Fandom Castlevania: Night's Dirge [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

Alucard’s smile remained gentle, even as the thought of how Lisa would have liked Aveline twisted his heart. She would have thought Aveline something special, too – for more than just the intrigue of her being a half, or being fae, at all. In spite of all she had gone through among her own kind, she was still a generally positive individual. Perhaps she did not yet see the good of the fae, or her other side, but she hadn’t totally abandoned humanity even if she knew to be afraid.

That she ran showed she knew that – but she saw hope and potential, still. “She would have liked you, too.” Alucard said. There weren’t too many her mother didn’t like, even the hopelessly ignorant. It was only the truly malicious she seemed to detest.

Like what his father had become, now.

He chuckled a bit at her statement of how she was more afraid of self-discovery than Dracula, finding the amusement along with her, though he understood. Dracula had a definitive time table. Dracula wouldn’t impact her in a way she didn’t understand. He would die, and life would continue. If she began to discover herself, she would change – and change on a deeply personal level. That was always scary. Plenty preferred stagnation, or other methods of coping, like drink or drugs, or anything to make things seem okay.

To ignore what needed to be done, as long as possible. “I’ll be here,” he offered, meaning it, as she started to rise and dust herself off. “If you run away I’ll just have to find you, so I’d rather you didn’t,” he said as he pulled himself up as well, “Let’s head back.” As he said it, and as he turned, however, he felt his sleeve pulled and before he could quite comprehend why – concern crossing his face first – he was pulled into an embrace.

He paused a moment, wondering at the last time he’d been wrapped up by anyone, before he loosened and wrapped his own arms around her, sighing both in relief and contentment as he hoped she could feel that he did mean every word. He would go after her if she left like that – he did want her to see that her place was here, with this group.

And perhaps, in a way, there, with him. It was selfish and he knew it, to think that just because they were both halves in this world of wholes, that they could bond. They weren’t the same sort, precisely…but they had been through similar experiences, and he felt she understood him, even when he didn’t say so much, or add in so much. She had already been certain he suffered as a dhampir, and he smiled into the embrace as she brought it up again.

His eyes shut, “I thank you…and I promise I will tell you, but…I am afraid of opening that wound again before we have dealt with Dracula.” Afraid his resolve might break if he spoke of how it was truly tearing him apart to know he had to kill his own father, for his mother. To know it had come to that point. The pain might overwhelm him then. He might, truly, not be able to go through with it.

He was terrified of that. He thought Aveline might understand, even if she was not in such a position…but it was not an easy one to express beyond the acknowledgment that the pain would overwhelm him. His grip tightened briefly, as he confessed, “I do not want to lose my resolve before….”

Before he had to do that horrible act. An act he would be praised for. An act he would hate himself for.

~***~

Lucia couldn’t say she was surprised by his confession of wanting to screw her over. It was, on her end, a pretty shitty deal. Yet she couldn’t let Trevor waste away in ale, and she could survive on animal blood. Not as well, as he pointed out. “I was going to take a bath,” she muttered, as if that might fix how terrible she looked.

He was offering for her to take human blood – or rather, working on it. Even he seemed to know the deal couldn’t be absolved. He might go back to taking ale if it was, and neither of them needed that. She wanted to protest the apparent weakness and how terrible she looked, but she couldn’t. Carmilla had pointed it out. Trevor would recognize the signs, too – hunter. He’d know if his prey was weaker.

She wasn’t his prey, but…he could see it. And Lucia felt it. Not to mention she hadn’t even fed that day. She’d gone right to looking for information rather than getting a meal. ‘Carmilla probably has more pigs.’ Or perhaps she should have ripped Carmilla’s throat open. Vampires probably didn’t count for their deal.

“Partly,” Lucia agreed, not wanting Johann or Danica to be reduced to just that role. They weren’t. She wouldn’t have trusted them in service to her and her home if that was all they could do. It wasn’t hard to find people to feed from. She was a duchess. Right in this town, it wouldn’t be hard to take her pick of anyone. Not that she would. She’d always limited herself to either her enemies, or those who consented.

Her enemies were going to die anyway, there wasn’t much of a reason not to take advantage.

“However I have no desire to absolve this deal, or even allow you a little liquor until after Dracula is dead,” she noted, “to allow me any human blood seems dangerously close to allowing you to drink anything, as there’s no consequences to me any longer. If you drink, I have already been drinking from humans – I’m not going to go out of spite and binge drink. I’m not around you all the time to make sure, either. If the others know I’m drinking, they may think the deal is off entirely.”

They may still judge Trevor for drinking ale, but…what could be done? “My diet usually consisted of only human, I’ll confess. Perhaps it could be watered down. Hunting for animals in towns like this isn’t…easy. They usually belong to someone.” And killing the animal was a crime. “If we’re still to make it so I’m not fully without some…fasting…perhaps out on the road animal takes precedence, but in a town, I could drink normally.” A part of her thought to add she’d drink from him, to make sure he wasn’t drinking while she wasn’t around, but that just seemed unfair to demand that.

She had Danica and Johann, and plenty of time between. They were consenting volunteers. Trevor would not have been. “I don’t know. This is a deal to keep you in line. You can suggest better terms.”

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" I understand," Alucard had to do something that most people would refuse without thought. The very idea of having to kill her father made chills run down her spine, she didn't think she could do it, but then again if her father was bent on destroying the world then maybe her hand would be forced. But she knew Alucard was going through an experience that truly only he knew how horrible it was. She could empathize all she wanted, and when she thought about what Alucard was putting himself through her eyes started to burn with unshed tears. " When everything is over and you're ready to talk, i'll be here." she echoed his words back at him.

Alucard had promised to be with her through this, one of the most trying times of her life, and she would do her best to be to him what he was being for her. He was a calm rock in a storm, and when Draculas body was gone and dead she'd try to be the same to him.

She didn't comment when she felt him hug her a bit closer, it gave her an idea of just how much he really was holding himself and his feelings in, she just hugged him a bit tighter and rested her head against a chest for a moment. His heart beat was faint but there, it was steady but she could only imagine how it must feel like it was breaking to him.

They pulled apart after a moment but Aveline smiled up at him, grateful for this heart to heart. It had settled some issues for her and helped her find a strength inside herself she didn't think would exist. " You're like a voice of reason in a storm sometimes," She mused as they started back to the inn, walking side by side and a bit closer than necessary but neither seemed to mind. " And sometimes you're poking at Trevor like someone would poke a bear. " she teased with a small chuckle.

" But I think that comes with you being so confidant. Confidant you can get away with teasing Trevor or Lucia, and being confidant that you could catch me if I tried to run away," that got a playful smirk on her face. " You'd have to be confidant to think you could find someone with even an ounce of fae blood in a forest when they don't want to be found. Wolf form or not, I think i could give you a run for your money," Despite how easily she got turned around in cities she could navigate a forest like a professional even if it was her first time in a forest, which she was sure would give her a real advantage.

Alucard and Lucia weren't the only people in the group who knew a thing or two about transformation, it was an ability she had really enjoyed when she was younger and looking for friends to play with. Normal foxes had no problems playing with her after all, but as she got older and things with her mother got tense she tried to downplay her abilities. However, if she was going to be trying to accept herself more then she might as well dust off some old classics and really contribute to the group when everything was said and done.

" We should have a race or a game of hide and seek when things aren't so time sensitive. We can make a bet out of it," She even suggested, though what she'd offer up she wasn't sure but the idea of having some real fun sounded too good to pass up. Plus the fae did love a good bet every now and then, they were kind of known for making deals with humans if they really wanted something. " if you win I could give you some blood or something, i'm not really sure," she mused, what do you give to handsome and capable Dhampir? Or what would he want?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor bit his tongue to keep himself from telling Lucia that no amount of baths would wipe away how tired and weak she was looking. He could see it in the way her cheeks were starting to thin out and her undereye was getting dark, they were subtle signs but on a beautiful woman like her he could easily pick them out. A trained hunters eye was always picking up on small details, whether that be for his prey or just the people he was around. He spotted small things most people would ignore, but he rarely commented on them. He could see the way Johann had been protecting his head since the bump, and the way Danica had been trying to keep pressure off her forearms after getting hurt by those owls, so seeing the changes in Lucia was like finding her bright red cape in the snow.

He felt weak, knowing that his own weakness was making Lucia suffer. If he could say no to a couple mugs of ale then this wouldn't be an issue, or well It would just be something he took issue with silently to himself, but as it was he was still in the early stages of fighting off this addiction to drinking. It was still very hard, hell last time he was sleeping he had dreamed of dancing ale, and the stress of Carmilla being around made him want ale like nothing else, but he channeled that urge into the energy he was using right now to blow through all these issues with Lucia.

He mused for a second over Lucias own suggestion, " When we're in towns or you're hurt then you can drink normally, to retain your strength and help you recover quicker," they did need her at the top of her game and if she was weak she'd be even more likely to get hurt" but in the forest then animals can easily enough be your main diet," he felt like this could work. He understood the tactical necessity that was Lucia and Alucard drinking human blood when things were serious or there were no other options, and his conscience felt better knowing that animals would still be part of her diet to keep the strain off of the people traveling with them.

" However if you're worried i'll go back on my word now that you're not eating only animal blood," He paused for a moment wondering if this was still real life and he was really about to offer this," then you can add me to you're roaster of human donors. You'd be able to tell from a taste if I've broken our deal,"

Offering his blood like this was like a strong promise, a hunter offering to be a snack for a vampire? It was unheard of honestly, but it showed he wanted to get better. He wanted to quit his ale drinking and help this team in the process. This way Lucia would have options open to her, she could make sure he was keeping his word, and he'd have a motivation to keep him on the straight and narrow.

 

[Lucyfer]

“I’m going to hold you to that, Aveline.”

Alucard knew when it all fell apart…he might need the presence of someone, anyone, to keep himself sane when the storm hit and he realized what he’d done. When he understood he would truly never have his father back, nor his mother – that they were both gone. He’d need to make sure he didn’t do anything so foolish as his father did. That he did not take his anger at the loss out on humanity, for starting all of this.

Otherwise, it would all be for naught.

When they parted, he slowed his steps to keep pace with Aveline, and indeed, he felt no inclination to go faster, or make more distance as they walked. Not after such an embrace, not as she talked of his good qualities…and then his not so good qualities. He smirked a bit, “Are you saying I shouldn’t be so confident?” Of course he knew Lucia a bit more than Trevor, and he was aware of what areas he could, and couldn’t, push.

Carmilla was going to be a ‘no’ – but he was also probably going to do it once they put this town behind them, if only because she’d started on this honesty trend and wanted information from Aveline, while providing the least of them all. Given, she had a ridiculously long life compared to all of them – it was probably hard to sort through her memories.

The smirk remained as she teased him of being able to escape, “Either you are underestimating what dhampirs are capable of, or overestimating yourself,” he kept that confidence, “I could find you. It may take a while,” but he would be able to find her, he was certain of it, no matter how many flowers tried to hide her scent, or other scents of flora and fauna. He could find his own kind amidst the scents of quite a bit of blood, he could find her.

He’d actually been thinking of a game of hide and seek. With how short his childhood had been, he hadn’t gotten to enjoy all the childish things for long. He had, of course, played with his mother. He considered that his father cheated due to his senses. Alucard didn’t precisely have an ability to mask his own, after all, not as Aveline would. His smirk broadened into a grin as she said it herself, and he laughed a bit at the suggestion of a bet, before shaking his head, “No, we’re not betting that, it’s not something I would feel comfortable taking in a gamble.” It was something that could be given, but a bet?

No, his mother would have frowned on him winning anything so intimate that way. At least, she’d considered it as such – it was a necessity of life for him and Dracula, perhaps, but for another experiencing it, he understood it was fairly…well, pleasant.

“You can teach me more runes, perhaps,” he knew they meant to do that anyways, “or perhaps more knowledge of plants. Given what I’ve seen…I presume you know much of them?” Knowledge was something he could always bet with, and bet against. Even if they might share it anyway, that only meant they were really losing nothing.

“But with blood…I don’t need as much as Lucia. It’s a bit like sleep. I usually only need to sleep about once a week, and with blood, it is about the same. It may become a bit more frequent if these battles continue with the demons all the way to the Belmont estate, though I can try to live off of animals as well.” They weren’t as abhorrent. Whether that was because he could eat regular meat and human food, he wasn’t sure. But he still didn’t like it. “Trevor would certainly throw a fit if I started feeding on anyone – and I may not mind poking the bear, but I’d rather avoid his wrath outright.”

Trevor remained a hunter. The protection of humans and, well, probably Aveline, would remain his priority. If Lucia was taking pains to keep herself in check, he ought to do the same. He didn’t even need so much as her, it shouldn’t be that hard. “Besides…I’m not even sure if your blood would be beneficial to me.” He was curious, admittedly, he wouldn’t deny that, “I don’t mean that – not to sound as if it wouldn’t be, the scent alone has been…intriguing…but I do not know much of its impact.”

~***~

Towns was what Lucia would try to stick to. If she got hurt, she seemed to be able to get by on animal blood until a town. Her stores were limited anyways. Danica and Johann couldn’t be drunk from, day after day. They had limits. They were human. She could dehydrate and kill them far too easily. That had always kept her in line, but usually, she wasn’t at risk of injury so the need to feed wasn’t as high.

She didn’t add that, though. There might come a time when it truly was advantageous to them all for her to drink outside a town. Best to leave the option open if he was adding it, and do what she could not to need it.

