everyonelives | but oh what a year

[Rusty can see Jay Michael's eyes starting to glaze over and he opts to explain himself.]

I was cursed by a coven called the Colony four hundred years ago. I was working with some members of the coven to take out the people who cursed me. Doesn't break my curse but it now has a seventy-five percent less chance of me being done with it before the next century.

( Jay Michael realizes the explanation is for him, so he clears his throat and straightens up.

Rhett takes it upon himself to pour from his personal scotch collection, light ice, and brings it to his son. )

The people who cursed him used the bodies of the next generation and the next to keep themselves in power. It was quite the gambit until the jig was up. And then everything fell into place. And to think what would have happened had that Maxim fellow not found you in Hershey.

( "Pennsylvania?" Jay Michael asks. )

I like chocolate. I owned a cafe near the park.

[It was a good life, up until it wasn't.]

And the coven is their problem now. I hope they realize what they're getting into.

( He nods at that. Of course. Who doesn't like chocolate. Jay Michael frowns at the sound of old witches recycling family members' bodies to lengthen their life - while also ensuring someone else's curse stays put. That's a dedication he's never heard of. And probably was never capable of. He did betray his best friend.

Rhett joins his lady-love, looking back at the family they've put together over the centuries. )

As long as history doesn't repeat itself, I am sure they will find their own groove. And how did you leave things with them?

Fine.

[That answer comes a little too quickly. Almost as though he's trying to ignore the fact that he's been replaying that last conversation with Max, wondering if he made the right choice.

There had been relief when he walked away. But he can't help but feel that he's kicking a can down the road, rather than closing a door for good.]

I wouldn't call it positive, but I'm not their problem anymore.

( Rhett shares a look with his wife, and then Melanie, at the quickness of his answer, but says nothing. )

It's the Colony. When they lead with positivity, I'll put on Scarlett's heels and dance the meringue.

I think David and Ezra are going to try. But they have to balance out the three others and there's only two of them.

[... Honestly it may be only one of them David is also a product of his coven. Ezra may be the only one who stands a shot at being a true positive influence.

Scarlett does catch that look and gives Rusty's shoulder a squeeze. "Well, we're all here. Everyone sit, sit. Food's almost ready."]

( He doesn't have to be told twice to sit and enjoy a meal with his family.

Jay Michael takes the open seat nearby, setting his glass down on the table. )

As long as the balance they find doesn't bring down our Rusty.

I don't think they will.

[He settles and reaches for his own drink.]

But enough about me. What have you all been up to?

Well, Melanie, Scarlett and I have been enjoying the baroque weather here in the northwest. Wes here has been keeping the company of Jay Michael.

( Jay Michael nods, because it's true.

"Came back to Star City with William Queen, Mia, and my friend, Cooper." )

["Just before you got here, Melanie was going to tell us what Wesley was trying to imply about Bonnie Bennett's taste in men." No, Scarlett has not let go of that bone, not that Melanie thought she would.

Melanie sighs.]

There is nothing to tell. I quite enjoyed speaking with Enzo, and we may be seeing more of each other in the future.

[Scarlett's eyes narrow, before turning on her son. Wesley looks over at her innocently. "What?"

Scarlett huffs. "No one ever tells me anything."]

( "This doesn't involve that Isaac fellow, then," Rhett deduces. )

No, Isaac and Bonnie are still together. Or, newly together. They're something. I don't know Enzo.

( "Lorenzo St. John has a flare I could see Melanie taking to," Rhett says, having crossed paths with him years prior. Years and years, prior. "He and Bonnie did end quite tragically, but, we have forgiven each other for worse," he admits, taking his wife's hand. That's being with vampires. )

I liked him.

I liked him too.

[If Melanie's opinion counts for anything, which it should.

"I suppose there are worse people you could be spending your time with," Scarlett sighs. "Will we get to meet this young man before you go galavanting off?"]

He's in Mystic Falls for the holidays, so no. But perhaps we'll find another opportunity.

( Young is laughable to everyone involved, but Rhett accepts it may not happen any time soon. )

Well, let's hope he stays above Scarlett's worst in the meantime.

Or perhaps Scarlett will remember I'm not one of her children and therefore do not have to justify my choices to her.

[She's says it genially, but there is a small layer of irritation at Scarlett's particular brand of overprotectiveness when she's nearly two hundred years old.

Scarlett raises an eyebrow in return. "I don't mean to offend, Melly. I just want to make sure that these men are trustworthy."

Wes shoots Melanie a look of sympathy and she waves him off. It's fine. This is an old fight.]

If he proves untrustworthy, we all know what Melly is incapable of. Nouveaux present company, excluded.

( "I'm nouveaux?" Jay Michael asks Wes. )

Only to our family.

( "I keep forgetting there is no hiding anything we say in front of you." )

Or, in the other room.

Except for me. I'm the one member of the family not blessed with supernatural hearing.

[So hiding things from Rusty is still doable. And also fortunate for all involved.]

And I would consider it a good thing, if you haven't made Melanie angry enough to have her do her worst.

[Melanie smirks. "I wouldn't worry too much. It takes a great deal to stoke my anger."]

I offered once to cash in a dear friend's chip to bless Russell, here.

( But, as expected, he declined, and it's not like they knew if it was really doable. Magically, not vampirically.

"You... not a," Jay Michael almost says. )

No, not a vampire. A witch. A lady friend I became acquainted with in Scotland. I seem to collect friends from there.

I've already lived four hundred years too long - I'm not looking to extend it by becoming a vampire.

[Immortality is not for everyone, and while Rusty doesn't have a death wish, he does think he's lived long enough.]

Not that I have any issues with them, clearly. Just not the right life choice for me.

You wouldn't have been a vampire, just a man with the enhanced senses of a vampire.

( He'd been drinking, there was no fine print involved. For all he knows, he was selling his son to be turned. He was, rightfully, turned down.

"Maybe the immortality without the perks and the bloodlust," Jay Michael starts. "It suits you." )

[Rusty wrinkles his nose before shaking his head.]

It really doesn't.

[Part of it may have been the fact that he could never live a full life and was constantly getting murdered and having to start over, but Rusty never saw the appeal of immortality. He's never wanted to live forever.]

Immortality isn't for everyone. I'm quite comfortable with the idea that my life will one day end.

Sorry.

( He feels like he's saying all the wrong things and doesn't know what to do here. And suddenly doesn't know what to do with his hands.

Rhett pipes up. )

Rusty's immortality was cursed upon him and used for sport. He is saying, that finally, that curse has been lifted. And this is his last life.

( He speaks into the side of his wine glass and not to his son's boyfriend, or his wife. It is as much a somber occasion as it is a celebratory one. But he and Scarlett and Melanie have loved and lost. )

Edited 2026-02-22 18:32 (UTC)

[That's not exactly it either. He makes a face before taking pity on Jay Michael and trying to explain.]

It wasn't even real immortality. If I could survive to a natural death, to die of old age and natural causes, I would have been free of it long ago. But a group of witches that I formerly considered friends - the ones who cursed me - would hunt me down and murder me before I could get that far, and then I would be reborn and start over again. It hasn't been my favorite experience.

( Well, that quiets Jay Michael down, who can only sip from his wine, because it wouldn't be. )

And now, those former friends are former people.

That they are. And now their descendants are in charge and ... hopefully they'll do better than the ones who came before them.

[Even if he senses that maybe he isn't as completely done with them as he may want to be.]

We'll see what happens.

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persistingly - 2026-02-24 22:08 (UTC) - Expand