"It’s seriously unfair that you end up getting a good gift from the powers that be here."
WHAT: Dorian's Gray Room has arrived and Sabrina fills Ambrose in on their bleak future WHERE: Dorian's Gray Room WHEN: July 2nd ("I forget" day) WARNINGS: Mentions of death and trauma STATUS:Complete!
Staring at his phone, Ambrose was amused that Sabrina's first thought was that he might be in jail. Life in Vallo was going to need to get a lot more exciting for him to end up in jail. Parties alone weren't going to do that.
But why had he told her he needed her assistance? He really couldn't remember, which bothered him, and as soon as he sent a message saying that he looked up.
Oh. Right.
How had he forgotten that he was standing behind the bar at Dorian's Gray Room? Maybe it was another bizarre Vallo effect, like that which had messed with his magic temporarily. He hoped it wasn't anything specific to this version of the club. Maybe they could test that out when Sabrina arrived.
For now, ignoring any suspicions he may have had, he poured himself a drink. After all, he had a full, well-stocked bar at his disposal.
Ambrose’s text message had been weird. First, because she just wasn’t used to doing text communication with him or her aunts really either, but mostly because he’d apparently forgotten why he’d sent her the text in the first place. Her cousin wasn’t known for being overly forgetful, so she thought she was fairly justified in her worry, but also ready and willing to hex him if this was some sort of elaborate prank.
Utilizing the address he’d sent she teleported over and into the building that he was inside. Whatever she had been expecting, it definitely hadn’t been Dorian’s Gray Room.
“It’s seriously unfair that you end up getting a good gift from the powers that be here,” she muttered in way of greeting as she made her way to the bar.
"Unfair? You wound me cousin. If this even is a gift for me, you know I'll share," Ambrose said. "Can I pour you a drink?"
He wasn't going to lie though, the arrival of the club had put him in a good mood, giving him yet another comfort from home in the middle of the strange world. Here he had space to work, both on his research, and he supposed as a job. Though he'd signed up for the Outlander Reserves, this was more his speed on a daily basis.
"Too bad it didn't bring Dorian with it."
“It’s for you.” Because she couldn’t see Hilda having wanted the place to show up. Though maybe her theory about things showing up because they wanted them needed to be reconsidered. She hadn’t exactly wanted any of the last few ‘gifts’ that had been doled out to her.
People never came with the buildings. Sometimes they showed up before or after them, but Sabrina didn’t think she’d heard of anyone showing up with one. Vallo was nice, but it wasn’t that nice.
“But I could go for a drink.” She took a seat on one of the stools. “Just let’s not tell Dan.” He’d worry and he already worried enough.
Ambrose complied, sliding the drink over before saying, "Of course I'm not going to tell." As far as he was concerned, there wasn't anything wrong with a drink now and then. And Dan did seem like a worrier though it seemed well-intentioned enough. He changed the subject. "You know, there's something I've been meaning to mention, ever since Claire showed up and I moved the dollhouse to the attic for safekeeping."
He glanced over at his cousin, studying her expression as he continued, "I noticed a couple of new additions." Raising a brow, he gave Sabrina a chance to explain the presence of the throne and the dress, neither of which he recognized, before asking her outright what they were. However, he was beginning to pick up on the fact that both his aunt and cousin had arrived from a later point in time, somehow, in spite of showing up in Vallo before him.
That damn dollhouse.
Sabrina took a drink, trying to come up with a few different excuses for what he would have found inside of it, but every single one that she came up with just sounded hollow. Ambrose knew her too well and would pick up on any lies. “So.” That didn’t mean she knew how best to explain things to him.
“I think I’m a few weeks ahead of you in the timeline because like I’ve saved Nick from Hell.” Though that was a complete mess still. “Had to compete in a contest to win the title of Queen of Hell. Became Queen of Hell.” Sort of. He didn’t need to get filled in on the not!twin thing. She wasn’t even sure how to explain it. “The throne is mine from Hell. And the dress is my coronation one.” She was pretty sure that was the case.
Sabrina downed the rest of the drink before sliding the glass back to him. She needed another. “Surprise.”
While the answer made sense, and while the possibility had lingered somewhere in his mind, Ambrose still wasn't expecting that answer. He refilled her drink silently, sliding the glass back, and his over as well before making his way to the other side of the bar, taking the bottle with him. "Queen of Hell," he repeated, taking a stool next to hers. "Does that mean you're trapped there?"
He had a million other questions now, but forced himself to slow his brain down, not wanting to overwhelm his already overwhelmed cousin.
