Abraham lifted the cool metal of the fork to his mouth as his eyes strayed to the vampire that was leaning over the Journal, seated at Hellsing's dining room table while a few hunters insisted upon standing by the door to supervise. When the fork made its way into Abraham's mouth and his teeth bit down, he heard a dull clunk and blinked. He had forgotten to put food on it.
Hellsing continued to eat his breakfast, watching Alucard from his end of the table while the beast was to his left, a few chairs of space separating them as the vampire concentrated with a pen in one of his hands. He would scrawl something onto the page occasionally, and then sit back and it appeared as if he would then read through and check everything he had written so far, glancing from one page to the next with a calculated impassive expression that disappointed the hunters to the point that boredom made them begin to murmur to one another. "Make them shut up…" The creature suddenly muttered, tipping the pen to his mouth as his eyes narrowed on a specific detail. The two hunters failed to hear him, Abraham noticed as he watched the social humans. Hellsing felt distanced, like he was observing an exhibit at the museum. One pertaining to the relationships that used to exist amongst the human ancestors of the past, such a thing that had become extinct ages ago. It was a queer feeling that the man swallowed along with a chunk of poached egg that he remembered to put on his fork.
"A little more quiet please…and being here is unnecessary, though you are free to stay as long as you are…a bit more quiet." Abraham smiled kindly at the hunters, though he supposed his expression was a bit too bright, because it caused the men to stare and then hit off on another topic concerning him, most likely, as they regularly looked over in his direction. This probable gossip made Hellsing frown, and his brow creased as he watched them. One even had the audacity to point at him directly, looking him dead in the eye. Enough, the man sighed, a shadow coming over his face as he stood out of the rays of sunlight that was flowing through an uncovered window. He walked over to the men, stunning them into nervous silence. They apologized a few times before he shuffled them out the door and then locked it by turning an iron knob.
Alucard was unchanged after their departure, still reading with the pen kissing his lips. He put the pen down after a moment and twirled it thoughtlessly between his fingers. "I don't think, if you did indeed read this last night, that it did you much good."
Abraham frowned at this as he settled down into his chair, draping his wrists on his armrests as he watched the vampire, forgetting his food. He allowed it to grow cold. Abraham had lost his appetite for the time being, his mind starved now with a need to speak and resurrect this dead concept of associating with the creature, to maintain a wispy relationship. "Why are you so sure that I have not read it?"
Alucard did not look up as he turned back a page to check something. "Because you would be burying me with questions at the moment if you had. You came too late last night…I knew you would fall asleep before you had even begun."
The man's mouth twitched to the side, put-off by the demon's words and apathetic manner. "Well…such faith you have in me." He pointed out with mild sarcasm. Alucard lips arched into a smirk at this, but did not look up, turning the page back over and laying his arm on the table. Hellsing scowled at his plate of breakfast sourly. "You're supposed to deny my tone."
"Oh, but then I would be a liar, Master, a hypocrite, as you yourself referred to it…" The fangs smiled as the beast leaned back into the chair and slid his hands to the edge of the table, thrumming his fingers.
Abraham sighed and forced a cold chunk of egg into his mouth to cool his temper. He chewed and swallowed quickly, almost choking. Uncomfortable, he hit his chest and glared at the food. "No hostilities so early in the morning… Would you like to try to make this more pleasant? As you've said, there are other humans I can find to help me with this." The mortal set his mouth as a universal line when Alucard was quiet, and his hand pushed the plate away, off of its beige placemat. Blue followed the intricate branching designs on the cloth, sown with a deep crimson thread that reminded him of the demon's gaze. When the human looked up at his slave, the demon's eyes were shaded by his dark bangs and they were moving, analyzing the runes and symbols, the notes he had written earlier. "Am I supposed to be included in this?" The man inquired after a few dull minutes that echoed his earlier perception of a museum exhibit.
The pale face peered at him and then an arm lifted and pulled on the back of a chair that was placed beside the vampire. Alucard drew it out so that Abraham would know to sit in it, then settled back to reading the Journal. The human let out a postponed sigh and rubbed an eye tiredly with his fist before scooting back his current chair to leave and go to Alucard. It was so quiet in the dining room that Hellsing thought he could hear his footsteps resonate solid notes as they sounded against the hard wood floor that appeared to have been recently polished. He made no comment as he sat down and fixed his chair at an angle so he could read the Journal as well…or at least try to. To the man's annoyance, most of what was written was coded in the Greek alphabet. With a sigh through the nose after closing his eyes for a moment, the man leaned forward a bit, peering down at the spidery writing.
"Greek?" He questioned, speaking quietly as he was close to the vampire at present.
