Fic: False Teeth. Fandom: Original Rated: G
Title: False Teeth
Author: in_excelsis_dea
Fandom: Original
Rating: G
Warnings (if any: None
AN: Written for the berlinwriters group and edited and rewritten for the genrechallenge challenge for April, cliche. I'm not entirely sure if this counts, but I got it from the Not-So-Grand List of Overused Fantasy Cliches, so I figured it counts as a cliche.
Walking into the room, the first thing she noticed were his false teeth in a glass by the bed. Biting her lip, she stops just inside the doorway, taking a moment to compose herself. False teeth- rather ridiculous, really, but the sight of the dentures floating brings tears to her eyes.
“Oh, Ben…” The words slip from her lips unbidden. She knew it would be hard seeing him in this state, but she hadn’t expected to feel like this. His hair had turned a milky white and his skin had become pale and wrinkled. His eyes were closed and she wondered if they were still the bright green she remembered, or if they too had dulled. His hands were folded upon his chest, frail and bony, so unlike the hands she once knew. He looked- well, he looked dead, except for the heart monitor that kept a steady beat in the background- the only noise in the room.
“He doesn’t have much time left.” The voice startled her and she whirled around, instantly on the guard. Years of living on the run always taught her to be prepared for anything, and even a hospital wouldn’t stop those after her. But the voice belonged to a young woman, with straight blonde hair to her shoulders and startling jade eyes- the same color Ben’s are- were- she didn’t know anymore.
“I’m Madeline.” The woman held out a hand and she took it. “You must be Cecelia. Grandad- well, I can’t say he talked about you a lot. Actually,” she said, with a slight twist of her lips, leaving Cecelia unsure if it’s a frown or a smile, “he never mentioned you at all. But after the- the incident, we found this letter and it said to contact you, so…”
“You’re his granddaughter?” Cecelia ignored the unasked question. Madeline nodded. “Is- is Natalie still alive?” She couldn’t imagine Ben in such a state if Natalie were still around. Not that she would know, or particularly care about Natalie’s fate if it weren’t inescapably tied in with Ben’s. She never had liked the young woman very much- though young, she mused, wouldn’t be the right term now, not with Ben so- so old.
“Nat- oh, you mean Grandma Tilly. No, unfortunately she passed about six months ago. Died in her sleep, it was very peaceful. But he wasn’t the same afterwards. He kept talking about how his time was going to come soon, how he didn’t want to live without her.” Madeline fiddled with her purse strap and looked towards the bed. There was something about Madeline that reminds her of Ben, even if she couldn’t name it. She seemed at least a little upset that Ben was laying there like that. “And then- this. My dad can’t make it, and I don’t think he wants to. But Granddad needs someone to be here, and we’re the only family he has.”
Cecelia sensed the slight accusation, the fact that Ben had asked for her, someone Madeline wouldn’t even consider family, to be there. “You’re very good to him,” she said softly, trying to appease the woman. “You’re right- he does need you.” She wanted to ask about Ben’s son- she assumed his son- but didn’t dare to. She had given up the right years ago.
“Who are you?” Madeline finally gave up on tact. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I should call you. But something compelled me to do it. You don’t look to be any older than I am, and I can’t fathom how you know each other.” Her eyes grow cold- so like Ben’s when he told her what she meant to him- how little she meant to him. Deep down, Cecelia was impressed that the woman resisted interrogating her this long. With Ben’s blood, it would certainly be an interrogation.
“That,” Cecelia paused, trying to decide how much to reveal, “is a good question and it does not have a simple answer.” She took the chair placed next to the door and lowered herself into it with a graceful movement. No matter how old she was, her movements were like those of a dancer, though she had never danced. “I suppose- well, he’s my brother.” She came out with the truth, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Madeline’s face. The woman was family and deserved to know. And maybe- maybe she wouldn’t ever receive Ben’s forgiveness, but perhaps his granddaughter would be more kind and forgiving.
Not that she deserved it.
“We haven’t spoken in years. He- he left me for Natalie, and I never quite forgave him for that. I was furious at him, thinking him the fool for abandoning me, abandoning everything we had fought for, just to go after a woman he barely knew. He fell in love with her at first sight, you know. I tried pleading with him, I tried screaming at him, and finally I gave him an ultimatum- me or her. And he chose her.” She closes her eyes, bows her head, remembering that day sixty years ago. How hard it had been to see him leave, without looking back. The heated words they had thrown at each other. The threats and pleas and eventually the ultimatum she had given him- Natalie or her. The way Natalie’s presence had wedged in between them, the (nearly) unstoppable brother and sister unit and broke them apart. She hadn’t been the same since, no matter how she tried to deny it. Ben had been her second half, the brother who had always been there through their years of being hunted, of running, of trying to get by unnoticed.
