once benjamin had been taken care of and everyone settled in for phoebe's transition, gallowglass had taken it upon himself to wander off into the night. watching everything unfold the way it did taught him a number of lessons.

lessons that, eventually, led him back to amabilia.

getting comfortable in her castle had been odd, at first. his feet always wanted to move, as if all they knew was forward motion. whenever he stopped long enough to sleep, he kept expecting to find himself somewhere new. not that he hated being in one place. in fact, the viking found it odd that the opposite was proving to be true. anywhere else, he was chomping at the bit a few weeks in.

at first he told himself it was because the entirety of the grounds were so new to him that the discovery of new things kept him on his toes. soon, however, he'd realized it was her.

gallowglass had finally come home.

" i missed you, too, auntie, " the taller vampire leaned in to kiss stasia on the cheek.

his ac/dc tee and black leather jacket are a stark contrast to the decor surrounding them. gallowglass had tried to be more of a button down, suit sort of lad just like baldwin and matthew but they're the most impractical things to wear when you're sitting on a motorcycle. besides, he found a more casual style of dress allowed him to blend in more easily in most parts of the world.

" i'm sorry i didn't reach out sooner. i've, ah... " the vampire's nose scrunches and his crystal blue gaze hovers back towards the way he'd just come. " i've been trying to figure something out, you could say. " reaching out, gallowglass gently squeezes his aunt's hand. " thank you for helping me with all my strange question over the years. i, um... "

imagining this conversation was much different in his head than how it was actually falling out his lips. he'd hardly ever been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. well, romantically, anyway.

there was still some hundred odd years until diana was born ( again ). gallowglass had fought a good few orders to keep his promise to phillipe; setting things into motion in the right time and in the right place in order to make sure the past repeated itself. or, was that the future? the blonde shook his head to himself to push off the thought. on those lonely nights, in the house he'd build about half a mile to where the proctor home would eventually stand, he tried to wrap his head around all that had happened.

how did the cycle start? was it the past or the present? better yet, how on earth did phillipe reconstruct all the steps for gallowglass to follow?

it hurt his head to think about such things for too long but, often, it was all he had.

to ground himself down to the present, he'd written a letter to amabilia in order to see if they could plan some time where they could reconnect. his duty had taken him away from his friendship for a little too long and the viking found he craved that quiet time they spent together.

everything seemed to make more sense when ama was around.

his auntie stasia seemed to pick up on something gallowglass himself couldn't grasp. eventually, the conversation turned to an admission that, simply, he was off to visit someone until there was need of him. matthew, no doubt, would call on him soon. the man had entirely too many threads weaving together at any given time. how he kept all the lies straight was anyone's guess. then again, it was something matthew naturally did well.

" we all have friends outside the family, auntie, " gallowglass waves off the comment as gently as he can. " i tend to not speak about such things because people get entirely too invested in my business. "

at least, when hancock was alive, the other vampire could fight for his own privacy.

Greatly.

But  that  had  been  a  different  brother.  A  foregone  brother.   A DEAD ONE.

This  one  was  still  breathing.