Who: Miriam and Caius When: Thursday, Nov 16, lunchtime Where: The Boathouse Status: Complete
The previous day had been interesting for Caius, to put it mildly. It wasn’t until he’d woken up in Reagan’s bed -- technically his bed too, he supposed -- that he realized just how differently he’d felt all throughout Wednesday. All those reservations about things moving too fast or risking Reagan’s feelings because he wasn’t sure what his own were, all of those had seemingly disappeared. They came back full force in the morning, but he’d still had breakfast with his wife and let her kiss him goodbye. They hadn’t talked about anything they’d done, and maybe that was for the best. For now, anyway.
He’d had a pretty busy workday, since the tree-lighting was the next day, but Caius found himself with a lull in his schedule around lunch time. He hadn’t been seeing much of his mother by design, and guilt was starting to creep in about that. He could almost feel her worried disapproval like a psychic pressure. So he’d called her up to see if she had some free time and wanted to meet him at The Boathouse for lunch. Miriam had accepted, and Caius was a bit relieved. He did love his mother, he was just going through a very confusing time that he knew hearing the details of would worry her. And wasn’t one of the main rules of life that one shouldn’t worry one’s mother?
In any case, he knew he was going to have to talk to her and answer questions, so he tried to mentally prepare for that as he went over to the restaurant and got them the usual D’Onofrio table in the back. Caius gazed out at the gray clouds and the darker ocean out the big window thoughtfully while he waited.
While Miriam didn’t talk to Caius on a regular basis, not hearing from him in the midst of what he was going through had made it clear he was avoiding her. She’d called and texted, but he’d always had an excuse not to see her or talk for more than a minute or two. And while she didn’t blame him, the lack of knowledge was almost more worrisome than the details. She trusted her husband on most things, but Anthony was closed-lipped when it came to things magic-based. Sometimes she accepted it, but this was her son.
Miriam was a familiar enough face at The Boathouse that she was immediately directed towards their usual table. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” she told Caius a she arrived, knowing she wasn’t late, but pleased to see that he was on time. She hugged her son before taking a seat, and ordered herself an ice tea before turning her focus on her son. “Your father’s hardly been keeping me up to date. How are you doing?” she asked, not sure how to make pleasantries in this situation. It seemed so superficial to talk about the weather.
Caius stood to greet his mother as she approached, giving her a one-armed squeeze back and kissing her perfumed cheek before she moved to sit down with him. “No, just a few minutes,” he assured her as he settled in again. Caius wasn’t entirely surprised that Anthony hadn’t been telling his mother much -- that seemed to be his MO all around. He’d expected the ‘how are you doing’ question, of course, but this time it made him think of the day before and a small private smile briefly crossed his face. He was still confused and mixed up in the head, but that chemistry with Reagan had been undeniable, so that was now a factor. “I’m uh ... I’m hanging in there,” he said in answer, meeting Miriam’s gaze. “It’s all still very unsettling, but I’m making progress on a plan.” ‘Unsettling’ didn’t even really begin to cover it, but Caius was still struggling with how to describe his crisis to anyone at all.
Miriam didn’t know what to expect, but his answer seemed somewhat positive, even though she knew he wasn’t going to fall apart in a public place. He’d had the time to pull himself together, so a plan seemed like progress for sure. “I think anyone would be unsettled, to say the least,” she said with a small smile. “What sort of a plan are you thinking? If you don’t mind me asking.” She hoped he’d tell her something because Anthony wasn’t going to. She wasn’t sure if this was because it was magical or because he didn’t agree with it. If he thought they might butt heads about it, he might just avoid telling her. As much as she loved her husband, there were times when she didn’t appreciate his methods.
He could tell that she was hungry for some sort of answer, and Caius felt a rare moment of sympathy for his mother. She and Sera were both non-magical people, and he was sure his and his father’s world was confusing and intimidating. Sera at least had her friends and social life to keep her occupied, but he had to imagine Miriam had a lot of time to worry. At the same time, Caius didn’t want to show his hand too much; maybe it was part superstition, like he might jinx it, maybe it was paranoia that someone would overhear, maybe it was just his taciturn nature. He took a deep breath and glanced around, then leaned in a bit closer. “Now that we know who Baron’s descendants are ... I’m going to get their family grimoire from them. There should be something useful in there that can help us reverse this spell.”
