Civility
"What is it, Hal?"
"What's what?" Haldr asked with a quizzical expression and a fork loaded with sausage.
Agmaer licked his lips a little nervously, he threw a quick look left then right. "You know, with her."
He received a quick elbow in the ribs from Durak. The Orc scowled a little at the young man with a withering look.
"Her?" Haldr asked. He knew exactly who 'her' was, and could wager a good guess at exactly what it was Agmaer wanted to know. That didn't mean he was inclined to make it easy for the other Nord however.
The younger, blonder Nord exchanged a long, questioning look with Durak. "What? We all want to know, don't we?" He appealed to the table at large.
Haldr chanced a glance around the breakfast table. None of the others saw fit to raise their voice. He could read their discontent however. It was in the way Mogrul's growls were louder than usual, the way Ingjard toyed with her food longer than usual, the way Beleval kept her stony silence quieter than usual, but most of all in Agmaer's awkward broaching of the subject.
Haldr sighed. He put his fork down on the plate with a quiet clink.
"Alright, what is it exactly that you wish to know?"
Agmaer cast a very deliberate look around the others, almost as if asking for permission to proceed. It was sometimes difficult to believe that the young man was really a vampire hunter the same as the rest of them.
"Ok, well … What is it with you and her?"
"She's our ally." Haldr answered quickly, maybe too quickly by the looks from around the table. "It doesn't do any of us any good to treat an ally like an outcast does it?"
"Yeah …" Agmaer started and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. "But it's, well, more than that isn't it."
"Serana and I happen to get along."
Celann huffed, or was that a scoff? "That's one word for it."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Haldr narrowed his eyes slightly at Celann's tone.
"Come on, Haldr." Ingjard spoke up, frustrated. "Do you really take us all for fools? We know you're getting quite cosy with the enemy here."
"Serana's not the enemy."
"She's a vampire." Ingjard drawled the word as if speaking to a particularly dim-witted child. "In case you've forgotten, we're supposed to be vampire hunters. Don't you see the conflict there?"
"We need her! She can help us take-"
"I think you need her more than the rest of us do." Mogrul muttered over the Nord.
Haldr ignored the jibe. "She can help us take down Harkon. She can help stop their plans. With the Elder Scroll we-"
"An Elder Scroll you helped her take back to her vampire lord of a father." Celann pointed out helpfully. "Along with your vampire princess of course."
"She left them, in case you've all conveniently forgotten, and she brought the Elder Scroll with her to aid us."
Silence settled over the Dawnguard for a few long moments. Not even the scrape of cutlery or the sound of chewing.
"I know she's a vampire, believe me, I know." Haldr spoke into the void, not sure anyone was even listening. "But she's nothing like them. She wants to stop them just as much as we do. Hell, she's already killed other vampires with me."
"Do you really believe you can trust her?" Beleval spoke up for the first time.
Haldr held the Bosmer's gaze. "Yes. Yes I do. And I think the rest of you could if you just gave her a chance."
"Fat chance of that." Mogrul spat and got up, pushing away from the table and storming off.
Haldr sighed at the Orc's back as it quickly marched away. He should hardly have expected anything different. Mogrul had been hurt more than most by vampires after all. Losing two wives to vampires had had a dramatic impact on the already hardened Orc.
"Just what is it?" Agmaer decided to press on. "What is it that makes you trust her so much?"
Ingjard scoffed before Haldr could think of a suitable answer. "Isn't it obvious? She's got tits and an ass, and his eyes go wandering. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out."
Haldr levelled an unamused glare at the redhead. "Don't be ridiculous."
"You're a man, Haldr. That's basically what you do."
"I'm not chasing after you, am I?"
Ingjard chortled. "I'd break you."
"You don't see other men fawning all over her, do you?"
"That's only because I don't put my spell on anyone else." A new voice entered the conversation.
All eyes swivelled to find Serana standing at the end of the table. The vampire had a hand on her hip; and a smirk on her lips. As per usual, Haldr hadn't even heard her approach. He wondered just how long she'd been standing there.
"I don't blame any of you, if I were in your collective boots, I'd likely have a hard time trusting me too." Serana regarded the table at large, tone remarkably civil.
"Do you always creep around in shadows, eavesdropping?" Celann demanded, arms folded.
Serana ignored him, instead addressing the table at large. "To answer your question, I can be most trustworthy, until I'm given a reason not to be of course."
"And what makes you think we'd just take you at your word?" Durak growled.
Serana cocked her head slightly, her smirk deepened. "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"
"That smirk for one." Ingjard narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Serana chuckled. "A fair point." She conceded. "But ask yourselves this, if I wasn't keen to help, what reason could I possibly have to risk coming here? After Hal escorted me back home, why would I risk my father's wrath to help vampire hunters?"
"This could all be some elaborate trap." Durak answered immediately, the Orc's menacing glare aimed squarely at Serana. "Gain our trust, lure us all out in the open and wipe out the entire Dawnguard in one fell swoop."
"If I wanted to do that, all I'd have to do is use my fiendish vampire magicks to influence Isran's mind and have him order you all into danger. What would be the point in working on you one by one?"
An uncomfortable silence followed her words.
