Hellsing Fan Fiction ❯ Renfield Wasn't Crazy ❯ A Proposition ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three: A Proposition.     “No sir, I am not following you,” Seras answered the man’s rhetorical question, hoping that if she remained as curt as possible he would take his leave of her.   He smirked again (not that he had ever really stopped smirking). “Why so nervous?” he asked in a tone which clearly stated he enjoyed her skittishness.   Why was she nervous? Studying the man across from her she really couldn’t pick out any single thing about him that should have had her on edge. Maybe it was the fact that she couldn’t see his eyes, something that always bothered her when she spoke to a person; or perhaps it was that his hair seemed a tad bit longer now then when she had last seen him, grazing his shoulders when it had only looked to be down to his chin just a few scant hours ago. But then again it had been dark on that lonely path, so perhaps she was mistaken. It was almost as if the different features of his face, by themselves, were completely faultless, but put together they possessed some devilish quality that had warning bells going off in her head. That taken in hand with the fact that he had simply vanished from the park as he spoke to her had Seras wary of this man. The less time spent in his presence the better.   “I’m not nervous,” she lied through her teeth, “just busy.”   He seemed to study her for a minute, then raised an eyebrow that she almost couldn’t make out through his wild bangs. “You’re lying.”   Seras opened her mouth to protest, but he quickly cut her off.   “Now I’ll grant that you probably are busy,” he gestured vaguely to her laptop, “but I refuse to believe that you aren’t nervous.”   She couldn’t believe that someone would be so blunt as to say something like that to a complete stranger. “Whether I am or not is really none of your business. Now if you’ll excuse me sir, I really need to work on this paper.”   “So quick to dismiss me, and yet still polite enough to refer to me as sir,” he cocked his head to the side, his smirk softening somewhat.   Seras could feel a headache coming on. “Are you complaining that I’m being polite, or that I’m trying to get rid of you?” she asked while rubbing her temples.   He shook his head noncommittally, more or less acknowledging her question rather than answering it.   “Look, was there something you wanted? I have put off this essay for too long to get distracted now!” she snapped; she hadn’t meant to, but the night had been less than productive and her temper was starting to wear thin.   “I’m a distraction? For two hours you’ve done nothing but harass that poor coffee-drone behind the counter and listen to those two in the corner argue about Cromwellian poetry. Seems to me that you were distracted long before I showed up.” She had a feeling that had she been able to see his eyes they would have been gazing at her mockingly.   “What do you want?” Seras pleaded tiredly, thinking that for all the work she was getting done right now she might as well go home and try writing in the morning.   “I could help you if you would stop being so abrupt with me.”   “Why?” The warning bells were going off again. A perfect stranger, whom she wanted absolutely nothing to do with, was offering her help.   He cocked his head to the other side now. “Partly because you strike me as the sort of person who has a hard time writing their thoughts down; but mostly because you seem to need it.”   “Forgive my dubiety, but why should I trust you when I have absolutely no idea who you are?” Seras asked calmly, ignoring his comment about her inefficiency.   “You said your paper was about Dracula, a subject on which I happen to be an expert.”   She stared at him for a moment. “You’re a professor?” she asked disbelievingly. He seemed sophisticated enough, but he certainly didn’t strike her as a teacher, unless he was one of those incredibly eccentric professors that you always heard about.   “No, but an expert nonetheless,” he stated with a mysterious smile. “It’s been two hours, and I doubt you’re any further now than you were when we met in the park. The way I see it you have three choices: You can sit here questioning me and my motives all night, you can leave and try to write some other time, or you can take my help and make some progress on that assignment of yours,” there was something in the way he said it, something in his voice, that just really made her hate the idea of trying to work later. His tone wasn’t exactly coaxing, but it was persuasive all the same.   “Who are you?” Seras tried to catch a glimpse of his eyes behind their glasses like she had at the park, but the orange lenses suddenly seemed completely impenetrable. She couldn’t figure out why it was so crucial at that moment to see his eyes, but everything in her screamed that that form of contact was absolutely necessary; without it she would miss something important. Seras had never had so many gut-feelings in one day as she was having around this man in one evening; something about him was off, and in a big way. Suddenly, and unlike any other person Seras had met, he completely relaxed under her scrutiny, as if to encourage her perusal further.   “Just a lover of literature, like yourself I’m sure,” he answered without really getting to the heart of the question   Unnerved by his behavior and evasive answers she fidgeted slightly in her seat. “Look, I know I need the help, I won’t deny that. But to be perfectly honest I’m not comfortable with the idea of working with you,” Seras replied, needing him to understand that she just could not accept his offer, while still trying to remain somewhat polite.   “Alright, a compromise then. I’ll leave you alone for tonight if you promise to give my offer some serious thought. If you find, after some time, that you really would appreciate my help, then meet me back here,” he replied smoothly to her refusal.   “When? For how long are you offering this help of yours?”   Nothing about his expression changed, but it felt as if the very air around him held a heavy smugness, like somehow in the end, he knew she was going to give in. “Indefinitely. I spend a good deal of my evenings around this area. If you come back I’ll know.”   