Who: Amycus and Rebekah When: Sometime in May Where: Their house Ratings: TBD Status: Complete when posted
Laurel had taken longer than normal to fall asleep that night so by the time Amycus was able to get back downstairs to help Rebekah with the after dinner cleanup, it was mostly done. “Sorry love. Laurel didn’t want to sleep. She tried to talk me into reading her an extra chapter as ‘our little secret from her sister’,” he said, a little bit of amusement obvious in his tone. “She’s getting far too devious I think. Pulled out the tears when I said no. Or at least threatened too. I read her some Winnie the Pooh instead.” It seemed like a fair compromise to him. She got extra story, and time with him which is what he thought she’d really wanted, and they weren’t ahead of her sister in Mary Poppins. “What can I do to help?”
*** Rebekah had already put away the leftovers and was now making Amycus’ lunch for the next day when the man came back down. Hearing about Laurel’s attempted manipulation that halfway worked caused her to chuckle softly and shake her head.
“She tried that with me as well.” She smiled. “It's good in a way though. She loves books and seems to hang onto every single word. I think you may have a future storyteller on your hands!”
At the offer of help she simply waved him off. Everything was just about done already. It was her job after all. A bit ironic seeing as how she'd never had to do any type of chore when she was growing up. Another byproduct of being born with a silver spoon in her mouth she supposed.
“I was just about to make some tea. Would you like some?”
***
“If she holds onto that imagination of hers she’ll be a brilliant storyteller when she’s older. And I’ll happily arrange for her to work with anyone else at the firm,” Amycus told her with a smile. Not that it would stop him from butting in if she did become a celebrity of sorts in the future, trying to handle how things were going in regards to her with the media. He’d just need to steer her towards the right person. If it became necessary. “I did tell her that Winnie the Pooh was not going to happen every night and I think Alecto’s been teaching her how to pout,” he added moving further into the kitchen and leaning against the counter.
“Tea sounds perfect love. I want to talk with you about...that damn dream I had.” The more he thought about it the less he liked his parents in it. And he couldn’t talk with Alecto about this. Well he could but he didn’t really want to.
***
Rebekah pause for a brief second at the mention of the dreams. She needed to talk to Amycus about hers as well. She kept meaning to but then one or both of them got distracted. Not to mention that part of her worried that as her dreams progressed, she wouldn't be able to see the girls anymore. As much as it would break her heart, she would understand if that was the outcome.
The blonde busied herself with making the tea, using those few moments to collect herself. Setting a mug in front of her employer and friend, she took a seat across from him at the table.
“I had hoped you wouldn't have to deal with the insanity this place brings.” She said with a soft sigh.
***
Amycus sat back in his chair as he watched Rebekah settle in her seat across from him. Something about how she was acting was worrying him, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He picked up his mug and took a sip from it. Rebekah knew exactly how he took his tea, his coffee too but then she’d been with him and the girls for so long it just made sense. And if he’d be the one making it he probably could have made it without any problem, so long as no one asked him how she took it.
“You should know by now I’m not that lucky Rebekah. Something’s bothering you love. Want to talk about it?”
***
Rebekah couldn't help but give a small laugh as she shook her head. Leave it to Amycus to completely push away his own troubles to try and help someone else with theirs. She shook her head though as she reached for the sugar bowl, adding a couple of cubes.
“It's not important right now.” She said with a wave of her hand. “You said you wanted to talk about your dreams?”
***
Amycus wouldn’t go around putting his problems off for just anybody. Rebekah was his best friend - her problems mattered to him. A lot. “Not letting you off that easily love. I’ve been noticing it for a while. We can talk about my dreams after you tell me what’s going on with you,” he said. He was serious. And worried about what was bothering her. A little part of him was actually afraid she was going to be leaving him and the girls and just didn’t know how to tell him.
***
Rebekah sighed softly as she looked down at her cup, focusing on the amber liquid. She knew she had to explain things. It was just so damn hard.
