♪ Family Obligations ♪ (Closed)

[Skylar]

"If I have to wear them here, I'll be spending a lot more time at your place."
I laugh a little. The idea is kind of appealing though and he did just give me a cupboard full of food, so I guess I'm not exactly unwelcome. Not that I actually think that I am. Ric's pretty good at being blunt when he has to be and I'm pretty sure he'd tell me to shove off if he wanted to.
"And that's kinda sweet of you. To create me something new, but you know they're already worth more to me in sentimentality than they could ever be worth in money. I mean, it's not every day a guy makes me a pair of earrings you know."
I try to play down my words by gathering up my stuff to leave. I mean, it's true. I've never had a guy make me anything before and while the jury was still out on the rat headband as to whether or not he gave me that gift to be nice or to freak me out, the earrings were definitely "a to be nice" gift.
I pick up my stuff and shove my key and some cash in one pocket and my phone in the other. One day I might actually start carrying a handbag but that day is not today.
"Oh wait."
I run into the bedroom and start going through my bag again.
"Ric... Have you seen my... Nevermind."
I thought I'd put the headband he gave me for the Altaire thing in my bag but as I started to look around the room, I noticed it on top of his dresser. I pick the thing up, place it on my head and walk back out.
"There. Ready. Maybe... I don't suppose you squirreled any whiskey or anything away in that cupboard did you?"
I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I had to check. I should have panned ahead and squirreled a bottle of whiskey away in my duffle. That would have taken some forethought though and I'm not all that good at that at times. I should probably think about getting myself a hip flask or something. They're kinda cool and they'd be great at a time like this, if I remembered to keep it full that was.

[Roderic]

I just shrug when she talks about someone making earrings for her. It was the first thing that popped in to my head when I gathered a bunch of them in the caverns. If I had had more time I probably would have done something else with them. Something with far more detail. I can always perfect my craft at another time.

I watch Skylar disappear and wonder what the hold up is. She looked fine to me. Had clothes on and did what women did to their hair and makeup to be presentable. I found it to be a waste of time, but it wasn't my time to be wasting. She reappears with the headband I made her and the corner of my lips curl up a little. Just the left side.

Then it fades when she mentions alcohol. "Absolutely not. We have to keep our heads about us. Can't let anything slip. While being completely inebriated at a holiday event your parents put on might piss them off, we need to be sure what of what we are saying and doing pisses them off enough to not want to see you because you're a brat, *****, black sheep. Whatever. Not because you're a vampire."

I head to the door with her keeping at my pace, or me at hers, but then stop and look at the door knob. I reach out for it and give it a turn. Two times before pulling it open. When it's open, I hold it for Skylar to leave the apartment so I can lock up behind us. With that taken care of, we head to the elevator next and I push the button three times. Then another when I realize it was only three times. "No drinking when we're there either." I say in a tone that signals I mean it as the elevator opens and we get in.

[Skylar]

I pout when he tells me there's no alcohol and fold my arms across my chest. Is this what he really wants? Me showing up sober to a family event. Like my family wouldn't see that in and of itself as suspicious. If he wants it to be business as normal I should be crawling through the god damn door on my hands and knees, three hours late and missing a shoe. That's normal.
Grabbing up the bag of presents I had to give my family from next to the front door, I walk out of the flat and wait for Ric to do his thing. I'd close the door for him and stuff but it's not my place to try and fix these things and even if it were, I mean, it's not like they annoy me. Actually it's kinda cute, his tics. Though my opinion of him quickly changes as the elevator arrives and we step inside.
I hate him and I show my displeasure by stamping my foot - like the brat he thinks I am - when he rules out any drinking on my part once we get there. Great. So not only are my parents going to know something's up but I'm going to have to sit through this sober? Well that sure as **** wasn't how I planned to spend the night. I'm really kicking myself now as I have no idea how I could have forgotten the booze. I blame Ric. I do. I was too focused on taking him with me.
"Great. You do realise that me being there sober isn't the norm right? So the moment I manage to walk through that door under my own power my parents are gonna know something's up... ****!"
My mind connects a couple of dots and I suddenly realise what my parents will think if I show up with yet another inappropriate guy, sober. What assumption does every god, damn person on the planet make when a friend or family member of theirs - someone who is well known to like a good drink - suddenly refuses a drink.
"They're going to think I'm pregnant!"
I'm clearly not impressed by this realisation and facepalming just doesn't cut it. I keep my hand on my face and shake my head. This was not the kind of trouble I wanted to stir up. Not to mention the fact that I was taking the world's most unaffectionate person home with me. Who in their right mind was going to believe he got carried away and knocked me up? I smack Ric in the shoulder with the back of my hand. I'm not sure how this is all his fault, but it was. At least that's what my mind's telling me.

