Disclaimer: Kouta Hirano belongs to Hellsing... ah no, it's the other way round! Whatever, I'm not making money out of this fiction.
(Re) Building an Empire
In the Fifth Year
After the shooting practice, now that the restoration of Hellsing's mansion was over and the Round Table members won't have an official reunion until next month, as Duke and Seras concerned, a party was in order. The Draculina stumbled through Integra's new office in gleeful joy. She darted to her boss desk to hand her a handmade invitation.
"A slumber party?" Integra raised an eyebrow. Wasn't that for little girls?
"Sir, I won't accept a no as answer. We've been working nonstop; at least we should have some fun."
"I understand but, why specifically a slumber party?"
"Well, it was Duke's idea. We were talking about things we had never done and I realized a slumber party is something I would had liked to do before dying."
Well, she had had the trouble of painstakingly make a handmade invitation. Maybe it would be fun.
It was twenty minutes past ten; Integra still had too much work. It was the time of the month for accounting and she hadn't yet found a proper secretary. Most of them had been scaredy cats that couldn't stand a week knowing vampires lured in the mansion. The fools had been working with Duke not realizing his true nature ever, and yet they were afraid once the truth came out. It was times like these when she thought about Walter the most. How could the man manage this mess all by himself?
Duke had come as great help, he knew a lot about management up to the more simple issues. After working nonstop from the day he had arrived Hellsing, she decided to give him a rest and now he was sleeping soundless in the basement, not allowed to come out until he had had a good day of rest. She was regretting the decision, the work was piling up and she couldn't attend meetings, go to hunts, do investigations, and yet do the paperwork. She reached for her cigar case to find it empty. She sighted. Turning to the papers again she found her pen missing. The drawer was empty. In a foul mood she stumbled to the file case the other side of the office for retrieving a proper pen. Going back to her desk to realize the next second it was clear of paperwork.
"Alu-" she deadpan stopped, then changed her angry tone to a frustrated one "...Seras."
The Draculina emerged through the floor, clearly ashamed of her behavior. At last the childe had some manners, Integra remembered Alucard messing with her for the sheer fun of driving her mad. She had to admit the charade had brought some memories and perhaps that's what the young vampire was looking for.
"Sir, I just came to remind you of the party." Seras awkwardly scratched the back of her head in apology. She had pen and papers folded against her chest.
"I won't attend Seras." Integra snatched back the documents. "There's a lot of paperwork behind and I can't allow me a night of leisure."
Seras pouted. Integra felt sorry for the vampire, recent hunts had been quite boring for her, and new regulations were restricting their actions to only Brittany. The Draculina had the troops to talk with, but so far Integra was the only woman in miles. She would love to throw away all that stupid paperwork and hit the bed, not even the party seemed as promising as a good night of sleep once in awhile.
Duke floated through the wall suddenly. He was rubbing his eyes clearly as something had woken him early, even so his normally pale face seemed less ill. Fun fact is he was wearing sky blue striped pajamas.
"Did you call me, Integra?"
"No, I didn't" Something was wrong with the vampire sudden appearance.
Then Duke turned to his comrade. Seras was grinning mischievously. As Integra understood, Seras could mimic her boss's voice inside Duke's mind. Integra shuddered while thinking what kind of disaster could happen if the Draculina would decide one day to impersonate her.
Taking profit of the dutiful vampire in the office, Seras convinced him to finish the paperwork with the promise of letting him join the party as soon as he finishes the work. Duke was as easy to read as a book, he would love to participate in the slumber party so he would work twice as fast.
At the end, Integra was sitting on her bedroom's bed, wearing her unsophisticated black men pajamas. Seras had materialized her own, the pale blue PJs identical to the ones she was given her first day at Hellsing. The Draculina had taken a seat on a couch next to the dresser. Both were quite uncomfortable with the dead silence there for the last ten minutes.
"So what are we supposed to do in a slumber party?" Integra couldn't hide her boredom with a yawn. It was nine past ten and she was already tired.
"Uh, we can practice our makeup, or reading magazines, or..." Seras trailed off, not sure about what else to say. Maybe the slumber party had been a bad idea.
"What about playing truth or dare?" a particular male voice emerged from Seras, then in the dresser mirror, the one that had not reflected the Draculina ever, a red braided man's image appeared. "I don't know about what girls do in her free time, but I saw some chicks playing it in a movie."
"Captain Bernadotte." Integra pulled her blankets to cover her body, the idea of any man, even a dead one, seeing her in PJs was embarrassing. Of course Alucard and Walter had seen her, but those two were out of the formula. "This is a girls-only party."
"Aw, c'mon Sir! I heard you invited Duke." Before he could say something else, Seras stated.
"Sir Integra is right; Duke is by origin a girl. Also, he may or may not join us later depend of the excess of work. You better wait outside, darling."
The way Seras referred to her familiar made Integra shiver. By the reflection on the mirror she could see Bernadotte shrug and leave passing through the door. Seras no longer had shadow. This was worrisome, she had never seen Alucard to get rid of his familiars, and perhaps the Draculina was discovering some powers of her own. Or maybe it was something Duke had taught her.
"Pip can only move freely in the mansion." As if her subordinate had read Integra's mind, she corrected. "It's different than Master's Baskerville, because he keeps his memories and conscience."
