This story follows "The Age Ol' War". Disclaimer:"Hellsing" along with all of it's characters belong to Kouta Hirano. Mina Harker belongs to B. Stocker. Will Harker belongs to me (hahaxD). Enjoy 3
October 2044
...
The colors of the trees intensified, reaching the palate of reds and oranges, accompanied by gold and bronze. The Hellsing manor seemed to be framed by them, its cold ancient stone contrasting with the lively scenes. There were lots of people fussing around the grounds, workers and decorators, preparing the estate for the welcoming ball held in honor of the new director.
Mina stood in the window, concealed by the shadow of the heavy, navy drapes, observing the busybodies, a crystal glass of rum in her hand. She wore a heavy scowl on her face, clearly displeased with the fuss. If it wasn't bloody necessary, she wouldn't even consider undergoing such a torturous event. Alas, she had to live up to the expectations of the Royals and the Conference of Twelve. Though why the hell she had to spend the money she needed to buy anti-freak weaponry on a shitty ball, was beyond her.
She took a sip of alcohol, feeling relief course through her body and her shoulders relaxing. Harker had to get a drink; she had been extremely jittery all morning.
Behind her, Ceres was going on about how wonderful it will be to accompany her to said ball. Victoria kept fawning over the beautiful costumes they would be wearing. Right this moment, she was panicking, because she hadn't a clue which shoes would go with her sapphire dress and she kept on mopping, that her Master was right to go for classical black-Mina wouldn't have any problems with accessories.
"Choose the silver ones." Mina said flatly. Everyone knew that silver went well with blue, especially when one was a blonde, like Ceres. "And white gold." She would have said silver…but she remembered who or rather what Victoria really was.
"Aw, Miss Mina, what would I do without you~!" Victoria said in a sing song voice. Of course, she had already planned to pick the tarnished-silver stilettos, she just wanted to occupy Mina with something trivial, so sher Master could be easier and rest her mind. The Draculina pouted, seeing the woman take another swing of alcohol. Why would Mina be so nervous about this? It was only a social event, one of many she had been on, as the daughter of Sir Fredrick Harker-a man with many connections and even more money. They even used to dance together, training Mina for such occasions.
"I wonder if I'll get to dance…?" Ceres murmured quietly, twirling her fingers around the delicate straps of her right stiletto. She absentmindedly lifted her hand to her lips remembering a ball which happened a long time ago…and a charming, golden-haired young man, who invited her to dance.
A knock on the door stirred both of them out of their thoughts. Ceres blushed madly seeing Gabriel poke his head into the Master's office. His golden hair gleamed in the sunlight, when a beam of light hit the curls. Over the twenty or more years he had served the Hellsing Estate, Gabriel had matured greatly, aged while keeping all his charisma and charm.
"Miss Harker, I have brought the evening plan…Hello, Victoria, up early?" He graced the vampire with a soft smile, his eyes falling to the silver shoe she held in her hands. Victoria hid it quickly behind her back, laughing nervously.
"Plan…?" Mina said surprised. She mentally kicked herself-of course there was a bloody plan. She'd paid good money to have this organized.
"Yes, I would like to remind you that there will be an additional event. After greeting the guests, there will be a dance. The event planner, Mr. Clarique, wishes to know in what rotation you would like them to be."
"W-what dance?" Mina blinked rapidly, her mind not following. Dancing was out of the question. Dancing brought bad memories. The last time she had danced, it had been with the man she loved, whose hands held her so surely and tenderly, as they flowed across the ballroom floor in a slow waltz…She had been so in love back then.
And then with those same, loving hands and body the man danced differently with another woman, a woman she once regarded as a sister…
"…Does that suit you, My Lady?"
Mina nodded dumbly, her eyes glazed over from stale pain, totally unaware of what her butler was saying.
