[The sad truth of the matter is, if SOMEONE hadn't helped, other more vampiric someones would have, and there would have been even less survivors than there are.]
It takes me about half a day to walk it. You could likely cover the distance much faster with four legs.
[Or wings or vaporous mist or whatever other forms he has.]
Why would it? So long as you don't draw attention to yourself on the way in, it shouldn't.
[Hector has a little cabin on the side of a mountain, and he's kept a pretty low profile since the war ended. There are nothing more than vague rumors about him in the nearest village, and the humans are too scared and weak to come up and substantiate them.]
[Hector's cheeks go a little red, and he busies himself dicing up the herbs to toss into the mixture. He doesn't want Alucard getting any ideas about him being close to the castle on purpose.]
You and your hunters are the ones who parked the castle where it is. It just so happened to be near of the safe houses I found during my travels.
[He gets the dill and mint sprigs cut into a small, fragrant green pile to stir into the sauce.]
I'm not helpless. I can take care of myself.
[Don't you dare say a word about how he was a damsel in distress in Carmilla's dungeons for a few months, he absolutely does not want to hear it.]
[Hector will bet good money Alucard was egging her on with hearts in his eyes the whole time.]
And yes. I was mostly settled by the time your father found me. I wandered in my youth, after I left home.
[That year between meeting Dracula and being called to serve him, he’d stayed in one place so Dracula would know where to find him. Of course, he’d been hoping for an invitation to come study in Dracula’s great library, not fight his war, but he had been so eager to do anything the vampire had asked him.]
[Hector pushes the bowl of freshly mixed tzaziki toward Alucard.]
Try that. If the flavor is good, we can set it to chill.
[He's stalling. It would be easier to talk about his childhood if Alucard was back in his wolf form, but he'll probably have questions. He's been left by himself here and probably needs to take whatever conversation he can get.]
I was too young to really be on my own, when I started out, but I burned down my house and had nowhere else to go. There were animals...well, they looked like animals, that guided me north.
[Ever well, himself, Alucard reaches into a nearby drawer and takes out a clean spoon. He dips it in, tastes, and then gives a long moment's consideration. Then with a nod, passes the bowl over towards Hector.]
I'm happy with it, but you should try as well. You're the expert.
[He says that without even a hint of irony.
As Hector starts, Alucard settles down on one of the stools that's in the kitchen.]
[Hector rolls his eyes —suck up — but samples it and declares it ‘fine’. Back into the ice box it goes.
He walks from the ice box to the stools, but doesn’t take a seat.]
Yes, they came in the forms that the villagers denounced as ‘witches’ familiars’— black cats and ravens and rats and horned toads. We were not very popular with the locals, as you can imagine. I could hear them, or at least sense what they chose to convey. They lead me to places where I could learn more about my powers, and they kept me safe.
[He is pacing the length of the kitchen by this point.]
They were spirits of demons possessing the animals, hoping they could cultivate my power to the point where I could give them bodies of their own.
[He isn’t regretful about it. It is just a fact. It’s a time he recalls more fondly than his youth, at least.]
[Alucard rests his chin in one of his hands, watching Hector move back and forth. He's quiet. He's always quiet when he gets an answer to this question.]
Smart demons, although it's a wonder that the villagers did nothing else to you other than denounce the things as familiars.
It’s no wonder. They were afraid. Humans claim to be more logical and reasonable than beasts, but they operate on instinct. They’ll mob an innocent that bears them no ill-will, but against someone with real power, they sense the threat and hesitate. I never stayed any place for very long in those days, and any villager that grew braver than spitting at me or casting stones when I passed...my friends intervened.
[He continues stalking back and forth through the kitchen. That time spent traveling shaped his view of humanity, that is certain.]
I saw much of this section of the world. The natural world is incredible- endlessly diverse, constantly evolving to better survive. People...they are the same everywhere.
[He shrugs, unsure of what to offer up to sate the clear hunger on Alucard’s face.]
I mostly studied whatever magic or physical sciences I could. It was not a sight-seeing tour.
