Duncan MacCloud (_highlander_) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2016-12-19 11:11:00 |
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Reyna didn’t know Duncan very well - he being new to Madison Valley and to the boarding house - but it hadn’t taken long for her to realize that he and Methos had a History. Reyna didn’t pry. Duncan seemed the taciturn type, and Methos - for all his garrulous charm - didn’t actually say a lot about himself. As someone who kept secrets of her own, Reyna understood the value of being unobtrusive. So long as those secrets didn’t threaten the safety of the town or the people she cared about, she was willing to let them lie. It was a pleasant surprise, then, for Duncan to invite her to decorate the boarding house with him. It had been a long time since Reyna had decorated for Christmas, but she was looking forward to it. And since Duncan had offered hot chocolate, she’d stopped by Horst’s to pick up some cookies before heading back to the boarding house, where she followed the string of lights to the tree Duncan had brought back. “No vermin,” she remarked. “That’s an encouraging start.” *** Duncan wasn’t so much as getting used to it here as he was accepting the fact that he was here. Knowing someone went a long way to help with that, and despite how much of a hard time they gave each other, Duncan liked Methos. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have experience sharing a roof with him, and the boarding house was a lot bigger than the houseboat. Having kids around was something that was new for him. Duncan adapted, however. It wasn’t that difficult. He just treated them as he would anyone else. As equals and friendly. He didn’t push for anything. If they wanted to talk then he was here. Today Reyna was going to join him in decorating the house for the holidays. He had everything staged and ready. The tree was in its stand, and the milk for the hot chocolate was on a low heat and holiday music was playing softly from the stereo. He chuckled when he heard Reyna come in and smiled to her as he was untangling the garland. “As promised.” *** “It looks like you’ve already made a good start,” Reyna said, looking around the room. Even though the tree wasn’t decorated and none of the lights were set up, all the decorations, along with the smell of chocolate and the sounds of Christmas carols, made it feel festive already. This was what people must mean by having the Christmas Spirit. Reyna, who’d never been a huge fan of Christmas simply because she hadn’t been raised to think of it as anything special, couldn’t decide whether to be alarmed or amused. She was game to help out, though, if only for good boarding house relations and getting to know her new housemate better. “How do I help?” *** Duncan was an easy person to get to know. He was fairly laid back, calm and quiet for the most part. He tried to be friendly without being overbearing, and generally trusted people until they gave him a reason not to. So the smile he gave Reyna reflected all of that. “Well,” he said as he looked around. “A good start would be to attempt to untangle the strings of lights. Somehow, no matter how careful you are when you put them away, they always end up in knots.” *** Reyna obligingly sat down in front of the tangle of lights, but frowned when she realized just how intertwined everything was. “There has to be a better way of storing these so they don’t get tangled,” she muttered as she carefully eased the ends in and around the loop to free up the lights. She wasn’t an engineer, though; she wasn’t sure how she would do it. But someone, somewhere, ought to be able to. *** “Well,” Duncan said through a sigh. “I’ve been doing this for a very long time, and I’ve tried every gadget and idea there is and all I’ve learned is that no. There really isn’t a better way.” He chuckled as he walked over to the service side bar to retrieve a cup of hot chocolate then brought it back. “Here,” he said as he held it out to Reyna. “At the very least this will help as the frustration sets in.” Then he went to take up the task of untangling the fake garland which was infinitely more frustrating than trying to untangle the lights. “So tell me about yourself. Where are you from?” *** “Thanks,” Reyna murmured as she accepted the drink. She took a sip and paused for a moment, marveling at how good it tasted. Reyna’s tastes weren't exactly Spartan; she allowed herself to enjoy the tasty things in life. But there was just something about real hot chocolate that couldn't be matched by anything else. She set down her cup on a nearby side table before returning to her task and answering his question. “I was born in Puerto Rico, if that's what you mean,” she said. “But my home is Camp Jupiter, where Caesar’s Twelfth Legion Fulminata continue to protect his empire - and the world - from monsters and other threats.” *** Puerto Rico Duncan had heard of. He’d even been there a few times, but the heat didn’t suit the large Scotsman. However, the rest of her explanation was lost on him. Duncan blinked before turning a confused, if bland, expression to Reyna. “Caesar’s what now?” His brows came down into a puzzled frown. “I’m afraid I haven’t heard of that.” *** “They also called us Paterna or Antiqua,” Reyna said. She was still focused on untangling lights, although she was almost there. “Caesar formed the legion in 58 BC for the war against the Helvetians. After the Empire fell, the Legion lived in and eventually moved to America.” Finally completing her task, she held up the string of lights to show Duncan and lifted an eyebrow inquiringly to see where he wanted them. When she spoke, however, it was to ask, “Are you like Methos? He actually lived through the Roman Empire.” *** All Duncan could do was stare as he listened to that. This young woman casually untangling light strings was