"Sir, are you alright?" Gabriel asked gently, his brow creased in worry. Mina shrank back realizing how close he had gotten to her, her arm stiffening and tingling from his touch. The butler noticed and gave her an apologetic smile, pulling back. Mina lowered her eyes, forcing her thoughts far back into the corners of her mind. She nodded briskly.
"A slow english waltz followed by a conservative tango, well chosen, Sir. I shall go inform Mr. Clarique immediately."
Gabriel retreated, exchanging a questioning look with Ceres on his way. The vampire saw him off, while Mina stood shock still, the gravity of the situation she had found herself in, hitting her at last.
This was a ball. She would have to dance. There would be men she was expected to dance with. Men she would have to let close, let touch her body. She gave a chocked gasp, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Mina, what's wrong?" Ceres said in alarm, jumping up to her.
"What dances did I agree to again?" the Hellsing Director asked shakily. Victoria looked at her closely, wondering about the peculiar reaction.
"Uhh…A waltz and a tango…"
"Ceres get me Gabriel. Please."
"But…!"
Mina looked at her friend, her eyes beseeching the Draculina, "Please. I need to speak with him."
Ceres blinked but sank through the floor, down to the first floor, soon finding the butler and persuading him to come back to their master's quarters.
They found Mina sitting by the window, looking out to the yard, her foot tapping nervously against the paneled floor. She turned to her guests, not a trace of panic about her.
"Gabriel…I have a favor to ask of you."
"Anything, Miss Harker," he moved his hands, not quite sure what to do with them. Mina cocked her head to the side, contemplating something.
"Dance with me."
...O...
...
Ceres popped an old memo card into the IPod linked with the HiFi system and pressed play, sitting back on her haunches and waiting for it to start spinning its tunes. The sounds of Ella Fitzgerald's Summertime began to float gently out of the speakers, wrapping around them in soft accords.
"This is the swing; I think it will do well for a warm up, since you wish to practice." Gabriel said, leading Mina to the middle of the office. She looked at him dubiously.
"Isn't that a close-contact kind of dance?" Mina questioned shakily. The butler laughed politely and shook his head in denial.
She didn't know how she could possibly do this. Touch a man and let him touch her-even if it was only a dance…even if it was only her butler. Gabriel glanced at her, smiling crookedly.
"I can assure you, Master Harker, my intensions are entirely honorable." He pulled her closer, but left acceptable space between their bodies. He placed a hand on her back, higher than necessary and grasped her hand gently in his own. Mina gulped nervously and simultaneously, when the right amount was counted to the rhythm, they both took a step forward. They ended up pressed chest to chest to one another. Mina pulled back, aware of her fault: Gabriel was to lead, not her!
"Let's try that again, shall we?" The butler asked kindly, taking Mina's hand and twirling her around. This time, she landed gracefully in his arms. Mina laughed softly. They did a triple step, and then continued onto a rock step. Gabriel was attentive as always and Harker realized that she couldn't judge all men by one category -his category.
They ended the swing dance and started a slow sway, listening to another of Ella Fitzgrald's songs. The man I love, caressed Mina's ears.
Her butler embraced her gently, yet firmly and she relaxed a bit listening to the old love song. She could almost feel her own body resonating with the vibrations of Fitzgerald's voice. They swayed together gently, reminding her of her previous dances with Victoria. Of course, she had been a little girl back then, stepping on the vampire's feet ungraciously. Victoria used to place her toes on her own feet and then they would waltz around the room in a fit of giggles.
Mina laughed softly reminiscing, enjoying it when Gabriel spun her around. This time her hand landed on his shoulder with ease. After a while, she patted his arm and smiled. They both stopped.
"May we continue to the waltz, Gabriel?"
"Certainly, My Lady." He answered taking her hand in his and bowing down slightly, touching his lips very lightly to her delicate fingers, like they used to in the old days. Ceres laughed behind them and he grinned back at her, wiggling his brows discreetly, so that Master Harker could not see.