[Roderic]

Skylar is busy being, Skylar and spazzing out over nothing. Who cared what they thought? Wasn't the agenda to piss them off? I don't think Skylar actually knows what she wants or how to go about pissing her parents off. "Who cares?" I finally say, because I don't think it's that big of a deal. I would rather them think she was pregnant than knowing she was a vampire. Unless, again, Skylar wanted me to murder her entire family in front of her. I'm starting to think she does.

We step out of the elevator with no issues, and I even ask to carry some of the presents she is carrying. Not because I'm chivalrous or anything, but because I don't want to see her drop something and then we have to race around finding stupid gifts at the last minute. I dislike being rushed in unfamiliar situations. There is a process that needs to be followed in some scenarios and this was one of these scenarios.

"You will be fine. Christmas will go off without a hitch. They will hate me. They will be upset with you. We will accomplish the mission." I assure her as we step outside the flats and head north. I plan on crossing the large patch of ice and summoning her to the other side. Maybe when I get to the station. Or just outside the station, so no one sees Skylar just appear from thin air. Hard to explain that.

[Skylar]

Of course, Ric brushes off my worries. I swear the guy has absolutely no understanding of anything remotely normal. Leave it to me to saddle myself with the world's worst date and then mentally kick myself for it when he behaves exactly as I might have predicted. He's not going to listen to me unless I can lay out a better argument. Yes the point of the night was to see my family and wind up mum, but I didn't want to push my family away completely, which is what I'm now thinking is Ric's plans for me. They can hate him, that's fine, welcomed even; means they won't want to visit for however long I can keep this relationship up. Though I don't actually need to be dating the guy to tell my parents that. I guess I'm kinda lying anyways, though god only knows who to. Might be me for all I know. It feels like we're dating but can you really date someone without the other person knowing? I tell myself I can as I wait for him to walk on water like the demi-god I wish he was and wait to be summoned. The summoning takes a bit longer than I'd expect but by the time it happens, I have my argument straight in my head.
"Look Ric. They can't think I'm pregnant. Okay? This would be the first grandchild for my parents, and if you think there's anything you can do to wanna make my mum stay away from that..."
I pause and look at him, I grab a hold of his wrist and force him to look at me too so he can see I'm serious.
"If you think she won't hound me day in and day out to get into my kids life, you are sadly mistaken."
I know mum. She'd be all over me. I shiver at the thought of it. I can see her buying baby stuff online the moment we leave and messaging the extended family to tell them all that I finally did something right. Of course she'd probably tell them I was married too - just to save face - it wouldn't matter that she was lying to her. ****. She'd probably even hope I might marry for the sake of the kid. Oh this is getting twisted and I don't like it at all.
"You gotta let me drink. Please. You can limit the number of drinks I have. I really don't care but if I drink nothing, I promise you, the whole night will be a bust. We'd be better off not going."
I probably sound a little pathetic - and more like an alcoholic than I ever have done before in my life - but I know me and I know my family. I can't go in there and not drink. That's a huge arse warning sign to my folks.
"If I start to say or do something stupider than usual you can just kiss me. All right? And yes I know you'd probably rather swallow molten lava or a truck load of bleach than kiss me but it will shut me up. Even I can't talk with a tongue down my throat. And just so you know, they're gonna expect a certain amount of PDA, so do your best to look like you're into it. Please?"
And now I wait for him to bolt on me, gifts and all. I'm pretty sure we've covered the need for him to actually act my boyfriend several times already in the run up to tonight but now it was crunch time and if Ric was gonna bolt, it was probably best he do it now as I still have time to swing past Dillon's and beg him to come with instead.

