In an odd turn of events, the residents of Falner Estate would wake up that morning to an empty lawn. What the regulars at the Main Mansion would see, instead, is the sight of Aidan Clayce walking through the corridors, heading for the wing dedicated to the Malice Kings.
Perhaps it was not so odd if one understood the context of the situation. Riley Falner - Daywalker of the Malice Kings, Master of the Falner Estate - had woken up only two weeks ago when he should have stayed asleep for centuries. After the Clerics made it certain that Riley would survive the ravages of the Deep Slumber, the vampire had been whisked away to his own quarters and given strict instructions to rest until his own legs could carry their weight. Liandrin Delacroix's stipulations, of course: she wasn't going to stand for having one of her own trundling about in a wheelchair or hobbling around with a cane when he really should be in bed.
Business had kept Aidan away for the past week. This was one of the reasons why the Voidseeker was heading up to see Riley; the other Malice Kings had picked up the slack, taking turns with the Daywalker in order to keep him company. Besides, to say that he had missed his old friend greatly would be one of the biggest understatements of the century.
The only thing the Daywalker was going to get before Aidan entered without hesitation was a single knock.
"Mm-hm," is the only response Aidan gets at first, absorbed as Riley is in reading through -- of all things -- the paper.
Or rather, the fourth in a stack of newspapers he'd quietly asked to be supplied. He'd been gone a long time, it was important that he caught up with things in the world as they were now, before backtracking the last four decades.
He finishes one last paragraph and makes a small mark with the pencil twirled idly in one hand, lifting his gaze to greet the Voidseeker. "Are you sure the children won't be disappointed to find their playground gone?"
He might have been relegated to house-arrest, but that didn't mean he hadn't had resources at his disposal to look around and check up on friends.
"I'm sure that they can manage without me. Besides, the Five have promised to turn up in my place."
Which meant, of course, that - as if to make up for his absence - all disappointed parties were going to find five smaller but no less interesting dragons flopping around the area in Aidan's place. He liked to think that it was a good trade-off.
Aidan's gaze swept over the entire room, taking everything in just once before he sat across of his old friend.
"As I've told you already," he quietly said, "things have been interesting lately."
He makes a soft sound, very much akin to a thoughtful "huh," his hand coming up to rub the back of his fingers beneath his chin.
"That they are." He offers a pleasant enough smile, the kind that said simply: Thank you. I was getting bored all by my lonesome.
He reaches out then, for one of the broadsheets that appears to have been tossed carelessly aside to the footstool he'd found so tedious to use ( he might be ancient, but the last thing Riley would ever want to be seen as was an invalid; he just needed a couple of weeks days to get back on steady feet ) and then frowns when he finds himself coming up short.
Thankfully, said newspaper is taking on a life of its own and meeting Riley half-way.
Who would have thought? Given the fact that Aidan himself is rather busy fetching an ashtray, setting it down between them, and reaching into the inner pocket of his coat for his cigars and his matches. It's only after he's done lighting up that he's sliding the case over, and smiling.
"Who was in here before me?"
Because neither of them needed to talk about how Riley is feeling, what he still needed, how much time he had to take off in order to be back up to snuff. Not yet, anyway.
"Alistair," Riley states simply, head inclined in a gesture of thanks as he slides one out for himself.
He turns the cigar over, the length of it balanced between the tips of his index fingers.
"I had heard talk that you'd grown comfortable with," he lets the sentence trail, the smile on his face with the barest hint of teasing -- though there is a look in his eyes that belies curiosity; maybe even surprise.
Aidan, in turn, had the grace to look a little embarrassed. It was written in the soft laugh, that brief, downward turn of his gaze, and the way one hand lifted, absentmindedly, to scratch the back of his head.
"Yeah. Well." A pause. "What is the point of enjoying life if one forces one's self to have so many rules?"
So many others had told him this, with Riley being the first, and the likes of Setsuna, Hikaru, Alistair, Maes and Calintz later on. Now he was finally taking their advice.
"Sound advice given," the smile playing on his mouth is infinitely pleased. He reclines back in his seat, setting the paper down on the blanket draped on his lap.
"Good of you to finally take it."
There is a pause then, Riley's gaze falling to the headline but not really seeing or processing the way the letters have strung together. He's tired.
