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And I can't know that I won't hurt you both.

[Out of fear. Even with the incense, which terrifies Alucard. It rends him unable to be aggressive, and his defense is often so very aggressive.

He shakes when Trevor's done. A nervous dog, unsure. Horrified. Unable to account for what will happen next. Clings to the blanket when it's placed over his shoulders, like it's the most precious armor.

A choked noise comes out. It's followed by:]

I don't know. I can't know.

Yeah.

[ He might hurt them. It's- unavoidable. Because it's human to lash out, to be irrational, but Alucard's strength isn't human. Sypha can defend herself even when not carrying weapons. He? Really can't.

But Alucard reacts well (or reacts, at least) to the blanket, and so he pulls it tighter so it covers him entirely. ]

I'm going to build a pyre. So she can burn the bodies when she wakes up. [ A pause, because it shouldn't have to be fire and yet. ] I don't want to bury them, not if it would keep them here.

As you like.

[He shouldn't make the other two clean up the bodies. It's his responsibility. His mistake. They can't....they shouldn't....]

I'm sorry.

[ He's been around Sypha too long.

He knows this because his arms are around Alucard after wrapping the blanket around him and instead of withdrawing them, he pulls them closed. Which is stupid, because they've just talked about how easily Alucard could hurt them by mistake. ]

Whatever the fuck happened, they'll be gone once she wakes up.

[He goes too still. His breath is shallow. ]

They're still here.

[In his head, at least.]

Going to always be here.

[ He keeps up the awkward kind-of-a-hug for a few seconds, until his had catches up with how still Alucard has gone. Then lets go. Makes distance. ]

I'll go back to the room where we took you before, once I'm done. If you need to find us, we'll stay there. I'll look for you at dusk.

Okay.

[Alucard goes quiet again. Tugs his blanket back around him, and he stays there.

At some point he smells fire. Alucard doesn't know how to react. He decides simply not to, and he curls up on himself. The floor isn't comfortable. He doesn't deserve comfort right now. Or much of anything if he's to be entirely candid. He deserves a lifetime alone, because how else do you atone for something like this?

There's only one good part in all of this: it means Alucard doesn't leave the room. He's there as it becomes dusk. Blank faced, staring at the wall. Not even reacting when Trevor walks in.]

There's food, I think. Somewhere.

[Humans need food, after all.]

[ He hauls the bodies out. Sypha says words for them, because that's what the speakers do. And then they burn. The fire is brief, burning hotter than the church could ever manage with torches and kindling. They don't know what to do with the ashes, in the end. They just leave them there to let the wind make the decision for them.

He takes his turn to sleep. Sypha mixes a batch of whatever miracle solution it is that gets the worst of the blood out of speaker robes. He scrubs the floors with it when he wakes while she puts bedsheets outside to bleach in the sun. They destroy evidence, and he's not sure if he should be alarmed by how good at it they are.

It's difficult work, the kind that leaves no room for thinking. It's a relief. ]

We have supplies. I'll go out to hunt tomorrow, if we're to stay.

[ He hasn't moved an inch, has he? ]

Are we to stay?

[Indeed he has not. He's burritoed himself up more though, which at least seems to suggest that blankets have some sort of soothing ability that nothing else does at the moment.

But he doesn't reply. Indecision is his new watch word. Or maybe paralysis is better, because that's what this feels like. Being frozen in time and having no idea where one is to go with anything.

If Sypha sees him like this, they won't leave. He knows that. Maybe Trevor will....

...will what? Leave? Stay? Fuck. One is no better than the other. Just different.]

Your decision.

We stay, then. You can get rid of us once the burns heal.

[ Easy enough decision, there. He sits down near Alucard. ]

Far be it from me of all fucking people to point this out, but there is a chair in the room.

So?

[Chairs are for people who deserve them. Or want to move. He does not deserve a chair or want to move.]

You can sit on chairs. They're good for that.

[ This is the one time in his life when he is going to be pro-chair and you are not making the most of it. He gestures to the offending seat for a moment before shaking his head. It's a lost cause. Florr it is. ]

I won't come up here with weapons. She can't disarm herself. She'll come up here if you want her to, but not until you're ready.

Might be never.

[He knows it'll be never. Alucard's confident with that much at least.]

Can I have another blanket?

That's-

[ -sad to think about. But it's been less than a day. It's not been long enough to give up. ]

-yeah, sure. There's a guest room down the hall. I'll go raid that. Need anything else, if I'm running errands?

No. Thank you.

[Just blankets for sad vampire.]

[ He grabs everything soft from the guest room. And from the room next to it. Bedding, curtains, cushions. As much as he can carry. There's one thing so far that helps, that he's actually asked for, and so he goes all in on that, dumping it all on the floor and sitting near Alucard.

Another blanket first, a heavy woolen one, and he wraps it tightly around Alucard's shoulders. He lingers again when he does, but only for a second. ]

Don't fucking remember how to do this. Think you need two chairs, and-

[ Is he planning to make a blanket fort? Because it sounds like he's planning to make a blanket fort. ]

[It's the weight of the blanket that helps. Alucard pulls it close around himself, managing to tuck his feet under too. There's some part of him that realizes that he's immobile and vulnerable like this, but the rest of him? The rest of him doesn't care one bit

Trevor's doing....something?]

What are you doing?

[ Instead of answering, he drags a chair over. Then another. And drapes the curtain he took down from the room across the hall over both of them. That's how it works, he's pretty sure.

That done, he sets about bringing the pule of bedding in. Arranges pillows and cushions around Alucard. ]

Look, I've not had a chance to do this in years. Humour me?

[What the fuck?

Alucard keeps watching. Tilting his head and....

...a blanket dwelling?]

Am I meant to go in it?

I'd thought that was rather obvious, yes. If you're going to be sitting on the floor for hours at a time, you may as well be comfortable sitting on the floor for hours at a time.

[ He sighs, because his first instinct is to keep being dismissive. Distant. And maybe that'd be more comfortable for both of them. But it's not going to help. ]

It's a smaller space. It'll feel safer. We know- [ God this is hard. Why can't Sypha just turn off her magic so she can be the one to do this? ] -we know you're afraid. We can't make it right, but we want to make it easier. I- used to do this on the bad nights. When people came back injured, or didn't come back at all. Made me feel like I had control over something, even if it was just my tiny little space.

[Alucard listens. It's....it's stupid. He shouldn't call it stupid but it is ridiculous and he wants to dismiss it all. He controls the castle. It's his home but--

--no. His home betrayed him just as much as anything else.

So he can try it, at least.]

I'll try.

Thanks. For humouring me.

[ He stacks cushions around Alucard. Wraps more blankets around him. Buries him in a mountain of things that can't hurt him. ]

You want me to stay a while?

[It's a little fiefdom of soft things. Alucard doesn't move much but he's warm now. A little comfier.

He doesn't feel human. Not by a long shot. But it helps.]

If you want.

That's not exactly a helpful answer.

[ He huffs and settles down next to Alucard. The mechanics of being in the little soft space mean that he's closer than he might otherwise be, but he tries to make himself small. Less threatening. He's less nervous about this than he was last night. Alucard seems less likely to make any sudden movements. Or any movements at all. ]

No complications with the burns?

[He's still very much not caring. But he's quiet. Trying to be very small, especially when Trevor enters the bat cave.]

Not that I can tell.

[Alucard and feeling things aren't really getting along yet.]

Just hurts.

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