usir | [open] But I know I'll land here again

Entry tags:

castlevania: alucard

[open] But I know I'll land here again

Character(s): Alucard + Open
Status: Open
Location(s): Krimnos -> Home in the mountains
Date(s) Start of April -> Einjar Expedition II, Electric Boogaloo
About: General catch all log
Warnings: To be added

Note: Castle is not representative of Usir canon castle, just roll with me on this

[Krimnos is mostly for picking up supplies these days, then departing for home. Alucard's affection for the city has grown slightly, such as it is. Any place that encourages such dedication to technological development has earned that much, just as it has focused it's efforts on exploration and understanding. Einjar was proof of that. But he doesn't linger in the city, not when home is two days away.

Those looking for him there are most likely to find him in market spaces, or else in the part of the city dedicated to invention. He does little but observe in the latter space.

On the road between home and Krimnos, Alucard is all too keenly aware of the world around him. There is, of course, the little hamlet that marks the half-way point between home and the city, and he rests there between his trips. With warmer evenings out, he takes advantage of the one inn that boasts of a patio for evening meals, and can be found there with food remaining on his plate and a glass of probably too-dark wine in hand, barely drunk. For all the world, they look closer to props that let him settle in for a time, taking in the world around him.

Home is still a crumbling castle, whose remaining spire still reaches up towards the heavens. It is aged, save for the new lock on the door that makes it clear that this long thought cursed relic is inhabited by the living.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Alucard knows this is probably the wrong thing to do, or at least that it is a risk. He knows the goliath, knows that things like gift giving can be something that quickly turns sour. But their current arrangement seems to be a permenant one, and there's no comfort to be had sleeping on a stone floor. Even if one's used to it. Even if there will be a fuss. It is unfair and incorrect for Alucard to have come to use the Belmont as a mattress, and to give the Belmont no comfort in return.

So he ordered a rug. One big enough for Trevor to sleep on and then some, because a bed would never be used. And he's made Trevor help carry it back all the way from Krimnos, but he's hardly said a word about what it is or where it is to go. There have been other things to discuss (some happy things, like the fact someone has begun to put a great number of books into a portable library).

Now is the awkward part. They're walking through the castle corridors with the giant rolled up rug, and Alucard's turned into the room that has become theirs.]

If you could unroll it by the fireplace, please?

Mmm.

[ Wait. The fireplace is where he sleeps. And now there's going to be a rug there. So that means- ]

Sending me back to the kitchen to make room for the decorations, hmm?

[ The most thick-skulled man alive here, ladies and gentlemen. He only sounds a little hurt by the idea of being kicked out - it was going to happen sooner or later. It's not like the kitchen is a bad place to sleep, and he unrolls the rug without objection anyway. ]

Why would I send you to the kitch...

[The response is automatic, because the vampire enjoys contradicting the Belmont. It's only after the words leave Alucard's mouth that he realizes what Trevor's assuming, and really?

Alucard huffs. The rug itself is a foot or two larger than Trevor himself, the texture of it soft and while it isn't exactly shag, there's more pile to the carpet than most. It's a tawny brown, nothing too remarkable. Mostly, it's warm.]

Of course not. I simply imagined that after a near month of sleeping on cold stone, you'd want at least some relief for your back.

[It's a gift. A practical one. Alucard can only pray that the practical nature will help.]

But there's a rug here. So where do I-

[ -oh. Oh. He sighs, rubbing the back of his head. It might be 'nothing too remarkable', but it's still a good many times nicer than anything he's ever owned.

Gifts are always difficult. ]

It's- the stone is fine, really. This is nice, I can't just go around lying on nice shit.

[Alucard's quiet for a moment. He can't force Trevor to just accept this. He wouldn't be Trevor otherwise.]

You can. I'm using you as my perpetual mattress at this point. It's unfair for me to have something warm and comfortable underneath me and for you not to, not when this is your home as well as mine.

s'fine. It's already nicer here than I'm used to, you don't need to-

[ The rug's already bought, there's not a lot that can be done now. And in truth, it might be nice to sleep on something other than the floor. He's just stubborn. Stubborn and bad at accepting things that are given to him. ]

-it's nice. Thanks.

[ That's how one expresses gratitude, right???? ]

It feels like the very least I can do. Not when you've done so much already.

[It is. The bare minimum. Trevor as a key to the house and a room that has about all the comfort that Alucard could ever really force upon the goliath. Everything else, it'd be refused and argued against, because that's simply Trevor's way.]

It...

[Alucard breathes out, searching for words, then gives up. He instead goes about bringing over the pile of blankets to the edge of the rug, and then doing the simplest thing in the world: making the bed. Actions are easier than words, although by the time Alucard's done, he's found two to utter.]

S'our room.

[Ours, because it's just the two of them.]

Yeah. Yeah, I suppose it is.

[ It almost looks like an actual bed with the blankets over it like that. Which makes it seem a little wasteful, taking up space the way it is, except for how there's nothing but space in this place and perhaps it isn't too much of a problem.

He's not sure he's ever had an actual bed before in his life. It's strange to think about. ]

You aren't- going to kick me out, right? I'd prefer to know in advance if you are. Makes it easier to plan.

[ Which is a roundabout, self-deprecating way of asking if Alucard is happy with the current arrangement. ]

[The vampire's first instinct is to let out a sharp laugh and say don't be ridiculous. He's smarter than that though, tempered by the moment more than anything close to say, acting his age. Because if he was to act his age right now, it'd be admitting to an awful lot of things in one fell swoop, including that this arrangement is most certaintly more than whatever lies they're telling themselves to make it less emotionally fraught.

