[The jars at least catch his attention. He can distract himself with them, and he's careful when he examines the first of them to determine it's contents. And so on down the line.]
The opportunity passed. There will be others, I'm sure.
[One of the jars? That's very familiar. He opens it slowly.]
The two who date back to my own ancestor. Are they aware I'm here?
[ He's glad to be away from the FIRE topic, but this is also a bad topic. He doesn't like having his family being so angry with him. It's a bad feeling. ]
...do you want me to take you back? I know it won't mean the agreement isn't broken, but- I can.
[ He was kind of assuming that he'd be able to keep the human, at least for a while. Until he was strong enough to go. But if he doesn't like this and wants to be on fire, then he doesn't like this and wants to be on fire. ]
[Inevitably. Alucard sighs, and for a few moments, ignores Trevor entirely in favor of applying the salve to the soles of his feet. He hisses and twitches at the work, but it doesn't matter. He has to work through it.]
[ He watches. And he wants to reach out, to put a hand on Alucard's back or squeeze at his shoulder or offer some kind of comfort. But he's learned that he flinches away from contact and that that makes it worse. ]
I've never had a husband of my own before. And you're very handsome.
[ ...he's not bathed in at least three weeks and he's somewhat burned. Trevor's taste might be questionable. ]
[ He tilts his head. It's not like he's a stranger to making deals, but this is the wrong way around. Being in a cage is usually the price paid, not something that one has to pay for. ]
I just want you to be here for a little while. With me.
[Alucard's eyes narrow. It sounds far too unlikely in his estimation, but he's in such a bad position. Not only does the faerie control access, Alucard is still recovering. Will be recovering for a time.]
He does touch Alucard this time, hands reaching out before his mind quite catches up with them. They're on Alucard's shoulders, resting there lightly. He catches himself before he pulls Alucard against him, though, and just stays there a little awkwardly. ]
A month. [ He's delighted??? ] If you want for anything-
[A month will see the burn on his hand taken care of entirely. His feet will need longer, but they'll be better off. It's strategic and
and the faerie is touching him, so he goes stiff and so very uncomfortable. The look he gives Trevor is a muted....something. Specifics unclear. But he forces himself through it.]
[ He does draw his hands back, at that, and sets about drawing a bath. There is touching involved, though he tries to keep it to a minimum. He isn't at all certain about the idea of Alucard walking on his burned feet yet, and so he insists on carrying him to and from the bath. The bathing, he allows him to do in private. The water is hot and scented using a bag of dried leaves, which is absolutely more effort than Trevor puts into bathing himself. .
Things continue like that for the next few days. He touches Alucard only when necessary, but when he does he's clearly overjoyed to do so. He brings books on a range of subjects for him to read, nearly all of them difficult to find in uncensored form in the outside world (Enid's recommendations for 'good books' tend to be based on controversy). He hunts for meat and forage and tries to feed Alucard slices of plum and pear and tea made from nettles and late-season rosehips. Today he has been staring at Alucard since he returned, which isn't unusual in itself. But there's an intent to it. Maybe- maybe he could just ask first. Maybe that would make touching okay. ]
May I kiss you?
[ He just asks with no sign of self-consciousness. ]
[The bath is so very sobering. Left alone with his thoughts and injuries, Alucard keys into how very terrifying the situation is and how likely it is he'll be here for a long time. A month, the fae had said, but he was the only ferry between Alucard and the world.
Do you even want to go back, Adrian?
It was a question that weighed on him as the days continued. Countering it were the memories of a woman whose husband Alucard had treated, and who paid him well. She insisted that he remain in the house until her husband recovered, and soon she was pressing against Alucard. Taking him into her bed at whim, smirking and calling him a good boy when he did as instructed. He was a thing, treated as a pet with a few additional skills and very little more.
Even the books contributed to it, although they were also...pretty nice to read, all things considered. Uncensored medical texts and observations of the world. Wonderful.
