(To my readers: Thanks so much! But I'm not having a dramatic
confrontation between the two of them; it would be over in seconds. I'm
going to let Alucard stew in his own juices for a while here, and then
he'll seek advice. Hope you'll want to continue reading.)
Things got busy at Hellsing for a while after that. A new infestation of freaks brought out the troops and occasionally myself. I noticed that Jackson never seemed to be around when there was real trouble, but maybe that was only because Integra herself was being more careful. Still, my opinion that he was useless was confirmed.
Integra still seemed to disagree. One day I saw them come in out of the rain, sharing an umbrella and laughing. That laughter seemed to follow me everywhere.
Then came the incident with the bath. As I passed Integra's room one evening I heard the noise of water filling the bathtub. And right outside the bathroom door was Jackson. Surely his bodyguard duties didn't include watching her take a bath? Jackson smirked at me and I gave him a steely glare. I kept picturing Jackson spying on Integra while bathing, which led to actually picturing her in the bathtub. That picture was even more disturbing.
The next day I saw a light in Integra's office before dawn and went in. For a while she kept staring at her papers and I just stood there looking at her. There was ink on her fingertips and it had been transferred to her hair. Her body was slouched over in the chair. Her face was screwed up in frustration, her mouth pursed. But suddenly there was no doubt in my mind why a man would be attracted to her.
"Where's your bodyguard?" I asked.
"He can't work twenty-four hours a day, Alucard. He's asleep."
"Is he really a spy for the Round Table?"
"I doubt it, and in any case after recent events I no longer have much to hide from them."
I nodded. I couldn't bring myself to ask her if she found him attractive; that just sounded entirely too pathetic. And I certainly wasn't about to ask if she have ever caught him spying on her bath.
"Well, Integra, perhaps it's nice for you, having another person around."
Integra merely answered with a distracted "Mmm-hmm." and stared further at her papers. She didn't seem to be blushing, or showing any of those human signs of nervousness. Then again, maybe she wasn't really listening. Finally I gave up looking at her and went off to go to sleep.
When I woke up Seras knocked on the door.
"Master," she said, "would you like to go to target practice with me?"
"The only thing I want to shoot is a bodyguard," I replied.
"Pardon?"
"Never mind, I have no need of target practice."
Clearly things had gotten out of hand. I decided to ask for advice. But I didn't want anyone at Hellsing to know about my uncomfortable feelings regarding my master. I decided to go and visit Elle.
Things got busy at Hellsing for a while after that. A new infestation of freaks brought out the troops and occasionally myself. I noticed that Jackson never seemed to be around when there was real trouble, but maybe that was only because Integra herself was being more careful. Still, my opinion that he was useless was confirmed.
Integra still seemed to disagree. One day I saw them come in out of the rain, sharing an umbrella and laughing. That laughter seemed to follow me everywhere.
Then came the incident with the bath. As I passed Integra's room one evening I heard the noise of water filling the bathtub. And right outside the bathroom door was Jackson. Surely his bodyguard duties didn't include watching her take a bath? Jackson smirked at me and I gave him a steely glare. I kept picturing Jackson spying on Integra while bathing, which led to actually picturing her in the bathtub. That picture was even more disturbing.
The next day I saw a light in Integra's office before dawn and went in. For a while she kept staring at her papers and I just stood there looking at her. There was ink on her fingertips and it had been transferred to her hair. Her body was slouched over in the chair. Her face was screwed up in frustration, her mouth pursed. But suddenly there was no doubt in my mind why a man would be attracted to her.
"Where's your bodyguard?" I asked.
"He can't work twenty-four hours a day, Alucard. He's asleep."
"Is he really a spy for the Round Table?"
"I doubt it, and in any case after recent events I no longer have much to hide from them."
I nodded. I couldn't bring myself to ask her if she found him attractive; that just sounded entirely too pathetic. And I certainly wasn't about to ask if she have ever caught him spying on her bath.
"Well, Integra, perhaps it's nice for you, having another person around."
Integra merely answered with a distracted "Mmm-hmm." and stared further at her papers. She didn't seem to be blushing, or showing any of those human signs of nervousness. Then again, maybe she wasn't really listening. Finally I gave up looking at her and went off to go to sleep.
When I woke up Seras knocked on the door.
"Master," she said, "would you like to go to target practice with me?"
"The only thing I want to shoot is a bodyguard," I replied.
"Pardon?"
"Never mind, I have no need of target practice."
Clearly things had gotten out of hand. I decided to ask for advice. But I didn't want anyone at Hellsing to know about my uncomfortable feelings regarding my master. I decided to go and visit Elle.