Guess who's got too much excitement and won NaNo early! ٩(๑❛ワ❛๑)و
Once they reached the river, Adrian realized he had a problem. The waters flowed as strong as ever, blocking their path.
Trevor looked ready to pull out his whip again, undoubtedly eyeing the trees to determine what would hold his weight as he swung across. Adrian did not have that option, nor, it seemed, did he still have the option of his vampiric abilities.
The sun shone strong through the gap in the trees, lighting the river in silvery browns and rich algae greens. It beat, warm, on Adrian's head, and the light, combined with his previous exertion of finding and catching Trevor, meant he used up more power than expected so early in the day.
The river was wide, and Adrian did not wish to test his luck on a transformation to cross. Trevor sensed his hesitance.
"What's the problem? Can't you get across bat boy?"
Adrian sighed, aggravated. "Would it kill you to use my name, Belmont?"
Said man scratched at his neck, but gave a guileless smile. "It just might, Adrian."
A shiver ran down Adrian's spine, but he ignored it in favor of answering the previous question. "It just so happens that all the effort I spent to find and rescue you has left me in a bit of a... predicament, for crossing this river."
"The noble, perfect Adrian, in a predicament?" Trevor drawled, smug grin on his face, "Shocking, truly."
"Silence yourself Belmont, or at least make yourself useful."
"It's the sun isn't it?" One finger pointed up mockingly; Adrian wanted to punch the smirk off Trevor's face. Or push him into the river.
"I'm surprised you managed to put that together. All that Belmont training finally paying off?"
"Fuck off," Trevor said, but he returned the smirk Adrian gave him. "Besides, I don't remember you doing any rescuing back there."
"What do you call me taking out multiple mud golems while you simply sat?" Adrian asked.
"On you, you mean? I call it you getting a mud bath." Adrian frowned as Trevor's grin only grew wider. "It's a good look for you. Very common peasant. Matches the fact your fancy powers aren't working."
Adrian tossed his head, or tried to; He aborted the motion when the mud clumping in his hair made its presence known, slapping against his coat with a wet thud. Trevor snorted, barely restraining his laughter. When he didn't stop, even with a glare directed at him, Adrian walked over and smeared the mud from his hand onto the front of Trevor's tunic.
"Hey!" he protested, "Come on, it's my one good tunic."
"Clean for the first time in months, I'm sure."
"Well, it isn't now," Trevor said with a pout.
"Perhaps you should jump in the river," Adrian suggested, a sharp grin in his eyes.
"After you." Trevor bowed mockingly, one hand extended towards the undoubtedly frigid waters. Adrian huffed a laugh, but it fell away as he contemplated his very real dilemma.
"I cannot. It is running water."
"...Are you serious?" At Adrian's unamused stare, Trevor ran a hand through his hair, sighing, but with a teasing in his eyes and lilting tone. "The man can fly, but water, oh no. How does Your Royal Majesty get clean?"
"In a bath, Belmont, as I'm sure you would know if you had taken them anytime prior to our meeting." A small, warm feeling bubbled up in Adrian's chest at the dry look on Trevor's face. He hadn't jested with someone like this in... too long. Actually, he felt only Trevor had brought this side out of him so easily; It felt as natural as shifting forms.
"Ouch," Trevor said sarcastically, "I'll have you know that was a natural musk-"
"For a rutting deer, perhaps."
"-And should you really be insulting your savior? I'm the one that's going to have to take you across the river."
Adrian looked upwards, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes completely. "You have a plan then?"
The trees surrounding the river looked sturdy, but he wasn't sure he was willing to risk a jump from one side to the other, especially without his teleportation giving him a boost or levitation to catch him. Using solely his vampiric speed and strength might get him to a tree on the other side, but it would give him far too much force, and he was likely to crash straight through the branches into the water below.
Crinkled brows showed Trevor was thinking along the same lines. "Well, we can't go back the same way I did. Don't think there's any branches that'll hold all the extra dead weight."
