Who: Alucard and open When: First half of June Where: Free Cities, Norwich, Al’s domain What: Getting up and functioning again, updating one’s domain, taking stock of his new physical change thanks to event 18 Warnings:Added as needed
[Alucard's face is one of genuine horror upon learning that someone did, in fact, commit to the bit. It is the worst bit he's ever heard of. It is also one of the grossest, and he is not shy in scrunching up his nose in absolute disapproval.]
I regret knowing that he took the idea and made it into the reality. You have my sympathy for whatever lurked under that rug. How big was the bathroom?
[please let it be small, please let it be small.]
It is, yes. And a means of addressing stress, both here and in the waking world. I can transmute stress into a loaf of bread and all other various metaphors. I just can't have a quiet wooded area to do it in.
[Michael lifts a hand and waves as if to dismiss the concern. No need to worry for his well-being—or to live the horror through his mind's eye. Either way, it's unnecessary.]
Small, and this was long before it ever saw any use.
[Otherwise, you can bet his brother would have been the one ripping up carpet and grumbling about it while Michael stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.]
I understand the appeal of peace and quiet. I suppose that's partly why I've never come up with much to do with my own domain. There's plenty of silent forest where I am already.
[It is still going to haunt his thoughts. Bathroom carpet. No.]
I've never been good at living around large groups of humanity, which makes the Free Cities an interesting challenge. At least here, I can have the space, peace, and moodiness. You're in Solvunn, I take it?
Solvunn's technological limitations would make it hard for me to be a resident long term. Among other things.
[But mostly that.]
People? Yes, absolutely. My mother's village was manageable, but anything beyond that...
[There's a simple shake of his head no.]
Truth be told, I've not really noticed it. But then, I'm mostly focused on my architectural work, the arts scene in Libertas, and then disappearing into the desert when I feel overwhelmed. The cities are vast and avoiding things is a shockingly easy task most days.
[It's not an entirely serious remark, though there's little to give it away except the slightest lift in his tone. All he really knows about Alucard is that he likes baking and cabins in the countryside. Seems like the man would fit right in in Solvunn.
Michael gives another nod, agreeing to villages being more manageable than cities and then simply accepting his opinion on the Free Cities. Different people, different perspectives.]
That would be the city Thorne attacked, isn't it? I'd heard it's home to a number of artists as well. The people remarking on the cultural scene usually aren't the same ones complaining about the military.
[Maybe artists don't really interest the military, which makes sense to him.]
Probably not with the level of control I'm used to, or ovens with precise temperature gauges. Or blenders.
[Viktor figuring out how to make a blender in the Free Cities has, frankly, been life changing. And it's why Solvunn would never suit, the quiet life aside.
Alucard tries not to laugh at not the same ones complaining about the military. He mostly manages, and it comes out as a cough.]
Not quite. Libertas is the artistic hub, but that also means theatres, art galleries, and other venues were impacted. The idea of military control or order imposed on a group of people who focus on creativity and testing limits, however, means that those are the exact people who would complain about military control or restrictions being imposed.
[Is that so important a kitchen appliance? All of his past vessels had been perfectly happy to eat whatever could be fried in a pan, but even Michael would admit their taste in food hadn't been very refined. He learns something new with every discussion of food preparation.
The cough-laugh earns Alucard a sharp look, though Michael doesn't say anything about it.]
I don't disagree with your point. Mine was that the very nature of artists might make them an unappealing population to recruit from, so they may not face the same pressures as the average civilian.
Is your overall opinion of the Free Cities that they're much like any other, then?
I've not had them before now and between them and the stand mixers, there's a number of culinary possibilities that have been opened to me.
[The stand mixer is an upgrade more in the fact that it means he doesn't need to use stupid dhampir speed tricks for things like whipping eggwhites.]
I'd say these days they face different ones. But I take your point about recruitment and remain relieved that there's been nothing enforced over the past few years I've been here. Then again, that may lead to riots.
[Not ideal.]
