Chapter 107
Previously: The Rose of Whitby – Chapter 106
If these nursing sessions keep going like this, he’ll end up cuddled up to Blondie after all. The bloody idiot is such a darling stubborn disaster with how much he loves his girl and Quincy can’t help melting at him for that. He put a second blanket over him, his body just can’t deal with the exhaustion. No matter that he made sure the stove is stoked and the fire roaring, poor Blondie is freezing and Quincy has an acute case of wanting to wrap himself around him and kiss his hands warm.
If this goes for another day he suspects John will be too out of it to even notice anymore, he didn’t so much as flinch at Quincy tucking him tight into the blanket. Ugh, after that, and not being able to do anything more for Darcy than kissing her temple, he really isn’t in the mood for another round of patron management, but he needs (and wants) to finish up on his own shopping.
He won’t take any of the money Cobb tried to push on him, but he will use it for gifts for the people in this household. It’s a good way to get them feeling he’s bound in more than he is… and okay, maybe he just really wants to hear Blondie grumble at him for picking something he’ll actually like. And seeing Cycy bounce and clap her hands in that ridiculously picture-book way he expects from little girls, not fierce dhampir queens.
So how to get the catalogue and the extra info, but not the annoying Kitten? Kitten… kid… hah! What does he have a little sister for if not to occasionally use her for little errands? She’s only too happy to help her big brother, (sometimes it’s weird how much she seems to like him and then other times pretend he doesn’t exist,) and runs off with his instructions.
~~~~
Arthur is getting a little annoyed with Gregory pestering him about what all he’s getting himself, and to get all the things for Quincy, so he’s surprised but not opposed when Lucy Jr comes striding up to him, very purposefully, and tells him to come with her. And then, with a direct stare at Gregory: “Not you.”
Gregory pouts, but Lucy Jr doesn’t even seem to notice, and so Arthur gathers up the catalogues and pens, and follows her, very confused as to what that’s about. Apparently, it’s about meeting Quincy in the library, because Lucy Jr leads him straight out of the solarium and in there, to where Quincy is sitting on a couch.
~~~~
“Thank you, little honey.” Imitating their mother and giving her a kiss to the forehead, Quincy hands her an algebra book the house provided, then pats the spot on the sofa next to him with a smile at Arthur. “I don’t know half the people in this house well enough to make decisions. Help me out, will you, honey?”
~~~~
“Oh, okay,” Arthur says. So Quincy sent his sister to get him… and not Gregory? On purpose? That’s… he’s not sure what that is. Interesting? Confusing? “…I brought the catalogues,” he says while showing them to Quincy. “And, er, Gregory asked me to order a bunch of stuff for you, but I figured I’d ask you first if you wanted that…”
~~~~
“Did he now?” That does it, the idiot is also an arse, trying to circumvent him on indebting him. Oh no, not on his watch. Quincy huffs, then gentles out and scoots up right next to Arthur to sling an arm around him for a moment. “Thank you for asking me. No, I very much do not want that.”
~~~~
Arthur gives Quincy an unsure smile for the… hug? He doesn’t think anyone has ever touched him as readily as Quincy does. Well, maybe Gregory, but he can’t really remember, he was just a little kid when they met, after all. “You’re welcome? Um… I don’t suppose you could help me with figuring out who I ought to get presents for, too?”
Putting a foot up on the sofa and comfortably leaning himself on his knee Quincy smiles while grabbing for a catalogue. “I most certainly can, honey! Who are you wondering about?”
“…Darcy’s parents?” Arthur says. “I mean, they gave me birthday presents, so I assume that means it’s appropriate to give them Christmas presents? And, uh… what about you? And your mother? …And sister?” He blinks, tilts his head. “And, uh…” The thought is so strange that he nearly doesn’t say it, but he definitely needs advice there! “…If I gave them presents, does that mean I should give one to Mr Basarab…?”
~~~~
Aw, Arthur got to be the cutest guy in the whole castle! Quincy could coo, but that just might make Arthur shyer, so instead he goes at this the strategic route. “What’s the motivation for you? Is it obligation? Etiquette? Or actual affection?”
~~~~
“Oh,” Arthur says, because he hadn’t thought of it like that. “Um… with Darcy’s parents… affection? I’m really happy about how they participated in my birthday party, and I don’t really know them very well, but I do kind of like them. Um, and you’re nice, and we sort of dragged you into all of this, and you’re family with Darcy, so… So I guess it feels right to include you? But I don’t know about the rest of your family, I basically don’t know them enough to say either way, so that’d be an etiquette question…”
“Then there’s your answer. The people you thought of first and really wanted my input on are the ones you feel you should show that something they did was meaningful to you. Stick to those because you are using Cycy’s money.” Winking at him with a grin, Quincy chuckles. “Am I guessing right that now you wonder if it’s okay to ask me what I’d like?”