"Always the charmer." The Draculina muttered shaking her head. She made a motion with her hand, as if to shoo him off and went back to the IPod, to select a different type of music. The sounds of Richard Rodgers' classical English waltz caressed their ears, wrapping around their senses.
"We shall begin with the classical three-step, and then proceed to the whisk and chassis." Gabriel said bringing Mina around back into his arms. "Do you remember those steps, My Lady?" he inquired and she straightened her back, preparing her frame. Mina nodded briskly to which he smiled and began leading her gracefully.
...O...
It was hard to believe the Young Director was dancing with a murderer. Gabriel Cornello Maniani had been one of Hellsing's best assassins. The butler seemed so gentle, who would ever assume he was a hit man with a cruel edge?
He spun her and just as they began the next set of steps, his mobile gave a shrill ring. The butler let go of his master's hand and excused himself from the room. Mina looked to the vampire, but Ceres only shrugged.
"I guess I am too bloody old to continue on dancing with you, aren't I Victoria?"
She laughed softly, looking down at her feet.
"Well I suppose I could let you step on my feet, but you are very much taller than I, Miss Harker. 'Might look a bit ridiculous." Ceres rubbed her chin, as if contemplating the thought. She then grabbed Mina's hand and spun her away from herself. Mina stroke a funny pose and just when Ceres was going to spin her back, a shadowy, glove-covered hand gripped Harker's wrist, halting her movement. The air seemed to still then sway like a mirage, until Alucard appeared in the office in all his dark glory.
"Are you trying to steal my dance, Police Girl?" the tall red clad man asked tauntingly.
They stood like that in the middle of the office room, Mina being held by Victoria to the right and Alucard to the left. The elder vampire grimaced, feeling the sunlight hit his back.
"That butler seems to have run into a slight pinch with the obscene, French Decorator. Perhaps the petty human needs to be reminded who he is working for?" he said in a lowly voice. At the same time he was thinking towards Ceres 'that's a code for: "leave me with the Harker woman", Police Girl.'
Ceres' cheeks colored in rage. 'You just want to annoy Miss Harker, don't you, Master?'
He gave her a pointed look.
"Then I best go sort this out…" thought Mina out loud, oblivious to the exchange between her two vampire servants.
"I will go, Miss Harker." Ceres grumbled departing the room with a huff. She couldn't openly disobey her Master.
"Nonsense. I am the Hellsing Director, it is my duty to deal with this-"
"Do not busy yourself with such trash." Alucard said, pulling on her arm slightly to get her closer. "Besides, you still haven't finished your dancing lesson." He purred in her ear, mocking her with his false tone. He stepped away and took off his sunglasses and hat and laid them, along with his trench coat on the cushion of the arm chair. Mina looked to the doorway, but Ceres was already gone, dealing with whatever had to be bloody dealt with. She turned to look the vampire square in the face.
What was this bloke trying to do?
Since Mina's arrival one month prior, Alucard had been doing almost everything to piss her off. The vampire seemed to enjoy arguing with her. If Mina didn't know better, she would have thought it was a vampire trait!
She looked into his vermillion eyes warily.
Harker noted that she was practically at eye level with him, in work-heels. Impressive, for a woman. She felt smug satisfaction wash over her at the thought that he couldn't tower over her unless he used his vampiric magic. She pulled on his cravat, knowing that he hated it.
"And you are the one who is going to teach me?" Her voice was low, nearly a growl and Alucard was interested in what she would do this time. Usually, when Integra used that specific tone, he'd end up on the floor, stuffed with silver bullets. Mina studied him, then suddenly threw her head back and laughed wholeheartedly. He began fixing his tie, irked at her. After he'd done that, the vampire patted down the flaps of his suit jacket, which she had rumpled by her strong grip.
"Bring it on." the young woman said with a small smirk, observing his actions. "Just to let you know, I was just refreshing my knowledge-I have had dancing lessons. I was merely practicing." She showed him her hand, cocking a dark brow at him in contempt. Alucard brought her around and pulled her flush against him. She stilled for a split second, feeling his hard body so intimately against hers.
