royal_musings | Autumn Open Post

"I apologize. Felix it is then. Records mentioned a few names but I kept following the oldest."

And it had brought him here and that meant something. He's not even sure if there is an answer, but he's pretty damn sure this man might be the only one that could know it.

So he takes a seat, considering the older man. He's handsome and that kind of suave he's pretty sure only comes from Rome. Just the way he's sitting even as he settles back in his seat. Caleb comes from old school American money. Nothing like this.

"Thank you for meeting me. I'm Caleb Danvers. From America as if that wasn't obvious," he said with a laugh. He feels nervous but he's glad maybe he doesn't sound it.

"I've been doing some research, as you likely know if you met me with that name. My family... Okay I'm either going to sound like a fool or a threat. My family for centuries has born a curse on the eldest, and only sons, of our family. Mine and five other families. One that effects magic. Witchcraft."

"No, it's not an incorrect name to use. I have been known by many over the years," he says with an easy smile. "Katinen is the family name."

He watches as Caleb gets settled in and motions to the wine bottle. "Wine?" Felix couldn't and didn't resist the urge to give the man an appreciative once over before focusing on the conversation at hand. There was a reason Caleb was looking for him and unless he turned out to be a hunter, which he loathed, he would give him his attention.

Felix's mouth curls up and gives him a little nod. "It's a pleasure Caleb Danvers," he says and hums when he mentions a curse on the eldest sons of five families. He doesn't even so much as blink when he mentions witchcraft or magic, he'd felt just how powerful Caleb was as he walked into the restaurant.

"Considering how you worded that, I doubt you feel magic or witchcraft is the curse itself. Where does this curse come into play?"

"Yes please. I'd like that."

Caleb shifts slightly, the only sign of how hard this is to talk about. Before Duplicity, even to save their lives, he wouldn't have thought about talking about this openly with anyone but that's another thing he's having trouble with. He doesn't want to hide, and he wants to have others to share with about magic and all life can be.

"There was a time I thought the curse came with our magic, but now I'm not sure. At thirteen we come into a large portion of our magic but not all of it. That you come into when you're eighteen. Thing is, it's addictive and once you ascend? Every time you use, it's killing you bit by bit until you die of old age around forty. I don't plan on dying at forty for anything and I don't want to give up magic."

Even with all the time in another world, it still feels weird talking about it like this. His voice is low but careful so that he knows the other man can hear him but not that others do.

Felix nods and pours him a glass before topping his off. He'd wait to signal the waiter to bring them another. It would be a few minutes at the very least before they'd need it.

He watches the young man shift in his seat indicating that it was hard for him to speak about. He could understand that to a degree.

As Caleb discusses how his family's magic is used and kills off its users at a young age, Felix frowns. "How disappointing. Especially when things start to get interesting around then," he says, picking up his glass and bringing it to his mouth for a sip.

He was glad Caleb didn't want to give up magic, never mind not wanting to die at forty.

"Then you are looking for a way then to dispel the curse or nullify it?"

He takes his glass, giving the red a moment even as he subtly sniffed it. There's something to the depth of it that makes him sigh. Italian wines were nothing like those he got elsewhere.

He considers the other man for a moment, taking a chance. "And you remember back that far to forty? I would think that would be like me remembering when I was two," he says, his research making it clear the man who sat before him likely had found some kind of fountain of youth and the Philosopher's stone as well.

"I had found one for a few years but it might sound unrealistic but now I want it back, the ability to practice any magic I want and to save myself and the others. Everything I looked into said that maybe you were the one that could help."

The way Caleb subtly sniffs the wine then sigh makes Felix grin. It was his favorite wine and he enjoyed sharing it with those who appreciate it.

He snorts at the snark and sends him a roguish smirk. "Why not? It was an exciting time in Rome until it all fell to beautiful, jagged pieces," he says, setting his glass back down onto the table and folding his hands in front of him. He had been a little older than forty but still, it had been an exciting time to be around. There were centuries that have become a blur but there were moments in history that stood out and that was one of them.

