self_inflictedexhile | nysm / tvd } { if you will, please move in closer

nysm / tvd } { if you will, please move in closer

In another lifetime, Dylan Rhodes never existed. In another lifetime, he didn't need to, because Lionel Shrike never drown in the Hudson River, Dylan Rhodes stayed Jacob Shrike, and his life went in a very different direction.

At age fifteen, his father started teaching him the tricks of the trade: sleight of hand, how to build a rig, how to do a little bit of actual magic, despite the fact that probably wasn't something he should be sharing, just yet. Shortly after that, Jacob met a young Alma Dray, tagging along with her grandfather, a friend of his father's, stopping by to check up on him. They grew up together, life continued on, and Jacob eventually went to college for Theatre Design and Stagecraft. At twenty-two, just after graduation, Jacob was chosen to join the Eye, his test to help the LVPD clear the name of another magician, despite all the evidence in the world making him seem guilty as sin. There, Jacob met Michael Fuller, his partner a lifetime away, and the two became friends as they managed, despite all odds, to pull off what had been asked of Jacob by the Eye. He continued on into a career as a stage magician in the Eye, eventually married Alma, and continued to occasionally work with Fuller as a consultant, when time allowed.

Over the course of the next few decades, Jacob and Alma tried to have children and failed, and eventually adopted one Jack Wilder, age 10. Using Eye resources, he helped Merritt McKinney get a good lawyer and clear his name after his brother screwed him over. He followed the rising stars that were J. Daniel Atlas and Henley Reeves, and when they decided to call it quits, pulled the both of them back together, forcing Daniel to give Henley a more active role in the show. And eventually, yes, he called the four of them together, not for revenge but something similar, to get them into the Eye. And somewhere along the way, Jacob and Alma tried for children again, and this time managed, giving Jack a brother, Lio, Lionel, named after his grandfather.

Basically, this is the best possible timeline.

And now, it's just after dinner, Jacob off to his nightly rehearsal at 5Pointz, that his space, now, like his father before him. He takes a detour tonight, though, to grab a cup of coffee, beforehand, a little bit of magic pulled around him, to make himself not completely invisible, but at least a little less noticeable. Normally, he doesn't mind showing off or signing autographs, when a fan approaches, and fans do often approach, his notoriety somewhere up there with Penn and Teller, Seigfried and Roy, but -- not tonight. He's not feeling it tonight, a little tired for whatever reason, hence the coffee, so magic it is. And now he's sitting at a table, idly people-watching as he leans into his cup. Have at him, if you can still see him (or, maybe, in certain party's cases, sense him) despite his best efforts.

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"You miss her?" he asks after a moment, not trying to pry, but -- well, he's still good at reading people, and even if he has no siblings of his own, he can imagine. Lio spends most of his time following Jack around, when Jack is around, and looking for him, when he's not, and the age gap there is much greater. He can only imagine how it'd be with twins.

"Like crazy," Josie smiles before shaking her head. "Which most people would probably consider ridiculous because she is ... a lot as a person, but ... I've spent pretty much every day with her since I was born so not having her in arms reach is ... weird. To say the least."

Nodding, Dylan actually puts words to the thought that went through his head. "I got two kids, back home. They're not twins, but they're twenty-four and ten, but ... my oldest had to spend a year away from home, as part of his induction into our coven, and I'm pretty sure Lio was on the verge of losing his mind by the end of it."

"Poor kid," Josie says with a sympathetic smile. "Could they at least Face Time or something?" It seems cruel to completely cut off all modes of communication, but she also knows that covens have their rituals.

Case in point with the Gemini Coven. Even if it was a curse.

This time, Dylan shakes his head.

"Part of it was seeing how well he'd do without any of his lifelines," he answers. It is cruel, maybe, and God, he missed Jack, that year he was working with the Horsemen, but everyone survived. "It's about finding your own way, taking a leap of faith, that kinda thing. If he had us to fall back on ... " Rather than finish that statement, he shrugs.

She nods, because in some ways that makes sense. Sometimes you have to cut the strings to learn to fly, and all of those weird metaphors about growing up.

"That's kind of what I'm doing here, but we don't have any FaceTime rules. It makes sense though. Eventually you have to figure out how to handle things on your own."

"Part of growing up," Dylan agrees. At least, in this version of events, Dylan didn't leave the Horsemen more or less on the run forever. His revenge was a little watered down here, for all that his father survived.