"Yes… It's all written in the Greek alphabet, but, unfortunately, what is written is a mixture of Greek and Karamanli Turkish. Thank the Anatolian Orthodox Christian community for this, Master. The only reason I bothered to learn it was because it was at least Christian…" He muttered under his breath, brooding over the language now, instead of the seal. That moved his mouth into a simper and a pale hand brushed off imaginary dust from the Journal, as if to rid it of the detestable dirt. "I hate those worthless… When was the last time they contributed anything to the world? Centuries ago. The Ottoman Empire is worthless now, I bet they won't survive for another fifty years…that weak relic will die off soon enough." The bitter words attracted the blue orbs to the narrowed features, the vampire's face was within a shadow while the suns brightening rays fell upon Abraham's face. Alucard was quiet after that, glaring at the language as he forced himself to read it again.
"Why do you hate the Ottoman Turks so much? You were at war with them…when you were alive, weren't you?"
Alucard appeared to be genuinely surprised by the question and he gazed at Hellsing, sitting up and away from the Journal, his eyes widened and blinking at the peculiar query that had managed to impale through his nonchalance so effortlessly. It had triggered a sharp alarm in his conscience. The red descended to the tablecloth after a time, and then slid onto the pages once more. "Muslim heathens…" His words were deepened by a growl that vibrated against his throat. "…they ruined my brother, Radu, made him into a heathen…and he was a general, a leader, for their Janissary troops. But…I don't remember how it all came into being…" He sat back again, his eyes cloudy as a finger tapped on his sharp chin. Without focusing his eyes, he returned his attention to the Journal. "I'll bet they're going to be particularly pleasant memories." He turned the page to wipe away the Greek from his vision. "But then…they did kill me, Master…an axe right through the neck. Ah, yes. They were so fond of decapitation." He smiled with a grim chuckle, eyeing the pentagram as he outlined it with the tip of his finger. Disgust shot through Abraham, jerking his arm so that he swept the white hand away from the star.
"Yes…that sounds lovely." The mortal counteracted the demon's tone with dripping disdain, delighting Alucard who laughed and passed him a jagged grin. The vampire, thus enthused, began to point out some of the runes and symbols and explained them to the man. Time passed and Alucard broke off of his steady ramble to stretch his arms over his head and then yawn, withdrawing one of his arms to cover it. Abraham blinked, but did not comment. He absently noticed the demon's returning thinness. So vampiric blood doesn't do him much good, does it? A pulse coiled the man's fingers into a fist that he buried into the cloth covering the table. He still needed to feed the vampire…and he had just…so carelessly eaten his own meal in front of Alucard. Abraham's stomach churned at the thought while his eyes darted to the window, forced to by his shame. Always so thoughtless… "Should I supply you with some of my blood tonight, and until I settle out…the feeding issue?" He stumbled gracelessly over his words, and he knew it as he bit his lips to hold them locked together. But he had gained the vampire's attention, and Alucard's face was lost in thought, analyzing Abraham. Suddenly, the man cringed as he began to feel like food, for a moment. It was a rather unpleasant feeling.
"You can't get it from volunteers? It would be awkward…now, with the concept of eating my Master."
"You are not going to get all of my blood, Vampire." Abraham shot back defensively. Alucard's lips twitched into a smirk that he let go of after it lost its humor.
"'Vampire'…" Alucard smirked again and added a chuckle. "I've never sat beside someone and conversed about sharing blood…well, not with a man, Master. I have found a few generous women who gladly shared blood with me…without turning them into the undead." He added when his words earned a glare. "They said that it was quite an erotic thrill."
"Oh, shut up." Abraham snapped and took the Journal, moving it to his own placemat. The demon chortled to itself and then watched the man, referencing to the Journal at turns, with amused eyes. "There's no thrill in something so disgusting, Slave." Abraham finalized, pronouncing his perpetual opinion on the matter.
Alucard sighed at the title, his eyes flaring a bit. "You said that this was supposed to be pleasant? Don't call me 'Slave' without expecting me to be just as unpleasant as your own tongue. It's a wonder that I stand to be called 'Alucard', but I will. And…you're like a blind man, reading that, Master. You don't have the faintest clue about what it is, at all."
"Stop trying to provoke me, Alucard." The man hissed back with an added short grumble. "What is this reference to a Hells Gate? …Similar to the concept of the golden gates to Heaven?"
