notsocommon | home again, naturally.

Entry tags:

ai,
nikola

home again, naturally.

Helen had spent the last several months going back and forth between the new facilities and the strange pocket universe she'd found with Nikola which had proven particularly enlightening. There were any number of infinite paths from that crossroads and it was something she had not been able to get a handle on scientifically just as yet.

Then again, science that was yet unexplained was merely magic, was it not? She had thought so as a child, until her father had taught her otherwise. All she had to do was keep exploring, keep pushing through each and every door until she found the key to cracking the mystery behind how it all worked. Of course, the legwork on this was exhausting but at least she had Nikola she could implore for help.

One of the doors she'd found in her wanderings had been one that was her own London back in the late 1800s. She was blonde there, as she'd discovered by gazing into a very dingy looking glass, but other than that, none of the rest of the Five seemed to be there. Her life was established, her home in the same place, just the people weren't the same. It was curious, to say the least, and she wondered what might happen if she pulled Nikola through the same door.

To that end, she'd gone back to the Nexus to find him, poking around until she found the library. A likely choice; Nikola had ever loved to read with a nice glass of wine.

"Nikola! I've a project for you, if you care to come with me. Hmm? I'll make it worth your while, I promise."

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For all he thought that he would be bored in this place, there was enough to keep him amused - or frustrated, depending on which way you viewed it. But, he supposed, the most important thing was that he was keeping out of trouble. Thankfully their hosts had a ready supply of decent wine, coupled with a decent library, and he could even pass what time Helen made him 'relax'.

He perked up at her words, but tried to only show indifference to them, mostly because it was what was expected of him. "Oh? What have you been working on now?"

"I've found a way back to London. Our London," Helen said, quite a bit excited about the prospect. "I haven't seen hide nor hair of the Five, though, and it's like we're not there at all. I've been several times and haven't run into anyone we know so I think it might be safe enough for a quick jaunt."

She grinned at him. "What do you say, Nikola? Up for a little adventure?"

"Our London? London of now? But... you mention the Five... you mean the past?" Well now. That definitely had a lot more potential for trouble. Or fun, depending on which way you looked at it.

"We can ensure we don't run into our past selves easily I would think." He was, after all, a creature of habit back then. "I was getting bored of this place. A spell in London sounds like a wise idea."

"I thought you might be on board. And, yes, I've grown a little tired of technology for the moment. I would rather be my own true self again."

Helen would always be a woman of her era in some ways and she missed the simplicity of a life lit by gas lamps and powered by horses.

"You might want to change into something more era appropriate when we get there. I think I can find something."

Nikola had many fond memories of those days, London, New York, all the delights there, surrounded by eager and willing fans. That, and the time that he had spent with the Five. They'd had their bad moments, but in the beginning, it had been such a delight.

"I'm sure you can procure something easily." After all, he knew her. She wouldn't suggest a trip unless she had a ready supply of money and other necessities that they might need. "You know what I wore back then."

"Well, let's get a move on," Helen said, offering her hand to him. It was forward in a way she wouldn't be back in their own era and she wanted to enjoy herself now before playing the game of propriety.

"I'm sure we could even have something custom made. I have the funds and I know how you like to dress. Nothing but the best for you, Nikola. Always."

He took the hand, allowing himself to be pulled up by her. Her enthusiasm was infectious - as it always was with Helen. No wonder people like him got caught in her field.

"You're buttering me up. Why do I think you want a really big favor from me when you say things like that?" It didn't matter how true it was - he really did like to dress well - but it still felt like she was after something.

"Hardly," Helen said, waving that off. "Can't I just want a jaunt into nostalgia with my lover? Come on, Nikola. No ulterior motive. Just a day in the 19th century with you and without my ex boyfriend skulking about."

Helen had always played the long game and she supposed, in that, Nikola had cause to be suspicious but today was solely about having a good time.

"Well, since you put it like that..." Yes, it would be good to be able to relax, and have some fun back then without Druitt getting in the way. "It sounds like an amusing distraction."

