The cold evening wind blew gently against the curtains in Walter's bedroom. It wafted past the window pane across the floor and over his prone form. Gooseflesh rose in wake of the chilled air. But the young butler didn't seem to care. His eyes were dull, staring blankly about the ceiling. He felt agitated but wasn't sure of the cause.
Lifting his right hand to his eyes, he examined the heart, head and life lines. The creases appeared deep as there was little visible light. Shadows waivered gently as the butler rolled onto one side and then to the opposite. Even laying comfortably didn't seem to calm his burdened mind.
Something terrible was affecting his senses, but he didn't know what it was. Youthful angst came to mind and he laughed darkly at such a thought, looking toward the open window.
The chilled breeze that made its way across the warm flesh began to shiver with energy as the air in the room dropped another few degree's. Water particles collected and solidified taking on a murky red shadow that eased itself against the duvet on the young man's bed.
Slowly the particles strengthened and became the form of the petite vampire dressed in white. "Good evening, Walter." Cooed the voice spoken with icy pink lips.
The young butler sighed. Typically, Alucard's presence brought him a certain amount of joy, whether he wanted to admit it or not. "Alucard…what is it now?" His tone was quiet and irritated. The angel sounded as if he had been drained of all his strength.
Thin black eyebrows quirked in amusement. "You always ask the same question," he huffed once as his deep garnet eyes sparkled with sinful playfulness. "Certainly by now you would have figured out how this game between the two of us works."
Cobalt orbs flickered with irritation. "Yes, I'm aware of how this works..." His voice trailed off with an uninterested tone. "Would you mind leaving me alone?"
The small vampire sat next to the boy who looked away. "I would mind leaving you alone, actually," he purred, eyes once again fixed upon the Hellsing butler's face. Bringing his cool hand to trace the contour of the other's cheek he leaned in, grinning as if he'd been victorious. "I'd be bored without my one true source of amusement."
Those icy fingers caressed his face gently. The words Alucard spoke seemed to increase his aggravation, but when mixed with the fingers upon his cheek, he couldn't move. Unable to speak for a minute, the boy cleared his throat. "Yes…I know that. But isn't there something else you could be doing?" His tone was, for the most part, calm and collected.
A frown began to etch its way onto the age old vampire's face. Easing his mind into that of the youth's he felt for thoughts, hoping to find the reason behind the bored reaction he was receiving. However his small mental brush did nothing, the true issue that was plaguing Walter eluded even the young man himself.
Pulling back mentally and physically he peered at the pensive look on his partner's face. Once again he tried his regular approach hoping to snap the boy out of his small bought of depression. "No." He said simply, his eerie smile curving his lips into a monstrous grin. "And why should I? There's nothing else to do here and you're really my only source of amusement…unless, of course, you'd like me to find one of the maids. Perhaps I'll play with her as I do you?"
It wasn't that Alucard's words came unexpectedly. Walter always knew that he was the vampire's play toy. Something about pestering the maids ignited a burning anger in the butler's chest. The microfilament wire sprang from his fingers, slicing off the hand that Alucard had used to caress the angel's face. "Bloody vampire!" He yelled, bolting upright on the bed. "I'm not some damn tart you can screw whenever you feel like!"
Deep red eyes widened as the calm mask Walter held slipped. Alucard's hand fell to the floor his blood seeping into the rug and duvet. He turned his eyes down towards the floor, hoping to hide his shock. Ah... His mind blanketed for a moment. I've been viewing him as being too much like myself. Walter is still human after all. And humans grow attached to things... Seamlessly his hand knitted itself back onto his wrist.
"So you're not going to say anything?" Walter huffed. His blood was boiling as it raced through his veins. The blue-tinted wire fell yet shined dangerously on the floor, ready for another round if its master willed it to life.
Small droplets of Alucard's blood flowed across the wood grain as if pulled by a magnetic force, seeping under the vampire's pristine shoes. And soon the blood was gone, leaving no evidence that it was ever there.