He's finished eating when Trevor asks. The tray is off of his lap. Yet here it is. Alucard had been waiting for the question.]
[ He stops to think about that. He hadn't quite considered that far ahead. How much would be too much to ask? He likes to think he's been behaving himself nicely. He doesn't insist on sharing the bed, instead sleeping as moths upon the walls and ceiling. He only touches when it's necessary or when he gets excited and forgets, but he's only done the latter a few times. ]
I want to kiss your lips.
[ A pause. It's a lot to ask. He knows it's a lot to ask. ]
Is there anything that you want to- be out there? There's nothing there right now.
[ It doesn't occur to him that that might actually be what Alucard wants, to see past the walls of this place. ]
I can put a garden there. You could do your reading out there.
[ ...he's almost more excited about the possibility of making something new for Alucard than he is about the kiss. He's enjoying playing house like this. ]
[ A nice garden. With roses climbing over everything and a little patch of thick, soft grass. Maybe a tree- Alucard would never eat fruit from it but it could have flowers. He could sit under it with the grass and earth cool against his burned feet and read more of those books. If Enid lets them, they can have one of her dogs playing there. And-
-oh. No garden.
He leans in, and the kiss is as light and quick as he promised. His lips are warm and a little cracked and the skin is just slightly dusty, like a butterfly's wing. His smile is wide and bright when he pulls back. ]
I'll take the chair out there first, so you can sit and look around without me carrying you.
[ Look! He's learning! He's trying to minimise touching when it's not been asked for or earned. ]
[It is a very brief kiss. Alucard's own lips are so dry and cracked, like kindling, and that'll be a thing that he carries for the rest of his life. It may be like this for a while yet, and that is a liveable thing.
That Trevor picks up on how discomforting he finds touch is a surprise. It shows on his face.]
[ A kiss. A tiny, quick kiss. But a kiss still. He's still grinning as he stands to pick up the chair, then puts it down for a moment to pay attention to alucard instead. ]
[ He's been nothing but earnest until now, but this feels like a lot even for him. He busies himself with moving the chair as he speaks. It's- maybe a little embarrassing, even for him. ]
This is all new for me. But I want you to be happy.
[ It doesn't take long to take the chair outside. And he doesn't like outside. It's ugly and unfinished. But promises are promises. He heads back toward the bed, crouching by it. ]
Ready?
[ Probably best to make sure that Alucard is warned before he lifts him. ]
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[The jars at least catch his attention. He can distract himself with them, and he's careful when he examines the first of them to determine it's contents. And so on down the line.]
The opportunity passed. There will be others, I'm sure.
[One of the jars? That's very familiar. He opens it slowly.]
The two who date back to my own ancestor. Are they aware I'm here?
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[ He's glad to be away from the FIRE topic, but this is also a bad topic. He doesn't like having his family being so angry with him. It's a bad feeling. ]
...do you want me to take you back? I know it won't mean the agreement isn't broken, but- I can.
[ He was kind of assuming that he'd be able to keep the human, at least for a while. Until he was strong enough to go. But if he doesn't like this and wants to be on fire, then he doesn't like this and wants to be on fire. ]
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[Inevitably. Alucard sighs, and for a few moments, ignores Trevor entirely in favor of applying the salve to the soles of his feet. He hisses and twitches at the work, but it doesn't matter. He has to work through it.]
What do you gain by having me here?
[The ultimate question. What do you want?]
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[ He watches. And he wants to reach out, to put a hand on Alucard's back or squeeze at his shoulder or offer some kind of comfort. But he's learned that he flinches away from contact and that that makes it worse. ]
I've never had a husband of my own before. And you're very handsome.
[ ...he's not bathed in at least three weeks and he's somewhat burned. Trevor's taste might be questionable. ]
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[Trying to pin down the deal is the only thing Alucard can think of for right now. The rest he ignores because it's a lie.
God, he should really bathe, shouldn't he?]
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I just want you to be here for a little while. With me.
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We'll start with a month.
[That'll buy him more time and energy.]
