[There's a long delay between when Alucard closes the door and when
it opens again. Hell, he doesn't even close it all the way - he leaves it
open a crack just in case. He can move faster than either of them to avoid
being locked in. He's fine. He's fine.
It's a mantra. The only words he forces to echo in his head as he applies
the mix of weird Belmont medicine to the burns on his lower body. It's so
hard to keep them going. To let them be the things that stay, rather than
let the shame of everything that's happened take over. You should have
known better. You shouldn't have trusted. You shouldn't have let anyone
just waltz in here. It happened once with your mother and never will
again, don't think you're special.
He finishes. Then sits on the floor for either a minute or an eternity
before returning to the kitchen.
When he does return, there's no real change about him. Just guilty eyes
that refuse to meet Trevor's.]
[ He can do the talking. Probably. He's good at figuring shit out. Just not good at empathising. One out of two required skills, there. ]
Leave her aside for a moment. What would be easiest for you? We stay, and maybe we fuck up again but we try to make it right when we do? Or we go, and come back when you've had more time?
[Hey, he managed emotional intelligence this entire conversation!
That's huge!]
I don't know, Belmont.
[That honesty is much easier. He doesn't know and there's no value
in lying about that, so he won't. Alucard doesn't know because his mind is
trying to run in every direction at once.
So he does the easiest thing right now, which is walk over to the counter
and pour himself a glass of the white that's been left out.]
Please, I've been trying to get drunk off that stuff for the last week now. Doesn't work.
[ He sighs. ]
If we could choose, I think she'd want to be here with you. She can watch her family from the mirror in the hold. We can go to them if things change. But you're- you're her family too.
He waves a hand dismissively, but his shoulders sink. He shouldn't be doing this without Sypha, but she wouldn't leave if she knew. He's been letting her decide what's best for a long time now, and in the end it's hurt her badly. ]
Had to make a second me out of pillows and blankets to keep her from waking up.
She’s proud of me most of the time, these days. I think she’s being a little condescending about it. ‘Look who managed to figure out soap!’ That kind of thing.
[ He’s cautious when he continues. ]
Is there anything else that you want me to know? Or that you want us to tell you?
In turn, you sit for meals with us. You can be gone the rest of the time, if you need. And you don't have to talk to us, if you don't want to. Just- you know. Exist.
He makes the meals and sits for them, although he barely eats when the other two are around. Just enough so that they don't worry. Alucard does the clean up only after they go, and then he eats the rest of the food.
Most of his time is still outside. Sometimes as a wolf. Sometimes as a man. Always alone, until dinner. After that, he goes to one of the siderooms with a glass of wine and stares into the fire until it's embers or until he falls into a light sleep.
Trevor's been in that side room more lately. Alucard doesn't know what to make of it, but Trevor allows Alucard to be closer to the door. That's all he can ask.
He's here again tonight. Alucard's brought a whole bottle of wine and two glasses.]
[ Meals are quiet, but things are easier than they were. Sypha's still having a difficult time of things, but she uses the distance mirror to watch her caravan. They're as well as could be hoped for, in the circumstances. Parked up in another town to help with rebuilding after Dracula's attacks, even working in mostly friendly cooperation with the town's church. That cooperation offers them a little protection, and she's relieved for it.
Aside from that, they try not to spend too much time in the hold. He's told her about- some of it. Told her that they might need her to bring the earth down on it. She's more resistant to the idea than he is. Killing ideas is against her nature. ]
God, please.
[ He's trying. He doesn't know what to do, other than to just do as he asked of Alucard. Exist in the same place. Stare into a dying fire together and pretend that it isn't an intensely depressing way to burn time. He pulls one of the blankets from around himself, tossing it to the side of the sofa closest to the door. Usually he takes the chair, but it's an invitation. ]
[He pours the wine. It's a white, sweet and floral in smell in contrast to the seasoned wood in the fireplace. Places it down on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, that way he doesn't have to risk touching Trevor.
His own glass is then filled. Then he sits at the very end of the sofa, but not before taking the blanket. It's draped over his shoulders after a moment, pulling it close.]
I hope white is acceptable. How are her people faring today?
Well enough. Someone's been trying to start shit, but the bishop of Braila has put them under his protection.
[ He sips at the wine. There's a good few feet of space between them, but it's the closest they've been in a while. Hard to say if it's progress. But they're trying. They're all trying so hard. ]
Only because he needs the help to keep his faithful well, I'm sure. Not out of the goodness of his heart. But it's good to see people acting in their own self-interest for once, instead of fucking themselves over out of spite.
[Braila. He sighs at the name, and then takes a long sip of the wine. Alucard's been working at cutting back, but it's been a day. This is happening now too.]
That feels like a minor miracle, in truth.
[Because everything else? Everything else is falling apart.]
Good for all of them that they're rebuilding as they are.
You know how it goes. Sometimes a little genocide brings out the best in people. Or at least the most pragmatic.
[ The wine isn't nearly enough to get him even close to drunk, but it'll be enough to help him sleep.
He pauses for a long, long time. ]
There's- there's shit I can't tell you yet. And it's not because we want to keep secrets from you. I just- cant. [ The fire crackles, and he squints his eyes at it. ] But have you heard of a place called Lindenfeld?
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[There's a long delay between when Alucard closes the door and when it opens again. Hell, he doesn't even close it all the way - he leaves it open a crack just in case. He can move faster than either of them to avoid being locked in. He's fine. He's fine.
