Trials & Tribulations

Nixon couldn’t even argue with Hudson, knowing fully well that some kind of closet hook up would’ve happened. As if they hadn’t christened every single surface in the museum at this point. He had almost just glued his “be back in five” sign to his desk. He searched Hudson’s features for a few moments, leaning into the touch he felt as the other’s hands came up to his jaw. It was an interesting idea, and for a moment, Nixon thought about it. But in the end, his own selfishness would always win out. Despite knowing he was no longer obligated to remain in New York, he would. Because if one of them were to die, then at least it’d be together. “I have all the time in the world, unfortunately,” Nixon reached up to curl his fingers around Hudson’s wrists, the sunlight gleaming off of the daylight ring that showed just how much devotion the vampire had to the witch. “I know you would – but you can’t get rid of me that easy. Considering it would be a first for me to even leave this place out of my own free will, I’d kinda like to have you with me. Eventually.”

Difficult enough to consider the idea that Nixon might have very well chosen to leave, that he’d have done nothing to stop him, Hudson well aware that the vampire had already been tied to unspoken things for far too long for him to so readily refuse his chance at swallowing real freedom if it were given to him. The city like a plague of it’s own, he wouldn’t damn a single being for wanting so desperately to leave. The glint of sunlight across the ring the other wore tightened something in his chest, neither suffocating nor painful, it swelled something else entirely to the point that the smile that broke his features was inevitable. “I love you, you know.” He stepped forward, as if there were truly any space willing between them, his forehead dropping gently against the cool skin of the vampires. “we’ll get out of here together, once whatever this is... once it’s done,” once he could truly believe his family safe, “i promise.”

“You did absolutely nothing to help me in that situation. The guy was begging me to marry him. I could’ve said yes and you never would’ve gotten to have sex with me. Think of all that you’d be missing out on.” Nixon grinned a little more, putting Hudson’s palm on his chest and letting it travel downward, only stopping at the V of his waist when Hudson went silent. The vampire really couldn’t understand that kind of struggle, and he couldn’t empathize. He knew he would’ve wanted to tell his brother everything, but the Tallis family had their own way of doing things that made everything a little more complicated than most. Nixon put his hand up, trying to stop Hudson’s denial of what he was asking, “Woah, woah. First of all, you can’t just say we can’t just leave – because we could. Second, I’m not asking for right now, right this minute. Not while originals are dying and the world is seemingly ending in New York.” Nixon removed his hand from Hudson’s wrist, letting it fall from his body, “But I want to. Eventually. And it’d be nice if you went with me – eventually.”

“Maybe I wanted to see if you were really gonna go home’ with that guy or not.” He shrugged, knowing that the state he’d been in, Nixon hadn’t even been a crossfire thought at that point in his life, “You could’ve said yes and been made an honest man well before I got to you, well..--- kind of honest..-- this, this still would have happened.” One way or another, he didn’t doubt that they’d have found themselves entangled in sheets -- or work closets. The lowly laugh that ruptured as Nixon drew his hand over his chest only truly made him consider turning back home with the vampire in tow, but the turning tide of conversation was much heavier than he’d intended it to be. “No,” Hudson shook his head, despite knowing that it was that easy; to simply pick up and lead --- and right now, they had more than the capability of doing it. “You could, if you wanted.” But as dire a situation as it was, and as twisted as Hudson’s sense of preservation might have been, he had far too many obligations to stand up against with the supernatural world falling apart around them. Hues lifted to eye the vampire almost curiously, “If you wanted that, you could go, --- no waiting for eventually.” Even the thought ripped through his chest, but ultimately, he didn’t plan to tether Nixon to the spot. Rough hands lifted to curl gently around the slope of his fiance’s neck, thumbs both toying across stoic jawline, “I will.--- I promise you, one way or another, I will go with you, when I can, but I get if you don’t want to stick around for whatever happens next. You know I’d find you.”