Alucard's gotten used to putting his hand in Trevor's lately. Does it if he's reading the most, just a small comfort. Now when he reaches to do it, there's a lot more gravity to the gesture.]

I'm not, no. [He says it with a softer sort of tone. One that's clearly considering the current arrangement.] This place won't have anyone living alone in it anymore.

Thanks. It's good to know these things.

[ He's held on to Alucard's hand before, idly, without thinking about it too much. Without having to admit to thinking about it too much. It's different now, a weight to it that he doesn't know what to do about other than avoiding meeting Alucard's gaze. It's small against his, cool to the touch. Pleasant. ]

Well, if I'm safe from getting kicked out, I'm going to be really fucking annoying and ruin all the work you just did.

[ It's a change of topic more than anything, and he wasn't really planning to go to sleep right now, but- it'll get him out of this moment. And he likes the moment, but it's also terrifying. ]

Oh, I imagine that these past few seconds are the only time that this bed will ever be made.

[He lets go of Trevor's hand, relieved in his own way. What feels right next, it'd...well, it'd give it all away if Alucard just floated right up next to the Belmont. Trevor lying down in bed (and oh, that....that's an element of this), is easier in some ways.]

Do you want my company while you do so?

'f you want. Not going to be insulted if you actually want to have supper and get some use out of the rest of the day.

[ It's later than they'd usually have dinner, but earlier than they'd usually sleep. A weird, undefined time that Alucard might usually use for reading and that he'd probably use for getting all the thousands of little jobs that need to be done to get the castle back in some kind of order done.

He pulls back the blankets and sits down on the rug. It really is nice. Soft. Warmer than the old curtain he was using to keep his back off the cold floor back in winter. ]

Fuck, it's like a real bed.

I may make a small plate and then come back in.

[Eating in bed is totally allowed is what Alucard is saying. But it's also a good way to dance around the weird time of day they're in right now, when it feels too early for Alucard to sleep, but he's still a dhampir. He's still given to being awake at night.

Alucard tries not to smile like an absolute idiot when Trevor sits himself down on the rug. A present was accepted with absolute minimal fussing. It's appreciated. That's everything that could ever matter, isn't it?]

Well, I'd hope so.

[Alucard remains standing though, but he walks closer, to where he's put a few cushions in the place of a pillow.]

Bring a book or something when you come back? Else I'll be stuck here with nothing to do in the morning.

[ That's the danger of being furniture. You don't get to move around without causing a fuss. If he does go to bed so much earlier than Alucard, he's going to have to figure out how to entertain himself in the morning without waking him.

With a sigh of almost-contentment, he lies back. It is soft, though not so much that it feels like sleeping on thin air the way that a mattress can be. It's not overly fancy, it's just- just nice. It's all just nice. ]

It's good. Thanks again.

It may be one you've read already, I'm afraid.

[Which is to say that he's sorry in advance. Alucard knows that he sleeps late. He'll always sleep late, especially with perpetual warmth around him. He's been sleeping so much later since Trevor's become his mattress.

There's a moment after Trevor lies down that Alucard hovers. Hesitates. Then he walks over to one side of Trevor and dares to put his lips against Trevor's. It's chaste. Nervous. Unsure if this is truly the right thing but by god, he's trying.]

I'll wake you up if I get bored.

[ He won't. He never does. He'll just lie there, like he does every morning, and not mind too much. It's a little like meditating, in truth, save for the fact that meditation is so rarely done from underneath a dhampir.

He doesn't get to consider that much further.

He notices Alucard's hair, first, brushing against his face and neck, and he automatically starts to lift the blanket to let him beneath it when his mind catches up and he realises that that's not what he's trying to do. And a fraction of a second later, he's kissing him. Only briefly, but it's still definitely a thing that's happening.

It takes him a while to respond and when he does the tone is brusque, even by his standards. He lifts the blanket again. ]

Changed my mind. In.

[???????????????

Alucard pulls back, his version of flushed and breathless. He's taken a risk, he knows how much he's taken a risk and Trevor is taking what feels like an eternity to respond.

He doesn't know what kind response would qualify as good. But Trevor lifting the blanket and demanding Alucard stay is as good as any. So Alucard does exactly as he's asked, and he's careful as he crawls under the blanket.]

You're sure?

Yeah.

[ He pulls the blanket down over Alucard, and that feels final. A decision made, impossible now to undo. Under the blanket, he waits for Alucard to settle before resting a hand on his back carefully, experimentally. It's nothing he hasn't done already, mostly in his sleep, but it didn't mean anything before. It does now. ]

This all okay with you, still?

[ Has anything fundamental changed, is what he means. He doesn't want anything to have changed. From the kitchen, the hissing probably isn't audible. But it certainly feels that way. ]

[This is very final. Alucard's quick to settle, which means that he's laying on his stomach right now, at eye level with Trevor as he very rarely is. One arm hangs low, off Trevor's side, the other is being used for the vampire to prop his chin on the forearm.]

Mmm. I've...this isn't a new feeling. I've been unsure of how to act on it.

[So maybe nothing's changed in Alucard's mind, at least.]

I care. And have cared for some time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[open] But I know I'll land here again

For Trevor

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject