Chapter Text
The approaching dusk was near silent. It was a fitting end to a rather eventful past couple of days. Each night as they traveled farther and farther from the castle, they seemed to be encountering more and more night creatures, all seeming to be trying to find their way back to the castle. After this evening’s particular crowd of demons, the pair found themselves to be quite tired.
Luckily, this bunch wasn’t terrible. The horde consisted of a few hell-hound type creatures with large fangs and even large claws, who went down after being smacked on their sides by the Morningstar whip and impaled with ice, a couple a few jet black things with wings, who hid near perfectly in the darkening forest, if it wasn’t for Sypha catching them all on fire immediately, and one very annoying and very large reptilian type creature who Trevor could only describe as “one ugly bastard”, who he was currently attempting to take down.
This creature was nearly five stories high and despite it’s large size, seemed to move very fast and hardly have much of a blind spot. It’s claws were dripping with some sort of translucent liquid that appears similar to water, but more thick and gel-like. As Sypha was finishing off the last of the pitch-black winged demons, Trevor was attempting to distract (and hopefully kill) this giant thing.
A large, scaly, clawed hand swung down on top of him and Trevor quickly evaded, rolling to the side just as he was smacked with the creature’s spiked tail coming from the opposite side. He was thrown against the ground, hard. He let out a loud groan in pain as the creature turned to face him. In a blur, he saw the glimmer of fangs coming down at immense speed as the night creature attempted to crush Trevor within its jaws.
Ducking at the last moment and dodging the creature but little more than a hair, he spun and swung his short sword upwards, straight into the bottom of the creature’s jaw. The edge of the sword pushed through, until the tip of the sword broke through the creature’s upper jar, and a pool of blood surrounded him as it poured out of the wound. It wailed in agony.
Leaving the sword in, Trevor ran around just as the onslaught of claws came to destroy him. He quickly reached for his Morningstar and swung it up, the tip igniting in a bright burst of fire-red, and then back down, landing right on their monster’s head. The creature fell to the ground instantly, as the life started to fade from its eyes, but not before a last minute swing of it’s glistening claws.
Although Trevor moved fast, he wasn’t fast enough. The creature’s last attempt to land a blow on the Belmont was successful, and a singular ooze-covered claw scraped right against the flesh of his upper thigh, all of the way down to the top of the knee. The cut wasn’t large, and hardly bled. But one look at that gel substance and Trevor knew he was in trouble. Poison.
The creature went limp, succumbing to it’s wounds, and Trevor turned around, watching Sypha extinguish the flames throughout the many corpses laid out around her. She looked over, and smiled, noticing the creature was dead. And for a moment, Trevor smiled too. He turned to face her, and that movement was what did him in. The second the muscles in his leg moved but an inch, the substance had taken hold, locking it in place, and causing him to crash to the ground, face first.
“Shi-”
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The sun had set. Or perhaps, rose and then set again. Or were they in a cave? Could it be a dark room? Whatever it was, all around him was pitch black, although he was certain his eyes were open. He moved his eyes side to side, trying to get them to adjust. Nothing. He tried to move his eyelids, wink, blink, something, but nothing. He then realized that there was warmth all around him.
He was somewhere warm, soft, and oh so comfortable. Okay, this couldn’t be so bad. As he tried to move, searching for answers as to where he was, he realized that he couldn’t move. Not just his eyes, but every part of him. Even a singular finger would refuse to lift. He tried to focus in on his surroundings and felt a light breeze against him. Perhaps he was outside? He sensed no movement, so he wasn’t at sea or in the wagon, unless the wagon was still, which was possible.
Then, his ears decided to work. Alright, so he can feel, but can't move or see, but now he can hear, that’s not so bad. Someone was talking in a voice so recognizable to him. He heard it clear as day. The words, not so much, they might as well have been speaking complete nonsense, but the voice, yes, it had to be Sypha. He would recognize that voice anywhere. That helped ease him just a bit. Sypha was there, so it must be not too terrible. With this, he let himself relax. He didn’t feel any pain. In fact, everything about this felt, dare he say… nice.