“A wonder? I am nice to look at. Can’t really fault you for that one.” Nixon smiled a little more, his train of thought following Hudson’s. It was definitely going to happen; he just found it amusing that no one thought it would. Whoever was there wouldn’t have the slightest clue they were more than likely going to have murdered someone – or many someone’s – before they even started the honeymoon. The vampire slowed down a little more, chuckling to himself as Hudson continued to speak, “Baggage, hm? Nothing a bit of magic can’t fix. Still hiding those miles of bookshelves from anyone who…isn’t me?” The notion was mildly amusing, but he wouldn’t be the one to ever spill Hudson’s secrets – just like he knew Hudson would do the same for him. He turned towards Hudson, another idea on the tip of his tongue. It took him a moment to form the words, not out of fear, but nerves, “Or…anywhere. It doesn’t have to be New York. Couple months here, couple months there.” It’d be too easy to compel people to hand over properties. He’d never been to Europe to simply enjoy it. The curse had stopped him from ever returning; ever since it’d been broken, he’d wondered what it all was like. Nixon looped his arms around Hudson’s neck, threading his fingers through blonde hair, “Doesn’t have to be now. But I’d like that.”

“Fault me? If I remember correctly, it was you that chose me to be your fill in fiance, not the other way around.” Not that he’d ever truly found complaint in such happenstance, not then and certainly not now. No matter how left field it had seemed. Hudson certain that most people used people they already knew personally to fill in; but back then, they’d been little more than passing strangers that worked together. To think the worst of him would find himself tethered to the vampire now; for accepting each and every part of him was an absurd thought, yet here they were, entirely sure of how this night would end. He scoffed lowly, “If magic were the end all be all, I’d have no fucking issues whatsoever.” Which, certainly wasn’t the case. Roughly, his hand rubbed across the expanse of his own jaw and he remained silent for a moment or two. “It’s not exactly the kind of thing you can just... tell someone.” How much had it taken before Hudson had told Nixon everything? It was one thing; his family knowing was something else entirely. “I’ll tell them one day.” One day when he didn’t feel all too worried for how they might react; when the days of seeing the unthinkable had reached an all time high, perhaps. As the vampire turned to him, Hudson slowed in his steps, brows furrowed as he listened, and understood exactly what Nixon was suggesting. Leaving New York. He’d done it before, willingly, without care or thought for what he’d left behind... but he wasn’t that guy anymore, though he’d certainly become no less addicted to the power he craved, it didn’t drive him to the unthinkable anymore, or at least, not so easily. “You want to leave the city?” Teeth gnawed the inside of his lip and he sighed, “You know we can’t do that. I can’t do that, not now. Not with everything the way it is.”

        She… couldn’t remember the last time they’d performed a joint spell together. While this was something she was going to attempt on her own, it felt more secure with an extra set of hands. That — and she hadn’t had to spill her own blood for the sake of it. Her hands were pretty; she could pursue a modeling career with them, whereas his were, well, a man’s hands. Yeah, she thought, that was definitely enough of a reason to let him help her. It’d be an understatement to say she was grasping at straws to keep the strange relationship with her brother she had all but built herself. Maybe sometime soon it’d be time to let the past go and instead look forward, as she knew was necessary. “I only need a minute.” The reality of her wanting to verbally rip their pathetic organization to shreds wasn’t exactly plausible. The spell they were attempting needed her undivided attention. Their palms met, although the familiar warmth did little to help her understand the nonimmediate connection of their magic. It was more like fine threads weaving together rather than the puzzle pieces interlocking that she envisioned. Hues honed in on the deep red liquid that stained the surface before them. In their blood lied a resource incredibly powerful when linked with nearly anything, especially family artifacts. Portions of family members. And at that reminder she let her eyes fall closed.

One minute. One minute of time, to find something that might give them some sense of where or what was going on beyond the precipice of what they already knew. A detail that might grant them the upper hand for the first time in two years. One single minute, in exchange for the things he’d kept so far out of reach that would no doubt surface in dire indignation within his little sisters features once such realization came about. The alternative, however -- left Hudson losing more people. Left all of them in the dark. As much as he might have hoped to keep such things to himself, for as long as humanly possible, it simply wasn’t plausible anymore. Memory served him well enough that he knew the feeling as their palms met didn’t quite encompass the adrenaline like euphoria that could overwhelm within the realms of the Tallis powers, the bitter depth of his own too accustomed to working singularly and when met with the blinding light that he knew came so readily with his family’s energy, it took passing moments of transcendence, a ticking clock somewhere warped within what should have been immediate. He refused to give her even a moment to question it, bloodied palm reaching for her other enclosing the entirety of any possible gap within their energies as he held her hand above the crimson surface, unblinking as his own blood spilled out across her porcelain skin to fall to the pool beneath. Darkening hues leveled with her own, a hint of apology within the abyss of pupils dilating as the magic surged.