Having not lived many other places, I can't say one way or another. But it's a pleasant enough space and it's easy enough to blend in with the crowd. That's enough for me.
I can't say I'm familiar with any of it. I didn't spend much time on Earth prior to this, and I don't eat.
[It's all funny little gadgets the humans have cobbled together to make life easier, to him. Their impulse to create is second only to his Father's.]
Like the risk of being firebombed. I doubt that inspired much goodwill or faith in the military's capabilities, did it?
I'd say the same of Solvunn. Pleasant enough outside of the religious aspects they won't let you avoid, though with enough dedication you can get away from even that. I hear life in the woods is quiet.
[Don't eat? Alucard raises an eyebrow slowly.] Is that so?
[He'll wait for an explanation.]
Really it came back to the government itself, so far as I can recall. But I may have been too focused on the immediate reconstruction efforts, such as it was and as it continues with some performance venues.
[Construction isn't an instant thing, after all.]
I go into the desert if I need complete quiet. It's nice out there, and I can see how the woods would let you get away from the gods. We've had far too much of that lately, and I've enough of it from home.
[There's not much to explain. Not eating is as normal to Michael as eating is to those that do.]
I don't need food to survive. It's simply my nature. If you're asking what I am: an archangel.
[Michael cocks his head to the side, implying curiosity though not much on his expression speaks to it. He'd care to have that question answered in kind. Creatures from outside of his world never quite fit between the lines he's used to.]
That's one way of forcing the modernization of a structure. Do you find it balances its surroundings now, or was it better before?
[They don't have anything comparable in Solvunn, and his last few vessels weren't really men of the arts.
He gives an affirmative hum. He understands entirely. Being surrounded by religious zealots wears on his nerves, and he's had enough personal experience with at least one god to last him all of his abnormally-long lifespan.]
I'd be happy to never hear speak of gods again, but I doubt I'll be so fortunate.
[Alucard's demeanor changes instantly with the word archangel. His entire posture stiffens. His face hardens into something that's bitter. The dhampir has not had the best of experiences with faith back home, and it is only the comment never hear speak of gods again that pulls him back from asking Michael to leave immediately.
Still, there's no warmth as Alucard turns, crossing his arms over his chest. His tone is ice cold, like a January wind.]
Is that so? Does it only apply to gods in the plural?
[If Michael's had beef with the Christian god, then Alucard is far more likely to be less on his own guard.]
[The change in attitude as Alucard ices over is impossible to miss. It's a wonder Michael hasn't been faced with this kind of reaction more often, really. That religion is a touchy subject for some is no secret to him, but it seems he's always running into devout Catholics instead, the kind who see him as a figure to revere.
He doesn't consider himself the hero of their stories any more than he's the villain in whatever Alucard's been through. Religion's only half-right at the best of times. He's not responsible for what men to do one another.
There's little change in Michael's expression. He wears the same impassive look he did when he arrived.]
Did I sound like I was making exceptions? All gods, plural or singular within their pantheon.
[There's a lot more he could say—about why he never cares to see his God again, about what kind of person his Father is, about what He's done to Michael personally—but he's not getting into it with a stranger. He does dislike having some unknown slight held against him, though.]
If you have something to say, say it. Don't be coy.
It did not, but I felt it wise to check all the same. [Alucard doesn't relax exactly, but he'll take the invitation to be upfront.]
I'm from the 1470s. My mother was burned alive under the auspices of the church as so-called witch when all she was was a woman with advanced scientific knowledge. [The rest of the drama doesn't matter. The point is simple enough.] No small amount of bitterness towards the faith remains.
[It isn't quite a I know you're not personally responsible acknowledgement, but it hedges close.]
[Michael gives a brief nod. Fair enough. He's never liked ambiguity, so he can appreciate the direct approach.]
Condolences. It wasn't the most enlightened era. [It sounds to him like ignorance is the problem over faith, but he knows the two go hand in hand often enough that he's not going to open that argument.] Though I may be a figure in multiple religions, I don't consider myself religious. I'm not here to build churches or bring the word of God to the faithless. I believe humanity's best left to govern itself.
