i won't sympathize anymore

[suninhades]

Who: Integra and Dean to start, open to all expat Hellsing operatives eventually.
What: Integra returns to hq and is interrupted by a familiar face.
Where: Outside the Helling Guild Hall.
When: A little while after Alucard's post.
Notes: Start new threads as you need to! Otherwise, party post after the initial one.
Warnings: Uh. Dean. And... Alucard.

In the weeks since Integra's arrival to Baedal, she has had only infrequent cause to observe the cohort network. She rarely fraternizes with anyone - new arrivals like herself or natural citizens - outside of work. Despite the name, she certainly doesn't feel particularly aligned with anyone else in the city, and hasn't ever had anything to say to anyone.

It's not unusual.

But the network gets used, if not by her, and so there's a girl on staff that checks for Integra, and alerts her to anything relevant to Hellsing. Said assistant, just moments ago, scurried up with eyes only slightly wide (to her credit), clutching her CiD, and in an almost-tremulously reported: "Mister Alucard has done something."

The things she puts up with. Honestly.

Hellsing's guild hall is a bit of a hike from any of the transport lines, but that doesn't mean it takes Integra very long to get back - and that's where she is now, stalking at a purposeful pace towards the main gate, coat fanned out behind her, expression of stop at your own peril clearly etched on her face.

Comments

[wearyheadtorest]

"Thank you, Sir."

And still, another tiny suggestion that all is not as Dean would like everyone to believe about him--not what he believes himself. The words come out as they should, the cadence as professional and assured as his damn-near-a-swagger stride, but the tone is a bit more honest, genuine, than Dean would normally permit on the job. Usually he manages to hide how emotional a man he truly is. Right now, it's failing him a bit.

But he'll be fine, just fine. Better already knowing that at least on this screw-you-you-got-sent-to-some-crazy-other-universe trip, he's got friends. Work. Even a roof over his head. None of these things is his brother but he can manage that loss better now that he doesn't have quite so many losses as he had yesterday.

"From what I saw getting here, I'm gonna guess there's not a fleet of cars for me to take care of. I'll do whatever else you need around here."

[suninhades]

"Cars are quite rare. You don't happen to know how to ride a horse, do you?"

A little flippant - she rides, of course, and has since childhood. Her one allotted hobby, permissive only due to career relevance. Suddenly, Integra comes to a stop, watching Dean with a slight frown on her face. To one side, through arched windows, there's a courtyard; the fountain in the center is old, moss-covered and cracked.

"I can ask you if you're all right."

Her heart's in it, but her heart doesn't ever get to make decisions. That nagging feeling - her senses dealing with this sort of thing already out of touch, strained and forced having to cope with Seras; she wants to be supportive of Dean. But her delicate emotional handling is a bit like a sledgehammer. It's not the nicest gesture to go shoving that on someone without warning, so - well. Perhaps it's the thought that counts.

[wearyheadtorest]

"A horse? No, but I can learn."

For once, Dean is not being flippant. While he may be from Kansas, he's no farm boy, so there weren't horses around. But he is a fan of old Westerns. He's seen everything Clint Eastwood ever did and he can recite a good portion of those films from memory. Horse-riding seems like an awesome thing to learn.

His approving reverie is broken by her question; it catches him enough off-guard that he doesn't have time to come up with a suitable amount of cover.

"I've been better," he admits. "I lost a lot back there, in Bete Noire. Being here--" he means this building, this organization-- "that'll help a lot. I do better when I've got work to do. Never was much of one for laying around and dwelling on stuff. But I'll be fine. And you don't have to worry about me on the job."

[suninhades]

The look she gives him is level - something almost compassionate, just hard-edged, like the rest of her. "I've never once considered worrying about you on the job."

It's the other things. His brother. His father. His human heart. Things she understands but can't articulate like a normal person - but perhaps they both understand that, pleasant childhoods considered. She has faith in him as a hunter because of it; work is life. There's no getting out - but then, for Integra, there's no wanting to either.

And then she nods, as if that moment sums it all up and makes it Fine.

Time to yank open the door to her office and scream at Alucard.