Then, Trevor did something stupid.

Or, perhaps not stupid, just wholly unexpected. Both of her brows shot up at his statement, and she immediately wanted to tell him that he didn’t know what he was doing. Of course, he knew logically what he was doing, he was offering blood to a vampire that needed it to survive. They all understood that. To her? Well…it added weight to his words about trusting her, more than most actions.

It was literally putting his life in her hands, in some respect, to trust she wouldn’t drain him dry – or trust he could get away if she tried. Most wouldn’t notice. It felt too good, and the sleepy feeling of blood loss and exhaustion almost seemed a natural, calming aspect of it, even when that was the point it was getting dangerous. The initial high of the bite just seemed like it should have such a fall-off.

“I would,” she agreed, but what would it matter if she could? ‘But you need your strength, too. And if you drink, what am I to do about that?’ It didn’t seem to resolve the conflict that there was no harm to it. “It would keep you accountable, and if you drink, then I drink, and then we’re both useless.” Perhaps that was the harm of it. Two capable people, out of commission for at least a night, which…could be bad. “But before you agree to this, you need to understand what you’re agreeing to. It will weaken you, as well, and you’ll need to stay hydrated,” it probably went without saying, but…well, there were some people who didn’t fully grasp how hydrated.

“You should also talk to Johann, or Danica, first. We’ll have to tell them of the new arrangement, anyway.” Probably Danica, Johann still seemed to get red in the face discussing it, hardly wanting to admit that he actually enjoyed it. “If you’re still comfortable with it…we’re in safe quarters here, I haven’t fed…we can make sure early in this journey that you’re fine with it. If you’re not, it doesn’t go forward.”

It was stated practically, but Lucia almost felt that silly heat that came with the thought of biting anyone who was half-way attractive or otherwise intriguing. One who was more than half-way attractive, was offering himself, and seemed to want to preserve her life – in two days, and a history of a hunter? It was ridiculously flattering, and flustering, despite the calm façade. She almost felt as flustered as Johann could get when talking about anything not strictly decent. The youngest hunter had lived such a sheltered life, waiting to be married off to someone.

He’d find someone.

One day. Probably. She might have to mention to his would-be suitors he liked to be bit.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" I'm not saying you shouldn't be confidant, but I am saying confidence can lead to over-confidence, like right now," Aveline had no doubts that Alucards wolf form was fast, she had seen him in action just the other night and was very impressed, but would his big hulking size really benefit him trying to chase her through the forest? And once she wasn't holding back anymore he'd realize that he was being a bit over-confident. " Because I think you're a little too confident considering you haven't seen me really give it my all,"

If there was going to be any immediate bright side to telling the others the truth It would be that she didn't have to hold herself back anymore. No more hiding how quick her reflexes were, or quickly or quietly she could move. It also solved the problem with growing her own fruits and vegetables, actually that sounded like a good way to warm the others up to her. An apple or maybe some other more exotic fruit after a meal would surely show them the positives of having her in the group.

" If-" and she emphasized 'if' " you found me it would be because I got bored waiting and let you find me," She teased him. " We're definitely going to have to test this out when we get a chance." she decided. They were both getting invested in this, and she could feel them both excited by the idea of running around together. She wasn't sure if Alucard was feeling a childlike glee like she was or if he just wanted to compare a Dhampir to a Halfling, regardless this was going to have to happen.

" Ok so no blood bets, but runes are something i can definitely teach you. Though I was going to show you some anyway, maybe i'll show you some of the magical runes if you actually beat me, the same goes with plants," She hummed, she had never planned on withholding her knowledge of Runes from Alucard so if he did somehow win against her he would just be getting a lesson from her sooner rather than later, but not all runes were created equal. She could probably show him how to use runes to actually get magical effects out of them.

" I was actually thinking about working on some runes sometime soon too. There are some runes you can carve into things and then throw, when they make impact with a person or the ground they explode into what ever you carved into them. Like fire, ice, smoke, things like that. I thought they'd be useful but didn't want to risk exposing myself, too late for that though. I also know some protection runes that would probably be good for the carriage," though if the runes would work against demons she wasn't sure yet, she didn't see any reason why they wouldn't when they kept out everything else.

" But speaking of blood are you sure animal blood is the best?" She asked with a concerned frown, she knew she didn't really know much about the topic but she had seen how tired Lucia was looking and didn't want Alucard to end up looking like that because of animal blood, " I'm sure we'll keep running into trouble, and you already got hurt, that should increase your blood intake. Lucia is drinking animals and after everything that's happened lately she looks really tired, i'm worried about her health, I don't want to see you like that!"

" Trevor can throw his fit all he likes but if you need human blood to heal then i'm telling you right now you can come to me," She promised him, a determined fire in her eyes, " It's my blood I can share it with who I want." she added with a defiant nod of her head.

" Though I don't see why my blood wouldn't be as good as any other persons," she couldn't imagine that being half fae would make her blood any worse for him. " Though I suppose the only way to find out would be to test it. You still have that wound in your shoulder from Johanns bolt yesterday right? If we don't tell trevor you can try my blood now and see if it does anything to help you heal," She offered easily.

To her the idea of letting Alucard drink her blood wasn't anything too weird, but even if it was she could understand it. He needed blood to survive she wasn't going to act like it was gross or like he disgusted her, just like how she didn't freak out when people ate meat, she understood the need for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" It sounds like the best way to me," The fact that so much would rid on his abstaining from drinking really helped give him the push he needed to ignore the stuff. If he did give in it compromised his ability to fight and protect, and if Lucia drank from him she would be compromised too. That would be two heavy hitters out of the fight because of his bad decision, that could mean life or death if they were suddenly attacked by demons or anything else that lurked out in the woods. Yeah that was what he needed to know, if he was weak and fucked up then innocent people could get hurt, people he cared about could die and Lucia would know she was right not to put her full trust in him.

Those were high stakes, but they would keep him walking that thin line and give him the strength to actually walk back into the inn, ignore the counter, and go to sleep.

" Guess if you agree to these terms then i'll have another reason to drink a lot of water," He said cheekily. He knew what he was getting himself into, he had been bitten once on the arm by a vampire and could remember how tired it made him feel after the fact. It had only been for a moment, the vampire had latched onto his arm and would of probably ripped his arm off if he hadn't been quick enough with his sword. The adrenaline in his veins gave him all the energy he needed to get out of there and wrap up his bleeding arm, but he had been so tired afterwards.

He was signing up for something similar, but he wouldn't be alone this time. He was traveling with strong people that he knew could pick up the slack if they were attacked after Lucia feed off of him, and if she feed then she should have the energy to take the lead. It was a little hard thinking about handing over the title of unofficial leader for any reason, but this deal only existed because he was a slave to his drinking so he could shelf his issues for now.

" I'll ask Johann about it later when i get back to our room, but he could literally tell me it feels like being stabbed through the gut with a long sword and i'd still agree. You're suffering because of something I should have control over, i want to try and fix things."

Trevor was set in his ways, he wasn't comfortable with the idea of offering up Johanns and Danicas blood, even If the two were willing, but he also knew it didn't make things personal enough for him. Putting himself out there would give him the motivation he needed.

" You haven't fed tonight right? We can do this now," He offered, kind of eager to get this over with. He was a bit nervous about what it would really feel like, but he was the type to jump in head first and once he knew what it felt like the nerves would surely go away. Yeah they would totally go away, these nerves weren't related to a beautiful woman who was about to bite him, maybe even on the neck if all those stories about vampires were true. " If not and you insist that I talk to Johann first then you'd have to go get me after your bath," she needed to feed before they set out tomorrow, so this was going to happen tonight.

 

[Lucyfer]

Aveline was clearly confident in her own ability to evade being found, or caught, by him. Alucard definitely wanted to put it to the test. Even if he lost, it would just inspire him to get better, and more familiar, with her methods. Of course, she’d learn from his attempts, too, but it would be…fun, as much as it was insightful.

Though he supposed he’d have to give up something with each loss. Somehow, he doubted he would mind at all. When this was all over, all he’d have would be the knowledge passed down from either parent…what was the use of that all alone? More knowledge, knew knowledge, would be nice…something he could pursue apart from what they left him.

If Aveline were still there, he’d also have someone he could share his knowledge with, beyond his personal woes. They could build something from it – from their half lives, into whole lives.

He didn’t quite realize the implications of how some parts of him were starting to imagine a future with her in it, more permanently.

“We’ll certainly test it – and you’ll teach me the magical runes soon enough,” he added, “and whatever you want from me, then – should you win – if I can offer it, I shall.”

Though the conversation shifted its direction back to blood, with Aveline stating her blood should be fine. Alucard pursed his lips together, “That may be true, but…let me just explain a bit, I do not mean any offense, but as you must be seeing with Lucia, not all blood is equal, or healthy. Animal blood will sustain us, like a diet of bread and water for a human,” enough…but not meant for a long term diet. “Human blood is a full course meal. Demon blood…is not something I would try. While I am not certain from experience, I’m fairly certain it would be poison,” thus the concern.

“I have also heard contradicting stories about vampire blood – some claim it is the best of all, and others think it is poison. It is why I wouldn’t offer myself to Lucia,” he didn’t fall in the ‘human’ category, and could have been exempt, but it was not a risk he was willing to take, nor one he imagined Lucia would be willing to take. “There may be absolutely nothing wrong with your blood, but I wanted you to know. I haven’t had the experiences myself, but word gets around – I haven’t been staked in the heart, but I know it would kill me. I know there is poison blood out there, but I’m not sure what it would be.”

He heard no stories indicating fae blood would be, but there were enough stories of vampires mistakenly drinking something bad and dying from it – be it a tainted human or some inhuman creature.

He did still have the wound, though.

And he didn’t know about fae blood.

He paused in walking, mulling it over in his head. An experiment would at least help him get an idea, and if he didn’t take much, if it was poisonous, then he should be able to cleanse his system. In theory. “All right. We can do a test,” Aveline was right – it was her decision to make, and his, of course. “But I don’t think we should go back to the inn for that,” just in case. They didn’t need to cause more of a scandal.

“Let’s find a secluded place. I’ll just take a bit – that way we can see if there will be any negative reactions. If not…then when I need blood on this journey, so long as you remain willing…I’ll come to you.”

He would reach for her hand, to take it and walk with her, to locate a place that would seem secluded, but not…well, creepy. Dark alleys and the like, where someone might mistake what he was doing as something that should be stopped. He imagined there had to be at least a place that would be cleared out of most people by this hour, and fairly secluded – not many houses looking down on it. It looked like the kind of place that would have had a grove or something for a harvest, and while the leaves might be dead on the trees, or falling off, it seemed a better idea than anything else.

~***~

‘He’s not going to tell you it feels like getting stabbed with a sword.’ Lucia couldn’t quite suppress the smile that came to her lips as Trevor suggested he didn’t care what Johann had to say. He apparently was unaware of how the bite could feel, when not used as a weapon, but used to feed. He was thinking it’d be painful. Of course – Johann thought much the same. She made sure he talked to a few others before deciding to agree to it.

Not all of her servants served the role of blood donors.

Still he insisted on getting it over with. It was tempting. It was far too tempting. A part wanted to do it just to show him the benefits of getting his facts straight, and besides primal hunger, another just wanted that closeness, to see how he’d react without any knowledge of it.

She lingered on the thought. It grew enticing with each second, and she stilled her breathing. It wasn’t helping at all. Only after a few seconds did she take a deep breath and tried not to focus on more than the air moving through her lungs to allow speech, “Talk to Johann, Trevor. You’re the one who mentioned the library…this isn’t something you should go into ill-informed, either.” She may lose that surprise reaction, but…no matter.

She retained some level of self-respect and she hoped Trevor would not be bothered by her caution. “Besides, you’ll want to be sitting down, and if my bath is cold, I’m going to be upset. This gives me a reason not to sulk in it for long.”

She said that out loud, didn’t she? Sulking in a tub…damn it. “And you didn’t hear that.” Though despite some embarrassment at revealing the entire plan for her evening, a hint of a smile touched her lips as she turned to open the door once more, not intending to let Trevor argue for things to just be over with then and there.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" I didn't realize that was such a prominent issues Vampires had to deal with. You normally hear stories about vampires seeping through villagers and just digging into people, you never hear about a vampire drinking tainted blood from someone or something then dying," But there was probably a reason for that Aveline suppose. Vampires could of done their best to hide that information from anyone that wasn't vampire, but in this day and age it was impossible to figure out just who was hiding what. The church really wanted to capitalize off the people and were trying to kill off the local folk lore that used to be so present. It could be the church itself destroying stories with useful information that the average person might need some day.

Though not all folk lore or legends were dying off, areas that were farther from major cities and didn't have such a strong church presence still had history and legends that they could turn to in times of trouble, which was good and bad. Sometimes, or more often than not, a mob could get really out of hand if they believed something evil and supernatural was hurting their village, and in the past hunters would deal with that. A good hunter would put a stop to what ever was happening before it became a major problem, but if the church had excommunicated the Belmonts it probably went after other hunter families, though few were as well known or public knowledge as the Belmonts had been.

" But it makes sense, it's like eating berries. Some are delicious, some are average, and others can kill you if you don't know what you were looking at," which made her like a berry Alucard had to examine and figure out if she'd kill him. She certainly hoped she wouldn't kill him, but she had never heard any lore that would make her think her blood would be poison to him, if she even thought for a second that was a possibility then she wouldn't of offered or been so eager to test it out. " Still if this all works out and i'm not poison, then I can't see myself telling you no. That'd be like not giving food to someone who's hungry, which is rude."

