Character(s): Alucard + ???? Status: Open Location(s): Around, about, and up in the Krimnos mountains Date(s) August About: General August catch all Warnings: Added as required
[It took Alucard a little bit of time to realize that in dating Trevor, he had forgotten that Trevor hadn't dated before. It made sense in retrospect, given what the Order of the Belmont was, but the whole of it hadn't quite clicked with him.
So he's doing this properly. A date, although it has more a sense of adventure to it. Alucard's guided them both through the woods to the north of the castle, and to the foot of the mountains that rise up into the heavens. There's a cave there, and walking through the shaded forest has already been lovely.
Walking hand in hand means reaching up and taking Trevor's hand instead. It makes him smile like an idiot to do so, and he keeps it until they're at the mouth of the cave.
It isn't a small entrance, the thing that burrows deep into the mountain. It's bigger than Trevor is, and a small stream runs out of it just towards the left.]
There's a bat population that lives here, but I don't think they'll be a problem.
[ When he was very young, years before the Order of Belmont fell, he had to do special excersises before he was allowed to train with acolytes around his age so as not to injure them. They would take a bird's bone, all light and hollow, and tell him to hold it firmly enough that it couldn't be snatched out of his hands. There was a balance to it, holding it tightly without crushing the delicate thing.
Holding hands feels similar, Alucard's fingers not much thicker than bird bones, and thinner then they had been against his hands as a child. It's a delicate task, holding Alucard's hand lightly enough to not hurt him (he could get away with a firmer grip, Alucard's heritage offers them that much, but it's hard to remember that sometimes) while still keeping his grip tight enough that their hands don't slip apart. If it weren't worthwhile to do, he'd consider it altogether too much work. ]
I'll try to be a decent guest for them. [ His eyes follow the stream up into the caves. ] Runoff from snow? Or is there a spring up here?
[ The date hasn't even started yet and he's ruining it by trying to gather intelligence on how to keep the castle defended. Anyone trying to attack it would need a nearby water source, and this seems like a decent one. ]
It won't be a problem. The ceilings here go on forever.
[Alucard's smile is clear on his face, soft and beaming and just. He's getting to do something with Trevor that is just the two of them with nothing horrible planned or even accounted for. They're holding hands and Alucard cannot believe how gentle Trevor's hands are in spite of his size. He feels...safe, doing the action. Cared for and accounted for in all the ways that matter.]
But you're right. It's snow run off. [And with that, Alucard takes the first step into the cave itself.] I explored the entire place when I was growing up here.
[ He turns his attention from the stream back to Alucard, chuckling as he lets himself be led. ]
Hard to imagine you risking getting your clothes dirty.
[ Never mind that it was Alucard's idea to come here. It's still hard to imagine. It takes a little while for his eyes (eyes, since Alucard gets so fussy about him wearing the eyepatch in the castle.) to adjust to the darkness, and he lets Alucard lead him through the brief blindness. ] How far does it go?
Do you think I only lived in the library as a child, Trevor?
[The entrance is a grand thing, overdramatic stalagmites and stalactites greeting them. There are some that are triple Trevor's size, others shorter than Alucard. In the light of the cave, they are all pale, but there is a shine to each and every one of them.]
It goes on for about five miles. I learned how to map things properly here and uh. Once, my father and I were trapped by the sun's rays for a full day.
[ It's odd, hearing of Dracula's time as a half-decent father. A vampir from the time of Leon Belmont, playing in caves with his son. It's absurd to think about. But he listens, and he nods, and he waits a little while before replying. He'd rather not say something fucked up about Dracula without thinking about it. It's a delicate subject. ]
So you didn't live in the library, but you did do cartography for fun. Figures.
[ It doesn’t look any different to the other routes, in truth, but he likes to pretend he has some reason for picking any one of the paths over the others. ]
Let me guess - you could hold onto the stalactites to pull yourself down if you needed to, used them to practice?
[Left it is. Alucard's actually pleased Trevor chose left, because the best parts of the cave are on that side. But going further in means that there is a need for light, and Alucard murmurs something.
In front of them, a little orb of soft yellow light shines, illuminating the path ahead and behind them. It's a little trick Alucard used to need when he was exploring, and it's important now for date purposes.
It also illuminates the look of real surprise on Alucard's face at Trevor.]
I....yes. Exactly that. I would float over to the tallest one and pull myself down. It helped me to learn to pace myself in descending.
Thought so. [ He looks over Alucard's surprised expression, blinking in the fresh new light, then shrugs. ] Kids like climbing shit. Figured it works the same in reverse if you start off floating.
