Despite what resentments you may hold, your new human lover is even more pathetic than the last. Seras bristled, tongue forced into her cheek in an effort to keep from smarting off. She had grown used to having her way or the high way for many years now, but the awakened vampire was still her master. Until that changed, she knew that she would have to watched what she said around him. Still… his remarks were unprecedented, and she couldn't let them bounce off her the way that she should've.
Don't talk about Winston like that. He's not my lover, so there's no reason for you to be jealous of him. There was an unnecessary forced sarcasm in the mental retort, which she ought to have left out. But she just couldn't help herself. I'll find myself on the ground again if I don't watch my tone, she added to herself, quietly enough that he couldn't have heard her unless he forced himself into her mind.
Jealous? My, we've gotten narcissistic, haven't we? Her hands balled into fists and she stopped walking, staring at the wall until she was able to get herself under control. He laughed coldly. Don't be so hasty to jump to conclusions, Police Girl. I'm hardly jealous. Still, I don't enjoy watching that human fawn over you. Even someone as heartless as me still has a stomach to turn, and that sort of behavior is simply nauseating.
He's harmless. If you don't like it, then don't watch. She sniffed, tossing her head as she continued her walk. She was technically surveying the damage to the home after the wake of the… skirmish. It wasn't really a battle, per say—she'd seen true warfare, and this was nowhere near the destruction that true war caused. But if she was completely honest with herself, she was also trying to get away from the basement for as long as she could. There was an added chill down there now that Alucard had been awakened, and she wasn't sure if she really enjoyed the familiar feeling or not. I happen to like him.
And I do not. There was the all too memorable obstinacy that peppered every unspoken order he'd ever given her. His true meaning was clear, though masked in the guise of familiarity and false friendliness. He wanted her to cut ties with the butler, though she had no intention of doing so. She wondered if he knew exactly how jealous he sounded when he spoke like that, all male pride and no sense whatsoever. There was no reason that she couldn't be friends with Winston and still cater to her master's changeable whims. Hell, she'd done it with….
You never raised such a fuss with Walter. It does make one wonder, she snapped back, though in the same easygoing voice that he was using with her. Winston is a lot younger than Walter was when I knew him. She felt a wave of irritation zap through his mind like an electric current, quick and jarring. Aha, I've hit a nerve, she thought triumphantly.
This has nothing to do with Walter, little girl. She almost laughed at the anger simmering in his voice, which had gone low in her head. He hadn't called her 'little girl' before; that was a new one. Still, she knew better than to let even a giggle escape. If that insolent little fuck is your beau, I insist that you tell me.
I don't have to tell you anything, she replied snippily. A burning pain shot through her skull and she winced, but it didn't bring her to her knees the way the last one had. She had almost been ready for it, knowing how her cheek used to infuriate him. Not much had changed, it seemed.
You will do well to remember your place, Seras Victoria. Her name was a true warning, imploring her to heed the emotion still burning at the back of her skull. He was full and content after the battle, but his mercy wouldn't extend for very much longer.
Yes, master. She cut him off, rolling her eyes as her lips tightened into a thin line. She wasn't quite ready to give up her position on the pecking order, but for now it might be better to let him have the last word. After all, the fight with the vampiress had only proven that she wasn't at her fullest potential. Perhaps it's time to train regularly again….
"I suppose you'll be wanting… that is, I'm sure that—what I mean to say is," Fulton tried a third time, clearing his throat, "will you be staying in the basement?" He eyed the crimson-clad vampire eerily as he spoke, taking in the odd wardrobe. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that this bony, pale…thing was the great and fearsome Dracula, king of vampires. Seras was at least three times more threatening than him! Still, it might have only been that he knew Seras far longer than he knew this one. Either way, he had no real idea about what he was getting himself into.
