How injured? Are you gonna be able to walk when weβ [ Johnny cuts himself off at the noise, however strangled, Alucard makes upstairs. He feels adrenaline beating through to his very fingertips, heart rate climbing even though nothing's endangering him.
He looks around; no clear switches or anything on the ceiling or walls. But then as he listens to the rest of what Alucard says, through the haze of panic and wanting to have someone else answer all his questions and figure this out, Johnny is still noticing the way some of this stacks up. ]
If it's meant for youkai, or friends of them... Maybe they would want you alive to torture you for a while. Get information or some sort of desperate barter out of you... But this is a house. People lived here. There's gotta be a release switch. They wouldn't let someone rot in their upstairs....
[ Johnny is fretfully going back and forth downstairs, looking for hints and coming up empty-handed. The idea of leaving to find help doesn't even enter his head.
He comes back to the stairs and looks up them. Maybe twenty steps. It has a banister, wooden and old, but it seems sturdy. He reaches out and touches it, and then tugs with purpose. It creaks but doesn't budge visibly. ]
I'll look at it. [ He declares, determined. He sighs and then reaches out with both hands for the banister and, gradually while he waits for his body weight to shift with his movement, stretches out from his chair.
He can still engage his core just fine β honestly if anything he's even more in tune with it now than after years of horseback riding β and there's only the light thud of his numb, limp legs slamming into the stairs as he ends up hanging from the banister. He's gripping it like he's on monkey bars, and begins sliding one hand and then the other further up along the banister, tugging himself along...
Of course, dragging his lower half with him makes for quite an odd series of bumps as he goes, ignoring it since it doesn't hurt him except to upset his balance as he drags his knees off the floor and onto their first step. ]
Bold to assume this place used to be a home to people. ( something about it... perhaps it really used to be a residence, maybe there was a time when people used to live here, imprinting their day to day moments into the space, laughing and ruminating and existing. logically, arguably, it's possible...
but Alucard looks over the space and can't shake the feeling that it is, instead, more satirical than that, designed to blend in and disarm someone of their healthy caution. perhaps repurposed from what it used to be, reassigned, stolen away just as they all had been to become this dumping ground for undesirable youkai. Tatsuo can't build an impression on any of it beyond her displeasure at being here.
especially now that they're trapped here within it. Tatsuo knows her flame can do nothing against metal while preserving the safety of the host...at least, not comfortably, anyway. but she also knows he's been stripped of his ability to fully survive something like an unconventionally brutal escape; such is the exchange of being given a vehicle to survive. there has to be something else...
but then, there's a sound that cuts through Alucard's thoughts, creaking, thudding, that's been rolling rhythmically through the air for what he realizes has been some short amount of time. he looks up from the trap, brow furrowed and temple gleaming, to the direction of the stairsβ )
βJohnny? ( Alucard straightens his back, craning his neck for a view that still won't be granted to him, adrenaline ringing in his ears. what's happening? what could be climbing the stairs, and how did Johnny not alert him to it? )
[ What, does Alucard seriously think this entire house, maybe even multiple of the houses - hell, most of the town - might be some sort of front? That's a pretty wild guess, although it's also one that's letting Johnny's imagination run wild with theories about how it could or couldn't be plausible...
...All of which is stuff he'd totally be commenting on, if he wasn't concentrating on carrying himself up the stairs with just his arms. This would actually be easier if he was hanging directly from a beam or something to cross a river. Instead, each time he has to drag his lower body up a step, his own body offers up some level of resistance to the idea. He's making progress, and it's pretty fast considering the fact that he's not just hopping up the stairs two at a time, but twenty stairs' worth of space is still taking him a little bit to ninja warrior his way past. ]
Yeah, [ he grinds out when Alucard calls his name. Alucard sounds...paranoid. Maybe he's more injured that he's letting on? Johnny can't imagine a bear trap is being kind to a human leg. ] 'm coming.
[ And he is. Johnny's hands will appear in view first, one reaching left, his weight switching arms, then the other reaching left, moving maybe half a foot at a time, having to hold himself parallel to the banister with sheer strength one-handed while he shifts each hand.
He's breathing a bit heavier, now, but Johnny doesn't complain as he finally has his head in sight of Alucard. He glances over and - yeah, the other guy sure is kneeling on the floor, one leg at an impossible angle that Johnny hopes means it's just disappearing into a false floor and not broken at that point.
As he clears the last bit, Johnny lets go with his forward hand and instead places his palm on the second story floor, leans towards it, and then finally lets go with his far hand and catches himself in a loud heap before he face-plants the floor. ]
...Fuck, [ softly, but with feeling. His legs are still on the stairs. He'll drag himself the rest of the way in a second.