[Roderic]

Again, Skylar cares too much about what others think. Me? I just don't give a damn, but maybe that's because most aspects of my life don't really infringe upon anyone else's. There were a few exceptions. Like the things I got up to with my faction-but again, I don't care. It's not my fault people put a big target on their back and I'm all too willing and ready to take a shot at it. Or, stab.

"Fine." I say because clearly, Skylar isn't going to let this drop and the thing I dislike the most is arguing with illogical females. Even when you use logic, their emotions are so kicked in to high gear that they only see their option as the only option out there. I highly doubt they would think she was pregnant. Skylar barely looked like she ate anything. Let alone ate for two. I felt like pointing that fact out, but again. I don't want to argue. I want to complete the task. The sooner, the better.

I'm not going to tell her how many she can and can't have. I'm not her conscious or her baby sitter. I don't know how many drinks she needs to have to appease the parents that might suspect she's pregnant if she doesn't have some booze in her system. They must be really proud parents. To watch their daughter get hammered and watch her act like an illogical idiot, but I don't say this thought either. I'm busy thinking about this whole PDA thing. I didn't know what it was until she told me about it. I think the idea of eating someone's face off in front of others is disgusting and unnecessary, but it seems society doesn't think so. I see it everywhere. "I can't digest lava or bleach." Is all I say, even though at one point, I had threatened to drink bleach when she kept kissing me.

"We can hold hands." I tell her as we head to my motorcycle. Yeah, it's the middle of winter and we're riding around on a motorcycle, but a cycle brings a certain image to mind for most upper class white people. And since Skylar wanted her parents to be unhappy, this was one of those things that would seal the deal before we even stepped inside the house. I put the packages in the side compartments, with a little cramming. If they got ruined, who cared? That might piss them off too. "Get on." I say after climbing on, straightening the bike up and starting the engine.

[Skylar]

I smile when he gives in and tells me I can drink. Okay so I'm not showing up wasted but I am showing up with Ric and it's kinda typical me to bring a guy like him home. He doesn't try to impose a limit on me, drinks wise, and while I'm kinda pleased about that, I figure I'll just get an elbow in the ribs or something if I try to have one too many later.
I laugh when he tells me he can't stomach lava or bleach. I know that. Of course I know that, I was just throwing his words back at him, cos he can be a real doofus when he wants to be. He was going to kiss me whether he liked it or not. Knowing mum there's mistletoe hanging somewhere in the house. I also don't plan to sit on a chair, but I'll save that little fact for later and he can have a nasty little surprise when I seat myself in his lap. I'm not sure whose face I want to see more when I do that, his or mum's. Hopefully he's a pretty good actor. I don't see it, but I can hope he is. If we're gonna sell this girlfriend/boyfriend act - even though I don't think it's an act myself - we're gonna have to kick things up a gear and pretend to be a normal couple for the night.
When he says we can hold hands I bite my tongue. We'll be doing more than that if I get my way and I'm pretty sure he knows that deep down.
I squeal to see the bike. I've never seen it before, I mean he told me he had one and I believed him and everything but still, seeing it for real is pretty exciting. Mum was gonna lose it.
I watch him manhandle my gifts and just roll my eyes. I'm pretty sure if Christmas was a person Ric wouldn't be friends with them, though that's probably not saying much as Ric seems to have a hard time claiming friends.
Get on. Well he doesn't have to tell me twice. Yes, I could be all coy and put my arms at the sides to grab the bars next to the seat but I ask ya, where's the fun in that? The moment I'm on the bike my arms go around his waist. He may not like hugging but I have a legit excuse to hold onto him now, just like when he carries me over water.
I'd told him where my parents live and while I know the way I don't think shouting at him is gonna help much while he's driving as the wind will likely steal my voice and I don't have those nifty mind powers Ellie has. I half hope Ric looked the address up. I didn't think to tell him to do it, I just assumed he would what with him being some sort of demonic boy scout. He's pretty much always prepared. Elmworth. Home sweet home. I groan at the thought of it. I stood no chance of shaking that nickname after tonight, not with the mansion my folks live in.