She easily followed Alucard through the alley looking for some place for their little experiment, she was actually a bit nervous about it but that was just because she had never given blood to a vampire before. Still there were a lot of things she had never done before and she found the best way to get rid of the nerves were to give it a shot, but even more than nervous she was hopeful. She really wanted to be able to help Alucard, she hoped that her blood wasn't any kind of poison to him because she wanted to repay him somehow. His words and his quiet reassurance meant a lot to her.

Just being around him made things easier, and maybe it was naïve to get so close to him just because they were both two halfs that didn't along in this world of wholes but still this whole trip so far she found herself gravitating to him, and she hoped when this mission was done they'd still be together. Now that really was naïve, to get a little crush on the first beautiful person that gave her the time of day but here she was, and she didn't think she could find it in herself to regret these growing feelings. Yes, there was no way she could smother this blossoming feeling in her chest, she just hoped that by the end of everything her feelings wouldn't turn into some gnarled root.

Finally they found some type of open field, it was probably where the towns people gathered when ever they held festivals or fields. There was a large tree in the middle that looked to be preparing for winter, most of its leafs were gone but the few that remained were a dark orange and ready to fall.

" I kind of feel like I should say something, but the only thing that comes to mind is ' I hope I don't poison you'," Aveline chuckled softly as she leaned back against the tree. She hoped this worked out though, she wanted to be able to try to help Alucard like way he had helped her. A little blood once a week didn't seem like much, but it was something at least.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trevor snorted a bit hearing Lucia talk about sulking in her tub, and he didn't try to hide his cocky grin from her either. It was nice to see her more open like this, he preferred less serious people more often than not, so seeing her with her guard down a bit was nice. He wished he got to see this side of her more, and maybe if they actually got better at trusting one another he would.

" Fine you go and bathe, and i'll go and talk to Johann." Trevor conceded, if that was what Lucia needed him to do to get this over with then he'd go along with it. Though he didn't see why it was so important, he had an idea of the basics. She'd find some part of him with a good vein and have at it, stories talked about the neck but he had heard of vampires drinking from wrists as well so he wasn't sure which it would be.

Still this would all end the same, Lucia would have another person to drink from and now the option for human blood was back on the table under certain circumstances. He didn't think it mattered if he talked about it, unless of course Johann told him something really horrible happened after but he imagined just feeling weak would be the end result. That and drinking a lot of water.

Trevor opened the door back into the inn, holding it open for Lucia to step though, and ignored the curious look on the inn Keepers face when they both walked back in. " Ah there you are miss, your bath is ready and waiting." Trevored hoped he hadn't really spoken to Lucia so long that her bath water had gone cold, but as a vampire she was cold to the touch so cold water couldn't be that horrible for her.

" You know where to find me when you're done." He said as he headed up stairs and to his shared room with Johann, where he found the blond getting ready for bed.

" Johann, good I caught you while you were still up, Lucia told me to talk with you about something," that caught Johanns attention and he looked up from buttoning up his sleep shirt. "Is something the matter?" Maybe something was wrong with Lucia and she needed him?

" It's nothing too serious but me and her revised the deal we made," he began, voice low incase the inn walls were a bit thin. " she'll be returning to her normal diet when we're in cities or when she's hurt, but the rest of the time she'll continue on the diet she's on now. As for my part of the deal, to keep me on the straight and narrow, i'm being added to the drink line up." Johanns eyes widened in surprise. "W-What you're really going to do that?! I didn't think things were so bad that would happen," He didn't expect Lucia to ask that of Trevor, his drinking must be something she really wanted to keep under control.

" I insisted on it, i'm aware of the conseqences of what will happen to us and the group if I drink and then give blood to her," He could only imagine the disappointed look on Lucias face, and then the others if they found out he had broken his word. But he wasn't going to do that, not when Lucias trust was a fragile thing he was still trying to totally earn. " I wanted to give her some now because she clearly needs it," Johann didn't speak up to try and argue that, Lucia clearly needed the blood. her arm wound wasn't fully healed and he hated to see her slowly wasting away.

" But she wouldn't until I talked to you about it for some reason. I imagine she wanted you to tell me what to expect or maybe a safe word incase she takes too much," he joked.

 

[Lucyfer]

Alucard hadn’t been aware the stories weren’t common. They weren’t common even with him, but they were in his life all the same – instructional. Like he was definitely told not to feed from clergy of any faith, just in case. Holy water could be drunk, and go completely unnoticed – and drinking that would cause a vampire to burn up fairly quickly from the inside out.

His father wanted him to know everything that could be a risk to him, since he moved within the human world more often than Dracula did. “The comparison is apt,” he agreed with the sentiment of berries. He definitely knew plenty were poisonous, and others were like sweet nectar from the gods. His mother had been sure to point out a few of the local, poisonous ones, so he’d know not to be harmed by them. He didn’t know much beyond the local, though.

He didn’t even know their names, just how to recognize them.

Soon, they came to a field, with a large enough tree for him to think the shadow would help with this situation, and Aveline approached it and put her back against it. Definitely a good idea. He knew this could make people feel quite weak, and he wasn’t sure if he might have to carry her after it. He didn’t intend to drink that much, but this was new to her and she was just so…small. What he considered a little could end up being a lot.

He gave a slight smile at her words, and a nod, “I won’t hold it against you if you do,” he chuckled, before stepping forward, and brushing some stray strands of hair away from her neck. “If at any time this feels…not right, just tell me to stop. I will. It…it will hurt for a moment,” he noted, facing flushing a bit as he added, “but then it will stop.”

Just the initial pricks.

“Ready?”

He would wait until she gave an indication that she was, before leaning over her. He didn’t need light to find the vein – her pulse, and the scent, gave it all away, but his eyes remained open to watch for any tension, or any indication she wasn’t wholly okay with this, before his fangs would graze her neck, and then, press into it quickly, breaking the skin to draw the blood out.

He knew after that, the ‘poison’, as her mother had termed it when she felt like being philosophical, would flow into Aveline to make her presume nothing was wrong – quite the opposite in fact, which would allow Alucard to feed peacefully. It was only then he’d shut his eyes, the blood tasting far better than it had smelled, but he knew he should only take a sip…some poisons were sweet.

~***~

Lucia did let a flicker of a smile cross her face, before remembering not to look up, “Thank you,” the warmth was in her tone as she addressed the innkeeper, before walking by to get to the bath.

It should have been a simple matter, but apparently, Danica had come in and found out that Lucia had a bath drawn. No doubt the innkeeper asked Danica where she’d gone. Danica was waiting just outside, that concern written on her face – she had known Lucia would come back soon if she was having a bath drawn.

“Where were you?” While it wasn’t directly accusatory, Lucia heard it in Danica’s tone all the same. The worry masked most of it.

“Trevor thought we needed to talk,” Lucia said, and she saw how relief spread over Danica’s face at that, “He wanted to clear up some of what was said, or implied, by Carmilla. He’s…rather determined.”

“He’s good,” Danica said, and Lucia sighed at that, knowing she was thinking to the cloak, too.

She wanted to agree, but she kept it to herself, for now. “We’ve adapted the deal a bit, as well,” she saw Danica’s face falter, clearly assuming they’d both agreed to indulge their vices a little in the midst of this chaos. “He’s not going to drink…but he seems to think I need to,” he was probably right. “So I will. Sometimes. And he’s volunteered to assist.”

She could hear the judgment in that single arched brow. Lucia didn’t drink from anyone that quickly, unless she was killing them. “You like him.” She stated it far too bluntly to be tactful, and Lucia couldn’t help but shoot a flustered glare up at her. She wanted to childishly deny it, but…well, that’d be pointless.

‘He trusts me.’ So soon. From a hunter’s perspective, he knew the risks of being fed on – it could be his death. That he offered it up to keep himself on the straight and narrow?

“I want to like him,” she clarified for Danica. “He’s…good, as you say. And it’s weird.” Not even Danica warmed so quickly, there was a growing period when Danica had come into her service decades ago. “If he’s drunk holy water, I’ll be sure he dies a painful death.”

“Lucia,” Danica sighed a bit at that, but there was a slight laugh in her tone to hear Lucia force the words of something terrible possibly happening instead. For all the horrible things she could imagine…she did always try. And she did forge bonds. Strong ones. This would add another layer of trust with Trevor – but she seemed to have missed what Danica was saying. Or ignored it.

Either way, “Well, I like him. And I approve.” Danica said, “but do let me know before you do anything too foolish,” there was a slight chuckle, “I have some questions I’ll need to ask.” That was when it clicked in Lucia’s head, and Danica could see that half-horrified, half-surprised look. Perhaps it hadn’t settled in Lucia’s head, but if she’d take a look at her behavior…oh, that might be delicious. She hadn’t seen Lucia flustered over anyone before, or trying for such attentions.

It’d be cute, if she was right. “Go to sleep, mom!”

Danica laughed at the nickname. They could talk about Carmilla, later…she wasn’t going to ruin this as she left Lucia to her bath, which was, thankfully, still warm. Perhaps cold water didn’t bother her, in truth…but being cold blooded, Lucia tended to prefer warmth. Warm water. A thousand warm blankets. Chernihiv as a location was far too cold for her tastes, but that did come with perks of lots of warm things for inside.

~***~

Johann could recall being as stubborn as Trevor about it, insisting on helping more than ‘just a guard’. Lucia was fairly good at defending herself, and Chernihiv didn’t face many problems. He understood that she needed guards who could handle the sun, but he had felt almost useless for a while when he came on. He learned that others gave their blood, and tried to insist it was something he wanted to do.

As Trevor, she had fit him with the same task to learn more about it, first.

He had assumed it would be painful, and the first second or two was. There was no denying that. Even after learning the rest…he’d been wholly unprepared for the sensation that followed, the sensation that still made him a bit giddy, and caused his face to take on a bright red hue as he realized Trevor was asking him, and he had to explain.

Why couldn’t he ask Danica?

“Er, there…there actually is a safe word,” Johann glanced back down to his shirt to finish with the buttons, but his fingers fumbled with it, and put a button through a hole too far down. “I mean, it’s not—it’s not like she wouldn’t snap out of it with ‘stop’, but Latin reaches her better, so, uh – try to use Latin. Desine.”

He fixed the button as he tried to find the words for the rest, “As for the rest, well…if you do start to feel tired during, that’s when you have to tell her to stop. She’s generally good at figuring it out, but…not always.” Not when starved, not when wounded, or otherwise compromised and unfocused. Like stress-eaters, really. “The—the bite itself, um. It doesn’t hurt. I mean, it does – at first. But. Um.”

The button slipped out of the hole and he went about locating the right hole for it, and he let out a slightly frustrated sigh as he finally found the words, “It’s weird, okay. And I feel weird saying it, but it’s…kind of wonderful? Alcohol doesn’t work like that bite, and she’s…had to get rid of a few servants for becoming…well…they liked the sensation too much.” It was hard enough admitting to liking it at all, given his relationship with Lucia remained friendly, and nothing more. He saw her certainly as more of an aunt, or a sister, than as a lover, but the bite?

It definitely brought up some…conflicting thoughts. “I…think she’s worried about making things weird.”

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" Ready," Aveline hummed softly, when they were close like this there was no need to be louder than a whisper with how close they were. This was surprisingly tender, and suddenly all those stories she had heard about vampires being seductive monsters that slipped into the bedrooms of virgin maidens made sense. She didn't think they held any truth but as Alucard swept some hair away from her neck and she felt his hands brush against her skin her heart beat sped up, and the feeling of his breath made a small shiver go up her spine.

She felt the fangs for maybe a moment, and the pressure of something pierce her skin for less than a second, it drew a small gasp from her. She had been cut or pricked before by thorns or blades, but never around her neck. She didn't realize it was so sensitive, but the pain that normally came with getting pricked wasn't there. Instead it felt warm, a fuzzy kind of warm that made her think of sitting a little too close to the fire when your hands were cold and you wanted so desperately to get warm. She wanted to move closer to that warmth and the body boxing her in against the tree, but she didn't.

She didn't think she could, whether it was because Alucard was already pressed close or because she couldn't really tell her body she wasn't sure but nothing felt wrong. This actually felt better than she expected, she could see why Vampires were known for being some what seductive, people could get addicted to this feeling if they weren't careful. Now she really hoped her blood wasn't poison because she wouldn't mind doing this again.

She didn't know how much time had passed, when she had closed her eyes, or how much blood Alucard had taken but she felt him pull away, and her neck was left cold. The spot he had fed from was hit by the cold air around them and made her shiver. With a soft but curious hand she reached up to feel the spot, she wondered if it would bleed on its own for a bit or if a vampires bite naturally healed up the wound after. Maybe the fangs were just so small that the body didn't even need to heal, it could just easily close back up. The fangs certainly hadn't felt that big, so anything was possible.

" So," She started with a chuckle as she leaned her head, eyes still closed " You're still alive, i'd say that's a win." her blood hadn't killed him the second he took his first sip so she was hopeful she wasn't poisonous but some poisons took time. " Hopefully you're still alive and well tomorrow, if you are i'd say that would be the answer to the question of if i'm deadly. Or well Poisonous, I know i'm already deadly," She giggled a little and opened her eyes, she was a little light headed after everything was said and done, but she wasn't as bad off as she could of been. She'd considered this a success.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Christ there is really a safe word," Trevor mumbled to himself, he had been joking and certainly hadn't expected it to be true. Still ' Desine' he thought to himself and hoped he'd remember it. He did remember some classical latin, and that was a pretty simple word. Hell he'd speak whole sentences to her if that's what it took to keep her from draining him dry. But he was actually surprised to hear the problem wasn't the pain, it was the pleasure.

