[Fic] Summer Camp: Holding Out - Day 15
Title: Holding Out - Part 10: Camping/Hiking
Characters: America, England, Hungary, Romania
Rating/Warnings: PG13, Sorta X-men-universe crossoverish kinda sorta except I call 'mutants' 'supers' so maybe The Incredibles crossoverish kinda sorta? Point is, some people have superpowers. And it's a pseudo-police state. This part has mild cursing.
Summary: Arthur's friend Vlad shows up to invite Arthur and Alfred on a camping trip in the middle of a haunted woods. Alfred is totally not scared.
A/N: Vlad = Romania. I sort of latched on to the words 'friendly,' 'mischievous,' and 'eccentric' in his profile and ran with it, so sorry if you had something different in mind for him and are offended.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9
Alfred was surprised to find that Arthur actually did have a friend.
His name was Vlad, he was two years older than Arthur, and he liked to show up unannounced, as Alfred found out when he answered the door and was pulled into a hug.
“Arthur my friend!” he exclaimed as he stepped into the house, “It is so good to see you after so long! Have you gotten shorter?” he stepped away to look at Alfred properly, “Oh dear, your eye color has changed as well, and your hair is a tint lighter,” he reached a hand up to play with Alfred’s flyaway hair, “You should lay off the turnips.”
“I’m, not Arthur…”
“Yes, that would explain it,” he swept his hat off his head in an over the top bow, “It is wonderful to make your acquaintance kind sir! My name is Vlad, and I am looking for Arthur Kirkland.”
“Uh, hello, I’m Alfred,” he shuffled his feet before stepping aside to let Vlad in, “Arthur’s in his study, so-”
“Excellent! We shall meet him there!” Vlad grabbed Alfred’s arm and dragged him up the stairs and to the study as if he was the one who lived in the house.
“Arthur my friend!” he shouted as he threw the door open, “I have the most wonderful news, and-” he cut himself off when he noticed Elizaveta was also in the room. She had been pouring Arthur tea, and stopped to glare at him.
“Hello Count,” she greeted in a falsely cheery voice, “I see you still look like a bitch.”
“Good afternoon Lizzie,” he smiled, “I see you still look and smell like an ass.”
“Vlad!” Arthur stood up and positioned himself between them, “How nice of you to show up completely unannounced. Care for some tea?” he gestured towards the table.
“Indeed,” Vlad sat down and snapped his fingers, “Lizzie, get us some tea like a good little bitch.”
Elizaveta, who was still holding the tea pot, unceremoniously dumped the rest on his head. “Oops, it slipped. Maybe if your head wasn’t so big it might have missed.”
Vlad winced as the hot tea rolled down his head but refused to acknowledge any other pain, “Well that’s not surprising for a spazzy klutz like you. We’re just lucky you didn’t hit Arthur and Alfred as well.”
She responded by slamming the tea pot over his head, causing it to break, “Oops, it slipped, although I must say, any desecration of your face is an improvement,” she giggled before taking her leave.
“Vlad your head is bleeding,” Arthur pointed out as he sat down opposite his friend, leaving Alfred standing in the doorway, wondering what just happened.
“Never mind that now my friend,” his face was full of the same excitement it had when he first showed up, “We’re going on a camping trip!”
Arthur froze with the tea cup halfway to his mouth, “A what now?”
“A camping trip! In the Hoia Baciu Forest! Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“That sounds awesome!” Alfred answered as he sat himself between them, “When are we leaving?”
“Tonight, if we can! The sooner the better!”
“You want to drag us to haunted woods in the middle of the night?” Arthur sipped his tea and smirked, “Vlad my friend, what have you found?”
Alfred paled, “Did you say the woods were haunted?”
“I have found Dracula’s Medallion my friend,” he smirked as well, and Alfred was starting to get uncomfortable sitting in between them, “Or so my contact says.”
“Yes, your contact,” Arthur rolled his eyes as he placed his teacup on the table, “Because this mysterious contact of yours has been so reliable in the past.”
“This time it’s good,” Vlad gave him a thumbs-up.
“I suppose you’re not going to relent until I say yes,” he sighed and looked around the room, “I take it Nikolas isn’t with you?”
Vlad blinked, “I assumed he would be with you.”
Arthur frowned, “I suppose we can take Alfred with us to complete the trinity.”
“Yeah, about that,” Alfred cleared his throat, “can we go back to that haunted woods thing, and can someone explain to me what you’re talking about?”
“The Hoia Baciu Forest is the most haunted forest in all of Romania,” Vlad explained with an excited look on his face, “Dracula’s Medallion is a legendary magical artifact that I have been searching for! If I find it, it will help me a long way with my research!”
