Chapter Text
Adrian watched Trevor carefully as the hunter surveyed the castle with keen interest. He couldn't help but wonder if Trevor was mentally cataloging its strengths and weaknesses, perhaps already plotting a future attack. From how Trevor occasionally glanced at him, it seemed Adrian was also part of that plan.
For he would attack. Inevitably.
Wouldn’t he?
He wasn’t all too sure. The Belmont has surprised him. He was still as ignorant of his race as he thought he’d be, but they’d come to an understanding, at least as he saw it, much quicker than anticipated.
Telling him about his travels was also somewhat interesting, at least before Trevor had again displayed his ignorance towards medicinal treatments. He couldn’t fault him, not entirely. It was still an art that was almost mythical to everyone other than his family. But, the fact he couldn’t even try to understand and then insulted his race was… irritating.
But he still took Adrian with him. He didn’t leave him behind.
The plan was simple. Marriage and peace until the Church could be rooted of corruption and the other creatures of the night could be put on heel.
It was straightforward enough in theory: keep his distance, fulfil his duties, and maintain the uneasy alliance. But that was all before today, before he’d seen Trevor and he had become more than just a shadowed duty to bear.
“One of my ancestors tried to map the castle once but it turned out to be useless. It just kept rearranging itself whenever he next found it.”
Trevor met his accusing stare and rolled his eyes. “I’m not trying to get information out of you. Has anyone ever told you you’re too suspicious?”
“Yes. Regardless, why would you want to know?”
“Well… I’m gonna be staying here right? Might as well make myself comfortable.”
Oh. Right indeed. He'd blocked out the reminder that Trevor was going to live in the castle with them as part of the pact. His father had all but refused Adrian to be kept in a manor full of hunters, though he knew Henry Belmont had made the same argument for Trevor.
His mother had eventually been the solution. After a long meeting with her, Henry and his mother had acquiesced to the living arrangements. Lisa Tepes was the solution and the catalyst. He wondered that if Trevor had known what would happen from his stunt that night, would he have still saved his mother?
“Well. I suppose that is fair.” He shot him a look. “If you’d like to see your room now?”
He grinned smugly. “Thought we weren’t fucking?”
Adrian gaped. “You are a crude, vile—”
“I’m joking, Adrian. Come on, show me my room.” He hesitated, then moved forward as if to nudge Adrian before he shoved him away firmly. His hand rested on Trevor’s chest for a moment and the gleam of his ring caught his eye before he dismissed it.
“We should’ve let you sleep outside with the animals.” He snarked as Trevor followed him to the family wing.
“You know, you mean that as an insult but I’ve done it enough times to feel comfortable.”
“Do I even want to know?”
“You do.” Trevor grinned and Adrian smiled in response before he could help it. Trevor’s eyes widened but he only grinned wider, shaking his head as he responded.
“Well, inn owners aren’t all that welcoming to my family anymore, so it’s either sleep in a tree or with the cows. And when it gets cold— well that’s when I choose the cows.”
He scoffed. “I’d still choose the tree.”
“Well, you’re not the one conscious of the weather. Next time when I choose a tree and freeze to death, I hope you know your blame.”
“That was my plan,” he deadpanned.
“What happened to ‘till death do us part?’” Adrian tensed at the words but Trevor's joking tone made him relax a hair, holding himself together.
“The Elder never said that.” He gave Trevor another look. “And even if he did, your death would make it till we part.”
“Yeah, I suppose yours wouldn’t. Being immortal must suck.”
“If it means I will soon be rid of you, then no. It does not.”
To his credit, Trevor only laughed. “You say that. But one day someone’s gonna bring up this shitty plan and you’re gonna miss me.”
He sighed. “We shall see.”
They reached the wing in silence, both casting furtive looks at each other along the way. Adrian was on guard. He was wary. This could all be a plot, a wider plan that led to him and his family’s demise.
But...
He inhaled deeply, Trevor’s scent lingering in his senses.
His mind screamed.
“This is it,” they reached the carved door and Adrian led them in with little fanfare. It was a normal room. A large bed and balcony. A table supplied with any writing material he might need. A wardrobe. A sitting area.
“What do you think?”
Trevor turned in a slow circle, taking in the room carefully. Adrian was tense watching him. The sight made his head ache and he had to stop himself from fidgeting. Trevor was really here. In the rooms that were his. Part of the marriage that they were locked into. “I’ll be honest. My room in the manor is smaller.”
Adrian’s lip curled despite himself. “Well, we are good hosts.”
“For once,” he snorted. “What’s in there,” he pointed to the door at the end of the room,
“A bathroom.”