God, he's going to have so many bruises to discover on his legs next time he bathes... ]
( for the disconcerting lack of logic that's going on right now, Johnny's response is curt and nearly nonchalant. shortly, Johnny's hand step into view on the banister of the stairs, one by one, slowly unveiling arms dragging their body of ownership along, which in turn reveals-- )
Johnny!( if you were hoping for Alucard to sound heartfelt and excited, well...he's unfortunately not. ) Are you insane? The banister could be compromised; do you want to end up like me? ( Alucard's heart is now racing to attempt an escape of its own, right out of his body; for being his knight in shining armor, he suddenly feels as if he's in more danger than before. ) You need to traverse as if every inch of this place is designed against you, lest you wish for the both of us to become permanent fixtures to it.
( Alucard sounds nearly panicked, yet something behind his eyes shines differently; it's a good thing that he has Tatsuo as the backdrop to his thoughts these days, fiercely intelligent as he is, he's still so young of mind. his alarm boils up to anger, but the wolf has thoughts of her own, seeing the selfless valiance of a man refusing to sit idly behind a lack of ability. in fact...Alucard might not be thinking of that display so forwardly, the knowledge of it definitely settles in the pit of his chest. Johnny should have gone out to find someone to help them both; instead, the ridiculous man has thrown himself right into the fray...and for what? to help him?)
[ Johnny can't say he was expecting Alucard's endless gratitude - this is not his one and only friend from back home, after all, and even Gyro would probably have something negative to say about a rescue this haphazard - but this is not a decision Johnny makes entirely lightly. It is dangerous and he should leave, except for all that little factors that added up together into him staying put.
He's curious about this place too. His youkai, for all its faults, emboldens him about what he could theoretically dig himself out of. And perhaps just the smallest shred of humanity, stretched out to a man that's shared a few clever insights with Johnny even if they've never really gotten along--
And then Johnny gives an attempt and that attempt is marked as falling dreadfully short, and what little scarred tissue that makes up his self-esteem takes the brunt of that disappointment. ] Because being careful really kept you safe, [ he snarls, although it comes a half-beat after his expression is openly stricken and hurt. He's already shoving it aside in favor of aggravation.
Johnny's still catching his breath, but he presses himself up enough to drag himself forward and then turn around to sit on his ass, facing the stairs, so he can pull his legs up off the steps with his hands. ] Besides. In theory, I can fly. But the jackass in my head only wants to help if my body is in danger.
So I need to be the one to help you, but if I got caught, I'd just put on my mask and let that demon-thing give me enough power to break out. [ He says this like it really was his plan from moment one and like it makes perfect sense, as he flips over to look over Alucard and the rest of the room at large, one initial scope for clues. ]
Exactly. If I still managed to fall into a dreadfully mundane trap such as this, then I don't want something to happen toβ ( Alucard trips on his unprecedented words, just as Johnny argues his heroic logic. part of him expected Johnny hadn't thought this through, but that idea doesn't settle entirely well; he's impulsive as hell, dangerously so, but he isn't...stupid. Alucard knows that.
but what truly snaps his voice out of his throat is what he realizes he nearly says. it isn't 'I don't think you're capable,' because even if he didn't think so, Tatsuo would never allow him to say it. what it is...
I don't want something to happen to you.
and that sits strangely in the pit of his cold stomach, and he can't understand why the concept matters so much. it's...natural to feel that way about someone you're partnered with for safety. is it his pride? because Alucard only came here to make sure Johnny wouldn't hand himself in danger, and only wound up doing that for himself?
Alucard is made to surface from a submersion he didn't realize he'd slipped into, eyes awake and hard as he blinks into the present, looking at Johnny. sweat has his hair sticking to his temples, pain wandering through his body in waves. self-aware remorse bends his expression, but they don't have time for him to try to walk his own ass through unprepared apologies. )
βYes. ( they need to focus on this first. Alucard swallows and looks back over to the half-crumpled rug. ) I attempted to move it to check for any trap, but it seems it was a trigger to another.
Not my brightest idea. ( but what else could he have done? if anything, it might have triggered either way, and wouldn't it have been worse not to bother checking an obvious detail? ) I didn't notice anything obvious under the rug; I'm not entirely sure the mechanism is hidden there with it.