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He does touch Alucard this time, hands reaching out before his mind quite catches up with them. They're on Alucard's shoulders, resting there lightly. He catches himself before he pulls Alucard against him, though, and just stays there a little awkwardly. ]
A month. [ He's delighted??? ] If you want for anything-
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and the faerie is touching him, so he goes stiff and so very uncomfortable. The look he gives Trevor is a muted....something. Specifics unclear. But he forces himself through it.]
I think that right now, I just need to bathe.
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Things continue like that for the next few days. He touches Alucard only when necessary, but when he does he's clearly overjoyed to do so. He brings books on a range of subjects for him to read, nearly all of them difficult to find in uncensored form in the outside world (Enid's recommendations for 'good books' tend to be based on controversy). He hunts for meat and forage and tries to feed Alucard slices of plum and pear and tea made from nettles and late-season rosehips. Today he has been staring at Alucard since he returned, which isn't unusual in itself. But there's an intent to it. Maybe- maybe he could just ask first. Maybe that would make touching okay. ]
May I kiss you?
[ He just asks with no sign of self-consciousness. ]
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Do you even want to go back, Adrian?
It was a question that weighed on him as the days continued. Countering it were the memories of a woman whose husband Alucard had treated, and who paid him well. She insisted that he remain in the house until her husband recovered, and soon she was pressing against Alucard. Taking him into her bed at whim, smirking and calling him a good boy when he did as instructed. He was a thing, treated as a pet with a few additional skills and very little more.
Even the books contributed to it, although they were also...pretty nice to read, all things considered. Uncensored medical texts and observations of the world. Wonderful.
He's finished eating when Trevor asks. The tray is off of his lap. Yet here it is. Alucard had been waiting for the question.]
What kind of a kiss?
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I want to kiss your lips.
[ A pause. It's a lot to ask. He knows it's a lot to ask. ]
But only a little. I promise.
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[It's said softly. With more confidence than Alucard really has.]
Could I go outside afterwards?
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[ Important clarification there. He's excited about this. So excited, and it shows. ]
I'd need to carry you. But I can put you down, once you're there. [ Please don't put too much weight on your poor feet again, not-vampire. ]
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[Alucard knows better than to go back into the real world right now. But he's so sick of this room.]
And I understand. That's fair.
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Is there anything that you want to- be out there? There's nothing there right now.
[ It doesn't occur to him that that might actually be what Alucard wants, to see past the walls of this place. ]
I can put a garden there. You could do your reading out there.
[ ...he's almost more excited about the possibility of making something new for Alucard than he is about the kiss. He's enjoying playing house like this. ]
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[This place can't exist as an island in a sea of nothingness. He is genuinely curious, and...
...that's worth the price of a kiss.]
Please.
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-oh. No garden.
He leans in, and the kiss is as light and quick as he promised. His lips are warm and a little cracked and the skin is just slightly dusty, like a butterfly's wing. His smile is wide and bright when he pulls back. ]
I'll take the chair out there first, so you can sit and look around without me carrying you.
[ Look! He's learning! He's trying to minimise touching when it's not been asked for or earned. ]
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That Trevor picks up on how discomforting he finds touch is a surprise. It shows on his face.]
I...thank you. I appreciate that.
[And he does.]
Trevor?
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What is it?
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[There. That's acknowledging effort. That's all he can articulate, but it's very, very much worthwhile to comment on.]
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[ He's been nothing but earnest until now, but this feels like a lot even for him. He busies himself with moving the chair as he speaks. It's- maybe a little embarrassing, even for him. ]
This is all new for me. But I want you to be happy.
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Alucard sighs, wanting to curl up on himself. What does happy look like? He genuinely doesn't know.]
Thank you.
[He mumbles it.]
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Ready?
[ Probably best to make sure that Alucard is warned before he lifts him. ]
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[Alucard doesn't know if he'll see a mirror. Or just the world across. Or something. But he's steady enough for Trevor to lift him.]
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