Dear Dr. Paws
AN: Another chapter! Because this silly story is silly. The parts where the summary are concerned are coming up a little later. Gotta do some build up, yanno? Plus, it's fun to tease. ;)
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! *heart symbol*
I love you aaaaall.
So here's some more reading enjoyment.
Dear Dr. Paws;
Thank you for answering my previous letter, I understand each dog is unique, and that they get along means there's no need to worry over separating them. I have some new concerns, however; Alucard has been giving Seras baths every day until she's practically dripping wet, and she puts up quite the fuss to get away, but he won't let her. He also won't allow any of us to touch her and potentially rescue her. I'm afraid she'll catch a cold if he keeps this up, she's so small and hasn't grown an inch yet.
Is there something I can do to prevent him from licking her to death every day? He's become quite possessive of the kitten, and borderline hostile, but he still obeys me when I command him to calm down.
Yours Sincerely, Integra Hellsing.
The kitten woke some time later in the depths of the night, stretching and yawning widely. Turning circles around her warm little nest, she wormed her way out of the towel to come face to face with a pair of familiar red eyes. Panic momentarily seized her and her back arched, fur standing on end to make herself appear bigger. The kind monster made an amused sound low in his throat as he turned away from her to pad over towards the door – slightly ajar – sitting in front of it calmly, even going so far as to wrap his tail around his feet. She cocked her head to one side, confused at the feline gesture from such a massive canine.
He bared his dagger teeth in a grin as her fur resettled – though her tail stayed extra-fluff – and she turned to look around the room. There was a lump under the covers next to her and she walked curiously up to it, sniffing wildly. She recognized this smell! Human.
'Don't wake her.'
She jumped a good two feet in the air, whirling to face the dog again with wide eyes. Her fur was standing on end so drastically she was nearly lost in the fluff, and he made that same amused sound from before, nodding.
How did… wha'… "I can understand you." She meowed, baffled. His eyes gleamed and he tipped his head forward in such a way she felt like an ant under his now condescending gaze.
'Of course you can. How else am I supposed to teach you what it means to be a vampire if we can't communicate, little Kitten?'
Oh, that made sense… Wait, what?
"What's a vampire?" She murred, hopping off the bed to investigate the second familiar smell of milk in a saucer next to the human girl's dresser.
He barked in surprise, and the kitten's ears twitched as she heard the girl stir under her blankets. 'You don't know?' He blew a puff of air in her direction, disgruntled, 'Youth these days…'
She was too busy lapping greedily at the milk to really care about his grumblings, she was used to rants about the younger generations from her time with her first owner, the old toms named Eddie and Simon were quite nice, but did not appreciate her attempts to play with them.
A massive paw settled next to her head and she jerked back, staring up at the great beast who could swallow her whole without even trying. His eyes glittered with malicious amusement as he bent to slurp up the last dregs of her milk. 'Listen here, kit, I don't like to repeat myself.'
She flicked her ear and lifted a paw to clean the back of it before settling into an attentive position, curling her somewhat ragged looking tail around her paws. "Yes, Sir."
He bared his teeth in another of those grins, pleased. 'Being a vampire as an animal is different from being a vampire as a human. We have our fur to protect us, and can stomach food other than blood, but must have some of it each day to keep our strength up. There are some quite tasty gophers in the garden.' Seras' whiskers twitched. "Any mice? Eddie caught a mouse once, it was tasty." She licked her chops, eyes gleaming with the predatory light inherent to all carnivores.
He whuffed that amused chuckle sound and swept her close to him with a paw the size of a dinner plate. 'Perhaps, little Kitten, perhaps. Now, there are some things you must know; never bite anything you don't intend to kill. Your claws are not as dangerous, but do not claw the humans in this house or you will be punished. Do not concern yourself with the vampires pretending at being human unless they try to touch you. You are mine.' He growled the last word and she tensed, struggling to get free of the suddenly overwhelming aura rolling off him in black waves.
His growl deepened warningly, and she lashed out, biting his paw viciously. His blood filled her mouth and she trembled, head threatening to explode with the overload of sensation mixed with the sweet-copper tang filling her muzzle. He shook her off easily and lapped lightly at the already healing mark, his grin returning. 'You see, little Kitten? It's glorious.'
She felt vaguely dizzy, overwhelmed. Nodding vaguely she turned and leapt up the bed, scrambling her way up the hanging skirt to burrow her way back into the towel.
He nosed her, so tall he had no need to plant his paws on the mattress to reach, and blew a puff of air to ruffle her fur the wrong way, amused. She heard him settle onto the floor, and knew there was no way to leave the room, or even the bed, without him noticing.
Integra woke late in the morning – it was a Saturday – to find the towel empty and her little blonde kitten snuggled into the broad back of her black dog over his hips. Yawning, the ten year old plodded down the hall to the bathroom to empty her bladder and other such morning necessities. When she was done, she found Alucard standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for her, with the kitten still asleep on his back. Her brows arched incredulously.
It was then she remembered she hadn't told her father or Walter about her new pet. Oh dear…
"Time to face the music, mutt." She muttered ruffling his ears affectionately as she made her way down to the kitchen, a four legged shadow following in her wake.
