Ambrose's Family Values 1/8
Title: Ambrose’s Family Values 1/8
Characters/Pairing: Ambrose/Cain and suggested CC/OC
Rating: T
Summary: Ambrose and Cain go to Ambrose’s family reunion, but his family is a lot more secretive than he remembers.
Warning: Angst, incest, exposition at the drop of a hat.
Notes: Much thanks to my beta and bestest buddy, tetrawrath , Raptor Queen of the Mist.
Cain just wouldn’t. Stop. Pouting.
That’s what it was, of course. Pouting. Like some sort of overgrown child. Ambrose rolled his eyes, leaning back and watching Cain through slits of eyes as the gentle, rhythmic bumping of the carriage as it sailed across the dirt road nearly lulled him to sleep.
They were on their way to his parent’s manor in the West, for a family reunion. From all over the OZ, the Burkes of his father’s side and the Ashfords of his mother’s would gather in one place to generally remind each other why they had scattered in the first place. ‘Maybe things will be different this time... Wars change things...’ he thought.
Receiving the letter had frightened him more than saving the world ever had. From the way his mother (and his brother, Lucas, in a shaky script at the end) wrote, he assumed that his family was unaware of his debrainment. And he wanted to keep it that way.
Not that the rebrainment didn’t work. It was a complete success... almost. The alchemists had warned him that it would take months, perhaps whole annuals, until he reached his full memory capacity, and he certainly felt it. At times, he felt like his old self, like the most intelligent man throughout the lands. At others... he would wander aimlessly through the streets of Central City for days until Cain, exasperated and practically worried to death, would walk up, introduce himself, and take him home.
But, that’s what Cains were for! Cains existed almost solely to keep Ambroses out of trouble.
And that’s why he was here, of course: To keep him out of trouble. To keep him from worrying his family with things they needn’t feel worried about. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.
But, he didn’t need to sulk about it!
“You look like they’re dragging you off to the gallows,” he said dully, barely opening his eyes. Still, he could see Cain’s face reddening slightly, light eyes focusing on him.
“I don’t really see why I have to be here.” Oh yes, Cain was not happy. He was rarely happy when things interfered with his work, even when the interferences involved his friends. Ambrose understood completely: After annuals of Doing Nothing, Cain wanted to Do Something, and playing nursemaid to a full-grown man who still compulsively touched the patch of growing hair where a zipper used to reside definitely was not Doing Something.
“Because DG’s busy, Raw returned to his home, and the Queen doesn’t want me out all alone so soon.” That was a gigantic understatement. The way she had put it, bandits were hiding behind every tree and bush, waiting with bated breath for the right moment to steal him away again. Eventually, he convinced her that he wasn’t going to disappear instantly if she let go of his arm... though, it had been rather difficult to physically remove her long enough to race to the waiting carriage.
“It’ll be fun. And, besides,” he added with a shy smile, “don’t you want to spend some time with me?”
Cain knew that they would be doing anything but. If Ambrose’s family reunions were anything like his own family reunions, ones he vividly remembered from his childhood, it would take nothing short of death to get a moment of solitude. ‘And if his relatives are anything like him...’ He shuddered at the thought.
He turned and opened his mouth to say something, but Ambrose, who had been too busy fretting over the letter to get a proper night’s sleep, was slumped against the carriage seat, snoring slightly.
Shaking his head, he turned to look out the window. It was going to be a long, long week.
Cain felt vastly uncomfortable the moment the carriage passed through the far too ornate gate, the ancestral Burke home barely visible over the rolling plains. No, this was going to be much different than packing up the wagon and heading on over to Uncle Eustace’s farm for a week of fun, food, and fist fighting.
No, this was much worse.
He nudged Ambrose slightly, trying to rouse him out of an insanely deep sleep. “Hey, Glitch, wake up.”
“Don’t call me that!” It had always scared him, Ambrose’s ability to go from dead asleep to fully awake in mere seconds. Trying to smooth out his matted hair, Ambrose said, “At least, don’t do it around my family.”
