Chapter Text
"Hold this please." Lisa passed a jar to Trevor and continued to move about the small laboratory. "It's so nice to have someone to assist me in this. Adrian hasn't had the time in years."
She hadn't been working in the castle for years either. Lisa had firmly established herself within Lupu, and she had done some good for that little town and the ones surrounding it. She didn't regret her choice, but excitement flitted through her chest at being back in the labs she had initially learned in. Soft smells of aged wood and books, and the harsh tang of chemicals brought her vividly back to the first months she spent with Vlad. Electrical lights granting everything a bright, unearthly glow, large hands gently handing over ingredients and flipping through delicate pages, and a deep voice in her ear, patient, methodical, and in time, loving.
When Lisa walked back, she placed several books in Trevor's arms as well. "Alright, I think that's all. For now." She giggled at the pained look on Trevor's face.
"What do you need all this for anyway?" He followed obediently behind her as she lead him out of the veritable maze of shelves.
"I've been reading up on the pox. From what I can tell, it may be possible to counter it, though it would have to be weakened first, and introducing it to the body would be a disaster of course. It seems there was research done for that weakening a few hundred years ago, though I haven't been able to get much of it other than mentions of 'I talked to someone who talked about it' in some of these texts. So I- Oh dear, I'm sorry. I'm rambling aren't I?"
Trevor shrugged. "It's fine."
"I can see the distant look in your eyes," Lisa said, and tsked gently. "You keep forgetting that I raised an intelligent but mischievous young man. I can tell when you've stopped paying attention."
"Er, right." Trevor's cheeks pinked. Lisa's smile spurred him to continue. "This has never really been my thing. Researching."
"Oh, that's alright. And I do appreciate you helping me out. Just here please." She gestured to a table to set down her items. "I don't mind explaining my process to you though. Sometimes speaking helps me work through my thoughts."
"If it helps I guess." Trevor plopped down on a nearby seat and rested his chin in his hand.
"Wonderful, thank you."
For what felt like thirty minutes Lisa bustled about, utilizing her microscope to inspect the tissue samples and subjecting them to various concoctions of her own. She took notes, both aloud and in a journal. The whole time, Trevor listened. He zoned in and out of attention, but he didn't fall asleep, at least. He even offered a few "go on" noises as she spoke.
Finally, as she was boiling another mixture, waiting for it to coalesce into a separate alembic, she turned to Trevor with another subject.
"My son seems happy today." Which was an understatement, if she was being honest. Since the night Lisa had found the boys spending time together, Adrian as a wolf, her son had been slowly growing more cheerful; He hummed to himself while working, a rarer occurrence since he'd grown into the body of a young man. Lisa thought she had every right to be curious. At Lisa's statement, Trevor blinked and sat up from his slouch over the table. "I assume the other night went well?"
Trevor mumbled a few nonsense noises, but looked around as if shy. "Sure. I guess?"
"He's quite fond of you." Lisa hid a smile behind her hand as Trevor ran his own down his face.
"Everyone keeps saying that." He sounded bewildered.
"Perhaps because it is true," Lisa asserted. "We all are, you know."
She rounded the corner of the table to place a hand on his back. She felt and heard Trevor's small chuckles.
"Don't think Dracula's particularly fond." Lisa sighed.
"Vlad is... not the best at expressing his emotions outside of family. I can tell by his actions though. He really is coming to like you." Lisa laughed at the skeptical expression she got. "He's rather like you, in that way."
"What? We're nothing alike," Trevor said, crossing his arms.
"Oh, of course. Two strong men who don't need emotions. Of course, yes, yes." She patted his back and smiled at his attempt at a glare. The hunter had an uncanny ability to look like he was pouting every time. Lisa thought he probably wouldn't appreciate yet another comparison to her husband, even though it was adorably funny.
She patted his back one last time and returned to her alembic to check on the process. How to convince Trevor of her sincerity, as well as her husband's. Adrian, it seemed, had a head start on them both. Hmm.
Well, for now she had other things to do.
"This looks like it's almost done. Trevor, can you fetch me some dried St. John's wort?"
He looked around in confusion, so Lisa pointed him towards some nearby shelves.
"The third shelf up," she said. "It should be labeled. Bring a sprig, if you would."
Trevor lifted himself up and ambled over to the shelf. After shuffling through the materials for a few moments, he made a grunt like he'd found it, and Lisa heard him opening and closing the jar.
"Thank you dear," she said as she took the offered sprig from him. "I've actually been meaning to ask how your travels have been. I've heard some from my son, but what do you think?"
Trevor rubbed at his neck as he sat down. "There's about the expected number of assholes."
Lisa let out a startled bark of laughter. "I suppose they are all frightened."
"No shit. One of them threw water at me. Not sure if it was supposed to be holy water or what."
"Oh." She reached across the table to pat Trevor's hand. He was stubbornly not looking at her. "It's alright. I appreciate all that you've been doing. You can't account for some people, ah, being assholes."
Now Trevor startled into laughter, the joyous sound spilling out of him even as he watched Lisa with wide eyes. She joined him, glad to have taken some of the dark cloud away. His sheepish expression came back as his laughter slowed.
"Ah, to be fair, I did antagonize the man more than I should have. According to Adrian, anyway." His final sentence sounded too defensive to not pry into.
"How so?" she asked.
"I may have, uh." Trevor coughed, a smile both guilty and mischievous crawling across his face. "I may have shrieked when it hit me and pretended to die on the ground."
Lisa threw her head back and laughed, full and hearty. What a troublesome child Trevor was.
"You forgot to mention that you took God's name in vain multiple times and cursed the man to the pits of hell."
Lisa looked over at the door to see her son had just entered the room. Adrian was clearly trying to look condemning, but the tilt to his head was distinctly amused.
"Adrian!" Trevor hissed.
"Really Trevor," Lisa said, stifling giggles, "that's a bit too much, don't you think?"
Trevor shrugged. "Maybe. Or he deserved it."
Lisa shook her head, but she did take note of her son's expression--placid and accepting, with no crinkle in his forehead to disagree. Interesting. In that case, she would respect their judgement.
"I see. I apologize. I knew not all of my contacts would stand up well to the pressures of the church but..." Lisa felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.
Her son smiled down at her. "It is not your fault, Mother. We don't blame you." Out of the corner of Lisa's eye, Trevor was nodding in agreement.
"Thank you." She patted Adrian's hand. "Now, while I am happy to see you my son, I presume you had a reason for coming down here?"
"Ah, yes." Adrian turned to Trevor. "Since we will be leaving for Rhodes soon, I thought a test run would be helpful to get you used to the method of travel."
"Where's Rhodes?" Trevor asked, standing up with a stretch.
"It's in Greece." Adrian ignored Trevor's shocked "What?" and continued, saying, "We will have to take a transmission mirror. I assume you've never used one, so this seemed the opportune time to get you accustomed to it. It shouldn't take long. An hour, perhaps."
"Go on then," Lisa said. She grabbed both boys by the shoulders and pushed them towards the doors. "Finish up your business. Trevor, thank you for your help."
"Yeah," he said, scratching at the scar over his eye. "It's no problem."
"Then I will have to ask for your assistance again." Trevor made a sound of assent. Lisa smiled as both boys walked out the doors and she caught the start of a conversation between them.
Adrian asked, "Why don't you sound so enthused when I ask you to train?"
"That isn't training," Trevor responded, "that's constantly falling to the ground and getting my tunic dirty."
"Which is your own fault."
"Not when you're pinning me!"
"It wouldn't devolve into wrestling if you used proper form!"
Lisa shook her head and went back to her medicine. Those boys would figure it out sooner or later.