[ He looks about the cave, checking the ground so that he can walk without risking tripping, then back to Alucard. ]
Where does this one lead? Or do I have to wait and be surprised?
[ He chuckles, and in place of a verbal answer he scoops Alucard up, putting him onto his shoulder. He gives him a moment to get comfortable and then tilts his head, leaning it against Alucard's thigh. ]
Keep the light around. I don't want to walk into a stalagmite and hit you with it. Not if you're going to use it to climb down.
[The light rises with Alucard, although it doesn't quite follow him. Instead, it stays hovering above the same spot it was originally on. There's an increase of brightness, and that's all there is.]
I can do that.
[Alucard doesn't fuss as Trevor scoops him up either. He was going to float, but there's a joy in just being picked up and placed where he ought to be. Once Trevor's head is leaned against him, what else can Alucard do but put a hand in Trevor's hair and stroke through it as gently as possible. His hands move carefully, and then he leans over to plant a kiss atop Trevor's head.]
[Alucard's surprise, the shock, the anger, it's all there in a mix of pure and absolute bafflement, because he genuinely doesn't know what it is he is witnessing.
There had been rumors of blood magic in the city. Alucard had come down off the fucking mountains because not only had one of his father's books supposedly surfaced, but one of the black market dealers that he had quickly fallen into an easy client relationship with had witnessed the book in question. The ex libris was right (VLAD DRACULA TEPES, they had said, in outdated lettering), and now so was the results. There was an uptick of strange blood spatters. There was a thin aura of red over a building every night and....
....and now Alucard was witnessing it for himself. He hated it. He hated it because he had a good idea what book was being used, and that it had gone so very wrong.
There's a long sigh as Alucard stares up at the aura, steeling himself against what he is about to walk into.]
[ What's happening is that Strange has outright murdered some poor bunny rabbit whose corpse is now draining out over a bucket.
Strange liked to think that he was being sensible about the whole thing. He didn't know how dragons would react with blood magic, so he performed his experiments away from Alistair. He didn't want his public address or public persona to be associated with blood magic (he was trying to curry favor with the king, after all), so he performed the magic in a shady, ramshackle room he had rented in a seedy motel style place.
But, then again, he still was practicing blood magic, something that had been decried as dangerous in all aspects of his life. But dangerous how? In Strange's mind, no magic was innately dangerous, the only dangerous thing was the magician who used it. Blood magic, while admittedly quite risky, could give him the skills to protect those in his life.
Strange had died twice. He didn't want it to happen to him or the people he cared about ever again.
All of this is to say that he really didn't expect Alucard to 1: find him, 2: barge in on him, and 3: actually be talking to him in the first place. So Strange just looks up at Alucard, blinking slightly in a super confused manner before launching into accusations. ]
Following up on a lead related to several family heirlooms that have been circulating on the black market.
[Alucard's response is a little too calm, cool, and collected, all things considered. He doesn't need to look over to the rabbit corpse to know that there's a dead thing in the room (but really, a rabbit? After his animus is one?) The scent is remarkable enough.
The only moment of courtesy he affords Strange is closing the door behind him. No one else needs to see this disaster for what it really is, nor does anyone else need to overhear the conversation.]
You need to conclude this spell immediately.
[Yes. Alucard has just busted into Strange's shitty motel room, told him to stop doing the thing, and is about to grab some of Strange's books. This is...still not the worst thing Alucard has ever done.]
[ Yeah, a rabbit, after his animas is one. And speaking of animas, his animas is right here in the room as well, looking very put out about all this. As soon as Alucard enters the room, Bell hops over towards him and gives Alucard a bit of an expectant look. At times, it seems like Strange and Bell share one brain cell between them. She is definitely in possession of it at the moment.
Strange, to nobody's surprise, isn't stopping. Instead, he gives Alucard a look like he's a goddamn idiot and continues working magic. Now that the blood has almost finished draining, Strange sticks a finger inside the bucket and starts drawing some sort of sigil on the floor. ]
If this really is a family heirloom, then you have no right to judge me.
[ What the heirloom is, Strange doesn't know, but considering the last thing he bought on the black market is a book on blood magic, he's leaning towards that. ]
[There is a short, sharp, near feral noise of frustration from Alucard. Of all the times for Strange to be a stubborn ass, and it's this one. This one when he's fucking around with Dracula's magic that Alucard definitely knows is unstable and unsafe, so he does the only move available to him.
Well, after Alucard gently moves Bell over towards the door, so she's out of the line of fire here. Good soul bunnies don't deserve this.