“Why?”
“Well, first of all, as I’ve been saying for ages, I don’t want them to worry. As far as they know, I’m perfectly healthy.”
“You are perfectly healthy. The surgery was a complete success.”
“You know better than I do that it wasn’t!” Ambrose sighed. “Besides... If my brother hears you calling me that, he’ll never let me live it down.”
Cain grinned. “Trust me, I can sympathize. I grew up with ten brothers.”
“My condolences. I could barely stand living with two brothers; I would have died if there were eight more of them!” The carriage stopped, and he smiled. “You’ll have to tell me about them sometime.”
He smiled back and put on his hat. “Sure will.”
A young footman opened the carriage door for them, and Cain hastily exited. “We’re both capable of opening doors ourselves, Glitch,” he mumbled as they began walking up the long path to the house.
“Don’t start that again,” Ambrose warned. “And if you call me that again, I’ll deck you.”
Cain groaned and watched as Ambrose practically skipped ahead. Yep. He was having loads of fun already.
A bush near them shook slightly, and Cain was almost certain that he heard laughter.
Suddenly, a figure popped out of the bush and pinned a surprised Ambrose to the ground. “Glitch!” Cain shouted, reaching for his holster only to realize that Ambrose had made him leave it at home.
The figure was a tall, lithe man with sunny blond hair and pale skin. He was grinning broadly, his nose centimeters away from Ambrose’s. “Now, ‘Brosey! I expected more from you. You should know better than to let your guard down!”
Eyes widening in recognition, Ambrose pushed the man off of him and kicked him squarely in the ribs.
Cain jogged up to him and watched the laughing man on the ground cautiously. “What was that about?” he asked.
“It’d be best for everyone if we just finish him off now,” Ambrose said, standing and dusting off his pants. “We’d probably get knighted or something.”
“Who is he?”
“My older brother, Lucas.”
Lucas stopped laughing, blinked, and stared up at Ambrose. “Ah, ‘Brosey. Nice to see you. Are you well? When did you get here?” His voice was very hoarse, and his words were tinged with the fast dialect of the city.
Ambrose smiled slightly and helped his brother up. “Nice to see you too; I’m fine; A few seconds ago,” he answered in quick succession. “What were you doing in that bush?”
“Waiting for you,” Lucas said with a sigh, as if the answer were obvious.
“Yes, but how long have you been waiting for me?”
“It couldn’t have been more than a day.”
“Oh, Mother must be worried sick! Lucas, will you head inside and tell her that we’re here?”
“Sure thing!” He hugged Ambrose tightly, gave Cain a thoughtful glance, then ran off towards the house.
The two were silent for quite a while as they continued their trek. Not knowing exactly what to say, Cain said, “Well, he seems nice.”
Ambrose shrugged. “Sometimes. Absolutely mental, though. Inhaled a lot of things as a young adult.” He sighed. “If my family wasn’t as affluent as it is, he surely would have been put in an asylum... Though, he seems to have gotten better since I last saw him!”
“And when was that?”
“Oh, roughly around twenty-five annuals ago.” He chuckled at Cain’s surprised look. “I left home at eighteen. My other older brother, Lucas’ twin Augustine, had already left to study theology. Lucas, however, hitched a ride on my carriage to Central City to find himself... Last I saw him, he had “found” himself with some tart from the East. He washed automobiles.”
Cain was still very much at the twenty-five annuals. “If I went for a month without writing my family back in the day, they would have hunted me down,” he said.
Climbing up the steps, Ambrose looked at the large ivory door knocker with a nostalgic smile. “Oh, I wrote my parents plenty, right up until... you know. I just haven’t seen my extended family in quite some time.” He knocked on the door twice, and it slowly opened.
A small, thin woman, with a tight bun of greying black hair and sharp features, was standing in the doorway. A weak smiled cracked on her ashen face. “Welcome home, my son,” she said softly, holding her arms out towards him.
