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Alucard was excited for this trip. He didn't know when was the last time, he ever went somewhere just for the pleasure of it. It seemed like an almost impossible thing to even think of, not to mention actually execute, but his partners were persuasive. And he himself wasn't too against the plan. Though the planning part was a bit tedious, in the end they finally agreed on a place. They will go to the small cottage somewhere in the green plains of far away pastures of England. It turned out that the cottage was also near the sea, so that was another plus in Alucard's book.
He had some bleak memories of tidal waves and mile long beaches, but they were so patchy, he sometimes wonders if he made them all up. So in general he decided to treat this trip as his first ever vacation with his family. Alucard wasn't sure if everyone else felt the same about this trip, however he could feel excitement in the air. "Come on you snail, let's go!" Trevor exclaims and starts to drag Alucard along. "You really can't understand the 'walking and looking around' part of this trip can you?"
"No I can't! We are already so near, it is a shame to prolong the coming to our destination for even a second longer!" Trevor continues to be a loud nuisance, while everyone else just goes along with it. Sypha rolls her eyes and says with a sigh: "Trevor was never the patient type of guy. If you should learn something from an long-lived vampire, it is their patience and wilingness to wait for things." Greta watched over all of them with an amused glint in her eyes. "I think his infectious joy is cute. As Trevor should learn some patience from Alucard, in my opinion Alucard should learn to be a bit more cheery. Like Trevor for example," she says that with a pointed look at Alucard, who just glares at her in return. "If you don't like me as a gloomy and moody half-vampire, then you should break up with me," the pretend-hurt half-vampire announces and hurries along so he could pass the women and come to stand closer to Trevor. He hears giggling behind him, but ignores it in the attempt at acting out anger, that he doesn't really feel. Trevor looks confused for a moment, then looks behind him and then at Alucard. "Trouble in paradise?" he asks with a smirk, like he is happy for Alucard's bad mood, the bastard that he is.
"Not really no," Alucard answers him with the same kind of arrogant condescension Trevor tried to project, and before the scruffy human could act out like he was insulted in the worst manner, Greta appears on his left side and takes his hand hostage. "I am sorry, I didn't mean anything bad by it. It was just a little dig, a joke meant for fun. If I didn't like your moody and gloomy half-vampire persona, I would not be dating you, you know that right? I just wanted to make fun of both of you," Greta says with a small smirk, that tells Alucard everything he needs to know. "Oh, I know. I just wanted to make fun of Trevor along with you."
"What the hell do you mean by making fun of me? I don't even know what you talked about?! Come back you two, and let me insult you back!" Trevor shouts out as usual, wanting to have the last word, while Greta and her half-vampire lover start to run, so that the scruffy human has to run after them. Sypha only scoffs at their antics and whispers in her beard that she doesn't believe she feel in love with such children.
+++
"You know I thought it would be somehow more..."
Trevor starts but doesn't finish his sentence. They have already registered into the cottage, and were now walking around town, sightseeing and enjoying the sea wind and morning air. "Somehow more what?"
Trevor shrugs and answers in uncertain tone: "I don't know. I just expected more from this place. But I should have known, we choose this place because it wasn't grand and majestic, but small and quaint. You know Alucard-"
"Stop calling him Alucard. His name is Adrian for now," Sypha interrupts him, making Greta laugh and Trevor pout at her. "But why are we calling him that now? What's the purpose of it?"
"The war may be over, but his name still spells Dracula from behind. And in my experience it is better to be careful than to be foolish," Sypha explains annoyed at Trevor's inability to remember something she told him before. "All right, all right I get it. I apologize Sypha, Adrian. It wasn't on purpose," Trevor says and he continues to squabble with Sypha about something else. Alucard watches over them with a small smile, holding Greta's right hand in his own. He calmly takes in the sights, enjoys the smell of sea and starts to slowly get lulled into the slow flow of their company and the beauty of their miliue. That feeling breaks instantly when he catches sight of a figure. A very familiar figure of a woman climbing the stairs so she could arrive at the house on the hill most likely.
For a moment, he freezes and forgetting everything else around him, starts to run and goes after her with the speed of a madman. The woman still comes to the house faster than him, and before she closes the door, he grabs the handle and wretches the door open with abandon.
There standing before him were his parents. Alucard stands before them in disbelief, not sure if he finally died or this all is just some cruel hallucination. His mother and father are also both frozen and unsure at how to react so they don't scare their son off. Because by looking at his eyes, you can clearly see the fear and terror, which makes him liable to run away at the slightest wrong move. After the stand-off that seemed to stretch forever, Lisa finally takes a step forward and says in a voice no louder than a whisper: "Alucard..."
