Chapter Text
November 2037 ~ Garden Home, Suginami Ward
Useless thing that he is, Trevor hasn't been able to keep track of how many days it's been since he remembers waking up in the bright white study, after recalling he'd fallen asleep in the lap of an ancient Vampyre. It feels much longer than it should, but shorter than that at the same time, as they are in this meandering stasis, and the Hunter sometimes entertains the idea that he has entered another of Dracula's spells, like the one that enveloped him upon entering Lupu. Dangerous and cowardly thoughts plague his mind in quiet moments, and there have been a lot of quiet moments of late. Would it be so bad to keep waiting for Adrian indefinitely, he does wonder far too many times for even an unclear span of time that's passed. Waiting is a purpose, and it has always helped to have a small one kept in reserve, assured that he knows where to place his next footfall. Yet it's been an unknown but not small amount days filled with fretting, and he still does not know what he will do when Adrian wakes up, and that reality is what causes his hands to tremble when he tries to help Joachim with anything. The tremble so violent at times, the Vampyre keeps forcing him to sit still. To stop moving. To rest. All the things Trevor was never very good at even when he was the man he used to be. It turns out this version of himself had yet another failing to add to the growing list. Such a small request, staying out from under foot. He just couldn't do it. Pathetic, really.
Stillness brought uncertainty and confusion. Memories lost to the long darkness scratching at the recesses of his thoughts, fighting to claw their way to the surface. There was something about the woman who had hurt Adrian... Something he knew he felt about her, and the monster that resembled his own face. It's mocking visage so flawless and what he wished his could be, if only to not feel so drab and unworthy when next to his Dhampyre. There had been a longing comfort to the pretty demon his body responded with when their eyes had met over the battlefield. It was not afraid of him right up until he attacked it, of that he was certain, and parts of him felt the same. He had not feared it. But the woman... It wasn't fear either. It was visceral and emotional and... His scars ached when the memories tried to break free, and the trembling intensified.
Wrapping his arms tightly around himself seemed to stave it off, at least. Or at least hide it well enough that the Vampyre stopped checking in on him so often. Distracted from the trembling, the memories remained safely gated off. He balled himself up tightly on the chair with the wheels at the desk, spinning occasionally as a mild private amusement, and watched Joachim pack away Adrian's office into box after box. The demon seemed to know exactly where everything was and what went with what. He labelled the boxes with a fat smelly writing implement called a marker and sealed them up with a tacky strip called tape. Every night a nondescript vehicle he learned was called a van arrived to collect what Joahim had packed away by the evening. The other rooms in the dwelling were similarly being dismantled, strangers showing up at all hours to trade colourful paper money for crockery and small furniture. The little table at which they'd eaten so many dinners with Yoko and the others was long gone. The side table, bookcases, all followed. The space that had just begun to feel familiar and like a place he may be able to call home was changed into something hostile and unknown. However, because Trevor tried to distract himself by slowly reading over the case files about the War of 99 stored behind the desk on the bottom shelves, Joachim was purposely avoiding packing them away or anything in that vein, instead leaving them for Trevor to peruse. The files and the fancy little tea set that had formerly sat on the now missing low table. Trevor's poor reaction to Joachim picking that up to take a photo – the precursor to everything that vanished for paper money shortly after – changed the Vampyre's mind as well. Instead moving the set to the little office table that still remained thus far.
In all this commotion that occurred from sun-up to past sun-down, the Vampyre still ceased activity three times a day to make certain Trevor ate by cooking him something. Meals that were always mouth-wateringly delicious, and always seemed to be just a bit too large a portion, but Trevor found he could not refuse a single one, even when he had no desire to eat. The caring act causing spikes of guilt into his guts every time. Joachim was taking time away from his tasks to see to Trevor's needs, even though he hadn't done a single thing to deserve such care or thought. The shame and the fact that the selfish pathetic parts of him were so starved for the attention and affection, weighed heavy on the gratitude he'd held for just being considered thrice a day. After those minuscule considerations were made, the Vampyre always fell back into task. Box after box of the familiar being taken away, leaving Trevor with a frightening void.
Why was he doing all of this? Because the demons were leaving, Joachim insisted, not so long after Adrian awoke. The decision had been repeated more than a few times now, but the Vampyre never specifically said Trevor would be leaving with them, and that lack of specificity coupled with Trevor's inability to draw on the courage to ask for confirmation, left him even more lost that before. A reed on the wind with no plan and no place to plant his next foot. Yet, if the demons truly were going home, where they lived together once Adrian awoke, didn't that settle the matter of his dilemma entirely? His own selfishness and inability to do the right thing – to remove himself as one of Adrian's troubles – had no bearing on the decision that had been made, after all. Trevor didn't have to seek some way to force himself to leave if he'd be left. Wouldn't that... be for the best? Objectively... yes. He thought, staring at the ornate sarcophagus forlornly. I love him too much... Even if I only seem to offer pain and suffering, I want him too much to be the nobler man. I am a wretch.
The frequent spiral of such thoughts he kept finding himself in were interrupted by strange popping sounds from the kitchen and a warm, alluring, oily smell. Joachim drifted in and out of the study whilst the popping continued, pulling Adrian's... Well, the thing he used that was like a larger version of the phone everyone seemed to carry around... Joachim pulled that out of a drawer and propped it up on the table next to the tea set, which now had a fresh brew of milk tea in it. Delicate porcelain filled with the warm milky concoction was pushed into Trevor's hands with a quip about having a proper 'cuppa'. Joachim didn't like herbal or medicinal tea. He called it 'leaf sweat', and wrinkled his nose whenever he saw Trevor drink it, which made no sense as all tea was technically leaf sweat, no matter what accoutrements you added to it. The third time he graced the office with his presence, it was to place a large bowl on the table as well. It was the only such bowl left in the home, which Joachim had spared from the photographic vanishing act, specifically, to make more crempogs when Adrian woke up. Adrian liked sweet treats, after all, and he deserved some after his ordeal. Trevor found that consideration... sweet of the Vampyre.
“Come along now.” The Vampyre beckoned when all Trevor did was stare at him and the arrangements made before the leather couch. He rolled his silver eyes at Trevor's hesitancy and confusion, and actually stepped over to the desk to pull him from the wheeled chair. Even going so far as to peel Adrian's coat off of him and hang it back over that very same seat where the Dhampyre had last placed it. “The sentimentality you've instilled upon a suit jacket Kitten was too lazy to hang up properly is growing unhealthy. I'll not hear excuses either, as I've ensured the temperature in this office is optimal for Kitten's recovery, so you can't be cold. But if for some honest reason you are, you can always cuddle up to me. I will allow it.” Liquid voice purred and teased, but Trevor could feel there was truth in the statement as well. “Perhaps even for a dishonest reason.” Silver tone added with a flash of crimson in the twinkling mirthful eyes studying him.