[That might still be an ugly end for them based on what they were doing to the planet back home, but if extinction is their ultimate fate, still better that it be one they choose for themselves than one they're driven towards by up above.]
I take it your mother was human. [Witch-burnings killed more fellow humans than anything else, to his recollection.] What are you?
From what I've gathered in world history, that's something of an understatement. [The tone is dry, but knowing where the other stands is helpful in lowering some of the dhampir's immediate hackles.]
Dhampir. My father was a vampire. [So far as he is concerned though, turnabout is absolutely fair play. So he lifts an eyebrow, gesturing to Michael himself.]
They're a little better off by the year two-thousand.
[Less burning at the stake of witches, at least in the places his vessel lines are from. Earth as a whole is still far from peaceful but that's the consequence of giving every member of a species a mind of their own and free will. Growing pains.
Alucard is entitled to his wariness. Michael himself doesn't believe in fully trusting anything that's half-monster at first meeting, either.]
For a given meaning of incarnation. The reason I first took this vessel is no longer relevant, but his name was Adam. He no longer inhabits this body.
[Michael is alone in here. He's come to realize that's a necessary footnote. People are rightfully wary of that which can take over a body and suppress the will of it soul.]
Half-vampire is as good as full vampire in my world. Do you prefer bread to blood?
That's the sense I've gotten, although it seems there's much to get through first. I'm...certain that I will experience it, if I am forced to go back.
[If and force are words Alucard doesn't mind using bluntly. He doesn't want to return home, thank you, and has been comfortable saying as much for some time now.
He pauses, frowning.]
Was Adam on purpose or just one of those funny accidents?
[His eyebrow lifts, suggesting this is a genuine question.]
I don't require blood to survive at all, such as it is. I like cooking, although I have a fondness for blood sausage that I do suspect is a trait from my father.
[He can't blame him for his reluctance to go back. Waiting through some five hundred years to get to the good part is a long time. Less so by archangel standards, but still an unpleasant amount of time to be stuck on Earth. Michael doesn't see Abraxas as all that much of an improvement however.
Alucard gets a pause in return. He's sure the man must be asking about how he came to be in Adam, rather than if Adam himself was an accident, but he did have a hand in setting up his vessels' bloodlines.
(Adam's father would undoubtedly say yes; his mother more likely to say he was a happy accident.)]
Taking him as a vessel was intentional. I needed a body at the time. Evicting him wasn't by my choice.
[Playing the season for comedy lets Alucard sidestep more important truths, like patricide and crippling depression, as well as poor life choices about romantic partners and impaled corpses.
He had meant to only joke about the name. Michael's response instead raises more eyebrows and absolutely makes the dhampir shift uncomfortably in his skin.]
Solvunn occasionally sacrifices people to their gods.
[It might as well be the 1470s over in his corner of the continent. It's not really intended as an argument, though, simply a counterpoint. He hears Alucard's own point that when and where one comes decides one's opinion on Abraxas more than anything else.
Michael's no stranger to making people uncomfortable. He observes Alucard with an almost avian sort of interest. He's not as blind to social cues as his younger siblings, but he's still an archangel. Jokes are never the first thought on his mind.]
As in his soul was removed from this body. I did say he was no longer in here.
[He tries not to think about it. Especially not what they all witnessed with the ending of that cult, as cathartic as knowing it was over and done with happened to be.
Noted. Angels are bad at jokes.
Unfortunately, the information that follows makes the dhampir even more uncomfortable. The idea of such a thing in and of itself is concerning, better known as the understatement of the century.]
So you're wearing a suit and...does the owner get the luxury of return once it is discarded, or are they fully removed forever?
[Michael is great at jokes, thanks. He just has to be the one issuing them.
He's about to say yes, of course, but then Michael thinks of the state his brother Raphael left his vessel in. Donnie got his body back, but by then it was more of a prison. Then there's Castiel, still running around wearing Jimmy Novak's face long after the soul has passed on. He's not so invested in presenting angels as a monolith these days.]
