Who: Caius and Anthony When: Late afternoon, Thursday January 4 Where: D’Onofrio Management Offices Status: Complete
With the holiday season finally behind him, it was easier for Anthony to focus on other aspects of his job that didn’t directly revolve around the marina. Caius was doing a good enough job with the events, but Anthony had properties to look after as well. It was mildly distracting to be at work when he knew something strange was going on with his wife, but the world continued to turn and he couldn’t put his company on hold while he tried to deal with it.
He was in his office when Caius texted him to find out his location. Anthony responded and then went back to his computer. Given Caius didn’t generally reach out to him unless he had a question, or the need to discuss something important, Anthony fully expected to see his son shortly. Perhaps he found a solution to Reagan’s problem. Perhaps he was angry that Anthony had yet to find anything remotely helpful. Maybe there was some other fucking problem that no one could figure out on their own. In any case, Anthony would listen to whatever Caius had to say and hope that it wasn’t anything too inconvenient.
When Caius eventually walked into his office, Anthony had already poured himself a scotch and was sitting back down behind his desk. “Help yourself,” he told his son, motioning to the wet bar as he put his phone on mute as not to get interrupted during this impromptu meeting.
As he left the Morettis’ place, Caius sent a text to his father, not sure if he was at home or the office at this point in the day. He got an answer back fairly quickly, and made his way to the Management office. He let himself into Anthony’s office and shut the door behind him. He’d gone through a gamut of emotions while he was driving, not at all sure how to broach this subject with his father. Part of him wanted to sit and have a rational talk and lay it all out, part wanted to storm in demanding information, part wanted to dance around it and see if he could get Anthony to tell him anything without showing his hand. It was familiar territory, at least -- Caius had a lifetime of navigating conversations with the taciturn man, but he couldn’t currently remember one that felt this important and personal.
Caius went to the wet bar and poured himself a drink, then took one of the seats in front of his father’s desk. He didn’t relax though, sitting on the edge of the chair and taking a quick swallow from his glass. “I just came from a very interesting conversation,” he started out, his dark eyes intense on his father’s face. “And I believe you owe me an honest explanation. Can you do that?”
Anthony had been skimming an email that had just come in when Caius spoke. The intensity in his son's tone drew Anthony's gaze away from the computer and after a brief moment, he clicked off the email and focused completely on whatever conversation the two of them were about to have. Anthony had plenty of secrets in his life, plenty of things about himself that no one deserved to know. He couldn't begin to guess what Caius might be talking about, but his very first instinctive reaction was to tell Caius that whatever he had heard was wrong. Anthony swallowed down the words with some scotch and then leaned back in his chair, preparing himself for wherever this conversation might lead. "I'll do my best," he said finally, and with a faint smile. "Why don't you tell me about this interesting conversation."
At least Caius had his attention, that was something. His jaw clenched and he wet his lips, consciously easing up his grip on the glass in his hand. Anthony didn’t tell anyone anything they didn’t need to know, but of course Anthony considered himself arbiter of what everyone around him needed. The more he stared at his father, the more Caius thought there was no way Anthony didn’t know they had demonic blood in them, if what Mila Moretti saw was true. Had that knowledge been the undercurrent to Caius’s entire life, guiding Anthony’s decisions about what to teach him? How could it not? “I went to see the girl, the one with the tunnel entity inside of her, remember?” he started, his voice clipped but quiet. “I wanted to see if it was still there or if she was really free. And she is, but it seems she returned with some extra talents, and while I was looking into her, she was looking into me.” He paused for another quick sip, though his gaze hardly flickered away from his father. “Is there anything you want to tell me, Dad? About the nature of what I -- what we -- are?”