“Okay, well, ignoring the ghosts, which I’m definitely not afraid of, and the magic, which doesn’t exist,” Alfred counted off on his fingers, “What research are you doing?”
“It is on the Super epidemic! I am trying to find out where it started, you see.”
“E-epidemic?” Alfred felt his heart sink. Vlad had seemed like a nice guy, but…
“Don’t mind him,” Arthur sipped his tea and gave Alfred a comforting smile, “English isn’t his first language and he gets excited easy. He’s referring the spread of Supers in recent years, how it’s spreading quickly and is more widespread. Vlad’s not trying to imply it’s a bad thing.”
“Oh yes,” Vlad was grinning, “Excuse my inadvertent word choice. Forgive me for asking Alfred, but are you Super?”
“I, uh…” his eyes found Arthur’s, who took the liberty to answer for him.
“Yes, Alfred is Super.”
“Fantastic!” Vlad cheered as he looked Alfred over in a new light, “Then yes, he definitely comes with us!”
“And we’re leaving tonight?” Arthur asked.
“Yes! Tonight! Right now!” Vlad stood up and rand over to the door, “I already packed enough everything for all of us so I didn’t have to wait for you! Tell your whore of a maid you are leaving and let us hit the road, as they say!”
And with that, he bounded out of the room, leaving a very confused Arthur and Alfred to follow in his wake.
*+~_*
Alfred couldn’t sleep. Partly due to the howling winds outside his lone tent (Vlad had brought three small tents, to give everyone their privacy, or so he claimed) that were probably ghosts, partly because something had been calling his name for the past hour. Every five minutes, he would hear a clear, unmistakable call of Alfred, as if it was coming from somewhere inside his tent, or his head…
The wind struck the side of the tent just as the call went out again, freaking Alfred out enough to brave going outside of his tent to sneak into Arthur’s. He silently cheered for not waking him as he lay down next to him when he heard a sleepy voice mutter, “Alfred what are you doing?”
“I uh, thought I heard ghosts, so I came in here to protect you, so-”
Suddenly Alfred felt an arm wrap around him and pull him close, “If you’re scared, just say so, I’m tired and want to sleep.”
Alfred snuggled closer to Arthur’s warmth and spent all of five seconds trying to sleep, “Arthur…”
“What?” Arthur whined in his ear.
Alfred shifted so he was more comfortable, “About this thing we’re looking for-”
“Dracula’s Medallion is an artifact said to have been created by the Dracula to detect magical objects,” Arthur answered, “Now please sleep.”
“Kay, but Arthur,” he heard Arthur groan, but there was no interruption, so he continued, “Why does Vlad want it for his Super research?”
“Vlad is a magical scientist,” Alfred mad a face that he knew Arthur couldn’t see, “It basically means he does scientific experiments, but with magic.”
“Arthur, you know magic doesn’t exist right?”
“You can toss around cars just for kicks and you’re questioning the existence of magic?”
“Th-that’s different! That’s all genetics, you know, real science.”
“Well, Vlad’s current theory says otherwise,” Alfred stopped talking and listened, “He’s always been fascinated with Supers, where did they come from, how is the power distribution determined, things most scientists studying Supers ask. But Vlad thinks that some sort of magical accident caused a mutation to occur in human genes, or something like that. You probably won’t be surprised to hear most of the scientific community thinks he’s mad, but they leave him alone for the most part if he can prove his insane theories, which is why we’re out here, in the middle of the woods, looking for a medallion.”
“So he can use the medallion to try and track the original magic’s source?” he hazard a guess.
“Hell if I know,” Arthur yawned and pulled him even closer, “it’s his experiment.”
“So, why are we here?”
“Hunting for any magical object is best done in threes.”
“But why did he come to you?”
“Because we usually hunt magical objects together,” he swore he felt Arthur roll his eyes, “What do you want to hear?”
“Nothing,” the wind howled again, and Alfred couldn’t help the whimper that escaped his lips.
“You’re scared of ghosts yet you claim not to believe in magic,” Arthur sighed and rubbed his head, “What am I going to do with you?”
“I’m not scared of ghosts,” he said as he shivered in fear.
“Of course not,” Arthur gazed at something at the top of the tent, “Well, even if you’re not, you’re safe with me. I’ve put up an anti-ghost barrier around my tent already.”
“No you didn’t,” Alfred muttered into his chest, “There’s no such thing.”
“Yes there is, unless you don’t want it to be there?”
“No, I want it!” Alfred practically shouted in his ear, “Don’t take it down!”
“Alright, calm down boy,” he started petting his head.
The petting succeeded in calming Alfred down enough to be lured into sleep. As he rested his head against Arthur’s chest, listening to his heartbeat lull him even further, and a soft kiss on his head. After a whispered, “Good night Alfred,” he was sound asleep in his ghost free dreams.