Warm, cozy, laying down somewhere with Sypha where it was probably night time and probably outside. Nothing hurt, nothing matters. This wasn’t so bad, he repeatedly thought, but that was about it. Other than that, his head felt completely hollow. His mind was just as fuzzy as his hearing, so unclear and vague. The only thing that was clear to him was that they were somewhere away from the castle, cause that’s what he remembered. Her head resting on his shoulder, the casual banter while killing hordes of demons, the quiet conversations at night…. Yes, it was slowly coming back. He let out a long exhale as he settled in.
At this, the sound (which he assumed was Sypha), changed it’s tone. And now, there were hands on him, on his chest. There was pressure as well, on his chest. The feeling was that of her head laying against him. This was something he had felt before and God he loved that he was feeling it again. Everything about her just felt so… nice . He felt a rumble coming from her and he figured that her head was pressed against him and she was talking. Was this an incantation of sorts or a spell? The vibrations of her words were comforting. But what was she saying?
It was hard to get himself to care or try to do everything as he just felt so nice all over. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so weightless. Well… that one time that they slept together was nice… God, he’d love to do that again, to do anything like that with her again. Although, since they have started traveling together, he’s been afraid to confront her about it. He was overwhelmed by his fears of messing it all up, which he thought was bound to happen anyway, but he'd like to delay it, if at all possible.
In fact, he'd like to delay it as much as possible. One of these nights, he was going to grow a pair and make a move. He knew exactly what he'd do to. He'd hold her hips firmly in his grasp, God how he loved that. The sensation of her body moving under his touch was intoxicating. Her wanting him so badly as she did that night made his head spin. As much as he enjoyed their travels thus far, these demons better take a break one of these nights so that he could bed her instead of just flopping onto their blankets and passing out from pure exhaustion.
He parted his lips and let out a breath once more, sighing contently as pleasant thoughts of her swam around in his blurred mind. Everything about her was lovely. The way she fought like it was a dance, the confidence in her movements and strikes. Her easy gaze, the feeling of her soft hair in his hands. How smooth she felt as his hands traveled down her curves, settling at her waist. The movement of her body against his. He felt himself slipping farther and farther away, lulled into sleep by memories of her…
It was interrupted by a fluttering in his chest, and he felt a rush throughout him and even a tightness in his pants. Within his chest, he felt her head rise and fall softly and his chest moved up and down. It seemed very slow, very laborious. The subtle thump of his heart beat, just a bit too slow, became noticeable.
Then, Sypha’s head was gone, its weight removed from his chest. They were replaced by hands, one on his chest, feeling the movement, the other on the side of his face, cradling it gently. He felt his head turn under the guidance of her hand and her voice became very close, and very loud.
Was she okay? Was she yelling? What was she yelling about, the monster was dead, he killed it himself!
Oh.
He remembered.
They were trying to settle in for the evening, parked the wagon, fed and watered the horses, letting them graze on the grass closest to the pond as Trevor sat on an old fallen tree. He remembered that it was dusk, and they were debating on what to eat (some dried meat, and also some bread and cheese), but decided it could wait, as the night creatures were sure to come soon. They opted to wait until after they inevitably showed up before they ate. He could recall grasping his whip as he heard them approach.
His fingers twitched just a bit. He could feel Sypha tugging against his limp body.
The image of the horde, dashing across the clearing came into view. They were all small, and none looked too hard, this would be easy.
His lips quivered into a smirk. Her voice was sharp and quivering, but he still couldn’t make out the words.
All of a sudden, he recalled how this great big ugly-ass thing stumbled out of the woods. One look and Trevor knew this particular group of night creatures would be a bit more of a hassle. He helped with a few others while the thing came barreling towards them. He gave a nod to Sypha, and she understood, pushing the rest of the horde away as Trevor approached the creature. He led it away from Sypha and took out his whip. He called it “one ugly bastard” as it raised its claws. Thick ooze came from them and Trevor narrowed his eyes and studied the creature, knowing he’d best avoid that if at all possible.
He felt his eyelids tense as they cracked open, being flooded by something bright. Sypha’s hands were cupping his face. The extremely blurred shape of her started to come into view. Her hands were so soft, her orange hair illuminated brightly. He felt his eyes relax and start to close once more. She held him so gently.