"My old chambers will more than suffice," came the answer, smooth and silky as the night air itself. Then, a smirk etched itself across the otherwise stoic face, a sight that made the skin on Fulton's back crawl uncomfortably. "Of course, if personal preferences are being taken into account, you're more than welcome to put me in the Police Girl's room." Fulton was confused for a moment before remembering that 'Police Girl' referred to Seras. He felt his cheeks flush and he laughed nervously, rubbing his arm and trying not to pluck at his sleeve in the process.
"I'm almost certain that she wouldn't enjoy that as much as you would," he confessed. "And… er, anyway, don't you have your own coffin?" He was thinking more along the lines of trying to fit two full-sized coffins into Seras's crowded room, but the sight of the widening grin on the vampire's face made him realize the other implications of his words. If it were possible, his face reddened even more as a hot wash of embarrassment ran down his spine. Thankfully, the woman herself saved him an even more humiliating answer.
"You've got your own coffin! Bug off!" rang out clearly and forcefully in Fulton's mind, and judging by the twitch of the male vampire's eye, in his as well. Then, as quickly as it had been opened, the mental door was slammed shut again in a very implicative way. This had no effect on Alucard, other than a small chuckle escaping the vampire's lips. Fulton sighed and rubbed his temples, wondering if every night would be this way from now on. It was enough to give him ulcers.
There was a polite, brisk knock at the office door and Winston slid in after a moment, offering a genial bow in Fulton's direction, and a wary glare in Alucard's. When he had his master's attention, he spoke in his usual cheery tone, though his eyes kept flitting over to Alucard as if expecting the man to do something unexpected and dangerous.
"The cook would like me to inform you that tea is ready, and today's fare will be fresh cream puffs, as you ordered," he announced. "They're ready at your leisure."
"Thank you, Winston. Have it set up in the library for me, please."
"Of course, sir." He bit his lip, hesitating a moment before adding, "Miss Victoria said earlier that she would be at the range all evening, so I daresay that her tea will remain in the freezer." Fulton blinked in surprise; Seras usually didn't go to the shooting range unless she was working with new troops.
"That's odd, but… if that's what she wants," he shrugged, waving a hand dismissively. "Let it stay in the freezer until she comes back." Winston nodded and, bowing quickly once more, slid back through the cracked door and shut it behind him with a deft click. Fulton looked after him before turning back to Alucard.
"Now then," he said, getting back to the conversation. "You'll be staying in your own chambers. I'll have that noted. And, one more thing," he said as he saw Alucard turn and become semi-translucent. The body solidified again and one brow arched imperiously. "About your behavior…" He fought back another round of embarrassment as that annoying, creepy grin returned once more.
"Yes?" Fulton took a deep breath before speaking in a rush.
"I don't like the way that you treat Seras, personally. She raised me, you know, and so I hold her in high regard. Higher regard than I hold you, only because I haven't gotten to know you or what you do, so in my opinion she's almost more important. In any case, I don't play favorites, but I do demand that you think before you act rashly towards her. You caught me off guard in the basement when you punished her, but I won't be so lenient next time. I can punish you too, you know," he faltered, seeing the increasingly sour expression on the vampire's face. "D-don't tempt me. I'm telling you this while she isn't around… for reasons of my own…."
"You'd do well to remember her advice, boy. Don't meddle in affairs which have been going on long before you ever existed," Alucard warned icily. Fulton felt a sliver of fear, but above that he felt sheer exasperation.
"Now, listen here—" he started, finger in the air. He wasn't about to let one of his servants boss him around like that, unless it was Seras. And this servant, despite being Nosferatu, most certainly wasn't Seras. "Don't try to start trouble with me. I'm only being nice right now because you've just been woken and you don't know all the rules yet," he bluffed. "Keep this up, and I'll… I'll make sure that you and Seras stay on opposite sides of the globe," he finished grandly, in his most imperative voice.
Alucard's shoulders ducked and he had the sudden thought of a dog's ears falling back in an aggressive stance. Suddenly, he found himself nose to nose with the vampire, the scent of blood and soil crowding his brain. He leaned back, more out of automatic surprise than fear or submissiveness, mouth falling open in shock.