The clear fact that Joachim was hoping Trevor would cuddle up next to him gave the Hunter another double-edged stab of guilty pleasure and utter bewilderment at why he kept making the choices he did of late. Why his body kept responding in ways that were betraying his morals. Trevor loved Adrian to the point of pain, to the point where he wanted to stay with him even when he knew doing so wasn't good for the Dhampyre. Adrian needed someone like the Vampyre and Trevor knew he could find it within himself to even stand back and wish them well if it played out that way. Trevor Belmont brought nothing but misery around with him and was not worth anyone's time or effort... So why did he keep yearning to climb into the arms of either one of these demons, when he knew they should be holding one another instead? Why did he respond so positively to Joachim's affection when he was so in love with 'Kitten'? Was it because Joachim was the better one for Adrian and his attention on Trevor kept it from where it truly belonged? Was his growing ease with the Vampyre just a convoluted ploy to keep the Dhampyre all to himself? Am I... Really so petty and jealous as well? Trevor wasn't so sure of the answer to that. It did not feel like that was exactly the reason why he wanted to take Joachim up on his offer so readily. Yet... I slept with Adrian when I believed Sypha was still alive and waiting for me with our two new babes... He reminded himself sharply. I made the choice to betray her for my own selfishness and desires. I just needed Adrian to touch me so badly, like an affliction. I wanted him, because I always want him. I am...I guess I am that petty, possessive, and easy.
“You will cease thinking for ninety-six minutes, Petite Lapin.” Joachim commanded, oddly precise about the time-frame. Or was it really that odd? Joachim did seem to value accuracy quite highly. Because he had so little in ways to repay all the kindness he'd been shown, Trevor let himself be meekly led by hand to the couch without further fuss. Once the Vampyre played with the larger phone-looking device and settled in, Trevor also let himself be pulled down between splayed legs with his back resting against the taller demon's frame. It was a warm place to be, surrounded by the larger body. Safe, even. A ghostly tendril plucked the bowl from the table and brought it to rest in Trevor's hands. Inside there was a fluffy looking type of food in it that smelled enticingly buttery. “Kitten is not so interested in television or movies, so it has occurred to me that you've been denied one of the modern ages great pleasures.” Came the sultry purr of an explanation just as a strong arm was curling around to nestle him in comfortably flush and relaxed against the warm presence behind. The other hand dipped into the bowl to pluck the fluffy snack out. It crunched softly in the mouth Trevor noticed was right by his ear. “We are going to watch a movie, Little One. This is popcorn. Movies and popcorn are a more recent time-honoured tradition I am pleased to be able to share with you. I wasn't quite sure what to pick for you first movie, as I believe you would be into some classic horror and science fiction. But given the excitement of recent days, I have decided something gentler would be preferred. So, I present to you La Belle et la Bête, filmed in 1946 if you care to know that fact. In France, because... You're French, of course.”
Unsure what to expect, what began was another moving picture, like the one he had seen long ago back in the hospital on the same rectangle he was looking at. Adrian had been showing him the map when a moving picture popped up showing a room full of dreary looking men speaking in beaten down voices. Trevor had thought at the time that the sad men were prisoners in the device. They had looked and sounded so miserable, after all. What was currently on display upon the glowing rectangle was far more theatrical, more reminiscent of the handful of stage plays he had seen in France. Although he would later decide the pageantry and style of dress was far more familiar and opulent than the regimented black suits on display back in the hospital.
The images were confusing. A man writing names on a board that was erased easily and replaced with more names. Then the music swelled, a steady drumbeat starting up, the sounds and intensity far too closely mimicking the the tremors in his own body he was still trying to keep under wraps, it set his teeth on edge until it finally, blissfully, ceased. Joachim, having picked up on his anxious reaction, promised him that that would be the last of the obnoxious rattling just as the hand curled around him caressed soothingly a few times before it settled again. The popcorn was indeed a warm crunchy treat he found enjoyable as he watched a pair of shrews harass their poor staff and the third sister. They reminded him quite suddenly of his elderly aunt, in the manner in which they expected the world to cater to them and their whims, and Trevor felt for the sister stuck in the servant role. He too had been that everything-everyman as well as a handmaid back in his aunt's estate right up until he had left for Wallachia. He wondered for the first time in years how she was getting by. Probably wasting the dowry she'd received for Trevor's arranged marriage on proper maids who obeyed with less lip than he was quick to add to his services. Then he remembered it was the year 2037, and his elderly aunt was long dead. Maybe once upon a time that would have made him smile with relief... He felt nothing as it stood now.
Movies, it turned out, were exactly like a mix between a novel and a play, only the stages and settings so varied and elaborately realistic. A far cry from the painted wooden trees and bushes that swivelled to become tables and chairs in another scene quite like he was used to. As wondrous as the scenes and set decorations were, truly it was the costumes that drew his eye more than the moody atmosphere. What must it have felt like to be wrapped in such finery, bejewelled cloak clip and hair ornaments? His hands twitched, wishing he could run them along the fabric of the Beauty's dress enviously. In spite of his fascination with the spoiled sisters and kind Beauty's garments, by the point the titular Beauty was having her first dinner attended by the Beast, Trevor found he had set aside the crunchy snack and his envy in order to pull his knees up to his chest, drawn to the exchange between the two characters. How the Beast was so earnest, offering everything it could to the Beauty whilst knowing that it's visage was both monstrous and repulsive to her. That the Beast's romantic affection returned only disgust time and time again. How the Beauty knew that his actions, gifts, offers and kindness were all an effort to distract her from those facts. The Beast claimed to have a good heart although he was a monster, and the Beauty could see there were men far more monstrous than he out in the world, hiding behind handsome human faces.
The back and forth between Beauty and Beast did bring to mind those early days on the road back in 1476, sitting fireside with Adrian in private discussion after Yomi, and in particular, after Fetra. An earnest demon offering him anything and everything it could, if only he could see fit to love it. Yet like the Beast, Adrian was far too generously kind too soon, and Trevor, like the Beauty, did not seem to have done a thing worth being granted such an offer. Trevor wasn't even the literal beauty out of the the pair of them in his sordid tale. But in reality, Trevor found elements of both Adrian and himself in both Beauty and the Beast, but he really could not say which one of them was in fact more beastly. After all, the point of the story – he believed if following along correctly – was that being a literal beast and a monster did not make one monstrous. The actions and intentions of the lazy spoiled sisters and the hunter duo were what was ugly and repulsive. Adrian was a noble and kind beast... It was Trevor who was ugly, sinking back into another demon's embrace for comfort when he knew he shouldn't, betraying the everlasting love they had confessed for one another for the momentary sense of security and the pleasure of still being desired as he was right now. A broken, pathetic wretch. Trevor Belmont was the selfish monster here.