"Therugia. I'm using Holy and Unholy magic, counterbalancing their affects. Hells Gate Arrested, And Shine Heaven Now…do you see the connection when it is laid out, parallel? How easily can I draw out my dark powers if Heaven's rays are raining down on them? The magic will construct the barriers, the levels, and the alchemy will help hold it all together..." There was a disruptive banging on the door that tore the red and blue eyes away from the Journal. They saw the wood shiver against the sure pounding of a heavy fist. The vampire and his master frowned in unison, and then scowled at the disturbance. Abraham went to see to its demise.
An individual hunter had a small following behind him as he glared at the demon that was watching casually from the dining room table, his legs crossed elegantly like he was sharing mid morning tea with Sir Hellsing. The man's canines gnawed on the tender flesh within his mouth, compressing his abhorrence for this wretched species of beast. Once tamed, the hunter's eyes were permitted to welcome the human visage of his leader. "Sir." He responded promptly to Hellsing's impatient, yet penetrating, eyes. Tension strummed his nerves and tendons, snapping the hunter into a stiff position of attendance and service. "Many have agreed that you should have a guard when in the close company of such a creature, as your pet."
A flash flared in the blue orbs, sending the hunter's heart racing. It jumped into his throat when a harsh denial was thrown at him. "Alucard is not a pet." Abraham didn't realize he was subjecting the man to an undiluted glare as he continued, too irritated by this detrimental interlude from the progress he had been harvesting from an hour of patience, an ordeal that had left his tongue raw with the amount of biting it had required. "I would hope that there is more reason behind your gathering. I had specifically offered to allow two men to remain in the room with me, but they showed that they were incapable of stilling their lips when I asked. I will not tolerate open gossip, pertaining to myself, in my presence."
Two of the collected hunters edged to the wall to escape the glare that was cast at them. Abraham's attention refocused on the man before him as the hunter apologized for his subordinates. "May one or two of us replace them? We are uncomfortable, leaving our leader alone…with the monster your vampire has revealed himself to be."
Hellsing disapproved of the reference to ownership, but it was not a thing he could deny. A decision blotted out any issue on the matter, and the door was swung open wider to allow all eyes to freely look upon the vampire and the tranquil quiet in the room. There, the scene spoke for Abraham, see? What about this legitimizes your concerns? "Alucard?" His face was left in the view of the hunters as he addressed the creature, molding the response with the common invitation to state his presence and join in their discussion.
Alucard filled the mold. "Yes?"
"Do you have any plans to kill me today, or in the near future?"
The hunters' expressions lost their human warmth, petrifaction turning them to stone. Alucard was unaffected by the basilisk's eyes that speared the man's question. The beast could have given an answer of any variable kind, throwing chaos upon his master's world if he felt inclined to do so. But he had no thoughts of any nature relating to his actions resulting in the death of this man. He had failed, as before, to ever consider it as his voice shattered the stone faces with a level, untwisted reply. "Never have I made such plans."
Only Abraham knew of the vampire's honesty in this. The men, with darker concepts of monsters, could see nothing but weaving serpent tongues enticing a mouth to taste sin, the corrupting fruit that was the plunge mankind was still experiencing. Their expressions hardened, eyes steeling over to shelter their minds with an armored will.
"May we keep you company, Sir? In case this monster spews lies…"
Abraham drew up his height, offended by their inflexibility, their reluctance to clear their prejudice to truly perceive what was being shown to them. These ignorants, he thought, and could not keep himself from strewing the contaminating factor of risk upon his stand. "Alucard…" The man spoke through stiff lips, his body turning to give the beast an angle to see his face. "…is to be treated as an individual…as a person, until he no longer deserves to be considered as such. You would be kind to give him the respect of keeping his identity as his name, and not as a…more derogatory term." Silence accepted this announcement readily, but those within it had no such decision made. Hellsing saw Alucard's empty features with a sternness setting his mouth at a dead frown. He wanted to know if the vampire approved of such a thing, but he had not the confidence to ask for the creature's preferences in front of his men. They needed to know that he was in control, that Abraham was the master that could be overbearing or merciful with regards to his slave. He waited as the crimson soul within those round windows on the demon's face considered what he had said and how he had handled this situation.
The man was developing as a leader. He had respect, some intimidation, but much loyalty in the blood of his men. The hunters conceded, unwillingly. "Yes…Sir. If that is your order…" They still resented this change, though they conformed to suit it by retracting their glares from the vampire. But they could not rid themselves of lingering scowls.
Abraham's aged face was strong with a sure fire behind his commands and a set of unwavering eyes that fell upon the men, showing that he was pleased by their obedience. The gaze eased into a less domineering one, calming the hunters as well. "Thank you. Now go or you may stay at the front of the door. If there is a problem, though I doubt that there will be one, I will call you in."
Unsatisfied but held by the man's confidence and daring in the face of this monster, the men departed, leaving two men to close and wait by the door.