“Oh.” Trevor strode over, poking his head in to inspect the inside. “Are all your baths so big?”
“These are the private rooms, Trevor. There’s a bathhouse downstairs but we all have our own facilities.”
Trevor made a sound that he took to be understanding and after looking around a while more he shrugged and they left.
“So where’s your room?”
He pointed to the one directly across the hall. He had loathed having Trevor’s lodgings be situated so close to his own but at his mother's constant insistence because ‘what if he gets lost, Adrian?’ he had finally agreed.
That wasn’t to say he suddenly liked it.
“Huh, we’re close. Are your parents here too?” He peered around the hallway at the different doors.
“No, they’re in a different section.”
Trevor’s brow furrowed. “How big is this place?”
“Big. You said your ancestor did record how it changed.”
“Yeah but.” He rubbed his neck. “Whatever. Are you gonna give me a tour?” He jerked his head at the closed door.
“My room?”
“Yeah. You’ve seen mine so it’s only fair.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“Says who?”
Adrian felt his teeth grind together. “My room is off limits.”
“What if it’s an emergency?”
“Then you can come in?”
“What if it’s not an emergency but I still need to come in?”
He sighed loudly. “Trevor, you can come in if you have a good reason, only.”
He raised a brow. “And this isn’t a good reason?”
He spun on his heels, ignoring Trevor’s shouts as he used his vampiric speed to leave.
— — — — — —
What a fucking dick.
Trevor looked around the empty hallway in annoyance. He didn’t think he’d get so pissed about his room.
He stared at the offending door in question. He should enter anyway just to piss him off.
The urge was strong but he remembered Adrian’s stupid talk about emergencies and good reasons and left it.
Making his way back down to the hall, because he had memorised the route as Adrian took him up here, he wondered how the fuck they were going to stand each other for this marriage. Honestly, Trevor thought they had been doing well after leaving all the nosy eyes. As much as they could for the circumstance, of course. They’d been joking around, well Trevor mainly had, but Adrian had even smiled.
Dismissing that line of thought entirely, he made his way back to the hall. There was less noise as he approached and Trevor entered to see fewer people.
Thank fuck.
Though he was accosted and after a few minutes of jokes with Uncle Mupp, who drunkenly asked him where his ‘lady wife was’ , he made his way back to the main table, doing his best to return the blank stares of the vampires around him. One in particular was watching him carefully, a sneer on her red lips but he only scoffed, making his way up.
Bypassing the centre seats that he and Adrian were supposed to sit at, he approached a few of his siblings' chairs that were empty and Trevor dropped into a random one, grabbing a cup of ale and drowning it all the while.
The burn of his throat was familiar and he sighed as he went to refill it. He stared at the ceiling, letting the chatter of the room flood his ears as he drank cup after cup.
“Is he that bad?”
He groaned as Ann and Sypha plopped into the seats on either side of him.
“Where is everyone?” He asked instead.
“Doctor Tepes’ showing them their gallery room.”
“They probably only went to scope out more of the castle.”
“Mother enjoys art.”
“Well, everyone else then.”
He sipped leisurely at his drink, letting his eyes drift over the remaining crowd. A good portion of them were moving sluggishly at the tables, hands wrapped around their cups. He couldn't believe they'd let their guard down. A quick glance at his families side reassured him that they weren't falling down the same trap. Tipsy yes, but all Belmont's could snap from intoxication to deadly focus in seconds.
A family trait, he supposed. But... maybe he should still slow down.
The same silver-haired man he'd seen sitting next to Doctor Tepes at the ceremony was standing leisurely in the corner of the room. He was accompanied by someone Trevor couldn't recognised but every so often he'd turn his attention to the great hall, eyes sweeping over the masses carefully before returning to his conversation.
Trevor noticed him pause as his gaze landed on him but after a second, he turned his attention away.
“Where’s Adrian?” Sypha asked.
He shrugged. “He left.”
“Left?” Her eyes widened.
“Not like that. He just— didn’t want to talk to me anymore, I guess.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“He’s a vampire. How should I know how he thinks?” He took another gulp and refilled his cup.
Sypha and Ann exchanged concerned glances over him.
“But where did you both go?”
“He showed me my room and left.”
“Oh?” Ann looked excited. “How was the room?”
“Big.”
“Bigger than home?”
He nodded.
“Well, shit.” She looked stumped and Trevor agreed. His room at the manor was not small.
He couldn’t even comprehend the grandeur of the room, still shocked at the fact they even made a room for him. When Adrian had made his remark about letting him sleep with the animals, he kept to himself that was what he had expected.
