Catch All

[cryptsleeper]

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[cryptsleeper]

Then you answer my questions.

[HE AIN'T SCARED OF NO BEAR.

Alucard only stares up at the bear with a frown. SON OF DRACULA, TRY AGAIN.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Well shit.

He doesn’t really have a response to that, because he did kind of make a vow of his own that Alucard would be safe so long as he did as he was told. And he’s not breaking any rules right now, just saying that he might.

This really is just like the speaker all over again. He drops down to all fours and stalks past Alucard toward the ruins of the house. ]

I have always been like this. One day each month, I am human. The human was small and mostly hairless and has grown to correct this.

[cryptsleeper]

[One could say they're smarter than your average bear.

Alucard falls in line, following after Trevor without missing a beat.]

I see. So he's matured to adulthood over the years. [Years that Alucard has to guess roughly align with the destruction of the state.]

What are the details of the curse, as you understand them?

[miraclewhip]

I exist. Vows made to me must be kept. The roses will not allow the innocent to be harmed where they grow.

[ That's- really basically it, so far as he understands. ]

Perhaps something would happen to people who tried to work this land without my leave. I wouldn't know.

[cryptsleeper]

[Well, that explains the mechanism of how his mother was saved.

Alucard nods quietly.]

Would the human on the new moon perhaps know something?

[miraclewhip]

[ He shakes his head, heading for a part of the more ruined side of the estate. The place he moves to was probably a large fireplace once, but it clearly hasn't had that use in a decade at least. It's a den now, packed with furs over layers of earth to keep it insulated, the chimney filled up with clay. ]

I doubt it. I don't think he knows anything I don't.

[cryptsleeper]

Okay.

[Alucard will ask anyway. The worst that he can do is fail.]

I brought a selection of books from my father's library in an attempt to find something that will help.

[e walks over to the old fireplace, running a hand over the old and worn mantle.]

I was saving some of the animal furs from the game you've brought back. Would you like me to treat them so you have additional furs?

[miraclewhip]

You don't need to- Ugh. Do what you wish.

[ He should have figured out some form of entertainment beyond 'read to stone waifu', shouldn't he? Then this wouldn't be happening. He reaches out a paw, making a dismissive gesture. ]

This is all I need. Keep them for yourself.

[cryptsleeper]

[Yeah Trevor, you fucked up. And these books are already being read to stone wife so shut up.

Alucard sighs, aware that he's now hit a brick wall.]

Very well.

[He then pauses, then remembers he has forgotten to share something important.]

From time to time, I may not be human. I can be a bat, or--

[Awooo, buddy. There's a wolf in front of you now. The wolf makes a soft huff then it turns back into a person.]

Just so that you know there has been no trespasser.

[miraclewhip]

[ The wolf gets him to pay attention, at least. He raises his head, moving forward and sniffing, then falls back. ]

I understand. I won't hunt anything that smells like you.

[ And then, after a long moment, he snorts. ]

Adrian?

[cryptsleeper]

[Go ahead and sniff him. Alucard smells like a cold thing, mixed with something woodsier and a faint undertone of blood.]

Yes, Bearmont?

[miraclewhip]

Do what you like, but don't let any of this keep you from keeping your word. That's what the speaker did.

[ Another snort, this one lighter. Almost indicating a joke. ]

Doubt I could find anyone to marry a vampire rock.

[cryptsleeper]

I am working to develop a set routine so that I cannot. And if you have woodworking tools, I can build her a wheeled platform so that Sypha can move about with ease.

[Yeah, well, note a joke. Alucard looks very serious at that joke.]

At that point, my father would find some way to undo the matter. Probably violently. I don't intend to let that happen.

[miraclewhip]

So you mean that you don't intend to escape.

[ If he cares that Alucard doesn't like his joke, it doesn't show. He chuckles, curling up in his den. ]

Well bluffed. You had me fooled.

[cryptsleeper]

Talk to me in a year. I may have a different opinion.

[Again, not a joke. Said with too much seriousness.]

I'll let you rest. Sleep well.

[miraclewhip]

[ The bear continues to make himself scarce for the next fortnight. He can be found in his garden, preparing for spring, and in his den but he doesn't go seek out Alucard for any reason and tries to keep to himself. Food still arrives at Alucard's door - deer, rabbits, the occasional birds or boar. Firewood, too.

When the blizzard begins, there's suddenly a lot more of the latter. More vegetables, in order to make some use of plants that the snow is certain to kill off.

Until things stop arriving, around the fourth day of the snow. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard makes the wheeled platform for Sypha first. She has four small wheels, a support in the back, and strong rope so she can be pulled with ease. She goes from bedroom to library to back, and those are the rooms Alucard is in most days.

He cooks. Leaves some of that cooked food out for the bear, sometimes walking it over to the den when he can and then---

--the snows begin. Alucard knows a bear is warm, but then he realizes how close it is to the new moon. Then there's nothing at the door on the first night and--]

I'm going out.

[He says it to no one, and he takes his wolf form. It's warmer. Easier to deal with the snow.

The den is the first place he goes.]

[miraclewhip]

[ The bear is not there.

But something is. A human with roses growing through his skin on one side, large and hirsute and curled into a tight ball and half-frozen. He's breathing, but he's not responsive. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[The wolf sniffs the air.

Smells bear-ish, like how Alucard smells in wolf form versus not. The fur note is an undercurrent now, and the wolf? The wolf approaches the human carefully. Nudges at his side, making a soft whimpering noise.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Despite the layer of frost that Alucard's nose pushes away, his skin is hot to the touch in a way that fever couldn't account for. Almost painfully so. He doesn't stir, that takes too much energy, but a raspy voice comes from somewhere behind a mess of long, matted, knotted hair. ]

Go back to your quarters. This'll- this is good. You'll both be free to leave soon.

[cryptsleeper]

[There's a huff. Then a louder whine as the wolf's paws start to try and dig the man out of the snow.

Free isn't fair to the man. Dying cold and alone is no fair death to anyone.]

[miraclewhip]

You're going to freeze. Just go. I want this.

[ It's hard to see with the frozen mess of hair obscuring his face, but he's frowning. This is annoying. Talking is hard. Standing to push the wolf way is impossible right now. He's so close, so close to being rid of this curse, and he can't do it because the cold makes it impossible to be rid of this wolf. Ugh. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[That gets a louder whine. Unhappy and distressed, nose now brushing over Trevor's face. Warm(ish) breath against all that hair.]

Rrrrf.

[miraclewhip]

Why?

[ That's a little more pained. This isn't fair, he almost managed. He could have just slept and never woken up. It would have been as painless as anything like this could be.

He tries to move his arm, bringing it maybe an inch closer to the wolf. ]

What do you want?

[cryptsleeper]

[...Ugh, words can't happen as a wolf. Alucard sighs, giving up and resuming his human form.]

Resolution. Real resolution, not a random man dying a cold, lonely death in the middle of the snow.