Musebox

[petcromancer]

A home for PSLs.

Comments

[petcromancer]

[Hector nods.]

I'll take a longer walk on deck. Keep an eye on the dogs.

[Time for Hector to go freak out about how badly he's fucked up envision all the ways Vlad is going to gruesomely murder him kiss his grad program goodbye not be where Alucard is so he can actually summon more than two brain cells together and think about what's going to happen next.

Hector doesn't know how long Alucard typically takes to brood, but he walks the length of the deck over and over, until the last of the sunlight fades and all of the heat of those kisses is blown away by ocean breeze and the misting spray of the waves. He stays away until it is simply too dark and chilly to not retire to his quarters. Hopefully that is enough.]

[cryptsleeper]

Of course.

[While Hector is out, Alucard takes the time to pace the room. The dogs don't seem to be disturbed at all, and at some point in all the pacing, Alucard's not there. It's the wolf moving back and forth, thinking over what just happened and quite frankly, how his father is likely to react. He has no doubt that Dracula will determine that this happened through some method.

The wolf's claws scrape softly over the wooden floor, going and going and going until Alucard's determined the following: first, that doing more of this without a declaration of clear intent is a bad idea. Even if this is nothing more than kissing for kissing's sake, then that much has to be stated. Second, nothing below the belt. That's how Dracula truly starts to disapprove. Three, how to approach Dracula when he figures all of this out.

By the time Hector is returned, Alucard is snug in his hammock already, one of the blankets already draped over himself.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector opens the door and peeks inside before he enters. He sees Alucard bedded down in his hammock. He steps inside and pulls the door shut as quietly as possible.

He strips out of his boots and wet shirt and tip toes to extinguish the candle. The dogs stir, and Hector shushes them, but gives Antonius a quick scratch behind the ears and scoops Cesar up to lay on his stomach as he settles into his own hammock.

Hector has no answers as to what to do, but he'll lie awake in the comfort of his swinging bed and try to figure it out until sleep finds him.]

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard rises late the next day, warm and contented by the movement of the ship. When he goes up deck, he speaks with the crew, and the end of this portion of the journey is in sight. They'll likely make port tomorrow. It's important information to have, and Alucard spends the afternoon plotting out routes. He knows all the roads required to take them close to the castle. It's only a matter of which one.

Come evening, when the sun has set, Alucard returns to their room. Sits himself down and opens the small notebook that he has brought along, and writes carefully in it so he can best organize all transportation options before them.

He's not sure where Hector is. But they do need to speak, that much Alucard is certain of.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector is up with the sun in the morning, full of restless energy in spite of his fitful sleep the night before.

He has a vague idea now, but isn't certain how to see it to fruition. It takes the better part of the day, making tentative contact with other passengers, bartering with the few possessions he has.

When he returns in the evening, he brings a prize with him, which he places beside Alucard's book.]

Baklava?

[Hector has experience with physical intimacy, but next to none with dating. Giving gifts is a part of courtship, he thinks. His options are limited by their location, but it's a start. Probably. If Alucard is interested.]

[cryptsleeper]

Hm?

[Alucard picks his head up from his work, and then the honeyed scent of the dessert hits him all at once. The ingredients are familiar enough, but the assembly? Oh, that's new, and absolutely wonderful.]

Please.

[He moves the little bit of work space off to the side, part of him vaguely wondering how Hector has acquired this. Probably best not to ask.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector smiles to himself, pleased that Alucard will accept his offering. He opens the little box so Alucard can take one of the treats.]

If you like it, I can get more once we make port. It’s best fresh, but this should still be good.

[The dogs are interested, and Hector nudges them back with one booted foot to keep them from jumping up and sniffing at it.]

[cryptsleeper]

Mmm. Well.

[Alucard selects a small piece of the stuff, unsurprised that the shine means that it is a very sweet, sticky thing to touch. There's the honey of course, but the undercurrent of rosewater is a delicate and surprising touch.

He picks it up, but doen't eat. Not yet.]

Can we discuss last night?

[petcromancer]

[The smile falters. The request sounds so formal. Ominous.]

Sure, if you want.

[They should talk, but that doesn't make it less nerve-wracking.

He takes a seat.]

Have you come to any conclusions?

[cryptsleeper]

[Barely kissed and already he's mastered the We Need To Talk tone.]

