Who: Ruby and Marcel What: Meeting after the Ren Faire plot When: August 16 Where: Streets + Tea Company Rating: low
This was not the first time that she woke up as someone else for a week. That last time she had thought herself someone from the 80s who was in a punk rock band. In both times, it seemed as if the Dome was making up for her lack of a father figure by giving her one. When she returned to normal, the memories of Marcel remained and it was always a little surreal. She remembered Ty too and she made a mental note to talk to him too, but today she found herself trying to seek out the man who was her father for a week. The thing was, she realized she had absolutely no idea who he was in Madison. This meant that Ruby was simply walking through town hoping to come across him at some point.
Marcel went for a walk to go get himself coffee this morning. He’d been out when the Dome changed everything to Elizabethan Europe. Today he planned on visiting the grocery store for a few staples, namely coffee. But not until after he managed to pick up blood.
“Ruby?” he asked when he noticed his not daughter walking ahead of him. Marcel realized the latest Dome shenanigans made him miss Davina. A lot. Even knowing she remained safe at home with Kol, the vampire missed his surrogate daughter. So the Dome made him feel those things more acutely now with everything back to normal.
She jumped just a little, but turned and offered a smile that was perhaps a little awkward since she had no idea who Marcel was in real life. So many of them had been very different from the 80s that Ruby learned it was hard to tell. “Um. Hi. Marcel, right?” Unless he had changed his name too. “I was… -” Was it weird to say ‘looking for you?’ This never got easier. “- Thank you, I guess is what I wanted to say.” Nope, still awkward. Ugh.
“Yup. I’m Marcel.” He noticed the jump and kept it in mind to not accidentally sneak up on her. Marcel waited for her to figure out her next words.
“Hey, you were great to have as a daughter. I’m glad to meet you here.” Marcel offered his usual smile.
“So, would you like to grab a cup of coffee?” She seemed like she wanted to chat and Marcel could certainly afford to buy her coffee. Or anything she might drink.
It was weird to say those things, right? And yet, also nice to hear. While she knew her parents wouldn’t have given her over to the government like they did if she hadn’t accidentally erased all existence of herself in their mind, it was still nice to hear someone had wanted her for a short period of time.
“Actually, yeah, that’d be nice. If you have the time.” Though he was offering so she assumed he did. “It’s weird going back to reality with new memories, right?” It was for her, anyway.
“I definitely have time.” Marcel smiled. “Are you more of a Starbucks girl or a Madison Valley Tea and Coffee girl?” The vampire didn’t really care, since they both had pros and cons.
“It’s weird. I already reached out to Ty and …remembering being someone’s father, however briefly, made me realize maybe someday I’d like to be a father. Although I doubt any kid I had would be as fun as you two.” And Davina, although he didn’t add that part.
“I like both, but Madison Valley is usually quieter.” So if they were going to talk, it would probably be a better choice. Plus helping local, right? Not that it was clear if any money they spent at the bigger stores went elsewhere, really. Thinking how economics words in a Dome was just a headache inducing as if you tried to figure out how they got groceries.
“I haven’t reached out to him yet, but he was the first time I had a brother here… Madison did this once before while I’ve been here. Everyone got sucked into the 80s.”
Marcel started to walk in the direction of her choice. They had better pastries anyway and he could go for a cookie with his coffee. He didn’t want to think about economics in this place. They gave him a headache back home and here? No.
“How was it being sucked into the 80’s?” he asked. Marcel held open the door for Ruby and followed in behind her.
“Well, if I was going to have fake kids, I’m glad it was you two.”
“You don’t find it weird?” She meant about temporarily being related. “Just I guess that you were forced into a family you didn’t really ask for.” She supposed, right after she said it, that parents didn’t really get to pick their kids in real life either.
“The 80s was… interesting? I was the singer in this punk rock group. I had piercings and everything like that. But it was nice to have a father there too.” She didn’t have that normally.
“I was rescued from slavery as a boy by Klaus Mikaelson. My definition of weird changed a lot upon the revelations that werewolves, vampires, and witches exist. My surrogate daughter? I saved her from being sacrificed. So no. I didn’t find it weird.” Honestly, he kind of missed the two.
“I could see you as a singer in a punk rock band. Did you play any instruments?” Marcel ordered his drink and pastry, waiting to pay after Ruby placed her order.
It was only the mention of Klaus in combination with slavery that Ruby’s mind started to realize that Marcel, perhaps, was older than he looked. No one really screamed vampire here, after all. Maybe she’d be more worried about it if she hadn’t been his daughter for a week.
“That’s a lot.” She had a lot too, but not in the same way. There were no supernatural creatures in her world, only kids with powers. “No, I just sang, but I made a few friends from the girls who did play the instruments, so that was nice.” She smiled, though it dampened a little. “Not everyone was as fortunate, though. Some people had a rough time after we came back… it might be the same now too.”
Marcel would never look older than the day Klaus turned him into a vampire. A choice he made that Klaus reluctantly accepted. Besides, she had nothing to worry about, since the vampire didn’t hurt kids and considered Ruby one at this point.
“I bet you sounded fantastic. Do you sing?” Marcel found he wanted to get to know Ruby a little better and the question made sense to him. “I’m glad you made friends.”
She hadn’t expected the question even though it seemed obvious once it was asked .”Oh, um. Well, I can, I guess -” She actually had a great voice, though Ruby wasn’t used to speaking well of herself. She definitely wasn’t used to ‘selling’ herself. “Usually only in my shower, though. The idea of being up on stage with so many eyes on me - it makes me feel…. In danger?” She grimaced. “Sorry, that sounds dramatic. I guess what I mean is it’s not really stage fright and more just something from back home.”
Marcel nodded in understanding. Not everyone felt comfortable enough to sing in public. “I’m sorry it makes you feel in danger. But, no, I don’t think it sounds dramatic. I’ve learned in this place how strange various worlds are.”
He smiled at the young woman, hoping to make her feel more at ease.
Ruby nodded, feeling a little better that he didn’t either think she was insane or over dramatic. It was nice. “There’s definitely a lot of different worlds here that are… kind of intense. In a morbid way, it’s kind of nice to know it’s not just mine, you know?” Did that make her a bad person? She had no idea.
“I’m lucky to have my boyfriend from home here… not that I’m sure what he did yet last week.” She was a little worried about it, actually, but she tried not to think too negatively about it. “Guess we’re all going to have stories now.