dear_mun | A bored vampire is a dangerous vampire.

[It's a pity he can't think of anything to change the subject to at the moment. Otherwise, he would have shifted the conversation to a more agreeable topic.

However, anything at all is better than silence. With a shrug, he forces himself to relax his posture.]

Would you have me be any different? Like Arthur, perhaps?

[ Alucard's hands sweep out, dainty fingers splayed and slightly curled. A beckoning, a warning, or both. ]

Different isn't for me to decide.

[ From anyone else it might seem like a non-answer, a dodge. This however is Alucard and he's always maintained that the world of humans isn't his. ]

That's something you'll have to answer.

So Angel, do you want to be a monster?

[The gesture Alucard makes towards Walter strikes the butler as vague, in the least. But coupled with the question that sounds uncannily like an offer, he interprets the outstretched hands in a similar manner; an offer, or a bait.

Accustomed to moving in tandem with his partner, Walter matches physical action with physical reaction, stepping forward and taking one of the hands into one of his own even as he responds with rejection to the idea of becoming a monster.]

No. I want to be human.

[ Touch is not common in the vampire’s life. Alucard has nothing in particular against it or for it. It is simply not often felt due to the fact that most knew instinctively that a predator walked among them; one all too willing to end their lives. Those he did touch tended to not last past the moment. So this is odd – not uncomfortable, just odd. For all that Walter is his partner, he is also quite human.

Unafraid, true, but still human. It’s something incongruous that catches the vampire’s attention briefly; something on which he thinks before chuckling low. Slim fingers flex, applying pressure to the back of Walter’s hand – pressure, not pain. ]

Then live.

Am I not doing that already?

[A mirror to his partner's movement, Walter's fingers curl tighter about the vampire's hand. It should strike him as odd, to be this close to a vampire in such a companionable way, but it doesn't. Proximity and connection to this one Undead feels as natural to him as breathing. Having that companionship taken away and limited is what feels unnatural to him; what fuels his distaste for the so many others who now get to have his partner's company, however lacking in quality it is for them.

It's time he should have. Not them.]

Are you?

[ Alucard cannot honestly say. His own human life was centuries ago and what he remembers of it (or cares to) is just as steeped in death. Aware of it and his own skewed nature, he remains perhaps oddly silent on the subject.

What he does know with certainty is that remain human around him in spirit is a task of which few have the strength to achieve. Yes there are times he wonders if Walter, bearing a nature almost as ruthless as his own, will remain so.

He’s still, unnaturally unmoving without the need to breath or the instinctive changes in position one of the living might have. It breaks when he inhales. He might not need air to live, but it is required to speak. ]

A natural hunter.

I suppose have a talent for it.

[To have become skilled enough to have earned the moniker "Angel of Death"-- and at such a young age-- he would have to have had at least some small measure of natural aptitude. And though his particular type of hunting doesn't feed him like it does his partner, Walter does take his share of enjoyment from it. It is both thrilling and satiating to him; a balm to the persistent anger that burns inside of him. It has become something of a learned instinct, much as his talent for tasks of a decidedly more domestic quality-- though by far the more pleasurable of the two.]

Or were you driving at something else?

[Living one's life to the fullest, perhaps. It's a thought that brings many other thoughts to mind, finally breaking the youth's sour mood and prompting a smile to stretch across his lips.]

[ Alucard watches the shape of Walter’s smile and it isn’t the same as what he’s used to seeing. When Walter smiles on the battlefield, it can hardly be called a settled expression. Which is why a dark brow lifts in silent question accompanied by the slight tilt of his head and the subtle shift of his fingers over the back of Walter’s hand. ]

What is it Angel?

[ As is typical, the vampire skips Walter’s question in favor of his own. ]

[It's a rare moment when Walter feels truly at peace, and right now, verging on the periphery of one of those moments, Walter indulges in it to the full extent possible. But for the spark of mischievousness in his voice, one might even say he looks serene.]

I was thinking of all the things I'd like to drag you into doing.

[Watching films at the cinema. Dancing. Designing new and increasingly more destructive weapons. A multitude of decidedly human activities that most wouldn't even dare imagine the vampire doing. But if Walter is going to do them, he prefers not to go at it alone-- and being that the butler holds so few attachments to anyone else, who better than his partner to indulge in such activities with?]

[ At peace around something like him. It's in Walter's expression even if there is a note of something less collected. ]

And these things are?

[ Curious not wary. What, after all, would he ever need to side step? ]

Well...

[Reaching, Walter seeks out his partner's free hand, his fingers curling around as they come in contact with the texture of Alucard's glove; Alucard might or might not recognize his stance as that of an open dance position.]

Dancing, for one. Though I have to wonder if that would even be your cup of tea.

[ A twist of his lips and a look bordering on incredulity. ]

I don't drink tea as you well know.

[ Yet there's humor in his voice and his stance adjusts minutely. Without pause, the vampire begins the first steps as he does everything else: flawlessly. Usually Alucard moves outside of battle with an almost stilted gate, as if he must move slower to move at all in the confines of a human world. Now though each motion is smooth - one flowing into the next seamlessly. ]

Are you surprised?

[Indeed, a look of surprise does flash across his features as his partner begins to move. But, as Walter's movements catch up to Alucard's and they begin to move in perfect synchronization, the look is overcome by one of amusement. It's a pleasant surprise.]

I am. This sort of dance is actually somewhat recent.

And Arthur throws a lot of parties.

[True that Alucard was not often in sight at said events, however when one is undead with few hobbies, you find ways to pass the time. What is not surprising is he coordination with which they move. What is a fight but a dance to the death? (Kick the morbidity to the curb for a bit, vampire.)]

