Wow! Another update from moi? The apocalypse must be near.

[Insert "I don't own..." disclaimer here.]

Enjoy!


"Swallow," Integra commanded, staring down the former vampire.

Reluctantly, Alucard did as he was told.

"Now that wasn't so bad," she said calmly as she prepared another spoonful.

"I think I burnt my tongue," grumbled Alucard.

"You'll be fine," said Integra amusedly as she held another spoonful up to his face.

Alucard just stared at it.

"Eat," prompted Integra. When he continued to stare at the spoon, her tone became more commanding. "Eat it, Alucard."

"If I vomit all over the floor, it's your fault." With a grimace, Alucard sipped the soup out of the offered spoon.

Integra set the spoon back in the soup and handed the tray to Alucard. "You're going to eat at least half of the soup; I'm not leaving until you do."

"But what if I-"

Integra cut him off. "Alucard, as a human, you are fully equipped to eat this without getting sick."

"Human," he muttered darkly, taking a few tentative sips of the soup. After deciding that it was safe to eat, he continued to spoon the thick liquid into his mouth, letting his mind wander.

A chuckle from Integra pulled Alucard out of whatever thoughts he had been having. "What?" he growled, dropping the spoon into the bowl with a clink.

"You've been sipping nothing but air for at least a minute. The bowl is empty," she said, amused.

"Oh," said Alucard, a surprised look on his face. He looked down into the bowl. Just as she had said, it was empty. "I guess I was hungry?" he said sheepishly.

Integra laughed. "Are you still hungry?" she asked, taking the tray from him.

Alucard thought for a moment. "A bit," he admitted.

"Come with me," she said, standing and offering her hand to help him up.

Taking her hand, Alucard stood with a wince. "Human healing is so slow," he complained as she led him to the kitchen.

Dropping Alucard off in one of the chairs in the kitchen, she began to rummage through the fridge. "Do you want more soup?" she asked.

"No," said Alucard thoughtfully. "I want to try something else."

"Sandwich?" she suggested.

"No," said Alucard, still trying to figure out just what it was that he wanted.

"Lasagna?"

"I don't even know what that is. Do you have any… pudding?"

Integra looked at him, startled. "Pudding?"

"Yes, pudding. I've never had pudding, but Arthur seemed to like it. I want to try it."

"Vanilla or chocolate?"

"Both?"

Chuckling amusedly, Integra served Alucard two small dishes of pudding – one vanilla and one chocolate. She also handed him a spoon and took a seat to watch.

Alucard sampled the chocolate pudding first. "It is good," he said in awe. After another spoonful, he turned to the vanilla pudding. After a few bites of it, he examined the two dishes thoughtfully. "They're both delicious," he decided, now intent on finishing off the remainders of his pudding.

When he was finished, Integra took his dishes and put them in the sink. "What now?" she asked. "Walter had a room prepared for you. Sleeping on a bed will help your back heal faster than if you stay on the couch."

Alucard pondered this. "What about…" he had to think for a moment about what he was trying to say, so unused to using such terms in reference to himself, "a bath? Don't humans need to bathe regularly?"

"This is true," said Integra thoughtfully. "You do need a bath. Come along then, Alucard," she said as she helped him up.

Minutes later, Integra and Alucard stood in front of the bathroom nearest Alucard's room, Integra holding a bundle of clean clothes for Alucard.

"I can't really help you here," said Integra as she handed the clothes to Alucard. "Just get in the tub and turn the handle for water."

"Right," said Alucard as he glanced warily at the bathtub. "Turn the handle." With that, he walked in and shut the door behind himself.

Less than a minute later, Alucard's voice called from within the bathroom, "Integra, I can't seem to work this—" his sentence ended with the sound of water suddenly running accompanied by a yelp and a loud thud, which was followed by a fair bit of swearing.

Without thinking, Integra threw open the bathroom door, only to find Alucard sitting in the tub with the shower on, rubbing his back and wearing only his boxers. A pair of boxers that were soaking wet and therefore exceedingly clingy courtesy of the shower.

Integra couldn't help but turn and interesting shade of red, which, the moment Alucard noticed, caused him to burst into laughter.

As soon as Integra regained her composure, she helped Alucard to turn off the shower and run water for a bath before leaving.

Once he had stripped off his wet boxers, Alucard settled into the tub for a relaxing bath. While he soaked, he sniffed and read the labels of many of the bottles sitting on little shelves built into the walls of the bath/shower stall. After selecting one with a pleasing scent, he began to wash his hair. Once his hair was washed, he selected one labeled 'body wash' and grabbed a loofah, which he squirted large quantities of the body wash onto before he began to wash every inch of his skin. After over 500 years of avoiding water, he had to admit that being able to take a bath was nice.

When he was finished, Alucard grabbed a towel from the towel rack and dried himself off. It was then that he noticed the bathroom mirror. He hadn't really bothered to take notice of his new human self aside from that first day in the hospital when he threw the mirror, which was why upon seeing his reflection, he began to study himself intently.

He still had a few healing wounds from the accident that had changed him. Speaking of said wounds, he would need to get someone to re-bandage them. He had taken the bandages off for his bath. Other than those wounds, he appeared to be a perfectly healthy and particularly fit, if on the thin side… well, he would peg his age as somewhere around eighteen or nineteen. He was also handsome, if he did say so himself. It was no wonder that Integra had turned such an amusingly violent shade of red.

Chuckling to himself, Alucard pulled on his clothes and exited the bathroom in search of Walter or Integra.