Your bare feet touched something soft, something velvety, carpet. The walls made of black marble, chiseled with what seemed to be the hands of beauty and patience. You looked to the man next to you, this made sense, a beautiful home for a beautiful man.
Tags/warnings: nudity, suggestive themes, touchy Alucard (nothing crazy)
You woke when the light shone through your glassless windows, your body filled with joy and excitement. You’d get to see him today, the pretty man. Alucard. You stood up from your small linen-lined cubby, the warm summer air whisking past your naked body. A small clank is heard in your kitchen area, *Probably just an animal,* you assume. Squirrels and rodents treat themselves to your forages all the time, it wasn’t odd to hear scurrying and clanking in your house. You turn the corner from your little private bedchamber area and head to your small hidden closet. You had so much time on your hands, so you often spent months and months creating beautiful dresses lined with beautiful jewels that seemed to appear out of thin air. Most of the time when you forage you'd find small clumps of rocks that split to reveal beautiful crystals inside. Gold dust was plentiful in the silt by the riverbanks, making it ridiculously easy to line the string you had with gold once cleaning and grinding it down properly. Your dresses were woven of the finest horse hair and wool the wild stallions and sheep had lent you. Your mother was a dressmaker, she taught you at a young age how to sew and bead the dresses she sold. You had quite the knack for design, making the most beautiful patterns with the little material you had at your parents' house. But now you lived in the woods, where the freshwater clams willingly opened their shells to offer you their pearls, and the rubies and sapphires seemingly found you while you walked along the inside of the rocky caves. You never wore the dresses, only really wearing them around aimlessly in your house to the music in your head. It was just a mere project to pass the time in the woods alone, but now it seemed like it had paid off. You now had a few options to choose from to flatter the man you'd met, not that you minded being naked in front of him, but still you figured that was a little barbaric.
You opened a small hand-carved wooden chest you’d crafted a while back, the gold jewelry and body pieces shining even with the little light provided in your narrow bedroom. Pieces of the finest jewelry washed up in a specific part of the lake by your house, you were clueless about how it ended up there or who it originally belonged to, but you were grateful. You’d felt guilty at first about taking the gold lace and jewel-clad rings and bengal you’d often found in the lake, but it was clear it was arriving there on purpose, heavy jewelry doesn’t just find its way to the bank of a river, much less the spot closest to your house. You never wore it, except to try it on for the first time when you found the bejeweled pieces, yet you couldn’t help but collect it and keep it. You knew the water loved you, as did the rest of the forest, so you just justified it as gifts, you did like shiny things of course.
You slip on a few simple gold bracelets that were laced with beautiful colored gemstones, similar necklaces adorning your neck, and small rings stacked on your fingers. The jewelry was the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen, and now was your chance to wear it for once.
Before you reach your corner where your dresses stood, you're met with a tall blonde figure marveling at your creations. He didn't touch them but he looked at them as they hung effortlessly off the wooden tailor dummies you’d carved out of wood. The dresses were adorned with gemstones and pearls, fabric dyed beautiful colors provided to you by the exotic flowers that grew on the very walls of your house. Gold laced cord and twine were woven into the small seams of the dresses, and carefully woven lace adorned the sleeves and skirt slits in the dresses. He stared at one in particular, one of your favorite dresses you’d ever made. “Would you like to pick one for me?” You break the silence with a question, making him acknowledge you. You’d figured you’d looked quite stupid actually, standing there in just some jewelry while your body stood bare still. His eyes seemed to soften as his gaze locked on yours. “Did you make these?” You nod, taking notice of how he looked back at the dresses dreamily. “They’re beautiful,” he says as he lightly touches the end of the sleeve of the dress he was looking at beforehand. “You should wear this one,” he says in a soft tone. You approach the stand and gently slip off the dress from the mannequin. You slip your hips through the top of the dress and gently pull it up over your breasts, slipping the sleeves on and adjusting it where ever was needed. The stitching wasn’t perfect and it fit awkwardly in some places, but still it looked as beautiful as ever on you. Or so Alucard thought. He approached you carefully and snaked a hand around your waist, bringing his other hand to meet with your jaw to force your busy eyes to meet his. “Care to take a walk with me, darling?”
You walked with him in the woods, holding your dress up to keep the thorns and dirt from catching on your dress. This is why you never wore clothes, too much to worry about. Alucard glanced down at you, watching you awkwardly walk in your dress. “You were being serious about not wearing anything all the time, weren’t you?” He asked in a lofty tone, it was clear by the way that you walked that this wasn’t really normal for you. “Is it that obvious?” You say with a small laugh. “Don’t worry, it’s quite charming, I’m accustomed to elegance so it’s nice to have so change for once,” he says with as the corners of his mouth upturning as he watches you avoid a small thorny bush, the bush seemingly shying away from you as if a servant bowing to their lord as he walked through his very own hallways. *Interesting,* Alucard thought.