Old dogs can learn new tricks.

Oh, I have no doubt that you are capable of learning new things.

[But it's a good thing Walter knows both parts to the dance. He's the sort of person who can lead or follow no matter what the situation is.]

How many do you know?

[ There are moments when Alucard thinks there is nothing truly new left in the world, just variations of the same. However he doesn't think on that very long at all and in the next moment such thoughts are gone entirely. It's the question though that ultimately draws him back and he laughs, showing the bright gleam of his white fangs. ]

Walter, I'm five centuries old; I doubt there are many dances I don't know.

[ From Romania folk dances to the Halay, gentlemanly promenades of lavish courts and flowing waltzes; even in these modern times he knows the quickness of the Foxtrot and the intimacy of the Tango. That he's never done half of them is - to his mind - irrelevant. ]

Would you rather see my Foxtrot or the ballroom Waltz?

[ Hard to tell if he's serious or just driving the point home. However despite the irony in his words, Alucard isn't mocking the young man currently turning across the floor with him. ]

[Though Walter is by no means psychicly-endowed, the flicker of secret musings registers to him as he looks upon his partner in the midst of their dance. But he does not move to comment on it, opting instead to revel in the humour of Alucard's reply; he does not wish to ruin the mood of such a rare moment.]

I might want to see them sometime.

[And as for the dances Walter did not know-- and there were many in that five-hundred-plus year span-- the youth is well and fully eager to learn, provided that he has someone to share in the activity with. He hasn't had anyone to dance with in a long time.]

I might even want to try my hand at leading, if that's all right by you.

The Angel wishes to lead.

[ The vampire swings them around to a halt though he does not break the pose, and he waits. Still looking amused though sussing out whether or not he's enjoy it is harder. Of course that he simply hasn't walked off is the most prominent sign. If something doesn't hold his attention he has a tendency to just move on. It is also in the bend of his smile - always sharp - and how it is not vicious like he's waiting for an order, a fight. ]

Now is your chance.

[ While he can remember the last time he danced, it's been quite a while and it certainly hadn't been this spontaneous. In his indulgence is also curiosity; Walter had never struck him as dancing sort. So the request and the enjoyment are interesting. A different side to his partner with whom he's usually dealing death and little else. ]

You don't have to tell me twice!

[When an opportunity such as this is afforded, Walter would be remiss to let it go to waste; only a moment's breadth exists between the instant they are stopped and the offer made and the instant in which Walter begins to move in the position of the lead. There is a buzzing in his chest, a giddiness coursing through his veins at this anomaly of a situation as he takes on the role with his characteristic boldness. Though it is something that hasn't happened outside of a battle in years, Walter is completely enthralled with exhilaration.

He, too, instinctually senses the similarity between this and the dance of the battlefield.]

I didn't think I would need to.

[ Walter is not one who hesitates and Alucard knew that. In that same spirit, Alucard did not wait a moment longer than it took for Walter to pick up the rhythm of the dance again. With each movement sliding from one into another just as seamlessly as before. From the outside it must look a strange and oddly charming sight, he thinks.

If they only knew.

Vampire that he is - an eater of blood and souls - Alucard is uniquely attuned to the human condition and right now he can tell that Walter takes a great deal of enjoyment in this dance. ]

This pleases you more than I had expected.

[ He admits on a low of hum of thought, never breaking the intricacies of the steps. ]

[The admission-- the second he has heard thus far-- prompts a stretching at the corners of Walter's lips; a brief tug to his already amused smile.]

So I've surprised you twice in a single night?

[Such an occurrence is likely to be rare, he thinks-- and finds it even more pleasing for it's perceived rarity. Sustaining the pacing and smoothness of his strides, he moves while counting off the steps in his mind; grace, the butler has, but it has been a while since he has done more than simply observe the movements of others.]

[ Alucard compliments Walter's effortless steps with his own. Each one flows into the next with nary a pause in between. He could - were it not for the gleam in eyes and the slight predatory bend of his smile - almost be taken for human. ]

So it seems, Angel. Savor your victory.

That almost sounds like a promise of things to come.

[A teasing threat, so to speak. Though at the moment he found the vampire so indescipherable that he couldn't rightly tell. Nevertheless, the young butler is still smiling.]

You think you can surprise me further?

[ A curious arch to his brow through another spin. The question isn't precisely a challenge. True he'll always find humans odd, mystifying in some sense, but few hardly surprised him at all. Granted Walter has twice, but Alucard isn't so certain that will become a trend. ]

I think the whole basis of it is not to think.

[Coming out of the spin, he draws his partner close, his steps coming to a halt. There is a thread of logic to his statement; if he thinks too long or too hard about how to surprise Alucard, the vampire will undoubtedly catch on. Alucard, after all, is neither dense nor untalented when it comes to deciphering the workings of the human mind.

The key to actually surprising him, then, was to be spontaneous.]

But I'm sure I will get to surprise you at least one more time in my lifetime.

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thenolifeking - 2013-03-14 10:22 (UTC) - Expand

A bored vampire is a dangerous vampire.

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Wohoo look at my html fail... gah sorry

It happens to the best of us.

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I need to stop writing things at such odd hours. The typos start creeping in.

Yes they will do that. Homophones are the bane of my existence lately.

I tend to accidentally change the position of the cursor to the middle of a word while typing.

touchpad? mine does that alot

Yeah. And now the great question: is Alucard leading or following?

Haha - yep

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Naturally I had to go and look up/refresh on some of those.

I used to take dance classes - never could nail the Foxtrot

I plan to take them when I get the funds.

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I am back! Have you slain the homophones yet?

WB! Sadly no. They continue to be a thorn in my side.

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