Fic: In Beer Veritas 3/5
Authors: fides & valcon4
Title: In Beer Veritas
Fandoms: Highlander / Buffy / watcherverse
Pairings: Duncan / Methos
Rating: R/15
Summery: In the aftermath of the events of Spiritus Sancti, Duncan demands a few answers.
Warnings: valcon4's first foray into writing! Thanks to hotspur18 for the beta and to fides for the title and all the moral support.
Methos clapped sarcastically.
"You can be so mean some... why not just tell me?" There was no point in going down that road. "Never mind."
"Do you want to tell me how he knows?"
"Ethan is a mage, a very good one according to him."
I was surprised he told me so easily. "Mage? As in magic user or wise man?" The way the evening had been going, I felt compelled to check.
"As in magic."
"Or both, of course." I added.
"He would like to claim so, I am sure."
"Magic. We're not talking rabbits out of hats, are we?"
"I'm sure he could if he wanted to... but no, we are talking true magic."
I thought about this for a moment. "True magic? Like spells to move things and alter..."
"Lose you soul and damn yourself for eternity if you screw up. Yes."
The evening’s topics were getting too much again. I could feel my heart pounding, and not just because of my proximity to him. "Have I been walking around with my eyes closed for the last 400 years - how have I never witnessed... this…Do mages hide from us like vampires?"
"You know a witch and you ask me that?" There was no venom in his voice but…
Cassandra! How could I have forgotten?
"I’m sorry, I didn't mean..." How could I be such an idiot?! Not knowing what to else to say I shut up.
"Just think, MacLeod." Methos pushed quietly. "You might not have named them such but you have known those who use magic; even among our kind."
"Yes, but - ‘damned for eternity type of magic’ - I don’t know, Methos." I knew he could and would lie to me at the drop of a hat if he thought it necessary, but I truly believed he was actually being honest with me!
"Why does it seem so unlikely in the face of everything else?" Methos asked.
This was a very good point. "I guess I have just thought of them as illusionists to keep everything fitting into their boxes." I was unsure even of my own answer. "I mean - if I can accept Vampires - mages should be easy!" I laughed nervously.
"You've opened up a door on to a whole new world for me tonight." And not for the first time. "One with vampires, mages and other beasties that you won’t talk of."
"You do like keeping my life interesting, don’t you." Methos said nothing, looked at me through his lowered lashes. I kept going. "Thank you."
I considered adding ‘For telling me about vampires, Ethan, the ‘other’ Watchers for saving my neck more times than I care to admit too…but I kept that to myself. There was too much chance I would add the kiss to the list and I wasn't sure I wanted to do that.
Methos indicated to Joe to pour us another drink. "Have I actually exhausted your supply of questions? I hadn't believed that was possible."
"No - just... thinking."
"Now that seems unbelievable."
"HA!" I smiled, I was enjoying the camaraderie between us, it felt good. "You have an amazing ability to turn my world upside down. Is it a natural gift, or something you have worked at?"
"Maybe your world capsizes too easily?"
"As long as I don’t drown!" Would you save me Methos? I wondered. Just a hint, give me something.
"That is up to you."
Nothing, of course! "You make me feel like a donkey - don’t even smirk - and you’re dangling a carrot in front of me you offer me bits of information but not the whole manual."
"I have told Joe before... I am just a guy."
"Yeah, just a guy..." I can remember when I could have believed that
"I know it is tempting to assume I have all the answers but I don't. I just have a few more than you."
"From where I'm sat, a whole lot more."
Methos smiled.
I had to do this but… I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his immediate reaction. "Methos, I have to ask you something...?"
"Because you haven't up until now?" I appreciated his friendly banter, but I continued.
I opened my eyes and looked at the bar. "I had almost talked my self out of it...."
I could feel him look away! I raised my head to look towards him and rested my hand on his arm, feeling the warmth of his skin through his jumper. "How did you know about the visions?"
Methos looked down at my hand then at me indirectly. I removed my hand, feeling slightly embarrassed. I just knew that if this went badly… well, I would be lucky to see him again.
"I told you MacLeod. As you get older you have to stay in the present or you loose yourself in the past, do you think I have never seen the signs before?"
"I don’t buy that." I spoke over him.
"Never in one so young, I'll admit. You always were an over-achiever. You doubt that I have seen the signs?" He sounded hurt.
I shook my head, unconvinced. "I’m not saying you haven't…, its just…" I searched for a way to say it.
"Yes?"