"Precisely my point," she said, grinning wide.

"Besides, it's not every day that you get to see me in a corset and bustle. Not since fashion has trended toward trousers for the last hundred years or so. I miss the days of leaving something to the imagination. Don't you?"

"I do miss seeing you dressed up in your finery," he conceded, looking her up and down. "Not that modern fashions don't have a certain... appeal as well." Mostly because he could ogle a little. Now and then that was fun. "Of course, it was always a pain to remove a corset in a hurry, but that added to the charm..."

"I don't like having anything done in a hurry," Helen said, laughing a little. "Ruins the charm of it. A lady certainly likes to feel like she's special and I am a proper lady. I maintain the facade of it, anyway."

She tipped her head toward the library door. "Let's go play croquet on my lawn. I think I still remember where I put the set and you're a much better sport about it than James has ever been."

Nikola was at least making mental notes. If they were going to do this, she wanted to be treated like a lady - he could manage that, at least. He knew just how charming he could be when he chose to.

"Then let us take a carriage ride through one of the parks," he suggested, warming up to the idea.

"Oh, yes, I haven't done that in ages." It was charming, the idea of going back and reliving her past with the knowledge that there were so many wonderful things that lay in the future within her reach. It was a heady sort of power, all told, the power to be able to go back and forth through time. It wasn't exactly the gift given to her by the Source blood but it was a gift she had now and one she was glad to share with Nikola.

"It's not so bad, living forever, is it? Being stuck with me? We're the only ones left now."

And Nikola would most likely see the potential in going back and forth in time - until he began to meddle. Then he was likely to get shot again, but for now, he could enjoy the run through memory lane.

"Well, since it's just us two, I can safely say that no, it's not too bad being stuck with you." In fact, it was just the way he liked it. Helen as a lover, just the two of them, and the past to play with? If this was heaven, he didn't want to go home.

"It could have been you and John," Helen said, frowning a bit. "Though only one of you probably would have lived through that. You've always been at cross purposes, the two of you."

"Yes... I'm not sure that one planet would have been big enough for both of us." There were only a few times they had successfully worked together, and generally that involved Helen corralling them. "So I think this is the best outcome all round."

"Nikola? Come here for a moment," Helen asked, motioning him close. Nostalgia had made her heart a bit tender and while she wasn't one for being openly affectionate on a regular basis, she wanted it for a moment. She hoped Nikola could indulge her whim and not make a (huge) fuss.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment, but walked up to her, wary, as if he would run away at the slightest provocation.

Helen gave him a soft smile before leaning in and pressing a kiss to his mouth. It was incredibly forward of her, she knew, but she was glad to see him here in the Nexus and she was glad that if anyone could go back with her to England, it was him. She had always felt a kinship with Nikola that was different than the rest of the Five.

He let her kiss him, then grinned at her. He could take the occasional kiss, even here in the Nexus. Although he was never good at affection, it was Helen. There was very little he wouldn't do for her. "I'm intrigued as to what you have found. Shall we?"

"Absolutely," she said, leading him back to the door. It conveniently opened into one of the back rooms of her father's house in 19th century London, which was good considering she did not want to make a scene.

"All right, so, I feel like you might have left a suit of clothes here at one point," Helen said, laughing. "So we can change and not cause an international incident."

"It wouldn't surprise. It's the kind of thing I would do," he admitted. "Oh I hope it fits. I was on a different diet back then." He twirled round. "Do you think it will fit?"

He was looking forward to this.

Helen smirked a bit. "I don't think things have changed all that much, Nikola, though I wonder what diet you were on in the 19th century that you're not on now."

So far as she was aware, he had never lived solely on blood. There had always been some sort of augment to that, some sort of supplement.

"Eat whenever I remembered to, mostly when I think about it. I got distracted far too easily."

The supplement was mostly wine, or whatever alcohol he could find. Blood on it's own was just too icky, if he were being honest.

Oh, maybe there was some food in there too. Mostly when in company.

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