Ambrose rushed forward, embraced her, and cried for a long, long time.
Characters/Pairing: Ambrose/Cain and suggested CC/OC
Rating: T
Summary: Ambrose and Cain go to Ambrose’s family reunion, but his family is a lot more secretive than he remembers.
Warning: Angst, incest, exposition at the drop of a hat.
Notes: Much thanks to my beta and bestest buddy, tetrawrath , Raptor Queen of the Mist.
Cain just wouldn’t. Stop. Pouting.
That’s what it was, of course. Pouting. Like some sort of overgrown child. Ambrose rolled his eyes, leaning back and watching Cain through slits of eyes as the gentle, rhythmic bumping of the carriage as it sailed across the dirt road nearly lulled him to sleep.
They were on their way to his parent’s manor in the West, for a family reunion. From all over the OZ, the Burkes of his father’s side and the Ashfords of his mother’s would gather in one place to generally remind each other why they had scattered in the first place. ‘Maybe things will be different this time... Wars change things...’ he thought.
Receiving the letter had frightened him more than saving the world ever had. From the way his mother (and his brother, Lucas, in a shaky script at the end) wrote, he assumed that his family was unaware of his debrainment. And he wanted to keep it that way.
Not that the rebrainment didn’t work. It was a complete success... almost. The alchemists had warned him that it would take months, perhaps whole annuals, until he reached his full memory capacity, and he certainly felt it. At times, he felt like his old self, like the most intelligent man throughout the lands. At others... he would wander aimlessly through the streets of Central City for days until Cain, exasperated and practically worried to death, would walk up, introduce himself, and take him home.
But, that’s what Cains were for! Cains existed almost solely to keep Ambroses out of trouble.
And that’s why he was here, of course: To keep him out of trouble. To keep him from worrying his family with things they needn’t feel worried about. It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it.
But, he didn’t need to sulk about it!
“You look like they’re dragging you off to the gallows,” he said dully, barely opening his eyes. Still, he could see Cain’s face reddening slightly, light eyes focusing on him.
“I don’t really see why I have to be here.” Oh yes, Cain was not happy. He was rarely happy when things interfered with his work, even when the interferences involved his friends. Ambrose understood completely: After annuals of Doing Nothing, Cain wanted to Do Something, and playing nursemaid to a full-grown man who still compulsively touched the patch of growing hair where a zipper used to reside definitely was not Doing Something.
“Because DG’s busy, Raw returned to his home, and the Queen doesn’t want me out all alone so soon.” That was a gigantic understatement. The way she had put it, bandits were hiding behind every tree and bush, waiting with bated breath for the right moment to steal him away again. Eventually, he convinced her that he wasn’t going to disappear instantly if she let go of his arm... though, it had been rather difficult to physically remove her long enough to race to the waiting carriage.
“It’ll be fun. And, besides,” he added with a shy smile, “don’t you want to spend some time with me?”
Cain knew that they would be doing anything but. If Ambrose’s family reunions were anything like his own family reunions, ones he vividly remembered from his childhood, it would take nothing short of death to get a moment of solitude. ‘And if his relatives are anything like him...’ He shuddered at the thought.
He turned and opened his mouth to say something, but Ambrose, who had been too busy fretting over the letter to get a proper night’s sleep, was slumped against the carriage seat, snoring slightly.
Shaking his head, he turned to look out the window. It was going to be a long, long week.
Cain felt vastly uncomfortable the moment the carriage passed through the far too ornate gate, the ancestral Burke home barely visible over the rolling plains. No, this was going to be much different than packing up the wagon and heading on over to Uncle Eustace’s farm for a week of fun, food, and fist fighting.
No, this was much worse.
He nudged Ambrose slightly, trying to rouse him out of an insanely deep sleep. “Hey, Glitch, wake up.”
“Don’t call me that!” It had always scared him, Ambrose’s ability to go from dead asleep to fully awake in mere seconds. Trying to smooth out his matted hair, Ambrose said, “At least, don’t do it around my family.”
