Sorry this is late everyone, I've had an extremely stressful 2 weeks. A lot was going on and I literally sometimes didn't get on the computer until midnight, only alert enough to check my mail. But, it's over, things are starting to calm down, though it seems like this bad cough o' mine refuses to leave.
As always, thanks for the reviews and since it will soon be summer, the updates will be coming quicker. Until then, please bear with me.
On a side note, everyone should get "Phantom of the Opera." It ROCKS.
Edited by Itaki, the beta-beta.
Disclaimer: I only own this headache and Harley.
Something was bothering Alucard.
In the darkness of his room, he lifted his hat off his eyes, sighing, turning his gaze to the ceiling. He hated being bothered by himself. All he wanted to do was relax, but his mind wouldn't let him. Like a broken record, it kept playing the events earlier that night over and over again. And whenever it did, he felt that pang in his chest that he had only felt a few times before.
He didn't understand it. And it bothered him.
The vampire closed his eyes, sighing again. "What's the matter with me..." He asked the silence. "What am I feeling? Happy? Sad? What the hell gives?" He stood up, walking through his door and up the stairs. He needed some answers, and there was one person who'd give them to him, willingly or not.
Alucard was extremely surprised when he walked into Harley's room.It was almost three A.M., and the teenager was awake, staring at the TV with bleary eyes. A playstation controller was in her hands, a strategy guide to her left, a half empty 2-liter bottle of Pepsi to her right. She didn't even acknowledge Alucard's presence until he tapped her on the shoulder.
The teen jumped slightly. "Dammit, Alucard, you could at least knock," She growled, squinting her eyes at the TV. He looked at it, blinking at the woman in a blue tube top carrying a shotgun. She reminded him of a certain someone, and he groaned.
"What are you playing?" He asked, becoming very interested when she started blowing the heads off of zombies. "Are those ghouls?"
"I'm playing Resident Evil 3: Nemesis. And those are zombies," She answered, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Ghouls die when the Big Daddy's dead, zombies don't die unless you shoot them..." The vampire nodded, becoming silent until Harley paused the game. She looked up at him.
"Alright, what do you want? It's three in the morning, and I ain't exactly in the mood for you bugging me," She said, crossing her arms. Alucard didn't answer, stretching his arms and sitting on her bed. A flicker of annoyance flashed in the teen's eyes, but it was quickly gone. "Well?"
Alucard looked at her and closed his eyes. "What's love?"
Harley froze, staring at him. She slowly stood up, searching his face for any signs of mockery. Suprisingly, there was none. His question had caught her totally off guard, especially since he asked it with such simplicity. She opened her mouth and closed it.
"Uhhhh..." She started, trying to think. "Love is...Love is..." She started pacing slighty, Alucard watching her. "Love is when you can stand to be around someone for a prolonged period of time."
The vampire cocked his head a little to the side. Harley groaned, shaking her head. "No, no, that didn't come out right...Why do you want to know what love is?" She crossed her arms. "Vampires are supposed to be the 'Masters of Seduction.'"
"I know that seduction and love are two different things," He said. "But you're a human; You know love. What's it like?" He reminded her of an eager child.
Harley thought about it, sitting down beside him. "...Love is...when...you're willing to do anything for a person. Willing to die, willing to lie, steal, do whatever it takes to be with them," She said thoughtfully. "You're happy to be around them. You can stand being around them..." She looked at him. "...Would this question concern a certain someone..?"
Alucard's silence was answer enough.
The teen picked up the Pepsi bottle and took a sip, thinking. "I see. Anything I should know about?"
More silence.
"...It's confusing," He admitted quietly, smiling. Harley stared at it, once again caught off guard. This Alucard was nothing like the one she was used to.
"..You...making some kind of confession?"
"I don't know. I have no idea how I feel, actually." He looked thoughtful. "I've never seen Seras so happy before. Its nice. Seeing her smiling and laughing." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Listen to me...I probably sound like a fool. Just ignore me, I'm just rambling."
The teen watched him out of the corner of her eye and sat down beside him again. She took a deep breath and let it out. "You don't sound like a fool," She said, crossing her arms. "And if you were ramblin', I'd hit you. I haven't known Seras as long as you, obviously, but she's definetly prettier when she's laughing." She gave him a wry smile, nudging him. "Admit it."
"I'll do no such thing as to give you the satisfaction of catching me off guard," He replied dryly, wondering if he worded that right.
"But, here's some advice. Some girls want fame, some want money. Some want to be the boss, others want to serve. Some are tense, some just chill. Some can't commit, some won't let you go. But..." She winked at the vampire. "Seras isn't like other girls, is she?"
Alucard watched her a little warily, feeling more confused now. "..."
"She isn't," She answered for him. "Therefore, we can't go about this...I guess, normally. But, first things first: How many nice clothes does Seras have?"
The vampire thought about it. He knew she had her uniform, some jeans, and a few shirts. But nothing overly fancy. He then caught onto why Harley was asking this question. "Nothing she could wear to your little ball..."
"Good. I can fix that. Tomorrow." She started pushing Alucard off her bed. "Until then, go away, and let me think."
He glared at her, letting himself be pushed. "You're hyped up on caffeine. There's no way you can think OR sleep."