If that was truly the case, then she never wanted to set foot in this part of the city at night again. “If that’s the only way to get you to leave me alone, then fine, I’ll consider it.” Seras gathered her belongings together. “But I make no guarantees,” she added while standing to leave.   He uncrossed his legs and turned to face her, as if intending to see her out. “That sounds fair to me.”   She backed away from the booth a few steps, but when he made no attempts to stand and follow her she relaxed. “More then fair, I’d say,” and with that she left the sleepy little building. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------   The apartment was most certainly trashed this time around. The sofa was tipped on its back, torn paper and plastic cups littered the floor, and the kitchen looked as though it had been through World War III. Juno and Eddie were nowhere in sight, telling Seras that the party had probably gotten too wild, so they had exercised what little consideration they had by taking it elsewhere. Not wanting the trash to be able to sit around perfuming the air she quickly got to cleaning.   Seras had just put her book bag down on the now right-side-up couch when she heard something at the front door. Curiosity overruling her caution, she opened the beige portal. There, standing on her doormat, was a dog. A humongous, gray, shaggy, red eyed (which she found somewhat odd, since it obviously wasn’t albino) dog; it was probably a stray. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened; she was a sucker for homeless animals and often let them stay from a while, or fed them at the very least. As a result stray dogs and cats showed up quite frequently, as if some creature that had benefited from her in the past had told them about her. Seras eyed the canine carefully, and (probably) against the better judgment of her landlord, stepped aside. “Come on in boy,” she beckoned to the massive hound. He strode in confidently and with a grace she wouldn’t have expected from a vagrant animal.   “You’ll have to wait until I’m done cleaning if you want any food. This place is a disaster.” Here he gave her a look that she would have called sarcastic agreement if it hadn’t been coming from a dog. “It’s not my fault,” she tried reasoning with him, “My roommates are just rowdy party-boys!” Seras shook her head when he just continued to stare at her, and vaguely wondered why she was trying to rationalize the appearance of her home to a creature that probably couldn’t understand a word that she was saying, let alone appreciate the cleanliness of her accommodations. “It’s going to be a long night,” she sighed to herself, moving toward the kitchen for some trash bags.   Seras had gotten home just past midnight. By the time she was finished cleaning it was nearly 2am. Exhausted, she sat on her sofa, idly rubbing the dog’s wide forehead. She had set out food and water for him halfway through her cleaning (feeling incredibly guilty that she had told a creature in need to wait, simply because she was feeling mildly germaphobic) but he had yet to touch it. “And I still have to work on that damn paper,” she moaned pitiably to herself. The dog cracked one eye open, and gave her a look clearly suggesting that he would bite her arm off if she stopped petting him. “I have to, if I don’t I’ll fail the assignment, and it’ll drag my whole grade down,” she explained gently while standing up and looking for her laptop.   It took her a while to realize that the hound was lounging on top of it, lazily grooming his paws. However, when she tried to approach him for it, he bared his teeth (which seemed freakishly sharp, even for a dog) and let loose a guttural and horrifying sound, which she could only assume was a growl. “What? I took you into my home, I’ve given you food even if you haven’t eaten it, and I was just petting you a minute ago! The least you could do in return is to get off my computer! If you can’t be nice I can always through you out, you know.” He lifted his doggy brows, the classic ‘I’d like to see you try’ look in place. “Please,” Seras pleaded with the suddenly aggressive dog, “I really need to work!” He growled again, using his paws to pull the laptop further under him. “Not even if I promise to pet you some more?” she raised her hand towards him, afraid to get too close incase he should decide to bite. The red eyes seemed to contemplate her offer for a moment, before covering the computer more fully with his massive chest. He then leaned forward and nudged her hand, as if to encourage her attentions even if he had no intention to relinquish control over her current objective.   Seras moaned. “Fine. I’m going to bed,” she sighed, feeling her exhaustion double at the prospect of wrestling with the beast over her laptop. Walking down the hallway she headed toward her bedroom. Behind her she could hear the clicking of nails on the tile, and briefly thought of rushing back to the couch for her computer, but soon heard a deep woof coming from somewhere behind her thighs, and thought better of it. Not bothering to turn the lights on, she quickly changed and climbed into bed. Next to her she felt the bed dip, and something heavy settle against her side.   -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- A/N: First off, I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who reviewed. It’s greatly appreciated! I’d thank you all by name, but I post on several different sites, some of which don’t allow author responses. Now onto my second note: Some people asked in their reviews what sort of relationship there will be between Alucard and Seras; will they be romantically involved, will Seras still end up being Alucard’s fledgling? While I’m grateful for your enthusiasm, I’m afraid I can’t answer these questions, partly because that would be like telling a secret, and mostly because at this point in time nothing about RWC is set in stone, something might change and if it does I don’t want anyone disappointed because I had told them it was going to end a certain way. My main focus right now is Dracula, after that focus shifts we’ll see what happens.   Please Review, it is an author’s life-blood.