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[ Right. Of course that's Dracula's solution. It doesn't really hurt, no more than any pup playing rough would, but still. He rolls his eyes. ]

I've just been using my hunting gloves for the garden, Do we want her chewing on night creature leather?

[ Genuine question there. ]

Are you implying that you haven't already warded and cleaned that leather so that it can be worn and be child safe?

[Alucard lets out a noise that's a little wolfish in and of itself, and so that? That seems to sober Dracula somewhat. As enjoyable as making the Belmont miserable is, there's a more important matter to attend to.]

Has she been only around the three of you since she discovered her ability to howl?

Safe for her to touch and safe for her to ingest probably aren’t the same thing, Mr. Tepes.

[ He half considers just taking his hand out of the kid’s mouth and letting her deal with this conversation. But no. Playing nice with the father in law. ]

No. We let her go to playdates like this of course she’s not seen anyone but us.

Perhaps you should enable those playdates.

[Alucard coughs.]

I know you're not joking but, father are you serious?

[Dracula's just going to look at his son and son-in-law like the idiots they are. So much so.]

With other dogs. So that her calls are responded to and she can be socialized in that form. It worked with Adrian.

You’re saying we need to take her to the dog park. That we need to take your granddaughter, put her in the car, and take her to the dog park to be a dog.

[ Sounds stupid to him, except for- ]

And he’s saying that they had to do this with you. Well sh- sure. Sure is great to know.

[ Nailed it once again ]

Yes, Belmont, that is precisely what I am saying. There are photographs of Adrian going through this process.

Father!

[The vampire would like to die now k thnx. He looks absolutely mortified all things considered, but then? Then he sighs.]

But I understand the logic behind it. If it doesn't work?

She chews on the Belmont. If that fails, you may contact me then.

Well. Wonder how one would go about finding those photographs.

[ He stands as the mirror goes dark, bringing Elisabeta over to Alucard. She’s still trying to howl, her mouth is just full. ]

Doubt any other dogs will be there at this hour.

[There's a considering hm from Dracula, but nothing more. Perhaps Trevor will get an envelope in the mail soon....]

Probably not. But if we can let her chew the normal hide gloves, then we can probably manage until morning.

They won’t hold up as well as the monster hide ones, but better safe.

[ He lifts their puppy daughter up to Alucard’s face. ]

Kiss papa goodnight, okay? He’s going to get the gloves for us and then go to bed.

[ Because there’s no reason for both of them to suffer. He takes his hand out of her mouth and she licks at Alucard’s face a few times before starting to howl again. Trevor gives her back his hand. ]

[All of this is done right in front of Dracula. Who, if one looks very, very carefully, seems endeared for a single passing moment. The viewing mirror clicks off before Alucard can say anymore - even a thank you and there they are.]

Papa will be right back.

[And papa is. At vampire speed, he finds the thickest hide gloves they have, and he runs back so Trevor's hands can be properly covered.]

You sure you're okay with taking her for the remainder of the night?

[She gets a kiss to the top of her fluffy little head after the question.]

[ She yips happily at that, and Trevor uses the opportunity to hand her over for a moment so he can put the gloves on. ]

Taking her to the dog park means driving, so one of us needs to be rested. Unless we want the demon driving her. Or Sypha.

[ WHICH IS WORSE? WHO KNOWS. And there. Gloves on. Protected from her tiny little needle teeths. ]

I'll head to bed while you take her to the park in the morning. Hopefully that'll wear her out enough that she can join us when you need to sleep.

[If yips are the response to kisses, then Alucard can only keep putting little kisses to her head.]

The demon isn't allowed to drive her now or ever.

[With that, time to hand the pup back over to Trevor.]

Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow. [And a kiss for Trevor too, because of course. It's fleeting, but only because Alucard is so damned tired. He then leans down, ruffling behind Elisabeta's ears.]

Be good to dad for the rest of the night, okay? We'll go out on an adventure tomorrow.

C'mere. We're going to play down here for a couple more hours, and then you can go make friends.

[ He brings the tiny dog to his chest to hold her there, and the howling begins once again. It's a little more charming, now the end is in sight. He chuckles. ]

Awoo to you, too. [ And then he offers his gloved hand as a pacifier once again. She happily takes it, chewing at it joyfully. He looks back to Alucard, smiling. ]

Go get some sleep. We'll be fine down here.

Good night to you both.

[Alucard and his gaze lingers just a little longer. This image? It's too much. Too precious and too special. They've given so much for this, even with the Night of Infinite Awoos.

