[for whatever this demands of Trevor, in the end. He's already lost
so much of his family, and Alucard knows that loss far too keenly. He
takes a bite of the dried meat and chews, knowing that the dhampir is about
to launch into a long brooding session.]
There's a more comfortable nook around the corner. I'll be there for a bit.
[If he's needed. Or if Trevor doesn't want to brood alone.]
[ Look he has two moods, brooding and horny but guilty about it. ]
It’s the way things are. Nothing to be done. I’m going to go antagonise the speaker.
[ He shouldn’t. If nothing else he knows that she and her family were the first people in a long time to show Alucard any kindness. But also? It’s fun. It’s fun and she’s a lot less pretty when she’s being irritated with him.
And maybe, just maybe, he still wants one of them to give up so they don’t have to go through with this. ]
[Sypha is a woman of patience within reason. Alucard thinks the
situation has long since exhausted that patience, but he says nothing of
the sort. He instead goes to do exactly as intended, and he flops down on
a well worn sofa a few rows over. It has a little side table beside it, and
the fabric is thread bare. It has been that way for as long as he can
remember, and this? This was his little corner. All the alchemy and
medical books met here, and he cold take everything he needed. There were
once forts built of books around this sofa.
Aluard lies down, mushing his face into the cushions. He breathes in the
must and the old book smell, and then sleep claims him.
[ Sypha doesn’t give up, of course. It’s difficult to come up with anything to really get to her, beyond her inability to beat him in a fight. They’re both of them better informed than him on most topics. And the things he knows that she doesn’t? She’s far too intent on getting him to tell her them to be properly antagonised. It’s only keeping knowledge from her that really works.
Trevor’s coat is over Alucard when he stirs. He sits on the floor near the sofa, thumbing through a book. There’s more dried meat on the table, as well at a cup of particularly foul-smelling tea. ]
[Alucard stirs a few times in his sleep, but that's just to tug blankets around him again. Other than that? He sleeps very still, his breath shallow to the point where it could be dangerous. But no, that? That's just a way to make people think they're looking at a dead man, letting him be rather than harassing him.
When he wakes, it is all at once. He sits up and....oh. Trevor's coat. That's a kind gesture, although he doesn't utter those words out loud. Instead his eyes go to the table, then the tea (he doesn't want to know what's in it), then to Trevor himself.]
[ The book he’s going through is- a little grim. Which is to say that it’s a history book, one detailing places that are and are not safe for mages. A collection of men and women tortured and executed for trying to help their fellow man. It’s a bit of a shock, when Leon had always regarded humanity so highly. ]
She wants you to drink the tea. Something about metal. She says her people use it for blood loss.
[...Iron, he means. Which might go a little way to explaining the red colour. Less so the smell. ]
[ He looks down at the book, not quite taking in the words anymore. They don't really seem real. The people that Leon dedicated himself to protecting couldn't be just as bad as the things he's protecting them from. ]
There's sunlight at the estate, during the day. But it's not real sun. It's magical. We won't get any advantage from it. No time is really better than any other.
She is. [ A pause. ] I waited until she was asleep to leave.
[ She hates him and he hates her, but she also hates being alone and he gets it. ]
Just before dawn. The night creatures will be resisting him, too. But if we win, they might take the opportunity to strike us before we can recover to take the gate for their masters. If we can win at dawn - the real dawn - then we'll have until dusk to make sure they can't do that.
She's in the big leather chair with the dragons carved into the armrests. All curled up like an animal. It's [ HEART-STOPPINGLY ADORABLE. ] fucking hilarious.
[ He curls up himself, trying to imitate it, but he doesn't get quite as tiny and perfect as Sypha does. ]
The two of you are human. He'll spare you if you ask him to.
That's the least comfortable chair here. [His father loved that chair, his mother hated it, Alucard agreed with mom. But good. She's resting, and not on the floor.
Alucard does laugh a little at Trevor's attempt to imitate Sypha's state, but then? Then he sobers up terribly.]
[ He sighs at that. Sypha will assume he's trying to get them to stop. She knows better than Alucard does that things like him aren't trustworthy. He looks about, then tries clumsily to change the topic. ]
[ That changes the stakes here, doesn’t it? He’s asking Alucard to give up his last connection to his family to survive. Sypha will lose her means to protect people, but she’ll also lose the things that she needs to protect them from. He thought he was asking the most of her.
...whatever happens at dawn, one of them loses all they have left of the people they love. ]
I was too young to remember meeting them. My sisters just said that they were clever. Father never talked about them. I know- I know they helped to make us like this. [ Making him and his siblings into Dhampir, he means. ] And that without that, we'd have had to die.
If they'd have wanted magic to stay, then I owe them it.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I'm sorry.
[for whatever this demands of Trevor, in the end. He's already lost so much of his family, and Alucard knows that loss far too keenly. He takes a bite of the dried meat and chews, knowing that the dhampir is about to launch into a long brooding session.]
There's a more comfortable nook around the corner. I'll be there for a bit.
[If he's needed. Or if Trevor doesn't want to brood alone.]
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It’s the way things are. Nothing to be done. I’m going to go antagonise the speaker.
[ He shouldn’t. If nothing else he knows that she and her family were the first people in a long time to show Alucard any kindness. But also? It’s fun. It’s fun and she’s a lot less pretty when she’s being irritated with him.