He storms over and kicks the blood bucket over, the aim being to drown out the sigil on the floor and everything else.
When he speaks, it's with a low, furious gravity.]
I know my father's work better than any living or dead thing, Jonathan Strange, and I'm one of three people that understand the dangers that it carries.
[ Bell just lets herself get picked up and moved over. Thank you Alucard, please try and talk sense into the other part of their soul.
Strange himself has decided to ignore that noise of frustration and whatever Alucard's doing as he continues to draw out a sigil. He starts murmuring something under his breath as he does so, hoping that he can complete the magic before Alucard inevitably ruins the spell or does something and dammit, he was right, now there's blood all over the floor. Strange pulls his hands back as Alucard kicks the bucket of blood over the sigil.
And then Alucard starts lecturing him??? Rude. Though there is something different from this lecture compared to the normal round of judgement that he gets from Alucard. For lack of a better term, his tone sounds more serious.
As expected, Strange ignores it. ]
Dangers? If you truly know your father's work, then you should know what potential it carries. Look at these spells! There's magic here that I didn't know was even possible!
[Alucard turns on his heel, aware that his eyes are a golden fury and that the full of his dhampir heritage is on display. He shows in the horrible snarl that responds to Jonathan's words. It shows in the fury when Alucard speaks.]
I know exactly what my father's work is capable of, Jonathan Strange, and I know exactly how badly a spell can go awry in any man's hands but that of Vlad Dracula Tepes. A vampir who, in the worst of his moments, attempted to commit genocide in the mountains of Krimnos with such spells.
[He looks around this horrible set up, and there it is. An open book. Alucard snatches it up without missing a beat.]
[ And that's when the penny drops and Strange finally fully realizes what sort of man Alucard is. The golden eyes, the vampir father...Alucard's a dhampir. It's a fact that only makes this more aggravating as Strange looks over at Alucard with an expression of disbelief. ]
This makes so much more sense now--of course you wouldn't want me to learn this. After all, blood magic is your type's specialty!
[ He reaches over to try and snatch the book back from Alucard. ]
Did you hear a word I just said with regards to what my father once tried to do?
[Alucard's tapped into his bloodline now, which means the superhuman bursts of speed he reserves exclusively for combat are easy to take advantage of. He's on the other side of the room in a flash.]
My family's legacy does not belong to foolish men who barely think a step ahead.
Then who does it belong to? Someone who won't do a thing with it? Because I know you, Alucard, you're going to take that book and hide it away somewhere and not use it.
[ Partly because Alucard is obviously averse to blood magic, partly because Strange downright knows that Alucard doesn't trust him that much, partly because a small part of Jonathan 'I've also got some daddy issues' Strange recognizes that's something he might do. ]
This should be obvious, but I'm not your father. There's no need to mention what he did with regards to my work.
My father's and my mother's estates are mine. I have always been the curator, collections manager, and executor of such property, both in life and in death. I have granted access to researchers before, those of sound mind and judgement and whose work was long since proven. Unorthodoxy was no point against them, but pure recklessness?
[Looking at you, buddy.]
That was the point where I always denied access. And you? You have proven time and again that reckless should simply be your middle name.
[Damn right he's going to hide that book.]
Yes. This book will not circulate, but for reasons of sentiment.
[ He knows he doesn't have a leg to stand on with regards to recklessness. He knows that should he attempt to challenge that, Alucard will have a long litany of probably deserved accusations and that doesn't even count the deserved accusations that Strange knows himself but hasn't told anybody. He knows that he shouldn't fight this.
....but dammit, he really wants that book. So he changes tactics a little. ]
That book has magic in there that the world hasn't dreamed of. It's foolish to let such resources sit in a moldy old basement or wherever you keep your books.
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CAVE DATE
So he's doing this properly. A date, although it has more a sense of adventure to it. Alucard's guided them both through the woods to the north of the castle, and to the foot of the mountains that rise up into the heavens. There's a cave there, and walking through the shaded forest has already been lovely.
Walking hand in hand means reaching up and taking Trevor's hand instead. It makes him smile like an idiot to do so, and he keeps it until they're at the mouth of the cave.
It isn't a small entrance, the thing that burrows deep into the mountain. It's bigger than Trevor is, and a small stream runs out of it just towards the left.]
There's a bat population that lives here, but I don't think they'll be a problem.
