home again, naturally.

[notsocommon]

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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[notsocommon]

"Right, I've forgotten you were ever shy," Helen scoffed. Thinking back on it, there was truth in it. Nikola had not been as he was now at first; the Source blood had changed his personality somewhat along with the years.

"I was shy too, once. A woman amongst all those men? I hardly knew what to say or do. I was afraid you'd all laugh at me. I got over it, eventually, but it took a little while."

[akhkharu]

Ah, those were the days. So aware of being the different one, the one with the accent, the fastidious ways the ridiculous moustache, it had affected his personality. It was only really after taking the Source blood, when different was not a bad thing, that he became the wonderful person he was today.

"I don't think any of us noticed. All we cared about was the fact that you were in our midst, and who could gain your attention." They were so shallow.

[notsocommon]

"Well, I was the best looking, even if James fussed over himself more than any woman might," Helen said, grinning a bit at the memory. It was perhaps unfair to tease James when he couldn't defend himself but Helen had never entirely been fair.

"We were all different, in our way, and different again once the Blood came into play. And now we find ourselves somewhere new entirely, you and I. Back home in our era with all the knowledge that comes later. It's tempting to stay and change it, isn't it?"

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[akhkharu]

He pulled a face, then nodded in agreement. "Other than myself, of course." Vanity, thy name is Nikola.

"We could rule the world, you and I," he pointed out, his eyes narrowing at the thought. He could destroy Edison before he started. The World Wars would never take place. Humanity wouldn't fall time and time again into their endless cycle of destruction.

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[notsocommon]

"That's dangerous thinking, Nikola. Should we really be meddling? Really and truly?" Helen had meant her comment only in passing, a what if. What Nikola was possibly suggesting could alter the entire timeline. Ashley might never be born. The world could collapse in some other catastrophic way.

"Neither of us was gifted with prescience."

[akhkharu]

"Put a chance to destroy Edison before he starts in front of me, and I'm going to take it," he warned Helen with a grumble. "I'd suggest keeping me well away from America."

[notsocommon]

"Yes, well, let's not go to America, then," Helen said, laughing cautiously. If Nikola truly did kill Edison, they'd have a huge mess on their hands. "Besides, you can just compete with him from over here. You're a vampire and he isn't. You've got more hours in the day."

Unless there was something she didn't know about Edison.

[akhkharu]

Nothing about Edison would surprise Nikola anymore. He pouted a little. "Fine we'll stick to London." For now, at least. "Just... don't expect me not to fiddle with things. Just a little."

[notsocommon]

"Only inconsequential things, Nikola. I mean it. If you end up stepping on a butterfly and seeing that my daughter isn't born, I'll kill you in this life and the next," Helen said firmly.

"I'm not even jesting with you. I mean it."

[akhkharu]

"Fine. No butterflies." Boring, but he'd stick to it. For now. He knew when Helen meant business. "General inconsequentialities. I promise."

[notsocommon]

"Now, fancy a carriage ride? I should like to see my city again," Helen said brightly. The idea of being able to share a London afternoon with Nikola after so long was an appealing one and she hoped it would be a nice little mental vacation from her constant worries about the new Sanctuary facilities.

Being self-sufficient was a dream, of course, but it came with headaches that had never been present when there had been governments to help shoulder some of the burden. It was nice to simply escape for a while.

[akhkharu]

"A carriage ride. Now that is something I haven't done for a century or so." He could do that, for her. Especially as it might manage to take his mind off more nefarious pursuits. "Lead on."

[notsocommon]

"As much as I love cars, there's something about a carriage." Helen led him around to her stables and got the carriage and her driver; it took a few moments of catching up, of course, but the horses wanted a chance to get out and about and a ride around the park was just the thing.

Once she had settled inside the carriage, she turned her attention back to Nikola. "Ah, this is just the thing. I have missed this terribly, just relaxing and going at a slow pace. No hurry, no worries. Just us."

[akhkharu]

He was more than willing to sit back, let Helen take charge. If she wanted a carriage ride, he would be there. Truth was, the nostalgia was fun as well for him - in as much as he ever had fun. Besides, if Helen enjoyed it - he would.

"It is rare just to take the time to do something like this." Ah yes, nostalgia was a good thing.

[notsocommon]

"Oh yes. Been too long for me," she said, leaning in and cupping his face. "Of course, there's something to be said for making new memories and new choices even if we are reliving the past."

More and more it occurred to her that perhaps Nikola would have been the better choice all those years ago, not John.

[akhkharu]

Perhaps. Or perhaps Nikola was just too self-centered then. Maybe now, when the two of them were the only ones left was the right time to actually do something about it, which had led to this.

And he wouldn't have given her the time with Ashley, so perhaps that was meant to be. "Come on. I feel the urge to find out favourite restaurant and indulge somewhat," he said lightly, as ever shying away from actual emotion.

[notsocommon]

"Mmm, yes, let's indulge," Helen said, kissing him quickly before drawing away. She wanted to enjoy being herself for a while without the burden of her future and this seemed just the place to do it.

"Do you remember that tearoom I used to like? The one with the divine little watercress sandwiches?"

[akhkharu]

"I never quite understood the fascination with those sandwiches," he admitted, grinning at her. "But yes, I remember it well. Shall we go there?" To keep her happy, he would indulge her.

[notsocommon]

"Yes, we should," Helen said, grinning at him. "Because if you indulge me with sandwiches and tea, I might indulge you with something a little stronger later on? A little tit for tat?"

She could bargain with the best of them.

[akhkharu]

He pretended to be considering it, but grinned at her in the end. "Oh, go on then. I think I can manage some sandwiches and tea - on condition we find something more... indulgent later on."

A small price to pay.

[notsocommon]

"Yes, yes, we'll raid the wine cellar," Helen said, waving her hand dismissively. "Heaven forbid we didn't do that while we were here. I actually think my father might have something well over fifty years old down there. We haven't had that kind of vintage laying around in the modern era for decades. I think two vintage people should drink vintage wine."

[akhkharu]

He managed to produce a passable bow, and grinned at Helen. "If your father has that lying about, it's a miracle I wasn't raiding the cellar earlier." Though knowing Helen, she'd hidden it from him. "It seems oddly appropriate to me."

[notsocommon]

"Mm, yes, French, I think," Helen said, trying to rack her brain. "Bordeaux, if I remember precisely, and I think that sort of thing should be savored well and often, if you can get it. We'll get into it when we get home."

She gave him a mischievous look. "And other things, at that."

[akhkharu]

"Ah, your father did have exquisite taste," he said with a fond smile. Mostly for his wine cellar rather than anything else. "And I rather like the sound of an evening lounging about, doing whatever takes our fancy." Which would end up defiling many of the bedrooms, no doubt.

[notsocommon]

"There's always my private sitting room and bedroom," Helen said, smirking a bit. "I know you all wanted access to that back when I was still living at home like the prim and proper spinster that I was."