Friday, 29 September 2000
"And then I said, "That makes two of us!" which—in all fairness—I don't think he particularly enjoyed hearing." Seras lifted the clasps on the case that housed her Harkonnen canon, hissing under her breath when her nail caught the edge of the metal. "Damn," she whispered, biting at the jagged edge with a grimace.
"Dunno why you're surprised." Captain Corey Barkley, her second-in-command, knelt beside her as he affixed the scope to his own firearm. Seras enjoyed his company, and ultimately preferred it to most of the soldiers in the Organization's employ. He had been transferred from the Johannesburg auxiliary following the Valentine Incident, and the two of them had grown close while bringing the new recruits up to speed. Barkley was one of the rare few who didn't seem to mind that Seras was a vampire, nor did he resent being in the command of someone at least ten years his junior.
"From the way you talk about him, the man's one loose screw away from going completely mental." Barkley scratched the day-old stubble on his jaw, lifting the rifle to his shoulder and adjusting the focus with a pensive hum. "You're probably better off avoiding him."
"You say that like it's easy." Seras rolled her eyes, lifting the cannon to her shoulder. "I just don'tsee—" She paused as, with a deafening roar, the first volley burst through the target at the other end of the firing range. "—what the bloody problem is!" Barkley watched in silence as she reloaded her next round. Her hands worked on autopilot as she continued her tirade.
"He complains that I don't drink enough blood, that refraining makes me less of a vampire or something. Fine: I drink the damn blood. But that's not good enough either! Now he's complaining that I don't drink his blood specifically. And then, when I finally stand my ground and argue my point—a very logical point, mind you—he gives me this… thislookand vanishes without another word!"
"Like I said: one loose screw away." Barkley fired his own round, growling under his breath when the bullet missed the center of the target. "Maybe he needs a good wank."
"Oh, grow up." She glared at him over her shoulder. "That's disgusting."
"Yeah? And?" He adjusted his scope before trying again, only to curse aloud when the bullet neatly severed the line between the first and middle rings. "I bet he hasn't had a good stroke in over a century. Go ask him, I bet he'd tell you."
"Yougo ask, if you're so curious."
"What, and get a bullet in my head for the trouble? No thank you! Besides, I'm not the one he's jealous over."
"Alucard is not jealous." Seras sat the butt of the canon on the ground, one hand on her hip.
"Isn't he, though?"
"Definitely not." She stretched her neck, looking up to where the clouds floated lazily overhead. It was almost too nice of a night to be stuck with target practice. She wanted nothing more than to take a long walk in the moonlight, counting the fluffy clouds as they sailed towards the distant horizon. "And anyway, he's not trying to get me into a new relationship. He's too busy ruining the ones I already have."
"All the more reason for me to avoid him like the plague. Otherwise it'll be my head on the chopping block next." Barkley looked over at her, wagging his brows with an ostentatious flair. "Then who would you wile away the midnight hours with?" He let out a sigh when she didn't respond. "You're really taking this to heart, aren't you?" Scratching the back of his head, he looked around the firing range as if searching for inspiration. "Listen, if he didn't make me want to go n' piss myself, I'd march right down to the basement and give him what-for. I mean, why invite you down there just to turn around and assault you?"
"That wasn't an assault."
"So putting his hands on you without your consent no longer qualifies?"
"That's—! Okay, maybe it was assault." Seras frowned. "I just wish I knew what his deal was. It's like he's never heard of communication."
"Has anyone in this place heard of a healthy relationship dynamic?" he chuckled. "Besides you and me, of course."
"Walter… maybe."
"Maybe." Barkley mirrored her stance, loosely gripping the rifle as he turned to face her. "Here, why don't you tell me again what you said before he went all berserk? I'm sure if we put our heads together, we can come up with something."
"Well…" Seras closed her eyes, letting the memory of the night play out in the forefront of her mind. "He was asking about Walter, mostly. If I spent a lot of time with him, I think? And I do, to be quite honest. It's just that he was injured after the whole Tower thing, and I felt bad for him, so I offered to do whatever I could to help. After that, things just sort of… transpired, I guess. Is it so wrong of me to enjoy spending time with an old man?"
"Not necessarily, but do you rememberhowyou said it? Ignore my saying so, ma'am, but you're not exactly glib." He averted his eyes as she leveled him with a death glare. "Even you have to admit that sometimes you say things in a way that's rather… easy to misinterpret."
"I said—" Her nose wrinkled as she screwed her face in thought, ruffling her fluffy bangs with her fingertips. "I said that I only spent one night a week with Walter, since I didn't think he could handle more than that. And then he made this off-color joke about testing Walter's stamina, and I said that I—"
"Tch… hahaha!" Her frown became more pronounced as Barkley burst into peals of helpless laughter. "You did not!"
