buildings it can move into and- I don't know. See if any in the city match its needs. It'll be easier, right? If you have the castle to return to?
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[The first of so many apologies.]
But yes, that'll...I can ask it to start to search that city. See if it can find somewhere appropriate before we even have to move. Will that be okay?
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[ It's a plan, at least. Sypha can get the castle healthy again and the two of them can help however she needs it in between their other tasks. Alucard can hunt, he can go into the city and do odd jobs for food money and newspapers. ]
Can it talk back to you? If it can tell us what it needs, that'd help. Otherwise, I guess I should try to work out that makes the abbey similar to some creepy house with too many coops.
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[Alucard knows he's useless. He's been useless for centuries, and now? All he wants to do is go back to sleep.]
In it's way, yes. And I'll work to develop that communication. That much I can accomplish.
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The next few days are- weird, but bearable. With a massive effort and against Sypha's advice, the castle manifests a corner of a soldiers' dormitory for them to sleep in. Trevor treks into town, finds work at the houses along the road and returns with supplies and a newspaper each day. It's not really enough, but they can supplement it with whatever Alucard manages to hunt. Spring Heeled Jack, the Jumping Devil, any of his other names - they show up in the newspapers regularly, but not concerning anything dramatic enough to warrant action. No matter how much it grates at Trevor to see the lists of London's missing and do nothing.
Eventually, though, Trevor doesn't return at his usual time. It's probably past midnight when he knocks at the cottage door. ]
Castle? It's the Belmont.
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He reads the papers though. All of them. It's a struggle, getting up to speed with the world, and so for the rest he relies on Sypha and the wisdom of the Speakers. She doesn't mind, but some days her throat goes raw and Alucard apologizes profusely and lets her rest.
They don't worry much when one or the other comes in late. They can't, this is night work. So when Trevor approaches at midnight, the most the castle does is grumble in greeting.]
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Someone's been following me. Took me a couple hours to lose them. [ A couple of hours and a lot of trekking, if the mud and the way he immediately sits on the ground in exhaustion is any indication. ] If they're human, I think I've lost them. If they're a vampire, I may not have.
[ But that's the ideal. They want to lure vampires here. They absolutely do not want humans seeing them enter this house. ]
How has the castle been?
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He's spent today talking with the castle. Learning about what it has done in the centuries, and murmuring apologies all the while. He should have insisted the Belmonts bury him here. Not the Hold.]
More talkative today. [He says that and only that before seizing upon Trevor's words.]
Did they begin to follow only after sunset?
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[ He strips to his underclothes while he speaks, falling into his own bed. ]
I'm going to stay here tomorrow, just in case. Then the day after I'll leave the town before nightfall, see if that helps us narrow it down.
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[Alucard sighs, and while he does watch Trevor undress, there's nothing really there either. Just a man taking care of getting ready for bed.]
Mmm. How are the townspeople reacting to you?
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[ He sighs, combing his fingers through his hair to get mud and leaves out of it. ]
Probably best if you don't talk too much, if you do. You talk stranger than either of us.
[ Four centuries in a box will leave one's vocabulary in languages that are not even one's first language just a little weird and outdated. ]
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[She knows all the old languages, but the point stands.]
But I'll keep that in mind and-- oh come here you're never going to get at the stuff from the angle you're at.
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[ He grumbles - he's tired - but he stands and moves to perch on Alucard's bed. There's a decent sized clump of some sort of plant matter in his hair, just out of reach. ]
Fell in a ditch while I was trying to lose the fucker. But they didn't follow me into the ditch, so I suppose it worked.
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[Trevor was not the only one. Just the last one.
And the first Belmont he's had to groom like this. Alucard stands up slowly, and there. That's--
--nearly an entire branch. There's a soft snuffle as Alucard extracts the thing, trying his best to be gentle.]
You're almost a tree now.
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[ First if only because of the lack of branches in the castle. He tenses at the contact, as if expecting something bad to happen, and then relaxes. It's the tiniest thing, but after so long without even the tiniest parts of being cared for- it's nice. He chuckles, at that and at their stupid chimera of a language and at Alucard's comment. ]
Jealous that you're not going to be the only one with a bark?
[ DOG PUNS. ]
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[Because there's only the Kingdom of Romania now, or that's what Alucard has come to understand from all of the newspapers.
He keeps working though, picking smaller pieces out first and--]
Are you kidding me?
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Oh, of course not. Why [ Ahem. ] wood [ Ahem. ] I do that?
[ God knows why this horrible side of him is coming out now, of all times. He's tired, he's being shown the slightest bit of care, and- apparently being made comfortable around people leads to puns. He's having a good time with it, at least. ]
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I can't beleaf you managed to get this dirty.
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It's a relief. To just talk. Talk like normal people with terrible senses of humour. He's been able to do that with Sypha, every now and then, but Alucard is different. Too close and too distant all at once. He's known him his whole life, and yet they've never really spoken. But here they are, with terrible tree and dog jokes.
He leans back a little, not far enough that his weight is against Alucard but closer. ]
That's not all of it? Shit, I don't know why I go to the markets for vegetables. I just need to fall of a few more ditches and we'll be fed for a week.
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There's absolutely nothing edible in here, I assure you.
[Alucard tuts, but he manages to remove the very last leaf and then awkwardly pats the top of Trevor's head.]
Take a look. Pile's on your right.
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[ He turns to look at the leaf pile and - wow. He managed to end up with so, so many leaves. ]
Shit, that’s more leaf than I have hair. [ And then, a little awkwardly. ] Thanks. It’d have been uncomfortable, sleeping on all that.
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[Alucard can feel the awkward settling in, and there it is. They're both terribly awkward without Sypha there, aren't they?]
You're welcome. You're otherwise unharmed?
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[ He should probably. Stand up, shouldn’t he? Stop sitting on Alucard’s bed. He falls silent for a while before actually managing that, sitting down on his own with a tired huff. ]
Anything that needs doing around here, if I’m not leaving tomorrow? If not, I’ll check over the cottage again, see if I can figure out anything about what makes it so the castle can use it.
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[It's a little sad, Trevor getting up. He's warm, warm and human, and his absence means nothing but cold. The castle is trying so hard to be warm right now, but it's a struggle.]
Let's just investigate the cottage. Go from there.
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WAIT SHIT THIS ONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRST
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