And at first, Aidan was quiet and watchful, noting down everything in front of him. Then he took a drag from his cigarette, and enjoyed the take in and exhale before speaking.
"You should take a break."
It's a simple suggestion, one that Riley can take or ignore as he wished.
There is a rather... undignified sound that escapes the vampire at that.
Riley leans back into his seat a little more just then, a small smile on his own lips as he looks up at his friend.
"I enjoy that statement about as much as you enjoy being told to go on holiday." He sighs, a long, suffering one. "Do you know how bloody tedious it is to be under house-arrest."
There's a hint of amusement there, if only because at least at one point in their lives every member of the Malice Kings had been told by their comrades that Under No Certain Terms Were They To Leave the Falner Manor for a Specified Amount of Time. They were a family that way.
"Well... I suppose that house arrest, in your case, does not have to mean being holed up in here all the time."
Liandrin was not going to be pleased with him for this but Aidan could deal with her later.
The look that springs to Riley's eyes is a cross between that of a patient being informed that he might be discharged from the watchful care of his doctors soon enough, and that of an inmate being told that there is a clear possibility of freedom.
But it's subdued quick enough when Riley recalls that there is one person in particular who will be displeased. And the fact that Aidan has that look of I will deal with that when it comes.
To that, he simply states: "You may tell Liandrin that a wheelchair is not as undignified as she thinks. Especially where it concerns someone as charming as I."
Unspoken of course, and delivered with a smile: she is going to never let us hear the end of it.
"I will make sure to pass the message to her after we take a turn around the estate."
Aidan's smile is a response unto itself.
No, not at all.
And a moment later, the Voidseeker was standing, building a wheelchair out of nothing with a gesture of his hand. After that, he was moving towards his old friend's side.
Riley's already pushing himself up, one hand reaching out to use Aidan's shoulder as support as he pulls himself up to his feet. It's a visible enough effort because sitting down for too long periods seems to remind his body that if circumstances were different, he should still be asleep.
He shoots Aidan a look from beneath his brows. "Don't even think of carrying me onto that chair, Aidan." And because he can't resist the jab. "You're a married man now."
To Aidan's credit, his own response is swift and easy and so very different from what anyone who had known him back in 2012 and earlier years might have expected.
"Quite happily married, yes." A pause, and then: "Now both of you share in the largest portion of my heart."
How long has it been since they could banter this way? He didn't really want to think about it. What was important was that they could, Vigil headaches be damned.
"You are such a bloody romantic, Aidan." It is really very good though, to hear that retort, to know that the smile behind it is full and true. Happiness is not a road, he's always thought, but the manner by which you deal with the journey -- and he and Aidan have been walking for a very, very long time. It's nice to see that for the rest of the way up ahead, his friend has this, come what may.
The Daywalker maneuvers himself into the chair at that, one look of reprimand at the Voidseeker as if to say Let me try to do this on my own first. You, good sir, can step in if I falter.
That look is, indeed, enough to keep Aidan from moving. He knew, of course, how important it was for Riley to do things for himself. That did not keep him from worrying, even a little.
After just a brief second of laughing at himself for his own hesitation, Aidan moved behind the wheelchair and took hold of its handles. The door to Riley's room is already opening of its own accord.
"You have probably noticed this already, but: you will be pleased to know that Jessiah had an elevator installed in the house."
Leaning back now and smiling at that bit of information. "I actually hadn't." The wry tone is accompanied by him turning around just a little to squint at Aidan, before he settles back against the seat.
"And how long did he have to wrestle with our lovely Lia to get that done?"
Those two. Forever bickering like children -- at least, when they weren't getting along like the mad little misfits they were.
Glancing down at Riley now, just once, before taking a bit of time out to pat his old friend on the shoulder. He knows exactly where that sorrow is coming from.
"I swear upon my honor that you're going to see a lot of interesting things while you're around, old friend. Some of it might pale in comparison to whatever you end up reading about, or hearing about."
"If what I hear comes straight from you, old friend, I don't think it will pale overmuch."
He lifts a hand to cover the Voidseeker's then. "Take me for a stroll, and tell me of the things I've missed. The young ones," he means those three blades, because they will always be children to him, "they told me much of what has transpired over the last few decades. Perhaps you can 'catch me up' on more recent events."