For a moment, Alucard pondered what to say. His usual tactics would do him no good. However, he wasn't exactly sure how to be a confidant, especially to a human. Deciding it was best to speak to Walter gently, he thought a minute or so before speaking. "What is it you would want me to say, Walter? What is it I could say that would make whatever it is that is plaguing you disappear?" The vampire, usually bold and sensual, looked to his partner with a serious, questionable stare. It was hard to remember how to act human, but for now, he was willing to try.
Walter was dumbstruck by the words and tone. Looking down at Alucard, he realized he was standing and sat quickly with a mortified expression. For a moment, all his anger and depression seemed to wash away, effectively cleansed by his partner's straightforward attitude. He released a sigh, a physical expulsion of his poisonous emotions. "I don't know…" Walter said, feeling drained of energy.
Alucard sat quietly. Instead of finding a solution he decided it best to lend an ear.
"I just…feel odd. Like something's slowly hacking at me, eating away at my insides…" Blue eyes looked to Alucard, and quickly turned away. Before realizing what he was doing, he had begun to spill his feelings. Normally, Alucard would have to utter something risqué to coax such a reaction out of Walter. But now he sat listening, almost stone-faced. It seemed to bother Walter more than any other expression.
"I…" Walter began, unsure what could be said. "Never mind…"
Alucard quirked an eyebrow at his partner's words.
"Just leave…" Walter said, turning to lie on the bed.
John Bull indeed…emphasis on the Bull…Alucard thought with a grunt. Allowing Walter to work out his own problems wasn't going to work, either. Again, his thoughts settled on pestering the young boy until he was forced to explain himself. Or, perhaps, he would become agitated enough to blurt out his problems.
Alucard stood, looking down at the butler. For a brief moment he flashed a grin and then tackled the dark-haired boy, holding both wrists at the crown of his head.
Walter struggled after his shock subsided. "Dammit, what are you doing?"
"Come now, Angel. You know how this game works. If you give me what I want, then I will let you go."
His eyelids formed slits as the cobalt coloring deepened in anger. "Sod off!" Walter yelled. "I'm not your toy!"
Alucard didn't have to exert much force to keep Walter in his place. "Angel of Death, what is bothering you so thoroughly this evening, hn?" An animalistic grin etched its way into the vampire's girlish visage. "Tell me and I will let you go for now."
"Leave me alone! I've already decided that it doesn't matter." He continued to struggle uselessly.
"Oh but it must be something; something to catch you off guard and eat at you from the inside out. It must be something important, something that you can't seem to figure out for yourself."
Teeth gnashed as he tried to free his hands. "How would you know?"
"Because I can read your every thought, dear Angel."
Walter's body fell limp a moment as the grasp on his wrists loosened. Alucard sat up, straddling the butler with a haughty grin.
Slits grew to circles as Walter sat up. He was shocked. A part of him wondered why, though, as he already knew that Alucard could read his mind. Nevertheless, he felt invaded by such a thing, and attempted to sucker punch his partner.
Alucard moved out of the way, Walter's fist only making contact with a pocket of air. "Since when have you ever been able to land a descent punch?" He teased.
"Shut up! Stop reading my thoughts!" The butler threw one arm out in front of himself, as if swatting a fly away.
The vampire released a small sigh, grimacing. Walter was only 14 years old, but had never acted so childishly until this night. While Alucard was able to read his thoughts, currently he couldn't make sense of his findings. The young man's mind resembled fuzzy, jumbled words on a page rather than neat text that it typically resembled. Alucard could sense the emotions in the thoughts, but couldn't find a resounding voice to carry them. Understanding such things was like hearing one speak in a foreign language.
Regardless of his confusion, Alucard was forming a hypothesis. He noted the butler's attitude: cold, lethargic and in search of isolation. He needed to sort out his emotions, but wasn't finding any such way to do it. Whatever the reason, Walter showed that he didn't want Alucard to interfere. So, was he the problem? Perhaps, he thought. He had a hunch.
And deciding to prove his hunch, he continued to push Walter's buttons. "It's not as if I could stop hearing your thoughts, Walter. They come flowing in just as your voice does. Those sweet, confused thoughts of yours are always loud enough for me to hear."
"Bloody vampire, get off!" Walter kicked his legs, pushing Alucard to the side of the bed.