For a moment Mina shut down, panic and dark thoughts overcoming her, until she realized, that she had nothing to fear from her servant. He was not a man; he was a vampire, a different species altogether- without the lowly sexual urges of mankind. He couldn't hurt her physically, in that sense anyway. The Count was probably more interested in murdering her or draining her dry than her as a woman. Wilhelmina let her body relax in relief and tightened the barriers of her mind. She straightened and made the perfect frame, her head tilting back. She'd show the idiot, just who ruled the bloody dance floor!
The music stopped so they waited for another waltz to play. It was La Valse d'Amelie, which started off softly and slowly.
"Yann Tiersen" whispered Mina with surprise, acknowledging the theme's author. She had once watched the old famed film, Amelia, but the dancing scene and waltz music had seemed unmemorable for her, back then. How wrong she had been. After years, the magic of the tune seemed to lull her and put her in a trance with its beauty.
Alucard led her, his gloved hand applying the tiniest of pressure on her shoulder-blade. They moved gently and purposefully across the wood-paneled floor. The vampire stroked her waist ever so slightly.
His leg touched her inner thigh, seemingly innocent, but she had caught on to his plan.
He wanted to make her feel embarrassed! Well, there was no way she'd let that happen, Mina could just imagine him laughing as she fumbled, imagine him saying she was a clumsy dancer and had two left feet…
She gave him a murderous glare, but he paid her back with an innocent, blank gaze.
"Ohh…I know what you're up to…"
"Hoh? Do tell, Sir."
"You're trying to catch me messing up my foot work. Not gonna happen." He smiled at her logic.
"I would never. This is such an easy dance, failure is not an option. I must say, the English dance used to bore me. So little going on…"Alucard stated in a flat tone, appearing to be extremely bored.
"Ah, yes I bet it would." Mina rolled her eyes. "All that dancing and wooing through the ages… Did you manage to get a bite to drink while fawning over the ladies?" she asked sarcastically, peering at him. Alucard gave a breathy chuckle, inclining his head, as if she had won the round.
Which she had, because that had been exactly what he was used to doing.
They spun together, Harker doing little, twirling steps, a smile forming on her lips. He was doing his best to turn this English Waltz into a Vienna one. They did a whisk and chassis and after spinning her, Alucard made them still, leaning her back almost in half. Mina's back popped loudly, not used to flexing the other way. That hurt.
He brought her up and they began to move again, gliding across the floor. Blood rushed back into Harker's head and cheeks.
"I'm not a professional dancer, you know." Mina growled feeling a bit dizzy, "No need to show off, the only people attending this ball are the families of the Conference of Twelve…almost all the men are over fifty."
"Do you feel tired already, Sir Harker?" the vampire asked sweetly, venom flowing off of him in waves. She pulled away from him and took off her thick suit jacket. Not to be bested, he did the same with a lazy smirk. Alucard laid it on the arm of the chair Mina had been previously sitting on, then rolled up his sleeves. She openly stared at the vampire.
It was war then?
Mina smiled. Hearing the song come to an end, she walked over to the IPod and selected the fast tempo Vienna Waltz.
To hell with him.
"Not in the slightest." She finally answered her employee "Would you prefer a faster dance, Count?" she addressed him by his former title, giving him a mock curtsy. Alucard drew in breath, his hands itching to wrap around her white, unmarked neck to wring the life out of her.
He expected her to blush at his not so innocent touch, trip over, possess the grace of an elephant in a cabbage badge, as they say... Why else would she fear dancing so much? Why did his advances not seem to faze her? Why was he the only one annoyed with this situation?
He held her a little tighter than necessary, but she didn't say a word, only smiling wider, when he spun them fast in a three-step, long step and fancy twirl. They didn't get far though, because the office wall stopped their dance. Alucard stepped to the side, pulling Mina along.