" Hmmm," he was trying to take in the information. This felt like something he should know already, he actually felt like a kind of shitty hunter for not but then again his family had never gotten that comfortable around vampires. He was probably the first Belmont to ever spend so much time around a vampire and not try to kill it honestly. So it made sense that no one had ever found out bites felt good, his vampire had only ever ripped themselves away from violent vampires who were ready to tear our their throats. Of course they had heard legends that vampire bites felt good to the victim, but they had assumed those were lies spread by the vampires for the most part.

" Guess that makes sense," he finally said. From a hunters perspective this was knowledge he didn't know and it was interesting, " Probably something in the bite to subdue prey to make feeding easier, which is weird because vampires normally go on raids where they just rip out throats and pour blood down their throats," The implications that vampires could subdue what ever they caught were interesting, maybe it was so they could fully drain a person without any fuss. Or maybe vampires were meant to only take a little, and instead of it being a parasite relationship it was meant to be something benefited both parties. A vampire that was loyal to the people it took blood from could prove a powerful ally, and Lucia was basically a living example of that.

" At least I know now, that would be something weird to deal with on my own," He mumbled. Last thing he needed was a confused boner after getting bitten by Lucia while thinking he was the only person that enjoyed the bite, and it was a bit nice to hear it wouldn't be total agony while it was happening. Though he was also a bit worried that he would be trading one addiction for another, but Lucia seemed to have good self control so he wouldn't end up begging for her to drain him.

" Thanks for letting me know, Johann. I'm also going to thank Lucia for sending me to you, I bet she wanted you to squirm talking about it," He teased the other hunter as he wandered over to his own bed, he wasn't sure how long Lucias bath was but he might as well make himself comfortable and maybe clean his weapons while he was waiting.

 

[Lucyfer]

If her blood was poison, it wasn’t an immediate one. Alucard knew of delays, though he didn’t think this would be the case, after he’d drawn away from her, golden eyes quickly going over her as she leaned back, seeming quite a bit more relaxed. She didn’t seem poorly off – he hadn’t taken too much then, though he knew he took more than the sip he intended to take. Likely a bad thing if this end up to be poison.

“Yes, you certainly are deadly,” he agreed, “I think a period of 24 hours is a good testing time to determine if your blood is safe,” he noted, eyes flicking up to the wound. He knew it would close up, and heal faster, but it wasn’t a matter of seconds. The closing up would be, thankfully. It had made him wonder why so many vampires seemed to prefer killing their prey, at times.

Their fangs clearly weren’t made for that. The wounds closed and it was pleasant…but so many vampires seemed to prefer tearing others apart with their other powers, and just wasting so much by downing the blood from whatever open wound they created.

“We should get you back to the inn…it would be good to get some water, and rest,” he noted. “Or at least, water,” if she wasn’t yet tired, he was sure some of them were trying to stay on the night shift for tomorrow, when they wouldn’t be in a protected town.

He extended his hand out to Aveline again, “And I’m…sorry if that was a bit strange. I haven’t known quite how to describe the bite,” given he hadn’t ever been bitten, and he was fairly sure even in his mother’s most scientifically minded phrasing, she hadn’t quite said it all, either. He didn’t really ask others in his father’s castle, either, they just knew it was more or less part of their job.

Alucard wondered, briefly, what happened to them.

If they were still alive…probably not.

He wouldn’t long linger on it. It was a thought for after his father was dealt with – then he could mourn everything.

~***~

Yes, Lucia probably did want to make him squirm a bit even if she wouldn’t see it. He just groaned as it was mentioned. Lucia knew why, but that didn’t mean he was all that comfortable with his own…well…complicated thoughts that always immediately followed. He got them under control, of course. It was easier for Danica. She had no attraction to Lucia, at all. A bite didn’t change that.

“Glad I could help,” he figured he would stay in the room until Lucia showed up, then leave. It seemed Trevor wasn’t changing his mind, and he wasn’t sure if he had expected him to. That he offered at all…it seemed strange from a Belmont. It had been strange for him, of course, this seemed stranger.

Belmonts hunted vampires.

‘And he really didn’t know.’ So Johann at least felt less stupid for his ignorance on it.

Lucia was true to her word about not lingering in the bath. Though Johann imagined he was going to be eternally tired on this trip, he stayed awake and was quick to leave his bed when he heard the knock, and walk to the door to open it. It was Lucia, dressed back as before, though she’d put her hair back in a loose braid. Her hair did not have the wonderful perk of drying any quicker because she was a vampire – she certainly wished that came with things.

“You’re cruel.” He said as soon as he saw her, and she raised both of her brows.

“I gave him the option.” He could have asked Danica. Though, perhaps, she assumed he was more likely to ask Johann. They were both men, both hunters…it made sense. “Or is this about sleep?”

“It isn’t now.” Though he was pouting, she could see through it. He slipped by her, to head back out to the lobby for a bit. No one else would enter Trevor’s room, and she stepped in, shutting the door before glancing over at Trevor. “You’re still determined, aren’t you?” Johann clearly seemed to think nothing had changed. Minus the fact he was cleaning a weapon now. Not exactly the most approachable situation, though perhaps holding a blade would make him feel more comfortable.

She wasn’t about to mention that, though. She didn’t want him holding a weapon.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" Water sounds good, but I think i'm going to try and put off sleep until morning," Aveline was just starting to get used to their travel schedule and she wasn't about to ruin it by sleeping at night again, it would be like throwing all her efforts out of the window. " By the time we get to the Belmont hold I wonder if i'll be able to go back to sleeping at night again," She joked as she pushed herself away from the tree.

She was steady on her feet but she saw Alucard hovering near her, it was a silent but sweet gesture, but she had noticed a lot of things about Alucard were silent but held alot of meaning. What Carmilla said about Alucard having a soft human heart seemed true to her, for all his elegance and strength his actions showed that he was always watching and was thoughtful. Carmilla seemed to think it was a flaw, but Aveline didn't see it as such. Alucard was of course attractive but his attention to detail and thoughtfulness were her favorite things about him, well that and his smile. She loved to see him be less serious, when ever he joked or agreed to childish things like a game of hide and seek with her she thought he looked happiest.

" You explained it to me well enough, it only hurt for a second, then like you said the pain went away," She assured Alucard as she took his hand and they started back towards the inn, " But is the bite really so mysterious you're not sure how to explain it completely?" There was a chance he never felt the need to explain it before, as the son of Dracula it was probably easy to get blood no questions asked. Though assuming she was the first person he bitten was probably wrong, but the idea of Alucard sipping blood from a glass in his castle instead of having to bite into someone was kind of funny.

Still Alucard had been careful with her, he had only taken a small amount like he said he would and as more time passed the more normal she felt. The spot in her neck didn't hurt or throb, though as she felt it with her fingers it was sore to the touch but even that was something that would go away in a day or two.

Aveline pulled her cloak up a little higher and made sure to hide the new marks under her ample hood, best to hide it and avoid any conflict just incase they did run into someone in the lobby. Plus Trevor was more eagle eyed than he let on, and as a hunter he would be able to pick out vampire bite marks immediately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not looking away from his work Trevor didn't look up at Lucia as she entered the room, he had almost finished cleaning his set of throwing knives, but he could put them aside for now. " Yup, just as determined as I was last time I saw you," He assured Lucia as he wiped his hands off on a clean rag, no need to risk getting blade polish on Lucia after she had just gotten out of her bath.

The bath did seem to go her some good, but no amount of warm water was going to get rid of the tired look on her face. That tired look was why he was determined to change their deal and go through this. He was part of the reason why she looked tired, and if this was only after a few days on an animal diet he hated to imagine what she would look like once they reached his families hold let alone Dracula.

He had removed the shoulder piece he normally wore that held both his throwing knifes and a large version of his families crest on the back, so he had clearly gotten comfortable to a certain degree, but he was mostly prepared in case this left him so tired he just wanted to go to sleep right away.

Realizing that he probably shouldn't be polishing his knifes like he was planning something he tucked his daggers back into their places along the straps, then tossed the whole thing off the side of the bed where he couldn't reach it from where he sat. he also reached into his boot and pulled out the knife he kept tucked there. He was serious about this, if Lucia was going to trust him then he needed to make himself vulnerable, even if a certain part of him told him it was a stupid idea. Him being vulnerable had only ever made his life hell, he had spent years building up his own walls after the death of his family, but Dracula was their end goal and his death was the most important. It would do his family proud if he helped put an end to Dracula, so he was willing to push himself mentally and emotionally to get it done.

Tossing his boot knife off the end of the bed, where it landed with his other daggers, he showed that he was unarmed and serious about this.

" Johann already told me about the safe word," He joked to ease the weird tension building in the room. But truthfully he hoped It wouldn't need it use it, but Lucia was healing and had been going without human blood for a while. He imagined that with her like she was now, close to starving and most likely really hungry, this was one of the more dangerous times to be offering himself up like a defenseless turkey dinner.

 

[Lucyfer]

Alucard nodded, accepting the answer that she intended to stay up. He wouldn’t blame her at all if she ended up failing in that endeavor, but he understood the need to stay awake. The majority needed to stick to that, given the demons would be back to bother them as soon as they left this town. This was a brief respite they were unlikely to find again, given who was the cause of this respite…and what had happened.

As he began to walk with her, he noted, “If you wanted to, I’m sure we could manage it – we’d just have to keep you up an entire day,” he did not think that would be so hard, if she wanted to return to a normal schedule. She would probably end up missing the long hours in the sun, after all.

The real topic at hand was the bite, though. He expected questions or concerns about it, though he hadn’t been sure of any reassurance for his explanation. He was glad that it had gone over well enough. “Those I fed on were usually those who already served that role for my father – there was no need of it,” Dracula had given up his raids even before Lisa, but he hadn’t truly started to see to the needs of himself so well until her.

And then he had a son in the picture…that meant servants to make sure he was fed, even if Lisa insisted on doing most of her own work. “And I have never felt it myself. I only have what others have told me, and I cannot be too sure of their veracity since it is not an experience I’ve shared.”

He noticed the adjustment of her hood, and added, “It shouldn’t be visible by the morning – or at least, not very visible,” he did not know if she would heal it quicker than normal, or not, but he knew that at least within 24-hours, most of those bitten no longer showed it. Danica and Johann clearly didn’t have any lasting marks, though he knew they hadn’t been fed on recently – they had in the past.

No lasting damage. “Does it bother you?” Perhaps if it wasn’t poison to him, it was in some way different for her. She had seemed fairly…well, relaxed during the procedure, but a lingering pain would not be good news, or even a lingering discomfort. Though, with any luck, she was only bothered by the thought of others seeing…just as he was.

The inn wasn’t far now.

He didn’t know how many of them would be trying to keep to the nightshift schedule. He doubted Johann would be among them, blissfully unaware that Johann was in the lobby. He knew Lucia wouldn’t be shifting schedules. Trevor and Sypha were questionable. He was fairly certain Danica would be among those asleep, or nearly asleep, if only to relieve Johann of the earliest shift.

~***~

Trevor did not keep his weapons in hand. He didn’t even keep them near enough to grab, and that Lucia almost protested – but he had the safe word, which caused a smile to curl onto her lips as she shook her head. Really, any word of ‘stop’ or similar would work, she was aware of her environment, but Latin did have its way of translating over in her mind first. Even though she’d been speaking Romanian for the past few days, and Ruthenian was still more common to her, Latin remained her mother tongue.

“Good. There is a chance you’ll need it…if not this time, another time,” after all, it took a bit to get to know a person’s reactions, and learn to read them. Learn what signs meant they were too tired, or that she’d taken too much, when they didn’t even realize it. Or when they thought they could offer more.

Johann was foolish enough to try sometimes. She’d gotten good at reading him. “If you begin to feel tired during, that’s when you have to tell me,” she wasn’t sure if Johann mentioned it, but just in case. After was expected. After the high started to level off fairly quickly. She was told it did wonders for getting to sleep, though.

She crossed the room to where Trevor sat, and put a hand down on his shoulder. A part of her wanted to walk right back out, call this nonsense off, and tell Trevor he could drink. Or that she trusted that he wouldn’t drink – but while Trevor had spilled his heart, she knew she wasn’t the sort to ever trust words…and somehow, she thought it might do better if Trevor did learn she could be trusted in such a delicate situation.

It might help to reaffirm with both of them, that they weren’t the menaces their legacies made them out to be.

Either way, she offered a comment with a sly smile, “Try not to enjoy this too much. One moan and I’m leaving.” He would definitely not be the first one – it had been weird the first few times it happened, but she’d come to accept that, well, if this was a perk or a good thing for the food…far be it from her to criticize that.

But she would mess with Trevor a bit.

There was no other words or reason to delay, though. Trevor had been intent on getting this over with earlier, and she wouldn’t deny him now as she leaned over him, her other hand reaching out to his neck to adjust the angle a bit, before sliding around the back of his neck as she brought her lips to his neck. It was instinct to tangle them up in his brown hair so she could have some control of any movement, to make sure there was no slipping that might cause more damage from her fangs, just as it was instinct to touch her tongue to the place first, to give his flesh the warning, before the fangs sunk in on an exhale.