"What!? I don't see what's so funny! It wasn't even that good a joke," she added sullenly. "You're not taking his side now, are you?" Barkley saw the flash in her eyes and immediately sobered, jaw shutting with an audible snap of teeth. He swallowed heavily, looking away as his innate human senses went into high alert mode. Seras took a deep breath, willing herself to calm as her undead heart began to ache with the urge to race in anger.
"It's just that, well: when you put it that way, it seems like you and Walter are, erm…"
"What is it?"
"No offense, but you act so damn innocent! No, you are innocent," he amended. "Do you not even realize what it sounds like you're implying?"
"No? Clearly not. Why don't you spell it out for me?" she ground out between clenched teeth. "Since you're so worldly and wise."
"If you insist." Barkley heaved a breath. "Frankly, when you say it like that, it sounds like you and Walter are fucking."
"Fucking—what?"
"One another?" He shrugged. "He's old, but he's not that old. He can probably still get it up, and no one would bat their eyes at the idea of a friends with benefits—"
"Come off it!" Seras fumbled the canon, her cheeks stained a deep red. "That's disgusting! Walter is like agrandfatherto me!"
"Hey, hey! Don't bite my head off! You're the one who told me to set it straight for you! Besides, shouldn't you be more worried about that weird master of yours? He's the one that decided that's what you meant."
"Oh… fucking hell!" Seras wasn't often one to swear, but it seemed to be happening more and more the longer she stayed in the manor. "That annoying, infuriating old… bat!" She turned on her heel, sprinting towards the manor with a speed that nearly blew Barkley sideways. He staggered, regaining his balance and still somehow managing to keep a tight hold on the loaded rifle in his hands.
"You really are something else, ma'am." He watched her leave, a pained smile on his face as he shook his head. Turning back to the firing range, he blanched at the sight of the Harkonnen and its equally heavy ammunition lying where she had dropped it. Both would need to be back inside the armory before the dew fell. "Oh, fuck it all."
"Master Alucard!"
If Alucard had been the sort of man to startle easily, he would have jolted at the sound of his chamber door crashing against the stone wall in an echoing symphony of rotting wood and hammered metal. Somehow it miraculously held, wobbling precariously on rusted hinges before being blown back once more as Seras charged in with the righteous fury of a Valkyrie and the unparalleled bloodlust of—well, of a vampire.
"Wake up, you miserable, motheaten pile of—!" Any further insults to his person were left smothered in her throat, drowned by the grinding of her jaw and forgotten entirely when he caught sight of the hellfire blazing in her eyes. The presentation did not alarm him; it was not the first time a fuming blonde had roused him from dozing dreams of days long gone, and it was certainly not the last. Intrigued, he straightened up in his chair to face this would-be adversary head on.
"Is there something you need, Police Girl?" he inquired with all the blithe disregard he could muster, looking his little protégé up and down with a sneer. Seras was practically frothing at the mouth, hands fisted and ample bosom heaving with each unnecessary breath. She let out a new barrage of muttered curses at his smug dismissal, nostrils flaring as she advanced even closer to where he sat.
"Let's get one thing straight right now," she hissed, leaning in so that they were nearly nose-to-nose. "I. Am.Not. Fucking. Walter."
"Is that so?"How… interesting.Only a week or so prior, Seras had been nervous at the thought of entering his room, much less remaining there for any amount of time. At the time, she'd managed to hide her emotions well. But now it seemed that anger was more than enough of a catalyst to push aside her wariness, and belay any qualms she had about not only entering into his space uninvited, but facing him on her own terms.
A part of him did wonder if he ought to be more incensed that she'd given up the subservient attitude. On the whole, however, he found himself rather… pleased.
"Is there any particular reason for this little outburst?" he asked, further drawing out the amusing diversion. "Or should I brace myself for more mundane facts about your night?"
"What—that—you know bloody well the reason why!" she screeched, throwing up her hands. "Ugh! Honestly, I don't even know why you'd come to that sort of conclusion in the first place! Walter is probably five times my age, and that's including the vampire bits! He's certainly old enough to be my grandfather at best, and anything we have is strictly platonic! Furthermore: and I don't say this lightly, mind you—"
Alucard watched as she paced the length of his chamber, boots echoing off the stone tile and hands gesticulating wildly to punctuate her breathless tirade. Her cheeks were flushed, rosy with agitation, her brows wrinkled thin lips twisted in a grimace. It was a far cry from his master's lectures, which were often rife with threats of punishment and calls to action in the face of backlash from her own superiors. Seras had a certain energy in her anger that directly mirrored her usual cheer. It lent a spark of honesty to her emotions that was… striking, though he felt that humans might have called it endearing.