Unaffected by the attack, the petite white vampire stood, looking down at his partner as if he were prey. "I wonder…what's it like to know your thoughts are never just your own…that I can hear them anytime I'm near." He crawled onto the bed, over the boy's legs until he was in a similar position to before, on hands and knees over Walter's form. "What is that like, I wonder. No matter what you think, no matter what you say, I'll always be around to hear it." Alucard smirked, tracing a circle above the servant's left nipple. "You will always belong to me; heart, mind and soul."
"Get off me!" Walter erupted, pushing Alucard off the bed and onto the floor.
He allowed himself to fall to the floor, observing the butler's actions.
"That's all you really think of me isn't it? Just a cheap thrill to amuse you when you see fit, huh?" Walter left the bed and stood over Alucard. "I'm just a toy to you, aren't I?" The boy released a sigh, his shoulders slumping as a result.
"Are you done?" Alucard inquired. He made eye contact with Walter, whose blood pressure only seemed to increase.
"Dammit, I'm tired of all of this!" Walter no longer knew what he was saying, but continued. "Do you even care for me at all?" His last words lingered in the air a moment before he realized what was said. Cheeks turned to a deep crimson color quickly until he turned away. "Just go…" he whispered.
Alucard stared at the boy's backside, studying the wrinkles that formed in his waistcoat. For a moment he wasn't sure what to do, but complied, leaving silently in a puff of smoke.
Walter found himself alone. His shoulders betrayed a quiver as he turned to the bed and flopped upon it. Today was turning out to be horrid, and now, he wasn't sure where he stood in Alucard's eyes. Thinking back, he began to piece together what had lead to this moment, and fervently tried to determine what he felt.
"Idiot…" he muttered, referring to himself.
Down in another wing of the manor, Arthur Hellsing was sorting through documents left by Irons on his desk. He'd put the work off long enough and decided now was as good a time as ever.
Taking one last puff of his cigar, he placed the used material on the ash tray. Eyes were focused upon the documents as his hand blindly searched the other side of the desk for his cigar box. When the box wasn't found, he looked up, locking eyes with molten pools of crimson and amber.
"Gah!" he yelled, falling back in his chair.
Alucard grinned, emerging from the shadows, holding the box out to his Master. "Need another?" he smirked.
"Alucard…haven't I told you not to do that?" Arthur ignored the offering and continued to sort.
"You have, I remember your words quite well." Grinning, the vampire placed the box on the desk and leaned against his Master's chair.
That annoying little presence….Arthur could feel it at his left. He sighed, looking to Alucard who smiled impishly. "What do you want?"
The small, girlish vampire moved to the center of the office, walking in lazy circles about the area rug. "Believe it or not, it's actually important. It's about your little man-servant."
"Ah, Walter? Did something happen to him?" Normally he wouldn't worry about Walter. But if Alucard was concerned, Arthur reasoned, than it must have been something serious.
"Yes in a way…something did." Reddish eyes wandered idly from item to item in the room. "Physically he's fine."
Arthur sighed gratefully like a concerned parent. "That's good to know. So what's wrong with him then?"
"It would seem something has crushed his heart, his spirit…it seems the boy is lovesick."
Arthur blinked once, then twice. "Love? Walter's in love?" Dropping his papers, he looked to Alucard who stared back at him.
"Well isn't that an interesting bit of gossip." Grinning, Arthur Hellsing stroked his chin, grabbing a cigar to light. "So let me guess then…he's acting like a right, old fool because he hasn't confessed to the girl, hm?" A smug grin formed on his face as he waited for more details.
"That is an interesting choice of words…" Alucard folded his arms. "But I suppose that is correct."
"So…" He placed both elbows on the wooden desk, resting his cheeks on both palms. "Is it one of our lovely maids?" Arthur grinned with amusement.
"No…far from it…"
"Well, who would it be then?" Arthur pondered different women that visited the manor. In all that would include the maids or any of his dates. But again, that would be tricky to figure out as Arthur had dated…at least several different women in the last few months.
Alucard too, contemplated. How could he tell his Master who it was? There was only one way, he reasoned. Using his supernatural speed, Alucard perched on the documents scattered about Arthur's desk. He clutched his black neck tie, pulling their faces together. With the other hand, he plucked the lit cigar from his Master's lips and ground it into the ash tray.
