(for cryptsleeper)

[miraclewhip]

[ He remembers- maybe about half of what happened last night. A little more, perhaps. He remembers the comments that initiated the fight. Vaguely remembers being dragged back to the inn. Remembers throwing cold water on his face to wake himself up to do the terrible fucking job of stitching himself back up that he found himself with this morning (if there was ever a chance to keep that fucking cut from scarring, well, he's gone and botched it).

And he remembers telling the fucking vampire things that he probably should not have told the fucking vampire. He doesn't remember the specifics but he knows that he said too much. More than he's told anyone in a decade maybe. All for the sake of a petty victory that he doesn't even remember if he achieved.

He's uncharacteristically quiet today, even for being as hungover as he is. He forces the almost-solid porridge down his throat when it's pushed in front of him. He drinks half the water that he was using to wash himself last night and pours the other half over his head to wake himself up after maybe an hour of sleep. He only interrupts Sypha's long, long 'discussion' when she stares at him for an indication that he's still awake. It's after that that he's dismissed to the back of the wagon, either because Sypha can't stand his presence right now or because she doesn't trust him not to fall off and end up tangled under its wheels.

(Can't blame her, being tangled up under the wheels of a wagon sounds better than being in his own head right now, even without the throbbing pain.)

He doesn't sleep, mostly because he's been told not to and he is, even more uncharacteristically, on his best behavior right now. The day is mostly uneventful until sometime in the afternoon, when a particularly foolish highwayman sees a wagon driven by a single speaker woman and tries to take advantage of the situation. He's driven off within moments, of course, harmlessly to both them and himself, and the worst that happens is that the horses are startled by Sypha's display and the wagon lurches to one side, knocking Trevor onto his side against the wooden floor. It's only after everything has been confirmed okay, once the horses are calm and they're moving again, that he places a hand to his lower chest. ]

Fuck.

[ It's warm. And damp. He's gone and opened his shitty stitches, hasn't he? ]

Comments

[miraclewhip]

Something isn't going to happen. I won't let it.

[ Not that he can actually stop anything from happening, but still. ]

You know I'm hopeless with this, Alucard. I don't. Do. Magic.

[cryptsleeper]

[There's that faint and fond smile at I won't let it. They give Alucard such nonsense about being too protective or possessive, but they're just as bad.]

Oddly enough, you do. Just not in any way you would've assumed it to be magic.

[miraclewhip]

The whip's not magic. It's numbers. You control it by knowing the weight and length you're working with, so you can figure out how much and how quickly you need to move it.

[ Not actually what Alucard was getting at, but okay. ]

[cryptsleeper]

The wine, Trevor.

[Alucard shakes his head. This boy and his whips, he swears.]

I'm not going to delve into sacraments, but bear with me the point here. You transformed something with blood and spit. That is, by any understanding, a basic thing to do in magic. I know you're familiar enough with principles, if only because you've been around Sypha and myself four years now.

[They defeated his father at the end of winter. As the spring thaw began. So it has been four years.]

[miraclewhip]

I spat in a bottle. That's not magic, that's watering down the alcohol.

[ He huffs. That's- still a touchy subject. And being accused of using magic is also a touchy subject. ]

Fine, tell me what to do. Let me prove you wrong before I start to regret spitting in anything.

[cryptsleeper]

[Trevor, if any man is going to be careful about saying someone used magic who do you think it is you absolute turnip?

Alucard stands up from his chair, which has been parked in front of the mirror for the better half of the afternoon. He gestures Trevor to come and sit in it instead.]

Both hands on either side of the mirror. Close your eyes, think about the face of the vampire.

[miraclewhip]

[ He sits down, following the instructions with a mixture of grumpiness and nervousness. He hates magic. He does not want to do magic. But this is the fastest way out of this stupid fucking conversation that doesn't involve snapping at Alucard and making the next few hours awkward. ]

Hold a mirror, think about an ugly bastard. I can do that.

[cryptsleeper]

Astute as you've ever been.

[It's not a matter of this being routine. Alucard knows better than to force this on a regular basis. But it's still useful to know if it can be done in an absolute emergency.

Alucard's eyes remain on the mirror. Nothing.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Nothing, the first time he opens his eyes. He tries again. Really tries.

It's too fucking bright. There's a shape, vaguely human, but it's blurred. More importantly, it's too bright to see. Too much snow, with even pale moonlight reflecting off it far, far too much. ]

I broke the fucking mirror, happy?

[cryptsleeper]

...Huh.

[Alucard folds his arms across his chest, and then walks over to examine the mirror better. Damnedest thing. He's never seen it before, and he runs his finger over the surface to make sure all is well.

He refocuses the mirror. The shape is exactly where it was in Trevor's sight, and he looks over at Trevor.]

Actually, you did fine.

[miraclewhip]

[ His scarred eye is closed when he looks at the mirror again, because fuck using his bad eye to look at the way the world looks through his bad eye is. Not pleasant at all. ]

That was you. I just made it look fucking weird.

[cryptsleeper]

You did. And I'm never going to ask you to do that again, I promise.