As if to prove it, Joachim leaned forward as well to meet his sinking frame, resting a chin on his shoulder to better envelop his smaller body, having no doubt picked up upon his torrent of unsteady and negative emotions. Joachim held him in an effort to comfort him, and what did Trevor Belmont do in response, knowing better? Relaxed into the touch, that was what. Such a stupid base desire for a stupid basic creature, and he just couldn't say no to the offer when it was given this time. The mask was gone.
Affection and attention... Another stronger than he to care for and protect him. The whole of what he had always desired but ever been afraid to ask for – knowing deep inside that once he dropped his mask he'd be stuck this way forever living as his weak, fragile self – now being freely offered. Don't worry. Be still. It will be taken care of, all these troubles on your behalf. You will be taken care of. Relax and trust in me. Those were the promises relayed in such soft but powerful touches. Promises Trevor had been waiting all his life to hear, never fully believing he would ever find someone willing to make such assurances to him. Of course he couldn't say no to that, he reasoned. But you should. Another part of him, a more moral and reasonable part, argued. You should absolutely have waited for Adrian if you are so insistent upon clinging to this great love you shouldn't have for him, for as long as you are able to cling to him before he wises up and leaves you like he should. Another harsh shake of his head later without the mask to stifle, a third normally submissive voice fired up to scold. You were told to stop thinking for ninety-six minutes. It is only the fourth thing you have been asked to do this entire time by the man who is caring after Adrian and yourself. Can you not do just this one simple thing for him properly? Can you not give Joachim just a single ninety-six minute span of time where he does not need to be concerned with you on top of everything else? Just shut up and be a good pet rabbit, already!
With effort, he found he was able to lose himself in the narrative of the moving picture again, right up until the cruel pretty-faced hunter sought to climb into the place where the Beast kept his greatest treasure and where, furious, the Goddess of the Hunt shot him dead with an arrow. The monstrous hunter took the form of the Beast, for his heart and intentions were cruel and ugly, and the noble-hearted beast was in kind gifted the hunter's outwardly beautiful face. It was a face that Beauty could fall in love with, and she did. Her body language and expression changing the moment he was as comely as she. Trevor turned sharply towards Joachim and tried to see if he'd understood what just happened. It couldn't possibly have ended like that, could it have? What of the moral? That strong character and kind actions outweighed outwardly presentations such as conventional attractiveness? That a good person with a plain or even unsightly face could shatter monstrosities hiding behind shallow beauty? How did the moral stay honest if the Beast just got to look like a pretty man in the end?
Joachim laughed at him in return, making note of the face he was making. “You don't approve of the last act, I see.” The Vampyre mused, sliding the arm around him down in order to take his hand. “Hmm... I wonder what ever it could be that you disprove of.”
In response to this, Trevor simply used his free hand to point at the handsome man taking Beauty up into the sky, towards his castle or wherever - he was not quite sure having been pulled out of the narrative by this point. To emphasize, Trevor even made a gesture at his own face before throwing up the hand.
“Oh, I see. You think our dear Bête should have kept his ferocious visage do you?” When Trevor nodded, Joachim chuckled again. “You think that our Belle should have loved the Bête as he was, for he was quite noble a demon after all. Do you not believe our monster deserved to be blessed with a face and body as beautiful as the soul he carried within?” Trevor only narrowed his gaze, and this too amused the Vampyre. “You know what, Little One? I think I like your version better. Why should our kind Bête be required to change himself just in order to deserve Belle's love? Acts of service speak the loudest, I say.”
Leaving Trevor with that comment to mull over, it striking him in a sudden sombre way, Joachim reached out to turn off the noisy rectangle before it bounced to another moving picture. In the dim light of a solitary lamp and the growing silence, the Vampyre simply cradled and studied him simultaneously. It was a gentle gaze that Trevor found both easy to meet and hold, his mind – at least for a brief moment – mercifully calmed. Vaguely he was aware of the dark spiralling thoughts at the corner of his eyes, just waiting for the spell to break and to pull him back down into misery. But for now he was safe from them and the darker more nebulous memories trying to break free. No thoughts of witches or demons that wore his face. His head found a shoulder to rest upon while he kept those silver irises in focus, thinking in a dreamlike fashion that if he did close his eyes, it would be so very easy to pretend it was Adrian he lay against. Adrian whose arms he was in, feeling promises in every touch. The shape around him was similar enough to what he wished it to be, but he would have to run his hands up that torso beneath that black shirt and pretty metal harness to be certain. The numerous layers of clothing obfuscated much of the demon's true shape. That passing dreamy fixation heated his features, and though he was sure Joachim knew, and knew the source of such a reaction – they were holding hands after all – the Vampyre did not acknowledge it. Trevor was grateful for that too. He wasn't sure what would have happened if attention had been called to it.
“I am glad you enjoyed your first film, the ending aside.” Joachim observed instead with benevolence. “There are really so many more wondrous things out in the wider world that have been invented since you last freely walked it, and that I would love to show you, Belle Lapin.” Liquid voice causing a flutter in his gut with that comment, the Vampyre's eyebrow quirked slightly. “You are both surprised and delighted by the offer, I see. It would be my great pleasure to show you all that you otherwise would be missing out on, you must know by now? Like our Bête told his Belle, you need only make your slightest whim known. I will even refrain from ending our evening with a marriage proposal.”
Secure from the evils out in that wide world while he lay against the beguiling demon, a slow smile began to pull at his lips, spreading until it touched his eyes and then his soul. In the calm allotted to him at that moment, immune from the ugliness within and the danger beyond the four walls of the garden dwelling, he found the desire to play return briefly, and teased. His response to Joachim's seductive offer was a firm pointed finger at Adrian's ornate sarcophagus, fine filigree and carved details catching in the lamplight mesmerizingly. It drew out a deeply rich laugh from the demon before him, lacking any sign of insult or offence. If anything, the affection in that silver gaze only intensified.
“Of course I meant other than him, Belle Lapin. That one is still a work in progress. He needs much more time to marinate, but I do promise it will make him quite mouthwateringly tender. His meat will fall right off the bone and onto your tongue, you'll see.” He was promised so easily, with a hungry twinkle in silver eyes before the emotional feedback between them changed the Vampyre's disposition to something more on the serious side. “You have finally relaxed and I find you to be somewhat... Hopeful. If nervous about feeling so. Such strange sensations that I keep picking up off of you tonight. Consistently swinging back and forth between longing and anguish. Tell me, Little One, are you not exhausted from such churning emotions?”
Utterly exhausted. Bone weary. His mind supplied easily. But they were sensations he was currently on reprieve from as he kept the silver gaze in focus. It was his other favourite colour alongside gold.