Part 11
Characters: America, England, Hungary, Romania
Rating/Warnings: PG13, Sorta X-men-universe crossoverish kinda sorta except I call 'mutants' 'supers' so maybe The Incredibles crossoverish kinda sorta? Point is, some people have superpowers. And it's a pseudo-police state. This part has mild cursing.
Summary: Arthur's friend Vlad shows up to invite Arthur and Alfred on a camping trip in the middle of a haunted woods. Alfred is totally not scared.
A/N: Vlad = Romania. I sort of latched on to the words 'friendly,' 'mischievous,' and 'eccentric' in his profile and ran with it, so sorry if you had something different in mind for him and are offended.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9
Alfred was surprised to find that Arthur actually did have a friend.
His name was Vlad, he was two years older than Arthur, and he liked to show up unannounced, as Alfred found out when he answered the door and was pulled into a hug.
“Arthur my friend!” he exclaimed as he stepped into the house, “It is so good to see you after so long! Have you gotten shorter?” he stepped away to look at Alfred properly, “Oh dear, your eye color has changed as well, and your hair is a tint lighter,” he reached a hand up to play with Alfred’s flyaway hair, “You should lay off the turnips.”
“I’m, not Arthur…”
“Yes, that would explain it,” he swept his hat off his head in an over the top bow, “It is wonderful to make your acquaintance kind sir! My name is Vlad, and I am looking for Arthur Kirkland.”
“Uh, hello, I’m Alfred,” he shuffled his feet before stepping aside to let Vlad in, “Arthur’s in his study, so-”
“Excellent! We shall meet him there!” Vlad grabbed Alfred’s arm and dragged him up the stairs and to the study as if he was the one who lived in the house.
“Arthur my friend!” he shouted as he threw the door open, “I have the most wonderful news, and-” he cut himself off when he noticed Elizaveta was also in the room. She had been pouring Arthur tea, and stopped to glare at him.
“Hello Count,” she greeted in a falsely cheery voice, “I see you still look like a bitch.”
“Good afternoon Lizzie,” he smiled, “I see you still look and smell like an ass.”
“Vlad!” Arthur stood up and positioned himself between them, “How nice of you to show up completely unannounced. Care for some tea?” he gestured towards the table.
“Indeed,” Vlad sat down and snapped his fingers, “Lizzie, get us some tea like a good little bitch.”
Elizaveta, who was still holding the tea pot, unceremoniously dumped the rest on his head. “Oops, it slipped. Maybe if your head wasn’t so big it might have missed.”
Vlad winced as the hot tea rolled down his head but refused to acknowledge any other pain, “Well that’s not surprising for a spazzy klutz like you. We’re just lucky you didn’t hit Arthur and Alfred as well.”
She responded by slamming the tea pot over his head, causing it to break, “Oops, it slipped, although I must say, any desecration of your face is an improvement,” she giggled before taking her leave.
“Vlad your head is bleeding,” Arthur pointed out as he sat down opposite his friend, leaving Alfred standing in the doorway, wondering what just happened.
“Never mind that now my friend,” his face was full of the same excitement it had when he first showed up, “We’re going on a camping trip!”
Arthur froze with the tea cup halfway to his mouth, “A what now?”
“A camping trip! In the Hoia Baciu Forest! Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“That sounds awesome!” Alfred answered as he sat himself between them, “When are we leaving?”
“Tonight, if we can! The sooner the better!”
“You want to drag us to haunted woods in the middle of the night?” Arthur sipped his tea and smirked, “Vlad my friend, what have you found?”
Alfred paled, “Did you say the woods were haunted?”
“I have found Dracula’s Medallion my friend,” he smirked as well, and Alfred was starting to get uncomfortable sitting in between them, “Or so my contact says.”
“Yes, your contact,” Arthur rolled his eyes as he placed his teacup on the table, “Because this mysterious contact of yours has been so reliable in the past.”
“This time it’s good,” Vlad gave him a thumbs-up.
“I suppose you’re not going to relent until I say yes,” he sighed and looked around the room, “I take it Nikolas isn’t with you?”
Vlad blinked, “I assumed he would be with you.”
Arthur frowned, “I suppose we can take Alfred with us to complete the trinity.”
“Yeah, about that,” Alfred cleared his throat, “can we go back to that haunted woods thing, and can someone explain to me what you’re talking about?”
“The Hoia Baciu Forest is the most haunted forest in all of Romania,” Vlad explained with an excited look on his face, “Dracula’s Medallion is a legendary magical artifact that I have been searching for! If I find it, it will help me a long way with my research!”
“Okay, well, ignoring the ghosts, which I’m definitely not afraid of, and the magic, which doesn’t exist,” Alfred counted off on his fingers, “What research are you doing?”