You walked with him over the hill that he had pointed to yesterday when he had met you at the lake. Your bare feet slipped a bit as you trekked up the steep mud. “Are you hiding? Did you have something you were running from? Is that why you built your house in such an inconvenient place?” You asked, your breath more shallow and quick as you scaled the hill. He laughed a bit, seemingly not breaking a sweat. “Well it wasn’t my choice, this is where I just ended up at,” he says as you both begin to reach the top of the hill. “What?” You say in a confused tone, you somewhat understand what he meant, he’ll, that’s how you were here, you didn’t even build your house, much less decide where it was made, was he more like you than you thought? Then there it was. Surrounded by the walls of the secluded valley, seemingly a crater full of beautiful lush life, and in the middle, a large, gothic, complex castle. One that looked like it didn’t belong, but fit in just fine. “Oh my,” you say in awe.
You seemed preoccupied with staring at the massive structure nestled in the valley that you failed to notice the small rock in your path. Your foot stubbed the rock and you let out a small yelp as you began to tumble forward, but the impact of the hit never came. Alucard acted to catch you but he was interrupted by the swift shuffling of the tall grass. The vines of the few nearby trees shot out and caught your body before you hit the ground, breaking your fall and gently picking you back up and placing you on your feet. “Ah, thank you,” you say to no one in particular as the vines retreat without further action, as if they were just doing their jobs. Alucard's brows furrowed in curiosity as he watched you straighten out your dress and adjust your jewelry. Your thoughts were interrupted by the clearing of his throat, and you turned your head to look at him. “I’ve told you what I am, no I believe it’s your turn to tell me what you are,” he says in a sly tone. “I wish I could give you a clear answer but I don’t know myself, I was referred to as a ‘which’ and a ‘monster’ by my old town folk,” you say with a deepened tone, not a sad one but a reminiscing one. “but I think better of myself, I don’t think I’m either of those things,” your tone perks up as you look at him, a smile forming on your face. “Well you’re something, I don’t know what but you’re something,” he says as he looks deep in thought. He then takes a few steps forward to meet you, offering you his arm before you both continue walking. You gently take it, as if feeling like this was something cheeky or sly. Your heart beat a bit faster and all you were doing was holding onto his strong, toned, firm arm…not that big of a deal.
You entered the enormous castle doors as they opened by themselves, your feet brushing the soft velvety carpet beneath you. It was just as beautiful inside as it was outside, the interior lined with beautiful dark wood walls and floors, and beautifully intricate tile patterns and designs. A large portrait hung flesh with the wall below the double staircase, a picture of a beautiful blonde woman with an equally beautiful baby in their arms her and what you assumed was her husband, a large brooding man with dark hair and pale skin, yet his eyes held the love of a thousand lifetimes, his eyes not trained forward but instead on the woman and child, his expression nothing short of amazement and worship. Alucard’s hand on your shoulder pulled you out of your trance, he stood there silently, staring at the picture with you before nudging his head in the direction of a large intricate stairwell. “Come, I have something to show you,” he says before leading the way.
You arrive in a beautiful room that looks freshly cleaned. The walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that were packed to the brim with thick pieces of literature, display cases showing off beautifully crafted weapons and artifacts. “Where did you get all of this from,” you ask in a breathy tone as you're in shock at how beautiful the room is. Alucard chuckled a bit, a reminiscent tone in his laugh, “I…inherited them from an old friend,” he says vaguely and you decide not to push. You walk over to a large shrine-like structure, where a beautiful silky blue robe that was a bit dirtied and burnt around the edges, hung on a padded silk hanger behind a thick protective layer of glass, alongside a large leather whip that was coiled up on a stand beside a cut piece of fabric that showed a gold embroidered cross surrounded by various other swirls and curves. These artifacts meant much more than the other items on display, some lay out on the tables in the open air, some behind a small panel of glass grouped with other things alike. But these were in their very own cases, standing over a large red carpet and surrounded by countless burnt candles and preserved under a large archway, separating them from everything else in the room. You turn to look at Alucard but his eyes don't meet yours, they stay trained on the cases, a longing look in his eyes. This was a sensitive topic, it was most likely best to leave it alone. So you do. You keep wandering, reading the titles above the large sections in the library, ‘weaponry, masonry work, carpentry, gardening-’
“*Name*,” Alucard calls out, beckoning you with the sway of his hand towards himself. You had wandered quite far so you speed walked back to meet up with him. He gestures with an open palm to two large books lying on one of the small wooden tables surrounded by a few stray pieces of paper with writing on them and a few artifacts. “Do you want to find out what you are?” he asks casually. Your head shoots up to him, your eyes widening, “You really think we can figure it out?” you ask in disbelief. He just chuckles and caresses one of the books that held the same crest you'd seen earlier behind the thick glass besides the whip and robe. “Oh yes, this is my most trusted source, it may take some time but I guarantee we could figure it out,” he says confidently.