"How did you dispel it then," he asks, curious as to what method he has tried before. "No, it's not unrealistic to want to practice the beautiful magic that you were born with and that flows in your veins. What's unrealistic is not wanting to or feeling that desire to." He pauses and considers the other man for a long moment.

"How much time do you have here then?"

Was he going to help him? There wasn't a single doubt in his mind. He loathed witch hunters but he equally disliked anyone born with the gift, unable to practice as they should due to reasons outside of their control. Like pesky curses.

He sips his wine, trying not to look too wide eyed at the other man. He's known aliens now, and ancient vampires and now, whatever this man was. A witch, he thinks, but how he's that old, he hasn't a clue.

"Wow, well then. I mean, I guess if you saw Rome fall..." He takes a bigger drink. He's told others about what had happened to him and most hadn't believed him. He's not even sure the others did, but they didn't mock him for it.

"I found myself in... an alternative world maybe? A place where those from many worlds came together," he says softly, watching Felix's face closely to see his reaction. "A place where I could use magic all I wanted, and so long as I didn't use to much at any one time, I never aged, it didn't kill me. It just tired me and I could recharge. It's when I realized the curse could be broken. If it couldn't reach me there, it meant there were ways to get around it. For me and the others in the families that remain. So... I dropped out of Harvard law, and thankfully had no family to be utterly disappointed in me for it and started researching."

He lifts his glass in toast to Felix. "You came up time and again. A witch with the power to see Rome fall and sit here with me sharing an amazing wine. Figured you were my best shot. I just never knew if I would find you."

Felix reaches under the table and presses a little bit of his magic into a ruin he'd carved there nearly a half century ago, providing them with a little privacy. Anyone around them will simply hear two men having a pleasant if a bit flirty conversation (they were Italian after all) but not know what they were really talking about. "You don't have to be worried about anyone over hearing now," he says. And maybe he should have done it from the beginning, but he wanted to wait until he knew what this was about before doing so.

He watches as Caleb takes a bigger drink and reaches for the wine bottle to pour him a little more. "In your research, did you find any other information about the Katinen family line," he asks out of curiosity. If they're to go into this, he'll need (or maybe it was that he wanted) to share more information about him and be proof that you didn't have to be afraid of your power and abilities.

Not that Caleb was.

He settles in and listens as Caleb speaks about an alternative world and hums in fascination. He's heard rumors of it through the years, of course but he's never truly met someone who says they're from another place or have been to said place. "Si, I can see why being back would inspire you to look for a way," he says after Caleb tells him what led him here. To him, specifically.

"I can be impossibly hard to find if I choose to," he says with a slow smile. "It has saved me on more than one occasion, I admit." He considers what Caleb has said about this curse. "We will need to test a few things before we find a suitable solution. I will need to know how strong your abilities are to find the proper choice or method of deterring this curse. Until we can break it without it breaking you."

Caleb feels it. He feels that shift of magic, even if he doesn't know what it is. He sits up a bit straighter, eyes narrowing slightly as he considers Felix. Especially as he explains what he'd just done.

"That's handy. It's something like I learned in the other city. There... there were so many witches and magic workers. I literally lived using magic for everything," he said in a soft voice. He's mostly held it together until now, kept himself professional about it all and yet it's there when he talks. "It was something I never even let myself dream about. I was the adult, the one in charge, the eldest. I had to stop them from using, try and curb all our addictions and then here I was with the ability to use any kind of magic and learning from magicians in dozens of worlds and..."

He stops, knowing he sounds both like a forlorn teen and a lover longing for what he's lost.

"I have to find a way to get that back and... You're my last hope. Either to find a way to use again or to find a way back to Duplicity."

He knows it's putting a lot on a stranger and he sighs. "And if you can't, that's fine. I don't mean to put that much on you. I know what I'll do if you can't, and I'll live out my life."

He'll just use as much as he wants and die very young. He'd rather that than deprive himself, and he knows that's the addiction and he doesn't care.