“I was having a hard time trying to decipher what it was that you have been so morose about, aside from Kitten's plight, as it clearly was something more than that. Something different and inwardly based.” Pretty silver seeing right through him, a small curl touched the corners of bloodless lips. “I believe I have figured it out now, Belle Lapin. For some reason you seem to have feared that I will not be around to make you such offers in the future.” The Vampyre guessed correctly, as he uncannily had been doing for weeks now, starting since they spent that two week period secluded together in the forest on their little bonding adventure. “Pretty Rabbit, please tell me you were not thinking that my intentions were to snatch back Adrian from you once he's recovered and abandon you alone on a island country?” After a beat and Trevor's once more reddening features, Joachim seemed torn between both laughter and aggravation. “Maybe you are just as terrible at listening to me as our Kitten. It's no wonder you've made a fine pair. You really believed I would throw one of my things away so carelessly? Yes, Little One. My things. I can't see how I could have stressed that fact enough. You are his and he is mine. You are mine, Trevor.”
So I am... going with them after all. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. Relieved to know where he stood but still faced with the dilemma at hand. Trevor didn't think for a second that he deserved to be included along with these noble and beautiful demons. But he wanted to be... Terribly so. It was a plan. A certain spot to place his next footfall. Even if it was such a painfully pleasurable position to be in for a little while longer, at least it was a certain next step. He wished in that very moment that he could speak to Adrian so earnestly, he'd even give the Dhampyre some of his coveted spoken words to do so. There was so much he wanted and needed to say to Adrian about the witch and the monster that wore his face. So much more he needed to say about himself, to lay it all out and end the torment between them. To let Adrian look at him as he was without his mask, naked and small and fragile and tell Trevor what he saw with his own two amber eyes. See him for what he was and then tell Trevor if he was worth all the anguish after all, or if this whole affair had been a huge waste of both of their times and energy. Joachim had not asked him a single question about the witch, the shadow, or anything else from that night in the cave, and Trevor was grateful for that too. He needed to speak to Adrian first. Not Yoko. Not Julius. Just Adrian. There are bigger issues than the asinine pitiful doubts and guilt of one Trevor Belmont. If I can even just tell him what I think I remember about her... Just that. Just... Let me do one right thing, please.
Now that he was thinking about it, the Vampyre did not seem to have any concerns about the witch and the creature he called Lilû, or rather he did not outwardly show any concerns. But he must. Was that not why he was still here, overseeing Adrian's recovery when all there was to see was a still box? Was Joachim not standing sentinel over Adrian and himself? Or even, was it as Julius had speculated, and by sticking with them they were a united force offering protection to all parties? Trevor did not feel any hints or notes of concern or worry through their touches though, but the thought that Joachim may be afraid of the thing in the woods that attacked Julius gave Trevor a renewed hollowing sense of fright as well. That even now in this place that he almost for a time thought of as home, someone or something could come for them. Adrian had the risk at the forefront of every consideration, always keeping Trevor within a room or two's distance, passing of custody of his person when required amongst the other two hunters he worked with. Between Trevor's grandchildren. People Trevor should be protecting, not the other way around. A man's duty was to protect his children. His children's children.
That thought too was another of those dark tailspins he kept being pulled into. Trevor had living kin and they were harmed grievously because of him. His familial duty was to spare them from hardship and horrors, but he only seemed to bring those very things upon their front door like a cruel joke. They suffered because of him, injured and exhausted, interrogating some witch girl in Hammer's metal house while Trevor was cowering in a demon's arms seeking the same sense of security he should instead be offering and providing for them. The whole spiral of guilt and self-loathing begun all over again, as it had just been waiting for the invitation back to the party, emotions raggedly raw and overwhelming. His bruised lip suffered yet another bite to stave off the tears he was not allowed to shed. It was all over if he cried. It was the only thing he was good for, and he could not give in. Not until he spoke to Adrian. Please, just let him make it that far.
Because Trevor was pitifully weak and it was the next natural step in the agonized whirlpool he was trapped in, he let the demon under him pull him closer still, fully laying against the other man when the one he belonged to, the one he longed and ached for, was incapacitated just steps away from where he was betraying their love and bond. He just... wanted it all to stop. If he didn't feel so powerless and small and needy then he wouldn't keep doing the things that made him feel so awful and guilty. His breath was quickening and sight blurring. He tasted blood, teeth sawing into the overly tender flesh of his lower lip in vain. He couldn't though... Please don't make him fail here. He just needed it to stop. Just for a little bit. Just to gather the strength to wait out Adrian's recovery. Please.
Like a beacon in the blackness of night, Joachim's smooth low voice sliced through, giving him something to latch onto. To focus on. To keep it all together just a moment longer. The distraction was a saving grace, and Trevor let the Vampyre know by way of burying into him further.
“You are exhausting even me, Little One, with these mood-swings of yours.” The Vampyre admonished, and yes, his tone did sound for the moment as tired as it should after everything he'd been through saving Adrian and now caring for them both.
Wonderful. Trevor's shoulder's shook with a silent bitter laugh. Even my stand-in for Adrian has had the life sucked out of him from dealing with me. I am a parasite. A leech.
“I say this with all due respect, Belle Lapin; I believe I have met my match in you. I have not foggiest idea what it is that you need me to provide to settle these nerves of yours. You are safe while I am here, as is our Kitten. You are both well fed and immaculately clean. The foolish other Moroi in this dwelling is recovering well enough, as I can feel his strength growing far more rapidly than I originally anticipated. He will be well deserving of some compliments on his improved power when he wakes, and I assure you he will get them. Of course it is unfortunate that we cannot do much about boredom seeing as we are trapped here until our Kitty is well enough to stretch his claws, but a little boredom never hurt anyone. Yet there is still this yearning need within you that I do not wish to be too presumptuous to assume the root cause of... But seeing as we are running out of other possible reasons to explain your unabating, anxious, longing energy...”
Joachim's pondering trailing off, Trevor sat up and extricated himself from the Vampyre's embrace for no other reason than he just couldn't bear to drag yet another better person than he was down into that muck and mire that he deservedly wallowed in. Instead he pulled himself to his unsteady feet and found his way to Adrian's resting place. His hands rested on the polished wood for a time before tracing the designs, a futile attempt to distract from the ruthless chewing of his bloodied lip to stop himself from reaching that last plateau. He wasn't allowed to cry. He did not deserve the sympathy that would follow if he did, and he wasn't going to be able to come back from it when he did. Adrian was just below the wood he traced, in the earth sleeping peacefully, he hoped. Adrian... Who he wanted and needed. To speak to him. To listen to him. Even just to look at him. Trevor had spent so much time going through Adrian's things of late. His case files. Reports. The sketches and portraitures in the moments before he tried in vain to sleep, fitfully plagued by night terrors. Of all the pretty talent on display, and faces of long lost loved ones, there was only one sketch of Adrian amongst them. The one done by another in the village that Adrian, Sypha and Trevor's two daughters had found refuge in. The sketch that had Sypha lovingly clung to Adrian's arm, and his expression just as relaxed in her grasp.