“Why?”
“Well, first of all, as I’ve been saying for ages, I don’t want them to worry. As far as they know, I’m perfectly healthy.”
“You are perfectly healthy. The surgery was a complete success.”
“You know better than I do that it wasn’t!” Ambrose sighed. “Besides... If my brother hears you calling me that, he’ll never let me live it down.”
Cain grinned. “Trust me, I can sympathize. I grew up with ten brothers.”
“My condolences. I could barely stand living with two brothers; I would have died if there were eight more of them!” The carriage stopped, and he smiled. “You’ll have to tell me about them sometime.”
He smiled back and put on his hat. “Sure will.”
A young footman opened the carriage door for them, and Cain hastily exited. “We’re both capable of opening doors ourselves, Glitch,” he mumbled as they began walking up the long path to the house.
“Don’t start that again,” Ambrose warned. “And if you call me that again, I’ll deck you.”
Cain groaned and watched as Ambrose practically skipped ahead. Yep. He was having loads of fun already.
A bush near them shook slightly, and Cain was almost certain that he heard laughter.
Suddenly, a figure popped out of the bush and pinned a surprised Ambrose to the ground. “Glitch!” Cain shouted, reaching for his holster only to realize that Ambrose had made him leave it at home.
The figure was a tall, lithe man with sunny blond hair and pale skin. He was grinning broadly, his nose centimeters away from Ambrose’s. “Now, ‘Brosey! I expected more from you. You should know better than to let your guard down!”
Eyes widening in recognition, Ambrose pushed the man off of him and kicked him squarely in the ribs.
Cain jogged up to him and watched the laughing man on the ground cautiously. “What was that about?” he asked.
“It’d be best for everyone if we just finish him off now,” Ambrose said, standing and dusting off his pants. “We’d probably get knighted or something.”
“Who is he?”
“My older brother, Lucas.”
Lucas stopped laughing, blinked, and stared up at Ambrose. “Ah, ‘Brosey. Nice to see you. Are you well? When did you get here?” His voice was very hoarse, and his words were tinged with the fast dialect of the city.
Ambrose smiled slightly and helped his brother up. “Nice to see you too; I’m fine; A few seconds ago,” he answered in quick succession. “What were you doing in that bush?”
“Waiting for you,” Lucas said with a sigh, as if the answer were obvious.
“Yes, but how long have you been waiting for me?”
“It couldn’t have been more than a day.”
“Oh, Mother must be worried sick! Lucas, will you head inside and tell her that we’re here?”
“Sure thing!” He hugged Ambrose tightly, gave Cain a thoughtful glance, then ran off towards the house.
The two were silent for quite a while as they continued their trek. Not knowing exactly what to say, Cain said, “Well, he seems nice.”
Ambrose shrugged. “Sometimes. Absolutely mental, though. Inhaled a lot of things as a young adult.” He sighed. “If my family wasn’t as affluent as it is, he surely would have been put in an asylum... Though, he seems to have gotten better since I last saw him!”
“And when was that?”
“Oh, roughly around twenty-five annuals ago.” He chuckled at Cain’s surprised look. “I left home at eighteen. My other older brother, Lucas’ twin Augustine, had already left to study theology. Lucas, however, hitched a ride on my carriage to Central City to find himself... Last I saw him, he had “found” himself with some tart from the East. He washed automobiles.”
Cain was still very much at the twenty-five annuals. “If I went for a month without writing my family back in the day, they would have hunted me down,” he said.
Climbing up the steps, Ambrose looked at the large ivory door knocker with a nostalgic smile. “Oh, I wrote my parents plenty, right up until... you know. I just haven’t seen my extended family in quite some time.” He knocked on the door twice, and it slowly opened.
A small, thin woman, with a tight bun of greying black hair and sharp features, was standing in the doorway. A weak smiled cracked on her ashen face. “Welcome home, my son,” she said softly, holding her arms out towards him.
Ambrose rushed forward, embraced her, and cried for a long, long time.