Lucia knew almost immediately this was a bad idea as the first rush of blood was swallowed down. Novelty paired with the need of human blood did not make for a good mix, and new blood was always something enjoyed, even if she could tell his diet could be better. Beyond that, there was still that slight thrill on the tongue that always came with the first sip of any new blood. Her eyes shut to savor it, something she knew logically she should not have done so she could better watch for cues, but it still happened. Just as she still tightened her grip on his shoulder.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" No it doesn't bother me, it's kind of sore like if I hit my knee against something a little too hard," Aveline assured Alucard. The bite mark wasn't even something on her mind honestly, there was no sting and even the bite hadn't hurt for more than a second. There was probably some vampire related reason for it, maybe their spit had a slight healing property or their fangs injected something in their target to help the process, but speculation wouldn't get her anywhere.

" I don't know if it looks like anything happened, and if its a bit oblivious I wanted to hide it incase we ran into anyone," There was no way to tell if any of their friends would be in the lobby when they returned, and even if they weren't there was still the possibility Danica who she was sharing a room with would notice the marks. She didn't think Danica would go around talking about it, maybe pull her aside and ask her what was going on and if everything was consented to, but she didn't want to take any risks with Trevor until things were a bit calmer.

She did still have to worry about how Trevor was going to react around her when they saw each other again, and how the group would react to her mixed heritage.

" I don't think we want to risk Trevor staking you because he thought you forced something on me," She teased Alucard as she playfully nudged his side. Alucard didn't seem the type to do something like that, but then again you never knew what a person was truly capable. And with Trevors background in Vampire hunting well he would probably be a bit more prone to confronting Alucard if something seemed fishy to him.

" The inn looks like it's still standing," She said as the Inn came into view. With the way Carmilla had ripped into the group she was a bit worried she'd come back to see the group had started to fight and tear the inn apart from the inside out, but everything looked very normal from the outside. " With the group we travel with I was kind of worried It would be on fire or something without us there," though she would confess that unless she was stopping a fight that she could very easily be involved in something getting caught on fire or destroyed.

Stepping inside Aveline glanced around and saw that Sypha and Johann were sitting in the lobby, and the inn keeper had been switched out for another person so the older man must be heading to sleep. " No Danica down here? Or Trevor?" Aveline asked curiously as she joined the two at their table. " Ah no, Danica wanted to catch up on some sleep and I didn't want to disturb her," Sypha explained as she looked up from a book she had taken from the carriage a little while ago.

" And Trevor and Lucia wanted to...to um speak to one another so I gave them some privacy." Johann explained, but his kind of nervous expression made Aveline raise a curious eyebrow. She didn't push it though and instead started to dig around in the satchel on her side. " Do you guys want to play cards with me then? I'm not interested in going to bed just yet,"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" Oh you have to tell me after this if Johanns ever moan," Trevor said with a shit eating smirk creeping onto his face, " He was all red in the face when I asked him about this, I think he enjoys it a bit more than he should," Johann had been flustered, but then again Johann was still pretty young he couldn't be more than in his early 20s. When you're young like that stuff like this could feel really intimate and cause weird feelings, but Trevor considered himself old enough to not get flustered like some young man over a beautiful woman touching his neck.

Being a hunter meant being on the road a lot, and being an excommunicated hunter that some mobs would still like to burn meant never staying in one town for more than a day or two, but that didn't mean he was totally unaware of physical intimacy. He had had his share of beautiful men and women, but nothing that ever lasted past a night. So as Lucia stepped close he wasn't some blushing Virgin.

The hand tangled in his hair was a bit of a shocker, and so was the cold wet touch of her tongue. He gasped slightly, then felt her fangs in his neck a second later. It got a slight wince from him and his body twitched slightly in pain, but her hand kept his head in place long enough that he relaxed again. The pain had lasted only a second, like pricking a finger, but instead of pulling his finger away it had stayed in place so he felt nothing painful. In fact even the slight pain disappeared, which he knew it shouldn't when anything was stuck in your body the feeling shouldn't just go away. His neck should be warm and throbbing, but there was none of that.

Instead his whole body felt kind of warm and he had to fight to keep his eyes open, his body wanted to shut them but instead he kept them open and looking off into the distance, not really focusing on anything.

He was waiting for warming signs from his body, Lucia would know when to pull away right? But in the back of his mind he knew he was basically a feast for a starving woman, could you really expect them to just walk away when they were full? Part of him wanted to try and take as much of this as possible, she was hungry because of him. She should be able to get her fill off of him, plus it's not like he needed all his blood. he had lost plenty of it before and he was still kicking, he could hold off until those warning signs became impossible to ignore.

He wasn't sure how much time passed but he started to feel light headed, the tips of his fingers were kind of cold, and Lucias hold on him felt tight too tight. Had she always been holding him this closely? One of his hands reached over and rested on top of the hand Lucia put on his shoulder. " Lucia," He tried to get her attention first.

" Desine,"

His mouth felt dry.

" Si Vis,"

 

[Lucyfer]

Alucard did allow an, “No, I’d rather avoid being staked,” though he understood the play, and the smile was on his lips, “or having to defend myself against Trevor.” He knew he’d been right to trust Lucia with that, even if the wound she took would have been much less on him. He would have retaliated with far more violence and less restraint, than she showed.

Even if her actions had made it seem like she wasn’t acting with restraint, then.

“It’s a trap,” he stated as they saw the inn standing, and she expressed surprise. He figured that was also a play, but he understood that fear, at least. If Trevor took things with Carmilla and Lucia the wrong way, or worried Lucia might indeed cut and run, that could have escalated, quickly. There was already the tension of what Aveline was in the midst of it all, too.

“If it isn’t…we likely owe Sypha or Danica our thanks.”

And it was Sypha they found in the lobby with Johann, who was yawning, clearly not wanting to be out there. Sypha was giving Danica some peace, perhaps thinking she’d wake her if she tried to step in – or perhaps just also trying to keep that night shift and so, not disturb Danica with her waking activities.

Johann? Johann had apparently been kicked out of the room. “They couldn’t use Lucia’s room?” he wasn’t there.

“They, uh, didn’t know when you’d be back…I guess,” and knew Johann wouldn’t come back until he got the signal. Alucard also arched a curious eyebrow. It should have been a bad idea to leave the hunter and the vampire alone together, but now Alucard had questions of an entirely different nature.

He did not get to pursue them as cards were brought up. Johann perked up a bit at that, and nodded, as Alucard moved to take an available seat, while pulling the one next to him out automatically for Aveline. “What games do you know?” Johann asked Aveline, hoping his own knowledge of games would fit with the standard here in Romania.

He’d learned a few from his home, and some from Lucia, games he hadn’t heard of, or games that had been adapted. He knew his knowledge on the card games wasn’t as advanced as that of board or dice games – those were more common around Chernihiv and Lucia’s own home, so he had gotten used to learning them among the others.

He’d at least gotten fairly good at most of them – even Liar’s Dice. Which most people didn’t expect he’d keep a straight face so well or not give up what he had, given outside of games, well…the fact he was still showing signs of his anxiety proved why.

Sypha was already sitting up, putting her focus to the card game and not all that went unspoken after Carmilla left their presence. It seemed Aveline wasn't ready to talk about it right then and there, though she imagined that Alucard had told her - well, warned her - about Trevor and Lucia. She was curious in the deck that Aveline had brought with her, though - if it would be a Tarot deck or other.

~***~

Though Lucia was not paying so much attention as she should have, she was not unaware. The touch, and the call, were enough. Lucia did not even hesitate or linger as ‘Desine’ slipped Trevor’s lips, grip relaxing before he even added the polite addition. She pulled back, stepped back to break contact. Her burgundy eyes swept over him, easily recognizing she’d taken more than she should have just by the pallor of his skin. Not so much he’d die, not so much it would be a huge concern…but it still took time to restore.

She felt better, though.

A lot better. It was amazing what a bit of human blood did, much as she hated to admit it. Her arm would finally finish healing. “Thank you…and I’m sorry,” she said first, “…I drank more than I should have,” and he wasn’t used to this, she shouldn’t have hoped he’d notice sooner.

“I’ll be sure Danica picks up some food rich in iron in the morning,” that would help, along with the water. Such a thing might be good for the group in general if they kept ending up in these kinds of fights. Blood loss was always a risk.

Lucia shook her head then, more to clear it from the mental chastisements – what was done, was done, “Since you didn’t even make it awkward you deserve at least that,” she said, and decided to give Trevor the answer he wanted, “As for Johann…yes, he has before.” Not anymore, and not even the first time, but it was the third or fourth, when he’d clearly started to learn what to expect, and he got a bit too comfortable.

He’d been embarrassed, needless to say, and Lucia had done her best not to laugh at him and to reassure him he wasn’t alone. “Tease him about it, and he’ll know if you ever do.” It probably wasn’t much of a threat, and Trevor probably would tease Johann, which would honestly make it all the more amusing if he ever did forget himself.

The play faded, just a bit. She didn’t step closer, but kept the distance, even if the concern found itself in each syllable. “How are you feeling?” She at least knew symptoms, and generally if anything more needed to be done besides the general re-cooping – rest and hydration. She didn’t want Trevor swooning. To her that was a bit beyond the acceptable ‘rest and hydration’ phase.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" I know a good couple of card and dice games," Aveline said happily, relieved that she wasn't being attacked with questions. Stealing a glance at Sypha from under her hair she could tell that was what she wanted to do, but she was holding herself back which Aveline appreciated. Plus now wasn't really the time to tell everyone the truth, not in a quiet inn where people could be listening or get hurt if things got out of hand. No, she'd tell them when they were out on the road where it would only be them. The fact that meant she could also put off her confession didn't escape her, even though she had promised Alucard she'd try to accept herself and tell the truth a part of her still wanted to run and put off this first step to a better self. But she was a fighter, and the day Trevor and Lucia was giving her was the most she was going to allow herself.

" My father was a mercenary before he settled down to raise me, and once told me the best way to get to know someone is over a game of something you've never played before," She pulled multiple decks of cards from her bag, which got a raised brow from Johann, who carried so many decks of cards around? " Ah sorry, I like collecting decks of cards. They're just so different depending on where you get them from," Aveline sheepishly rubbed at the back of her neck. Some card games needed specific cards, but most of her decks were just pretty or very different from one another.

" Oh a tarot deck," Sypha said, not surprised to find this in there at all. " did your father have a saying about Tarot decks?" she teased.

" He had a saying for everything, so yes. ' Tarot card games are not supposed to end with a winner or a loser. If someone does win it is because they are given a new perspective they did not have before'," Aveline nodded sagely at the advice. " I was given that deck of cards by an old friend of his who came to visit. That same man forged the spear heads on my staff, my father sent for him when he deemed be good enough to deserve a real weapon not just a wooden one." The memory was a fond one for her as she watched Sypha flip through the deck, it was a little worn around the corners but they were loved.

" Can you read fortunes with them?" Johann asked curiously as he grabbed a card to look over himself. Some people could read fortunes from average playing cards, but some specialized in tarot decks. " I am much better at reading teas leaves than tarot cards," She said with a small shake of her head.

" Oh we can play Legher, we pass out all the cards in the deck and then go around in the circle trying to get rid of our cards. We go up the suits of cards as we go. So if Sypha starts she'll have to get rid of Aces, then Johann ones, Alucard 2s, and myself 3s. It'll go around like that but if you think the person lied about the kind of card they put down, like if i need to put down a 3 but put down a 7 because I didn't have any threes, then someone would have to call me ' Legher' or just liar. If I did lie i'd take all the discarded cards, but If I told the truth then the people who called me a liar would have to take the cards instead."

" Sounds simple enough," Sypha said as she grabbed one of the larger decks of cards from Aveline, and after checking to make sure it had suits they were all familiar with she started to shuffle and then hand them out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Lucia let him go Trevor leaned back on his arm slightly and wiggled his fingers to try and warm them up a bit, so thats what it felt like to get your blood drank by a vampire that wasn't trying to rip your throat out in the process. He was kind of tired, but honestly he was more shaky than anything else. He was fiddling with his fingers mostly to hide the slight wobble there.

" you're looking better," he joked, he wanted Lucia to stop looking like she was going to kick herself. He had pushed himself like this, he waited until the last second he could to ask her to stop but it looks like even though she was looking healthier she wasn't pleased with the results.

" Don't apologize, I was holding off. Figured you needed the stuff and I have enough to share." He knew his blood was refill on its own, he had lost enough to know it would just take some water, some good food, and a couple days to be able totally restored but he'd feel fine as a nap and maybe a few glasses of water. " I get what you mean about being hydrated though, guess I have another reason to drink more water," he was sure he was only this shaky because he hadn't had as much water as he should of before this. But he'd make sure to drink a couple of glasses worth a day now so that next time he wasn't left like this.

He snorted out a laugh hearing that Johann had in fact moaned after getting bitten before, being an ex-hunter that had to really mess with Johann after it happened even if his main focus had been werewolves. He would have to tease him about that. " You can't tell me not to tease the kid, he gets flustered so easy. Can't let you and Danica have all the fun," he chuckled.