And suddenly, he was gone.
It took her years to realize that maybe leaving her had been the right choice. That no matter how long they had been together, they couldn’t always stay together. It took falling in love herself to realize that love was not only a sacrifice, but a gift as well. Unfortunately, her love hadn’t lasted. Ben’s, apparently, had. “In retrospect, I realize that it was the right decision. But I was too proud to return, to ask for forgiveness. And I- well,” her mouth turned a wryly smile, “you said it yourself- I don’t look my age. He didn’t either, not until he met Natalie and decided to give it all up for her. Natalie knew nothing of us- and I didn’t want to show up and force him to explain everything.”
The way Ben gave it up- now that she couldn’t understand. Perhaps passing on the gift to Natalie would have worked. She sometimes wondered if he had, in fact, done so. They could give it up or pass it on once they had found love, though she could never imagine giving it up.
Until now.
“You’re telling me you’re his sister? You ought to be in your eighties, then. There’s no way-” Madeline’s eyes darted between her and the elderly man in the bed. There was little resemblance between his frail body and her young appearance. Madeline shook her head in disbelief. “You- you’ve aged very well.”
“I’m six hundred and seventy-six years old. He’s six hundred and seventy-nine years old.” She hadn’t aged very well- she hadn’t aged at all. Except for several- more like hundreds- of hair cuts and many different fashion changes, she looked exactly like she did in the year 1333, when she had first been blessed- or cursed with her gift. The same mischievous blue eyes, the same blonde hair the color of daffodils, the same twist in her smile, dimples in her cheeks- a pretty girl of seventeen who had looked so lively and then so deathly as the illness took the life out of her eyes.
“You’re out of your mind.” Madeline gave her a scathing look. “I don’t know who you are, but I highly doubt you’re Cecelia. I want you out. I thought Cecelia might be a lost love or a childhood friend or someone he shared memories with, but you’re just a con-artist and a-”
“It was the Black Death.” Cecelia forced the words out, no matter how hard they were to say. Madeline deserved an explanation after all. Someone did, after all those years. Immortality didn’t exactly make people like you, especially in the Middle Ages, and she and Ben had spent centuries running, never letting anyone close. Until Natalie, that was. “People were dying by the wagon load. It came to our village, and we were forced to watch everyone die. The Holocaust was bad and this was the same. Except the Holocaust could have been stopped if people had stood up to it. People did stand up to it. But this- this was something we could not fight. It decimated us, drained our lives away. We lived in fear that it would take us and our loved ones- and eventually, it did.”
She looks down at the gray tiles grouted with white beneath her feet, unable to meet Madeline’s gaze. “Ben and I- we saw it take our parents. Our other sister, Eleanor. It was too late to save her, to save our families. And Ben, he was in love with this girl, Alanna, who was lost to the sickness around the same time as our sister. We were desperate to do something, to try to save our families. We made a pact, played with things we did not understand. It was- we thought we were doing the right thing. We wanted to live, and we did live. It wasn’t until later that we realized just what we had done- we had survived the plague, but we had also cursed ourselves. We were now immortal, never aging. We stayed together, traveled together, unable to let anyone else in on our secret. In those days they hung or burned witches- people suspected of practicing magic. They didn’t need due process back then; if there was any hint of witchcraft, you were taken prisoner. So we left, moving from village to village, country to country. We grew so close, accepted that we were different, that no one would understand. And then, sixty years ago, he met Natalie and fell in love with her. After six hundred years of his constant companionship, he wanted to leave me. He gave up his immortality for her. He gave up everything for her, and I was too childish and spoiled to see it. He was the one person in the world I cared about, and I could not accept that he would fall for another. And so he made his choice and left. I guess he- I guess he always kept track of me,” she said ruefully. “He always did watch out for me. My older brother. My Ben.”
She stopped, letting her words hang in the air as she stood up, suddenly shaky on her feet. She should sit down, but she couldn’t. Not now, not after her confession. “You’re right, Madeline. I don’t belong here. But I couldn’t stay away. Not when he needs me the most.” She moved towards the bed, drawn to it like a ship caught in a tractor beam. “Good-bye, Ben.” She took his hand, so soft and delicate, and squeezed it. “I love you and I miss you and I’m so sorry- and I understand. You- you were right.”
She gingerly laid the hand back down and stepped away, taking him in one last time, choking back tears. “You can let go now.”
She turned around and strode out the door, ignoring the woman left in the room, staring after her. No matter how much she would like to stay, she knew she couldn’t. Madeline was right- there was no place for her here. Perhaps it was time to start searching for love herself, as a tribute to her brother. Perhaps it was time to give up the curse. After all, immortality wasn’t as fun when you were alone.
As soon as she left the room, she heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor stop, one long tone continuous. She barely paused, before continuing down the corridor.