He can hear how torn up Caleb is over losing that ability to use magic again. It was an inherent part of who he was and to not use it would be a struggle. Felix himself isn't sure how he would cope if he couldn't use his magic.

"Te lo prometto, we will find a way to get that back for you," he says solemnly. "What is the point of having magic if you are unable to use it, hm?"

Felix sits up straight and leans across the table. "Now don't get too pessimistic on me yet, Caleb Danvers," he says, his voice going a little lower. "We have some work ahead of us and I am one stubborn bastard, so I hope you're prepared. You will have your magic back to a point where you won't die on us just yet." And he couldn't wait to feel how Caleb's magic reacted to and with his own.

He swirls his glass of wine with a low hum. "What are your thoughts on fundraising galas...?"

Those years had opened him up, made him more relaxed, more tender, and yet now he's stuck with that feeling of how he was raised. The Sons of Ipswich. Above everyone. It isn't where he wants to be, and yet he finds it hard to open himself up sometimes and let his guard down.

"Not so pessimistic. Just realistic. If my choices are no magic or an early death, I won't give up magic. Not after so many years of knowing how amazing it is. That you're willing to help though? That means so much to me. I..."

He stops then, head canting slightly. "They have their place and aren't as horrible as many people think but... Are we going to crowdsource my, I don't know, cure?"

"Giusto," he says with a tilt of his head. "In your same shoes, I myself would choose death. Life without being able to fully be who you are is not a life worth living," he says and raises his glass in a toast to that before taking a sip and setting it down again.

"I am capable of a lot of things, Caleb. Although I have not quite dealt with a situation or a family curse quite like yours personally, I am sure I have come across something or someone who has. It will require testing of your abilities and materials, but we will find a way so you can freely use magic again. I for one am very interested in what you're capable of."

He chuckles and looks at him. "No, we will not be crowdsourcing your cure. I am invited to many galas, fundraising events and fashion shows and I am unable to miss the one coming up. I will help you either way but I would appreciate if you would attend with me." He pauses. "Otherwise, I will once again be set up by Nonna Giulia with her great grandson or granddaughter... whoever is in town and single."

"I spent the first eighteen years of my life planning to never use once I ascended. Two years later I found myself going through creepy orientation in sex city and within a month I learned I could use as much as I wanted. I can't go back. I won't."

His jaw is tight, determined, and he lifted his glass at that toast, nodding.

"Whatever it takes. I have my own abilities, some of them that I learned from other worlds, as well as potion making. I also can enchant jewelry to give people things like strength or endurance. Mine are stamina and endurance," he admits with a shrug and a smile.

It's a smile that grows at that explanation. "If me on your arm will help, I will gladly be your guest. If you name me a tailor, I can get a tuxedo."

"Scusa? Orientation in sex city? Is that what this world was that you were at?" He's... curious. On the one hand, he enjoyed and loved sex, loved romance and was not above using either of them for whatever reason he wanted. But, he always made sure his lovers consented and enjoyed themselves just as thoroughly. "You won't have to," he assures him. "Even a temporary solution is better than nothing and will be a good start to a permanent one."

He had no doubt in the least that they would find a way for Caleb to practice again.

"We will have to work on that word 'use' though," he can't help but tease the younger man.

His eyebrow arches at the thought of enchanted jewelry for things such as strength, stamina and endurance. "E cosa... what kind of jewelry have you known to enchant? Rings? Necklaces? Earrings? Or is anything fair game?"

He grins when Caleb agrees. "Sì, it would help. I can give you the name or I can take you by there tomorrow, if you're interested. Where are you staying?"

He has the decency to look amused and embarrassed at the same time. "Yeah, that's what it was. Required sex. Required dominant and submissive roles. People zoos and jails if you didn't adhere. Eventually," he says, pausing only a moment about it because of memories that aren't as good as the coven and those he was with. "Eventually I found someone amazing to contract with and it was part of the coven and it was good. Easy to forget the horrible parts of it all."

So much of it sounds so bad, but it feels like normal to him. Even now.

Caleb gave him a look, almost smirking at him. "When you're addicted to it, seems to be about right." Though he can see why Felix wasn't sure about that word. "I can try working on it though."