And maybe, just maybe, he still wants one of them to give up so they don’t have to go through with this. ]
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Please do that within reason.
[Sypha is a woman of patience within reason. Alucard thinks the situation has long since exhausted that patience, but he says nothing of the sort. He instead goes to do exactly as intended, and he flops down on a well worn sofa a few rows over. It has a little side table beside it, and the fabric is thread bare. It has been that way for as long as he can remember, and this? This was his little corner. All the alchemy and medical books met here, and he cold take everything he needed. There were once forts built of books around this sofa.
Aluard lies down, mushing his face into the cushions. He breathes in the must and the old book smell, and then sleep claims him.
Dreams do not come. That? That is a blessing.]
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Trevor’s coat is over Alucard when he stirs. He sits on the floor near the sofa, thumbing through a book. There’s more dried meat on the table, as well at a cup of particularly foul-smelling tea. ]
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When he wakes, it is all at once. He sits up and....oh. Trevor's coat. That's a kind gesture, although he doesn't utter those words out loud. Instead his eyes go to the table, then the tea (he doesn't want to know what's in it), then to Trevor himself.]
How long have I slept?
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[ The book he’s going through is- a little grim. Which is to say that it’s a history book, one detailing places that are and are not safe for mages. A collection of men and women tortured and executed for trying to help their fellow man. It’s a bit of a shock, when Leon had always regarded humanity so highly. ]
She wants you to drink the tea. Something about metal. She says her people use it for blood loss.
[...Iron, he means. Which might go a little way to explaining the red colour. Less so the smell. ]
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[Alucard sits up slowly, aware that he has still lost blood. His eyes go to the cover of the book Trevor is reading, and goodness. Of all the books.
His eyes go back to the tea, and Alucard shakes his head.]
It smells foul. I take it annoying her didn't go well?
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[ There’s the main ingredient. Fermented goat blood. ]
Any better? [ He kind of wants to ask if it hurts. He’s just not sure what he’d do with either answer. ]
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[Hell no. He knows better than to drink blood. Blood sausage is one thing but this? This is probably full of bacteria.]
A bit, yes. I'll be fine come morning.
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[ He looks down at the book, not quite taking in the words anymore. They don't really seem real. The people that Leon dedicated himself to protecting couldn't be just as bad as the things he's protecting them from. ]
There's sunlight at the estate, during the day. But it's not real sun. It's magical. We won't get any advantage from it. No time is really better than any other.
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[He's confident, but that's because there's no other option. He's ready or they die. Easy as that.]
You know the place better than we do. We'll follow your lead on when to begin.
[Alucard sits up a little bit more, and he grabs the dried meat. He needs to keep eating, and this is actually pretty good as far as rations go.]
Is Sypha asleep?
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[ She hates him and he hates her, but she also hates being alone and he gets it. ]
Just before dawn. The night creatures will be resisting him, too. But if we win, they might take the opportunity to strike us before we can recover to take the gate for their masters. If we can win at dawn - the real dawn - then we'll have until dusk to make sure they can't do that.
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[It seems worth clarifying.
Quietly, Alucard considers all of this. Then he nods.]
We'll do that then. Sypha's people probably already know the best defenses.
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[ He curls up himself, trying to imitate it, but he doesn't get quite as tiny and perfect as Sypha does. ]
The two of you are human. He'll spare you if you ask him to.
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Alucard does laugh a little at Trevor's attempt to imitate Sypha's state, but then? Then he sobers up terribly.]
Why would we want that?
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[ But it's a serious topic, not one for laughing at Sypha. ]
If this turns out to be impossible. There's no reason for you both to die if we fail.
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[ He'd thought this would be an easier sell. Just don't die. Humans are stubborn. ]
I'm not saying we shouldn't try. But if anything happens to me, there's no need for the two of you to die there.
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[Different? Complicated? Alucard trails off, and he simply sighs.]
Talk to Sypha about it. I think that if I go forward with anything or not should be my choice and mine alone.
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[ He sighs at that. Sypha will assume he's trying to get them to stop. She knows better than Alucard does that things like him aren't trustworthy. He looks about, then tries clumsily to change the topic. ]
What is magic, for you?
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[It's a response drenched in sentiment, and Alucard's eyes move to the whole Hold around them. His fingers curl against the fabric of the sofa.]
It helps me defend myself, but for the decade that I've been traveling Wallachia's countryside? Magic has been the only tether to home and my parents.
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[ That changes the stakes here, doesn’t it? He’s asking Alucard to give up his last connection to his family to survive. Sypha will lose her means to protect people, but she’ll also lose the things that she needs to protect them from. He thought he was asking the most of her.
...whatever happens at dawn, one of them loses all they have left of the people they love. ]
What were they like?
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[Alucard's heart leaps into his mouth, blocking his ability to continue. There is only pained silence in response to Trevor's question.
Out of instinct, Alucard wants to curl up. He doesn't, and he knows he can't trail off either. After a deep breath, he just manages:]
wonderful. And they cared so much.
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I was too young to remember meeting them. My sisters just said that they were clever. Father never talked about them. I know- I know they helped to make us like this. [ Making him and his siblings into Dhampir, he means. ] And that without that, we'd have had to die.
If they'd have wanted magic to stay, then I owe them it.
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[That's the version of the truth Alucard is sticking with. It's easier to deal with.]
Can we please talk about something else?
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