“I don’t what he wants!” He suddenly blurted. “He was nice and then all of a sudden he just left! Who does that? Have I done that?”
“Unfortunately not, it’d save us some peace,” Ann said.
He shot her a look. “It’s still my wedding day.”
“And you’re only stating the fact to get one over on me.”
“How else would I state it?”
“I don’t know. Have you even asked Adrian what he thinks of this marriage?”
He hadn’t. They had approached the topic briefly at the beginning of the feast but Trevor had shut down that line of conversation immediately.
The fucking family names…
His teeth gritted thinking about it.
And then after. Well, they made jokes. Mostly Trevor did and Adrian responded in kind. And they spoke about their rooms…
They hadn't spoken about shit.
“Trevor,” Sypha reprimanded. “Ask him about it. As soon as you both find some common ground, this whole thing will be easier.”
“He’s a vampire!”
“And to him, you’re a vampire killer.”
“It’s not the same.” He grumbled. Hesitating, he drowned his cup and pushed it away.
“It is to him. And he won’t think it’s not unless you talk to him.”
“What the fuck am I supposed to say? He’s like— ice!”
“Ice?” Ann questioned but Trevor nodded. It made perfect sense.
“Ask him what you want him to ask you,” Sypha tapped her chin and Ann nodded slowly, though there was some hesitance colouring her expression. She was still a Belmont.
“The pact won’t allow him to kill you without consequence.” She supplied.
“So, ‘do you want to kill me?’”
“As blunt as it is, yes. It will make you both more comfortable and the sooner that happens, the better.”
Trevor thought about it. He supposed that made sense. But Adrian was like ice. His intoxicated mind had made a pretty good comparison. He was a bit cold at first but then melted a bit and he responded to Trevor’s joke and— he guessed running off meant he melted completely?
Oh fuck, it didn’t matter. He still ran. Did he think Trevor wasn’t in the same boat? He was the one who had to stay in a new home with Dracula. He was the one who saved Lisa Tepes from death and was given this marriage as a reward.
In all accounts, he was the victim here.
So why did Adrian run?
“I can’t stand him.” He announced as he rose from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“To take a piss. And,” he added on begrudgingly, “to find Adrian.”
— — — — — —
The stars shone brightly overhead. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and the moon was full, providing cool light around him.
He stood there with his cloak wrapped around him though he could barely feel the cold bite of the wind. Still, he held it tighter around him, assessing the cobalt blue fabric accusingly.
Blue and gold. The Belmont family colours. Just as Trevor wore a cape of the Tepes red and black, Adrian adorned their colours on his own person. Another compromise. Another chance of tradition.
Gritting his teeth, he dropped the offering fabric. Why? Why did Trevor have to act so— so strange? For all intents and purposes they were trapped together. They were pawns.
For Trevor to be nonchalant when inspecting his room, for him to be so casual as to try to enter his. Did he not see the stark reality of their situation?
So why did he make jokes? Why did he try to make Adrian laugh and smile when he did?
Why did Adrian want to respond in kind?
He’s just a strange man. Adrian told himself. He’s been dropped on the head too many times.
His hands were held tightly together in front of him and Adrian could feel the cold press of metal in his fingers.
In the soft glow of twilight, the ring gleamed gently. It had a delicate gold band though the colour wasn’t as harsh as the one he’d given Trevor. A single pearl was nestled into its centre yet as Adrian inspected it he saw it wasn’t a simple white as he’d thought.
Every turn and twist of his hand made the pearl shimmer. A strange luminescence of different colours crawled over the pearl's surface only changing back to white once his hand stilled.
He stood there for a while, simply twisting his wrist around and around to watch the colour change. It was so simple. And yet so wonderful.
He could never have imagined it to be the ring the Belmonts picked out for him. He’d expected something large, embedded with a family crest. A claim. Yet…this was entirely different.
As he stared at it, he didn’t think of ownership. No, merely freedom. It reminded him of the ocean where it came from, of crystal waters and colourful coral.
The antique charm, the filigree work that flanked the pearl. It all reminded him of a life he didn’t have. A life, from today, that he desperately wanted.
I was too harsh. He thought. Trevor’s in the same boat as me.
He sighed, making up his mind to apologise. Trevor was probably acting out the only way he knew how in light of their marriage. Next time, Adrian would would listen.
He turned, about to make his way back inside the castle.
“Adrian!”
Oh, perhaps he could apologise sooner than he thought.
“Trevor, I’m—“
“Nope. Listen here asshole. I have some things to say and you're gonna listen.”