" I'm feeling fine. Not like this is the first time I've lost blood or this is anywhere near the worst I've ever felt, I prefer this feeling than most of the other things that have happened to me. Hell this cut on my eye wouldn't stop bleeding for hours and opened up constantly. It was a real pain in the ass," And the fact he had gotten his scar when his family was being burnt alive certainly didn't help. It was yet another reason why he didn't put too much effort into his appearance, he wasn't going to look into a mirror and look at this scar that held such painful memories more than he had to. Even his reflection in the water was a bit too much sometimes, if he caught his reflect in his ale sometimes it was just more reason to shoot back what was left in his tankard. Now he'd have to do that with his mug of water.

" I do think I want some water though," he decided as he pushed himself up off his bed, and despite not stumbling over anything he did move a bit slower for a second to get used to suddenly feeling a bit lighter.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘A mercenary and a fae?’ Now that was a twist Alucard hadn’t expected. He didn’t know what he thought her father was, though somehow ‘farmer’ or something more in line with that seemed more likely than mercenary. He was surprised, and didn’t hide it, wondering more at how her parents even came together. He knew it wasn’t a story he could ask now, and likely, not until she’d told the rest of the group of her heritage.

Still, it definitely explained her use of the spear now.

Alucard leaned towards Sypha as she was looking over the tarot card, curious of the designs on it, and a bit curious if the friend had been human or fae. Yet another question he couldn’t ask, though he presumed human, given it was the father’s friend, and had taught her the spear, too. “You should do our fortunes one day!” Sypha said, once she had finished with the deck, and took back the card Johann had taken. “Tea leaves, or tarot!” She was curious what hers might say.

Johann nodded agreeably, as Sypha passed the deck back, and even Alucard couldn’t help but note, “We’re all here on a prophecy,” seemed fitting.

A game was proposed for now, and Johann canted his head, “A deck with ones? Huh….” He hadn’t encountered one of those, Aces usually played as ones. “I think I got it, though,” sounded a bit like liar’s dice, but with cards – and there were only 4 of each kind of card, so that made it all the more interesting for trying to lie. There were only a set amount of dice in the liar’s dice game, but the dice could be any number.

If someone tried to discard three 2’s, and he had two 2’s, he’d know them for a liar.

He took his cards readily from Sypha, “How should we start?” He asked then.

“Youngest to oldest?” Sypha suggested.

“23,” Johann stated. He was used to ending up the youngest, but he wasn’t sure if he would be among this group.

“20,” Alucard added in his voice. He realized he hadn’t ever considered his age in the group. He hadn’t thought he was younger than Johann, somehow…perhaps it was just because he had, physically and even mentally, grown up so much faster that he felt like he should have been older than Johann. He also brought up his cards to take a quick glance at them, noticing he seemed to have been given mostly cards of the royal court. Well...this wasn't good for starting. His expression at least remained neutral in the brief examination.

~***~

Trevor still had his humor, and he hardly seemed upset by this, with her, or with himself. It was enough to start to get Lucia to relax again, to even smile a bit as he commented that she was at least looking better. He wasn’t – but she didn’t state that. That was usually how it went, after all – she looked better, the prey didn’t. “Try not to do that again,” she advised, but it was a lighter warning now. In theory, she would be better off next time.

Trevor wouldn’t need to give so much.

She just shook her head at the fact he’d be teasing Johann, “You’ll have to stay vigilant then, Belmont, lest you end up in his shoes,” she absolutely wanted him to fail now, if only so he could be teased right back for it. And perhaps just out of a curiosity of how he’d sound, that same curiosity that had wanted to just bite him in the alley. She probably would have heard it then.

He probably had dealt with immense blood loss before. Facial wounds always bled more – it was no wonder he lost more from his scar, and while he seemed to speak of it flippantly, Lucia didn’t dare to tease on that matter. She might have made a comment otherwise that at least he could scar – some of those could be quite badass looking, his own among those, but that didn’t mean he liked it, or wanted to think of any of that. She couldn’t scar. Vampirism didn’t allow it, unless she had scars from before turning…which she didn’t.

“Head wounds are usually the worst,” she agreed instead, “Not even considering the fact blood is annoying when it gets in your eyes.” He rose, not unsteady, not stumbling, but slow, and Lucia started to reach out, but quickly stopped herself, drew her hands back, but stepped closer. Perhaps she was worrying over nothing, but she was the cause of his blood loss, so she’d at least monitor a bit to make sure he wasn’t about to hit the floor. “I could bring you water,” but he seemed to want to move, so she presumed he wanted to get it himself. “Are you familiar with black molasses?” She had no other name for the particular kind – it was the third boiling of sugarcane, that seemed to change it quite a bit.

She was certain the carriage had some.

Danica considered it a cure for blood loss – she’d bring it. If Trevor wasn’t opposed to it, or didn’t know it, she imagined she might be able to convince him to take down a tablespoon or two. Johann hated the taste, but Danica seemed to like…though she often added it to warmed milk whenever she could. Or used it as a wet rub for meats.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" I have my tint of mint tea with me, maybe the Inn Keeper could bring us some hot water and i'll read the leaves after we're done," Aveline hummed as she pulled the tint of mint from her bag and waved the Inn Keeper over. He was a young man, much younger than the Inn Keeper the had dealt with earlier, and probably the son or a family friend of the owner. " Can we have some hot water for tea please?" she requested, and he nodded before disappearing into the kitchen door behind the counter.

" Just how much stuff do you keep in that satchel?" Johann asked with a chuckle. One minute Aveline was pulling out multiple decks of cards and next it was a fist sized box of mint tea. "It's magical," She joked with a little wave of her fingers, though truthfully it was a little enchanted.

She looked around for a moment to make sure there was no one around but all of them, then placed her satchel on the table. She leaned forward a bit to whisper " It is truthfully a little bit enchanted. My father made me this bag out of leather he tanned himself so it means a lot to me , and I knew my journey would be long so it was best not to carry too much with me. I inscribed some runes on the inside of the bag and while It won't hold infinite items, it holds a lot more than you'd expect."

To prove her point Aveline slipped her hand into the bag and it disappeared up to her elbow. " If it wasn't so full of things I could maybe get up to my shoulder,"

Syphas eyes were shining with curiosity. " You have to show me these runes! What are they based in? Are they occult or magic based? Or maybe Alchemic In nature," She mused as she also stuck her hand into the bag to really make sure the bag was that big and this wasn't some joke Aveline was playing on them. She wasn't disappointed.

" I'll show you and Alucard," She knew he must be brimming with curiosity as well and plus she already promised to teach him some runes, " some other time in private. Maybe next time we're in camp together," she said, and Sypha nodded. She wondered for a moment if the runes had anything to do with Avelines heritage, and something in her gut said it did so she didn't push it. Plus it was a good idea not to talk about magical runes in public when the Inn Keeper could be back any moment. " But there are many with many uses, I think I can find something everyone in the group will benefit from," she promised them.

When the excitement over her bag settled down Sypha dealt the cards, and wordlessly the Inn Keeper came over with a couple of cups, some spoons, and a kettle of hot water. Everyone helped themselves to a cup of mint tea, though Sypha sipped at hers when it was still hot because she was excited for her fortune to be read.

" I'm 24," Sypha said proudly, a bit giddy to be older than mature regal Alucard.

" Really?" Aveline asked looking between Johann and Sypha a bit shocked, but both nodded so they must be telling the truth. " I'm 20 as well. What month were you born, Alucard? Maybe I have a couple months on you," she teased him. " I was born Martius 12th 1457," she added.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" If I do ever moan, which I highly doubt since i'm not some virgin whos never had a woman that close to me before-," Trevor was clearly teasing Johann who wasn't even here to defend himself. Downstairs Johann sneezed a bit, almost like he knew someone was talking about him. " Then i'll tell the others you did something very unlady like to do that to me," He gave a shit eating grin. He wasn't sure if the others would believe it, probably not, but still the chance to tease Lucia was too good to pass up.

It was weird how right now it was so easy for them to talk to one another, but he wasn't upset by it. If every time he gave her blood they were able to relax like this around one another then he wouldn't mind this new deal they had agreed on.

" Molasses?" Trevor repeated, he didn't see how that would cure him or his thirst at the moment, " What are you going to make me some cookies to help with the blood loss?" he teased her, but he knew of it and he liked the smell of it. " I've heard of it before, my sister used to put it in her ginger cookies that she really liked." he hummed, a bit more willing to talk in this comfy atmosphere they had found themselves in.

" Smells something awful, I remember dipping my finger in some as a kid and hating the taste of it," he chuckled, his sisters had all laughed at the expression he made. He had only hurt it was a kind of sugar and been excited, he was a real fool for that.

" Does it help with blood loss or something?" Though how he couldn't imagine. Unless it went right into his veins he didn't think there was any immediate way to fix the way he was feeling, he just needed some water and to sit down a bit. Well that and maybe some nuts, he remembered his father telling him that if he ever started to lose more blood than he was keeping in his body to grab a handful of nuts or beans, something they kept around on trips that were bound to be long or cold, and that those would help.

" I doubt that stuff tastes any better than the last time I had it too," He laughed, but he was willing to humor Lucia. If she had some and thought it would be good for him to have a bit of it then he'd swallow it down, maybe he'd like the stuff more as an adult than he did as a 9 year old boy trying to steal sweets when no one was looking.

 

[Lucyfer]

Alucard’s eyes widened as he heard the satchel was enchanted. He let Sypha test it, “That’s convenient,” he noted, “Is it as heavy as everything within it, too?” He imagined that was somehow an easier enchantment than one to give it more space, but he didn’t know how runes worked. He was eager to learn more – much as Sypha was.

It seemed they would both end up being Aveline’s students in this respect.

The tea was brought over after Aveline had expressed that the runes had many purposes, which could help them all. ‘No doubt.’ Though he did wonder how receptive some in the party might be. Namely Trevor.

“Thank you,” he said to the inn keeper as the kettle was brought back, with plenty of cups for them all, and the tea was soon spread to each of them. Alucard didn’t grab his immediately, though he noticed how Johann reached to cup his hands around his cup. He didn’t bring it to his lips immediately, but the habit remained – living up in the colder climate almost always had him reaching for the warm cups, even if his hands weren’t freezing.

“I can’t believe you two are both older than me,” Alucard murmured. Sypha, in a way, he could. She looked fairly young, but she was clearly knowledgeable. It took years to learn spells as she did, but even so, he was surprised that he might be the youngest.

It was confirmed when Aveline spoke up, and he sighed, “November 2nd,” he’d slept through his birthday. The frost in the air told him as much that it was closer to December than October, though in truth he hadn’t asked anyone. He hadn’t cared much about birthdays, but he was still certain it was after his birthday, so he must be 20 now. “Same year as you, Aveline. Unless we haven’t reached November 2nd, then I suppose I’m still 19.”

Johann was the one to shake his head, “No, we’re past it.” He confirmed it, before the sound of steps drew his attention away from the game before it could begin, to see Lucia and Trevor. Of course they’d show up now, as he was getting involved in a game.

~***~

Lucia just arched a brow as Trevor insinuated he would tease her about doing something very unladylike – as if she cut the picture of a perfect lady anyway. Though, she supposed she had surprised Sypha a bit when she did act a bit, well, classless. “I do believe you mean, something very lady-like,” she teased back. Given that women were always supposed to find their place as the source of men’s pleasures, she had never understood why women were supposed to be so…well, passive.

And people wondered why orgies and prostitutes were popular in Rome.

She let that topic slip into the one of molasses as Trevor was able to make his way out of the room. “I can’t cook to save anyone’s life,” Lucia chuckled a bit, the reason should be obvious. She had no taste for it. “However, Danica swears by it. I’ve seen her drink a cup of warm milk with two tablespoons of molasses in it after, and be quite fine, even when she was near swooning.” She didn’t understand it, but she didn’t question it.

It worked for her, it might help Trevor a bit, at least with the feeling, if not the actual strength. “I cannot speak for its taste, but Johann dislikes it, and Danica enjoys it. I know Danica would not have left without some, I’m sure I can dig it out while you get water.” Or if he wanted to try the milk thing, he could see if the innkeeper had any available. She doubted somehow it was as popular here.

“I suppose if need be, we could find a way to put it in cookies. They’d be easy enough to transport,” making the cookies was another story, “you thought you could get access to an oven for sweet rolls, I’m sure if you can, Danica can.” And then Trevor would have delicious cookies to pair with his blood loss. Win-win.

They came down the stairs then, to see the others – sans Danica – gathered around a table with cards. Johann glanced back at the sound of their steps. “You can go to sleep now.” Lucia told him, intending to keep walking.

Alucard’s look was particularly intense. He noticed.

“After this game – you two wanna join for one round?” Lucia didn’t answer, didn’t really notice a question had been asked.

“Should I be ordering you a tankard of ale, Trevor?” Alucard asked, though he was already folding his cards down, planning to go after Lucia this time because she had clearly drunk, and Trevor was also, clearly, the source. Something happened. He had a feeling it was all on the up and up, but he still wanted the explanation.

This might help things with his and Aveline’s decision, at least….

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" If I had only used a rune for enlarging the space in the bag, then yes it would be as heavy as everything in it. But I know some advanced runes, almost everything that goes in my bag permanently gets a rune for lightening its weight, that way it doesn't feel like i'm carrying around 50 pounds of random things I just can't seem to let go of," Aveline explained with a sheepish chuckle. She felt a little bad using her magical rune knowledge to allow her to hoard some things she thought were pretty, but collecting things had given her something to look forward to while she traveled and given her a reason to seek people out. When she left home she had no real objective, but telling herself she'd visit a town to see if they had some unique cards or any good books was better than being some hermit in the forest.