“I started dreams of my own,” she began, not looking up at the other. She couldn't. “My family lived over a thousand years ago in them. But even though they just started, I know some of what will happen. My brother...Kol. He's had them too. In the dreams we become the very first vampires of the world. The originals.”
***
Amycus let out a relieved breath when Rebekah said she’d started dreaming herself. He could handle whatever she was dreaming about. He was sure of that. He let out a low whistle when she finished speaking, shaking his head as he took a sip of his tea. “So you’re a vampire in your dreams? And from what I’ve seen on the network - people seem to turn into what they dream they are. Are you worried? That you’re going to turn into a vampire?” He asked her.
***
“Kol is one,” she said with a small frown. “It's makes sense that I would become one too. And if I do...how can I be around the girls? It'd be putting them in danger. Especially in the beginning. What if I can't control it? If I were to hurt them..”
Rebekah trailed off, not even wanting to finish the sentence. But it was a fear that she lived with, knowing that vampirism was hanging over her head like the Sword of Damocles. “I'm sorry Amycus. I don't mean to dump this all on you. Especially when you have dream troubles of your own.”
***
That was something they were going to need to figure out because he couldn’t imagine her not being a part of him and his daughter’s lives. He frowned himself as he thought about it. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said, making a split second decision. “If you can’t control it in the beginning - you take some time off to visit family and come back when you can. I don’t think you could ever pose a danger to them though. But if we have to - I’ll work from home for a few days, only take care of things that actually are absolute emergencies.
“What troubles? So far all I know is that I hate the way my parents are in them. Alecto is a lot further ahead in them than I am. I think I’ve been keeping myself so busy so that I don’t dream anymore. I don’t want the way I feel about their behavior in the dreams to affect how I feel about them here. They’re bigots in the dreams. Anyone who isn’t a pureblood, whatever the hell that even means, is inferior. It doesn’t add up with the people I know here. They look the same but they’re worlds apart.” He took a sip of his tea.
“Seems like you’ve got the ones we need to be worried about right now.”
***
Rebekah was quiet as she listened to Amycus talk about his dreams. She had heard a bit from Alecto in regards to Hogwarts and magic. But this ‘pureblood’ thing was certainly new information.
“How exactly would you be able to tell if someone was a pure blood or not?” She asked curiously. “Does it look different from another person's blood?”
She couldn't really relate when he spoke of his parents. For her, her dad was just as awful as he was in real life, her dream mother just as willing to ignore the horrors like she did now. Ever since moving out she kept her distance as much as she could with them. “I suppose you just have to keep reminding yourself that the dreams don't always match real life.”
***
“Only thing I can figure out about it is that it has something to do with family lines - whether any of your ancestors have been muggles, muggleborns, or half bloods. Apparently neither of our parents have any of them in their family tree,” Amycus said, his tone calm despite the disgust he felt as he remembered the pride his parents had in the dreams about that fact. “I just know it’s apparently a very big deal to some people. I don’t think it matters much to dream me but...the things I hear myself saying...They’re repulsive Rebekah,” he said, a little bit of disgust leaking into his voice. He hated the child he was in the dreams. And he was a little frightened to find out the type of man he’d grow up to be in them.
“Alecto’s a pain in both,” he said, trying to jar himself out of the mood he felt pulling at him. He might complain about his sister and Lord knew they fought but he loved her. “That’s the only thing that’s common between them.” He took a sip of his tea, watching his friend as he did so. “We’re going to figure this out love.”
***
Reaching out, Rebekah took Amycus’ hand and squeezed it gently. “They’re not you.” She said softly. “You’re one of the most gentle and compassionate people I’ve met. Not to mention what an amazing father you are.” “Well Alecto being that way must be comforting. It’s normal” She laughed quietly. At his affirmation, she gave a small nod. “You’re right. We will. Somehow.”
***
Amycus gave her a smile as he squeezed her hand back. “I just need to hold on to who I am here. No matter what happens there. If I ever start calling people mudbloods please slap some sense into me.”
“Mostly it’s annoying. But it is a little comforting.” He added pulling his hand away to wrap around his mug. “Of course I’m right. We can figure anything out as long as we work together on it.”