Alucard glanced at the barn owl coolly. It puffed its tawny feathers indignantly, shuffling a little on the windowsill. "Insolent little fluff," remarked the vampire. The bird had been watching him for over a quarter of an hour as he cleaned his weapons, and it hadn't budged, like it was some mutated dust bunny.
As Alucard reached for a polishing cloth, the owl began rapping shortly on the pane, eyes mutinous, its talons unsheathed. The sharp sound reverberated through the room. Alucard grinned predatorily and rubbed down a rapier while keeping his gaze locked on the puffy, large bird demanding his attention. Having seen more bizarre things in his time, he had no doubt that this owl was trying to make some pass at communication. The letter tied securely to one of its legs made that blaringly obvious. Unfortunately for the owl, Alucard wasn't in a mood to humor it. It was far too early in the evening for that.
After about five straight minutes of causing a respectable ruckus on the glass, the owl began for the first time to get frustrated. Its eyes bulged angrily and it let out a shrill hoot that would have made a human wince. Petulantly it hopped close to the window until feathers mashed against spotless glass. Immediately the owl began ramming itself against the window.
Chuckling darkly, Alucard rose from his chair. He set the rapier safely on the table and then opened the window halfway. Upon seeing Alucard advancing closer the owl skittered back a few steps until it was at the very edge of the windowsill, thinking better of being so forward. Alucard shot it without feeling any curiosity as to why there had been an owl monitoring his movements for no apparent reason.
Smoke trickled from the tip of the gun to rise above feathers and charred tatters of parchment that were drifting down to the ground two stories below.
"Did you just shoot a bird?" incredulously asked a low, female voice from the doorway.
Alucard didn't turn to face his master. "It was annoying me," he explained nonchalantly, resuming his prior business. Integra moved to join him. He glanced at her, pleased with himself. "It was fun. It exploded."
She smirked, testing the edge of the rapier with her index finger. "I wouldn't have thought you'd waste the shot." Fluidly Integra was up in a classic stance, sword arm outstretched so that the blade rested on Alucard's alabaster neck. He peered down the gleaming tip at her, undaunted.
"What's it to you, Master? The last I recalled, you weren't particularly fond of owls," said Alucard.
Her blue eyes narrowed from behind rounded wire glasses. He took advantage of her moment of silence and studied her covertly, though he knew that she knew he was looking. As usual, a navy blue masculine suit disguised her curves and gave her an air of severity. It did nothing to enhance any femininity, which was the point and always had been. But there was no voyeur more accomplished than the vampire who had powers of invisibility- Alucard was well aware of what was beneath all of Integra's clothes. Slowly the young woman relaxed and tossed the rapier down, shrugging.
"Still, it seemed pointless," she sniffed.
Alucard shook his head in amusement. Catching sounds of footsteps in the hallway, he wasn't surprised when Walter appeared a few minutes later. The sound of the shot had been loud… and Walter always knew the sounds of his own creations.
The dignified butler, the Angel of Death, placed a hand on the door, leaning slightly. "Pardon me… my lady… Alucard… there seem to be, er, owls. Two very large owls in the drawing room on the first floor. They came in through an open window. Both of them seem to have messages for us, and they won't be shooed off. I'm rather loathe to try to manhandle them away."