[Alucard pauses. A part of him wants to argue Hector's point about humans being more logical and reasonable than beasts, but that isn't the point of this discussion. He asked and said he'd listen. Not debate human nature.
The idea of demons invading villages though? That does give him some pause.]
So you were mostly in the mountains. Did you ever venture towards the east and the land the Turks call their home?
[As a point of clarification there:] They and the Arabic scholars beyond have a far better understanding of physical sciences than those in the west.
That's true. They are often their own microbiomes, and I'm sure that appeals to your biologist nature.
[He's a necromancer of course, but that's the flip side of studying life science isn't it? Alucard knows that, and perhaps in another time and place, Hector's kinder nature could win out and let him live a more peaceful life.]
A mistake I've been accused of making more than once. My apologies.
Yes. I think if I were to build myself a lab, it would be on an island.
[He is a biologist, really. Death is a part of life, and you can't truly study one without the other. If Hector could ever be left to his own devices, he would lose himself in his studies and be a threat to precisely no one. But the likelihood of that happening is so tiny as to be unimaginable.]
It is fine. I'd rather someone assume I am smarter than I am than dumber.
[He means that as a compliment, truly. Not because Hector is a safer presence for all if he's away from humanity, but because he already knows how to forage and take care of his needs from that perspective.]
You're not dumb at all.
[Just totally lacking STREET SMARTS. /john mulaney voice]
[Hector likes him, and presumably, since he hasn't tried to burn Hector at the stake, Alucard at least has a higher opinion of him than the majority of people do.]
Sure, you can be an honorary part-time dog.
[If Hector can get more pets in, then he's willing to roll with it.]
[There's some kind of joke to be made about being only half a people, but Alucard lets it slide. He simply nods, satisfied, even if they've gotten far away from the actual topic.]
I bow to your understanding of canine taxonomy.
[Which brings Alucard to an obvious point.]
You enjoy my presence more when I'm wolf shaped, don't you?
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How far is it?
[But more importantly:] Does it risk your safety if I come?
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It takes me about half a day to walk it. You could likely cover the distance much faster with four legs.
[Or wings or vaporous mist or whatever other forms he has.]
Why would it? So long as you don't draw attention to yourself on the way in, it shouldn't.
[Hector has a little cabin on the side of a mountain, and he's kept a pretty low profile since the war ended. There are nothing more than vague rumors about him in the nearest village, and the humans are too scared and weak to come up and substantiate them.]
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I...don't know why I thought you'd be further away, but I am surprised.
[As for the other question, Alucard gives a soft little hum of consideration.]
I may not, but people still know how to track and the like. I'd regret making you a target if all I did was come visit and pet your dog.
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You and your hunters are the ones who parked the castle where it is. It just so happened to be near of the safe houses I found during my travels.
[He gets the dill and mint sprigs cut into a small, fragrant green pile to stir into the sauce.]
I'm not helpless. I can take care of myself.
[
Don't you dare say a word about how he was a damsel in distress in Carmilla's dungeons for a few months, he absolutely does not want to hear it.]no subject
[Important clarification!!!]
But I do wonder, were those travels before you met my father?
[Alucard very, very politely does not reply to that last statement. Because he is a gentleman who does not pick low hanging fruit.]
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[Hector will bet good money Alucard was egging her on with hearts in his eyes the whole time.]
And yes. I was mostly settled by the time your father found me. I wandered in my youth, after I left home.
[That year between meeting Dracula and being called to serve him, he’d stayed in one place so Dracula would know where to find him. Of course, he’d been hoping for an invitation to come study in Dracula’s great library, not fight his war, but he had been so eager to do anything the vampire had asked him.]
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[He had heart eyes before she PUT IT WHERE SHE PUT IT. Now it's just the best way to annoy Sypha.
More importantly, well, there's Hector's homesteading choices.]
Tell me about your travels? Please.
[It's a question he's asked for so much of his life. To his father. To Trevor and Sypha. And now to Hector.]
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Try that. If the flavor is good, we can set it to chill.