She gave him a mocking laugh, openly making fun of him. The vampire snapped, anger overflowing his thoughts. He dropped his hands away from her and straightened his back even more, rising to his full height.
While they glared at each other with malevolence, the song jammed and then another started, different from the ones before.
The NoLife King could see how Mina's pupils dilated when she realized that the IPod was playing tango music. She looked terror stricken. The harsh, heated beat of Mi Confesion, began to make itself known, pulsing between them. It was like an answer to the pounding of the woman's heart, pushing thick blood through her veins in the pace of an old song. This was a Latin dance, full of want and sex, hardly conservative and there was no way in hell she was going to dance to this with any male-vampire or not.
She stepped away from Alucard, seeing his feral grin. He slid his foot forward. She moved hers slowly back, feeling the coldness of his body an inch or two away from her own flesh. Mina moved again, he answered her step and somehow, they had begun the steps of the Tango.
"Alright, I'm tired." Mina confessed shakily, stopping suddenly in half a move. She didn't like the intensity in which he regarded her.
Alucard practically stalked up to the Hellsing Director and grabbed her elbows and forearms, lifting them high into the classical tango rectangular frame. Her fingers unconsciously wrapped around his own forearms. He moved forward, forcing her back, his feet dancing the steps with utmost grace and seductive power.
"Oh, you are such a quitter." The Count smiled evilly and changed the direction of their movement- Mina's hips rolled on their own under his influence. She furrowed her brows, trying not to think too much about his controlling manner.
He took her hand in his, squeezed hard and pushed his left hand against her side, forcing her to do a slide step. Mina practically froze up feeling his power vibrate in her bones and a queer sensation begin to stir in the pit of her stomach.
"What are you afraid of? It's only a little innocent dance. How will you dance with a councilmember if you can't dance with a servant?" He hissed hatefully.
"I don't want to dance anymore." Harker sputtered as he spun them together to the other side of the room. Alucard let go of the woman for a second, to then pull her backwards into his chest. For a millisecond her lips brushed his own, due to the force. Her hot breath ghosted across his face and their eyes locked for a meaningful second. Mina stopped breathing all together, her heart beating like a hammer.
Together they stepped forward, his hands making her body do ragged, jerky motions, as if caught in crossfire between attempting to run away from him, and coming back into his arms.
"I'll just skip the tango, so stop this nonsense." she panted, when he slid his hand up her thigh, slightly raising the material of her skirt. Mina blessed the article of clothing for being tight fitting- this was getting dangerous!
"Ah-Ah, keep your dance pose, Sir." Alucard mocked, seeing her shoulders slump. Harker shivered with dread, when she felt his fingers lightly skim against the sides of her chest.
The vampire spun Mina around and proceeded to force her backwards with the classical dance steps. To catch her balance she had to grip him by the back of his neck, feeling the incredibly soft skin near his shirt's collar. She looked into his eyes and saw hate, but more importantly want.
And it scared her.
"Bloody Hell, I said stop!" Mina ripped her hands away from him but he caught them. She placed then on his chest, her nails biting into his flesh, but it didn't stop his advance. Mina kicked out, her foot doing a dainty twist in the air, but this wasn't a dance anymore. It was a parody of any kind of physical interaction. Taking her by the wrists, Alucard twirled her around until she made a couple of eights. His beastly eyes constantly followed the movement of her hips.
Mina growled and freed a hand to tug at the drapery. She ripped the navy material, clutching it to her breast and Alucard got hit face first with a beam of sunlight. He hissed and the woman could smell something burning. Mina pressed the cloth to her face to hide a gasp. She looked down to the curtain in her hands, shocked with what was happening. Was she really dancing with Alucard?
When she looked up again, the vampire was gone.
...O...
...
That evening, after dancing an exceptionally beautiful waltz, Mina feigned illness to get her ass out of the Tango.
*leave a comment please ;) I think, that for a "dancing" fic, it wasn't half as bad! xD