As he listened, Anthony cocked a brow. The Moretti girl. He was curious as to why Caius would think to go check on her, as Anthony didn't think the two had even known one another prior to someone asking Caius for his help determining what was possessing her. His son wasn't exactly brimming with empathy. He was immediately curious as to what "extra talents" Caius might be describing, but Anthony didn’t have to ask, because he knew exactly what Caius was referring to. He knew what the girl must have “seen”. Even being somewhat vague, Caius's question about the nature of what they were was obvious enough to Anthony. "What exactly did she tell you?" he asked instead, because Caius hadn't been specific and Anthony was not about to indulge any demanded information without knowing exactly what Caius wanted to hear.
Rage flashed through Caius, and he put the scotch glass down on Anthony’s desk harder than was absolutely necessary so he didn’t throw it across the damn room. “You know,” he growled between his teeth. “You know exactly what she told me, just like you knew about the curse, and just like you probably know how to fix Reagan. You didn’t raise me to be a fucking fool, and even when I come to you with respect you can’t give me the same. This is my life, Dad, I’m not a child anymore and I’m not a fucking pawn.” He clenched his fists on his knees, wishing he could flip the big desk in front of him over, wishing he could break everything in the office in some wild tantrum, but he knew that would only get him more roadblocks. “Tell me the truth, for once in my fucking life. Please.”
Anthony let Caius vent while mentally cursing that Moretti girl for opening her fucking mouth. The instinct was there to pick up the phone and let the right people know about these new "talents" she harbored that had caused his son to behave this way, but Anthony had to focus on the problem at hand. He could work out his own aggravations later. "I know you're not a pawn," Anthony said calmly. "And yes, I knew about the curse, but I already explained to you why we kept it a secret. As for Reagan... I can't fix her. Believe it or not, I've been trying to find something to help you, but this is unprecedented, even for me." Sighing, he ran a hand over his face and then leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the desk. He looked at Caius intently, trying to stifle his irritation at having this particular conversation here and now. This hadn't been on his terms, and that drove Anthony crazier than anything else. "There's no real good explanation for this, Caius. The power we have... it comes from an extremely dark source. As a young man I sacrificed a lot to be where I am now, to have what I have, and to be able to give you what you have. I've never regretted it. What she saw in you... it's true. But you're not evil. You understand that, don't you?"
For a moment, Caius was sure Anthony wasn’t going to tell him anything. That he would continue to play dumb and ask for specifics about the conversation with Mila. He didn’t actually believe that Anthony had been looking for ways to help Reagan, but that was another matter, and not what he was focused on for the moment. But then Anthony proved him wrong and actually gave him an answer. As Caius listened, his fists loosened and a bit of the anger cooled in his expression. His heart was still beating hard, but for a different reason now. Caius wanted to immediately ask what Anthony had to sacrifice, but he nixed that one a second later. He knew he wouldn’t get an answer to that. “Yes, I understand that,” he said first. Caius wasn’t really concerned with being ‘evil,’ most of those value judgements were points of view anyway. “So it started with you? This isn’t something that just ... runs in the bloodline?”
"It started with me," Anthony confirmed. "But it will continue to run in our bloodline, however long that lasts. Your blood, any children you might have, and so on." He didn't sound remorseful about that fact, because he wasn't. He was bettering the lives of his children, and grandchildren and any other descendants he would eventually have. "Assuming they have magical ability, that is. Your sister isn't affected by this. Only you." He opted not to point out that if Caius chose to have children with Reagan now, there was a possibility that they would be human and nothing more. He was fairly certain his son had already thought about that. What a shame it would be. "But it's part of the reason why you're so adept in dark magic, and blood magic. You can hone those skills without a lot of practice, and there is still so much potential inside of you to do more. And I know you want to do more."
As Caius had suspected, learning about this demon blood made a lot of things make sense, made them finally click into place. Of course he’d taken to blood magic like a duck to water, of course he was drawn to the darker side of everything, of course he could handle having the Obscurities inside of him. No wonder he’d never felt as much as other people, at least not the compassion and empathy and love others overflowed with. He was the first generation of D’Onofrio who had been demon-blooded his entire life. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, quiet now, ignoring the carrot dangled in front of his face. Of course Caius knew he hadn’t reached his full potential, he probably wouldn’t for years to come. But this knowledge, this extra piece, he could only see it being beneficial to his learning.