[ 'I don't want something to happen to--' and it rings between them, awkward and obvious and hard to avoid looking at. Johnny just stares, eyes wide and not able to hide how hard it's hitting him to read the rest of the implied sentence. Offense at being offered help when he doesn't need it is so easy to feel and so familiar by now, but it doesn't cover the full extent of his emotions about being offered anything. And this isn't help, but a brief hint that Alucard cares--
Johnny swallows, hard, and sits up taller, shoulders back entirely because his body urges him to give in to how tired he now feels. ] Okay. So leave the rug alone.
Whatever releases it, it would be wherever the people controlling it would want to be standing, or reach for. So they wouldn't need to turn their backs to get to it, but it would be far enough away that something the size of any random youkai couldn't reach it...
Or. [ Johnny looks back over at Alucard. And damn, he doesn't look great, sweating and breathing heavier, but he doesn't look like he's about to pass out and Johnny can't do anything about it until they get the trap to release anyway, right? So... ] Or maybe it's not a...physical release?
Wouldn't exorcist humans have magic, in a place like this?
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How injured? Are you gonna be able to walk when weβ [ Johnny cuts himself off at the noise, however strangled, Alucard makes upstairs. He feels adrenaline beating through to his very fingertips, heart rate climbing even though nothing's endangering him.
He looks around; no clear switches or anything on the ceiling or walls. But then as he listens to the rest of what Alucard says, through the haze of panic and wanting to have someone else answer all his questions and figure this out, Johnny is still noticing the way some of this stacks up. ]
If it's meant for youkai, or friends of them... Maybe they would want you alive to torture you for a while. Get information or some sort of desperate barter out of you... But this is a house. People lived here. There's gotta be a release switch. They wouldn't let someone rot in their upstairs....
[ Johnny is fretfully going back and forth downstairs, looking for hints and coming up empty-handed. The idea of leaving to find help doesn't even enter his head.
He comes back to the stairs and looks up them. Maybe twenty steps. It has a banister, wooden and old, but it seems sturdy. He reaches out and touches it, and then tugs with purpose. It creaks but doesn't budge visibly. ]
I'll look at it. [ He declares, determined. He sighs and then reaches out with both hands for the banister and, gradually while he waits for his body weight to shift with his movement, stretches out from his chair.
He can still engage his core just fine β honestly if anything he's even more in tune with it now than after years of horseback riding β and there's only the light thud of his numb, limp legs slamming into the stairs as he ends up hanging from the banister. He's gripping it like he's on monkey bars, and begins sliding one hand and then the other further up along the banister, tugging himself along...
Of course, dragging his lower half with him makes for quite an odd series of bumps as he goes, ignoring it since it doesn't hurt him except to upset his balance as he drags his knees off the floor and onto their first step. ]
no subject
but Alucard looks over the space and can't shake the feeling that it is, instead, more satirical than that, designed to blend in and disarm someone of their healthy caution. perhaps repurposed from what it used to be, reassigned, stolen away just as they all had been to become this dumping ground for undesirable youkai. Tatsuo can't build an impression on any of it beyond her displeasure at being here.
especially now that they're trapped here within it. Tatsuo knows her flame can do nothing against metal while preserving the safety of the host...at least, not comfortably, anyway. but she also knows he's been stripped of his ability to fully survive something like an unconventionally brutal escape; such is the exchange of being given a vehicle to survive. there has to be something else...
but then, there's a sound that cuts through Alucard's thoughts, creaking, thudding, that's been rolling rhythmically through the air for what he realizes has been some short amount of time. he looks up from the trap, brow furrowed and temple gleaming, to the direction of the stairsβ )
βJohnny? ( Alucard straightens his back, craning his neck for a view that still won't be granted to him, adrenaline ringing in his ears. what's happening? what could be climbing the stairs, and how did Johnny not alert him to it? )
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...All of which is stuff he'd totally be commenting on, if he wasn't concentrating on carrying himself up the stairs with just his arms. This would actually be easier if he was hanging directly from a beam or something to cross a river. Instead, each time he has to drag his lower body up a step, his own body offers up some level of resistance to the idea. He's making progress, and it's pretty fast considering the fact that he's not just hopping up the stairs two at a time, but twenty stairs' worth of space is still taking him a little bit to ninja warrior his way past. ]
Yeah, [ he grinds out when Alucard calls his name. Alucard sounds...paranoid. Maybe he's more injured that he's letting on? Johnny can't imagine a bear trap is being kind to a human leg. ] 'm coming.
[ And he is. Johnny's hands will appear in view first, one reaching left, his weight switching arms, then the other reaching left, moving maybe half a foot at a time, having to hold himself parallel to the banister with sheer strength one-handed while he shifts each hand.