Ben would never truly be gone. And she had a life to live.
Author: in_excelsis_dea
Fandom: Original
Rating: G
Warnings (if any: None
AN: Written for the berlinwriters group and edited and rewritten for the genrechallenge challenge for April, cliche. I'm not entirely sure if this counts, but I got it from the Not-So-Grand List of Overused Fantasy Cliches, so I figured it counts as a cliche.
Walking into the room, the first thing she noticed were his false teeth in a glass by the bed. Biting her lip, she stops just inside the doorway, taking a moment to compose herself. False teeth- rather ridiculous, really, but the sight of the dentures floating brings tears to her eyes.
“Oh, Ben…” The words slip from her lips unbidden. She knew it would be hard seeing him in this state, but she hadn’t expected to feel like this. His hair had turned a milky white and his skin had become pale and wrinkled. His eyes were closed and she wondered if they were still the bright green she remembered, or if they too had dulled. His hands were folded upon his chest, frail and bony, so unlike the hands she once knew. He looked- well, he looked dead, except for the heart monitor that kept a steady beat in the background- the only noise in the room.
“He doesn’t have much time left.” The voice startled her and she whirled around, instantly on the guard. Years of living on the run always taught her to be prepared for anything, and even a hospital wouldn’t stop those after her. But the voice belonged to a young woman, with straight blonde hair to her shoulders and startling jade eyes- the same color Ben’s are- were- she didn’t know anymore.
“I’m Madeline.” The woman held out a hand and she took it. “You must be Cecelia. Grandad- well, I can’t say he talked about you a lot. Actually,” she said, with a slight twist of her lips, leaving Cecelia unsure if it’s a frown or a smile, “he never mentioned you at all. But after the- the incident, we found this letter and it said to contact you, so…”
“You’re his granddaughter?” Cecelia ignored the unasked question. Madeline nodded. “Is- is Natalie still alive?” She couldn’t imagine Ben in such a state if Natalie were still around. Not that she would know, or particularly care about Natalie’s fate if it weren’t inescapably tied in with Ben’s. She never had liked the young woman very much- though young, she mused, wouldn’t be the right term now, not with Ben so- so old.
“Nat- oh, you mean Grandma Tilly. No, unfortunately she passed about six months ago. Died in her sleep, it was very peaceful. But he wasn’t the same afterwards. He kept talking about how his time was going to come soon, how he didn’t want to live without her.” Madeline fiddled with her purse strap and looked towards the bed. There was something about Madeline that reminds her of Ben, even if she couldn’t name it. She seemed at least a little upset that Ben was laying there like that. “And then- this. My dad can’t make it, and I don’t think he wants to. But Granddad needs someone to be here, and we’re the only family he has.”
Cecelia sensed the slight accusation, the fact that Ben had asked for her, someone Madeline wouldn’t even consider family, to be there. “You’re very good to him,” she said softly, trying to appease the woman. “You’re right- he does need you.” She wanted to ask about Ben’s son- she assumed his son- but didn’t dare to. She had given up the right years ago.
“Who are you?” Madeline finally gave up on tact. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure I should call you. But something compelled me to do it. You don’t look to be any older than I am, and I can’t fathom how you know each other.” Her eyes grow cold- so like Ben’s when he told her what she meant to him- how little she meant to him. Deep down, Cecelia was impressed that the woman resisted interrogating her this long. With Ben’s blood, it would certainly be an interrogation.
“That,” Cecelia paused, trying to decide how much to reveal, “is a good question and it does not have a simple answer.” She took the chair placed next to the door and lowered herself into it with a graceful movement. No matter how old she was, her movements were like those of a dancer, though she had never danced. “I suppose- well, he’s my brother.” She came out with the truth, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Madeline’s face. The woman was family and deserved to know. And maybe- maybe she wouldn’t ever receive Ben’s forgiveness, but perhaps his granddaughter would be more kind and forgiving.
Not that she deserved it.
“We haven’t spoken in years. He- he left me for Natalie, and I never quite forgave him for that. I was furious at him, thinking him the fool for abandoning me, abandoning everything we had fought for, just to go after a woman he barely knew. He fell in love with her at first sight, you know. I tried pleading with him, I tried screaming at him, and finally I gave him an ultimatum- me or her. And he chose her.” She closes her eyes, bows her head, remembering that day sixty years ago. How hard it had been to see him leave, without looking back. The heated words they had thrown at each other. The threats and pleas and eventually the ultimatum she had given him- Natalie or her. The way Natalie’s presence had wedged in between them, the (nearly) unstoppable brother and sister unit and broke them apart. She hadn’t been the same since, no matter how she tried to deny it. Ben had been her second half, the brother who had always been there through their years of being hunted, of running, of trying to get by unnoticed.
And suddenly, he was gone.