“I thought they weren’t practicing,” Miriam said, glad that she knew at least a little bit about what was going on. She’d known the McCarthys were witches, but Brianna being a witch was definitely something new. It was something she wanted to ask her about, but also knew that it was a sensitive subject, especially if her abilities were new. It also wasn’t something to ask in passing at the gym, but maybe over drinks. She suspected Brianna could use a drink. “Do you think they’ll let you see it? Would they even have one after all this time?” She wasn’t sure how that worked. Would you pass down your spells if you weren’t planning on ever using them?
“They have it somewhere,” Caius said with absolute certainty. Anybody who knew what they had in their hands wouldn’t get rid of a grimoire, especially not one with what was certainly a treasure trove of powerful spells. Brianna McCarthy might not know what she had, but he was willing to bet that James did, and he couldn’t see James throwing away something so valuable. Whether one of Brianna’s ancestors did it years ago was another thing. Caius would find out sooner or later. “They’re not practicing, at the moment, and it’ll be difficult to convince them to give me access, but I’m sure I can do it.” He had a pretty foolproof way of making that happen now, but that wasn’t something he really wanted to share with his mother. Or much of anyone. Caius gave her a little smile. “It’ll be okay, Mom. I’m going to fix this. All the way.”
Listening to her son, Miriam knew without a doubt that Anthony’s influence was there. She didn’t know how, but the confidence that he could make someone else give up something valuable, that had his father’s name written all over it. It worried her, what he might be getting into, yet at the same time she wanted him to have his life back. He and Reagan had just gotten started, finally, hadn’t even had a chance to sell his house, and while they hadn’t had the big wedding that she’d hoped for him, she’d still expected the very best for their future. With his memory gone, that was all up in the air and she wasn’t sure how interested he was going to be in fixing something he couldn’t remember. At least there was that. “Just don’t do something you might regret,” she said carefully. “I’m glad to hear you want to fix it. I don’t blame you, and I want it too, but…” Her fingers drummed on the table. “Just be careful.”
Unless things went really, really wrong, Caius couldn’t imagine regretting getting this problem taken care of. He desperately wanted -- no, needed -- to have his full mind back. It even went beyond Reagan and their relationship. Currently, Caius wasn’t whole, and he needed to be for his own sake. Surely the McCarthys could understand that? If it came down to having to explain it to them, that was. Manipulation seemed like the easier option from where Caius was sitting, but he would be honest if he had to. “I will be,” he assured Miriam with another small smile. Caius reached over to cover her hand with his own for a moment. “I’ll work it out. You don’t have to worry, okay?” Caius knew she would worry anyway, that was what mothers did, but he didn’t need her stressing out about things she had no control over at all. “I’m doing better, Reagan and I even ... reconnected a bit, yesterday. It’ll be fine. Just a hiccup.”
Even with all the reassurances, it was hard not to worry, especially for someone that didn’t know what the limits of magic really were. Sometimes it didn’t seem like there were any, depending on the witch, but she knew that couldn’t be the case. If this were an easy fix, Anthony would have set things straight by now. It did help, however, that Caius seemed confident about it all, and that he sincerely looked like he was doing okay. “You’ve been seeing Reagan then?” she asked, hopeful. They’d had a rocky relationship, but she knew they made each other happy and hoped that they’d be able to make things work. “How is she holding up? What does she think of all this?” She’d love to have a better relationship with her daughter-in-law, where she could ask her these questions herself, but now seemed like an odd time to try and build that bridge.
‘Seeing’ Reagan wasn’t exactly accurate, and Caius had to suppress another private little smile as he thought of the fun they’d had the day before. All afternoon and evening long, more or less. He certainly felt a lot more satiated than he had before, that was for sure. Caius wasn’t even sure what had come over him, but he didn’t regret a single second of it. As far as he knew, neither did Reagan. He couldn’t exactly say that to his mother, though maybe that would make her feel better about the whole situation. “We’re working together on the problem, and I’ve been... trying to get to know her again, I suppose you could say. She’s unhappy about all of it, but I don’t think she’s telling me honestly how she is all the time,” he admitted, sitting back a little in his chair. “We’ll both be happy when it’s all over, I’m sure.”