"My Master," he began, in a deep, sensual tone. "How would you feel if I came to your room practically every night?" White gloved fingers began to loosen the knot in the other's tie. "Toy with your mind for a bit and then utterly confuse you." Once the tie was loosened, he quickly grabbed both hands at the wrist. In his left, he had those wrists. With the right hand, he stroked the light stubble on Arthur's chin.
"And then, once you are too mad to speak coherently, I kiss you." Alucard brought their faces close again, brushing his top lip with Arthur's bottom one to illicit a light shiver from his Master. "And not only do I kiss you, I plunder your mouth with my tongue, my cool hands roaming your body until your head spins with lust."
Arthur had to admit; Alucard had a way about him. But he couldn't let the vampire dominate him and struggled against the grasp a moment. When he realized how powerless he was, he said, "Enough…unhand me, Alucard."
Softly grinning, Alucard complied. "Now isn't that convenient for you." He crossed his legs, pouting his lips gently as he laughed. "You can tell me to stop. But Walter cannot."
Arthur blinked once. "Wait…what?"
"Get it now, Old Man?" He swung his legs back and forth in a childish manner.
"Y-You?" He was stunned to say the least. First thing that came to mind was Alucard's ambiguous gender. He looked over the white-clad form, wondering either how small of breasts the vampire had or…looking further south he concluded that such things were best left unknown.
The small vampire flashed a grin sweet as sugar. This made the blonde haired man's head spin even more. "Er…so why are you telling me this…bragging?" He coughed once, flashing an irate expression while retying his tie.
Chuckling, he said, "Oh ho, not in the least, Old Man. This is more of an omen for you."
Eyebrows quirked unevenly in response. "What do you mean?"
Hopping off the desk, Alucard resumed his lazy walk about the office. It seemed to quell something within him. "Your little butler, Angel of Death or not, is a human; myself, a vampire. And…for one as young as he...with so much life left in him…" He paused, trying to find the right words to say. "It would be counter-productive for him and I to mingle any further."
Sir Hellsing remained quiet.
"Do you remember your favorite toy as a child? How a child will covet it, they bring it with them everywhere and they don't let others play with it. But such an obsession can be…unhealthy. The parent must confiscate the toy from the child. And even if the child throws a fit about it, such things must be done in their best interest." Having run out of words, Alucard glanced at Arthur who seemed to ponder the vampire's words. "Understand?"
"Somewhat…" He sighed, stood and walked towards Alucard, sitting on a couch close to the Nosferatu. "You're saying if he stays around you any longer that…"
"…That inevitably, he might cast his humanity away and ask for immortality from me. And that's…not something I am willing to give."
Arthur snorted. "Not to mention I won't allow you to create vampires. Believe me, one of you is enough."
He grinned in response.
"But I believe I understand. So, what do you propose be done? Seems there won't be more vampire attacks for a while, at least from what we can tell."
The grin fell from his lips. "Then, my Master…" Typically unwilling to do so, Alucard knelt, prostrating on the floor. "If there are no more orders for me to fulfill, then it is best to put me back in the dungeons until the time I am needed again."
"So…you're asking to be sealed?" Arthur couldn't believe his ears. "You…"
Alucard raised only his head, red eyes reflecting the blue one's of his Master. "I'm sure you want to keep your help and your pet separate."
Arthur smiled before letting out a small laugh. It seems Walter's not the only one acting on emotions…he thought. "You are correct. There's no butler better than Walter. And it would be a shame to lose him."
"Yes," Alucard nodded.
Arthur stood and said, "Alucard, since there is nothing more I ask of you, you will be sealed again, until the time when you are needed."
Bowing, he replied, "Yes, my Master, Sir Arthur Hellsing."
The blonde couldn't help but snort. "I believe that's the first time you've called me by my full name."
Alucard chuckled as well. "Yes, you are correct." It is best this way…he thought. Little Angel, continue to live. Become a beautiful man in your old age…value what life you have and the wrinkles your face will eventually bear. I hope that time will erase what memories you have of me so that you can live quietly…as a human.
Acest lucru estela revedere, Walter. (Romanian: This is goodbye…Walter.)