What the fuck.

Confusion and surprise flickered across his face before Lucian settled on complete and utter disbelief. In any other situation, he was sure it would have been comical how he looked from one part of the room and back to Hudson and then back again. His gaze settled on where the coffee table had once stood. Wood replaced with stone, normal living room shit replaced with objects practically giving off an aura of dark energy. It was almost like black magic had completely engulfed the place. It felt more than a little off and he went from being comfortably sat on the couch to feeling like he wanted to be miles away from the place.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?”

What the fuck did this mean? Multiple scenarios ran through his head at once. None of them good. Hudson was obviously into some shit. Had been into it? Was still into it? He was afraid to ask. But this, the bookshelf, the grimoires on the ‘coffee table’, this was a cumulation of work not just done in a week or two. Opening his mouth to speak again, he abruptly closed it and sat forward. His hands smoothed over his face, slid up into his hair and rested at the back of his neck, eyes stuck on the carpet.

And then he let out a short bark of laughter before shaking his head.

“All this time, huh?” Leaning back, he finally looked to Hudson. Hudson the golden boy. Hudson the perfect son. So out of place among all of this darkness. But he didn’t look uncomfortable, in fact, he almost seemed at ease. To say he was shocked was an understatement, but ultimately, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. He’d spent years wrongfully resenting his eldest brother to begin with. He’d spent time on many a mental tirade about how supposedly perfect he was but suddenly things seemed to make a bit more sense. Because at some point, Hudson had deviated from that ‘perfect’ image. Over the last year, Lucian had settled on that Hudson had perhaps been too pressured by the family and had grown to resent the coven a little. But now there was probably more to that.

“Go…Ahead and explain?” It was meant to be a statement, but it came out as a hesitant question. He’d burnt through too many emotions and thoughts in such a short span of time that he was just left looking at his brother at a loss.

Coming full circle to face his younger brother, Hudson couldn’t have truly expected anything less than the mild panic that seemed to blossom on Luc’s features. Contorted and mottle with a breed of anxious confusion that should have met any such Tallis in the face of the darkness that Hudson quite literally lived in. It didn’t take much for him to feel the waves of uncertainty wash over the other, the very shift in the air around him just enough for him to cave so willingly to being okay with what he was surrounded by, though he knew that it wasn’t truly possible for any other to feel such a way without finding some sense of familiarity within it. The rough of his hand pulled slowly across the expanse of his mouth and jaw. There was no real way to explain it, truly, showing any single one of his family was something that he knew would be the only way to get his point across. 

The Tallis coven were renowned for their striking sense of power, all of which was used for the very opposite of everything that lay within the confines of Hudson’s home. He’d held such little care and now that he’d quite literally exposed such a harrowing piece of himself, he didn’t exactly know how to back it up with some sense of explanation that might have stuck well enough. Telling any single one of them that he happened to enjoy the feeling of drawing the powers of another witch right out of their life source, nor could he claim his affinity for the stark premise of death that clung to such an art form. Those, he intended to remain as ominous as possible where his craft was concerned. “Freshman year.” He nodded slowly, offering some pinpoint within a timeline. “Screwed around with some things that.. very clearly I shouldn’t have and it just kind of....” Blossomed from there, an addiction that he knew there was such little cure for. He paused, eyeing his brother carefully, trying to gauge some sense of thought or reaction from him, but finding little more than the same uncertainty and confusion, he pressed on. “When I left a few years back I was.. out of control.” By anyone else standards at least, by his own? He had more power than any Tallis trip might have given him. “At first I had every intention of just.. doing my job, finding something dark that could point me in the direction of something useful.” At least until he’d found something much sweeter. “Didn’t really go to plan, but.. what I did find wasn’t exactly discouraging either.”  The lowly steps he’d taken were without destination it intention, something to occupy the silence that fell between Hudson’s voice. Rubbing the back of his neck as if it might have sparked something else he could say, he knew that there was little else than the truth that mattered now. “I told you once before that it wasn’t my choice to come back, and if I’d had any say in the matter, I’d still be gone.” Teeth caught the inside of his cheek, nodding slowly in some attempt to steel himself for what came next. “I uh.-- hurt a lot of people, stole a lot of things that were never meant to be taken. By the time someone was there to stop me, I’d almost killed myself by using too much and the coven dragged me back here to..-- detox.” 