That sound jerks Alucard out of his daze and he just bolts without looking back. Lisa tries to run after him, but he disappears before long, so she relents unwilingly. "Well, fuck," she curses with feeling and returns to Vlad with an angry gait. "Can't say I am surprised by his reaction," Vlad starts, although he soon stops when he sees how his wife looks at him. "You do not say another word."
"But-"
"Not another word," she bites out and falls down on the bed. Vlad becomes silent and continues to watch her lose her composure with a worried gaze.
+++
"Adrian what is the matter?" Greta asks him as soon as she comes upon him. When Sypha and Trevor hear the worry in her voice they also turn to look at him. Adrian squirms under their attention and finally admits: "I saw something that disturbed me."
"What was it?"
"My.... you won't believe this, but I saw my mother and father." There is first only silence and when everyone understands the magnitude of his words, they exchange worried glances.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Absolutely. It was them without a doubt."
"And they were up there in that cottage?"
Greta asks and points over to the house Adrian ran from. "Yes," is the only answer he can give them, trying not to fall apart by thinking too much about it. "Do you want to go there together now?"
Adrian isn't sure who asked that, however he does know his answer instantly. "No, let's just go back to our cottage." Everyone nods at that, like it was a final edict and starts to go back without anymore talk.
+++
"What should we do? What do we do?"
Lisa asks for the hundreth time, pacing around the small space like a caged tiger. "Well the surprise is ruined now. So we should just visit him," Vlad answers calmly like he did before, however Lisa does not take his solution lightly. "How can we? What we just barge into his space and say: 'See now, we are alive! Surprise!' and he just accepts it without a problem? Have you seen how he looked at us? Have you seen it? We can't just appear again from thin air and expect him to deal with it!"
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"I don't know, I need more time to think," Lisa murmurs, still distractedly moving around. Vlad sighs at that and prepares for a long night without sleep.
+++
"Adrian, please tell us what you need," Greta pleads at him, while Adrian only sits at his bed and looks at the wall. Sypha and Trevor have already placed themselves near him, looking ready to pounce at him at any moment. Greta being the one most reticient to touch doesn't move in his space but waits for his signal to decide on her course of action.
"I-"
Adrian blinks, and shakes his head like trying to wake up from a dream, and starts his sentence again. "I want you near me. To feel you, to know... You are all alive," his voice becomes stronger near the end, and both of his closest friends/confidates/partners move as one and engulf him in their embrace. Greta stands for a second longer than necessary and then she also moves, and throws her arms around them.
Sitting on the bed, all wrapped up in each other, from an outsiders perspective they seem like a big ball of human parts stitched together in an awkward mess without any rhyme or reason. Fortunately to them from the inside it is just warmth and one breath shared in a calming manner between them. The need to move doesn't exist in any of their minds, only when their half-vampire falls on the bed, they fall on top of him. "I think we should change our positions a bit. To be more comfortable you know," Sypha declares matter of factly and starts to prepare for bed, like she is preparing for meeting the king. Trevor joins her, just with none of the elegance she exhibits, and with full-on jokes of many kinds, along with his annoying flare for dramatics.
Adrian snorts at their dramatics, while Greta clings closer to his not-beating heart. "Will you really be okay? Do you need anything else?"
The half-vampire smiles at her worry, shaking his head in negative. "I will be fine. After I face them tomorrow head-on I will know what to do. Or what not to do. Can I maybe ask something of you?"
"You can ask anything of me," Greta eagerly agrees and the half-human exhales in relief. "Can you come with me to their house tomorrow?"
"Of course I will. We will all come with you."
"No, no. Just you."
"But, Adrian what about the others? They will worry too and will want to support you in any way they can."
"They can support me, by enjoying this vacation without me. What I have to face they don't have to. So they can do what they want to, while I deal with that."
Greta seems especially worried by his last words, but she only asks in response: "Are you sure that is safe? And that it is the right way to do things?"
"It is the only way to do things. Please trust me on this, and be with me, when I try to force them to agree?"
In the end Greta reluctantly agrees, however their conversation is cut short when Sypha and Trevor return and bring their chaos with them.
+++
The next day they find themselves standing before the offending door. Adrian contemplates knocking or running away again, while Greta stands near him in support of his every decision. Before they come to the decision, the door opens and out goes Lisa and Vlad. Everyone freezes in surprise and the moment stretches on in suspended time, when Greta breaks it with a simple greeting. "Can we come inside? I think Adrian needs to talk with you."