Trevor looked at that one every morning, and again first thing when he awoke in the evenings. Thinking about the possibilities that were no longer open. The strange but wonderful family they would have all made together once he collected his sons. How easy he found he could accept Adrian loving Sypha as well, if they would both have him and keep him too. Sypha had been fierce but kind. She proved her care not with words but in actions both small and large. Mostly they were the minuscule things so many others would take for granted, things expected of a wife to do for her husband. But Sypha was never his wife, she had been his partner through thick and thin, just as Adrian had been. He missed her laying out his boots and gloves when she knew he needed an early start the next day. He missed how she'd slip medicine into his bag when he was feeling under the weather but refused to admit it to her face and ask for some. He missed that she always saved him the corner piece of her cakes. He liked the crispy edges the best. Sypha was just a face captured in ink and graphite now. And Adrian... He too had almost become like she was now. Like Grant, his sons, his unknown twin daughters... All of them just pictures in a book. While he could not be allowed to shed any, the tears for them were waiting too.
Please... Enough. Just stop. For an hour. Ten minutes. Sixty seconds, I'd take even. Please just let my mind quit tormenting me.
“If you like, I could help hone your senses for the spiritual side. You already have the talent to sense its presence. You just need some guidance.” Joachim offered softly at his side, without any sense of his usual haughtiness. The demon did not touch him, but Trevor felt that liquid voice slide over him just the same. “If you could sense Kitten in the fashion that I am able to, you would not miss him so terribly for you would feel him as I do right now. What I feel in him is that he is recovering well. His energy is mostly even-keeled although at this precise moment it is somewhat jubilant. He can sense you are close by, Lapin, and he is quite happy you are around.”
For a blissful second, Trevor's mind shut up. Replaced by the relief that Adrian was... Happy he was around. It made Trevor glad that he didn't leave after all. For that blissful second.
“That being said... It will take some time and practice. We will fit in such training in between your violin lessons. You have made such wonderful progress while we are waiting on Kitten on that front. I am certain you will make just as many great strides with this.” The decision seemingly made, Joachim nodded satisfactorily to himself. Trevor would be okay if the spiritual sense honing entirely replaced the torture training that was the violin, but there was so little Joachim asked of him. It seemed violins were still on the menu. “In the meantime, when you are missing dear Kitten so much it pains you, our dear heart, you may simply try this to abate some of your loneliness.”
Catching his attention, Joachim wiggled his clawed hand theatrically before reaching out to drum the claws against the side of the wood. A not unpleasant series of four little clacks, done in a languid pattern of three. Joachim waited with a smile, lips stretching when four little drumming noises from within the sarcophagus responded back. Whether he'd heard the noise - no longer deafened by injury- or simply felt the vibrations in the wood, Adrian had responded in such a timely fashion, it could not have been mistaken for just a fluke. Trevor's heart flipped just as surely as his stomach did.
“See?” Joachim said, pleased with himself. “He is telling you he is well, so cease worrying.”
Trevor stared in wonderment, placing both hands and then his ear against the wood to feel the other two responding drumbeats of four, completing the pattern of three back to Joachim. Adrian was inside but fully aware, letting them know he was still fighting to live. Silly as it may be, just as Joachim had stated, Trevor was unable to feel Adrian who was still in such a weakened state, Belmont blood or not. So the fact that he could feel the vibrations of that returning finger drum against the inside of the sarcophagus well... It was as if, for the briefest moment and more than he could ever hope to ask for, as if Adrian had reached out to touch his hand. Just the brush of his fingers, but a clear physical connection, and it did not matter in the brevity whether Trevor felt as if he did nor did not deserve the connection, it was there. He felt it. This time he got a whole thirty seconds of a mercifully stilled mind. He could not be more grateful to the Vampyre for that, and wished there was a way to repay him for everything.
Joachim was still smiling at him when his thirty seconds were up and he backed away from Adrian's resting place. The Vampyre was pleased with himself for about as long as it took to realize the lift in Trevor's mood had already crested and he was back to wallowing in the shit again. With a tired sigh, the Vampyre pressed on regardless. “Of course if you would like to partake in this little bonding activity you will need to stop trimming those nails of yours so obsessively. They look like they will grow quite sufficiently to indulge, but I must remind you that he is resting. Do try to keep it to a minimum once you are able.” Without breaking the Vampyre's gaze, Trevor fished the nail file out of his pocket and tossed it straight into the bin by the desk. The whole show drew out another one of those rich pleasing laughs from his Moroi caretaker. “You know what else, Little One? I believe that with proper guidance you will blossom into your own quite splendidly. It's a shame no one has unleashed your potential up until now. I am rarely wrong, you should know.”
This time when he fell into the other demon's arms it wasn't a cowed and fearful response to the great unknowns, but a decisive act of gratitude. How he wished the embrace could properly convey how thankful he was for everything Joachim had done so far. For helping them rescue Adrian. For keeping Yoko in the fight until the very end which is probably what saved their lives and Adrian's too. Having Yoko at his side had certainly been the deciding factor in wrangling Adrian into submission without having to harm him seriously, perhaps irreparably. For pulling Adrian and himself from the drowning cave and taking them all to Hammer for help. For giving Adrian the best conditions for recovery and keeping vigilance over him while he did so. For being a comfort and a point to focus on in Trevor's storm of anguished and unruly emotions. Such a simple act, the drumbeat of fingers, changing his whole worldview and outlook, even if it had been for just as long as a lengthy exhale of air. It had been enough. He'd begged for a second of release from his torment and got nearly half a minute. It was enough.
In his arms, he noticed the demon returning his embrace felt uncharacteristically drained. The assurity of his touch diminished and faint. It seemed unintentional. A chink in his armour that the Vampyre did not intend to let show, but Trevor had stolen a glance at it now. Joachim had done so much for them and Trevor's guilt at that reached new heights. How selfish he had been, not just in regards to Adrian but towards the demon right in front of him as well. This was not the kind of embrace that Joachim could use as repayment. He was not an overworked human but an exhausted and hungry Vampyre. Joachim's growing weakness and fatigue could be resolved quite simply. He just needed to eat. Trevor could... He could do that. Couldn't he? Why not? Had he not offered himself to Adrian that first time for exactly the same reasons? To pay Adrian back for helping Trevor on that godawful journey and keep his Dhampyre strong enough to keep fighting by his side. There were other... Well... Unintended side effects of his first offer of a blood-meal, of course.