I'd like to know what your intent is, be it courtship or something far less formalized.

[petcromancer]

[Busted. Hector very carefully does not look at the baklava.]

I like you. [They've been over this already. At least, Hector thinks he's voiced the thought. Alucard likes his dogs.]

I've never courted anyone before. I...would not be opposed to it. But you're new to this, and if you don't want that, we can keep things...simpler.

[Tell him what the right answer is, Alucard, and that's what Hector will say.]

[cryptsleeper]

I am new to this. It would be easier if things started out simpler, and there is also the matter of my father's reaction to any and all of this.

[Because you know who's very overprotective about his son, Hector? Just guess.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector has always known, in theory, he is not the type of man anyone would want to bring home to their parents. It still sucks.]

Your father would disapprove?

[He isn't sure which rejection would be more devastating: Alucard's or Vlad's. Vlad is the first person who ever looked at Hector with anything other than horror. His opinion is one of the only ones that matters.]

[cryptsleeper]

In truth, I couldn't say. But he is overprotective and territorial, and that's important to consider.

[petcromancer]

[Hector's shoulders slump.]

We don't have to tell him, if we're keeping it simple.

[It's not a lie if they just don't mention it, right?]

I don't want to cause trouble for you with him. Whatever happens, you can decide the cadence.

[cryptsleeper]

He'll figure it out in due time.

[HECTOR YOU DON'T LIE TO DRACULA!]

We can take a ship from Istanbul through the Black Sea to port in Wallachia. That gives us more time for...all of this.

[petcromancer]

Do you want us to continue?

[Alucard is hard to read, and they haven’t been traveling together long enough for Hector to learn his tells.]

[cryptsleeper]

With a few limitations, if you are not opposed?

[It's a very cautious query, one that's trying to test waters and gauge Hector's reaction as well.]

[petcromancer]

[Hector’s response is one that Alucard may have seen on the journey thus far, when Cesar does something adorable and Hector is trying and failing to keep a stoic facade up in front of his traveling companion. A widening of the eyes, a twitching of his lips as he fights to keep a smile at bay, the quickening of a heartbeat that hopefully, no one is supernaturally sable to hear.]

I wouldn’t be opposed.

[He says totally coolly, like the cool and composed guy that he is.]

[cryptsleeper]

[Super cool Hector. Totally subtle. Alucard hasn't noticed this at all, and he definitely isn't just tilting his head a little because of it.]

I think that going below belts and below shirts should be off limits for now.

[petcromancer]

[Look, the kissing can continue, so Hector is totally a cool guy who nailed that interaction. Don't think he didn't hear that 'for now'.]

I can abide by that. Is there anything else?

[cryptsleeper]

[The For Now that's totally for IF DAD FINDS OUT AND HAS CONNIPTIONS? Got it.]

I don't believe so. Was there anything you wished to address?

[petcromancer]

[Hector shrugs his shoulders and looks down at Alucard’s notes so he doesn’t have to meet Alucard’s eyes.]

Not really. Just that...I’m open to anything. So, if there’s anything you want to try, you can.

[Alucard is probably too innocent to take him up on that offer, but he’s still going to put it out there.]

Are you still working on this, or are you free...?

[Hector, your thirst will be the death of you. Dracula is going to murder you so dead]

[cryptsleeper]

Hector, I think it's been established I have no idea what I'm even trying.

[That said, Alucard does nod for Hector to come over, and offers over the notebook s he does so.]

I do want you to look over the routes and tell me which you'd be more comfortable with.

[EXTRA DEAD HECTOR!!!]

[petcromancer]

[Hector doesn’t know what kind of suggestions will offend Alucard’s sensibilities, so he just shrugs again. He’d let Alucard bite him, if he wanted to, or use his vampiric powers on him; Hector has always been driven by curiosity, not by self-preservation.]

I can be a lab partner of sorts. We’ll work together on whatever you want to learn.

[He looks over the routes Alucard has detailed.]

You’ve been very thorough with your planning. I usually prefer the routes by land; you experience more of the place, and see more of the wildlife. But boat is the faster option, and I don’t want to slow us down just so I can collect samples along the way.

[He should select the fastest route, and get himself to the castle where he can devote himself to his studies. This kissing business is a wrinkle in his scholastic ambitions, and he can’t quite bring himself to care.]