[Roderic]

I resist a groan when Skylar puts her arms around me. I know she could hold on to other parts of the cycle and manage to ride just fine, but telling her this and getting in to a debate will make us late. I think she does these things on purpose. So, I head to the part of the city I know fairly well. I've been there a time or two before.

No, I don't know which house is hers, but I have a general idea of where I'm going and that's good enough for me. I can fall back on common sense when we actually get to the block we need to be on. Focus on which direction the numbers are going, and what side of the block I need. Simple. Any idiot with a fourth grade education could find an address.

When we get there, I make sure to look at the address that I jotted down on the inside of my palm earlier in the night. I grab her arms and pull them off from around me before I stand. I look at the house, then her and the house again. "This is your place?" I let out a whistle. Her parents were obviously loaded which more than likely meant they had opinions. And their opinions meant more than anyone elses (or so they thought), I've come to learn about the rich. Pissing them off, if they were like that wouldn't be hard to do. Skylar unknowingly set me up with a task that would be all too easy to accomplish.

"So, plan is break something, grope you too many times for their liking and maybe hit on mom?" I'm asking how far I should go before too much is, well, too much. I wonder if an accidental stabbing would be believed. 'Ooops. I tripped and my knife came flying out in dad's chest.' Probably not. Still, the idea lingers in my head as we make our way to the stairs and front door.

[Skylar]