Lisa nods and lets them inside, while Vlad takes the rear and looks behind to see if anyone else is spying on them or is following them. "All is clear. We can talk without interruptions." Then silence descends upon them and they all just sit on their asses and watch each other without even opening their mouths. Greta sighs in disappointment and wonders if she will have to move them along again. However her exasperated face makes Adrian snort in amusement and he decides to start first.
"Hello father. Haven't seen you for long," he flashes his fangs in something resembling both a threat and a smirk. Then he turns to Lisa and his smile disappears: "Hello mother. I haven't seen you in even longer. How are you?"
"Considering how I was before, I think I am okay now. I needed some time to get used to my new surroundings and situation, but when I did it all turned out alright," she tells him and moves closer. The half-vampire wearily watches her move closer and just before she touches him, she asks: "Can I have a hug? I think we both need it so much." Adrian thinks it over and spreads out his hands, so they could embrace. When they do, the sniffing starts and soon turns to full blown bawling their eyes out.
Apologies, admonishments, critics and pleas are exchanged in unrecognizable blubber, that Greta does not try to decipher. She watches over them tenderly and then turns to look at the past-Dracula when he shuffles awkwardly on the bed. Their gazes meet and she ticks her chin to the crying pair on the floor. He looks even more uncomfortable and shrugs in failure to give a better answer. Greta frowns at that, but before she can say something, a bit clearer voice rings out in the air: "Vlad come here and hug your son. You know you need it."
The so-called-dark-lord looks uncertain for just a moment, however when his wife turns her head, he moves to them and joins the group hug. Greta feels amusement at the sight and hopes Alucard is getting what he needs. "Excuse me, young woman, You can join us too," Lisa's voice rings out once again, followed with Dracula's grumbling: "She is not our family."
Lisa glares over her son's shoulder at Vlad and tells him in no uncertain tone: "Alucard brought her here. She might be his family. So she gets a hug too." Before they start to snip at each other, Greta goes down and encompasses both Adrian and his mother in her arms. Vlad grumbles some more in unintelligible tones, but soon becomes quiet and lets' the group hug continue without interruptions.
+++
After the catharsis hugging sessions, the interrogation happens between the Tepes family. A hundred questions is asked out, shouted over, whispered slowly or said nervously, and in the end everything that can be cleared is, and the silence returns soon after. Greta did not and doesn't plan to join, so she let's them sit in loaded silence until it becomes unbearable even to her. Although before that time comes, Vlad asks in a condescending voice about her place here.
"Who is this human woman here? What is she to you and why is she with you?"
Adrian looks furious, and before he blurts out something offensive and breaks every good thing done today, she jumps in and answers for him: "My name is Greta. I am his friend and his lover. Nice to meet you, in-laws." Their flabbergasted faces, makes her day and even Adrian chuckles in amusement.
"YOU HAVE A WIFE??!!"
"YOU ARE MARRIED??!!"
Alucard's parents cry out and the questions start to fly again. Now even Greta joins in, and the loudness does not diminish with the answers given. "We have to celebrate!" Lisa delightedly screams.
"We have to separate them!" Vlad angrily cries out. Alucard and Greta share a conspiring glance and the half-human says: "You couldn't even separate me from Sypha and Trevor. You surely won't succedd with Greta either." If Vlad wasn't as undead as he was (though right now who even knows?), by the look on his face he would be crimson red in anger.
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THOSE TWO MANERLESS SCOUNDRELS ARE STILL WITH YOU!!!???"
"STOP SCREAMING VLAD, IT IS NOT SUCH A BAD THING!"
"HOW IS IT NOT? YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THEM! THOSE UNRULY UNREPENTED BLOODY BARBARIC-"
"AT LEAST THEY WERE THERE FOR OUR SON! UNLIKE YOU MISTER!"
The fight continued to escalate and Greta along with Alucard quietly escaped from the house and sit down on the grass near the house, to wait out the worst of the fight. "Have they ever fought like that, while you were all together?"
Alucard thought about it and in the end answered: "Not really no. Those kinds of fights were rare. However I don't know if this makes me a bad son, but I am glad that they are lively enough to have those kinds of fights. Makes me feel nostalgic for my childhood." His tears soon start to fall unprompted and Greta scoops him into her arms and comforts him the best she can.
"Will telling them that we aren't really married stop the fighting or turn it worse?"
Alucard just laughs and hiccups through his tears at that.