It's a mantra. The only words he forces to echo in his head as he applies the mix of weird Belmont medicine to the burns on his lower body. It's so hard to keep them going. To let them be the things that stay, rather than let the shame of everything that's happened take over. You should have known better. You shouldn't have trusted. You shouldn't have let anyone just waltz in here. It happened once with your mother and never will again, don't think you're special.
He finishes. Then sits on the floor for either a minute or an eternity before returning to the kitchen.
When he does return, there's no real change about him. Just guilty eyes that refuse to meet Trevor's.]
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[ He can do the talking. Probably. He's good at figuring shit out. Just not good at empathising. One out of two required skills, there. ]
Leave her aside for a moment. What would be easiest for you? We stay, and maybe we fuck up again but we try to make it right when we do? Or we go, and come back when you've had more time?
[ A short pause. ]
Or we go for good, and destroy the hold?
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[Hey, he managed emotional intelligence this entire conversation! That's huge!]
I don't know, Belmont.
[That honesty is much easier. He doesn't know and there's no value in lying about that, so he won't. Alucard doesn't know because his mind is trying to run in every direction at once.
So he does the easiest thing right now, which is walk over to the counter and pour himself a glass of the white that's been left out.]
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[ He sighs. ]
If we could choose, I think she'd want to be here with you. She can watch her family from the mirror in the hold. We can go to them if things change. But you're- you're her family too.
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[He's just gonna take a long siiiiiiiiiip while oh. A new layer of guilt sets in.
Along with a particular realization.]
She doesn't know you're doing any of this right now, does she?
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He waves a hand dismissively, but his shoulders sink. He shouldn't be doing this without Sypha, but she wouldn't leave if she knew. He's been letting her decide what's best for a long time now, and in the end it's hurt her badly. ]
Had to make a second me out of pillows and blankets to keep her from waking up.
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Of course you did.
[He breathes out.]
What else do you want to know, Belmont?
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[ He just stares at the overfull wine glass. So that's what this bullshit looks like from the outside. Just kind of sad. ]
If there's something other than that that I should know, I'll listen. But I'm not trying to torment you for information here.
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[Another sip. Until the glass is normally full. The second part is actually far more important to Alucard.]
Thank you. That's...
[He just sighs.]
If she was in the right state of mind, she'd be proud of you.
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[ He’s cautious when he continues. ]
Is there anything else that you want me to know? Or that you want us to tell you?
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[It's a compliment. Or at least an attempt at one. One of us doesn't look like a disaster anymore.
He appreciates the caution. But it comes with quiet.]
Were there any elements you needed clarification on from my side of things?
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[ And he shakes his head. ]
Nothing that I think you're in a state to answer right now. I think- look. If we stay, we need to figure out how it'll work. Rules.
We don't touch you, for a start. That sound about right?
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Yes. And if I tell you not to go into a certain part of the castle, you don't.
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In turn, you sit for meals with us. You can be gone the rest of the time, if you need. And you don't have to talk to us, if you don't want to. Just- you know. Exist.
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[It's a place to start. Alucard doesn't know if it'll work. He doubts it. But at least he can try.]
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[ There isn't a whole lot left in the bottle, between the medicine and Alucard's overfull glass. But he grabs it, draining the rest. ]
We'll see you at breakfast.
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--Good night.
[So it goes.
He makes the meals and sits for them, although he barely eats when the other two are around. Just enough so that they don't worry. Alucard does the clean up only after they go, and then he eats the rest of the food.
Most of his time is still outside. Sometimes as a wolf. Sometimes as a man. Always alone, until dinner. After that, he goes to one of the siderooms with a glass of wine and stares into the fire until it's embers or until he falls into a light sleep.
Trevor's been in that side room more lately. Alucard doesn't know what to make of it, but Trevor allows Alucard to be closer to the door. That's all he can ask.
He's here again tonight. Alucard's brought a whole bottle of wine and two glasses.]
Wine?
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Aside from that, they try not to spend too much time in the hold. He's told her about- some of it. Told her that they might need her to bring the earth down on it. She's more resistant to the idea than he is. Killing ideas is against her nature. ]
God, please.
[ He's trying. He doesn't know what to do, other than to just do as he asked of Alucard. Exist in the same place. Stare into a dying fire together and pretend that it isn't an intensely depressing way to burn time. He pulls one of the blankets from around himself, tossing it to the side of the sofa closest to the door. Usually he takes the chair, but it's an invitation. ]
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His own glass is then filled. Then he sits at the very end of the sofa, but not before taking the blanket. It's draped over his shoulders after a moment, pulling it close.]
I hope white is acceptable. How are her people faring today?
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[ He sips at the wine. There's a good few feet of space between them, but it's the closest they've been in a while. Hard to say if it's progress. But they're trying. They're all trying so hard. ]
Only because he needs the help to keep his faithful well, I'm sure. Not out of the goodness of his heart. But it's good to see people acting in their own self-interest for once, instead of fucking themselves over out of spite.
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That feels like a minor miracle, in truth.
[Because everything else? Everything else is falling apart.]
Good for all of them that they're rebuilding as they are.
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[ The wine isn't nearly enough to get him even close to drunk, but it'll be enough to help him sleep.
He pauses for a long, long time. ]
There's- there's shit I can't tell you yet. And it's not because we want to keep secrets from you. I just- cant. [ The fire crackles, and he squints his eyes at it. ] But have you heard of a place called Lindenfeld?
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[He's feeling far more cynical about humanity these days. Uses that pause to drain the rest of his wine and pour himself a second glass.]
No. That sounds closer to Germanic though rather than Wallachian.
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[ Was. ]
We fucked up.
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