"I never imagined that it might extend to the need for blood."

It seems obvious having said it, of course, but Alucard's never required it for survival. Only at times, or to learn how to do it and do it safely in the first place. His fingers close around the neck of the bottle, brushing over Lenore's for a fleeting moment.

He knows the feeling of hobbies? though. He had an idle life of dabbling, then had to devote himself to a grim purpose, only to be lost and unmoored with the situation around him changing. It was hard to find something to occupy himself again. To make anything have meaning.

So Alucard is especially quiet when Lenore explains her role in Carmilla's court and the ripple effect it has on her life. Administration. Soft power. The delicate need to deal with people and personalities, and in that there is some half formed concern that this too could be a front. A year ago, he'd be sure of it and trying to find a way out.

"All of that counts," he says when Lenore finishes, because who is Alucard to speak of not combining work and hobbies? "Do your reading interest focus on vampire works only, or humans as well?"