Air blew through the small town, bringing flurries of snow with it. This was only the second town Trevor and Adrian had been to which had someone they needed to speak to. Generally, they tried to avoid towns, considering who they were and what they were doing. The church would not be happy to find two heretical fugitives wandering around speaking to practitioners of "black magic."
Trevor scoffed to himself. There wasn't anything wrong with science. Hell, his father had practiced it, and the Belmont hold and bestiary had many of his personal notes.
The thought did make him feel like a weight was dragging him down though, so he pushed it away. He was here because Adrian had asked, and it would save others from the same fate as his family. No other reasons. Nope.
"That looks like the right place," Adrian said. He pointed to a simple house near the edge of the town. Light shone between the slats of the windows' coverings, and smoke rose from the simple chimney.
"People are home," Trevor noted. "Let's see how long it takes them to hate us."
"Please try to stay cordial. You nearly scared the last man to death."
Trevor lifted his shoulders. "We're here to tell people the truth. Not my fault if the guy was terrified of the church."
"He has perfectly good reason to be," Adrian said, tone admonishing. "But that isn't the point. There are better ways to break the news to someone."
Trevor rolled his eyes and hummed vague agreement. "You take this one then."
Adrian nodded, stiff, walked up to the door and rapped on it. Soon, a frail man came to the door and peeked out, squinting.
"Who's there?" the man grumbled. "It's nighttime you know. Come back tomorrow."
"Good evening," Adrian said. "We apologize for the lateness of the visit. Is there a Kyrilu here?"
"That's me." Kyrilu-or what Trevor could see of him-tensed. Trevor frowned at the look on the man's face. Seemed the guy was not used to strangers knowing him.
"Ah. I am Adrian Țepeș, my mother is Lisa-"
"Țepeș!" Kyrilu sputtered. Then his face hardened in rage. "Get out of here. I don't ever want to see your faces again, you hear me?"
"Sir, I understand your worry, but these are dangerous times for you, and we-"
"Are you threatening me?" The man's voice rose in pitch, and Trevor worried he might draw the attention of others. Adrian seemed to think the same, for his voice got even lower and more soothing.
"No sir, not at all. We, in fact, came to warn you of the church's movements. They seem to be seeking out those who study medicine like yourself-"
Once again, Kyrilu interrupted with a shaking voice to say, "Oh, of course you'd like me to think the church is doing such. They only burn witches and black magicians, like those Speakers."
Adrian paused like he was blindsided, but to his credit, tried to continue. "It is fact that the church is burning those that study science, not just witches. My own mother-"
"I know of her!" Trevor was getting really sick of this guy interrupting. Kyrilu was now visibly shaking, and one hand was wandering. Trevor kept a close eye on him. "She's the one who was almost burned at Târgoviște! She married the devil! I know who you are, Alucard."
The man spat the name with such venom, Trevor was surprised the ground didn't fizzle and die where his spit landed. He was so focused on Kyrilu's tone he missed when the man pulled something out of his shirt and shoved it in Adrian's face.
"Begone demon!" In his hand, he held a simple rosary with a cross at the end. "I'll not have the likes of you and your witch mother associating with me!"
Unfortunately, since Kyrilu had shoved it so close to Adrian's face so quickly, Adrian had no choice but to move back or be hit by it. The man seemed to take it as a sign his rosary was repelling the dhampir.
"If you show up around here again, the church will know, and they'll show you the wrath of God, mark my words." And he slammed the door in their faces.
Adrian and Trevor stood for a few moments, stunned. Trevor tried to break the silence. "That went well."
Adrian glared at him, but did not offer a comeback. Instead, he turned towards the middle of town and began walking. Trevor trotted after him, rubbing at the back of his neck. As an excommunicant, he was used to people shunning him. He'd been kicked out of bars and gotten into fights because of it, and been called all sorts of names. It didn't mean as much to him anymore; It was just the way things were.
Trevor glanced at Adrian out of the corner of his eye. His whole posture was tense, like he was giving great effort to appear unruffled. Trevor wondered how often Adrian had been recognized in his life. Not as often as Trevor, surely. Adrian didn't walk around with a family crest, no matter how hidden.
His fangs and complexion might make hunters suspicious, but Trevor expected he didn't generally associate himself with monster hunters or religious types. So... Adrian probably wasn't as used to being shunned. Not outright. Not while being recognized. Trevor wondered if it was better to be shunted into the shadows than to be hated out in the open. He opened his mouth, but in a rare moment of conscientiousness, realized it would probably be best not to speak of what just happened out in the middle of town.