"Well, what have they managed to tell you so far? That might be as good of a start as any."
He's saying that as they are pulling to a stop in front of the elevator doors. Shouldn't take too long, waiting for it. Most of the people who stayed in the mansion liked taking the stairs whenever they had to move around.
Riley takes a breath. "Things from the last three years, mostly. And then little anecdotes from their lives. We did not have that much time, so I felt it better to update myself on how they all fared in the general sense."
That, and there was time. For as long as he was to be awake, there would most definitely be time for the children to catch him up on things.
Quietly though, just as the elevator bell sounds. "They've grown up beautifully, Aidan." He's not going to feel sad that he'd missed out on seeing that, even from a distance. Or that some of them were now gone.
Aidan doesn't respond to that immediately, as he wheels Riley inside. The look on his face has softened into that bastard child of hope, guilt, happiness, and a touch of helplessness.
"'Grown' is a nice way of putting it. Sometimes I do wonder if what we've actually done is ruin some of them."
That is a burden he will always carry, when he sees the wounds on people he considers his children after a fashion out in the open.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Waking the Dead 2.0 || After Sleep
Perhaps it was not so odd if one understood the context of the situation. Riley Falner - Daywalker of the Malice Kings, Master of the Falner Estate - had woken up only two weeks ago when he should have stayed asleep for centuries. After the Clerics made it certain that Riley would survive the ravages of the Deep Slumber, the vampire had been whisked away to his own quarters and given strict instructions to rest until his own legs could carry their weight. Liandrin Delacroix's stipulations, of course: she wasn't going to stand for having one of her own trundling about in a wheelchair or hobbling around with a cane when he really should be in bed.
Business had kept Aidan away for the past week. This was one of the reasons why the Voidseeker was heading up to see Riley; the other Malice Kings had picked up the slack, taking turns with the Daywalker in order to keep him company. Besides, to say that he had missed his old friend greatly would be one of the biggest understatements of the century.
The only thing the Daywalker was going to get before Aidan entered without hesitation was a single knock.
"Riley."
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Or rather, the fourth in a stack of newspapers he'd quietly asked to be supplied. He'd been gone a long time, it was important that he caught up with things in the world as they were now, before backtracking the last four decades.
He finishes one last paragraph and makes a small mark with the pencil twirled idly in one hand, lifting his gaze to greet the Voidseeker. "Are you sure the children won't be disappointed to find their playground gone?"
He might have been relegated to house-arrest, but that didn't mean he hadn't had resources at his disposal to look around and check up on friends.
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Which meant, of course, that - as if to make up for his absence - all disappointed parties were going to find five smaller but no less interesting dragons flopping around the area in Aidan's place. He liked to think that it was a good trade-off.
Aidan's gaze swept over the entire room, taking everything in just once before he sat across of his old friend.
"As I've told you already," he quietly said, "things have been interesting lately."
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"That they are." He offers a pleasant enough smile, the kind that said simply: Thank you. I was getting bored all by my lonesome.
He reaches out then, for one of the broadsheets that appears to have been tossed carelessly aside to the footstool he'd found so tedious to use ( he might be ancient, but the last thing Riley would ever want to be seen as was an invalid; he just needed a couple of
weeksdays to get back on steady feet ) and then frowns when he finds himself coming up short.Oh, bother.
... ;w;
Who would have thought? Given the fact that Aidan himself is rather busy fetching an ashtray, setting it down between them, and reaching into the inner pocket of his coat for his cigars and his matches. It's only after he's done lighting up that he's sliding the case over, and smiling.
"Who was in here before me?"
Because neither of them needed to talk about how Riley is feeling, what he still needed, how much time he had to take off in order to be back up to snuff. Not yet, anyway.
:3
He turns the cigar over, the length of it balanced between the tips of his index fingers.
"I had heard talk that you'd grown comfortable with," he lets the sentence trail, the smile on his face with the barest hint of teasing -- though there is a look in his eyes that belies curiosity; maybe even surprise.
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"Yeah. Well." A pause. "What is the point of enjoying life if one forces one's self to have so many rules?"
So many others had told him this, with Riley being the first, and the likes of Setsuna, Hikaru, Alistair, Maes and Calintz later on. Now he was finally taking their advice.
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"Good of you to finally take it."