“It is on the Super epidemic! I am trying to find out where it started, you see.”
“E-epidemic?” Alfred felt his heart sink. Vlad had seemed like a nice guy, but…
“Don’t mind him,” Arthur sipped his tea and gave Alfred a comforting smile, “English isn’t his first language and he gets excited easy. He’s referring the spread of Supers in recent years, how it’s spreading quickly and is more widespread. Vlad’s not trying to imply it’s a bad thing.”
“Oh yes,” Vlad was grinning, “Excuse my inadvertent word choice. Forgive me for asking Alfred, but are you Super?”
“I, uh…” his eyes found Arthur’s, who took the liberty to answer for him.
“Yes, Alfred is Super.”
“Fantastic!” Vlad cheered as he looked Alfred over in a new light, “Then yes, he definitely comes with us!”
“And we’re leaving tonight?” Arthur asked.
“Yes! Tonight! Right now!” Vlad stood up and rand over to the door, “I already packed enough everything for all of us so I didn’t have to wait for you! Tell your whore of a maid you are leaving and let us hit the road, as they say!”
And with that, he bounded out of the room, leaving a very confused Arthur and Alfred to follow in his wake.
*+~_*
Alfred couldn’t sleep. Partly due to the howling winds outside his lone tent (Vlad had brought three small tents, to give everyone their privacy, or so he claimed) that were probably ghosts, partly because something had been calling his name for the past hour. Every five minutes, he would hear a clear, unmistakable call of Alfred, as if it was coming from somewhere inside his tent, or his head…
The wind struck the side of the tent just as the call went out again, freaking Alfred out enough to brave going outside of his tent to sneak into Arthur’s. He silently cheered for not waking him as he lay down next to him when he heard a sleepy voice mutter, “Alfred what are you doing?”
“I uh, thought I heard ghosts, so I came in here to protect you, so-”
Suddenly Alfred felt an arm wrap around him and pull him close, “If you’re scared, just say so, I’m tired and want to sleep.”
Alfred snuggled closer to Arthur’s warmth and spent all of five seconds trying to sleep, “Arthur…”
“What?” Arthur whined in his ear.
Alfred shifted so he was more comfortable, “About this thing we’re looking for-”
“Dracula’s Medallion is an artifact said to have been created by the Dracula to detect magical objects,” Arthur answered, “Now please sleep.”
“Kay, but Arthur,” he heard Arthur groan, but there was no interruption, so he continued, “Why does Vlad want it for his Super research?”
“Vlad is a magical scientist,” Alfred mad a face that he knew Arthur couldn’t see, “It basically means he does scientific experiments, but with magic.”
“Arthur, you know magic doesn’t exist right?”
“You can toss around cars just for kicks and you’re questioning the existence of magic?”
“Th-that’s different! That’s all genetics, you know, real science.”
“Well, Vlad’s current theory says otherwise,” Alfred stopped talking and listened, “He’s always been fascinated with Supers, where did they come from, how is the power distribution determined, things most scientists studying Supers ask. But Vlad thinks that some sort of magical accident caused a mutation to occur in human genes, or something like that. You probably won’t be surprised to hear most of the scientific community thinks he’s mad, but they leave him alone for the most part if he can prove his insane theories, which is why we’re out here, in the middle of the woods, looking for a medallion.”
“So he can use the medallion to try and track the original magic’s source?” he hazard a guess.
“Hell if I know,” Arthur yawned and pulled him even closer, “it’s his experiment.”
“So, why are we here?”
“Hunting for any magical object is best done in threes.”
“But why did he come to you?”
“Because we usually hunt magical objects together,” he swore he felt Arthur roll his eyes, “What do you want to hear?”
“Nothing,” the wind howled again, and Alfred couldn’t help the whimper that escaped his lips.
“You’re scared of ghosts yet you claim not to believe in magic,” Arthur sighed and rubbed his head, “What am I going to do with you?”
“I’m not scared of ghosts,” he said as he shivered in fear.
“Of course not,” Arthur gazed at something at the top of the tent, “Well, even if you’re not, you’re safe with me. I’ve put up an anti-ghost barrier around my tent already.”
“No you didn’t,” Alfred muttered into his chest, “There’s no such thing.”
“Yes there is, unless you don’t want it to be there?”
“No, I want it!” Alfred practically shouted in his ear, “Don’t take it down!”
“Alright, calm down boy,” he started petting his head.
The petting succeeded in calming Alfred down enough to be lured into sleep. As he rested his head against Arthur’s chest, listening to his heartbeat lull him even further, and a soft kiss on his head. After a whispered, “Good night Alfred,” he was sound asleep in his ghost free dreams.
Part 11