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Holding hands feels similar, Alucard's fingers not much thicker than bird bones, and thinner then they had been against his hands as a child. It's a delicate task, holding Alucard's hand lightly enough to not hurt him (he could get away with a firmer grip, Alucard's heritage offers them that much, but it's hard to remember that sometimes) while still keeping his grip tight enough that their hands don't slip apart. If it weren't worthwhile to do, he'd consider it altogether too much work. ]
I'll try to be a decent guest for them. [ His eyes follow the stream up into the caves. ] Runoff from snow? Or is there a spring up here?
[ The date hasn't even started yet and he's ruining it by trying to gather intelligence on how to keep the castle defended. Anyone trying to attack it would need a nearby water source, and this seems like a decent one. ]
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[Alucard's smile is clear on his face, soft and beaming and just. He's getting to do something with Trevor that is just the two of them with nothing horrible planned or even accounted for. They're holding hands and Alucard cannot believe how gentle Trevor's hands are in spite of his size. He feels...safe, doing the action. Cared for and accounted for in all the ways that matter.]
But you're right. It's snow run off. [And with that, Alucard takes the first step into the cave itself.] I explored the entire place when I was growing up here.
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Hard to imagine you risking getting your clothes dirty.
[ Never mind that it was Alucard's idea to come here. It's still hard to imagine. It takes a little while for his eyes (eyes, since Alucard gets so fussy about him wearing the eyepatch in the castle.) to adjust to the darkness, and he lets Alucard lead him through the brief blindness. ] How far does it go?
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[The entrance is a grand thing, overdramatic stalagmites and stalactites greeting them. There are some that are triple Trevor's size, others shorter than Alucard. In the light of the cave, they are all pale, but there is a shine to each and every one of them.]
It goes on for about five miles. I learned how to map things properly here and uh. Once, my father and I were trapped by the sun's rays for a full day.
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[ It's odd, hearing of Dracula's time as a half-decent father. A vampir from the time of Leon Belmont, playing in caves with his son. It's absurd to think about. But he listens, and he nods, and he waits a little while before replying. He'd rather not say something fucked up about Dracula without thinking about it. It's a delicate subject. ]
So you didn't live in the library, but you did do cartography for fun. Figures.
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[Alucard laughs gently, and then he looks up.]
I got stuck on the ceiling once or twice. I learned how to come down by myself thanks to tis place.
[Ahead though, there is a three forked path. Alucard seems well aware of it, but his focuse turns to Trevor.]
Left, right, or center? Your pick.
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[ It doesn’t look any different to the other routes, in truth, but he likes to pretend he has some reason for picking any one of the paths over the others. ]
Let me guess - you could hold onto the stalactites to pull yourself down if you needed to, used them to practice?
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In front of them, a little orb of soft yellow light shines, illuminating the path ahead and behind them. It's a little trick Alucard used to need when he was exploring, and it's important now for date purposes.
It also illuminates the look of real surprise on Alucard's face at Trevor.]
I....yes. Exactly that. I would float over to the tallest one and pull myself down. It helped me to learn to pace myself in descending.
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[ He looks about the cave, checking the ground so that he can walk without risking tripping, then back to Alucard. ]
Where does this one lead? Or do I have to wait and be surprised?
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[But speaking of floating, Alucard looks up to Trevor's shoulder, considering.]
It's a surprise. But may I sit on your shoulder for a bit?
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Keep the light around. I don't want to walk into a stalagmite and hit you with it. Not if you're going to use it to climb down.
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I can do that.
[Alucard doesn't fuss as Trevor scoops him up either. He was going to float, but there's a joy in just being picked up and placed where he ought to be. Once Trevor's head is leaned against him, what else can Alucard do but put a hand in Trevor's hair and stroke through it as gently as possible. His hands move carefully, and then he leans over to plant a kiss atop Trevor's head.]
I can increase the brightness if you need it.
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[Alucard's surprise, the shock, the anger, it's all there in a mix of pure and absolute bafflement, because he genuinely doesn't know what it is he is witnessing.
There had been rumors of blood magic in the city. Alucard had come down off the fucking mountains because not only had one of his father's books supposedly surfaced, but one of the black market dealers that he had quickly fallen into an easy client relationship with had witnessed the book in question. The ex libris was right (VLAD DRACULA TEPES, they had said, in outdated lettering), and now so was the results. There was an uptick of strange blood spatters. There was a thin aura of red over a building every night and....
....and now Alucard was witnessing it for himself. He hated it. He hated it because he had a good idea what book was being used, and that it had gone so very wrong.
There's a long sigh as Alucard stares up at the aura, steeling himself against what he is about to walk into.]