There is a pause then, Riley's gaze falling to the headline but not really seeing or processing the way the letters have strung together. He's tired.
It is so bloody frustrating.
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"You should take a break."
It's a simple suggestion, one that Riley can take or ignore as he wished.
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Riley leans back into his seat a little more just then, a small smile on his own lips as he looks up at his friend.
"I enjoy that statement about as much as you enjoy being told to go on holiday." He sighs, a long, suffering one. "Do you know how bloody tedious it is to be under house-arrest."
It's not a question.
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There's a hint of amusement there, if only because at least at one point in their lives every member of the Malice Kings had been told by their comrades that Under No Certain Terms Were They To Leave the Falner Manor for a Specified Amount of Time. They were a family that way.
"Well... I suppose that house arrest, in your case, does not have to mean being holed up in here all the time."
Liandrin was not going to be pleased with him for this but Aidan could deal with her later.
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But it's subdued quick enough when Riley recalls that there is one person in particular who will be displeased. And the fact that Aidan has that look of I will deal with that when it comes.
To that, he simply states: "You may tell Liandrin that a wheelchair is not as undignified as she thinks. Especially where it concerns someone as charming as I."
Unspoken of course, and delivered with a smile: she is going to never let us hear the end of it.
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Aidan's smile is a response unto itself.
No, not at all.
And a moment later, the Voidseeker was standing, building a wheelchair out of nothing with a gesture of his hand. After that, he was moving towards his old friend's side.
"Here, I'll help you."
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He shoots Aidan a look from beneath his brows. "Don't even think of carrying me onto that chair, Aidan." And because he can't resist the jab. "You're a married man now."
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"Quite happily married, yes." A pause, and then: "Now both of you share in the largest portion of my heart."
How long has it been since they could banter this way? He didn't really want to think about it. What was important was that they could, Vigil headaches be damned.
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"You are such a bloody romantic, Aidan." It is really very good though, to hear that retort, to know that the smile behind it is full and true. Happiness is not a road, he's always thought, but the manner by which you deal with the journey -- and he and Aidan have been walking for a very, very long time. It's nice to see that for the rest of the way up ahead, his friend has this, come what may.
The Daywalker maneuvers himself into the chair at that, one look of reprimand at the Voidseeker as if to say Let me try to do this on my own first. You, good sir, can step in if I falter.
And he manages, well enough, thank goodness.
"Shall we, then?"
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After just a brief second of laughing at himself for his own hesitation, Aidan moved behind the wheelchair and took hold of its handles. The door to Riley's room is already opening of its own accord.
"You have probably noticed this already, but: you will be pleased to know that Jessiah had an elevator installed in the house."
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"And how long did he have to wrestle with our lovely Lia to get that done?"
Those two. Forever bickering like children -- at least, when they weren't getting along like the mad little misfits they were.
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It had been amusing to watch, really. A good distraction after all of the pain, the loss, the regret, the anger, the worry.
The Darkest Vigil had not been a good time for any of them.
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He's smiling at that, but there's a sad note to his words.
He hates missing out. He knows there was nothing he could do about going back to sleep, but the regret is there all the same.
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"I swear upon my honor that you're going to see a lot of interesting things while you're around, old friend. Some of it might pale in comparison to whatever you end up reading about, or hearing about."
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"If what I hear comes straight from you, old friend, I don't think it will pale overmuch."
He lifts a hand to cover the Voidseeker's then. "Take me for a stroll, and tell me of the things I've missed. The young ones," he means those three blades, because they will always be children to him, "they told me much of what has transpired over the last few decades. Perhaps you can 'catch me up' on more recent events."
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He's saying that as they are pulling to a stop in front of the elevator doors. Shouldn't take too long, waiting for it. Most of the people who stayed in the mansion liked taking the stairs whenever they had to move around.
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That, and there was time. For as long as he was to be awake, there would most definitely be time for the children to catch him up on things.
Quietly though, just as the elevator bell sounds. "They've grown up beautifully, Aidan." He's not going to feel sad that he'd missed out on seeing that, even from a distance. Or that some of them were now gone.
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"'Grown' is a nice way of putting it. Sometimes I do wonder if what we've actually done is ruin some of them."
That is a burden he will always carry, when he sees the wounds on people he considers his children after a fashion out in the open.
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