When we start to slow down a little, I know he's looking for the house but I don't tell him which of the multi-million dollar places is mine. Well not mine. My family's. I figure he'll find it on his own or ask if he wants to. I pout when we pull up on the drive and he removes my arms from around his waist. I kinda hoped he'd get a little lost. But oh well. We're here now. And before I can even get off the bike, I'm cringing because he whistles and looks from me to the pile of bricks and mortar. I can almost hear what he's thinking. He started calling me 'Princess' the night we met and he didn't even know me then. I don't think I dress or act like someone that comes from money but there has to be something about me that screams that I do, else why would he have given me that nickname?
I sigh as I slip off the bike and wait for Ric to retrieve the gifts. I hate this place, but as much as I hate it, it also feels like home. I'm never bringing Ellie here that's for sure. He's too good at picking up on what other people are feeling and I wouldn't want him in my emotions, he wouldn't understand.
"It's not my place. Not anymore. I'm a professional couch surfer, remember? And yeah... The plan is for you to be your usual uncharming self with everyone but me. No hitting on my mum cos that's tacky as hell and I think it would make me physically sick to watch that. But yeah, break what you like. The more expensive the better. Just make it look like an accident. 'Kay? And for god sake remember you're my boyfriend. So the groping and PDA has to look as natural as you can make. Probably should have tested out your acting skills before we got here."
I grumble the last sentence. It had been a missed opportunity on my part, but more than that, if his acting sucked, this whole charade was going to be for nothing.
I grab a hold of his hand just as the front door opens. Obviously, we're greeted by the help. The butler tells us that we're expected and that the family have retired to the drawing room. I roll my eyes and lead Ric inside.
"Happy Christmas to you too."
He hadn't wished us a happy Christmas, I was being a little cheeky. He probably wasn't allowed to welcome guests with any cheer, in fact I know he's not. The guy's be in our house longer than I've been alive. I think my parents may have even inherited him somewhere along the line. I give him one of my usual smiles, wink and head off in the direction of the drawing room.
As I push the door open - something I'm not supposed to do as I'm technically a guest and am supposed to wait for the butler to do it - the people gathered in the room turn and look at us.
My grip tightens on Ric's hand as I step inside.
"Merry Christmas and all that."
I practically sing the words in that overly cheerful way people do but I'm not really feeling it.
Mum gets to her feet, straightening her skirt and crosses the room like she's gliding across a dance floor. She has that slow, graceful movement that people with money seem to have, the one that exudes power and control.
I find I'm looking down at my feet. I know what's coming. I should be prepared for this by now but I'm not. How does always make me feel so insignificant? Outside of this house I have confidence enough to be me but in it... In it it's like the life is literally sucked out of me. Still. Given a few minutes to adjust I'll probably be fine. I just hope Ric doesn't notice.
"How nice of you to grace us with your presence Skylar."
She places her hands on my shoulder and air kisses either side of my face. It's what she does.
"I told you I was going to be late mother."
I grumble my words and as she pulls away, I worry she's about to try and air kiss Ric, so I drop his hand and step in front of him.
"This is Roderic, my boyfriend."
I'm not just telling mum, I'm telling the room but they probably all knew to expect him, they've probably been guessing what he'd look like, how basic his education would be and what, if anything, he does work wise.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Roderic."
She says that but I know she doesn't mean it. She offers her hand to Ric, palm down. She probably expects him to take it and squeeze it gently or kiss her knuckles or something. I'd worry for what he might do if the point of the night wasn't to wind mum up. I step to the side and let the scene play out.
Looking around the room I take in the decor. It's been a while since i was last home and while I know every nook and cranny of the place it's still a bit of a shock to the system, given the places I'm used to staying. The drawing room alone is bigger than Elliot's entire apartment. The ceilings are high, wood panelling covers the lower half of the walls, the upper half is papered in a rich green wallpaper with golden images that look similar to fleur de lys. The ceiling holds two large crystal chandeliers, expensive artwork hangs on the walls, statues and vases stand on small wooden pillars and all the furniture appears to be antique. The family are sat at three large sofas which fit around a rather ornate fireplace. Mum had been sat on the one furthest away and directly opposite the fireplace with dad, Brett and Hazel sat on a sofa to their right, and Alexis and Warren sat on the one to the left.

[Roderic]

I look at every detail as we enter the home. I get a feel for how much money Skylar has. I don't want it, I'm just trying to figure out what sort of people I'm working with. Very rich ones. That's all I gather so far. Until I meet mom. Very rich, full of themselves people. The kind I hate. No, the kind I loathe.

I don't take the hand. I don't even look at it. Instead, I give mom a nod and then rush to Skylar's aid, an arm going around her waist and resting on her stomach as I find my way next to her. "Sorry about that mom. I had to get some Christmas cheer before we got here. If you know what I mean." I say, making sure the first impression isn't a positive one. I've basically admitted we're late because we were screwing around. Which isn't true, but I'm doing my job for the night. Pissing the family off. First mom, dad next and then maybe a couple of her siblings. I rub at Skylar's stomach, giving it a soft caress, really sealing the deal to mom's dislike of me.

"Hey dad." I move past mom and extend my arm to the oldest male in the room. As I do this, my arm sort of has a mind of its own and I knock over some expensive looking vase. "Oh, ****. Man, I'm so ******* sorry." Another two strikes against me. Parents hate things getting ruined and hate people dropping profanities in front of them. Especially the rich, privileged type that think they are the cat's meow. I go to try and clean up the broken pieces, but jarvis, or whatever the butler's name is is one step ahead of me. He's sweeping it up with some mini broom, giving me an eye. I don't blame him. I'd give me an eye too if some asshole made more work for me.

"Roderic. But you can call me Ric." I say as I brush my hands on my pants and move back to dad. I take the offered hand that's frozen in shock at my actions and give it a firm shake. "Skylar's told me a lot about you sir." She really hasn't, but I'll make it seem like she's the good daughter and I'm some asshole that they need to protect her from.