He takes a sip, watching Felix a moment and then shrugging. "Piercing jewelry. Subdermals. Nipples. More intimate. And I'm at the Baglioni. I'd love to spend the time together if you're up for it."

Felix's eyebrow remains arched as he considers everything that Caleb was telling him about this place and shakes his head. "Dio, that sounds like it would be an adjustment," he says after a long minute. He was curious about what role Caleb had but did it matter? He wasn't sure it did. "And sounds, as you put it, creepy. I am glad you found someone to contract with that made it better."

Having company made all the difference sometimes and that Caleb had someone there who could make him forget about the more horrible aspects of the place was better than the alternative.

"Sì, is it the power itself that's addicting or do you think the curse plays a part in the addiction for it? A sort of self-feeding loop... an ouroboros?" He pauses. "I ask because my family line is a little similar in some way. We have been blessed with powerful magic, much like yours, and for some, the power gets to them and causes them to severe their ties with this world. For the rare few, who have not let the madness creep too far in, we've managed to stay alive - finding ways to manage it. Once we've found a cure and if you want to find a way of controlling your magic without it controlling you, we can work on that." If he isn't fed up with Felix by then and returns to the States.

"Oh? Fascinating," he says and takes another sip from his glass. He could say in all his years, he hadn't gotten an intimate piercing - his nipples or his cock. But perhaps, one day, he'd have to try that.

"I'd love that," he says with a pleased smile. "Tomorrow I can take you to my tailor then. And we'll get started on your cure."

He chuckles because he hasn't talked about this with anyone that wasn't Pogue. Pogue who had accepted it all and yet, after, Caleb had felt he had been different. Nothing had changed for Pogue, but for Caleb so much had changed and it made it hard for them to connect now. Especially since Caleb had gone from obsessed with keeping them all from practicing magic to obsessing with using magic and far more addicted than any of the others... even combined.

"You always do whatever you have to so you survive, right? It's what I did then and, honestly, it's why I'm here now."

He considers that for a moment, looking down at his glass and then back up at the other man. "Honestly, I don't know. I only know that in this world, when I use magic, it eats at me. I could feel the difference between Duplicity and here, and there it left me lightheaded, especially when I used a lot, and here I feel like I'm almost sick. It's how it felt before."

And he knows it's aging him, but he can't help but to use.

He stares at Felix for a long time, and there's a different sort of pain he's been enduring, especially with the distance between himself and the others. He'd grown up with them. He'd had the coven at the Midnight Theatre. Now he felt alone, all this time while he'd searched for the man before him.

And now, perhaps, there's a chance to not be alone again, and to live and learn.

"I'd like that. When we find a way," he says with a smile. "All I've been through and I don't accept there isn't a chance somewhere." He laughs then. "Fascinating is a word for it. My... ex? I guess since we're not in the same world. He has some very intimate piercings and that is definitely fascinating," he teases, unable to help but to be cheeky.

"Help with a cure and new clothes? Be careful or you might end up with a boy toy," he teases, used to being part of the "Four Twinks of the Apocalypse" as Nick had once called them.

Caleb wasn't wrong. Even for a man like Felix, there were things over the years that he's had to do to survive. Nothing quite like what Caleb has had to endure but still, he understood the concept quite well.

As he speaks about his magic use, Felix nods. "Perhaps we find a piece of jewelry first then that can take the brunt of that that backlash," he muses, taking a sip of his wine and setting it down.

He gets it. He's not sure what he'd do if he wasn't able to use his magic or have it affect him the way it affected Caleb. Felix watches the younger man and gets the feeling he needed that connection and if he can somehow provide that, then he'd be happy to. It's been a while since he's had the company and perhaps mentored a young man like Caleb.

"Good, you shouldn't accept there isn't a chance. We'll find it."

His mouth curls up when Caleb speaks about this ex and his intimate piercings.

"It's been a while since I've had a new boy toy," he teases. "Perhaps it's what I need as well."

Autumn Open Post

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