I sighed heavily. "It was like you knew what they were - no surprises....." I had wanted to add ’You knew I was seeing things through Kronos’ eyes.’ But my mouth was suddenly dry and the words stuck to my tongue. I downed a large part of my drink. "Forget it." As I looked sadly into the now empty glass.
"Duncan you were acting like..." My stomach knotted as he paused, was he going to say what I couldn’t? "Well, I recognised it. Do you really want me to say more?"
I pondered that for a moment. "Yes" then quickly added "No!"
Methos rolled his eyes.
"Yes." I had to hear it from his lips. "Say it!"
"I saw Kronos in your eyes! Is that what you want me to say?!"
"Yes - well sort of." I pushed on. "But why now? It doesn't make sense."
"I don't know MacLeod. I just don't know." He seemed thoughtful. "I told myself that I must be mistaken."
"It was what, six years ago? Why should this happen now? And please don’t say about living in the present, please."
"I don't know what goes on in your head. One day you decided to go playing in the memories. Only you know why."
"I did not decide to go play!" Why are you so convinced of that? "It was like being stomach punched. One second nothing then wham."
"Fine. Then you haven't been bothered by Kronos' quickening for months. Glad to know that is settled."
"What! Sorry for hitting a nerve but doesn't it strike you as strange? How many of us have you known that a quickening has affected them 6 years after receiving it?"
"You aren't listening to me." - I was, of course, to every syllable - "It could have happened any time. six days, six years six centuries... the memories don't fade." Then oh so quietly, "They don’t ever fade."
"Please answer me Methos, how many have you known of? Because I know of none."
"How many Immortals over two thousand do you know?" he asked.
"Alive ... Two." My voice became clipped, as I assumed he was changing the subject.
"Why is that do you think?"
I sighed, thinking I knew where he was going. "We've been here before." I kept my voice as calm as I could.
"This is what I am trying to explain to you Duncan." Methos sounded just as exasperated "It isn't anything obvious. Just the past starts becoming more important to you than the present." He paused; I wondered what he was really thinking… or about whom.
"Do you know what kills us Duncan?" He asked suddenly.
‘Not this again!’, "Memories." and of cause, not forgetting… "The past."
"Patterns." Methos was facing me , one hand on his drink on the bar, the other resting on his leg, but with an expression I had rarely seen when he wasn't making a pointed lesson with a blade.
Title: In Beer Veritas
Fandoms: Highlander / Buffy / watcherverse
Pairings: Duncan / Methos
Rating: R/15
Summery: In the aftermath of the events of Spiritus Sancti, Duncan demands a few answers.
Warnings: valcon4's first foray into writing! Thanks to hotspur18 for the beta and to fides for the title and all the moral support.
Methos clapped sarcastically.
"You can be so mean some... why not just tell me?" There was no point in going down that road. "Never mind."
"Do you want to tell me how he knows?"
"Ethan is a mage, a very good one according to him."
I was surprised he told me so easily. "Mage? As in magic user or wise man?" The way the evening had been going, I felt compelled to check.
"As in magic."
"Or both, of course." I added.
"He would like to claim so, I am sure."
"Magic. We're not talking rabbits out of hats, are we?"
"I'm sure he could if he wanted to... but no, we are talking true magic."
I thought about this for a moment. "True magic? Like spells to move things and alter..."
"Lose you soul and damn yourself for eternity if you screw up. Yes."
The evening’s topics were getting too much again. I could feel my heart pounding, and not just because of my proximity to him. "Have I been walking around with my eyes closed for the last 400 years - how have I never witnessed... this…Do mages hide from us like vampires?"
"You know a witch and you ask me that?" There was no venom in his voice but…
Cassandra! How could I have forgotten?
"I’m sorry, I didn't mean..." How could I be such an idiot?! Not knowing what to else to say I shut up.
"Just think, MacLeod." Methos pushed quietly. "You might not have named them such but you have known those who use magic; even among our kind."
"Yes, but - ‘damned for eternity type of magic’ - I don’t know, Methos." I knew he could and would lie to me at the drop of a hat if he thought it necessary, but I truly believed he was actually being honest with me!
"Why does it seem so unlikely in the face of everything else?" Methos asked.
This was a very good point. "I guess I have just thought of them as illusionists to keep everything fitting into their boxes." I was unsure even of my own answer. "I mean - if I can accept Vampires - mages should be easy!" I laughed nervously.
"You've opened up a door on to a whole new world for me tonight." And not for the first time. "One with vampires, mages and other beasties that you won’t talk of."