Then, not so gently.
A brisk slap.
He sat up. His breathing was ragged, his whole body feeling stiff and sore. There was a stinging feeling on his cheek and a pounding feeling in his chest. His ears were ringing and he groaned loudly.
“Trevor!” Sypha called out. Slowly, he opened his eyes all the way and saw her next to him. Her hands were illuminating with a golden light, and she was holding him, one hand on his chest, and the other on his chest. Staring down at the glowing light coming from her, he felt entranced. It felt so indescribably nice. Trevor then realized that he may have taken a bit longer than he should have to respond, as suddenly Sypha was grabbing his face and forcing him to look at her.
When their eyes met, he froze. She was crying. Slowly, he raised a hand and pressed it against her cheek.
“Hello.” He breathed out, his throat dry and his voice very rough.
“You idiot…” She groaned. To his shock, she pressed her lips against his. This felt better than whatever magic her hand was producing previously. This felt like flying. It didn’t last nearly as long as he would have liked, and when she broke away, she embraced him. “I thought you died.”
He was confused at first, until he saw that she had her ear pressed to his chest, hearing his heartbeat. She continued to look over him, making sure he was okay. Apart from being very sore and now extremely groggy and ready to sleep for a day or two, he felt just fine. And he assured her of this, pausing her movements by holding her hand.
He met her gaze and held in. “Sleeping poison,” Trevor mumbled. Her eyes grew large. “It’s how a night creature can disarm its victim before it kills it. Puts someone in a deep sleep. Pretty fucking unnecessary if you ask me. Did you see the claws and teeth on that thing?”
“A sleeping poison…” Sypha repeated, eyes wide. She seemed to be still processing it all. Her arms wrapped around him as she brought him into an embrace once more. “I thought your heart stopped. And your breathing. It looked…”
“Yeah. That sounds about right.” He finished, bringing her close, looking away. A sigh escaped from them both and Trevor held Sypha firmly to his chest, an unspoken apology, as he was not sure what was right to say. He looked around, noticing the sky was dark, but it didn’t appear that much later than he last remembered it being. “How long was I out for?”
“Not long, thankfully. A few minutes at most.” Her voice was muffled as her face was pressed against him. Trevor snickered and pulled her away to look at her face once more.
“A few minutes? You mean you got all worked up over a few minutes? You’re insane.” But this was a poor choice of words. He froze. Her expression quickly changed from worried to angry.
“Oh! Well so sorry for worrying so much about you! Sorry for trying to bring you back from the dead when I thought your heart stopped!” Standing up, Sypha balled her fists, enraged as she spat at him. “You are so rude, AND you call me insane for trying to save your life!”
Sitting with his legs crossed, feeling the tight pull of his still tired muscles, he watched her, dumbfounded, with no idea what to do or what to say. He’s never had a situation like this before, not where he actually really cared and wanted to stay with the person who was yelling at him. Did he deserve it? Yeah, kinda. Did he like it? No, not really.
He was totally lost, and unsure if there was any word in the English lexicon (or any language really) that could improve this situation. But after all, words were never his specialty.
“God Trevor, is it that hard for you to believe that someone cares about you?!” She snarled. Trevor clenched his jaw, watching as she huffed and puffed. Tears welled up in her eyes just a bit, and he could tell she was trying hard to hide it from him, turning away. He gulped. What now?
So, he did the only thing that came to mind. He rose to his feet, walking slowly on stiff legs over to her. He reached out a hand, cautiously approaching her, fingers grazing the fabric of her robes. But she didn’t reject it. She had crossed her arms, and refused to look at him, but he could see her bottom lip tremble slightly. A wave of some strange new feeling came over him as he slowly wrapped his arms around her.
Nervously, he brought her into his chest. As her body relaxed, she sighed, leaning her weight against him and dropping her arms. His chest dropped to rest on her shoulder. The night was so still, so quiet. For the first time, in perhaps forever, he actually wanted to stay with her. He just didn’t know how.