It took her years to realize that maybe leaving her had been the right choice. That no matter how long they had been together, they couldn’t always stay together. It took falling in love herself to realize that love was not only a sacrifice, but a gift as well. Unfortunately, her love hadn’t lasted. Ben’s, apparently, had. “In retrospect, I realize that it was the right decision. But I was too proud to return, to ask for forgiveness. And I- well,” her mouth turned a wryly smile, “you said it yourself- I don’t look my age. He didn’t either, not until he met Natalie and decided to give it all up for her. Natalie knew nothing of us- and I didn’t want to show up and force him to explain everything.”
The way Ben gave it up- now that she couldn’t understand. Perhaps passing on the gift to Natalie would have worked. She sometimes wondered if he had, in fact, done so. They could give it up or pass it on once they had found love, though she could never imagine giving it up.
Until now.
“You’re telling me you’re his sister? You ought to be in your eighties, then. There’s no way-” Madeline’s eyes darted between her and the elderly man in the bed. There was little resemblance between his frail body and her young appearance. Madeline shook her head in disbelief. “You- you’ve aged very well.”
“I’m six hundred and seventy-six years old. He’s six hundred and seventy-nine years old.” She hadn’t aged very well- she hadn’t aged at all. Except for several- more like hundreds- of hair cuts and many different fashion changes, she looked exactly like she did in the year 1333, when she had first been blessed- or cursed with her gift. The same mischievous blue eyes, the same blonde hair the color of daffodils, the same twist in her smile, dimples in her cheeks- a pretty girl of seventeen who had looked so lively and then so deathly as the illness took the life out of her eyes.
“You’re out of your mind.” Madeline gave her a scathing look. “I don’t know who you are, but I highly doubt you’re Cecelia. I want you out. I thought Cecelia might be a lost love or a childhood friend or someone he shared memories with, but you’re just a con-artist and a-”
“It was the Black Death.” Cecelia forced the words out, no matter how hard they were to say. Madeline deserved an explanation after all. Someone did, after all those years. Immortality didn’t exactly make people like you, especially in the Middle Ages, and she and Ben had spent centuries running, never letting anyone close. Until Natalie, that was. “People were dying by the wagon load. It came to our village, and we were forced to watch everyone die. The Holocaust was bad and this was the same. Except the Holocaust could have been stopped if people had stood up to it. People did stand up to it. But this- this was something we could not fight. It decimated us, drained our lives away. We lived in fear that it would take us and our loved ones- and eventually, it did.”
She looks down at the gray tiles grouted with white beneath her feet, unable to meet Madeline’s gaze. “Ben and I- we saw it take our parents. Our other sister, Eleanor. It was too late to save her, to save our families. And Ben, he was in love with this girl, Alanna, who was lost to the sickness around the same time as our sister. We were desperate to do something, to try to save our families. We made a pact, played with things we did not understand. It was- we thought we were doing the right thing. We wanted to live, and we did live. It wasn’t until later that we realized just what we had done- we had survived the plague, but we had also cursed ourselves. We were now immortal, never aging. We stayed together, traveled together, unable to let anyone else in on our secret. In those days they hung or burned witches- people suspected of practicing magic. They didn’t need due process back then; if there was any hint of witchcraft, you were taken prisoner. So we left, moving from village to village, country to country. We grew so close, accepted that we were different, that no one would understand. And then, sixty years ago, he met Natalie and fell in love with her. After six hundred years of his constant companionship, he wanted to leave me. He gave up his immortality for her. He gave up everything for her, and I was too childish and spoiled to see it. He was the one person in the world I cared about, and I could not accept that he would fall for another. And so he made his choice and left. I guess he- I guess he always kept track of me,” she said ruefully. “He always did watch out for me. My older brother. My Ben.”
She stopped, letting her words hang in the air as she stood up, suddenly shaky on her feet. She should sit down, but she couldn’t. Not now, not after her confession. “You’re right, Madeline. I don’t belong here. But I couldn’t stay away. Not when he needs me the most.” She moved towards the bed, drawn to it like a ship caught in a tractor beam. “Good-bye, Ben.” She took his hand, so soft and delicate, and squeezed it. “I love you and I miss you and I’m so sorry- and I understand. You- you were right.”
She gingerly laid the hand back down and stepped away, taking him in one last time, choking back tears. “You can let go now.”
She turned around and strode out the door, ignoring the woman left in the room, staring after her. No matter how much she would like to stay, she knew she couldn’t. Madeline was right- there was no place for her here. Perhaps it was time to start searching for love herself, as a tribute to her brother. Perhaps it was time to give up the curse. After all, immortality wasn’t as fun when you were alone.
As soon as she left the room, she heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor stop, one long tone continuous. She barely paused, before continuing down the corridor.
Ben would never truly be gone. And she had a life to live.