apparently from the Roman Empire. That made her older than Duncan. Methos was going to just love this, damn it. “Uh…” he stammered as he blinked back to himself. “Yes. I’m like Methos, but I’m not quite that old.” He smirked a bit awkwardly. *** “Very few people are,” Reyna said, smiling at him. Having been entrenched in the history and culture of the Legion, she didn’t realize she often talked about it as if she’d been there from its conception, when she was in fact a very mortal sixteen years old. It was usually the revelation of who her mother was that took people aback. “Where do you want the lights?” *** Duncan pulled it together quickly then gestured toward the archway. “I thought we could put the garland and some lights on that. Maybe some mistletoe.” He gave her a wink as he moved the step ladder to the archway. Everyone liked mistletoe. Duncan had no doubt that Methos would put some anywhere and everywhere anyway. “How long have you been here?” he asked as he climbed the ladder. Better him possibly breaking his neck than her. He would recover at least. “I’ve heard there are people who have been here for years.” *** “Who would be the mistletoe for?” Reyna asked as she handed Duncan one end of the garland he’d just untangled. Unless he had a secret desire to kiss Methos, she wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate. She was the only girl in the boarding house at the moment, and she wasn’t looking to kiss anybody. Even Percy. Especially not Percy. “I haven’t been here that long. Around a year.” She kept a cautious eye on him as he arranged the garland. Though he was much bigger than her and seemed to know how far he could push his center of balance, she was ready to catch him if necessary. “How are you settling in? Do you know anyone other than Methos?” *** “Whoever wants it, I suppose,” he answered with a smile shot her way. No, he had no secret desire to kiss Methos. The very idea would send him into peals of laughter. Not only was he not attracted to men, but Methos? They’d drive each other insane in under a day. “A year seems like a long time to be away from home,” Duncan said as he secured one end of the garland in place. Even if he did fall he would make every effort to not land on Reyna. He would be afraid of hurting her. “Oh, I’m coming to terms with the place. It’s certainly not the strangest place I’ve been to. Strangest circumstances, but 18th century France still holds the record of the weirdest time and place.” He came back down the ladder so he could move it over. Some people might have tried to hop it over, but Duncan was far more cautious than that. Methos might say far less fun. *** It was fine with Reyna, who was all about getting things done in the most effective way. She stepped back to allow him space, still holding the garland to keep it from tangled up again. “Mostly I’m worried about what’s going on back home,” she said. “We were in the middle of a war when I was brought here. And I wasn’t exactly raised to be a normal high school student.” “What was so weird about France?” she asked, feeding him more garland as he worked on this new section. “And is it rude to ask how old you are?” *** “Front what I understand no time passes back home while we’re here.” Duncan climbed back up the ladder to secure the next length of garland. “No one will miss us and we go back to the moment we left with no memory of this place. It seems weird to me.” He couldn’t help but chuckle for her questions. “Have you seen any of the paintings from 18th century France? The clothing wasn’t exaggerated.” And he really wasn’t going to get into an explanation about Libertines with a teenager. “No, it’s not rude at all.” Duncan turned a smile down at Reyna. “I’m roughly 400 years old, a child compared to Methos.” *** “It does seem impractical,” Reyna agreed. Especially the women’s clothing. She wondered how demigods fought monsters with such giant skirts. Maybe they were easily discarded and thrown over the monsters’ heads to obscure their vision. That was the only reason why Reyna would wear one of those things. “You must’ve still seen a lot in the past 400 years,” she noted. Remembering what Methos had said about Duncan’s ideals, she continued, “What were some highlights?” *** The highlights? War after war. Losing loved ones and friends. Sure there had been fun times, the fascinating people he had met, adventures. But danger too. Always having to look over his shoulder for the next immortal who wanted to lop off his head. For him this was kind of a personal question. Duncan wasn’t going to be rude, however. Reyna had asked an honest question, and curiosity should never be quashed. “Oh, uh. Well.” He had to come up with one real quick. One that wouldn’t be too personal. “I met some of the artists that are considered masters back when they were first starting.” *** “I met Blackbeard,” Reyna offered as she gave him the next stretch of garland. “That wasn’t so much a highlight as it was something I hope never to do again.” Again she spoke as if it were a perfectly natural thing to discuss. It helped her a little to do so; by speaking of it as if it were no consequence, it helped her distance herself from the feelings that accompanied those years. *** For Duncan this was a perfectly natural thing to discuss. There had been a number of times when he and another immortal had sat down with a bottle of wine and did the name drop through the years game. He chuckled since he’d met a few pirates in his day as well. “I can imagine. I had a few meetings like that myself. I tried to put them from my mind. There.” He’d finished with the garland then came down from the ladder to step back and admire his handiwork. “What do you think?” he asked Reyna. *** Reyna looked up at the garland festively festooning the doorway, and she smiled. “Perfect.” It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. |