"Besides, trying to gain your trust would never work on you all, clearly." Serana smirked. "Well, maybe on one or two of you." She slowly swivelled her devilish gaze towards Agmaer, winking slowly.
The young Nord swallowed nervously under her scrutiny and diverted his eyes, a heavy blush on his cheeks.
"Serana, you're not helping." Haldr warned.
"But why?" Ingjard demanded, irritated. "Why do you want to help us, against your family of all people?"
Serana sighed. "Because my father's plan is insane. If he actually manages to block out the sun, it'll hurt vampires as much as anyone else in Tamriel, perhaps more so. We might be able to walk outside without any issue, but won't do us any good when everything else dies in the process."
"What about after then?" Celann asked, one eyebrow raised curiously. "Say you help us stop him, what do you do next? Do you go on back home to daddy, like nothing ever happened? Think they'd accept you, the vampire princess who stood against her own kind?"
"Concerned for me now, are you?" Serana asked, mouth curled into a teasing smirk. "I'm touched."
"Not one bit. I just want to understand what you expect to happen once all this is done." Celann held the vampire's gaze steady.
Serana breathed in deeply before deigning to reply. "In truth, I don't know. I don't expect to be welcomed back with open arms, if at all. I won't lie, I hope we can find a way to stop all this that doesn't result in the murder of my father and my entire clan, but I'm not naïve. I don't expect this tale to have a happy ending for all involved."
"And if it comes to that, could you stand against them? Could you kill your own father?" Beleval asked quietly, gaze piercing through to Serana.
"Hey! Come on, how can you ask her something like-" Haldr started to protest.
"Shut up, Hal." Ingjard cut across him. "Well?"
Serana regarded the Bosmer carefully for a few moments, the two women glaring at each other with an unseen force Haldr could scarce imagine.
"No." Serana spoke quietly but with a weight that demanded attention. "I will fight him, if it comes to that. He's far too powerful for me to take on alone, but I could maybe bring him to his knees, under the right circumstances. But, I could never kill the man who had a hand in raising me, as much of a bastard as he is."
Beleval held the vampire's gaze for another long moment, and then nodded. "I trust her."
"What?" The question echoed from all of the Dawnguard present, Haldr included. Even Serana arched an eyebrow, seemingly surprised.
Beleval stood from the table. "She still has a shred of humanity left in her at least. Only a monster would consider killing their kin." The Bosmer looked to Serana once more, nodded once, then turned and left.
Haldr turned to Serana, a questioning look of surprise on his face.
The vampire princess shrugged with a bemused smirk. "I'm just as surprised as you."
"I still don't like it." Durak growled, but his expression was uncertain. "Vampires working with vampire hunters? Madness."
"So is blocking out the sun." Haldr added helpfully. "Is working with Serana really so terrible compared to that?"
"I need time to think on this." Celann made to stand as well.
"Me too." Ingjard threw another glare at Serana. "Don't think this means we all suddenly trust you now."
"I wouldn't dream of feeling accepted." Serana smiled sweetly, with only the slightest hint of a smirk.
"Bloody vampires." Ingjard muttered before storming off with Celann. Durak followed on behind without a word.
Agmaer made to stand as well, smiling almost apologetically at Haldr before glancing at Serana. The vampire gave him another salacious wink. Agmaer's cheeks were bright pink as he hurried after the others.
Haldr sighed. "You know, they would probably learn to accept you quicker if you didn't mess with them like that, they might even grow to like you."
"And where's the fun in that?" Serana smirked, taking a seat opposite Haldr.
"I'm sorry about all that, particularly Beleval, she was way out of line."
Serana tilted her head slightly as she regarded him with a smile. "Oh Hal, you're sweet, but still so young."
"You were alright with all of that?"
"There's nothing they haven't said about me that I haven't already said to myself a thousand times over." Serana's lips turned up into a familiar smirk. "Besides, maybe I am laying a trap for you, what if I'm the one being mind-controlled? Maybe my father sent me here against my will to trick you. Did you ever consider that?"
"Don't tell the others that." Haldr chuckled. "They'll never sleep soundly again."
Serana's mouth spread into a smirk that was at once both intrigued and delighted. "Hmm, tempting …"
"Serana." Haldr warned with a look that simply said 'don't'.
"How about just one of them? Like Agmaer? He's easy to fluster."
"So I noticed." Haldr drawled, slightly annoyed.
"Aw, is the mighty vampire hunter jealous?" The vampire princess purred with an evil smirk.
Haldr tried to banish his embarrassment with a shake of his head. "Just leave him alone, Serana."
"Fine." Serana sighed, casting a knowing look at the vampire hunter. Then her teasing smirk fell away as she toyed with a knife left behind on the table.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm just curious, have you ever truly considered that I've been working against you all this time?" Serana's amber gaze seemed to light up as she scrutinised Haldr intently. The knife in her hands glinted as she twirled it around in the firelight. "Even if just for a moment, have you ever actually entertained the possibility that I have been tricking you all this time?"
Haldr swallowed thickly, he had the distinct impression his answer held more significance than he could rightly fathom.
"Honestly? Yes, I did consider it a little, at the start."
Serana's lips widened into a smirk once more. "Good."
"Good?"
"That means you're not completely stupid."