Trevor had not exactly been able to foresee that his body would respond the way it had when Adrian began to caress and lap at his flesh instead of straight out biting him like he'd anticipated. His mother had always told him their bloodline would keep him safe from falling under such spells. Leon's protection to pair well with Saint Sara's power contained within the whip. His mother had never warned him that his own desires could override that protection, however. Perhaps it was because she did not know? He stayed far from of her personal affairs out of the absolute respect he'd carried for her, but his mother never struck him as the type to titter and bat her eyelashes at a man. Although... Trevor's very existence was proof enough she had at least once. Regardless, he knew that the... sensuality of how Adrian had fed upon him was not the norm. He hadn't been in any danger, even though the Dhampyre at the time wore such a fierce and dark glamour. Then the glamour faded in the pleasure of the moment and Trevor saw the real Adrian. Body of a Roman god but face of a Christian angel. He wasn't certain what exactly he thought in that moment, caught up in the pretty hair and pretty face newly revealed, but Yoko had taught him a modern term for it he could use retroactively. Adrian's real visage leaned over him, body strong and long against his own, lost as he was in the aftereffects of the first orgasm he had had since leaving France... Adrian had been hot. Scorching hot.
But that was Adrian. This was Joachim. Who was similarly taller than Trevor and whose shoulder's were wide enough, far more lean in the midsection than Adrian and perhaps closer to what Trevor had been in healthier days although it was hard to determine through the many layers of clothing, and with a face far more handsome than pretty. Save his bloodless yet plush lips, of which the clear indent bisecting the lower one was, in Trevor's opinion, quite fetching. Objectively, borrowing from Yoko once again, Joachim was pretty hot too. If you were lustfully into male beauty, which Trevor admittedly was... Likely not? But none of that mattered in this equation. The act of submitting was a sensual and sexual thing with Adrian. Adrian had made him feel safe enough to offer what he did back then. Adrian had earned all his trust... But hadn't Joachim by this point? Minus the sensuality? There were so many times Joachim could have taken advantage, and so many times that Trevor was too lost and weak... He would have allowed it, even if it grew sexual, if only to feel something other than pain and grief. Still, he was a Vampyre Hunter. Apparently a famous one. There was no way to know how such an ancient Vampyre was going to feed, and some bizarre sense of pride about not submitting to the very thing he was supposed to hunt came out in spades at the very thought. What he was about to do was dangerous, and his instincts rebelled, even in his current sorry state.
But is it really so dangerous? I am his, so he keeps telling me. He does seem to take care of his things, which I have born witness to thus far. He is careful with all his possessions, and handles them delicately. So I... Should be safe? His more rational mind reassured his instinctual one. This is something that only I can do for him right now. He will not leave until Adrian is restored even though he is starved. It's just blood... I will make more of it without even trying.
Moving before his erratic emotions and thoughts could dissuade him or spark another spiral of self-doubts and second guesses about his diminishing convictions, Trevor pulled at Joachim's coat lapels gently but insistently, guiding him to take a seat upon Adrian's desk chair. It was large enough to fit the Vampyre comfortably as well as Trevor's legs braced on either side of his thighs when he climbed right on top. Joachim made no move of his own other than to watch him with mild curiosity, and there was something about the passive fashion in which he just let Trevor decide where he needed to be which made the Hunter blush with a mix of confusing sensations he was too afraid to pin down and identify. If anyone were to have walked in on that exact moment, what a sight the two of them would have made for the unsuspecting. This time Trevor's blush was a deeper shade entirely because he knew what it looked like; That he was trying to seduce this other demon into a carnal type of exchange. Maybe Joachim was expecting him to, given the earlier comments and clear desire on display in their first interactions. Maybe he was just curious to see where Trevor was going to take things from here.
I am not trying to seduce another demon. I already have one! He affirmed quietly to himself, his nerves, and the weird feeling churning in his gut. My legs will lose their strength when he feeds, and this is the most convenient location to be when they do. He will not have to hold me up when it happens, that's all.
Joachim was still patiently waiting for him to reveal his intentions when he realized he was frozen in place, staring back into silver eyes with wide blue-greys. He scolded his own stupidity for the embarrassment and with a well-practised move, if a little out of use of late, performed the little hair flip and head roll that Adrian so loved to watch because of how it was a total body movement of his, and when he did it perched upon Adrian's lap, the Dhampyre enjoyed how he rocked against him. The performance served as both just the one singular freebie for Joachim pleasure, as well as the most efficient way to gather nearly all of his hair over his right shoulder. No part of of his little undulation had been for his own enjoyment, of that he insisted upon to the little voice in his head asking him 'seriously?' Ignoring it entirely, he gathered the stray strands that remained with tapered fingers, exposing his vulnerable neck to the beast before him.
Shifting about the lap he perched upon, sidling up closer and miserably failing to ignore the jolt of sensation the action caused between his legs, Trevor curled his hand around the back of the Vampyre's head, sliding the tips of his fingers into the silky silvery baby hairs he found there. Joachim seemed to catch on once Trevor's hand gripped him, and leaned forward from his slightly reclined position to mirror the grip, claws grazing but not cutting as they thread into Trevor's. It seemed like a little tease, to the Hunter, and he wasn't sure how he felt about being teased in such a vulnerable position. Still, the hand buried in his brown locks pulled gently and Trevor submitted to it, allowing his head to be twisted just so to better expose the throat on offer, the other clawed hand brushing along his pulse points and settling on a telling mark. It explored further down his flesh, pulling at the collar of his shirt to expose identical marks along his collar bone and where his neck met his shoulder.
“It looks like our Kitten favours the left side of you, sweet Rabbit.” The Vampyre mused in a low hungry growl, and Trevor was caught in his sudden burning crimson gaze. Allowing himself to be tilted in quite the opposite fashion, his hair swept also to the left and the hand that was doing so lingering just long enough to bring the dying fire in his face back to life. “Perhaps we shall leave our little Kitty Cat his preferred side?” Came a considerate purr, no less hungry. “It is very kind of you to think of me... It is all right with you if we do not stand on ceremony? I am quite ravenous.”
That is the whole point, isn't it? It was, but still, Trevor had the sense that he was crossing some great unknown. Yet this was the one thing he could offer that Joachim needed. Crossing that precipice, Trevor lowered his gaze demurely and steadying himself with an additional hand braced against the Vampyre's shoulder, leaned in. Only the slightest bit of pressure from the hand laced in silver locks was needed as permission to feed. Not knowing quite what to expect beyond the dry encyclopedic understanding of true Vampyre's taking a blood-meal, the initial penetration pulled a sharp audible hiss out of him, the size differentiation in the instrumentation of feeding used between Dhampyre and Vampyre made very apparent when closed around such sensitive flesh. While there was no savagery in the process, perhaps because he was one of Joachim's 'things', neither was it anything close to the loving, almost reverent act he had become accustomed to.