“Becoming a vampire really stopped that whole gym thing for me. My biceps came from digging trenches and a couple crackers and a piece of bread a day.” Nixon smiled a little more, unable not to find amusement in the way Hudson dressed. It never bothered him, anyway. He gave a wicked smile, shrugging, “I just wouldn’t want to get it dirty,” he hummed. He tugged Hudson along the sidewalk, slowing down after a moment. Nixon shared the sentiment, but then again, change was always a lot nicer than most. He paused, glancing back at Hudson as a different idea on his mind, “What if we found…somewhere else? Not mine, not yours – just…ours. Somewhere wherever. Just not Midtown – I hate Midtown.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I can tell.” The taunt came from a place not wanting to delve too deeply into the tail end of such a mocking comment. “It’s a wonder I spend so much time looking at you and not myself, truly.” The humor never quite died out on his features, though he surely sobered a little more, shaking his head in deniable objection. “You wear whatever you want, but if you think we’re getting married and you’re not getting at least a little dirty...” The visible pinch of his thumb and forefinger teasing at the very idea of it. Hudson not so blind to such a celebration between the two of them not ending with at least one of them coated in a sheen layer of someone else’s blood. The sharp tug from the vampire drew him further down the street, finding little reason to slow Nixon, whatever it was he was being led to, something important --- nothing at all, he’d go wherever the other did. A brow rose readily, the quirk in the very corner of his lips intentionally reassuring. “You sure you want that? I’m not trying to dissuade you at all, but I hear I come with a big of --- baggage, furniture wise, at least..” The obvious notwithstanding, Hudson’s only reference to the apartment he owned being little more than a cover for the things he truly found precious to him. “Not Midtown, got it.”

        Swallowing whatever pride she could, she held out her hand. For him to connect their energies or to pass the knife back over, either one. They’d have to do both eventually. “Nice to know where your priorities lie.” For once. Magic held a special place in all of their hearts, that was for sure. Even for those of them who chose to cast aside their powers for the greater part of their life, it’s what they grew up with. Personally, the youngest of the bunch could never make that selfless decision. The abilities she mastered simply meant too much to her. “Let’s not act like you’re an open book.” For all intents and purposes his life was very private, not that she could blame him for wanting to keep it that way. But he’d had his time for secrets, whereas she was biding hers. “You showed up at the right time — and you said it yourself.” She wasn’t going to get very far by herself; she needed help and he was there to give it.

“I know. And by doing so, they’d guarantee nothing would come of it.” Every time he really thought he was useless, he remembered they had whatever had killed Dylan in their grasp and nothing had ever come out of it. Lucian didn’t think he’d ever understand it. Growing up he’d always felt this pressure of responsibility, like he was supposed to uphold something. That he was supposed to be useful to the community, ready to help it. They hadn’t done anything. All this power and they’d put in minimal effort. Put out the fires, repair some buildings, heal some people. People were dying, storybook villains were still at large, and Noah was dead. That was a rant he didn’t need to give. At this point, he felt like Hudson agreed to an extent.

That didn’t mean he didn’t look at him curiously as he sat forward on the couch, brow raised. “I’d like to think not much could surprise me at this point.” It was a blunt joke but he couldn’t help but feel something seize in his chest. Excitement or anxiety, he wasn’t sure what it was. He trusted Hudson, but he knew there was a lot, or at least it seemed to be implied, that there were a lot of secrets between the two of them. Secrets that maybe they couldn’t afford to keep anymore. His own seemed trivial in the grand scheme of things now.