"Earth to Alucard? Are you even listening?"
"Believe me, my dear: the sound of your voice could wake the dead."
"That's not an answer!" She was standing before him again, vexation melting into a wounded expression. Her brows furrowed so that a small wrinkle appeared above the bridge of her nose, chin ducking into the collar of her uniform as the corners of her mouth dropped in her distress. "Master Alucard, do… do you hate me?"
"What?" He was not quick enough to hide his surprise, eyes widening behind the round lenses. Nor was he able to completely mask his displeasure at such a question, lips pursed in a small frown that was somewhat different from his normal scowl.
"I meant what I said, you know. I don't regret choosing any of this." Seras waved her hand at the room, as though the shadowy corners and dusty furniture could somehow encapsulate her experience as a vampire. "It's just that sometimes I think maybeyouregret choosingme. And maybe… maybe that's why you're in such a hurry to be rid of me." The same hand fell to her side, fingers flexing nervously against her stockings.
"And how, pray tell, did you manage to arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion?"
"Ridiculous!?" Her mouth dropped open, shoulders sagging. "What's so ridiculous about it? According to you, I'm a terrible vampire. I don't make you proud; I don't give you anything to boast about. I don't even make decent company." Her eyes darted to the chest nearby his chair, where it had remained following her impromptu escape.
"You've taught me so much already, and in such a short amount of time," she admitted. "But you also seem to think that it's improper to want any sort of companionship at all. Don't you get lonely sometimes?" Seras tilted her head, gazing imploringly at him through her bangs. "I know I do."
Why should I be lonely?The thought occurred to him before he had time to process her question.I have you.His frown deepened as he met her gaze, bitterness eating a hole in the place where his heart used to beat. How on earth had she managed to convince herself of such a bizarre, human notion? Seras was a fast learner, true, and in her time at the organization she had already learned a great deal. But there was so much more still to cover; they had barely scratched the surface of what it meant to be a vampire! Did the teacher naturally resent the pupil for their ignorance?
"Suffice to say, you're once again wrong on all accounts." He shifted in his chair, lacing his fingers and squeezing until he felt his knuckles start to buckle beneath the pressure. It served to regulate his temper, keeping his voice calm as he spoke. "The act of turning you into a vampire is one of the few choices I have no reason to regret." A strange lump arose in the base of his throat at the admission, the familiar echo of some past emotion. It was not regret, not anger. Soft, poignant… fondness, perhaps? Affection? He brushed the thought away for another time.
"You are more than my student. You are an apprentice, a disciple that I have chosen to take under my wing. You may live in my master's home and work beneath her watchful eye, but until you partake of my blood, you remain under my jurisdiction. As for your failings, many as they are… why should I resent you for them? They are steppingstones, a broken path that can only lead you to your true calling as a sovereign of the night."
"Stumble though you will, you only fail me the moment you cease to try, Seras Victoria. Thankfully for us both, you are obstinate to a fault."
"Master, I don't know whether I should be insulted or not." Her brow wrinkled again, this time in mirth. "I think that's actually the nicest thing you've ever said to me. It's honest, at least."
"A simple observation, nothing more. Make of it what you will."
"Well… maybe I am obstinate. Because I'm not going to avoid Walter," she declared with an expression that dared him to protest. "We listen to the radio together, he and I, and it's the most entertainment I have around this dusty old manor. You can spare me that much."
"Is that so?"
"It's so. What's more: the next time you get the bright idea that I'm fooling around with someone behind the scenes, just ask me." She winked. "Unless you want to try changing my mind." Something in his expression must have spooked her; she took a step back, laughing nervously.
"It's just a joke! You don't have to glare at me like that…. L-Look, I'll just see myself out. Sorry about your door, by the way. I can fix it." She awkwardly tried to bend the hammered metal frame back into place, blanching when it broke apart in her hand. "Erm… okay, I'll get Walter to fix it," she muttered, tossing the ancient chunk of splintered wood aside. "Either way, it'll be fixed by morning, I promise!"
"Police Girl…."
"Right! Sorry! I'm going, bye!" He listened to her scurrying footfalls, mapping her course through the manor as she went in search of the man he'd told her to avoid.Insubordinate… churlish, defiant little thing, isn't she?He tipped his head, eyeing the partially full bottle of wine at his side.
Still, it's more entertaining that way.