“I hadn’t gotten that far yet, but, uh… yes?” Arthur admits. Because now that Quincy says it, he does wonder.
“Let me give you the cheat rule. A perfect gift is something the person would enjoy but wouldn’t buy for themselves. You will always make them happy by paying enough attention to them to be able to figure out what that might be.” Flipping through the catalogue, he ends up scanning a double page with hunting supplies closer and taps the coat with a nod. “This one will do nicely for Blondie for example.”
“Oh?” Arthur looks at the page, and has the urge to take a note on this cheat rule of Quincy’s. “I don’t think I’d ever have thought of getting him something like that… Um, I don’t think I’m very good at figuring out people…”
~~~~
“Don’t you worry, honey, I’ll help you while I’m here, and it’s a skill based on observation. You seemed to work just fine with my mother, so you’re smart, you’ll learn it yet.” Patting his arm comfortably, Quincy puts a mark into the catalogue because yes, he’ll go with that coat for Blondie and wonders if he should put a hunting dog collar in there, too, just to see Cycy’s face at that little quip.
~~~~
Arthur blushes a little at Quincy’s blithe confidence that he’ll learn this thing which has escaped him all his life. “I don’t know… It’s not like there’s some kind of manual I could read on how to figure out people… They’re so… squishy.”
~~~~
Now Quincy is terribly tempted to make a quip about some of that squishiness feeling very nice to touch, but then he’ll have Arthur pull that uncomfortable face on him again, and Cycy barked, so rather not. “I’d say they are easier than books. Easier to keep my attention on them, more layers than just the words, but that’s probably exactly what trips you up. I can just point out some things to you. Eventually, you might start seeing the patterns.”
~~~~
“I’ll take your word for it that there are patterns,” Arthur quips wryly- okay, yes, he knows people aren’t totally random. Just… just so hard to read, with all the uncertainties of interpretation and the lack of clear, empirical data on when your conclusions are right and when they aren’t- whether someone is being honest or is lying and pretending… He sighs. Why can’t humans be more like animals? They’re way more straight-forward and reliable.
~~~~
This one would be so much easier of a stray… Maybe once he’s finished with Cobb. For right now, though, Quincy just chuckles and guides Arthur through the catalogue, asks him plenty of questions so he’s better able to help him pick out gifts for the different people (definitely not so he gets all the information to be better able to deal with all of them.)
Now Quincy’s having fun! Arthur is trying to dodge around something. There is some part of this whole weird family setup that he’s not getting yet.
Not that it isn’t suspicious as all hell that the two men who he knows both proposed to Lucy are still hanging out together, all three of them, uh huh, he’s smelling a nice little scandalous situation there, no matter how often Arthur talks about Godalming as just an old friend of the family’s.
Part of him is tempted to ask his mother when she comes into the library, she’d know if her apparently very much alive best friend wouldn’t keep herself a double set of men. But then he suspects he’d get pulled into kitchen duty for dinner and he’s really rather bloody done with all this domestic stuff, so he pretends to be just as distracted with his book as his little sister is one table over with hers.
Ew, especially because his mother takes that as a good opportunity to roll out the home schooling. He is not getting pulled back into that. He’s learned what he has to. The higher maths can stay with his sister!
Or maybe with Arthur? That is one obvious leaning out of their conversation and trying to listen in on his mother’s teaching to him.
Chuckling, Quincy pulls the catalogue away from Arthur and shoos at him. “Honey, you’re being obvious. Go entertain yourself with that maths they’re doing over there. I’ll finish up on the people front here. After all, it wouldn’t do if you see what I’m getting for you.”
~~~~
Arthur gives Quincy a sheepish smile for having been caught out. But he’s more than happy for a break from the people-stuff, and what Mrs Harker is teaching sounds interesting– more in depth maths than he knows. And she looks up at her son’s words and gives him a sparse smile and head tilt of agreement, so he does go over to sit at the table with her and her daughter, and rather learns about something straight-forward and logical. Which is fun.
~~~~
This works nicely as a distraction for Quincy. Shopping for gifts, and yes, mentally for himself, but definitely not on Cobb’s money, is much nicer than thinking about the state Blondie and Cycy are in right now. He can imagine them in better times and with everything he’s done so far, Blondie will have to warm up to him eventually!