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Strange liked to think that he was being sensible about the whole thing. He didn't know how dragons would react with blood magic, so he performed his experiments away from Alistair. He didn't want his public address or public persona to be associated with blood magic (he was trying to curry favor with the king, after all), so he performed the magic in a shady, ramshackle room he had rented in a seedy motel style place.
But, then again, he still was practicing blood magic, something that had been decried as dangerous in all aspects of his life. But dangerous how? In Strange's mind, no magic was innately dangerous, the only dangerous thing was the magician who used it. Blood magic, while admittedly quite risky, could give him the skills to protect those in his life.
Strange had died twice. He didn't want it to happen to him or the people he cared about ever again.
All of this is to say that he really didn't expect Alucard to 1: find him, 2: barge in on him, and 3: actually be talking to him in the first place. So Strange just looks up at Alucard, blinking slightly in a super confused manner before launching into accusations. ]
And what exactly are you doing here?
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[Alucard's response is a little too calm, cool, and collected, all things considered. He doesn't need to look over to the rabbit corpse to know that there's a dead thing in the room (but really, a rabbit? After his animus is one?) The scent is remarkable enough.
The only moment of courtesy he affords Strange is closing the door behind him. No one else needs to see this disaster for what it really is, nor does anyone else need to overhear the conversation.]
You need to conclude this spell immediately.
[Yes. Alucard has just busted into Strange's shitty motel room, told him to stop doing the thing, and is about to grab some of Strange's books. This is...still not the worst thing Alucard has ever done.]
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Strange, to nobody's surprise, isn't stopping. Instead, he gives Alucard a look like he's a goddamn idiot and continues working magic. Now that the blood has almost finished draining, Strange sticks a finger inside the bucket and starts drawing some sort of sigil on the floor. ]
If this really is a family heirloom, then you have no right to judge me.
[ What the heirloom is, Strange doesn't know, but considering the last thing he bought on the black market is a book on blood magic, he's leaning towards that. ]
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Well, after Alucard gently moves Bell over towards the door, so she's out of the line of fire here. Good soul bunnies don't deserve this.
He storms over and kicks the blood bucket over, the aim being to drown out the sigil on the floor and everything else.
When he speaks, it's with a low, furious gravity.]
I know my father's work better than any living or dead thing, Jonathan Strange, and I'm one of three people that understand the dangers that it carries.
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Strange himself has decided to ignore that noise of frustration and whatever Alucard's doing as he continues to draw out a sigil. He starts murmuring something under his breath as he does so, hoping that he can complete the magic before Alucard inevitably ruins the spell or does something and dammit, he was right, now there's blood all over the floor. Strange pulls his hands back as Alucard kicks the bucket of blood over the sigil.
And then Alucard starts lecturing him??? Rude. Though there is something different from this lecture compared to the normal round of judgement that he gets from Alucard. For lack of a better term, his tone sounds more serious.
As expected, Strange ignores it. ]
Dangers? If you truly know your father's work, then you should know what potential it carries. Look at these spells! There's magic here that I didn't know was even possible!
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I know exactly what my father's work is capable of, Jonathan Strange, and I know exactly how badly a spell can go awry in any man's hands but that of Vlad Dracula Tepes. A vampir who, in the worst of his moments, attempted to commit genocide in the mountains of Krimnos with such spells.
[He looks around this horrible set up, and there it is. An open book. Alucard snatches it up without missing a beat.]
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This makes so much more sense now--of course you wouldn't want me to learn this. After all, blood magic is your type's specialty!
[ He reaches over to try and snatch the book back from Alucard. ]
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[Alucard's tapped into his bloodline now, which means the superhuman bursts of speed he reserves exclusively for combat are easy to take advantage of. He's on the other side of the room in a flash.]
My family's legacy does not belong to foolish men who barely think a step ahead.
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[ Partly because Alucard is obviously averse to blood magic, partly because Strange downright knows that Alucard doesn't trust him that much, partly because a small part of Jonathan 'I've also got some daddy issues' Strange recognizes that's something he might do. ]
This should be obvious, but I'm not your father. There's no need to mention what he did with regards to my work.
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[Looking at you, buddy.]
That was the point where I always denied access. And you? You have proven time and again that reckless should simply be your middle name.
[Damn right he's going to hide that book.]
Yes. This book will not circulate, but for reasons of sentiment.
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....but dammit, he really wants that book. So he changes tactics a little. ]
That book has magic in there that the world hasn't dreamed of. It's foolish to let such resources sit in a moldy old basement or wherever you keep your books.
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