Hudson certainly didn’t want for his siblings to feel any ounce of resentment towards the choices their own coven had made, but the longer it went on, the more he found it impossible to look past knowing everything they’d known and feeling entirely different about retribution. It’d started by simply claiming to wish to keep a level, neutral ground, and beyond that --- it seemed little more than wiping their own hands clean and watching in hope that such war wouldn’t encroach on their own lives. Until it did. He’d never forget finding Dylan the way he had, nor the fact that there might have been every chance to do something then with a weapon in their hands, but before he’d even been able to question it, the coven had covered it up like it was nothing. “The good of the many,” he spoke quietly, a little more indifferent to the idea the Tallis elders had towards their reach among the community. 

Lips rolled together at his brothers near depreciating comment; a stark notion that the last two years had been filled with too much that Hudson’s greatest secret would barely touch the boundaries of insane; a lackluster hope that Luc could keep such a mindset as he crossed the room. The depth of illusion that etched itself to the walls of Hudson’s apartment far deeper than most truly understood, many of their kind keeping things out of view for as long as any of them could remember. The ancient coin he drew from his back pocket stained black in places and no longer held it’s shine, even less so as Hudson snatched up a small blade and drew it across a vein within his arm. Spilling over to coat the coin until crimson turned black and outstretched it’s hold until it morphed to dust, the room hazing over momentarily to break the entirely functional illusion that his living room didn’t perch existence over a much darker place. The extensive collection of dark magic objects and the like scattered the stone bench that appeared where his coffee table had once been, the bookcase and it’s contents no longer filled with grimoires known to their family name, but older and intricately bound by worn damaged leather and other.. unspoken mediums. The sofa his brother once sat little more than entirely out of place now as Hudson turned back to him, little else to do other than await his reaction.

“I figured it had. I’ll let you carry me; I don’t mind.” Nixon huffed out a laugh, finding it all too amusing. “I’ll keep that in mind. I can find a white suit. I’m sure I can look good in it.” Running a hand through his hair, the vampire glanced up at the sky before he turned his gaze back onto the Tallis, “Right – no sex is the one way to take a Tallis down. I almost forgot,” he smirked. Shaking his head, Nixon reached down to take the other’s hand, intertwining their fingers instead. Truth was, he didn’t care what date they settled on – the fact that it was even happening was still something Nixon was trying to wrap his mind around. “My apartment is nicer than yours – better view, don’t you think?”

“I don’t slug it out in the gym for nothing.” He pointed out in as much a mocking tone as he’d intended, the repetitive running joke of his all too small shirts for the size of his biceps forever seemingly running it’s course. “That’s a step below the usual egotistical confidence you’ve usually got.” Hudson laughed, watching almost intently as Nixon’s gaze drew him elsewhere. “Don’t go letting anyone else know that, I really don’t need anyone else trying their hand at trying to destroy me. I’ll have to do something dramatic.” The cold touch of his hand entwining with his greater than any warmth he might have found elsewhere, something settled in the chill of the vampire’s skin that brought him home, each and every time. “Better view?” He arched a brow high and stifled something of a laugh behind teeth as they sunk into the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not all too bothered by what I can see out of a window when you’re around.”

Nixon hummed a little in agreement, though he wasn’t going to apologize for it. Sometimes he got mildly out of control. “No need to take all my fun away,” he teased, though he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Hudson’s words. A laugh escaped him, and he turned into Hudson instead, stopping them in their tracks, “Okay, am I carrying you? Or should I wear white? Does the whole blushing virgin thing turn you on? That’s a new one.” As if to prove a point, the vampire leaned forward to press a kiss against the hollow of Hudson’s throat, “No sex until then. Guess we’ll have to choose a date. How’s next year sound?”

“I’d never dream of it.” Not while there was an entire city filled with people that wouldn’t be missed, other witches that weren’t tied to his own coven and the sudden overflow of those less than stellar excuses for living --- or dead being. “You know, I’m not going to lie, the last time you carried me anywhere bruised my ego for a good few weeks and you only did that because I could barely walk so.. maybe we can skip right on over that one for now. I’m not against the white though.” He shrugged, “I wouldn’t say it’s a turn on, but the whole blushing virgin facade couldn’t be all that..--” Breath caught short in his throat as Nixon’s mouth painted diligent caress across his flesh, “Next year?” The idea alone both laughable and almost hard to swallow. “I think I’ve got enough people in this city willing to try and kill me without you trying to do the same thing.”