He looks up at the click of a door, upwards from where he’s sitting, ergo, that weird magical door over to Arthur’s house. But… who would it be? His mother and sister are right here.
Oh oh, this might not be good, he’s so done with not good situations… and yes, he just plastered the catalogue over his chest without even thinking. This bloody staking is going to keep freaking him out for a long time, he thinks, but the sudden shouting isn’t aimed at him.
That’s his mother getting up and standing proudly, in front of his little sister, shouting back at… Divine help him, a man aiming a, no, not a gun, a crossbow at her?!
What the hell is happening and should he do something? This is violence, he’s no good with this! But it’s his mother and her voice is loud and stern and accusatory.
“And there I had hoped Lucy had blown a bit of brain back into your empty skull, Art! Put that thing down. No, I am not stepping away from the children. You are the bigger danger to them, with you aiming in their general direction!”
~~~~
Oh. Oh, oops? Arthur has the distinct feeling that this is his fault; Art is bellowing at Mrs Harker and clearly thinks she’s a threat to them, and this is obviously about the whole vampire business, and he’s the one who called them back- but he told them it was a different vampire?
Did that not get through, maybe? It was so hard to hear Lucy, maybe she couldn’t hear him properly, either?
In any case, he jumps up and in front of Mrs Harker, by instinct, arms outstretched, calls that it’s okay! They’re fine, they’re all on the same side here! (And why is he so short, he can’t really cover Mrs Harker, he only comes up to maybe her shoulder, which means the point of that crossbow bolt is at the height of his throat, and that’s really not a comfortable place to be.
… Maybe he should’ve just thrown a wall in between there- well, he can still do that, and he’s still, kind of, not sure about showing all his cards to Quincy and Mrs Harker, and anyway… now he’s here…)
~~~~
“It’s not okay! Please, Arthur, look at her eyes, get away from her, she’s in with him!” Art yells back and tries to aim higher, over Arthur’s head, but crossbows aren’t that precise and he is worried he’d still hit him and he’d never forgive himself if he hurts the boy.
~~~~
“Yes, I know!” Arthur tries to yell back, and: “Wrong vampire!” and he’s waving his hands and he’s not sure any of it is getting through and then all hell breaks loose.
~~~~
Quincy doesn’t want to, he really doesn’t want to, but he can’t just sit there. He tries standing up to do… he’s not sure yet what, so he acts on instinct by shouting: “Can’t we please just talk this out?”
If that was heard by anybody, he’s not sure, because in the middle of his plea the place explodes into alarm sirens loud enough to make him cover his ears with both hands. But he’s kind of glad for that, because he suspects if he could hear the glass splintering as one of the windows shatters, he’d be right back reliving being staked.
But it’s inwards and there’s Basarab, in between his mother and the man with the crossbow and he hates how relieved he is at seeing him. There still is all that useless association and the memory of hope that Basarab would protect him the same way he is doing with his mother right now.
Then it’s all too fast, and he’s at a bad angle to really follow along but Basarab is holding a crossbow bolt in his hand and he didn’t even really see him move and it’s still all too loud and going by how Arthur reacted, he knows the guy and Quincy is shutting his eyes tight in fear of bloodshed and people being upset about it, but then the air glitters again and that bloody fairy is back.
~~~~
“WRONG vampire!” Arthur yells again, louder, more desperately, because now all he can see is Mr Basarab’s back, and just about Art’s pale face over his shoulder up there, and the way Art jolted he thinks that crossbow went off, and this could get so very, very bad, and it’s so stupid, and: “He’s with us!!”
~~~~
The man who just tried to shoot him is really not someone who Vlad ever wanted to see again. That face brings memories of failing to save Lucy and of the sensation of a kukri slitting his throat. Although, in hindsight, the first memory is more painful than the second, because it is just a warm-up to the most painful memory, the one of returning to his castle and finding the real damage the hunters had done.
For just a moment, Vlad feels his body tensing, he has the bolt in his hand, it would be so easy, so very easy to be up there faster than any of these humans could follow, and ram the piece of cold metal home. But despite the blaring alarms, his ears reconstructed what Quincy and Arthur are shouting.
Is this really how he wants to be seen by his son? No, it is painful enough that his brother sees him as nothing more than a murderer. He does not need to extend that reputation to another family member he isn’t sure he has any chance with. So he lets the bolt clatter to the ground and lifts his hands to show them, relaxes his posture, too, feels his drac’s bristled fur smooth out but there is something… something his drac is still trying to warn him about.
His ears twitch as he concentrates, filters through all the chaos of the situation and the noise and then it hits him. “We can talk it out later! Mr Silver is yelling for help, the young lady is awake!”