You're both now sitting at the wooden table, both deeply caught up in reading the manuals, the ‘beastiarys’ or at least that's what Alucard called them. Alucard has shed his coat a long while ago, his white tunic's sleeves now rolled up to his elbows and his long blonde hair put in a half-up up half-down style, the top half pinned up by a small hairpin so his hair didn't distract from his reading. You were now naked, you hated sitting down in the dress, it made you feel suffocated since you never really wore clothes. Your jewelry came off too, The clanking of the gold pieces distracted you far too much to focus, and this was a task you needed to be highly focused on. Plus Alucard didn't seem to mind when you were naked, You asked him if he was okay before you stripped, and he merely responded with a wave of his hand while his cheeks tinted with the faint blush of pink. Both of you are completely sucked into the books, only looking away from the books to test something out or confirm something with the other before returning right back to the words. “Are half of these things even real?” you ask skeptically, looking at a four-legged monster with purple skin and large bat-like wings that was told to be able to breathe fire. Alucard looks over at what page you're on and smiles. You were reading the ‘first volume’ while Alucard had the more recently made one, how recent that was you had no idea. “Trust me love they're real, and you have the old one, just look at what I've got,” he says showing you the page he was on, revealing a picture of a humanoid lizard figure with a small baby depicted in its mouth. It was holding a large spear and looking forward with red beady eyes. It looks much worse than your book, the image sends a shiver down your spine. Alucard smiles with an ‘I told you so’ cockiness him. He then flipped the page and read for a few seconds before standing up to grab something. He opened a small glass case and fished something out of it while you glanced over at the page he was on. In big bold letters, it read ‘Nymphs & their types’.
Before you could read further he stood directly beside you holding a small piece of metal in his hand. “I won't let anything bad happen to you but just know that if I'm correct this will hurt,” he says wearily, letting you nod before he does anything. After you agree he brings your hand up toward him, caressing your skin in the back of your palm gently before bringing the piece close to your palm. Cold, the metal felt cold at first, then a searing white hot pain engulfed your hand as small welts began to form. “Alucard!” You yelp out and he quickly takes the metal away, blowing cool short breaths on your hand to ease the pain. A few tears streamed down your face and he quickly set down the iron and used his other hand to wipe them away. “Sorry, sorry love, I know it hurts, I know,” he reassured you for a few seconds before speaking again. “But this is good news, we finally know what you are,” he says in a happy tone as he tries to ease your pain.
“You’re a Nymph, not entirely sure what this means, can’t say that I’ve ever met one, but now we know the extent of what you can do,” he says in a resulting tone as he continues to blow on your hand and wipe your tears. After you calm down he grabs the book with one hand and turns it to face both of you, pointing to a specific section while he lets your hand rest in his so he can continue to soothe you. The section reads ‘Forest Nymphs:,’ and he begins to mutter out some words to himself before speaking. “I believe being a forest Nymph makes the most sense, the land has some sort of enamored relationship with you,” he says in a teasing tone, making you laugh a bit. He begins to read from the abilities and powers list. It wasn’t very big since Nymphs typically weren’t meant for power, but rather a strong relationship with their environment, or at least that’s what the book read. “Healing huh?” he says as he glances at you and then at your hand, “Want to give it a go?” he suggests. You look up at him, feeling a bit embarrassed as you had absolutely no clue how to do that. “I uh, I don’t know if I have that, is there ah, sort of like a step by step how to or…” You ask sheepishly. Alucard laughs, the hardest you’ve heard him laugh yet. “Oh sweetheart I wish, these are books on how to kill creatures like me and you, they’re not exactly going to tell us how to be one,” he says teasingly, making you flustered. “Do you at least know of anything you are positive isn’t normal? Besides controlling the plants?” He asks you curiously. “I’ll have you know that I do not control them, they act on their own,” you say matter of factly, trying not to seem as flustered as you were, and then it clicked. “Oh!,” you exclaim and then begin to frantically look around for a small object. You spot a small folded piece of paper and begin to think about it, just when the thought enters your mind on how you needed the paper to float, it does, it begins to levitate and shimmy toward you quickly, landing right in the palm of your good hand. “I can do that,” you say, and look up at Alucard. He had a surprised look on his face as he looked at the paper now in your palm.
“Well that’s definitely a start.”