Sleeping at the foot of the bed

[toothsomehound]

WHO: Alucard Dracul (toothsomehound)
WHAT: Alucard drags his new master back to her home and discovers the joy of beds.
WHERE: Integral's house
WHEN: Post-explosion

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[damnabletart]

Integral found consciousness sometime the next afternoon. Her head ached, her hair was bloodied, and there was something on her bed. The dogs were up on the cover, again, and she moved a hand over to brush them off. It was not fur that met her hand, which was rather jarring, but the feeling of suiting. After carefully sitting up, she realized it was Alucard. And the night before...

She put a careful hand to the back of her head, feeling the dried blood where she had hit her head carefully. It had just been a bump. Alucard, however, looked worse for wear. She made her way to the bathroom with some difficulty, dragging out the boxes of medical supplies she had stashed for such occasions- Though they were purchased with the intention of being used on herself.

She didn't hesitate as she cut the torn back of the man's shirt, cleaning at the injuries carefully yet efficiently. Once she could see them, she'd be able to bandage them or stitch them up as needed. It was a skill learning quickly in such business, especially when one didn't live in the compound. The doctors were relatively ineffective, in Integral's opinion, and in such small matters like a deep cut or other minor problems it was easier to do it yourself.

[toothsomehound]

He was dreaming. He could see the white teeth of the Emperor again, feel the gold rings that left marks on his hips for a week after, and no matter how hard he struggled, no matter how hard he fought, no matter how loud the screaming, begging God and then cursing him, abandoning him, those hands would never- never- leave him-

Alucard came back to the world of the waking with a barked exclamation. Moving instantly at the feel of somebody touching him, he rolled off the edge of whatever he had been on and was clear across the room before he registered the pain that came with the movements, back to the wall and body crouched as if to spring. His eyes, wild and desperate, searched every which way. There? No. Nor there. Alucard's breathing slowed from a pant to a tremulous waver of pain.

Where was he?

He saw a woman. Integral? Yes. That was Integral. His back, radiating agony, felt marginally better. He blinked, confused, then fell to his knees and looked at her. "My master." That was right. He had a master, a woman of supreme ambition and power. And... she had been, what? Bandaging him? Why? "My master, I apologize." He was humiliated. He had mistaken this woman- weak on her own, though possessed of a core of steel- for something very different. He had displayed, worse yet, a weakness he often pretended he did not possess.

Alucard bowed his head, pain smarting across his back and shame burning brand-hot within him.

[damnabletart]

The reaction the vampire had to her touch was unexpected; Integral jerked back, almost expecting him to attack, but she retained her composure as he moved to the wall. His apology and posture made her pause, sliding from the edge of the mattress carefully to approach him.

"Alucard, are you alright?" Her voice was careful, a hand held out as if showing him she meant him no harm. "There is nothing to apologize for."

[toothsomehound]

Integral's movements, from bed to him, were cautious, conservative. They were movements normally reserved for frightened animals. The comparison stung, as accurate as he knew it to be. It did the job, though- his heart slowed further, back to its normal speed. Alucard stared up at her, eyes shifting from wary to startled in a bare second. Almost despite himself, he reached for her hand. He took it after the briefest of pauses- momentary hesitation only seemed to strengthen his courage.

Standing, he exhaled softly. It almost sounded like a sigh. He opened his mouth to speak, seemed to think otherwise, and shut it. Finally, finding words had failed him yet again, he turned to her and enfolded her in his arms, burying his face in her hair. He didn't bite, or do anything more than just stand there. She was terribly warm, and small.

"You are well, then."

[damnabletart]

She stiffened at his embrace, obviously unused to such contact, but she did not push him away. She did not embrace him in return, however; She simply stood there, wondering at the intention behind his contact.

"You were injured far worse than I was. Your back..." Integral trailed off, waiting for some sign that he was actually listening to her before continuing. It was rather uncomfortable to speak in this sort of situation, let alone with someone clutching you to their chest.

[toothsomehound]

"An indulgence of mine," he explained, releasing her and stepping away quickly. His head was spinning now, but Alucard was considerably less likely to sick himself on his master by mistake. "A forgiven one, I hope."

He frowned at Integral's words, reaching behind himself to prod at his back. Indeed, raw flesh met his fingers. He didn't flinch from touching the wounds, but rather took a vague measure of their severity. "I always seem to get injured in your service," he chuckled, trying with all his being to sound light-hearted. "At least my spine is intact." He rolled his shoulders back despite his disinterested words. Now that he was reminded of it, he could feel each gash clearly.

[damnabletart]

Indulgence. What a quaint phrasing.

Integral watched him rather benignly, raising a brow at his remark. "That doesn't change the fact that your injuries are rather serious. You can sit down and let me keep you from dying of an infection or find a doctor. Either way, you will be getting it taken care of immediately."