Adrian gave in and rolled his eyes. "Don't smile as though your insult was particularly clever." Trevor didn't listen, as usual.
"Looks like we've only got one option then, if you aren't touching the water." Trevor stepped up to the bank.
"And that would be?" Adrian watched as Trevor crouched down slightly, arms moved behind him and waiting. A hard stare did nothing to dissuade the hunter.
"C'mon fangs, you've already admitted you have no way to cross. It's shallow enough that I can wade through, so..." He shrugged, eyes on the river.
"I... suppose you are correct." Adrian breathed in once, twice, then walked over to Trevor.
To his credit, the hunter did not outwardly flinch, even as Adrian wrapped arms around his neck and across his chest. When they were front to back though, Adrian was very aware of the speed in heartbeat. He couldn't tell what the reason was, but something was affecting Trevor.
"If this makes you uncomfortable..." Adrian offered.
Trevor grunted. "It's fine. Hook your legs around me."
Adrian did so. He was impressed by the sturdiness he felt underneath him as Trevor stood completely straight, arms hooked under Adrian's knees, and began walking. His gait didn't waver in the slightest, even with another body to carry.
Still.
"How undignified," Adrian muttered, glancing around at the water Trevor began to wade through. Small twitches in the chest told Adrian his transport was silently laughing at him.
"Sorry not everyone has vampiric strength, princess. Shit! That's cold."
"Princess?" Adrian echoed, voice louder in offense.
"Riding on my back is 'undignified,' right? You prefer I carry you like a bride across the threshold?" Adrian had just enough view of his face to see the teasing glint in Trevor's eyes. With that happiness, they shone brighter than the sun's ripples in the river.
Adrian pushed away the thought. He wasn't about to let Trevor get away with his taunting, not so easily. Leaning in close to an ear, Alucard barely brushed against it with his mouth.
"I think you forget who you're carrying, Trevor." Words whispered past his lips, and muscles underneath him shuddered.
"Don't think I could, actually- Fuck!"
Whether because of the pull of the river or a slippery patch of silt at the bottom, Trevor wavered for a moment at the deeper part of the river before catching himself.
The tilt, however, was enough for one of Adrian's feet to slip into the water. He hissed and shook in discomfort, clinging tighter to the body carrying him.
"Adrian?" Trevor questioned. But Adrian was scrambling to calm himself.
All his muscles had locked, his own heartbeat approaching something closer to human in his fear. As he breathed in, slowly, he realized he had buried his head in the crook of Trevor's neck, past the cloak and shirt.
His skin was so fragrant, like the bitterness and warmth of a campfire, surrounded by winter trees.
"Hey. Hey, fangs? Adrian?" Trevor's voice was getting higher pitched. "What's happening back there?"
Adrian took in another deep breath and murmured, "I'm fine."
"Then maybe stop trying to squeeze all the breath out of my body?"
"Ah." Adrian loosened his grip, feeling self-conscious flutters in his stomach. "My apologies."
Trevor grunted and shook his head. His stubbly jaw rubbed against Adrian's forehead. They moved several more steps through the river before he spoke.
"That scared of water, huh? How is it that the sun does almost nothing, but you're concerned the water is going to steal your life, or dissolve you, or some shit? What are the rules, exactly?"
Adrian hummed against warm skin. "If you weren't aware, there are not many of my kind, Trevor."
"Dhampirs, you mean."
"Yes. I'm not sure if the rules have ever been clearly defined. I walk in the sun, but my power is diminished in the light. I can touch running water, but..." Adrian flexed his arms and shifted his legs, glad when Trevor helped hike them up higher. "It pains me. The temperature matters not. When I step in, it is as if I have plunged into the depths of a frozen lake."
"Huh." Trevor thought for a moment, then glanced down. Whether at the river or Adrian's foot, Adrian didn't know. "Any long term effects?"