Depends on the angel. Returning it had been my intention, but here, there's no one to return it to.
[Adam is back home, restored to life and once again sole master of his body. It doesn't look like any of this information is reassuring to Alucard, though, so Michael takes pity on him.]
We do need the owner's permission in the first place. In your place, I'd worry about the creatures that don't.
[Saying "the opposite of possession" might have been better, but he wouldn't have learned as much. Michael is right in clocking that none of the information is reassuring to the dhampir, mostly because it isn't.
Not because you know, there's angels running around and some of them definitely take issue with the whole religion part. It is absolutely the soul suppression thing and he'd like to digest that without additional eyes on him, please and thank you.
He's not exactly sure how to turn the conversation at this point. Silence hangs heavy for a few moments, and--]
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abraxaslogs2024-06-01 02:10 pm
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I regret knowing that he took the idea and made it into the reality. You have my sympathy for whatever lurked under that rug. How big was the bathroom?
[please let it be small, please let it be small.]
It is, yes. And a means of addressing stress, both here and in the waking world. I can transmute stress into a loaf of bread and all other various metaphors. I just can't have a quiet wooded area to do it in.
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Small, and this was long before it ever saw any use.
[Otherwise, you can bet his brother would have been the one ripping up carpet and grumbling about it while Michael stood in the doorway with his arms crossed.]
I understand the appeal of peace and quiet. I suppose that's partly why I've never come up with much to do with my own domain. There's plenty of silent forest where I am already.
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[It is still going to haunt his thoughts. Bathroom carpet. No.]
I've never been good at living around large groups of humanity, which makes the Free Cities an interesting challenge. At least here, I can have the space, peace, and moodiness. You're in Solvunn, I take it?
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[His brother would be proud to know he'd afflicted someone without ever having met them. Maybe Michael should stop passing along his cursed vision.
Michael nods in understanding. Life among humans has taken some getting used to, and not just because the ones in Solvunn are cultists.]
They're friendly enough on the whole but they can be intrusive, can't they?
You assume correctly. Tell me, is the military in the Free Cities as stifling as I've heard it is?
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[But mostly that.]
People? Yes, absolutely. My mother's village was manageable, but anything beyond that...
[There's a simple shake of his head no.]
Truth be told, I've not really noticed it. But then, I'm mostly focused on my architectural work, the arts scene in Libertas, and then disappearing into the desert when I feel overwhelmed. The cities are vast and avoiding things is a shockingly easy task most days.
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[It's not an entirely serious remark, though there's little to give it away except the slightest lift in his tone. All he really knows about Alucard is that he likes baking and cabins in the countryside. Seems like the man would fit right in in Solvunn.
Michael gives another nod, agreeing to villages being more manageable than cities and then simply accepting his opinion on the Free Cities. Different people, different perspectives.]
That would be the city Thorne attacked, isn't it? I'd heard it's home to a number of artists as well. The people remarking on the cultural scene usually aren't the same ones complaining about the military.
[Maybe artists don't really interest the military, which makes sense to him.]
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[Viktor figuring out how to make a blender in the Free Cities has, frankly, been life changing. And it's why Solvunn would never suit, the quiet life aside.
Alucard tries not to laugh at not the same ones complaining about the military. He mostly manages, and it comes out as a cough.]
Not quite. Libertas is the artistic hub, but that also means theatres, art galleries, and other venues were impacted. The idea of military control or order imposed on a group of people who focus on creativity and testing limits, however, means that those are the exact people who would complain about military control or restrictions being imposed.
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[Is that so important a kitchen appliance? All of his past vessels had been perfectly happy to eat whatever could be fried in a pan, but even Michael would admit their taste in food hadn't been very refined. He learns something new with every discussion of food preparation.
The cough-laugh earns Alucard a sharp look, though Michael doesn't say anything about it.]
I don't disagree with your point. Mine was that the very nature of artists might make them an unappealing population to recruit from, so they may not face the same pressures as the average civilian.