He does sleep in the end, but Alucard rises early. It's to try and relieve Trevor, but also to try and get the problem solved. He wanders back down to the basement with a breakfast tray of eggs, tea, and some leftover chicken for little howling nightmares.]

How'd you manage?

[ She's still chewing away, and one of the gloves is looking awfully tattered now. Trevor wasn't asleep so much as lulled into a sleepy sort of calm by the constant pressure and release of the little teeth on his hand, but it still takes him a moment or so to stir. ]

Morning. Put that down and come look at this. I'm gonna be mean to her.

[The tray does go down, but Trevor gets a wary look in response.]

Oh? What are you going to do?

Another minute or so, once she gets carried away and gets a little too rough-

[ And he waits quietly until- there she goes. And he makes his best impression of a dog's pained yelp, pulling his hand back.

The pup whimpers, eyes going wide, and then she moves closer and starts licking his hand, trying to make up for the mistake. No awoo, only lick. ]

[Okay, mean? Yes. Effective? Also yes.

It's impossible for Alucard to truly stop the laugh that comes up and out of his mouth.]

Well, that's one way to stop the howl box.

[With that, Alucard sits himself down on the floor. He then reaches back to grab the bowl of chicken, and he offers it to his pup of a daughter.]

[ With that, there's an excited yip and Elisabeta has forgotten all of her crimes. She gives a few howls of excitement before shoving her face into the chicken and valiantly attempting to eat more of it than will physically fit into her mouth.

Trevor rests his head on Alucard's shoulder. ]

And there's another.

It'll be temporary.

[Alucard wraps his hand low around Trevor's waist and pulls him in close. His head then rests gently against Trevor's, and if it wasn't for circumstances, the moment would be even more precious than it is.]

I made eggs and decaf tea so that you'll be able to sleep. Sypha's already left for work, she had an early shoot today.

[ There’s a gap in the conversation there, one where a snide comment of some sort might usually fit. The silence stretches on for a few moments, The comfortable kind of silence, until a snore interrupts it.

The pup looks up from her chicken to yip in response. ]

[Oh he's...truly asleep, isn't he? Alucard sighs softly, giving Trevor a gentle pat on the head before he turns his attention to Elisabeta.]

It's okay. Dad's just tired, as are we all. Finish your breakfast and then we'll get ready to go.

[With that, Trevor gets a kiss placed on the top of his head.]

You need your rest too.

Mrmm. Thanks eggs.

[ That's about as responsive as Trevor's likely to be right now, honestly.

Elisabeta is excited to go out, even (especially) as a pup. She does briefly change into a toddler shape, sticking her arms out so that she can have a coat put onto her (Grandma Radio gets upset if she doesn't remember her coat!), and just continues to attempt to make howling noises constantly throughout until she's a dog once more and can howl properly again.

She charges in when she sees other dogs, howling and yipping and attempting to roughhouse with dogs significantly larger than her only to get blown off. Some of them make noises back, which is delightful, and some of them play with her. It takes about an hour for the fun to wear her out entirely.

Which, of course, she announces by walking over to Alucard, yawning, and then falling asleep with there, on his feet. ]

[Alucard gets Trevor tucked into bed first. That's the second most important thing after making sure the little wolf has on her coat, and Alucard's careful to make sure Trevor is warm and has something to snug onto. Sypha's pillow, as it turns out.

The car's windows remain open in hope that sticking one's head out might quell the howling. Alucard isn't surprised when the attempt fails, but he's so, so pleased that the moment they enter the dog park, all the energy gets redistributed. Watching his tiny dog child romp with other dogs is a new level of stupidly cute, especially when the other dogs go with it.

He talks to a few of the owners. Lies about ages to suit how Elisabeta looks as a pup, and oh, when she walks over and sleeps on his feet? That's the very best thing of all.

She's scooped up in a moment, and carried back to the car. She's buckled in as best a sleeping pup can be, and Alucard drives back with a sense of victory. He carries her out of the car just as gently, and then?

Then he goes right to bed. Pup and all. Ready to sleep for a million years.]

[ The way you can tell that Trevor is exhausted? He doesn't even try to clean up the plate and cup before letting himself be led to bed.

He is, predictably, firmly attached to the pillow when Alucard returns. He's still a light sleeper, even now, so he stirs as Alucard enters. ]

Blessed silence. [ He looks up blearily. ] It worked, then?

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cryptsleeper - 2019-11-29 20:41 (UTC) - Expand