The Future is Today
Disclaimer: Castlevania belongs to konami, not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic; it is written purely because I have a burning need to create. Although I would like to own Alucard... then he'd be mine.
Rating: PG-13
Part: one of three
Setting: Post the animated series
Authoress note: Daddy's home.
Italics = thoughts and flashbacks
Chapter Four
Greta had to admit that she enjoyed watching men work.
It was something she was loath to admit; it was such a base emotion. But there was something about watching men perform a labour. She often enjoyed watching Adrian cook for this reason, or watch him glare at a book he was struggling with. But most of all, she enjoyed watching him heft things about with ease.
One of her favourite memories was when they were building the village and a group of five men were working together to move a felled tree to a better location. The men were powerful, but the tree was large and they struggled to lift and move the trunk. They were arguing about how to cut it to make it more manageable when her Adrian walked up with a curiously nervous expression on his features, quietly asked the men what they required the tree to be and then lifted the thing like it was nothing more difficult than a large and unwieldy pencil.
After that day, she made it one of her hobbies to find things for him to pick up.
It was a fun hobby.
She was indulging her hobby when Sypha found her, sitting on a small wall watching the Doctor's Surgery being built.
"There's something to say about vampire labour." Sypha plonked herself down beside her and smiled.
"There is, isn't there?"
"This," Sypha gestured at the building, growing quickly before them. "Would have taken humans a couple of months to put up?"
"At least." Greta continued to smile. "It would have taken days, if not weeks, just to get the timber. They did it in a day."
"There will not be much forest left at this rate." Sypha glanced out at the trees.
"Mr-I-Know-Bloody-Everything, said that apparently, it's good for parts of the forest to come down occasionally. It allows for fresh growth, gives an opportunity for plant species that otherwise wouldn't get a foothold, encourages wildlife, etc." Greta made a dismissive gesture.
"Bastard knows something about everything." Sypha scoffed, but her tone was gentle. She was becoming accustomed to not always being the smartest person in the room and was appreciating the pressure it took off her.
"What are we complaining about?" Trevor came up behind them, making both jump. For such a rambunctious man, he could move quietly when he wanted to. Adrian stuck his head up over a half-formed wall and waved.
"Nothing important," Sypha smiled at him. "Is-"
"Still sound asleep. Sophia is keeping an eye."
"Ahh, the wonders of parenthood." Greta laughed. "Those rare moments when you exist outside of your child."
"They are few." Sypha admitted. "Though Sophia keeps telling me, I will miss having the little one around when they are older."
"Probably." Trevor shrugged and sat beside the women. "It's human nature to miss what you had and not appreciate it when you had it. Nostalgia or hindsight, something like that."
"Look at you being philosophical," Sypha leaned on her husband, making a show of making half closed loving eyes at him. "Go on, say something else." Trevor turned a delightful pink shade and coughed to clear his throat. Looking away from his teasing wife, he gestured to the building before them.
"So, we went with the two-story model?"
"Three." Adrian jumped down from his perch and walked over to the group. "Mother wants a basement as well, somewhere temperature controlled for storage. Then a sizeable space on the upper floor for beds and all the examination rooms on the ground floor."
"Bloody woman will want a tower next." Dracula's voice, despite coming from underground, was loud enough to hear the irritation in his voice.
"He's still bitter about the change in plans?" Greta asked. Adrian shrugged.
"A little. It is difficult to build something when the architect keeps changing their mind."
"You realise your mothers in the library going over the designs yet again?" Sypha grinned. "I brought her tea before coming outside."
The ground beneath them shook. A mound, not unlike a large mole hill, formed in front of them. A great clawed hand erupted from the soil. Adrian sighed and reached down and slapped at the extremely muddy hand which retreated.
"You're too close to the surface." Adrian sighed. "You'll have people and rain coming in through the basement!" the hand emerged again, one long central finger standing tall above the others in an admonishing gesture. Adrian tried to step on it but missed.
"I'm not doing all of this myself." The irritated voice of Dracula continued from the makeshift basement he was digging. "Get back to work."
Adrian snorted and sat on the wall, deliberately lifting his feet off from the ground. Greta could hear him counting under his breath. By the time he reached three, two long-fingered hands slid out from the ground far more gently than previously. They didn't damage the earth this time; they moved through it like a ghost might. However, when one grabbed her ankle, they proved to be very substantial.
"What!" she jumped. There was a muttered apology, and they released her ankle. The hands seemed to hesitate for a moment before vanishing under the earth again. Adrian stood on the wall and leapt silently upwards, grasping a branch and pulling himself into a tree.
"HA! Oh." the top half of Dracula emerged abruptly from the wall exactly where Adrian had been. Dismayed from finding his son missing, he retreated.
"You know," Trevor started. "This might have been weird once, or even distressing."
"HA!" this time Dracula must have made his mark as Adrian fell out of the tree. He landed with the wind being knocked out of him before scrabbling to his feet and leaping upwards, clambering over the half-finished wall of the new surgery and disappearing from sight.
"It's certainly not how I expected my life to be." Sypha squeezed her husband's hand. Adrian appeared over the side of the building, hiding around the already finished chimney. Trevor picked up a small stone from the ground, took aim, and threw it. It met its mark and Adrian let out a surprised yelp, wobbled but did not fall. However, his position had been revealed, and no sooner had he found his feet that he lost them again when his father erupted from shadow with a triumphant 'HA!"
"You're cruel." Sypha let go of her husband's hand. Trevor shrugged.
"I'm team Dracula in these squabbles."
"Why?" Sypha frowned.
"Because Team Dracula is not above bribery." Greta explained. "Adrian said his father has been buying Belmont beer to secure an ally."
"Oh, that's low." Sypha stood up and started towards the building.
"Where are you going?" Trevor called.
"To even the odds." Sypha held out a hand, ice forming around her fingertips.
Greta sighed, forlorn that not only had her hobby been interrupted, but that it was now doubtful she'd get back to it before she had to go on and get on with her own work for the day. Though a morning of playing hooky wouldn't be a terrible thought.
End
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