"You do like keeping my life interesting, don’t you." Methos said nothing, looked at me through his lowered lashes. I kept going. "Thank you."
I considered adding ‘For telling me about vampires, Ethan, the ‘other’ Watchers for saving my neck more times than I care to admit too…but I kept that to myself. There was too much chance I would add the kiss to the list and I wasn't sure I wanted to do that.
Methos indicated to Joe to pour us another drink. "Have I actually exhausted your supply of questions? I hadn't believed that was possible."
"No - just... thinking."
"Now that seems unbelievable."
"HA!" I smiled, I was enjoying the camaraderie between us, it felt good. "You have an amazing ability to turn my world upside down. Is it a natural gift, or something you have worked at?"
"Maybe your world capsizes too easily?"
"As long as I don’t drown!" Would you save me Methos? I wondered. Just a hint, give me something.
"That is up to you."
Nothing, of course! "You make me feel like a donkey - don’t even smirk - and you’re dangling a carrot in front of me you offer me bits of information but not the whole manual."
"I have told Joe before... I am just a guy."
"Yeah, just a guy..." I can remember when I could have believed that
"I know it is tempting to assume I have all the answers but I don't. I just have a few more than you."
"From where I'm sat, a whole lot more."
Methos smiled.
I had to do this but… I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his immediate reaction. "Methos, I have to ask you something...?"
"Because you haven't up until now?" I appreciated his friendly banter, but I continued.
I opened my eyes and looked at the bar. "I had almost talked my self out of it...."
I could feel him look away! I raised my head to look towards him and rested my hand on his arm, feeling the warmth of his skin through his jumper. "How did you know about the visions?"
Methos looked down at my hand then at me indirectly. I removed my hand, feeling slightly embarrassed. I just knew that if this went badly… well, I would be lucky to see him again.
"I told you MacLeod. As you get older you have to stay in the present or you loose yourself in the past, do you think I have never seen the signs before?"
"I don’t buy that." I spoke over him.
"Never in one so young, I'll admit. You always were an over-achiever. You doubt that I have seen the signs?" He sounded hurt.
I shook my head, unconvinced. "I’m not saying you haven't…, its just…" I searched for a way to say it.
"Yes?"
I sighed heavily. "It was like you knew what they were - no surprises....." I had wanted to add ’You knew I was seeing things through Kronos’ eyes.’ But my mouth was suddenly dry and the words stuck to my tongue. I downed a large part of my drink. "Forget it." As I looked sadly into the now empty glass.
"Duncan you were acting like..." My stomach knotted as he paused, was he going to say what I couldn’t? "Well, I recognised it. Do you really want me to say more?"
I pondered that for a moment. "Yes" then quickly added "No!"
Methos rolled his eyes.
"Yes." I had to hear it from his lips. "Say it!"
"I saw Kronos in your eyes! Is that what you want me to say?!"
"Yes - well sort of." I pushed on. "But why now? It doesn't make sense."
"I don't know MacLeod. I just don't know." He seemed thoughtful. "I told myself that I must be mistaken."
"It was what, six years ago? Why should this happen now? And please don’t say about living in the present, please."
"I don't know what goes on in your head. One day you decided to go playing in the memories. Only you know why."
"I did not decide to go play!" Why are you so convinced of that? "It was like being stomach punched. One second nothing then wham."
"Fine. Then you haven't been bothered by Kronos' quickening for months. Glad to know that is settled."
"What! Sorry for hitting a nerve but doesn't it strike you as strange? How many of us have you known that a quickening has affected them 6 years after receiving it?"
"You aren't listening to me." - I was, of course, to every syllable - "It could have happened any time. six days, six years six centuries... the memories don't fade." Then oh so quietly, "They don’t ever fade."
"Please answer me Methos, how many have you known of? Because I know of none."
"How many Immortals over two thousand do you know?" he asked.
"Alive ... Two." My voice became clipped, as I assumed he was changing the subject.
"Why is that do you think?"
I sighed, thinking I knew where he was going. "We've been here before." I kept my voice as calm as I could.
"This is what I am trying to explain to you Duncan." Methos sounded just as exasperated "It isn't anything obvious. Just the past starts becoming more important to you than the present." He paused; I wondered what he was really thinking… or about whom.
"Do you know what kills us Duncan?" He asked suddenly.
‘Not this again!’, "Memories." and of cause, not forgetting… "The past."
"Patterns." Methos was facing me , one hand on his drink on the bar, the other resting on his leg, but with an expression I had rarely seen when he wasn't making a pointed lesson with a blade.