Disclaimer/A.N: Two chapters written in a burst. Disclaimer etc same as the first.
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Seras sat in front of her small wooden table, a red leather bound book lying open in front of her. She stared at the blank pages for a moment before putting the pen to paper.
September 22 - Dear Diary,
It has been one week today since I was embraced
by the darkness. Boy that sounds a bit cheesy.
Anyway, I'm still figuring out what it means to
be a vampire. The very thought of drinking blood
still disgusts me, despite what my Master says
about it being natural. But I suppose a lot of
what guys tell me is natural seems quite
disgusting to me.
My other life appears to be far away now. I
really miss the boys at D-11, even if they did
treat me like a little girl sometimes. The
soldiers here are quite different; they either
look at me like I was a monster or a piece of meat. I'm
still steaming from all the comments I've gotten
about my uniform. If I ever find out who designed
it...
Anyway, I decided today to try and befriend some
of the staff. Most of the soldiers seem like a
waste of time to me, but I haven't met them all
yet. At the very least I hope I'll be able to
scare them into treating me with a bit more
respect.
Sir Integra is quite imposing, and doesn't appear
to like me very much yet. I'm hoping she will
warm up to me eventually however.
The only person who has been any kind of
friendly to me is Hellsing's retainer and butler
Walter. He has kind of an old-world charm that
reminds me of how men used to act in the movies.
He's also one of the only men I've met who looks
me in the eyes when he talks to me. In fact, a
funny thing happened today...
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Seras looked both ways before walking into the kitchen. It was tidy and gleaming, all white porcelain and polished stainless-steel. But the small red refrigerator off in the corner is what caught her eye. She stood still for an instant, eyeing it with both longing and contempt for a moment before being startled out of her revelry.
"You don't have to be afraid of sneaking a snack every once in awhile when you need it Miss Victoria," said the teasing voice of the previously unnoticed butler.
Seras spun on her heel, looking much like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. How could she have missed him standing there?
"N-no it's okay," she said with an involuntary shudder "I'm not really hungry." Even to her ears she knew it must have seemed like she was lying. The slightly thin drawn appearance of her pale skin gave away her hunger for all to see.
Walter smiled at her with a slight twinkle in his eye before turning back to what he was doing. Preparing tea Seras now saw. The shining silver tea set and fine porcelain cups sat ready on the counter to his right.
"Would you like to help me?" he asked with the ease of someone who seemed used to talking to half-starved vampiric girls. "I was just about to begin preparing Sir Integra's evening tea, but I have some time to chat."
Seras looked at him warily for a moment, like a wild cat sniffing the air and flicking its tail in uncertainty before her face brightened a bit. After the week she had had, some friendly company sounded quite nice.
"I'd love to," Seras said, regaining some of her sunny disposition.
"Wonderful," Walter said, handing her a shiny copper kettle. "Would you fill that up and set it on the stove for me?"
Seras did so and turned on the burner to let the water heat, pleased to do something so mundane and human.
"So, Mister Walter. How long have you worked for Hellsing?" Seras ventured, tossing out a nice safe line of conversation. Walter's warm laughter washed over her as he finished setting the dainty tea cakes Integra rarely ate on the platter.
"Quite a long time," He said finally, sitting down at the well used table in the corner.
"That long huh?" The young vampire said, hoping to glean a bit more information as she sat down across from him.
"Oh yes, that long indeed. You see it all started around world war two..." He leaned
forward on his elbows, tenting his fingers as his eyes gained the kind of mist one gets in them while reminiscing of long ago.
"Surely you can't be old enough to have served in world war two!" Seras said a little shocked. Why that would make him at least... she mentally started counting off the decades.
"Well I was little more than a boy then. But my particular talents gained the eye of Hellsing, who recruited me to fight against some of the tougher axis midians..."
Seras leaned forward, captivated as always by a good war story. Her grandfather had told her many in her youth, and his tales of no doubt embellished heroism had helped contribute to her desire to be a cop. A modern day hero one might say.
"Midians? Do you mean vampires? Like as in, Nazi vampires? Wow that sounds almost like the topic of some bad conspiracy novel or video game." Seras laughed as she listened to him reminisce about the "old days". She wondered if it should make her nervous that he seemed to remember killing vampires so fondly. That thought was quickly put on hold as the keening of the teapot brought them back to the present.
"Just let me get that," he said, rising up with a slight protesting creek of his joints he walked over to take the kettle off the stove.
"Would you like some?" he asked as he switched the burner off.
"Can I? I mean, am I able to?" Seras said with more than idle curiosity.
"Well it won't hurt you. Anything liquid should be quite safe for your consumption."
Seras brightened up considerably at this prospect, instantly wondering if ice-cream counted as a liquid. "I'd love some Mister Walter." She said with a hundred watt smile, more at ease than she has been since being turned.