" Oh," Aveline hummed in surprise hearing Alucard birthday, " You were born in November? I'm almost 8 months older than you," She had a grin on her face that promised this would come back up in the future. But it was also pretty funny, out of everyone at the table Alucard looked like he should be the oldest, he was the tallest and had a calm air that just screamed maturity, but his vampire aging much of added to that. But the fact the youngest member of the group wasn't Aveline but instead Alucard was pretty funny to her.

" But we also missed your birthday. We'll have to celebrate when it's more appropriate," She added. She knew it wouldn't be OK to celebrate any time soon. With their mission being to kill Alucards father that didn't scream festive, and after their job was over she highly doubted Alucard would want to do anything other than mourn, but she wasn't going to just ignore his birthday. Her father had never ignored hers, at least he hadn't until he died but he didn't have a say in that, and even while traveling on her own she had celebrated her own birthday in small little ways. So in the least she engrained Alucards birthday in her mind, when November 2nd came around again they'd certainly have to celebrate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" It is pretty late at night, if I was going to get the inn keeper to let me us the oven now would be the time," Trevor mused as they headed downstairs, he was totally sure if they'd be the only ones up or if everyone would be hanging out in their own rooms, but half of their group was in the lobby and looked to be having a good time. Even Alucard looked to be enjoying himself, but then suddenly Alucards stare was too intense and he knew they had been discovered, but Alucard probably also didn't know about the deal they had made. Johann was the only person other than himself and Lucia to know about it as far as he knew, and Johann had didn't seem the type to keep babble about others business without their permission.

" No I won't be joining in, i'm going to see if I can sweet talk my way into that kitchen, i'm craving something sweet." Trevor said as he rubbed his hands together a bit to warm them up, but then again cold hands would keep the butter in the dough from getting too overworked so he was actually a bit grateful for the blood loss right now.

" Johann Lucia said there was some Molasses in the carriage, you mind getting it for me?" He'd have to talk to the inn keeper and work out a deal to use the ingredients in the kitchen, but depending on the supplies back there he could either make the sweet rolls and attempt his sisters ginger and molasses cookies, just sans the ginger. Or maybe he could use the molasses in the sweet rolls, he wasn't sure yet.

" And no Alucard," he said as Johann signed but got up from the table. " Don't look at my hand," Johann threatened everyone else before disappearing outside. " I'm thinking a tankard of water, but i also heard from someone that Molasses and milk is supposed to be good so maybe i'll try that." then he walked over to the Inn Keeper, knowing that Alucard would want answers but he wasn't in the mood to give them to him. He could ask Lucia if he was that concerned about what was going on, right now his goal was just sweet rolls.

The Inn Keeper was a bit surprised to hear his request, but some coin from Trevors own pocket and a flirty wink at the young man got him agreeing to open up the kitchen to him. " I'll leave some of what ever is left for you," He promised the guy before heading back to the others with a confidant smile on his face. " Looks like you're all going to be enjoying some sweet rolls and maybe Molasses cookies. My sisters had ginger in them as well but, ginger is expensive," he doubted that the carriage had any ginger and the inn most certainly didn't. It was just a sign of his privilege that he even knew what ginger tasted like.

" Oh wait, I can help," Aveline said as she laid her own hand down on the table and disappeared out the front door, just as Johann walked back in with the Molasses. He looked at the others a bit confused but they didn't have an answer for him so he just shrugged his shoulders and handed the jar to Trevor before taking up his hand again, then he eyed Sypha who looked like she was up to something.

Aveline returned a few minutes later with something in her hands, then eagerly handed some fresh ginger root to Trevor. It was fresh, he sniffed it and was shocked by just how fresh. " How did you-? Did you just rob someone or something?" He asked, voice dropping down a little as he asked because Aveline really shouldn't be stealing just for some cookies.

" No, I wouldn't steal!" She huffed slightly, her pride hurt. " I grew it," her answer was vague, but she didn't go into detail. " I grow a lot of things, and I um-It's you're sisters recipe and you don't talk about them a lot. You look happy when you talk about them, so I wanted you to be able to make her cookies the right way. " she started to get nervous and shuffled her feet around. " I'll explain everything to you all tomorrow, promise," then she sat down and didn't make eye contact with anyone until she was sure they weren't going to ask questions.

Trevor didn't need to ask any questions, his mind was already narrowing down possibilities in his head, but after seeing that Aveline was going out of her comfort zone just so he could make his sisters cookies meant a lot to him. " Sounds like you're all getting cookies and sweet rolls then," He said, not going to push the topic. " But only after I get some water,"

 

[Lucyfer]

Lucia had intended to get the molasses, and paused at the door as Trevor asked Johann to do so. She heard the chair and his tone as he walked off to get it, and Lucia took a glance at his cards, before Alucard rose as well while Trevor denied the ale and went to sweet talk his way into the kitchen.

Lucia stepped back from the door and allowed a few more steps from the group, seeing that Alucard clearly had questions. He didn’t even get a word out before she said, “We adapted the deal. I eat as I was when we’re out of towns,” and in towns, well…that answer was now obvious, wasn’t it?

Alucard arched a brow, “What inspired this?”

That wasn’t really his business, so Lucia offered, “Change in understandings, that’s all.”

“It was because you looked half-dead.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Lucia scowled, wondering if that was going to become the new joke like Trevor’s stench. “Trevor’s trying, Alucard.” She was trying to assist.

“To be more than a drunken and exiled hunter? Clearly. He’s now trying to be an exiled baker. I wonder how long until he becomes a drunken baker.”

She hit Alucard’s shoulder lightly, and he smiled enough to make it clear he had been joking…a little. Perhaps not much. Trevor still bothered him a bit, the fact he was trying to make life changes on this journey didn’t seem like exactly the best idea, but then again – they needed him sober. He still imagined Trevor would binge right after, just as he’d break down.

The truths of who they were would all come out. Not heroes. Not really.

Johann returned then, as Aveline was leaving, and the pair left their corner to return to the game as Johann eyed Sypha. She held her hands up in an innocent fashion, but he just narrowed his gaze.

“No one looked at your cards, I was watching,” Lucia said, “What are you even playing?”

“Liar – basically. We attempt to discard our hands and the first person to zero cards, wins. Yet we must discard in a particular fashion. As I’ll be starting, I have to discard my aces, and the next person has to discard the suit up – on and on.” Alucard explained.

“He’s the youngest,” Johann added, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“You’re not the youngest for once?” Lucia smirked.

Johann’s smile just broadened. “Nope!”

Aveline returned, with ginger. Fresh ginger. That she grew. ‘Immediately.’ Lucia could easily put it together with whatever fae Aveline was. She was certain ‘fae’ was the truth of it, though that was quite the variety of creatures, she knew. Still, that was a fairly useful talent for the others in the party.

“You can join us, if you want, Lucia,” Sypha offered. Trevor was going to be busy with cookies, but that was no reason for Lucia to be excluded.

“All right, if you want to re-deal,” she was going to be up anyway, this was probably more productive than reading. Well…more productive for group dynamics, and perhaps to help show Aveline she wasn’t going to be avoiding her or acting angry around her. “Let me make sure Trevor can find the water in the kitchen, since that seems to be all that's stopping him from making cookies,” she chuckled. He had access to the kitchen now, there had to be water in there that was cleaned – though ideally there would be milk and he could try that.

Not to mention how well milk supposedly paired with cookies.

Yet another thing she only heard from hearsay.

Sypha took everyone’s cards back and began to reshuffle them to prepare to deal another person into the game.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

Trevor had disappeared into the kitchen almost as soon as the ginger was in his hands, he felt a bit of pressure knowing that people would be tasting what ever he ended up making in here, and it had been quite some time since he had baked anything. Hell he hadn't cooked a warm meal for himself in years and he was going to just jump back into things head first it seemed.

He glanced at the ginger in his hand and smiled a bit, the sentiment was kind. Aveline reminded him of his sisters a bit, in that kind way where she just wanted to help, and the smell of the ginger also made him think of his sisters, specifically Esthel. These were her favorite cookies. He sat the ginger and molasses down on the counter for a moment and instead set about finding something to drink. He was able to find a barrel of clean water and helped himself to a cup as he looked around the kitchen, he needed to find all the bowls as well as the ingredients themselves. There was a small cellar buried almost to the lid towards the back of the room, and he opened it to find some meats, cheeses, vegetables, and even a jug of milk in there.

"This place has a cold cellar, surprising." He hummed, he had been in some seedy Inns where you could tell that they didn't care if the things they served were a bit spoiled, they were lucky to find a place with such high standards.

He finished his cup of water and had just poured himself a glass of milk when he heard someone enter the kitchen, " Worried I was going to swoon and you wouldn't be here to see it?" he teased, seeing that it was Lucia. He wasn't surprised to see her back here, she had been hovering since she drank from him and while he understood her sense of responsibility he didn't think he looked that bad off.

He popped open the Molasses jar and took a small sniff, it had been a long time since he had been around the stuff," Christ in a hand basket that smells just like I remember-" then quickly pulled back, " Awful." But he still took a wooden spoon and pulled out a tablespoon amount of the stuff, then swirled it around in his glass of milk. It changed the color of his milk drastically, and he wondered if Danica was some sort of supernatural creature for drinking this.

" I'm in too deep to turn back now," he mumbled before gulping down half the glass in one go.

He pulled away from the glass with a scrunched up nose and smacked his tongue around in his mouth, trying to figure out how he felt about this. " I've had worse," he finally said as he stirred the drink again, some of the molasses had settled at the bottom of the glass like some type of sludge, " but I've also had MUCH better," At least it wasn't so bad that he would have to abandon his glass. He shot back the last half of the milk, hoping that after seeing him drain the drink Lucia wouldn't feel the need to hover. He had been through a lot, a little blood loss wouldn't kill him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" I wonder if Lucia would like her leaves read," Aveline said as Lucia disappeared into the kitchen. She knew Lucia wouldn't be able to drink the tea, but they could always still give her a glass to hold and call her own. She could pour out the tea and maybe enough of herself would of transferred to the leaves for Aveline to read.

" We can ask her when she returns," Sypha assured her as she dealt the cards, leaving some in the empty spot that Lucia had left behind. Aveline noticed that Syphas tea cup was already half empty, she seemed eager to get her fortune read funnily enough. Aveline wouldn't of imagined that the sorcerer in their group would be so interested in something like tea divinations, which were not given the best reputation. Though having tea leaves read or any sort of divination done by a fae, a supernatural group known for being deeply rooted in magic, did give it a bit more validity than if it was done by some stranger who had bought a guide book.

Glancing at her hand Aveline saw that her hand was nicely dispersed, she had one of most the cards, but that meant after the first couple plays on her own end she'd have to lie. It also meant that with only one card she wouldn't really have enough information to guess if the others were lying without taking a risk, but that was what this game was about.

" I think this is going to be a hard game," she mused as she look at Alucard, he was able to keep a calm face so easily and no doubt Lucia would be able to do the same.

" Because of Lucia and Alucard being so blank faced?" Sypha asked, voicing Avelines own thoughts, " Oh certainly, unless you look for their tells," and Johann chuckled a bit.

" You've traveled with Lucia and Alucard for about three days you can't possibly of figured out their tells, I've been around Lucia for years and i'm not even confidant i'll be able to call her out," he insisted. That didn't mean he wouldn't try, but in this game where you were looking for liars everything was easy to over analyzes.

" This will be all about mental warfare," Sypha said with a dismissive wave of her hand as she shuffled some cards around in her hand, was she putting them in order or just pretending to with the hopes of throwing the others off? " Eye contact will be important" To prove her point Sypha made strong eye contact with Aveline, who blinked a bit shocked at the sudden intense look but stared back. But her straight face quickly started to break, and she looked away to laugh into her hand.

" Stop Sypha! The game hasn't even started yet," she giggled.

Sypha gave a confidant look to Alucard and Johann, in her opinion she had proven her point well enough.

 

[Lucyfer]

Lucia was surprised by how quick Trevor had moved on once she agreed to play. She could have sworn he was just complaining of water a moment ago, but thankfully, his trail was easy to follow seeing as he had gone to the kitchens, and even down into the cellar. She walked in on him drinking water, and she was relieved by it, even with his joking tone, “I’d hate to miss it,” she said, noting, “I get it, I should be able to leave you be – I’m not exactly used to people who are accustomed to blood loss.”

Not even Johann – as a hunter he’d done a fantastic job at avoiding injury, given there was no “special” way to turn someone into a werewolf. Just a bite would do it. Sometimes even a scratch if it was tainted or bloodied with the werewolf’s own blood. It was more an infection than something passed down by choice.

Despite that, she did linger a moment just to see his reaction to the molasses…and in milk. She chuckled a bit at it, “Well, do let me know if we can confirm Danica’s theory, or if Danica’s just mad.” She wasn’t at all surprised to hear Trevor claim he’d had better – and worse. “If it’s better than it plain, it might just be worth it,” she didn’t really know how it tasted, either. Every year humans seemed to come up with more and more fascinating things she couldn’t eat.

But even she could agree that molasses had a certain smell that wasn’t appealing. Despite being sugar.

“I’ll go back with the others now. If you need help here…don’t ask for me unless we’re trying to cover a murder.” Then an accidental kitchen fire would be easily pulled off. She went back on that note, figuring it would be best if she wasn’t in Trevor’s space while he worked. It was tied back to his memories of his sister. He might truly wish to be alone if the scents or thoughts overcame him, anyway.

