Work Text:
"Alucard's coming."
Trevor turned his head to look at Greta, his helper for building the new chicken pens. Though he supposed he was actually her helper, since Trevor was usually doing other work. Still, it was an odd thing for her to say out of the blue.
Trevor straightened, wiping some sweat from his brow as he glanced around. Heat battered down from the sun overhead, thankfully contrasted by a cool spring breeze. While Trevor did not see any signs of his more than a friend, something came to him on the wind. He took in a deep breath. Earthy nutmeg and anise, quickly shifting to sharp clove. Trevor's nose wrinkled at the strong scent, but he recognized it: Alucard.
"He is," Trevor agreed, lowing his saw. "How did you know?"
"He's like a walking kitchen," Greta said, not looking away from the boards she was nailing onto the new coop. "Knew he was coming when it smelled like a whole tray of holiday pastries was coming this way."
Trevor blinked. Then blinked again. "Y- You smell it too?"
Greta finally gave Trevor her full attention. "Huh. Yeah. My- Our people live alongside nature. It was something my family just... did. Is yours a Belmont thing?"
"Dunno. I guess I also just, uh, got used to it."
Greta nodded, and bless her, asked no more questions about it. "It's useful for certain things. Like figuring out if the traveling witch passing through is handing out actual cures or hoping for bloody victims. Alucard just smells like cozonac, especially when he's embarrassed."
Trevor laughed. "Right? And whenever he starts getting frustrated, like, 'That's not how water works Belmont,' he starts smelling like that tea Sypha likes, the uh-"
"The mint one, yes! I've smelled that on him when he argues, but mostly when the two of you are sparring."
Trevor chuckled, handing her another wooden board.
"Of course, the best smell is when he's horny."
Trevor sputtered. "When-?" But he didn't finish the thought; He knew exactly when Greta would have smelled it. With his curiosity high though, his mouth spilled out his next question with no input from his brain. "What does that smell like?"
Greta's sly look has Trevor coughing into his hand, shifting the wood around to find more pieces to saw. He heard a considering hum before Greta said, "Take off your shirt and you'll smell it in less than a minute."
Trevor frowned, but even a glare did not deter Greta--the woman had thick hide and a backbone stronger than even Dracula's castle. How did Trevor end up surrounded by such amazing women? After his own consideration, Trevor shrugged and did as she said. The heat was a good enough excuse anyway.
They worked for a few more moments, the breeze much nicer on Trevor's bare chest as he worked to make more boards.
"Greta," Alucard said, rounding the nearby house, "and Treffy, might I-" And he paused.
Trevor watched his expressions closely, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. An appreciation, maybe, from one warrior to another, or calculation, from a doctor's point of view. But then the smell hit him.
As Trevor was straightening up and wiping more sweat from his neck, Alucard's scent gained a distinctly sweet note, something Trevor had only come across a few times, one of them because Sypha's people had come by to trade.
"Vanilla?" Trevor wondered aloud. Greta snickered.
"What?" Alucard asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Told you," Greta said.
"What- Nevermind." Alucard shook his head. "It's going to be time for a dinner break soon. Sypha has requested one of you help me corral the children."
"Go on then," Greta said before Trevor could even open his mouth. "I've got enough boards here to finish my work before dinner is done. We'll get to the rest tomorrow."
Trevor grumbled, only a little, before grabbing his shirt and heading over to Alucard. The vanilla with nutmeg was a lovely smell--which Trevor would never ever say aloud--only added to by the slow twining of tangy and nutty notes as Trevor stared. Which, actually he should probably stop doing, since Alucard was flicking his eyes nervously, not able to settle on just one part of Trevor.
"Belmont?" he asked.
"Ah. Yeah. Let's grab those kids. And..." Trevor steeled himself, taking a deep breath in to settle some nerves. "Maybe after, after dinner, we should all talk."
"We?"
"Yeah. You and me, and Sypha, and Greta." Trevor looked over his shoulder to see Greta grinning at them both.
"Finally," she said. "Sypha and I have been discussing this for months."
"Months?" Trevor and Alucard echoed. Alucard continued with, "Discussing what?"
"The fact that for some reason we've got these invisible lines drawn around our relationships which keep the two of you from admitting your feelings."
Trevor swallowed. "Better not keep the kids waiting," he said faintly.
"I agree," Alucard said in a similar tone.
They walked away to the sound of Greta both laughing and groaning at them. Even so, when Trevor caught Alucard's gaze again, the emotions there were just as warm as the hugs Trevor remembered from childhood. And Trevor felt a gentle, fluttering hope in his chest.
"What were you two talking about anyway?" Alucard murmured.
"Oh. Uh." Trevor scratched at his cheek, trying to think past the fuzzy-content sensation in his head. "How you smell."
If someone knew Alucard for longer than a week, and annoyed him as much as Trevor did, they became intimately acquainted with the way Alucard managed to puff up like a cat when offended. Alucard did that exact motion with his shoulders and expression.
"Wha- I do not smell!"
Trevor laughed. Despite the verbal jabs about Trevor's "clear inability to judge on matters of scent," Trevor realized he felt lighter than he had in a long time. Years. He had a home; He had family; He had love. For that, he'd be willing to have an awkward conversation or two.