Catch All

[cryptsleeper]

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[miraclewhip]

Her name is Sypha.

[ The wing he leads Alucard to is the most intact place in the estate. The further they go, the less the walls and furniture have been touched by flames. ]

Animal blood for most of the month, then. Human at new moons. That can be arranged.

[ He reaches a door, and then pauses. ]

I need your leave to go further.

[ He's serious about not entering the space without Alucard's permission. ]

[cryptsleeper]

Sypha.

[He repeats the name softly, like that might give him even a fraction of insight into the speaker. It doesn't, and Alucard falls silent again.]

In truth, I can survive fully without human blood. And prefer it that way.

[It's a detail he wants to be clear about. And then they're at the door, and Alucard's hand not only opens the door, but holds it for the bear.]

Please come in.

[miraclewhip]

Very well. No human donor, then. Only animals.

[ This wing is the part of the estate least touched by the flames and curse, and it looks to have once been a part of the house used for living rather than work or entertaining. The door opens into a kitchen, cleaned recently but clearly not used in years. Beyond it is a hallway which leads to a dining room and a few rooms that look like they might have once belonged to staff.

Up a staircase, the rooms are still spartan in their decoration, but they look more like their owners considered them their own. The statue of the speaker is in one of them, one with rugs worn away in little circles where dogs might have slept in the same spots every night and the floor littered with little piles of books filled with page markers. She's been arranged so that she's by a small desk, a book opened in front of her unblinking eyes and a shawl draped over her shoulders. ]

Use whichever room you like. I'll move her there.

[cryptsleeper]

Thank you.

[It makes that part of life just a little bit easier.

How this place managed to survive feels like a small miracle of it's own, although it isn't a thought Alucard would ever voice. He simply moves over the grounds, noting what he'll have to do first. Clean the kitchen is the most important part. The dining room is not important. Nor are most of the others, until they reach the bedrooms.

He doesn't ask how the bear moved the statue from point A to point B. Alucard accepts that it was done with maybe alarming ease, and then he moves to investigate other rooms.

The one he settles on is one he assumes to be a guest room. There's nothing personal in it, so far as he can tell. Just a bed. A desk. A fireplace.

Alucard lingers in the doorway.]

This wasn't anyone's room, was it?

[miraclewhip]

No. Not that I recall.

[ The bear moves into the room, grabs at the top sheet of the bed and shakes it about, sending dust flying around. Then attempts to put it back.

Local bear has not had to make a bed in a decade, does not quite recall how. ]

Should I bring her here?

[cryptsleeper]

Then it'll do.

[Alucard does wince a little at the bear's attempt to fuss with the bed though, and he darts over to try and help. The most he does is put it back down but...progress.]

Here. Here, I'll do that. I brought sheets and furs with me anyway for extra warmth, you don't need to be concerned about things that require more human shaped motor control.

[miraclewhip]

[ He tilts his head at Alucard, then leaves. From the room Sypha was left in, there's a soft- ]

'scuse me.

[ -and then a scraping of stone, followed by heavy footstepts. Getting the statue through the door is the trickiest part - he barely fits through there as it is - and takes a few attempts, but eventually he manages it without knocking off any of her fingers. He puts her down, rearranging her shawl. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[When Trevor walks in, Alucard is in the middle of dealing with the sheets. The dust has been shaken off, and atop the sheets now are a few of the furs from Alucard's own bed. He knows this estate will have none of his well loved luxuries, like that of a heated home, so he has come prepared. Or at least trying to be prepared.

He's quiet as he lets Trevor finish the work. But once he's done, Alucard clears his throat.]

What should I call you?

[miraclewhip]

I-

[ He falls silent for a moment, busying himself with the speaker's shawl. His voice is low when he speaks. Names are difficult. ]

-I am the Belmont Curse.

[ It's spoken with a level of drama that probably isn't appropriate for someone who recently said 'excuse me' for moving a statue and failed at making a bed. ]

[cryptsleeper]

I am absolutely not calling you that.

[Alucard looks unimpressed. He grew up with Actual Drama Queen Dracula as a dad. Try again Trevor.]

Bearmont will be a viable option if you don't give me something more concise.