"Just Walter is fine," he said with a slightly less bright but no less endearing smile. With practiced ease he poured the hot water over the fragrant teabags before setting them down on the table to steep.
"All right just Walter," she said happily as she picked up her spoon and poked experimentally at the squishy bag of herbs. The first rule of roper tea was to never "bruise" the teabag, but Seras was anxious for her first taste of anything in nearly a week.
Walter smiled slightly at her exuberance as he set the tea server next to them on the wooden table top. "How do you take your tea?" he asked her in a very butler-like manner. He had always been of the firm belief that the way a person took their tea was a testament to their personality. He of course took his plain, like a proper British man.
"Sugar and cream please," she answered just as he expected she might. The sugar and cream told him she hadn't lost her childish whimsy.
"Ah I'm afraid I've forgotten the cream. Neither Integra nor I ever use it. Would you be a dear?" he asked glancing at the large industrial stainless steel icebox against the wall.
"Of course," the young vampire said bouncing to her feet. She opened the door and quickly scanned the first few shelves, trying to keep her eyes from darting to her nemesis: the red fridge.
"Royal dairy, purple label, it should be near the bottom Miss Victoria." he said with an implacable tone in his voice. Seras 'mmphed' as she bent over to retrieve the hidden half quart of cream, her hand feeling around the bottom shelf until she finally found it.
"Aha," she said as she turned around to present Walter her prize. She raised her eyebrow at him for a second, before realizing what his slightly flustered appearance must mean.
Tomboy that Seras was, she only rarely wore skirts, much less those of the mini variety. She had just been giving the aged Hellsing retainer quite a nice view of her standard cotton whites no doubt.
Seras cleared her throat, straightening her skirt as she repressed the blush that must be staining her cheeks now; even though frankly she wasn't sure if vampires could blush.
Setting the cream on the table next to her tea, Seras sat down with a crooked smile playing at her lips. She wondered vaguely if the older man had somehow planned this.
"So," Seras fumbled, pulling out the teabag and stirring the contents of the delicate porcelain cup slowly. "tell me more about your younger days. I bet you were quite the rake." She said with a mischievous smile as she dropped her lump of sugar in the cup with a muted plop.
Walter made a funny face that perhaps indicated some of his tea had just gone down the wrong way before clearing his throat again. "I assure you I've always been a perfect gentleman," he said with a teasing tone that lead one to believe his words were not to be trusted on this.
Seras smiled as she took a small sip of the still steaming liquid. The heat of it warmed a trail down her body, and she let out a contented sigh as she began to feel a bit more "human".
"Now now, a man of your years, "she said the word with twisting of her lips "must have had at least a few great romances." she said taking a slightly longer pull on the hot tea.
"Well... I seem to remember this lovely Swedish girl I met in Normandy..."
And so they spent a good while chatting amicably and swapping stories. Seras found the older man to be equally fun to talk with and to tease. She had a feeling they would have stayed there into the night if Walter hadn't suddenly remembered he had forgotten to bring Sir Integra her tea. He apologized profusely as he hopped up to re-warm a cup before dashing off.
Seras giggled as she nearly skipped back to her room, happy to have found a friend.
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... I feel like I'm finally starting to fit in a
little better at Hellsing. Having made at least
one friend, perhaps this will help me segue into
making a few more.
I found Walter to be open and honest and all
together charming. And while he does look me in
the eyes when we talk, I have a feeling he might
just not be a breast man. He reminds me a bit of a
proper stuffy librarian who can't help but look at
a young woman and long for his younger days. But
needless to say he could be quite fun to talk to
in the future.
I feel much better getting something warm into
me, but the hunger pains have far from subsided.
I keep expecting Master to pop through the walls
with a pilfered blood pack in hand, or talk
through my toilet again the next time I try to
dispose of said blood. He is kind of creepy, but
charming is a weird sadistic sort of way. Maybe
if he would start using my name I'd listen to him
a bit more often.
Sigh Tomorrow I'm meeting the rest of my
squad. If the guys I met at the firing range are
any indication this likely won't be pretty. Stay
calm Seras, what was it Daddy always said?
"Be strong and look 'em in the eye, don't let them
think they are better than you because you are a
girl. And if all else fails, beat a few of them
up." Daddy was always so protective of me when he
was alive, but he made damn sure I knew how to
protect myself.
I wonder if he ever thought I'd be able to
scare any guy into submission with just a growl.
Well I'm sure I can, not that I've tried it. But
I have been scowling at the mirror an awful lot
trying to get down my menacing look. Seems no
matter what I I just seem to look like a big
fanged kitty. Sigh, oh well. Hopefully I won't
have to kick anyone's ass tomorrow.
-Seras
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I have a ton of ideas for the next few chapters. I'm thinking the next one will be Seras and the soldiers centric. But after that I think an Integra chapter is in order.