        She mentally cursed herself for not wanting to go through with it. Pain did not resonate in some deep, dark part of her heart like it did for others. She wanted nothing to do with any sort of pain. A cut on her hand seemed like a small enough price to pay to gain some semblance of security in the grand scheme of things. “I was going to ask you,” she spoke after a moment of hesitation. It had crossed her mind more than once, “You’re busy.” If there were one thing she hadn’t felt, it was guilt. For doing what she felt was necessary to take control of the situation. More commonly, she liked to do things on her own. Help wasn’t something she’d go out of her way to acquire if she believed in her own abilities. Hudson, as the eldest Tallis, was logically the most experienced, and, in turn, the strongest. The knife clattered on the table finally, signalling the pause of her magical intent.

Nixon didn’t think Rowan would actually be jealous, but any chance for a dig at his sire was one he was going to take. He watched the napkin burn, huffing out a chuckle as he heard the witch tell him no, “Don’t what? I didn’t do anything” he argued, turning to drag his teeth over Hudson’s jaw. “Probably not. Either way,” Nixon looped his arm around Hudson’s shoulders, squeezing lightly, “I hope you’re not waiting for the marriage thing to move in with me.”

“You don’t have to do anything for me to know what you’re thinking, Nix.” Because it didn’t stray too far from what Hudson might have thought had the tables been turned. They made quite a pair. “Unpredictable as you may be, I know you.” The low hum that reverberated his chest as teeth drew across his jaw, Hudson tipping his head slightly, all startling factors in how irrevocably comfortable he’d come to be; nobody sane would likely allow a vampire at their throat. Much less one with an affinity for murder. “Oh, I’m doing this by the book. No moving in until after the we’ve signed anything, and you can bet your ass someone is being carried over that threshold.” His grin widened as hands found purchase at Nixon’s waist, “We’re abstaining from sex too. I’d like to maintain the idea of purity until then.”

         (  @hcdtallxs.  )

        Corrina held her left palm face open on the surface before her, a knife secure in her right hand, waiting to be dug into her flesh. She’d been forever suspicious of Hudson with no proof to back her up — which is why she needed to procure some, but there were more pressing matters at hand. There was undoubted hesitation in her actions, and she was just about to slice her palm open to begin a spell of great magnitude when the door to the room she was in creaked open, her eldest brother standing at its entrance.

“That makes two of us – considering Lucian might pass out and Rowan is going to get jealous,” Nixon’s tone was light, holding up the napkin so he could read the number – maybe she’d die an accidental death in the near future. He leaned against the witch as they walked, turning to look at him as he handed the napkin back, “Not really. Though I do think a rendezvous at the big ol’ Tallis mansion to put you on the spot would still be funny. If only to watch Dorothy cry and your sister to demand planning rights before Lucian could.”

“Jealous?” A frown set in deep against his brow, Hudson’s teeth quickly catching the inside of his lip before he nodded in some nonsensical attempt to brush off the idea. “Give me that.” Snatching the napkin from the vampire’s grip, the flame that engulfed it never quite leaving the palm of his hand before it was gone. “I know what you’re thinking, don’t.” Not people he knew -- never people he knew. “You would find that hilarious, but my mother crying is almost terrifying in itself. I think I’ve seen her shed a tear once in my entire life. We both know Luc doesn’t stand a chance in that battle.”

“You’re gonna have to do me a favor and stop letting Kennedy around Lucas so much.” The lithe air of his timbre more than enough to pave the way for the amusement he felt. “If I get one more snapchat from her telling me to give her a niece or nephew I’m going to find a way to crash that entire app from existence. and go completely off grid again.”

“I told you, I haven’t said anything to anyone yet.” Something about Hudson and the pieces of his private life had become more like hinged secrets than things to just out right blurt to his siblings over text. That said, not telling his family meant that nobody else knew; much less the old friend from high school that had, without shame, slipped Hudson a napkin with her number written on it; in lipstick. The softened laugh that bloomed within his chest quiet as he slipped his hand into the back pocket of Nixon’s jeans. “Is it really so bad that I’m completely fine keeping it between us for now?”