Is your overall opinion of the Free Cities that they're much like any other, then?
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[The stand mixer is an upgrade more in the fact that it means he doesn't need to use stupid dhampir speed tricks for things like whipping eggwhites.]
I'd say these days they face different ones. But I take your point about recruitment and remain relieved that there's been nothing enforced over the past few years I've been here. Then again, that may lead to riots.
[Not ideal.]
Having not lived many other places, I can't say one way or another. But it's a pleasant enough space and it's easy enough to blend in with the crowd. That's enough for me.
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[It's all funny little gadgets the humans have cobbled together to make life easier, to him. Their impulse to create is second only to his Father's.]
Like the risk of being firebombed. I doubt that inspired much goodwill or faith in the military's capabilities, did it?
I'd say the same of Solvunn. Pleasant enough outside of the religious aspects they won't let you avoid, though with enough dedication you can get away from even that. I hear life in the woods is quiet.
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[He'll wait for an explanation.]
Really it came back to the government itself, so far as I can recall. But I may have been too focused on the immediate reconstruction efforts, such as it was and as it continues with some performance venues.
[Construction isn't an instant thing, after all.]
I go into the desert if I need complete quiet. It's nice out there, and I can see how the woods would let you get away from the gods. We've had far too much of that lately, and I've enough of it from home.
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I don't need food to survive. It's simply my nature. If you're asking what I am: an archangel.
[Michael cocks his head to the side, implying curiosity though not much on his expression speaks to it. He'd care to have that question answered in kind. Creatures from outside of his world never quite fit between the lines he's used to.]
That's one way of forcing the modernization of a structure. Do you find it balances its surroundings now, or was it better before?
[They don't have anything comparable in Solvunn, and his last few vessels weren't really men of the arts.
He gives an affirmative hum. He understands entirely. Being surrounded by religious zealots wears on his nerves, and he's had enough personal experience with at least one god to last him all of his abnormally-long lifespan.]
I'd be happy to never hear speak of gods again, but I doubt I'll be so fortunate.
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Still, there's no warmth as Alucard turns, crossing his arms over his chest. His tone is ice cold, like a January wind.]
Is that so? Does it only apply to gods in the plural?
[If Michael's had beef with the Christian god, then Alucard is far more likely to be less on his own guard.]
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He doesn't consider himself the hero of their stories any more than he's the villain in whatever Alucard's been through. Religion's only half-right at the best of times. He's not responsible for what men to do one another.
There's little change in Michael's expression. He wears the same impassive look he did when he arrived.]
Did I sound like I was making exceptions? All gods, plural or singular within their pantheon.
[There's a lot more he could say—about why he never cares to see his God again, about what kind of person his Father is, about what He's done to Michael personally—but he's not getting into it with a stranger. He does dislike having some unknown slight held against him, though.]
If you have something to say, say it. Don't be coy.
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I'm from the 1470s. My mother was burned alive under the auspices of the church as so-called witch when all she was was a woman with advanced scientific knowledge. [The rest of the drama doesn't matter. The point is simple enough.] No small amount of bitterness towards the faith remains.
[It isn't quite a I know you're not personally responsible acknowledgement, but it hedges close.]
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Condolences. It wasn't the most enlightened era. [It sounds to him like ignorance is the problem over faith, but he knows the two go hand in hand often enough that he's not going to open that argument.] Though I may be a figure in multiple religions, I don't consider myself religious. I'm not here to build churches or bring the word of God to the faithless. I believe humanity's best left to govern itself.
[That might still be an ugly end for them based on what they were doing to the planet back home, but if extinction is their ultimate fate, still better that it be one they choose for themselves than one they're driven towards by up above.]
I take it your mother was human. [Witch-burnings killed more fellow humans than anything else, to his recollection.] What are you?
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Dhampir. My father was a vampire. [So far as he is concerned though, turnabout is absolutely fair play. So he lifts an eyebrow, gesturing to Michael himself.]