[toothsomehound]

Alucard obediently went to the bed and sat down on it. "If you don't mind, I would rather not have any doctors called in." He didn't like the idea of any sort of infection, either- infections felled whomever they liked, regardless of their host's ferocity in battle. He tucked his head down, then stared at her amusedly through his hair. "Yes, my master." One of the dogs trotted up to him, ears pricked.

"I never would have suspected you to be a dog owner." He extended a hand, then scratched the animal on his cheek when he came within reach.

[damnabletart]

"What gave you the impression they were my dogs," Integral sounded a bit too brusque, moving to the bandages again and starting to work on the man's back. This kind of injury would keep most people from moving for a few days, and he was up and around as if it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Once she was finished, she sat back, checking her handiwork with a soft sigh. "There. Would you like something to eat, or will you be sharing with the dogs?"

[toothsomehound]

Alucard smiled slightly and lay on the bed again, still mindful of his back. "What gives me that impression? Why, the fact that they followed you. Ah, yes," his voice muffled by the feather pillow he had buried his face in, "and the matter of their approaching me only to sniff at your feet." He luxuriated in the feeling of sleeping in a soft bed- a marvelous thing, really. To be honest, he was seriously thinking of getting himself a mattress or something. Or, hmm, maybe just padding the bottom of his coffin.

"Do you know how to cook?" Alucard cracked an eye opened and slid it to look at Integra. "If no, perhaps I shall snack with the dogs." He shifted, something wicked occurring to him. "Or perhaps I should snack on you," he grinned, baring his teeth in a pained but spirited grin.

[damnabletart]

"They're guard dogs. Consider them security." She took her glasses off with a rather stern expression, realizing they were dirty and cleaning them meticulously with the end of her shirt. Her entire front was covered with his dried blood, and she needed to bathe.

"I manage well enough. Normally I have employed help, but he left the country rather suddenly. I believe the Commission was asking him questions and he felt rather uncomfortable with the situation." She sounded a bit irritated, but barely hesitated at what she assumed was a jibe. "Perhaps you should lick your shirt clean instead."

[toothsomehound]

"They don't seem to be very good guard dogs." Alucard sat up gingerly to look at them dubiously. "Who trained them?" He noticed Integra taking off her glasses from the corner of his eye and turned to look at her. She was just as fine-looking with as without, he decided.

"Ah, those people." They had never bothered him. They seemed a fairly nerdy bunch anyways. And that Vimes character hadn't seemed terribly competent either. Poor sod. It sounded odd that Integra's hired hand had fled from such ah, hard-working characters though. Perhaps, Alucard mused, burying his hands in the dog in front of him's pelt, the AMC was dangerous only to some. He gave her a wicked grin, feeling very dangerous as he did it. "Perhaps I should lick your shirt clean." Daring as it was, he flinched back, expecting a blow. Why had he said that?!

[damnabletart]

"They sent the last intruder to the hospital without a finger. I suppose they were reluctant to attack one of their own, this time." It was a subtle jab, but not a serious one.

Integral raised a brow. "That would require getting it off my person, and since it will not be happening until I'm quite finished wearing it and you are not around, you will be much better off eating your own."

[toothsomehound]

"Just a finger? You lazy boys." Alucard accompanied the chiding words with a waggling of his own fingers. "If they are in need of more training," and he didn't doubt that they were- Cincinel would have had the man's throat out, little as he was, "do let me know. I have had some success in the past training guard dogs."

It was surprising not to be hit for such an audacious thing. Alucard contemplated what that meant for a moment, brows knitting deeply in thought, before that terrible grin crept back onto his face and he perched his chin on his hands. "But I would not be eating, simply... licking." He had the tact to keep his tongue inside his mouth, unlike some he'd met.

[damnabletart]

"Killing people is a bother. I dislike going out to dump bodies in boats in the middle of the night." She waved his offer off with one hand, still inspecting her glasses. Was that dirt, or a scratch? She had just replaced these lenses, too.

"I doubt you'd have the audacity, which renders this conversation pointless." Integral slipped her glasses back on carefully, coming to the conclusion that it was, indeed, a scratch. She'd have to buy new lenses before that small mark drove her mad.

[toothsomehound]

He hadn't thought of it like that. So far here in the city he hadn't had to deal with bodies, though he rather suspected that if he had he would like as not leave them somewhere where there were hungry cats and dogs. Sharing, after all, is caring.

Not have the audacity? That was too close to a challenge in his book. He looked at her oddly. "And what if I am something terrible? A serial rapist or something of that sort?" His hands were flat on his legs. The feeling of air on his skin- on his wounds, too- was an odd one. Alucard was not the sort of man that walked around half-naked normally.