Miriam wasn’t sure which of them was in the worse spot— Caius, who couldn’t remember Reagan, or Reagan, who had to deal with her husband forgetting her. She thought it would be troubling for Caius, but emotionally exhausting for Reagan. At least Reagan was a capable witch, at least as far as she understood it, and Caius’ abilities hadn’t been impacted by his loss of memory. “If you could break the curse together, you can handle this,” Miriam said with a little smile. “You’ll figure it out and someday you’ll look back and laugh about it.” At least she hoped that would be the case.
As uninformed as she was in general, it was nice for Caius to have his mother’s support, and he gave her a genuinely pleased smile. “That’s the hope,” he agreed. He might not remember breaking the curse with Reagan and setting all of this memory loss bullshit into motion, but he’d more than gathered that she was a talented witch, and he was glad to have someone with talent on his side for all of this. Their waiter, seeming to sense the natural lull in conversation, arrived to take their orders. Caius made sure to order a drink, even though it was only lunch, just because he felt like he needed one. “So how are things with you?” he asked once they were alone again, some wry amusement in his tone.
Miriam ordered herself a glass of tea with her meal, saving the wine drinking for later in the evening. On another occasion she might have made a comment about Caius drinking in the middle of the day, but with what he was going through she thought she understood. Or understood as best she could. “Things are fine,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Your father’s been busy with work and I’ve been working on some of the upcoming holiday events. We’ve been planning the Christmas gala and that sort of thing. Plus, the tree lighting ceremony’s tomorrow. You’ll be joining us for Thanksgiving this year?” She assumed that would be the case, but it was only polite to ask.
Ordinarily, hearing about things like holiday events bored Caius to tears. He had to do enough event organizing at work, he hated to hear about it all on his off time. But right now, considering all the other crazy shit going on in his life, it was kind of soothing. Like there were still normal things happening in some places. “Yeah, I’ve been working a lot on that one since I got back to the office,” he commented about the tree lighting ceremony. It was going to be nice. Caius hadn’t overseen every detail, and he was glad that he had a good staff to pick up the reins while he’d been out ‘sick.’ It had all come together fine, luckily, so he expected it to be a success. “Of course I will. Nowhere else to be.” Caius gave his mother a faint smile.
“I know this time of year it’s really one thing after another, but it keeps me busy,” Miriam smiled. She lived for this kind of thing, the festivals and the parties, the charity events and social hours. It gave her something to plan and that was something she was good at, organizing an event to perfection. She knew it wasn’t Caius’ favorite thing, but he was good at it as well. For a second Miriam considered asking her son if Reagan might be joining them, but considering where they were now, she didn’t want to push. If he was comfortable asking her, then she would always be welcome in their home. “I know Christmas is a good while away, but start thinking of how you’d like to celebrate. I know Sera always likes when you’re home.”
Both of his parents were very good at organization and planning, otherwise the family wouldn’t have been as successful as it was. Caius was glad for it on some level, they had instilled good skills into him. It just wasn’t what he loved. If he could make a legit living solely off of magic, Caius would do that. He supposed he could, but he’d been poised since birth to inherit his father’s business empire, so that was what would ultimately happen. “I’ll be thinking about it,” he said agreeably. Caius knew he wouldn’t be able to really make a decision until he knew how the second half of this curse turned out. He couldn’t remember how he and Reagan usually spent holidays, but he would imagine it would involve spending some time with both families. “I’ll definitely see you guys, no matter what. Hopefully Reagan will too,” he added with a little smile. Their drinks arrived, and Caius took an immediate sip from his. He’d been drinking too much lately, for obvious reasons, but he felt like he was entitled. “Speaking of Christmas, any ideas on what Dad might want? Or you?” Caius gave her a little smirk.
It really gave Miriam hope to hear Caius mention Reagan, even when she knew nothing was certain at this point in time. It meant that he was thinking towards a positive future, one where this whole curse mess had been solved, and that he wanted it enough to pursue it. That was what she’d been so unsure of, that he wouldn’t want it enough. Caius was strong enough to succeed at anything he put his mind to. “Let me think on presents a bit. I know your father’s impossible to buy for,” she said. “I’ll definitely get you a small list before next Friday so you can take advantage of the sales. Your sister’s always easy to shop for. If there’s anything specific on your list, be sure to let me know.” Miriam liked to think she did a good job at picking out gifts for her family, but it always helped to have a starting point. Their food arrived and Miriam turned the conversation to topics a little less personal, giving her son a reprieve. She would still worry about him, but that was her job.