“Really? Could’ve fooled me.” He jabs back with a wry yet amused quirk of his lips.
His tone remained light-hearted in nature, no true rudeness behind his words. He doubts even a bell would help much with how quick and silent he was. He knows that if Alucard put in the effort, he could probably sneak up on him. Key word being ’probably’.
At the warm smile he receives, the brunet shrugs a shoulder in nonchalance, a hand reaching up to idly comb through his hair and rub at the back of his neck. Now that the harsher of battles had ended, the nerves were beginning to die down. With it came the emotions and exhaustion, and not just the physical kind. The thoughts. Pondering through everything, digging through the past few hours alone felt as insurmountable as trudging through mud or quicksand. Huffing quietly, the Belmont tries to keep his lost nature to himself, not sure… how to really proceed next.
Through his wandering, he’d hoped it would have helped in collecting his scattered thoughts, piecing back together his shaken and further fragmented mask - not leave him without one entirely.
Though that seemed to be just his luck.
At the offer the Dhampir make’s to see his favorite rooms, he’d surprised to see he’s handling himself so well, but is thankful nonetheless for the offer to distract his active mind.
“Lead away.” A quick gesture of his hand in a random direction, followed closely by a nod and a softening grin, Trevor waits for the blonde to continue. “It’s better than pointlessly wandering alone anyways.”
Trevor seemed to side step the assumption of getting lost in the castle, too stubborn and prideful to admit it out loud. He possibly seemed lost in a different way, his train of thought for instance. The hunter had his own things to sort out similar to Alucard: What to do now? In the long run that is. The biggest threat is gone so what paths of life to take now were all under question.
Those worries would devolve into stress if they allowed it. So a distraction, something lighthearted and entertaining to keep them in good spirits were needed. Alucard was delighted that Trevor was atleast mildly curious to explore with him. This gave the dhampir the chance to show off his favorite rooms that would be surprising to find in a castle like this.
“Wonderful. Lets see if your hands are good for something other than handling weapons.” Alucard said as he strode past to lead the way as instructed, a bit oblivious to how his statement was less innocent as intended. Going down the hall and then up to the next floor they went to the east wing and came to two large grand looking wooden doors. He pushed them open to reveal a wide open room, a ballroom to be exact.
The ballroom floor had beautiful tiles floors with the colors a bit faded. In the center hung an extravagant crystal chandelier covered in dust and cobwebs, but when Alucard turned on the lights it was able to shine brightly despite the lack of cleaning. “Long before Vlad was with mother he hosted some pretty lavish parties with other vampires. But once it was just the three of us we would have our own little balls.” He explained and he crossed the mostly empty ballroom to the back wall where there were sheets covering an array of instruments.
Alucard pulled off the sheet covering a piano that had intricate carvings with red and gold paint trim. “There’s instruments from all over, but this one was my favorite to play.” He said warmly as he pulled out the stool to sit down and life the cover to reveal the ivory key. “I loved playing and watching mother and father dance together...”
After having such a happy upbringing, it was still hard to believe how horrible it spun out of control after his mother’s death. It was painful to think about the recent memories, so to try and cope Alucard wanted to focus on the good memories he had of his parents. He looked over his shoulder to Trevor and patted the space on the bench to invite his friend over to sit with him. Once the hunter was settle pale hands were placed on the keys to begin a light-hearted melody.