[miraclewhip]

[ Wow rude. ]

I don't remember-

[ That starts off as a growl, builds into a roar, and then- you know what? Fine. Belmont is fine. He brings his arms in, twisting his head to the side and huffing. ]

Very well.

[cryptsleeper]

[I don't remember.

That's important. Alucard doesn't say more, but he can note that for the future.

For now, he simply nods. Walks over to Sypha the statue and helps with the shawl.]

Bearmont and Sypha it shall be.

[miraclewhip]

[ He lets go of the shawl, letting Alucard take over and watching. It's- good. This is good. He'll do. However one is meant to demonstrate true love to someone who can't return it, he just has to trust that the vampire will find a way.

This is fine. ]

Do you have any other questions?

[cryptsleeper]

For now? No. Nothing besides what is to be done about dinner.

[miraclewhip]

I can bring food for you.

[ He drops onto all fours, walking out of the room. ] You will need to prepare it yourself I haven't cooked in some time.

[cryptsleeper]

I can cook.

[Alucard follows after the bear though.]

I'll get the doors for you.

[miraclewhip]

Mm.

[ It would probably be a thanks, if bears had manners. He pauses, letting Alucard go first so he can get to doors. ]

Go where you please, so long as you remain on the grounds and return to her every night before you sleep.

[cryptsleeper]

Are there boundary markers for the grounds?

[Alucard does move ahead first. He's a little slow, not having the layout down at all, but he's managing well enough.]

[miraclewhip]

Where the roses stop growing.

[ He lets Alucard lead, in no particular hurry. ]

You'll know if you go too far. If you return quickly, nothing ill should come of it.

[cryptsleeper]

I'll walk the grounds in full tomorrow so I know where all the lines are.

[They reach the last door, and at it, Alucard pauses.]

...Thank you. I understand you did this for your own gain, but my mother wouldn't live otherwise. I am grateful.

[miraclewhip]

You'd be the only one in Wallachia capable of gratitude, then.

[ That would be a rude bear way of saying you're welcome. He leaves with a growl, leaving Alucard alone with Sypha. A deer corpse appears by the kitchen door a few hours later, along with a basket of winter vegetables.

The source of the vegetables, as it turns out, is the estate's gardens. They're vast and, if not beautiful then certainly functional and more carefully maintained than anything inside the house. All vegetables, barely any of the roses at all.

The bear makes itself scarce when Alucard moves around the grounds. As he said, the roses are dotted around as far as the belmont grounds stretch. Where they stop, Alucard's hands and feet grow colder and heavier.

There are two rabbits at the kitchen door when he returns, and the basket has been filled with vegetables again. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[So it goes.

Alucard spends the first week learning the estate grounds. The boundary lines are the most important, because they're the ones that will leave nothing but stone behind. Then he learns his wing of the estate proper, and then explores everything else. It's a careful, methodical thing that he breaks up with doing as he is asked: talking to Sypha as if she is still flesh. Reading out loud whatever book he selects, although for now most of them seem to be on architecture. Simply being present.

With all of that is the bear's delivery of food. The venison, the rabbit, even the vegetables. They're taken care of with deep care. The furs are set aside to try and treat if they are able. Their blood is taken. Things are cooked.

He leaves some of the meat outside of the doors. For the bear. Because Alucard is sure that he must eat as well.

By the end of the week, Alucard has gotten the pattern of life down. The next part, the next part is where struggles begin. The first of which involves finding the bear late one morning in the garden.]

Bearmont?

[Alucard's tone is polite and cautious.]

[miraclewhip]

[ He likes his garden. What started out as something necessary to maintain some shred of humanity has long become something of a hobby. It makes winter a miserable time, but spring will be coming in a month or so, and there's work to be done to prepare.

He stops digging (with his paws, of course, rather than a shovel) and looks up, ears twitching as he tilts his head. ]

Is there something you need?

[cryptsleeper]

Well.

[Alucard has a book in his arms. But his focus is on the bear. There's no attempt to step forward, as Alucard knows he's about to ask something delicate.]

I would like to start to work on my half of our agreement. About curse breaking. But that requires me to ask painful questions.

[miraclewhip]

I didn’t ask this of you.

[ It’s dismissive. He shakes mud from his paws. ]

You just need to stay here, nothing more. The curse will attend to itself.