“No. I don’t know.” Sort of. And yet no. It was all a confusing mess and some days she wasn’t sure how she’d thought it had been such a good idea. She didn’t think she ever really had, she’d just hoped that she could somehow have it all, but it was becoming apparent that wasn’t in the cards. Everything would come crashing down back home and she’d just...get an update? That’s what had happened the last time.
Half the time Sabrina wished she’d never gotten the memory upgrade. While it was nice to know that Nick wasn’t stuck in Hell, everything else that had come out of it had really sucked.
“I mean I’m stuck here. So.” She shrugged, swirling the liquid in the glass around.
Leaving his glass untouched, Ambrose couldn't argue with the fact that Sabrina was stuck here and unable to do anything about whatever situation befell her at home. "Fill me in, cousin," he finally decided. "On what else I'm missing, because if I can't take that look of misery away from you, we can at least be miserable together."
“Everyone dies. Except you. And me.” And she guessed technically Lucifer and Lilith had been alive in the wall when she’d gotten out. That part was kind of hazy. “These pagans rolled into town, intent on awakening one of their old gods and the Dark Lord was an asshole and took away our powers so we were kind of powerless against them. And I...chose wrong and focused on the stupid throne instead of helping all of you--even if we kind of needed me to win the throne because if I didn’t then Caliban was going to take over Earth and everyone would have died anyway.”
Or at least that had been the clay guy’s plan. Everyone in Hell was awful.
“But I got tricked and walled up and like decades passed and when I finally got out...you were the only one who survived. But I went back in time and fixed it.” That didn’t change the fact that everyone had died because of her mistakes though or that they could still die because they weren’t safe. Not yet. Not with Blackwood out there.
Sabrina downed the rest of her second drink before reaching over to get the bottle and refill her glass.
Right. That did call for another drink, so he topped off his glass when Sabrina put the bottle down before setting it out of her reach, maybe starting to understand why Dan was worried. "Good to know my self-preservation skills remained intact," he quipped, even if there was no real way of lightening the mood.
"You went back in time and fixed everything, so even Aunt Hilda doesn't know?" Ambrose asked. "I can imagine that all of this may be a contributing factor at least to your sleepless nights." They hadn't talked about that, but Ambrose was observant enough, not to mention often awake late enough, to have taken notice.
He reached for his glass and took a long drink, then put it down again. "Sounds like a horror movie. And not the sort that I enjoy watching."
“No. she doesn’t know. Dan knows and Lucifer knows and now you know.” That was all the people she’d shared any of that with, not really wanting to burden anyone else with the mess that was her life. “I sleep. For a few hours. But then I just don’t.”
The nightmares always settled in and once she woke from those there was no getting back to sleep. She didn’t want to see them all as statues again or piles of bones or simply headstones. Or think about how her cousin had gone crazy. “So what are you thinking of doing with this place?” she asked, hoping he’d be ready to change the conversation.
Ambrose gave his cousin a long look, but then went along with the change of topic. "I'm not sure. Open it up, I suppose, but it was never meant to be as busy as Lux, for example. And I figure this is the perfect place to work on research during the day. So feel free to drop in anytime."
He paused momentarily, reaching once again for his drink. "You know you can always talk to me." But he wasn't going to pry her for more information as it seemed like it would have been an incredibly unpleasant experience. What had he done for decades? With everyone else gone, it was a wonder he hadn't gone mad.
“Did the paintings come with it and the rest of the decor?” Because they might need to do something about Dorian’s paintings that were portals to Hell. Who knew where they might even travel to here if someone tried to use one.
“And yeah, I know, Ambrose. I just...I don’t really want to talk about it.” Sabrina wanted to forget about it, but that seemed like it wasn’t in the cards, no matter what reality she was in. “I think you’ll get customers here though. It’s a unique space. Just talk it up to the local covens.”
"Right! That was part of the reason I needed your assistance," Ambrose replied. "Let's make sure the portraits are safe. Or put them up, at least so I don't accidentally send someone off to yet another alternate dimension." He wasn't sure how he'd forgotten that, either, though maybe now they should wait a bit given how quickly they'd worked through the bottle. The last thing they needed was to disappear into an alternate dimension themselves.
Giving his cousin a nod, he added, "Well, I'm also good for a drink and not talking. And now I have a place."
“We might want to give it an hour or two before we try doing any spells?” Because she was definitely feeling tipsy with all she’d drank. “Let’s order pizza.” The grease would help absorb the alcohol, right? Then they could sober up a bit quicker.
"I was just thinking that waiting would be a good idea," he agreed. "So is pizza." He pulled out his phone to start putting in an order for delivery. Sobering up and distracting themselves with getting Dorian's set up seemed like a plan, especially since Ambrose still had questions that were going to have to wait before they were answered.
It seemed like his cousin already had more than enough to deal with.