Without allowing himself to succumb to the heavy seduction or thick Force of Will in the situation, it was a curious position to be in, he found. Instinct both human and uniquely Belmont surged up again, signals and senses all screaming that he was in danger, so much that his hands and legs twitched involuntarily, as if spurring him on to attack, to fight back already. More curious, the strength in his limbs held steady. It turned out that it was the seduction that made him melt into Adrian, and not the bite itself. In one thought he wished he had his Bestiary still in his possession to update the new finding, while in the very next came the sudden embarrassing realization. If the bite alone did not sap his strength, then it had been entirely unnecessary to straddle the demon in such a compromising fashion. Joachim was an ancient Vampyre, so he had to have known it was not required so... Did he... Did he think Trevor climbed into his lap out of desire? That other kind of desire?
He closed his eyes and if he could have groaned, he would have. But then who knows, maybe the Vampyre would think it a moan and that... Was too much to think about. He kept his eyes closed and tried to focus on the sensation instead, as he was in a rare moment that allowed the study something normally he would fight tooth and nail to avoid. There was a mechanical pleasure in the penetration, perhaps a pheromone or substance in the saliva that aided the Force of Will in the seduction. Even free of the spell, the slide of the tongue against his flesh lapping up a stray trickle felt good. He wasn't in any great deal pain that he was aware of, but he still thought he preferred Adrian's tinier fangs. They were cute.
Blue-greys cracking open in a lidded unfocused gaze, Trevor felt his ability to pay attention to what his body was telling him fade in and out. The dreamy state certainly caused by blood loss, he idly reasoned, and impossible to be something more. The Vampyre had said he was famished, did he not? His mind drifted to Adrian, running his tongue up along his neck, adorable fangs pressing into that spot where his neck met his shoulder. That was Adrian's favourite place to bite. For a second, silver hair in his peripheral vision,lacking the secret gold or not, paired with the size and shape beneath him... It really was close enough for the imagination. Trevor felt something in him shift a little. A mental slippage of sorts that pulled a long sigh out of him as he fully relaxed into the embrace. His mind finally ceased it's torments...Until the metal harness digging into chest broke the fantasy and everything ugly and awful came crashing back into him. This was not Adrian, it was Joachim. This was not an intimate act, but dare he say, a medically necessary one. Shocked and ashamed at how quickly and easily he had turned what was supposed to be a selfless act into a self-serving one, Trevor flinched back, too shocked to even offer an apology, and causing the fangs still lodged in him to tear at his flesh.
Joachim simply studied him for a long moment as Trevor was paralyzed by shame, trying to gather his wits with a weak hand held up to stymie the trickling blood. “Here we are again with your mood whiplashes.” The Vampyre seemed to be making the comment more to himself, still watching Trevor with a searing precise focus. Whatever he saw within the Hunter during the next few moments at last made his decision. With a practised hand, the blue leather was discarded followed by a clinking sound below his purview, before Trevor saw that Joachim had loosened the clasps that held decoratively designed, but ultimately utilitarian metal harness. The weight of that following the leather jacket hitting the desk top behind them had a distinctly final sound to it. “Belle Lapin...” Joachim spoke in the now deafening silence. “If you need to pretend that I am Kitten to get what it is you so clearly need tonight, you may. You have my permission to use me in such a fashion. I will not be offended by your wandering thoughts. You are falling into the same trappings as my other pet frequently does; Applying human morals to a very demon arrangement.”
But I am human... His hesitating mind whined. Adrian is human too, and he sure does get just as jealous as any other man I've met over his lover dallying.
The hand held to his trickling wound was removed, enveloped by a larger one and brought to bloodless lips where a hot tongue could dart out to lick clean the sanguine staining them. Once neat and tidy, that larger hand pulled his further, urging him to wrap his arm around the Vampyre's shoulder, in essence, pulling him back into range. Making it just too easy for him to give into baser desire and that soul-wrenching need to still his abusive thoughts. It would be no lie to say it was Trevor who slid back up along those thighs, pressing bodies together without sharp angled metal to bruise or distract from the fantasy now.
Demon arrangements, right? Perhaps it really did not matter, he wondered as his hair was brushed aside with the same lingering touch. Everything was close enough to what he wanted it to be, which was the Dhampyre asleep inside his coffin.
“The taste of you is quite heaven-sent.” Joachim shared in a hushed whisper, as if afraid to break Trevor's new resolve to stop caring about who he may or may not be hurting or betraying for the next handful of minutes. “Kitten has been spoiled having this all to himself. He's hardly earned you.”
That's not true at all... I am the one who is -
The spiralling negative narrative of the past few days died when porcelain teeth sunk into his flesh. This time the Hunter was not resolute and closed off to the act. It was not just an offer of sustenance and no more than that. This time he wanted it. Would have begged for it if asked to, and would have done so to comply without shame. Desire taking the reigns, a breathy moan was knocked free, and the demon responded to his neediness in kind. No longer polite and dignified feeding, instead all tongue and teeth, hands roving possessively. Gripping at hips to grind him down until another moan was pulled free, and sliding up under his shirt to try and steal other sounds he tried his best to keep to himself. Another bite caused a hiss, this time higher up on his neck, near the jaw, where anyone who looked at him would be able to see, and absolutely done on purpose. It was a declaration. A brand of ownership, and in that moment the fact that another would so boldly lay claim to him was not infuriating, but wickedly arousing. Yet another bite lower near his collar bone, and Trevor barely noticed he was now laying down, pinned beneath a shape he chose not to focus upon in order to maintain the fantasy. His body detached from conscious choice, free to follow and chase whatever sensations it desired.
Chase them it did, pulling that familiar enough shape down to better engage in that desired friction, even having to grab at the hips above his own to get them to stop being so damnably respectful about his personal space. It was way passed that point now, wasn't it? It was officially in deal with the consequences later territory, passed the point of caring for anything but chasing after the kind of release that would burn away the doubts and guilt and everything else along with it. It was so close... So close to being enough, but wasn't quite enough. With a frustrated noise escaping in spite of his best effort to keep it safely within, his hand found the closest one that didn't belong to himself and guided it where he needed it to be. A silent but urgent plea from a creature suffering on the brink.
Just touch me. Please, please just touch me. End me.
Another coveted noise, this one a low moan, wriggled out of his grasp as that hand that was not his own closed around him and stroked and he was finally rewarded with a flash of white and then blackness behind closed eyes, and most importantly, a still and quiet mind.
There were mindless and gentle residuals pleasures eked out in the darkness by a lingering and thorough touch. His flesh caressed soothingly, and his clothing re-arranged into decency once more. A comforting weight partially sprawled across his body and a hand toyed with his hair. For a long time it seemed that that was all the new world was. Blackness and gentleness. Nothing plagued him in the quiet. No guilt of pain. Just softness and stillness.