[He sees that scarred eye closed. Alucard understands what he just saw, and now he feels like an ass for trying to force this issue.]

[miraclewhip]

Fuck off.

[ He knows what an Alucard descending into guilt sounds like. And he hates that more than he hates this magic shit. ]

You didn't know it was going to happen, I didn't know it was going to work. I'll just keep that eye closed next time.

[cryptsleeper]

[This is absolutely entering the guilt pit. And they're both intent on not doing that, so let that be the raft they cling to.]

All right.

[Enid's list. It's over on Trevor's chair, and it's quick to check the name off.]

May I ask something about past Belmont plans with regards to my family?

[miraclewhip]

If it means I don't have to mess with this fucking thing anymore, ask anything.

[ Get out of that fucking guilt pit you ridiculous floating man. ]

[cryptsleeper]

How organized would dealing with the fall out have been? Realistically, I mean, not in terms of just elaborate planning.

[Trevor's still in his chair, so Alucard can only stand. He dismisses the mirror in full, and it only reflects the room back at them.]

[miraclewhip]

Realistically-

[ He sighs. He knows the plans, but guessing how it would have gone realistically- ]

-realistically, it was always going to be kind of shit. We had a few vampiric allies- ones who had been turned unwillingly, usually, we turned away those who wanted your father gone to further their own station. [ They would have likely been no kinder, and that they could not defeat Dracula themselves meant they would also be less useful for maintaining order. ] None strong enough to take his place. But they would have helped us to choose the best candidate to support.

There were a few candidates. Ones who were more vain than paranoid, so they would keep a court that our allies could be installed in. Ones who thought humans were below being turned and wouldn't permit it in Wallachia. If all else failed, though- ugh.

[ He stops there, because this is going to get really upsetting, really fast. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's quiet. That means he's listening. Really listening. The mirror shifts, showing a more pleasant scene. A quiet forest somewhere else in the world, all stillness and light and gentle breeze that makes the room feel less dark. This room's lack of windows always makes it harder.

He takes Trevor's chair since Trevor is in his. (Ass goes onto Enid's notes for a hot second, and then there's a muttered apology to the dead.]

Politics is what it would have become, in the end. Not hunting.

[Which is very strange indeed. House Belmont, vampiric king makers. Hell of a thought to wrap one's head around.]

And you'd have to retain that control through generations. Hunting less. Controlling more.

[miraclewhip]

The ideal, we'd have installed a leader who would have protected Wallachia. That would never have happened. At best, it would have been one who didn't allow turning and who wouldn't make war, one who might have been convinced over the years into finding a way to exist without fucking anything over for anyone. One who doesn't allow turning but does make war, that was probably the most likely- a long, long battle of attrition and a slow end to vampires in Europe.

[ And he sighs, because it's time for Alucard's favorite thing. ]

At worst- At worst there was the incense. It was only ever been meant to be used willingly, but if it was that or allow vampire struggles to consume Europe-

[cryptsleeper]

Centuries of work again. [Alucard sighs. None of this is easy, this is still a part of who he is. A fucked up part of heritage, but still. He wouldn't be himself without it, and there are moments where these conversations are hard. This is one of them.] And once all the vampires were gone, what then? The rest of the complex ecosystem of all the night things?

[That was one of the reasons vampires were needed. They controlled all manner of other things, after all.

And then that goddamn fucking thing comes up, and he hisses out of instinct.]

I didn't need that detail.

[miraclewhip]

If it came to it, yes.

[ It's hard for all of this to not feel like an accusation. Which is probably how Alucard feels about literally everything to do wit vampire hunting. ]

You said realistically. Would you rather I pretend that the situation wouldn't be dire enough and we could never be driven to abandon our principles?

[cryptsleeper]

[The way Alucard backs off means that he can concede the point, as painful as it may be. He props his elbow up on the arm of the chair and holds his forehead in his hand, the other gesturing to dismiss the thought.]

No, no. You're right. [He hates it, because of course he does, but still.]

But that ignores my concern about all the deeper complexities about what removing one species does to the entire world around it. That's where I've been trying to find balance in this work.

[miraclewhip]

We never had that concern.

[ It's an awful thing to say, but it's the truth. Alucard asked for his family's plans, and they had none for that eventuality. ]

If the complete extinction of vampires was what was necessary to stop more people from being turned or fed upon, then that would have been what was necessary. And the consequences of that- perhaps would have made more things necessary, and we would have done those as well. You wanted my family's solution, not a good solution.

[cryptsleeper]

[This is the place for that kind of honesty mixed with bitter brutality. This room. Only this room.]

You're right. That's what I asked. [So he can't be angry at an answer. Even if he hates the answer a lot. But after a few moments of silence, there's a much softer:] Ugh.

[It isn't directed at Trevor of the responses or anything else but the floor.]

[miraclewhip]

[ Alucard had asked about what his family's actual plan was, not what they would have done in this situation, and that, at least, is a blessing. Because he knows what his family would have done in this situation. He knows it and he hates it. ]

I don't know that there is a good solution.