Author's note : what I plan to do here is a collection of unrelated short stories about the same theme -Alucard and Walter being neighbours and getting to know each other. But because they are unrelated, I can not guarantee that the rating and genres will remain the same throughout. Of course if changes do take place, I will notify. Enjoy !
Disclaimer: I don't own Hellsing nor its characters.
Making good relationships
Walter had been cursing under his breath for the last two hours, while he was unpacking his things in a new room. If people are usually happy about moving out, it was not the case for the young butler. In fact he was not even supposed to be glad about it since it was not a willing removal. And it was all Alucard's fault! But of course, Arthur had refused to listen.
And still it was true: Alucard was to blame for the whole situation. After all, it was the girl-looking vampire who had come into Walter's room out of boredom to "play". Knowing fairly well that "game" meant "fight" in Alucard's language, the boy had refused, of course. But again, with Alucard, "no" could mean "yes" and linguistic be damned. The boy had been forced to retaliate in self-defence.
Walter could not quite replace when the room became completely devastated, but he remembered the furniture were broken or smashed to pieces and the walls bore huge cracks… But he only realised it when Arthur came in the room because of the noise and interrupted them.
It was the first time in a long, long period of time that Arthur was having coherent thoughts so late in the night. Usually, at this hour of the night, the man was dead drunk. Too bad he used the little intelligence he still had to punish his poor butler... After a lot of yelling and a lot of threats to both of the adversaries, Arthur had finally ordered Walter to remove his things and go settle down in the basement.
The man knew fully well that Walter could not stand Alucard. Arthur had told him that the vampire had his own way to be friendly but the butler did not like Alucard's "manners" anyway. And now, he had to live next door to the creature in the dark, unheated basement. Although the room was big, the walls were cold and damp and the butler could not help it. He would have to wrap himself up in some covers.
The boy looked at his watch: it would be night soon. And the annoying creature would be up soon too. Walter sighed heavily and ran his eyes over the room which had just been cleaned. He was exhausted but he also guessed that with Alucard next door, cleaning would be useless. He lay down on his bed (Arthur felt kind enough to ask -yell- to some soldiers to carry his bed downstairs) and grasped a book on a pile next to him.
He had only started the first paragraph when he started to feel a presence over there. At the far end of the room, near the door, the vampire appeared. With an ever present smirk upon his face, the creature stared at the barely furnished room.
"One bed and no other furniture? Arthur must have been really angry after you"
"It was your fault, Alucard"
"That's not fair Angel. You caused more damages than I did"
"Who made me do so?"
The vampire did not answer but pretended to sulk while examining the rest of the room. There was a pile of clothes at one of the corners, a pile of books next to the bed and a candle on them. In a word, nothing he could have fun with. Instead of Walter himself, of course. A devious grin appeared on the vampire's lips for a short while. He slowly came closer to the boy's bed and sat on it.
"Do you resent me?" the vampire asked in a curious tone.
The butler sighed, tossed his book aside and sat down, facing the girl-looking creature. Well, now he would have to live side by side with the vampire; maybe it was time to speak frankly. Maybe Alucard would understand...
"No, I don't resent you. But I wonder why you're always putting me into trouble. Do you hate me so much?"
"I'm bored. And it's funny"
"And that's all?" the butler asked in disbelief.
"Guess so" came the flat answer.
"Don't you have other means to have fun?"
The vampire gave the butler a crazy look.
"Well, would you be kind enough to tell me what else I could do to spend my nights when I'm not out on a mission?" he asked with irony.
"Read", the boy suggested hesitantly. He had not expected such a question.
"I've read all of the books of the library at least twice, Angel" the tone was now weary.
"Have a walk" he said even less convincingly.
"The lawn hasn't changed a lot for the last centuries, you know"
The butler sighed. His partner was true: there was little to do especially at night when you weren't free to go wherever you wanted or had been here for long. The vampire smiled gently at Walter's reaction.
"Understood?"
"Guess so"
The silence fell in the room for a while. The vampire broke it with a serious tone:
"Don't you ever want to have some entertainment sometimes?"
"Yes, but the way you have "entertainment" conveys a lot of trouble"
"But you love it, don't you?"
"I enjoy fighting but not to your extent. Your way to entertain always ends up with troubles to me"
"I thought this pleasure was our only common point but it seems that it's not even a common point" the vampire sounded disappointed.
Walter frowned. So the vampire had such a high opinion of him so as to think that they somehow could be equals? The very serious look on the girl-looking face made the boy feel guilty. He sighed:
"Alright, listen. I didn't like you because you always put me into trouble or tried to fight with me for no reason instead of being... Normal. Of course, I know you're not normal, but I wasn't expecting you to act so... childishly"
"I'm just adapting to your level, my dear" the vampire answered with a teasing smile.
The butler opened his mouth to protest but was cut off:
"I may act childishly from time to time but I'm nonetheless more adult and experienced than you'll ever be. Since you can't possibly adapt yourself to my level, I have to do it myself", the girl-looking creature concluded with a bright smile.
This time Walter really felt offended.
"If you want me to believe you, show me how adult you are by stopping pestering me!"
"If you want me to do so, show me how worth my respect you are by fighting with me"
"Don't you ever think of anything else? You're developing an obsession!"
"I'm not developing anything; I've always been like this"
"Poor Arthur!"
"What do you imply?"
"I'm not implying anything; I'm just stating a fact"
"You're getting annoying, brat", Alucard said with a more serious tone.
"I'm just adapting to your level, my dear", the butler answered sarcastically.
Alucard smirked immediately and stared at Walter with a scrutinising look.
"I think I like you" he conceded with a pensive voice.
"Thank you" the boy mumbled repressing his surprise. Yet the look of pure delight on the vampire's face made him uneasy.
"But you're still an annoying brat"
"And you're still an obsessed, annoying vampire. But I like you too"
"Thank you" the creature answered almost proudly.
There was a pause while Alucard tilted his head to the side to look at Walter. The boy flushed, feeling awkward.
"This doesn't solve the problem, I guess"
"Which problem?" the boy asked dumbly.
"Play with me!" the vampire wailed playfully with an encouraging smile.
"You're ruining everything!" the butler answered with a sigh, rolling his eyes.
Alucard pretended to sulk, crossing his arms on his chest. Walter sighed. Although he knew that the girl-looking creature in front of him was far from being a little girl, he had to admit that the vampire was quite convincing. Despite his exaggerated love for fighting, the butler liked him. But he was not sure why.
"Well, after all, I've got nothing better to d-"
"Let's start then!" the vampire cried with a huge grin, jumping down the bed.
"Wait! Wait! Not in my room!"
That night, Arthur Hellsing was interrupted during his dinner by shouts and noises coming from the garden of his property, but he didn't bother checking what was going on; he guessed that Alucard and Walter had eventually found a way to get along, preserving the manor and the furniture. In fact it had proved a good idea to have them live side by side.
Sir Hellsing frowned.
Or so he hoped.
A. N. O'Nyme