"I would have, eventually." Anthony shrugged. "It just never felt like the right time. And then you eloped with Reagan and you two have been dealing with enough without this hanging over your head. I never intended for a stranger to tell you." And yes, he was still unhappy about that. Anthony did not like being unprepared for these kinds of conversations. He liked to be in control and he was very much not in control right now. "But it doesn't change anything. You're not about to grow horns. Your abilities are simply... enhanced. Different than other witches. That's it."
Ideally, if you asked him, Caius should have known about this years ago, early into his training, maybe in his late teens. Not ten years later. But he knew better, Anthony had kept him on a tight leash from the beginning. Maybe he’d had more of a reason to than Caius had ever known. He nodded slightly and brought one hand up to rub at his eyes. He didn’t necessarily see this as a negative thing, he just hated that there was yet another thing that had blindsided him. Anthony wasn’t wrong about there having been a bunch of shit hitting the fan in recent months. “And the deal is done?” he asked after a moment, looking at his father again. “There’s not ... going to be some demon turning up on my doorstep to take my firstborn or some shit? We’re safe?”
Anthony had his reasons for keeping this particular piece of information to himself. He would have told Caius about it, but probably not for a while. But what was done was done, and that was that. It just meant Anthony would have to readjust and watch Caius a bit more closely. "No," Anthony said with a chuckle. "Your firstborn is safe. There's nothing for you to worry about, Caius. And now that you know, I think you should embrace it. Maybe knowing will give you some clarity as to who and what you are. There are very few limitations to the kind of magic you could master."
That was a relief, though there was a mistrustful part of Caius that wanted to doubt that anything was fully settled and there wasn’t something else waiting around the corner to bite him in the ass. He hadn’t yet completely wrapped his head around this news about himself, even if it felt right deep in his bones. He knew it wasn’t a lie. He just didn’t know yet how it would change things for him. “Does anyone else know about this?” he asked, still dodging responding to all those tempting implications. It seemed a given that he would embrace and use it, just like he’d done everything else Anthony had passed down to him, but he didn’t want to say so yet. “Mom? Veronica Kelly maybe?” There was some sarcastic bitterness to the last question. Veronica had known about the curse and hadn’t enlightened them, maybe she knew about this too.
Anthony's lips twitched in the faintest of smirks before it faded. He picked up his glass again to take a drink. When he finished, he set it down sharply and then leaned back in his chair to study his son. "Nobody knows about this. Not your mother. Not Reagan's mother. Only you and I. And the Moretti girl, apparently. That is unsettling to me, but nothing can be done about it now. I can't tell you what to do, but I would suggest keeping this to yourself. There are others who won't understand it. They'll view it as a threat, when it's not. We have an image to uphold in this town, and I won't have anything jeopardize that."
Caius studied Anthony back, as if he could suss out whether his father was lying about that or not. He supposed it was plausible enough -- Anthony did love his secrets. And if Veronica did know, she likely would’ve tried to use the information to keep Reagan away from him when they’d been teenagers. “I’m not concerned with the Moretti girl,” he murmured. “I did her a favor. She’s been through hell, quite literally, I’m sure she just wants to put everything behind her. Besides, not many would believe her if she started telling people. ... and if she does, I request that you leave her to me.” Caius could shut her up easily. Mila would be smart to keep her mouth shut, and she seemed like a smart enough girl. He was silent for another moment or two. “I have to tell Reagan,” he added, his voice low again. “Other than that, no one else. ... I want to ask what you sacrificed, but I know you won’t divulge that ... will you ever?”
Anthony wasn't surprised that Caius would want to tell Reagan, but it still made him sigh a little. Caius was like him in so many ways, but there was that one thing that would keep him from becoming the witch Anthony knew he could be. It was pointless to say so, he knew that now, but damn if it wasn't disappointing. Caius's question was one he was expecting because of course he would be curious. Anthony would have been as well. But those particular memories were ones he didn't want to relive by describing them to his son. Caius didn't need to know the lengths Anthony went to in order to ensure his power. He could simply reap the benefits of it. "There's no need for you to know that," he said after a moment of thought. "It's mine to live with, and mine alone. The consequences of what I did, those are on me as well. I live with them every day. And you know what? It's worth it."