Integra nodded. At least the young vampire kept some of her humanity, giving the opportunity to Captain Bernadotte to live inside her.
"Anyway he's right; we could play truth or dare." Integra was rolling her eye in resignation, she was a twenty-six years old playing a silly game a Friday night in all ridiculousness!
The Draculina's face lit up in a wide smile. Had she not had the fangs anyone could think she was just a mischievous teenager. She jumped on Integra's bed to look gleaming at her boss.
"Can I start?"
"Fine."
"The game starts with 'truth', Sir" Seras stated matter-of-factly. Integra started to feel uneasy with the idea, but as soon as it didn't involve Alucard she wouldn't mind to answer any question. So she prompted her subordinate to continue. "Has someone ever kissed you? And I mean, in the lips I don't want answers like being kissed in the forehead or in the hand."
Integra was expecting something more hardcore, not that she was experienced about it, she was still a virgin and not wanting to change that in the more time possible. It couldn't be helped, Seras was an un-dead, but she was a young girl too.
"No, never." Integra stood calm. That question had been easy. Seras moaned in disillusion.
"And you Seras? Have you ever been kissed?"
The girl turned red like tomato. She waved her hands nervously.
"I...I kissed Pip when he was, you know, dying. We have done it after that but... I don't know if that counts." She covered her face, completely blushed. That wasn't a big deal, Seras was a perfect counterpart to the perverted French man, and now that he was just a familiar she probably was ashamed of making out with hypothetically herself. There was no point in hitting the injury and ask further.
"I see. Your turn."
"Um, truth or dare, Sir?"
"Dare." Integra wasn't about to compromise her secrets with a subordinate.
"We are feeling brave today, don't we?"
"You better refrain your disrespect if you want to continue with this game Officer Seras."
"Right, right." Red eyes inspected the surroundings in the search of something despicable to do with her boss. For once she was in control of the situation and she wasn't going to let the opportunity going to waste. Her vision spotted the wardrobe on the far back of the room, and a chilling thrill came up her mind. Smug smile of resolution, Seras looked upon Integra.
"Remember that dress Walter bought you for Christmas?"
"No, no no no." Integra was already shaking her head before listening to the request; she damn well knew what Seras was talking about. It was from a gift interchange. Integra swear the Draculina had such a good memory. She remembered the exact words of her old Walter: 'it might come in handy some years in the future'. Who would have thought it would dust for five years before a silly game made her put it on.
Despite her resentment, she was a woman of word. She asked Seras out of her room and after ten minutes of hesitation, she was wearing a half sleeved bottle green ample dress. Classy and chic, she remembered the old butler describing it that way. Uncomfortable, would fit it better. Once wearing it, Integra pulled fruitlessly down the half hip skirt.
Integra looked at herself in the mirror. Certainly it was her reflection; even so she felt she was staring at someone else. This couldn't be her; the powerful head of the Hellsing clan had diminished to a frail girl in a dress. She couldn't understand why taking aside the fact that she looked weak, she found herself attractive. She liked what she was seeing. Seras manifested behind her, since becoming a full vampire her reflection no longer existed. For an instant, Integra had thought it was her subconscious that told her.
"It suits you well, Walter had a good taste." The Draculina's chilling breath was inches from her bare neck.
"Shut up. It's done," she posed annoyed. Seras had prevented her from taking it out before the game ends, so she sat back on the bed covering her legs with a pillow "my turn. Truth or dare, Seras."
"Dare." She answered fiercely, feeling her condition made her invulnerable.
She was wrong.
"I dare you to hold that cross for at least one minute." Integra pointed to the cross she always used on her cravat, then resting on the bedside table. Seras gulped. The vampire knew it was one of the most holy devices in the mansion, not even Alucard liked to get in contact with the blessed silver that had been forged under a stream of holy water.
The Draculina snatched the cross, at first grabbing it with all her might. Ten seconds she was already trembling, a grimace on her face. Twenty seconds, heavy drops of sweat falling by her temples. Forty seconds, the grip had weakened; she was on the verge of releasing it. Fifty seconds, she let it fall, catching it mid air and struggling to hold it back. She played hot potato with the cross the last seconds. Integra was proud of the girl's conviction.
"Your turn Master, truth or dare?"
"Dare." She had thought saying truth, but she had lived enough time with Seras to understand that soon or later the questions about Integra's relationship with Alucard could come out in that situation, so she better would resist one night that stand curious glances for the rest of her days.
"I want you to keep the dress on and go to a bar with me."
"Impossible. More else, those are two request."
"Okay, I'll rephrase! I dare you to wear the dress you got as Christmas present in a bar."
Integra knew it. If she allowed her subordinate to order her, sooner or later she would be request to do something berating. Thankfully she never played this with Alucard, for the ancient vampire could come up with requesting to go to a bar nude! She took a deep breath, unsure of what she was about to say.
"Call a taxi and let's finish the fastest as possible."
Author's Note: Life sucks, seriously! Sorry for lasting so much in updating but I had serious issues after moving back to my homecountry. Let's just say that now I'm orphan :'(
This was a piece I wrote along with the first chapters, I wasn't planning to publish here but it was the most I could do by now. I'll keep publishing irregulary but surely, thanks so much for the support.