Is this an incarnation situation, or...?
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[Less burning at the stake of witches, at least in the places his vessel lines are from. Earth as a whole is still far from peaceful but that's the consequence of giving every member of a species a mind of their own and free will. Growing pains.
Alucard is entitled to his wariness. Michael himself doesn't believe in fully trusting anything that's half-monster at first meeting, either.]
For a given meaning of incarnation. The reason I first took this vessel is no longer relevant, but his name was Adam. He no longer inhabits this body.
[Michael is alone in here. He's come to realize that's a necessary footnote. People are rightfully wary of that which can take over a body and suppress the will of it soul.]
Half-vampire is as good as full vampire in my world. Do you prefer bread to blood?
[Does he still eat people?]
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[If and force are words Alucard doesn't mind using bluntly. He doesn't want to return home, thank you, and has been comfortable saying as much for some time now.
He pauses, frowning.]
Was Adam on purpose or just one of those funny accidents?
[His eyebrow lifts, suggesting this is a genuine question.]
I don't require blood to survive at all, such as it is. I like cooking, although I have a fondness for blood sausage that I do suspect is a trait from my father.
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[He can't blame him for his reluctance to go back. Waiting through some five hundred years to get to the good part is a long time. Less so by archangel standards, but still an unpleasant amount of time to be stuck on Earth. Michael doesn't see Abraxas as all that much of an improvement however.
Alucard gets a pause in return. He's sure the man must be asking about how he came to be in Adam, rather than if Adam himself was an accident, but he did have a hand in setting up his vessels' bloodlines.
(Adam's father would undoubtedly say yes; his mother more likely to say he was a happy accident.)]
Taking him as a vessel was intentional. I needed a body at the time. Evicting him wasn't by my choice.
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[Playing the season for comedy lets Alucard sidestep more important truths, like patricide and crippling depression, as well as poor life choices about romantic partners and impaled corpses.
He had meant to only joke about the name. Michael's response instead raises more eyebrows and absolutely makes the dhampir shift uncomfortably in his skin.]
Evicting?
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[It might as well be the 1470s over in his corner of the continent. It's not really intended as an argument, though, simply a counterpoint. He hears Alucard's own point that when and where one comes decides one's opinion on Abraxas more than anything else.
Michael's no stranger to making people uncomfortable. He observes Alucard with an almost avian sort of interest. He's not as blind to social cues as his younger siblings, but he's still an archangel. Jokes are never the first thought on his mind.]
As in his soul was removed from this body. I did say he was no longer in here.
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[He tries not to think about it. Especially not what they all witnessed with the ending of that cult, as cathartic as knowing it was over and done with happened to be.
Noted. Angels are bad at jokes.
Unfortunately, the information that follows makes the dhampir even more uncomfortable. The idea of such a thing in and of itself is concerning, better known as the understatement of the century.]
So you're wearing a suit and...does the owner get the luxury of return once it is discarded, or are they fully removed forever?
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He's about to say yes, of course, but then Michael thinks of the state his brother Raphael left his vessel in. Donnie got his body back, but by then it was more of a prison. Then there's Castiel, still running around wearing Jimmy Novak's face long after the soul has passed on. He's not so invested in presenting angels as a monolith these days.]
Depends on the angel. Returning it had been my intention, but here, there's no one to return it to.
[Adam is back home, restored to life and once again sole master of his body. It doesn't look like any of this information is reassuring to Alucard, though, so Michael takes pity on him.]
We do need the owner's permission in the first place. In your place, I'd worry about the creatures that don't.
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[Saying "the opposite of possession" might have been better, but he wouldn't have learned as much. Michael is right in clocking that none of the information is reassuring to the dhampir, mostly because it isn't.
Not because you know, there's angels running around and some of them definitely take issue with the whole religion part. It is absolutely the soul suppression thing and he'd like to digest that without additional eyes on him, please and thank you.
He's not exactly sure how to turn the conversation at this point. Silence hangs heavy for a few moments, and--]
Do you just walk other's domains?
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