He kept his mouth shut until they reached the simple tavern, where Adrian paid for a room.
"No drinks?" Trevor swallowed at the glare Adrian threw him. "Right."
He forgot he was being watched. Dammit. They did get stew though, and Trevor was glad enough for that with the cold weather outside. The tavern had a good fire, and the man who ran the place said they would keep it going, though smoldering low, all night.
Adrian barely picked at his food, uncharacteristically silent. Trevor tried slurping to annoy him. Nothing. Even when they went up to the room for the night, Adrian did not speak. Trevor finally let out a huge sigh.
"Come on, fangs, you're killing me. Say something."
"What do you want, Trevor?" At least Adrian was speaking.
"Anything. Usually I can't get you to stop telling me how messy and 'uncouth' I am. Now you've been silent for, hell I don't know. Over an hour at least."
"You'll have to excuse me if I am not in the mood to entertain you," Adrian said in clipped tones. His face was serene; too much so. A storm hidden under a placid lake surface.
Trevor wasn't certain what to say. Comforting was not his thing. So he decided to tackle it the same way he did with everything. Blindly and getting straight to the point.
"You know that asshole isn't worth your time thinking about him, right?"
Adrian sat on his bed and turned towards the shuttered window. "I haven't the faintest idea what you mean."
"Adrian..." Trevor moved closer. He felt like he was floundering in deep water and all his equipment was dragging him down. He flopped down next to Adrian to dispel the feeling. The glare he got was halfhearted at best. "Look, he's one guy. And we tried. We're letting people make their own decisions, right?"
"I am aware."
"Yeah. Right. So just." Trevor waved a hand around vaguely. "Forget him."
Adrian was still unnervingly silent. They sat side by side as the room's lone candle melted, slow and constant. Trevor, feeling the time keenly, shuffled. He tapped his fingers on his leg, ran a hand through his hair, looked all over the room, anything to keep from whatever feeling of anxiousness had overtaken him.
Had he said something wrong? Should he just stay quiet and let Adrian sort through it? Hell, Trevor knew he wasn't the best example of how to deal with being outcast from society, but each time he'd been directly confronted, he knew he was wary of his next few human interactions. So, he stayed quiet.
But he wondered.
Trevor thought maybe he should at least offer a hand on the shoulder or something. Right? The space between him and Adrian suddenly felt like a physical presence.
Trevor couldn't stop thinking about it. The silence had long stopped bothering him, so he took the time to actually look at Adrian. At least he stared forward into the room, rather than away from Trevor. Light and shadows danced across Adrian's face from the candle's small flame; His expression made something heavy drop into Trevor's stomach. He looked lonely.
With only a slight hesitation, Trevor dropped a hand onto the man's shoulder, ignoring the startled jump to stare off in the same direction Adrian was. A few moments passed, and Adrian's shoulder started shaking.
When Trevor looked, his head was turned down, blonde hair tumbling to curtain his face.
Uncertain, Trevor asked, "Adrian?"
A shaky laugh spilled from behind his hair. "I feel foolish."
"For what?" Trevor kept his voice as quiet as Adrian.
Adrian shook his head. A few more moments passed, and Trevor realized all of Adrian's breaths were shaking. Was, was he-? An incredibly uncomfortable clenching wormed it's way through Trevor's chest. A sympathetic lump formed around his voice and Trevor cleared his throat, loudly.
A small huff of a laugh came from Adrian as he said, "Oaf."
"Wh- Hey!" Whatever Trevor was going to say next immediately fizzled on his tongue as Adrian brought one gloved hand up to his face. He didn't wipe at his eyes, but just the sight made Trevor's heart hurt.
He moved his hand to Adrian's back, fully intending to give him a solid pat before heading downstairs-ban on drinking or not-but Adrian took it as a cue to scoot closer.
Pretty soon, Trevor had an armful of dhampir leaning against him; shaking, but not crying. After a few tense seconds, Trevor just relaxed into it, as much as he could. He couldn't stop people from being assholes, but he resolved, right then and there, to wake up early so they could leave the whole shitty town behind.
Adrian deserved better.
Hurt/comfort is my jam, if you haven't noticed. Haha. Plus, I really wanted to give Trevor the chance to be the comforting source, even though he's... not the best. xD Poor man. He needs to stretch his emotional muscles.
Now, I'm not going to be showing every person they meet, obviously. (And Kyrilu is just a rando.) I mean, bleh, that would take forever. But as they go I will build up some... plot. Dun dun dun.
I love your opinions/thoughts, shout them at me!
Until next time~ (。Ő▽Ő。)ノ゙