“Such a rare creature you are.” A whisper in liquid silver complimented. Airy, yet still as smooth. “I would have said you are one of a kind until our little foray into that cave recently. Obviously... You are not one of a kind... But I think Kitten and I would be in agreement that you are the finer specimine out of the pair of you.”
The pair of me..? The Shadow. The Lilû? I don't... want to think about that thing right now. I don't want to think period. That was the whole point in pretending such a weirdly polite Vampyre with a handsome face could stand in for my pretty secret gold.
He hoped his reluctance came through their connected flesh loud and clear. Adrian's hands and fangs on his body could send the world away. The fantasy of him alone had done the job. Awful ugly and cruel thoughts stood at the banks of the river of his mind, while he took his time on the secluded islet. He was untouchable here, and he wanted to linger as long as possible in the untouchable place. He already knew he was going to feel extra lousy when the river ran dry and the memories from the dark consumed him once again. This reprieve, as needed as it was... had cost him in other ways. He now had to tell Adrian what he'd done to gain it, on top of everything else.
Joachim perhaps got the message as he did not continue that line of thinking. Out loud, anyway. Instead he pivoted after a thoughtful once-over of the prone body below him. “I can see you are still caught up in the after-glow, sweet Rabbit. I will refrain from gloating about how I was correct to assume you just needed to get laid. And, while you are not distracted or troubled by the silly things you ought not to be troubled or distracted by, listen very closely this time when I speak.”
Such a brusque and cool command to follow after such a heated little entanglement. But seeing as Trevor had no plans of his own at the moment, he listened as attentively as a man still riding out residual waves of pleasure possibly could.
“Because you suffer from the same faulty logic as dear Adrian, in time you will start to feel as if you have done him dirty. That what you did just now was wrong. When that happens, I would like you to try and keep in mind what I taught you about Demon Hierarchy, and the roles we three have in play. Seeking your pleasures to alleviate your suffering or for any other reason at all, with any other person, demon or otherwise, does not in any way mean that you do not love him, or that you love him any less than before, or any less than he loves you. Your love and concern for him is why you are suffering. He means so much to you that it is affecting how you operate. You would climb inside that coffin and take his place in your next heartbeat could you or would it have any benefit. What you two have is a fine and pure demon love, and sex has nothing to do with that. Adrian is home for you, Trevor Belmont, as he wishes to be so as to keep you by his side. It is where you belong.”
It was a good thing, Trevor decided in that moment, that he was still unable to think. He wasn't sure what he would be thinking about when presented with the logic he was at this given moment. So he kept listening, filing the lecture away for when his brain decided it was time to do some lifting again, unsure he would ever really get used to demon logic.
“I wish to keep you both, so I will as well. The care of my charges and their needs are mine to fulfill and provide if required. I've cared for Adrian. He is now safely returned to me and recovering well, as I've said. That left only you, Little One, and such a tough nut to crack you turned out to be. I should have thought of this sooner, given what I saw in the cave. So I do apologize, but only for taking so long to provide you your needs, not for doing the service. You on the other hand, have absolutely nothing to apologize for. When Adrian awakens, he will find that my lax approach to these lessons over the past few centuries is over. I will beat it into him if need be, that human morals, human sensitivities, and human principles have no place in a demon affair. He will be made to understand that you've done no wrong.” Long rant winding down, Joachim tilted his head and smiled a little mischievously. With a glance shot over his shoulder at the sarcophagus, he mused satisfactorily. “Well now, it looks like violence will be unnecessary. I think our dumb halfbreed finally understands his arrangement.”
I don't even... Trevor started to reel, but the blackness settled comfortably before he could tailspin. It's fine. For now it's just fine.
He felt Joachim get up, and moments later was draped with something warm. By the smell of the faint cologne, it was Adrian's coat from the chair. Someone told him to get some rest and that everything would be more tolerable when he awoke. So Trevor did just that. There were no fitful night terrors or cold sweats or his throat swollen by a scream torn out in the early morning hours. In fact, he thought he may have had a dream, though he could not recall the nature of it when he woke.
As was his new normal, he was sitting in the dark, cold and hungry. His arms had been cut up, but the blood was only a slow ooze, thick and clotted. It was hard to think or remember anything but knives and blood and cold. And the dark. The terrifying lonely darkness. It consumed him. Then there was light in the distance. There was never light in this place. But there was this time. A beautiful blue light. Witch-fire. He recognized it instantly, his heart yearning for a witch he used to know a long time ago. Her hair was reddish-gold, his witch. This one that appeared was dark. But as dark as she was, she shone brilliantly in the dank depths he had been sentenced to.
“Look what they have done to you. My Sisters have been so cruel.”
Her voice was a kind melody. Trevor wanted to listen to her speak for the rest of his life. Her touch too was kind and soft as she pulled him to his feet and bore the weight of him when he did not have the strength alone to stand. Her vibrant energy almost seemed to siphon into him as she helped lead him out of the depths. His strength grew near every step until he walked into the open air under his own power.
The crisp air tasted so sweet.
The vibrantly kind woman pulled up to his side as he was lost in the reverie of freedom in a horse-drawn wagon, throwing a blanket over his shivering naked form and then digging out another to better wrap him in it's warmth, she guided him to take a place at her side.
“Do not mind Arden.” The woman said, gesturing to the back of the wagon where a strange black creature hid amongst more blankets and provisions. “He is the one who found you for me.”
Trevor did not mind Arden at all. He thanked the funny little creature for finding him.“Where... are we going?” He asked, not fully believing he was not going to awaken in the pitch black again, cut up and bleeding.
The dark haired woman had green eyes that glittered like jewels in the moonlight. She was achingly beautiful. She had saved him... and he found he loved her right then. He would never not love her for that one act of kindness.
“We are going to try and find a home. A place to belong. Does that suit you?”
“I... I think I have a home.” He replied, unsure about anything at all.
“I don't think your home is there anymore, Little One. You have been imprisoned for a terribly long time. Four hundred years, you know? Or maybe you do not know... I hardly believed it myself. But here you are, and unmistakably, the resemblance cannot be denied.” Green jewels looked him over fondly, and Trevor felt special. Like he meant something to her. He did want to mean something to her. She had saved him.“The potency of your blood too cannot be denied. I will not force you, but I would like to tell you my dream for the future of ones like myself. I believe once you listen to my dream, you will wish to help me. Could I ask that you at least give me the chance to tell you?”
He could not deny her. So he listened. As she spoke, he had visions of a reddish-gold witch and a silver-haired demon with secret strands of gold hidden within. Large blue eyes. Piercing amber eyes. Tanned skin. White skin. So different from each other, but loved all the same. This beautiful woman wanted to find a home for them both. Where they would both be safe from the world who hated them.
Trevor wanted that too, so he agreed to help her.
Alone with a sleeping Adrian in the darkened office, an equally slumbering Trevor Belmont murmured a name.
“Esteffi.”