[He's stalling. It would be easier to talk about his childhood if Alucard was back in his wolf form, but he'll probably have questions. He's been left by himself here and probably needs to take whatever conversation he can get.]
I was too young to really be on my own, when I started out, but I burned down my house and had nowhere else to go. There were animals...well, they looked like animals, that guided me north.
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I'm happy with it, but you should try as well. You're the expert.
[He says that without even a hint of irony.
As Hector starts, Alucard settles down on one of the stools that's in the kitchen.]
They only looked like animals?
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He walks from the ice box to the stools, but doesn’t take a seat.]
Yes, they came in the forms that the villagers denounced as ‘witches’ familiars’— black cats and ravens and rats and horned toads. We were not very popular with the locals, as you can imagine. I could hear them, or at least sense what they chose to convey. They lead me to places where I could learn more about my powers, and they kept me safe.
[He is pacing the length of the kitchen by this point.]
They were spirits of demons possessing the animals, hoping they could cultivate my power to the point where I could give them bodies of their own.
[He isn’t regretful about it. It is just a fact. It’s a time he recalls more fondly than his youth, at least.]
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Smart demons, although it's a wonder that the villagers did nothing else to you other than denounce the things as familiars.
[It's luck. Very good luck.]
What did you do?
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[He continues stalking back and forth through the kitchen. That time spent traveling shaped his view of humanity, that is certain.]
I saw much of this section of the world. The natural world is incredible- endlessly diverse, constantly evolving to better survive. People...they are the same everywhere.
[He shrugs, unsure of what to offer up to sate the clear hunger on Alucard’s face.]
I mostly studied whatever magic or physical sciences I could. It was not a sight-seeing tour.
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The idea of demons invading villages though? That does give him some pause.]
So you were mostly in the mountains. Did you ever venture towards the east and the land the Turks call their home?
[As a point of clarification there:] They and the Arabic scholars beyond have a far better understanding of physical sciences than those in the west.
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[And if you steered away from the ones used as waypoints for sailors, usually less populated.]
You have to remember, we aren’t all polyglots. I avoided lands where my Greek or Romanian wouldn’t serve.
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[He's a necromancer of course, but that's the flip side of studying life science isn't it? Alucard knows that, and perhaps in another time and place, Hector's kinder nature could win out and let him live a more peaceful life.]
A mistake I've been accused of making more than once. My apologies.
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[He is a biologist, really. Death is a part of life, and you can't truly study one without the other. If Hector could ever be left to his own devices, he would lose himself in his studies and be a threat to precisely no one. But the likelihood of that happening is so tiny as to be unimaginable.]
It is fine. I'd rather someone assume I am smarter than I am than dumber.
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[He means that as a compliment, truly. Not because Hector is a safer presence for all if he's away from humanity, but because he already knows how to forage and take care of his needs from that perspective.]
You're not dumb at all.
[Just totally lacking STREET SMARTS. /john mulaney voice]
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Well, that is arguable. I did end up following two separate vampires’ evil plots.
[And you know what they say. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...]
But I appreciate the thought all the same.
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There's a pointed difference between intellectual intelligence and inter-personal intelligence.
[OKAY MAYBE DON'T BE SO RUDE ALUCARD????]
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You don't say.
[Pot, meet kettle.]
Animals like me, and that is infinitely more valuable to me.
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[Trying to recover. Time to be a fluffy dog, probably.]
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[Hector likes him, and presumably, since he hasn't tried to burn Hector at the stake, Alucard at least has a higher opinion of him than the majority of people do.]
Sure, you can be an honorary part-time dog.
[If Hector can get more pets in, then he's willing to roll with it.]
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I bow to your understanding of canine taxonomy.
[Which brings Alucard to an obvious point.]
You enjoy my presence more when I'm wolf shaped, don't you?
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Your human form is not without its merits.
[He could name some, but vampires and half-vampires are already, typically, vain. They don't need any encouragement.]
But your wolf form is exceptional, and I am not opposed to spending more time with it.
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[Alucard's actually taking that seriously? There's no gloat or smirk to the compliments at the very least.]
If there's nothing left to do for the time being, I can shift back to that form.
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