~~~~
“…Oh, crap!” Arthur says when he makes out Mr Basarab’s words through the wail of the alarm- probably helps that he’s standing right next to him. Images flash through his head, of John getting hurt again, and he takes off running for Darcy’s room, hopes his example will demonstrate clearly enough where he thinks their priorities ought to be and that no one is going to hurt anyone back in the library- but Mr Basarab didn’t attack Art, and Art can’t really hurt Mr Basarab, so Arthur’s just going to trust the vampire this far.
What he arrives to isn’t any of the bad things he’s feared. Instead, Darcy is crying- a lot. John has his arms around her but looks about ready to pass out from exhaustion, and Darcy is sobbing hard, and in between, she’s hiccupping out how he’s nothing like Radu, and he doesn’t really love her- and ‘he’ isn’t John, Arthur realizes, it’s Gregory.
Who, cat-shaped, is sitting on the cushion of the chair by the bed, and when did he get here? And where did he come from? He didn’t run past Arthur, but then, he can teleport. And he’s not saying anything to Darcy’s accusations, his cat ears are tipped forward like he’s just listening, not… not like he’s feeling bad at all, and that’s just wrong, because Arthur is feeling bad seeing Darcy so upset.
Darcy’s words continue, tumbling out of her, squeezed and mangled by her crying- he doesn’t care what she wants, he’s not the fairy tale prince he made her believe he is, he’s not half the man her Radu is.
And Arthur feels disturbed by her seeing Radu in that light, either through the enthrallment, or the mundane sort of convincing, and Gregory not saying anything, and… And does she really think like that, or is it just manipulation, and he doesn’t know what to do, this is too social and too emotional and he’s just no good at any of this stuff, and he doesn’t think he’s ever felt more awkward in his life, hovering in this doorway.
~~~~
John has waited so fucking long to hear her say those things to Gregory’s face. Well, not the stuff about Radu, but he… he is nearly willing to let that pass, because really, how many times has he wondered now what his girl got up to with the vampire? And it’s not as if it’s hard, yes, even an arse of a vampire using her would be more of a man than Gregory, because enthrallment or not, he’s watched his girl bombard the man with relentless questions and drag him around by the hand in the dreamscape.
If the fucker is playing her, he’s still making her happier than fucking Gregory ever could and John wishes, he really wishes he could still move so he could punctuate Darcy’s accusations with one final punch to get the abuser out of the room so he can collapse on Darcy because… Because he has to believe that his girl would do what she always does, turn loving and caring at the tiniest hint of him needing her that slips past his stoic wall.
But his limbs feel like lead, and he’s not sure he can even get his arms lifted back up from where they are around Darcy, let along reach Gregory. But there’s Molly crashing in behind Arthur, (who’s clearly not having a clue what to do,) and thank fuck for that, Quincy is going to do something, the fucker’s way too nice not to, the fucker cares way too much about Cycy not to. He can rely on him.
~~~~
Yes! This isn’t violence! He can deal with this!
And nobody say a word about him totally having taken the excuse to get away from the vampire and the guy with the crossbow having a glare off with the bitching fey in the middle!
This right here looks like a social crisis and huzzah, he is qualified for that. Although, yikes, Cycy is laying it on her husband there, and he can’t help it, the way Blondie is looking even through all that exhaustion, he’s pretty sure Blondie agrees with her. So that’s an interesting tidbit on the ‘how bad a husband is Cobb’-front.
But for right now, maybe get the situation calmed down, because bloody hell, Blondie needs a rest and Cycy clearly needs a hug and he has no clue why Cobb is doing the just-hungry-staring at her, but it pisses him off! So he gives Cobb one warning, say something that helps or get out… and of course, Cobb says about the worst possible thing. Ugh! Really, really?!
“It’s fine, she’s just angry, I don’t care.”
That does it! He’s not having it, Cycy howls even worse at that, and John shouldn’t even try to move, so full intervention it is, grab the cat by the ruff and drag him out of the room, scolding him, (in as close to caring as Quincy can make his voice sound even though he’s way too angry for that,) for that response.
On the way out, he nearly collides with a man he’s not seen before and for one short moment, he’s tempted to interpose himself, but then he notices the expression of sheer worry and deep care and lets him pass. Right, that eyebrow shape, that one’s probably her papa, yeah, good backup from everything he’s heard about the man. Cycy’ll need him.
~~~~
Oh, Dr Seward is here! Arthur actually feels relief while the man crosses into the room, and Quincy gets Gregory out. (Not in a very gentle manner, but… but, well, clearly him being there is just upsetting Darcy more.)