That answer naturally increased Caius’s curiosity, but it wasn’t surprising. At least Anthony had pretended to consider it. “I understand,” he said with a small nod. If that was something he wanted to keep private, Caius had to respect that. He could only imagine the price this sort of deal would require. Even if he wanted to know, he probably didn’t really want to know. Caius took a deeper breath and finally leaned back in the chair, falling silent for another minute or two as he thought. Anthony might be getting impatient with him taking up so much time, but this was something Caius really wanted to think through. “I’m not afraid of it,” he murmured eventually. “And I don’t see it as a value judgement on my character. I obviously see how useful it could be. I do appreciate that you ... did whatever you had to do to gain this gift.” Caius’s tone was sincere about that; it was no small thing, and the effects were now apparent. Anthony was the most powerful witch Caius knew of, and he could be on the same level, if not higher. “I’m angry you didn’t tell me, but I know you don’t care. I’ve just ... been blindsided over and over and I can’t get my bearings,” he muttered, rubbing at his eyes again.
"It's not that I don't care, Caius. I understand you're angry. But I had reasons for keeping it from you. Just like I had reasons for not telling you about the family curse. One day when you're a father, you'll understand where I'm coming from." There were obviously selfish intentions there as well, but Anthony truly did believe he was doing the right thing by not telling Caius these things. "It's a lot to absorb, and you've been dealing with a lot since you returned from Anguilla. I wish I could tell you that things will get easier, but I can't. But... there are new avenues of magic open to you now. Things you know other witches would never be able to do without risking death. You just have to decide how badly you want to learn those things for yourself. Ask yourself what you truly want. Even if Reagan never regains her magic, you'll still be able to give her everything she needs. You'll be able to protect her. It may not be ideal for you, but there are always options. You don't have to continue on this exhaustive path."
Caius was practical by nature, so he could clearly see how useful demon blood could be to him in many different avenues, but the top one on his mind was Reagan. He couldn’t help that, and he didn’t care if Anthony approved or not. She was his wife, the love of his life and the person who knew him the best. If this knowledge gave him access to new tiers of magic, he was going to pursue them to help her. “What she needs is her magic back,” he said flatly, his face a bit grim. “Not having it is breaking her down, I can see it. She sacrificed it for my sake, I have to help her if I can.” Caius’s optimism that he could actually pull it off was waning though. Even with this new information, he wasn’t sure -- if Anthony couldn’t do it, could he? “Until I’ve done all I possibly can, I can’t focus on anything else.” He sighed and sat up, then stood. “I have a lot to think about. I should go.”
Anthony knew Caius held more empathy than he did. Not much more, but enough to make a difference. He was in love and Anthony knew it was futile to make Caius see how that weakened him. But his son had the information he had come for and that was all Anthony could do at the moment. He knew, on some level, that Reagan would get her magic back, but that was not something he was meant to get involved in, so he wouldn't. Perhaps once that was behind them, Caius could finally tap into his true potential. Anthony moved to stand when Caius did, but he stayed behind his desk, his hands slipping into the pockets of his slacks. "I have confidence in the both of you. Be safe driving home, Caius."
Caius knew in some part of him that Anthony was disappointed in him. Maybe not all the way around. He’d proven himself beyond capable when it came to running part of the family business, and he was an accomplished witch. Out of the ones he knew in his generation, he was the most powerful. That wasn’t enough. He was sure Anthony would love him to do nothing but throw himself into his arcane studies and grab for all the power he could ... and some days that was all Caius wanted to do. But he was in love and being with Reagan fulfilled parts of him that magic never could. He had to be his own man and balance his own life. Now he just had something new to factor in. “Thank you,” he murmured, giving Anthony a nod before he turned to go. “You do the same.”