"When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it," She growled. "Now, let me alone, or I swear, bad things will happen to you." This was a completely dry threat, but Alucard needed some time to think, and Harley needed to kill some zombies.
"In your dreams, human," Alucard replied, just to get the last word as he walked through the door and down to the basement. He started walking by his fledgling's door but stopped, suddenly curious as to what she was doing. Poking his head through the door, he was surprised to find Seras laying on her stomach, listening to a CD player.
From all the rock stickers, it was obviously Harley's.
Mince was sitting on her back, curled up into a ball, purring happily. Seras's eyes were closed, and she was humming along softly to whatever she was listening to. She had no idea her Master was watching her.
Smiling slightly, he pulled his head back out and went to the sanctuary of his room.
"Walter, why is it so quiet?" Integra asked the next day, looking around suspiciously. It was nearly noon, but there were no sounds of running, of yelling, of curses, of anything. It was a strange and eerie silence. And it made the woman wonder if Alucard had done something to a certain teenager in the house. She wouldn't mention her name, since something would end up exploding, and that would be just her luck.
"Harley's still sleeping," The butler replied, smiling slightly. He had went in there earlier to check on her, and she was out like a light. "I assume she stayed up late again last night. Do you wish for me to wake her?"
The woman sighed softly. "As much as she needs to sleep and not cause mischief, I need her today. A cook is coming, and we're going to need her opinions." Though Walter did all of her cooking, he would busy with other things, so this would be a big help to him. "Go wake her, and tell her I need to see her."
Walter nodded, turning and walking out.
Harley pulled the blanket over her head when Walter pulled open the curtains in her room, moaning. "Go away..." She begged, curling into a tight ball. "Let me sleep...I was up all frigging night long..."
"And whose fault would that be?" Walter asked wisely.
"Alucard's."
"That figures. But really, wake up. It's nearly noon, and Sir Integra requests your presence," He told her as he yanked the blanket off her. The teen tried to hide under her pillows but failed miserably. "Come now, let's not keep her waiting."
"I swear, if that damn vampire..." She grumbled, trailing off as she climbed off the bed, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't bothered to change her clothes last night, so her jeans and tanktop were extremely rumpled and wrinkled. Her hair was sticking up in random places, and she was squinting. And, though Walter couldn't understand most she was saying, he clearly heard "zombies, "Alucard," and "stupid B.O.W.'s."
She made her way to Integra's office, slowly waking up, still cursing very softly underneath her breath. "Why'd we have to wake me up?" She asked to the blonde woman when she first walked in. "I'm tired!"
"Because I'm going to need your help today," She answered, ignoring Harley's half-hearted glare of annoyance.
"With what?"
"A cook's coming today to help with the arrangements for food. Much as I fear it, you're as opinionated as it gets. And right now, that's a good thing."
Apparently, this was at times, because Harley refrained from giving Integra her true opinion of getting woken up when she only had about three hours of sleep.
The teen yawned and stretched, her eyes half open. "Aight. Whatever. I'll help, I guess. Not like I have anything better to do." She turned to walk out.
"Harley, two more things," Integra called, standing up. To Harley's surprise, she was holding Mince, who was yawning. "Take this, and I'd take a shower if I were you." The teen sweatdropped slightly, taking the kitten and laughing nervously as she quickly walked out before Integra gave HER opinion on having a cat in the house.
A half hour later, Harley hopped down the stairs with wet hair and a huge T-shirt that said "42nd Street" on it and shorts. "Hungry, Mince?" She asked the kitten, who was hitching a ride on her shoulder. The kitten meowed, yawning again. "I'll take that as a yes...We don't have any catfood yet, so you get fish, ok?" The cat only meowed again.
The pair walked into the kitchen, and Harley opened the fridge, pulling out some leftover pizza and some tuna. She made a face when she opened the can in disgust. "Yuck," She murmered, putting it in a bowl and setting it on the counter next to Mince. "I'll stick to mycold pizza, thank you very much..."
She took out a piece, setting it on a paper towel and putting it back inside the fridge. And she was about to take a bite when, seemingly out of nowhere, a hand snatched it away. It took Harley a few moments to assess this information as she stared at the space where her beloved pizza had been only moments before.
"...What...the...hell?" She exclaimed, standing up and getting hit on the head by what felt like a rolled up magazine.
"Children should not curse!" Avery strict and very angry voice snapped. The teen backed up, staring angrily at the woman who apparently stole her pizza and hit her on the head. She was a little taller than Harley, but just barely, with black hair streaked with white, cold brown eyes, and a thin line for a mouth. She was dressed in the attire of a chef, and the magazine in her hand was a cooking one.
"Nor should they have any sort of animal in the kitchen or even think of eating THIS-" She gestured to the poor piece of pizza,"- For breakfast!"
Harley could not stop the next words that came out of her mouth: "Oh my god, Integra hired Bitch-Zilla!"
This is the last week of school! (dances around) Be happy! More stories! More updating! More randomness! More of my idiotic authoress notes!
Sorry for the delay again, everyone. o.o I hope you all find it in your hearts to forgive me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter: Who is this evil cook woman? What does she have in store for Mince and Harley? And what do you say when you hear the words, "Wasabi Cookies?"
You know the drill! Adios! (Oh, and I know the japanese "Sayonara" but I prefer to use "Adios". o-o Just a personal preference.)