"Well, that could have gone better." Integra groaned, the strangely mature ten year old flopped on the couch in the living room, staring at her dog with an exasperated expression.
As expected, Walter hit the roof when he saw the sleeping kitten on her dog's back, and began sneezing mere seconds afterward.
Her Father had made a grab for the kitten, but Alucard had backed up, growling. That had been awkward. He wouldn't let anyone near the little bundle of fur, who was beginning to stir from the commotion in the dining room. When her Father commanded her to grab the kitten, Alucard had given her an evil look and she refused.
"He's quite attached already. I think he rescued it from another dog." She explained, "I think he's adopted it."
More arguing ensued.
Lots and lots of arguing.
She was sure Walter would be plotting against the kitten on a daily basis to get her to the pound and out of the house.
She turned to look at the pair and snapped her fingers, drawing Alucard's attention. He approached obediently, and she looked behind his head to the kitten that had not moved an inch since the incident at the table. "Come here, you, let's have a look at you." She muttered, reaching for the ball of light golden fur.
Wisely, her dog kept silent and allowed her to pick the kitten up. Peering into the small face, she was surprised to see that the cat had different colored eyes. One was as blue as the sky, the other red as roses. How odd. Well, she couldn't keep calling the kitten an it, now could she? Placing the tiny thing on her lap on its back, she spread its back legs and scrutinized the space for a moment, "A girl kitten, then." The now confirmed female squirmed and mewled indignantly.
Alucard's head appeared in her peripheral view and she reacted without really thinking, plucking the kitten up and into her arms out of easy reach of his jaws. He grumbled low in his throat and she smirked.
The kitten squirmed and mewed, clawing her way up Integra's shirt to perch on her shoulder where she proceeded to lift her left paw and lick the back of it in a well known feline gesture of indifference.
"Well, I can't keep calling you 'kitten', now can I? What to call you…" Integra mused, peering out of the corner of her eye at the repetitive motions of the kitten's head as she licked her paw.
"How about… Dorothy?"
Alucard growled.
"No?" She laughed quietly, "Mina?"
Another growl of protest.
She glanced at the dog. "You're very picky, you know that? It's not even your name."
He snorted.
"Well then, what about Victoria?"
His grumble was softer, as if considering.
"Hm… Sarah? No, Seras. Seras Victoria, the kitten."
Alucard barked in agreement and wagged his tail. The newly dubbed Seras looked up and mewed, flicking her ears, before resuming her grooming.
"I wouldn't get attached, Integra, she must have had an owner, we should look for notices." Walter said from the doorway, a faintly disapproving look on his face that was ruined by the handkerchief he had to raise to his nose as he sneezed.
Integra threw her backpack to the floor by her desk, rubbing at her back gingerly. She needed to stop bringing such heavy books to read during recess.
A muffled yowl drew her attention to the side of her bed where she observed her mammoth sized hound grooming the kitten with a tongue nearly as long as her entire body. Her left brow twitched upward when she saw Seras roll on her back to start shoving her back feet into Alucard's face, succeeding in only getting her toes licked. Her lips twitched and she was about to go and rescue the kitten – whom she had now 'owned' for three days – when she made a break for it herself, only to be captured under a massive paw and dragged back to his chest to be forcefully groomed.
"Alucard, stop that, she's dripping wet!" Integra called, taking a step towards the pair when she noticed that the poor kitten was leaving a damp patch in her carpet. Ew.
The dog gave her such a look she was rather startled. He stopped his obsessive grooming to grab the squirming kitten by the scruff of her neck, stand, and trot off to a different room.
"What has gotten into him?" She questioned the now empty bedroom, frowning. She'd deal with her dog later, right now she had homework to finish.
Integra grinned as she picked Seras up, cuddling the kitten – whom she had now owned for a week despite Walter's protests, her Father had agreed with her that Alucard was a little too attached, and the one time Walter had gotten her in a box to take to the car(and the pound), he had been chased down and the box grabbed back from him by an angry dog – to her chest and rubbing her cheek along the soft fur of her forehead. She heard Alucard's grumbling behind her and ignored him, lifting Seras in the air to tease the tiny thing. Her smile widened when she saw the kitten's legs moving as though she were swimming.
She felt a nudge to the backs of her knees and nearly dropped the cat in surprise. Another nudge followed, and she turned to face her dog, still holding Seras, and scowled at him. "Now you stop that. You can't monopolize her all day."
The look he gave her clearly said 'says who?' and she rolled her eyes in return, placing the little bundle of fur on her shoulder as she turned towards the little box of cat toys she had bought to find the feather ended stick that she knew her kitten adored.
She found it, and made a triumphant noise, turning towards the more open space of the floor, only to have the plastic stick grabbed rudely from her hands by her dog. She stared at him, outraged as he gave her a smirk and shook his head, the bell nestled in the spray of feathers ringing and catching Seras' attention. The kitten leaped from her shoulder in mid air to dangle from the toy, and within seconds, Alucard was carrying her off.
"Hey!" Integra shouted, giving chase. "Bad dog!"