+++
"So..... How was the meeting with mommy and daddy dearest?" Trevor asks when they meet each other in the square. "It was alright. They will probably visit us soon, so you could all meet my mom. And meet my dad in better circumstances. " Trevor opens him mouth, probably to spew some other sarcastic nonsense, but Sypha stops him in time with the practiced shoulder to the ribs. "We would be delighted to. It will be a fun family-meet-up gathering and nothing will ruin our fun. We will all be on our best behavior, won't we Trevor?"
He huffs in insult, but accepts her terms and continues to eat his chicken with fervor. "So Adrian how do we make this a fun family gathering for all of us?"
Adrian shrugs in answer, clearly completely clueless about arranging this kind of thing. Greta wants to sigh again at his antics, but decides to cut the chase and starts the strategy meeting with Sypha to hopefully coordinate a survivable family dinner for the whole crew.
+++
"This is nice, isn't it?" Lisa says in a useless attempt at trying to salvage the ruined atmosphere of this dinner. Sypha wants to scream, because she remembers funerals that were less awkward than this mess of a dinner. Though with the atmosphere they are in, it isn't that far off. Lisa was positively divine, however Dracula aka Vlad (aka a Pain in the ass), was making everyone umcomfortable with his mean and insulting comments and commentary towards everything. Them, the restorant, the food, the water, the sea, the seagulls (even in one particular moment the plant decorations). (And then them again).
It was becoming unbearable to both listen and watch, and Sypha was impressed with Trevor for not cracking sooner than this. However she was also pretty close to breaking so it was just the matter of time who cracks first. The winner for this miserable contest was Alucard in the end. He swore to himself, dragged his father away from the table and probably berated him in the bathroom. All the women on the table shared relieved glances, while Trevor only grunted and continued to swallow his meal whole like there was no tomorrow.
"Why are you eating your food, like you think we will be thrown out? We haven't done anything," Sypha asked hoping she won't jinx their chances by saying it out loud. "You never know. It is better to be prepared and I want to enjoy this divine food while I can," he confesses and Sypha decides he isn't really wrong. She does act like they (and not her) are all menace to society, and they are, however she isn't any different so his point does come across as a fact almost. The only one who can pass unnoticed is Greta, but she has her moods and moments.
"Are they finishing over there?"
"I can't see. The bathroom isn't in my field of vision. But never mind them. How are all of you? Enjoying the vacation, before we barged in?" Lisa asked, hoping to move the conversation along to lighter topics. It works of course, because both Sypha and Trevor light up at the question and start to count all the things they have seen and tried. Greta sometimes adds her own input but mostly stays silent, while listening to the three converse in excited tones.
Alucard and Vlad soon return and in surprise of all surprises, the full vampire actually apologizes to them all. After that the dinner becomes hundred times more enjoyable, and even Vlad has a laugh at something or other.
"Well this was all very fun, but I have to leave a bit earlier. My caravan is passing closer as we agreed and I wanted to check up on my child," Sypha says with a smile and wave, but before she can go away, both Lisa and Vlad shout out at the same time: "YOU HAVE A CHILD?"
They are all surprised at the outburst for a moment, before Sypha starts to laugh and then everyone else joins in. Whereas Vlad only looks more angry and miserable, and he glares daggers at Alucard, before he rudely demands: "Is it yours?"
Alucard meets his gaze head on and says yes, but Sypha pats him on the back and interrupts with: "No it is Trevors. However considering we are all a tight knit group, we all consider it our child. So in a sense it both is and isn't his child," she flashes her teeth at Vlad in warning and after excusing herself runs off to meet with her caravan. Vlad does not look comforted, while Lisa looks delighted.
"So it is your infernal child, Belmont?"
Trevor looks up and gives him a trademark Belmont Smug Smirk, and first insults him with: "I would say you and your son are more infernal considering you actually come from Hell and he came from you sooo...."
Vlad looks disbelievably at Trevor, like he doesn't believe someone could be so insulting (not like he doesn't deserve it in Trevor's opinion), Alucard looks somewhere between insulted and amused, while both Greta and Lisa are wearing their best poker faces.
Then Trevor decides that isn't enough so he drops another bomb on Alucard parents: "Yes, it is my child. And it will live in your castle near the Belmont village." Vlad's brows start to tick and everyone prepares for an outburst when he opens his mouth and roars in disbelief: "YOU HAVE A VILLAGE NAMED AFTER YOU?"
He continues to shout after Trevor and they even start to run around the tavern, making the crowd mumble and watch them with judgment in their eyes. Greta sighs in defeat, settles down to wait for a waiter who will kick them out and scoops as much food as she can in her clothes and bag. When she looks over, she sees Lisa doing the same and they both smile at their partners antics, while Alucard continues to be of no help and even eggs his father and friend along.