He's breathing a bit heavier, now, but Johnny doesn't complain as he finally has his head in sight of Alucard. He glances over and - yeah, the other guy sure is kneeling on the floor, one leg at an impossible angle that Johnny hopes means it's just disappearing into a false floor and not broken at that point.
As he clears the last bit, Johnny lets go with his forward hand and instead places his palm on the second story floor, leans towards it, and then finally lets go with his far hand and catches himself in a loud heap before he face-plants the floor. ]
...Fuck, [ softly, but with feeling. His legs are still on the stairs. He'll drag himself the rest of the way in a second.
God, he's going to have so many bruises to discover on his legs next time he bathes... ]
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Johnny! ( if you were hoping for Alucard to sound heartfelt and excited, well...he's unfortunately not. ) Are you insane? The banister could be compromised; do you want to end up like me? ( Alucard's heart is now racing to attempt an escape of its own, right out of his body; for being his knight in shining armor, he suddenly feels as if he's in more danger than before. ) You need to traverse as if every inch of this place is designed against you, lest you wish for the both of us to become permanent fixtures to it.
( Alucard sounds nearly panicked, yet something behind his eyes shines differently; it's a good thing that he has Tatsuo as the backdrop to his thoughts these days, fiercely intelligent as he is, he's still so young of mind. his alarm boils up to anger, but the wolf has thoughts of her own, seeing the selfless valiance of a man refusing to sit idly behind a lack of ability. in fact...Alucard might not be thinking of that display so forwardly, the knowledge of it definitely settles in the pit of his chest. Johnny should have gone out to find someone to help them both; instead, the ridiculous man has thrown himself right into the fray...and for what? to help him? )
no subject
He's curious about this place too. His youkai, for all its faults, emboldens him about what he could theoretically dig himself out of. And perhaps just the smallest shred of humanity, stretched out to a man that's shared a few clever insights with Johnny even if they've never really gotten along--
And then Johnny gives an attempt and that attempt is marked as falling dreadfully short, and what little scarred tissue that makes up his self-esteem takes the brunt of that disappointment. ] Because being careful really kept you safe, [ he snarls, although it comes a half-beat after his expression is openly stricken and hurt. He's already shoving it aside in favor of aggravation.
Johnny's still catching his breath, but he presses himself up enough to drag himself forward and then turn around to sit on his ass, facing the stairs, so he can pull his legs up off the steps with his hands. ] Besides. In theory, I can fly. But the jackass in my head only wants to help if my body is in danger.
So I need to be the one to help you, but if I got caught, I'd just put on my mask and let that demon-thing give me enough power to break out. [ He says this like it really was his plan from moment one and like it makes perfect sense, as he flips over to look over Alucard and the rest of the room at large, one initial scope for clues. ]
...Was the trigger under that rug?
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but what truly snaps his voice out of his throat is what he realizes he nearly says. it isn't 'I don't think you're capable,' because even if he didn't think so, Tatsuo would never allow him to say it. what it is...
I don't want something to happen to you.
and that sits strangely in the pit of his cold stomach, and he can't understand why the concept matters so much. it's...natural to feel that way about someone you're partnered with for safety. is it his pride? because Alucard only came here to make sure Johnny wouldn't hand himself in danger, and only wound up doing that for himself?
Alucard is made to surface from a submersion he didn't realize he'd slipped into, eyes awake and hard as he blinks into the present, looking at Johnny. sweat has his hair sticking to his temples, pain wandering through his body in waves. self-aware remorse bends his expression, but they don't have time for him to try to walk his own ass through unprepared apologies. )
βYes. ( they need to focus on this first. Alucard swallows and looks back over to the half-crumpled rug. ) I attempted to move it to check for any trap, but it seems it was a trigger to another.
Not my brightest idea. ( but what else could he have done? if anything, it might have triggered either way, and wouldn't it have been worse not to bother checking an obvious detail? ) I didn't notice anything obvious under the rug; I'm not entirely sure the mechanism is hidden there with it.
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Johnny swallows, hard, and sits up taller, shoulders back entirely because his body urges him to give in to how tired he now feels. ] Okay. So leave the rug alone.
Whatever releases it, it would be wherever the people controlling it would want to be standing, or reach for. So they wouldn't need to turn their backs to get to it, but it would be far enough away that something the size of any random youkai couldn't reach it...
Or. [ Johnny looks back over at Alucard. And damn, he doesn't look great, sweating and breathing heavier, but he doesn't look like he's about to pass out and Johnny can't do anything about it until they get the trap to release anyway, right? So... ] Or maybe it's not a...physical release?
Wouldn't exorcist humans have magic, in a place like this?