"Do not think of telling me what I may and may not do to my servant," Alucard growled softly, too soft for anyone outside the office to hear if they were listening, but loud enough that Fulton heard every word, and even felt it rumbling in his own chest. He would have even let the statement go, if Alucard hadn't said 'my servant' the way someone might say 'my dog'. His chest puffed up and he tried to straighten up, stopping only when his nose literally brushed the tip of the other man's.
"I am your master, so she's my servant before she's ever yours. I can go over your head," he stated boldly. Take that, he added, but with enough mental shields up that no one but himself heard. "And as your master, I'm ordering you to get out of face, and… get out of my sight," he continued. "Go back to your chambers. I'm sure you've got a lot of cleaning up in there to do, after so many years." The crimson eyes narrowed in anger, but the body became incorporeal mist that left a stale odor in the room, but otherwise vanished without protest.
He fought the urge to bask in the power that came with ordering a very powerful creature around and winning what felt like a large battle, though he was sure that Alucard wouldn't even think twice about it and wouldn't follow any order from him unless it was explicitly laid out in the barest terms with no loopholes to shimmy through. He ran a hand through his hair and scratched his scalp, leaning against the desk as he thought over what had just transpired. It wasn't really the way I wanted that conversation to go, even if I did win. He looked at the work still piled up on the desk before turning and walking out of the office and towards the tea waiting for him in the library. Still, I suppose it could have always been worse.
"In the end, Winston's estimated that it'll take about three months total to rebuild what was destroyed." Fulton sipped his tea and looked over at Seras, who'd showed up out of the blue almost reeking of gunpowder and nature. Her hair was mussed, her hat and glasses missing; she reclined on a couch near him with wind-chaffed cheeks and eyes brightened slightly by her exercise.
"When it's done, it would be only proper to hold a ceremony to show it off. Especially if you make it up to be better than it already was," Seras pointed out.
"No, no ceremonies," he whined, though it was directed more to the teacup than to her. "I despise them, Seras. You know that."
"I'm thinking ballroom charity gala, or at the very least a dinner soiree for the Round Table," she continued in tones of delightful cruelty. "Something to really make them second-guess our budget." Fulton sighed.
"Must we? Really?" He stirred the cooling liquid with his spoon, pouting. Thinking of something, he brightened. "We can't. Winston and Alucard would argue over who would be your partner and tear up the place. We'd have to make it up all over again."
"I'll be your partner," she announced blithely, crossing her legs. Her boot danced in the air to its own rhythm. "Problem solved." His shoulders slumped as he chewed his lip, trying to think of any other reason they couldn't have a ball. He couldn't think of any off the top of his head, and by the time he managed to come up with some excuse about clothing it had already been too long and the topic would be awkward to drag up again.
"I'll have to send Winston out after information," he spoke, breaking the silence. "Which means you'll be on top mission duty for a while. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," she answered. "I really need the extra practice," she added cryptically. He waited for her to explain, but she let the silence grow again, her mind clearly on other matters. He took another sip of his tea.
"Do you with that we had never woke Alucard?" he asked suddenly, the question springing from his mouth before he could think about it.
"What?" she snapped, head turning to look fully at him. He felt sheepish, but continued nonetheless.
"I mean… he almost seems to be more trouble than he's worth," he laughed uneasily. "I was just sitting here thinking that—well, I mean especially when it comes to you—he's a bit of a handful." She stared steadily at him, eyes locked on his changing expression.
"Of course I don't wish that. I'm happy that he's awake again. He's my master; that's what I've wanted for all these years." It was an open enough confession, but there was just something in the way that she said it; it put him on edge. It didn't sound right.
"Do you really mean that?" he replied, in his softest voice. Again her unblinking eyes took in his face, scarlet gaze searching for something there. After a moment she twisted off the sofa and stood.
"I'm going to get something to eat," she declared, voice somber. She walked out of the room without looking at him again, without even saying anything akin to her usual 'good day'. He sighed again, staring at the space that she vacated, more bewildered than ever.