"I haven't cared to test it," Adrian admits.
"Hm. Well if it makes you feel any better, this river is fucking cold."
"It doesn't."
"I think my balls are retreating into my body."
Adrian let out an incredulous laugh and pulled his head up. "Trevor, is it even possible for you to act like a respectable human being?"
"Where would the fun in that be?" Trevor's grin was like sunlight.
If he had been standing instead of riding on Trevor's back, Adrian might have worried about the strength in his legs. As it was, he still felt a light flutter in his stomach, similar to the feeling he got when he jumped from a castle tower, right before he would activate his power.
"No, I don't suppose you would enjoy basic decency." Adrian couldn't help the way his voice and face smoothed; He felt a fondness growing for the uncouth man.
"Basic decency never got me anything in life. Except headaches, really."
"Are you sure that wasn't the alcohol?"
"Wha-" Trevor tilted perilously for a moment, prompting Adrian to again hold tight.
"I swear, Trevor, if you drop me in the river-"
"I'm not gonna drop you, princess," Trevor interrupted. "Why would you think I got drunk?"
Adrian tried to relax, though he did reach up and tug at a lock of Trevor's hair in retaliation for the nickname. The yelp was worth it, even if it did make Trevor wobble.
"I didn't say drunk. Though I did mean it. You smelled like a tavern when we met. Even now, after weeks, the scent lingers. Not much, but enough to tell you must have been a heavy drinker. Either that or you were bathing in it."
"Maybe I was." Trevor sounded petulant as he slowly made his way into the shallow water on the other river bank. "Sure beats romping in rivers as cold as this. Shit."
"While I have no doubt you did not bathe-" Trevor tsked and Adrian ignored him, "-it seems far more likely you drank the alcohol, Trevor."
"And it's even more likely I'm gonna drop your ass on the ground."
Adrian took the hint and lowered himself to the-thankfully-solid ground. He took some time to straighten his clothes, wincing at the drying mud. Trevor left himself rumpled and stared at the footprints in the damp dirt and waning patches of snow.
"Those are wolf prints."
"Very astute Trevor."
Trevor pointed a finger at him. "Don't get sarcastic with me. I just waded through a freezing cold river for you."
"Indeed you did."
Trevor's boots were completely soaked, and his feet beneath likely were as well; A small section of his pants were wet, above the boots. Trevor was doing a fair job at hiding it, but beneath his partially waterlogged cloak, he was shivering.
"Let's get you back to the castle before you catch cold," Adrian said, "And get you out of those clothes."
Trevor guffawed. As it was not his first time making an unintended insinuation, Adrian ignored him and began trekking back to the castle.
"Shit fangs, at least buy me dinner first."
"I believe I have brought you food many times already." He tossed a grin over his shoulder.
"So this is repayment for healing me up, huh?" Trevor's voice had lost some of it's mirth in favor of a more somber tone.
"Your repayment is unnecessary. You have already done a great deal for us."
"...By saving your mother, you mean."
Adrian slowed to walk at Trevor's side. He seemed contemplative, but at least Trevor was able to look him in the eyes.
"By being yourself, yes."
Trevor hummed, but did not respond. They walked side by side all the way back to the castle, Adrian wondering what it would take to get this wonderful, rough man to open up. To be comfortable. To stay.
Woo! So yes, I now have tons of material. All I have to do is re-read the hot mess I cranked out, edit it several times for grammar, flow, consistency, etc... and then post it! No problem. ( = u=)b Honestly, I don't have much of anything in order either, so I should probably make a timeline?
But here ya go, another part to this fun little outdoor romp with the boys. And a piggyback ride! God I love vampiric weaknesses. They're stupid and fun. :D I was kinda running with SotN logic for this, in that running water injures Adrian without a talisman.
Y'all have been so sweet! Thank you. (*^ω^*) Stay tuned for more heartwarming cheesy dialogue. This will be more like macaroni than a fic by the time I'm done, haha.