everyonelives | as we pass through arrangements of shadows

( They must go through two bottles of wine, and that's after the first bottle before the premise of the evening blew up so thoroughly.

The top floor, or the property Rebekah's brother owns (or rents, it's unclear), has more bedrooms than needed, and gives Neal and Sara the privacy he thinks they need to properly freak out. Neal Caffrey is unflappable. Even when he loses it, he keeps it together. But, it takes every ounce of restraint to sift through Rebekah and Doc's long lives. Rebekah's a viking? John Henry is the Doc Holliday?

His tie is somewhere in the main room a few hallways back, but Neal still turns toward the mirror to take it off.

Remembering it's not on his person, he goes through the motions of getting ready for bed. He decides to remove his belt, but keep his pants on. His shirt stays unbuttoned because at some point, he just forgets to take it off.

His ass sinks into the edge of the front of their borrowed bed. It still hasn't sunk in. )

Rebekah is older than every painting I've ever stolen.

[Sara honestly hasn't said much since Rebekah and John Henry started telling them the truth. By all accounts, she's too logical a person to believe in such a thing, had she not seen Rebekah put a man to sleep with her mind.

Vampires, witches - it all seems like far too much to actually be existing in the world, to actually be rea, but at the end of the day, she can't deny what she's seen with her own eyes.

She can't help, however, but smirk at Neal's response as she takes off her heels.]

She might have even been there to see them painted.

She might have sat for them.

( Her smile is met with his as he still can't believe their night. )

You hear things about cursed relics, but you assume the story's out there to deter people from taking them. Are they really cursed now?

I think you might have to be a little more careful, but I'm not sure all of them will be cursed.

[Sometimes it's just superstitious people being dumb. Or a world who didn't understand the way germs worked. There has to be some still out there, for the sake of Sara's sanity.]

Maybe not all. Maybe one.

( Before, he wouldn't believe it. Now, he believes it. )

And I know we weren't taken hostage, but do you feel like we're under house arrest? Like, if we don't take this the right way, Donna's going to come back. What do you think she meant when she asked them if they wanted her to... you know.

I don't know.

[A long pause.]

Do you think they have any kind of ... mind powers or something?

I didn't think Rebekah has sleep powers.

( He thinks about that, though. )

What kind of mind powers?

I don't know ... making us forget things? Didn't Dracula have like a thrall or something?

[She should not be making references to fictional vampires right now, but this is all the non-Rebekah provided information she has to go off of.]

He did.

( He doesn't like fiction in this case. )

Whatever we really think at the end of this, it may not matter. I think we have no choice. We have to accept this.

[She nods, because that's the thing she's having the hardest time with. The acceptance portion.]

It's just ... hard. My brain isn't wired to go "okay, vampires." But I also don't want anyone coming in and messing with my recollection of things either. So I'm doing my best to get over the first hump.

Then, let's attack it beat by beat. How was your brain wired. Before you met me, did you think anyone could forge as good as I could? Allegedly.

( He smiles, trying to help her through this. )

[She laughs, before shaking her head.]

I thought we were wrapping our head around vampires, not stroking your ego.

We can do both. ( This is what he wants. Be carefree. Take it seriously, but smile through it. Maybe they can get to the root of her disbelief. (Maybe they can attack his own.) But the spotlight is on Sara. ) Really. Think about it. An art forger of my caliber - and thief - you were in a world investigating insurance fraud, but did you believe it could be done. Were you more angry I got my hands on the Rafael? ...Allegedly?

[She shakes her head, before reaching for his hand as she leans back against the headboard.]

It's not that I disbelieved your ability. It's that I was pissed off that you were able to keep getting away with it. And, more to the point, that you could do it while being so damn charming. That's very different than this.

[She shakes her head.]

I know thieves and forgers and criminals are real. No one ever tried to tell me they weren't. But they do say that about vampires and werewolves and witches. So ... I'll get there. I just might need a minute.

( Well, he.... selfishly tried. )

Vlad the Impaler - I assume. Come to think of it, you'd wonder if Rasputin had been a vampire.

I think if we wanted to find out, we're definitely around the right people to ask.

[She makes a face.]

I don't think I actually want to know, though.

The sun's coming up. We should try to get what sleep we can.

( Neal may wake up drunk at this point, but he tugs her to him and to the bed, yawning. )

[Sara goes where she's pulled, settling in comfortably next to him. She's not sure she'll be able to sleep, but she's willing to give it her best effort.]

Maybe things will make more sense with sleep.

I doubt it. But, we have to try, if to at least sleep off the wine.

( He says they should sleep, but all he accomplishes is unlacing his nice shoes and settling a shoulder against hers. )

Is... today ( Peter and Elizabeth's ) Little Neal's baseball game?

[She reaches for her phone, checking the calendar.]

It is. But it's in the afternoon, so we have a little time.

Very little.

( He checks the watch he's just removed and blearily leans way back to set it down on the night table. He lays there, faced down, outstretched. )

Do I have the energy to properly get to bed.

[She smirks before nudging him gently so they can get under the covers.]

I promise you'll be much more comfortable.

( Fighting with all his might, he makes it. These sheets are luxury and everything Neal would sleep in. Yeah, he'll sleep just fine. )

What if we wake up and this is all a crazy dream. And you were there, and you.

That would be nice.

[She shifts and curls into him, running her fingers through his hair.]

But maybe it won't be such a bad thing if it's not.

Maybe. I still have you and you have me, no matter what crazy awaits us later in the morning.

( So. )

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