Later that evening
"Down Pocky, down… I didn't bring you any bLArgh!!!" Emily's statement was cut off as the large green feline popped up onto her back legs and put her paws on Emily's shoulders before dragging her raspy tongue across the woman's face. "Down dammit!"
Emily coughed, pushing the big cat off her, before wiping the drool off her face as the green beast pressed against her legs purring loudly.
"Why don't you do this to Alucard?" Emily muttered as Pocky yawned, and finally padded away from Emily into another room.
The house they had found was a two-story affair with a basement. Like a lot of the houses around this part of town it was a middling ground between the rich area and the business district. It was middling distance between the PRT building and the school Amy would be going to, Arcadia. While there were neighbors, there was still a sizable yard for Pocky, though Emily was still trying to work out how to keep the cat from letting everyone know who they were.
Amy wanted Pocky to join Druid at the Protectorate as back up, as the great beast obeyed Amy without question, which was odd for a cat, though that balanced out as she only occasionally listened to Emily, and did everything in her power to annoy Alucard.
Amy had suggested a mask for Pocky, though the little domino mask she put on the cat was about as effective as the one Moon Dog wore.
Giant green cats aside, Amy had grabbed one of the upstairs rooms for her own, stealing the only one with an attached bath. Emily didn't really care as the bathroom between the other two bedrooms was bigger than the one attached to Amy's room.
The second bedroom upstairs was slated to be turned into a small office for Emily, as well as a location for most of the house's firearms, either in gun lockers or set up on display near the loader and work bench that would be going in. While Emily was no gunsmith, she knew how to maintain every piece she had and preferred to reuse the brass she recovered from the range when she could rather than buy new boxes.
The first floor had a large living room, dining room, and kitchen with a guest bathroom tucked off to the side of another spare room, which had been set up as a laundry room/ over-sized cat room. When your litter box was the size of a table, you got your own place for it.
Amy had talked about trying to figure a way to make Pocky digest 100% of everything she ate, but she wasn't sure how to do so just yet.
And Emily made sure Amy was the one who changed her pet's litter box.
As such a rather large portion of the house budget went to cat litter and food. The rise of bulk purchase stores in the 90s was a godsend for such things, and thankfully one of those was close.
The basement was rigged up with a small guest bedroom and bathroom while the rest was mostly storage space.
Alucard claimed the whole floor.
Emily had been a little weirded out when he showed up after a walk with a coffin, claiming it was his and no one was gonna say otherwise and that it would be in everyone's best interest to not ask how got it and that wannabe goth's place was like that when he got there.
Emily had given up asking the pale man certain things a long time ago.
Walking further into the house, now that Pocky was letting her, Emily took note that Alucard and Amy had done a good job unpacking, there were still a number of boxes in the hall, though the living room almost seemed done. There was a rather large Plasma TV that Alucard had insisted on as well as a near wall rack full of anime DVDs and other odd movie's and shows, Donnie Darko, Cemetery man, South-land Tales, plus everything Leslie Nielsen, Monty Python, and Mel Brooks had ever done.
Amy's collection was mostly of Disney movies and nature documentaries, she also had a few campy slasher flicks thrown in. However anyone confused as to why 'Blood for the Blood god six', was next to Watership Down had never seen either movie.
Emily herself had never really had time to sit and watch TV when she was younger, though after she retired she found she shared some of the same movie likes as Alucard when it came to comedy, though Emily preferred action movies, ones where the will and strength of man kind won out over impossible odds.
She rather liked more of the 'local flavor' of movies too as opposed to the Earth Aleph version. Particularly that Resident Evil series, a virus that made super powers was a stupid idea, the Bet version was more a survival horror instead of an action movie staring the director's wife. Seemed like a weird self insert fetish on the directors part, but whatever.
"Hey Mom, we're in the kitchen, gonna order pizza." Amy shouted. "What did you want on yours?"
"Same as always, a supreme." Emily called back before walking into the kitchen herself seeing Amy on a cell phone and Alucard digging through a box of dishes to put away. The gaunt pale man looking oddly domestic in a pair of simple khakis and a tee shirt with his long black hair pulled back in a massive ponytail, at least until he stood up and you saw the shirt read' World's Best Fuck Mothering Vampire' on the front in big red letters.
Emily sat down in a chair with a soft groan letting her head fall back as Amy finished the order.
"So... how was it?" Alucard asked with a smirk.
"What would you want for you to keep away from Assault and Mouse Protector?" Emily asked.
"More than you could afford." Alucard grinned.
"Figures. Any way I know why Costa-Brown wanted me here so bad, because no one else would be insane enough to take the job."
"That bad?" Amy asked looking a little worried.
"Well, you'll find out tomorrow Amy. You and Alucard are going to be introduced to the rest of the staff and team, Thursday I have my meetings with the Wards so I want you to let me know what you think of them before that. Pay close attention to Vista and Shadow Stalker. I've got a few warnings on them." Emily offered.
"I can do that." Amy sighed. "Not looking forward to the press conference on Wednesday though."
"You're the one who wanted to join the Wards Amy, so you have no one to blame but yourself for getting involved in the PR machine." Emily chuckled. "I did warn you."
"Yeah, yeah." Amy griped." Glad you talked the perv out of that mini skirt idea of his."
"He did seem rather surprised when I went to his 'studio' with you." Emily smirked.
"I've never seen a guy already so pale go paler. I'm almost afraid to ask what you said."
"Prolly for the best." Alucard chuckled.
"You're up on Wednesday as well Alucard. I want you on your Martha Stewart level of behavior for the press conference."
"Fine ... Mom..." Alucard griped, then paused. "Wait, just the press conference? What about tomorrow?"
"Everyone's going to have to get used to you sooner or later, might as well rip off the band aid." Emily sighed." I want the public to wait a little while longer though."
Alucard cackled.