“Yes, it is.” He whispered, lips kissing gently against her neck. She appeared to contemplate this for a moment, and he noticed her brows furrow as she tilted her head just enough to catch his eye. He smiled at her.
This shared moment spoke volumes. No more words were spoken, but they weren’t needed. Sypha, although being from a culture that revolved around the spoken language, using it pretty much exclusively, was learning to communicate to him in the way that he knew best. She turned in his arms and he looked down at her, feeling a sudden nervousness about their close proximity.
A blush grew heavily across his cheeks the moment her fingers began to graze over his rough stubble. Wordlessly, she understood him just enough to forgive him. All the things he wanted to say were right there, resting at the tip of his tongue. But for whatever reason, they just wouldn’t come. The past few nights were rough, and this last battle had taken its toll on them. They were both so drained and exhausted, ready to have called it a night before the sun even set.
But yet, here they were, holding each other in the moonlight, attempting to understand one another with actions alone. Alas, the Speaker could not remain speechless for long, and she broke the silence by chuckling lightly.
“I knew traveling with you would be interesting, but this is something else entirely.” She teased. He let out a soft hum, his arms still around her as his gaze nervously flicked away.
“I am quite the disappointment.” He said with a shy smile. Although, Sypha thought there were truth to his playful words. But she’d play his game.
“Yes, I am very disappointed that the renowned monster hunter of the Belmont family couldn’t take down a single night creature without fainting.” Her voice was heavy with sarcasm. Trevor chuckled.
“Renowned, am I?”
“Not after this last disappointing performance.”
“I thought I did quite well! I killed it, and even managed to sneak in a quiet nap.” Trevor smirked as he continued to tease. Sypha playfully slapped his arm, but her false anger quickly dissolved into a shared laughter with the hunter. When their laughter subsided, Trevor cleared his throat, stepping away.
“Ah, listen.” He started, looking at the ground and kicking a tiny rock around with his foot. Sypha turned to face him, but he avoided her, focusing on the ground instead. He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. “About that, I’m sorry, I just am really not used to people fussing over me and quite frankly, it’s…odd.”
He drew in a breath as he faced her. She watched him, a tiny grin on her face as she watched her poor Belmont open up to her. “It’s going to take a while for me to get used to it, s’all...” He ended with a grumble, looking away again. He gritted his teeth, reflecting on his utter lack of human connection before her.
In his mind he continued with If I am even capable of getting used to it . After being alone for so long, he honestly wasn’t sure if this, whatever it was, would last. He was bound to screw it up eventually, right? But Sypha wasn’t able to sit by and watch him as he yet again began to crumble inwards on himself. Standing by his side, she took his hand firmly.
“I suppose I have some things to get used to as well.” She began. Trevor perked up and glanced at her curiously.
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, I’ve hardly been with a man, with the exception of one singular encounter before you.” Trevor hummed in response, trying to recount how many drunk or stupid encounters of his own he had had. Drunken tramp he thought darkly. “But I also am getting used to traveling with just you, and being able to use my magic freely, without the constraints of being with the Speakers. I have so much more I can learn and do now that I can practice as I please.”
He nodded, but yet again, no words came to mind. His mouth dried up completely. There were so many things that he could say, but what was right to say? What would she want him to say?
“Trevor, I am also learning how to understand you.” She added, her voice sweet and gentle. “I want to get to know you, and I know you have trouble letting people in, but I mean what I said. I want to be with you.” He sighed. She stood in front of him now, leaning into him, trying to meet his eye. He couldn’t deny her any longer.
Fuck it, he thought, and he pressed his lips to her. In a sloppy mess of tongues and wandering hands, they pressed their bodies together, speaking their truth with each sigh and moan. After some time, when they broke apart, the exhaustion finally caught up.
“Let’s go to the wagon.” Sypha said, her chest still heaving as her heart pounded. Trevor raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
“Yes. To eat.” Sypha nodded. He raised an eyebrow. “Some of that bread before it goes bad.”
“Oh.”
“And then…” Her voice trailed off as she grabbed him by the hand and led him towards their shared wagon. “We’ll see where the night takes us. I, for one, would really be interested… in getting to know you better…if you know what I mean.”
He was better with his actions anyway.