“I—“
“I said listen.”
Trevor’s voice was slurred slightly and he stumbled a bit as he walked across the grassy field to him.
I didn’t leave him that long ago. How was he inebriated already?
But he did wait, arms tense and ready to catch the hunter lest he fall. And he had certainly indulged. His face was flushed, eyes brighter than they’d ever been before. His hair, which was already a small mess, now resembled a birds nest.
His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his shirt was half untucked. The cape, through some godly interference, was still hanging on.
He was a mess.
“Okay. Listen.”
He nodded, not sure if Trevor would count his verbal affirmation as another interruption.
For all his talk, Trevor still paused as he looked over him and he spent several seconds opening and closing his mouth before he finally shouted: “What do you want from me?!”
He blinked. “What?”
“I thought we were on the same— we’re both fucked. You know it. I know it. So why did you leave?”
This certainly wasn’t what he thought their conversation would be on. Adrian has tried to broach it at the feast but Trevor cut him down.
At least the drink was good for something.
“I left because I was overwhelmed.” He admitted through gritted teeth.
“From what?”
“You!”
“The fuck did I even do?”
“It’s— don’t you care we’re in this situation. Doesn’t it seem wrong to you?”
“Why wouldn’t it? I said we were fucked, didn’t I?”
“Well, you don’t seem like it! You joke around and you laugh and what am I supposed to do with that?”
“Oh God,” Trevor groaned. “That’s just me, Adrian. I joke. I laugh. You’ve got a stick the size of the world up your ass, so sorry I thought it’d help you too.”
“You are crude—“
“And vile and despicable. You’ve said that.” While his face was still flushed, Trevor’s eyes were clearer and narrowed and he was inspecting Adrian with an intensity that wasn’t there a second ago. “Tell me the truth.”
“I have.”
“You’re the worst liar I’ve seen. And I’m still half drunk.”
He seethed. “I don’t need to listen to this.” He whirled, taking a step away when he was pulled back by the fabric of his cape.
“Nope. You’re not getting away again. Do you always run when someone tries to have a conversation with you?”
“As you said, you’re full of drink. I’d be wasting my time trying.”
Trevor snorted but he still swayed on his feet. “I can hold my liquor. Now try again.”
He tensed, snatching the cape away from Trevor’s hand. As he did, the light caught on his ring again. Trevor saw him inspect it and for a moment his own hand clenched in a fist.
“I don’t understand you.” He admitted. “My mother and father. The council… no one acts how you do. You’re different. And this marriage is already different enough…” He couldn’t say the rest, couldn’t find the words to say it.
Trevor watched him intently and Adrian prepared himself for an outburst, readying himself for an attack or ambush— Trevor plopped onto the ground below. He groaned as he stretched his legs out, lying back so he was facing the stars.
Annoyance flared in him. “Do you see? You’re so strange—“
“I have emotions, Adrian.” He gave an exaggerated shudder as he said it. “I’m only admitting it because I’ve drank and I’ll probably be disgusted at myself tomorrow but… it’s true.” He faced him. “I didn’t think saving your mother would make me the perfect volunteer from my family to marry you.”
“But it did.”
“Yeah. And there’s nothing I can do about it now. I did a good thing and was given a stupid thing in return. Now I live with it.”
The simplicity, the acceptance of it, was so unexpected he could only stare at the hunter. He is strange but he’s aware.
He hesitated. "And our... roles in this marriage?"
"Fuck does that mean?"
He resisted the urge to cuff his ear. "How do we navigate it? What do we do?" He could hear the underlying urgency in his tone, the need to understand how they'd work.
Trevor didn't seem to notice and simply shrugged. "We'll see."
"When?"
"When I'm sober."
"And yet you seemed perfectly alright with needling myself for answers just moments ago." He pointed out coolly.
"Drinks coming back." And Adrian didn't even understand what that meant. Before he could even try to, Trevor spoke again. "If the jokes offend you, I’ll stop.” He was looking back at the sky.
“It wasn’t offensive,” he admitted.
He knew Trevor wouldn't answer his questions about their marriage now that he'd gotten what he came for. In a split second of thought, he lowered himself to the floor, a respectable distance beside Trevor, sitting properly unlike his sprawled state. “It was simply unexpected. I didn’t know how to deal with it.” He sighed.
“I guess daddy Dracula doesn’t make too many jokes?”
He snorted as the image came to him. “Not your sort.”
“Shame. Mine are the best.”
“Are they?”
“Well they made you smile, didn’t they?”
“Oh God, they did.” He muttered in horror, trying not to linger on Trevor’s bright, loud laughter.