~***~

Johann didn’t offer the thought that Lucia might not want any divining going on – he’d at least let them invite her, perhaps she wouldn’t see it as too bad in these circumstances. He’d never actually seen her invited to such a thing, it was more of a…gut feeling he had, seeing her reaction to similar things, and conversations he’d overheard about faith in general.

He was pretty sure she didn’t care much about this being a ‘prophesized’ mission. He at least finally tested a sip of his tea, noting it wasn’t too scalding hot anymore, he took a larger sip. “This is good tea,” he noted. He was fairly familiar with mint, it was popular up in Chernihiv. Alucard reached for his then, as Johann took a glance at his hand.

He didn’t wince, though he wanted to. He had lots of the same card – which was good…for some things. Having 4 7s would mean if he didn’t put down 7, he would know a liar immediately – but he had clumps of cards, rather than a good spread.

They were both caught by Sypha explaining how to win – with a stare down of Aveline that caused some commotion, though Alucard just snorted and hid his amusement behind a hand, while Johann laughed more openly, “It’s not that easy, Sypha,” he stated, “There are lots of other ways to get into a person’s head in these games.”

Lucia used to tell him about gambling with the Centurions, who found it just so adorable that a Vestal Virgin wanted to play. She practically got away with murder back then.

“I don’t know, I think that stare down was fairly convincing. I’m sure I’ll break at the first look,” Alucard teased, as Lucia came back to join them. He motioned, “You’ve been dealt in,” and she took the seat near the cards, pushing her hood down, thinking it wouldn’t matter so much right then as she took up her cards.

“And do you want your fortune read?” Sypha asked, eager for her own, but also for others.

Lucia arched a brow, and Sypha gestured to the tea, “Aveline does reading from tea leaves!”

“Oh.” Lucia knit her brows together, searching for a word. “Is it like…divination or more…,” how to put it? “personality?”

Sypha canted her head. That clearly wasn’t the word then, and she looked to Johann, slipping to Ruthenian, “Horoscope? How do we say that in Romanian?”

Johann blinked, and gave her a hopeless look, “I’m not good at this.” It wasn’t a common word for any of them, anyways.

“Maybe I can help?” Sypha didn’t understand Ruthenian, but she spoke in ecclesiastical Latin – Lucia knew the classical, but she imagined they could make it work.

“Horoscope?”

“Oh!” She switched back to Romanian, “She wants to know if it’s more like horoscopes…how do you get personality from that?”

Lucia sighed, “Horoscopes are future predictive based on personality traits inherited at birth, supposedly. So it is more guesswork by traits.” She didn’t know how tea would work that way, but she thought it would be good to clarify a bit how this worked before agreeing to anything. She had one experience with a diviner and that was enough to sour her to the thought in general…but if everyone else was doing it, it almost seemed necessary to play along.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" Oh no, " Aveline spoke up now that she knew exactly what Lucia was asking, " I am not sure if it's possible to read personality traits and such from tea leaves, though if it is possible then there are probably people out there that do it," she wasn't sure about all that but it wasn't the way she learned to do it. " My readings are more about events or things to expect," she promised her as Alucard started the game off.

" I know you can't drink the tea but it's mostly about you just handling the tea. We can pour you a cup, you can hold it in your hands for a bit, then when ever you think it best you can pour out the tea. What ever leaves are left in the cup i'll read. Or if you're uncomfortable with the idea, then you don't have to," Aveline assured her with a gentle smile. Lucia was being thoughtful enough to give her time to gather her courage and explain herself, she was going to give Lucia at least that much respect back. But at the same time she wanted to include Lucia in this, if the others were going to get their fortunes read it would be rube to exclude her.

" Not everyone likes having their leaves read, but i've found most people living in big towns are really not fans of it. But big towns have a big church presence and the church thinks anything that they don't officiate is witch craft," Aveline complained with a frown. Things like fortune reading were part of the culture, she wasn't a fan of someone in the church thinking that it was devil worship and trying to put a stop to it. " People in small villages seem to enjoy it though. I actually learned how to read tea leaves from an older woman at the first village I ever visited,"

It was Avelines turn next, which means she'd have to play 2s. " two 2s," she said as she placed a 2 and an 8 face down on the table.

" Well that is no surprise, any place where the church can't reach people stick pretty close to their own traditions and folklore. Small villages are one of the best places for speakers to get stories no one has ever heard before," Sypha said, she looked at the cards Aveline placed on the table like she would be able to see through them if she looked hard enough.

" Well, they're the best place for unique stories or for being killed by a mob. Small villages are so quick to form mobs," she grumbled before laying down three 3s. It was a gutsy move, but the game had just started so the stakes weren't too high yet. Having to take the card pile when it was only a handful of cards so far was nothing and could easily be recovered from.

" Small remote villages are weird places to be in general," Johann pointed out as he scanned his hand for any 4s. " I traveled a lot before joining Lucia, and it was normally small villages i ended up in," His nose scrunched up little remembering all the weird discussions he had come across during his travels as a hunter. " A lot revolved around animals and family, and sometimes they crossed over in gross way," he looked a little flustered to bring it up but it was late at night and he was tired, so his lips were a little more lose than they would normally be about the topic.

" Oh yes, some remote villages involve a lot of infidelity," Sypha hummed as she took another sip from her tea cup. She had heard more than enough fights start because one farmer was having sex with another villagers sheep or something like that. " It's the lack of education for sure," she added with a sad sign. But her sign was quickly replaced when she saw that her cup was empty.

Sypha didn't even need to say anything, her little gasp had caught Avelines attention and she looked into the cup to see that , yes it really was empty.

" I guess i'll read your fortune first," she said as Sypha almost too eagerly handed the cup over to her.

 

[Lucyfer]

Horoscope readings were not things Lucia ever put much stock into. They seemed fairly harmless and too vague to be worth anything at all, though some people tried to twist it to more. Readings that could detail the future to some degree? Lucia was wary of them. Not because they were wrong – far from it. She’d had one, and it was right, and that was enough to make her question ever learning her future again.

Not to mention she didn’t understand where that knowledge came from, much as she didn’t understand how holy water got its power. Sure – divination implied a divine, but she hardly knew which divine. “Hmm.” The game had begun in the conversation, Alucard taking advantage to drop off three cards and not get called on it, before Aveline played, then Sypha, then Johann, before it came to her. No one was called on a lie yet, and Lucia flicked two fives into her hand and put them on the table, a certain casualness about the gesture that, once upon a time, Johann had read as too loose. Too casual.

He’d soon learned that was her normal in these games, so he didn’t dare to call it.

Sypha, who was now sans cup, and noted the casual flick of two cards as if Lucia was trying to get rid of a pair without being noticed, called, “Liar!”

Lucia arched a brow, and flicked them towards Sypha, who caught them – with a quick spurt of air magic. “Oh. Well. Darn it!” She quickly picked up the pile to add to her own, before getting excited again, “What’s my fortune?”

“You’re going to get married in the year, and have triplets,” Alucard stated matter-of-factly, and Sypha shoved him a bit as Johann laughed.

“I wouldn’t get married and have kids that fast!” She protested, but looked eagerly all the same to Aveline, “Right? Though I don’t think I’d mind meeting someone…,” a slightly wistful sigh left her. Wondering around with the Speakers had always made her imagine she’d marry another Speaker, or a convert.

Outside of the group? Maybe she would meet someone else….

“Please don’t tell me these are all going to be romantic readings.” Johann complained.

“Don’t you want to hear about your future with Belmont?” Alucard said, and the way Johann nearly gagged on his tea was worth him nearly ruining the cards, “Lucia I think I’ve found his real intentions for sharing a room with Trevor.”

“Johann…I support you.”

“No!” He whined, but groaned as he realized protesting was not going to get him anywhere. “UGH.” And his face was far too red for this.

Lucia, meanwhile, quietly determined she’d decide if she wanted any fortune based on how Sypha’s went.

 

[AnxietyandSparklingWater]

" I can't help what I see in the leaves Johann," Aveline said, trying to sound sagely but she was fighting a losing battle as she tried to keep a serious look on her face, " if I see romance in your future then I feel like I have to tell you about it, it'd be wrong to withhold it,"

Johann just groaned and hide his face behind his cards, he had woken up some type of horrible beast in everyone. Or maybe he had somehow painted a bullseye on his back that they just couldn't leave alone.

" Well it looks like there are challenges up ahead for you Sypha," Aveline started, her eyes scanning the cup. " The cup is divided into 3 parts, anything on the bottom of the cup means the distance future, anything on the side means the not so distant future, and anything around the rim means the present. But the closer to the handle the closer things are to being fulfilled," She leaned over to show Sypha the inside of the cup, but pointed to what looked like two 'm's connected in a straight line on the side of the cup but very close to the bottom. " That symbol means changes or challenges will be coming towards you, and it's close to the handle so while it's in the some what distant future what ever challenges come you're way you'll be able to fulfill them."

" This whole cup looks like a promise that things are going to get hard, but you'll be over to over come them. There are clouds that mean trouble, this scattering of dots reminds me of ants which are bad omens for difficulties coming, and a chain which means responsibility," Aveline pointed each of these things out to Sypha, who was actually eager to be able to see just what Aveline was talking about.

" I didn't realize reading the leaves rested so much on memorization," She hummed, but that got a chuckle from Aveline. " It's all about personal interpretation honestly, it does not take magic to see images in things. " she pointed out.

There were all sorts of stories of good and bad omens being seen everywhere, especially when you got out into remote regions where those beliefs were still strong. Someone seeing a raven on their fence post might expect bad things to come their way, just like how Aveline saw ants in Syphas leaves- a bad omen that difficulties were on the way. Still the church thought it was witch craft, and the practice seemed to be going under ground or just dying out in places.

" You will have to teach me sometime, I think this is something other speakers would like to learn about. I don't know if it's an important story that needs to be remembered, but even if it isn't I think they'd like to hear about it. I already suspect my grandfather and the other speakers will want to hear all about my journey when I meet up with them again," Sypha said thinking about her people, it had been hard to leave her caravan but it almost felt like she had just joined another one. Traveling with 6 other people helped keep her from getting too lonely.

" Is there anyone you left behind, Johann?" Aveline asked him curiously, " Maybe someone you will tell stories about our travels to when you get back?" He must of left friends behind, but maybe he had also left a lover or someone he was sweet on.

" Me?" Johann repeated, cursing the others as his face- which had just returned to its normal color not too long ago- started to heat up again.

" yes you. Unless maybe you joined Lucia and Danica with the hopes of finding love. In which case up head into the kitchen and i'm sure you'll find a wonderful bear of a man with an apron on making you sweets," Aveline said with a mischievous chuckle. As the others joined in on the laughter he just grumbled.

" just play your cards!" he insisted as he threw down his own cards for this round, the pile was gone but that didn't change the fact that for everyone their card selection was becoming much smaller.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Vague.’ It was the first thought to come to Lucia’s mind as Aveline began. There were obviously obstacles ahead for all of them, they were going after Dracula. She held her tongue, though. Sypha seemed completely engaged with it, soaking it up. ‘This isn’t like Pythia.’ Pythia…had been something else.

“Danica might like to know it,” Lucia added as Sypha mentioned wanting to learn more, “She drinks enough tea,” though she would not let Danica try to read her fortune. Gods only knew what she’d try to interpret in anything.

The topic turned easily back to Johann though, and Lucia managed to refrain from laughing as Alucard shivered, “I did not need that mental image, Aveline.”

“I don’t think Trevor’s in an apron.” At least, he hadn’t been in an apron when she left. She hadn’t noticed any aprons around, though she also hadn’t looked for one.

Alucard added another card to the pile, more reserved with this selection than he had been the first time, after Johann’s frustrated behavior. It would likely not go noticed that his card wasn’t what it ought to be, and as if to make sure he wouldn’t be called on it, he asked, “So, Lucia, will you be joining, or are you afraid of what’s going to be revealed?”

“This seems fairly harmless,” she noted. No specifics. Perhaps Sypha was lucky, though. Perhaps the others would be more specific. “I suppose, just this once.”

“Yes!” Sypha immediately reached for her now-emptied cup, glanced around, and found a bit of scrap clothe she could use to wash it out with. It wasn’t like Lucia was going to drink, she just needed it clean of the leaves so it could be used again. Just as soon as it was cleaned, she poured the water over new leaves.

“You’re far too excited about this,” Alucard pointed out.

“It’s fascinating!” She wanted to learn more symbols, and interpretations. “And Johann, you look about done now. That eager to learn your future?” She couldn’t help but waggle her eyebrows.

“If there’s a bear symbol in that cup I’m leaving.” He stated, to Alucard’s chuckling as he swirled his own cup and drank a bit more from it himself, while Lucia just wrapped one hand around the cup that was for her.

He didn’t know how he got here, or how he got here often. It wasn’t the first time people had wrongly assumed. Danica said it was because he was pretty and just had a certain boyish charm that remained – he hardly looked the hunter, after all. Nothing like Trevor Belmont, no scars, hardly any ruggedness. He couldn’t grow a beard to save his life. Those in Chernihiv he called friends and worked with did poke fun at him, but he knew it was that – as he knew it here. It was…familiar. Nice, even if it was also frustrating.

It made being away not so difficult, anyways, and he certainly hoped everyone back in Chernihiv was doing well. The demons shouldn’t have reached so far yet…and hopefully, never would.