"But anyway," he continues after a beat, that thread of the conversation more or less having run its course. Things may loop back around to Jack and Lio, for all that they're his world, along with Alma, but for now, he asks,"You know what you're going for, college-wise?" He's not sure it's blatantly come up that she's here for college, but he's guessing she's here for college. It stands to reason, given her age and all.

"Teaching, probably, like my dad. I'm thinking about taking of the school when he's ready to retire, though knowing him that may be a long time from now."

She hopes, given that her father is human, running a magical school. But he's been avoiding monsters for this long, odds are liver failure will get him before a monster will.

"School?" Dylan echoes, curious. That definitely didn't come up, and if he's aware of the Salvatore School, he's not connecting it to her, right off the bat. Maybe it's because her family name isn't Salvatore, ridiculous as that is -- just because her father runs the school doesn't mean he's the one who named it or had it named for him.

"Yeah. My parents founded the Salvatore Boarding School?" It's not a common knowledge thing because Alaric Saltzman isn't normally the face of the enterprise. That's usually Caroline Forbes who travels the world doing recruitment and fundraising. "My dad's currently the headmaster."

"Huh," he drawls, recognition on his face. Yeah, he's heard of the school, but again with the part where he wouldn't have connected it and her if she hadn't directly pointed it out. "I figured it was that it was that woman -- what's her name? Forbes?"

Clearly, Caroline's doing her job well.

"Yep. That's my mom. But she handles recruitment and public facing stuff while my dad handles our actual education and the day-to-day things. They make a pretty good team."

Never mind the fact that Caroline Forbes is a vampire, but that's neither here nor there.

"Didn't see that coming," Dylan notes, dimly amused. He hadn't picked up on the fact that Caroline was Josie's mother, but then again, he really didn't have a chance to for how quick she was to tell him. He'd be even more baffled to learn that she's a vampire, because how does that even work?

But no, that's neither here nor there, and so, after a beat and when his amusement fades, he nods, the admits, "I thought about going into teaching, once."

Technically, he did go into teaching, considering he's been showing the Horsemen the ropes, in his free time, he's just not getting paid for it. Still, it's satisfying, and he can understand why someone might want to get into the profession.

"Oh yeah?" Josie tips her head to the side curiously as she considers that. "What made you change your mind? The allure of the spotlight being too strong?"

She's teasing, but she could see how that would be a preferable outcome to having to deal with teenagers day in and day out.

"There's just something about being on stage," Dylan admits, a little sheepishly. It's less that he's that much of a narcissist or whatever, though, and more, "There's just something about the look on people's faces, when you pull off a trick."

That wonder. That's where the high is.

She grins. "Yeah, I get it. Sometimes showing off is fun." But that's only sometimes for her. Her ride with magic has always been a complicated one, and she's never really loved being the center of attention. "Not what I would do, but I feel like if someone actually trained my sister in stage magic, she would have been all over it."

"Well, if she ever wants to learn ... " He really wouldn't mind teaching stage magic to someone -- or, worse comes to worst, and it's too much for his already busy schedule, finding someone he trusts to teach the art. Max comes to mind, for all that he claims to be retired, or Miranda, if they'd rather another woman. Either way, the point still stands.

"I think she would absolutely love that." Josie grins. "I'll see what she thinks when we talk tonight."

Because right now, she's super curious about wherever Dylan is taking her and what she's about to learn.

"Sounds good," Dylan declares.

And then, as luck would have it, he comes to a stop at their destination -- the foot of what appears to be an abandoned factory, every inch of visible brickwork covered in graffiti. Dylan glances up at it, briefly, before returning his attentions to Josie.

"And I'm kinda late for a rehearsal," he tells her, almost sheepishly. He's not trying to get rid of her, just explaining why they're here, this his space as it was his father's before him. "If you wanna come up ... "

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be in the way."

Which essentially means, just point to where she will be out of it and there she will stay. Then she lightens up, just to make sure he knows that she's not trying to get gone either.

"I wouldn't want you to be worried about me stealing all your secrets."

"For all you know, I got a way of making you forget, when you leave," he shoots back, along with a look meant to make her wonder, before heading into the building. There's an old but still functional elevator inside, beyond what's labeled in street art as an office and beside some stairs, and Dylan heads for it, expecting her to follow.

He'll find somewhere for her to be once they're upstairs.

She considers for a moment, then shrugs as she follows him, heading towards the elevator.

"Fair enough. I wouldn't want to accidentally spoil the big reveal."

"You'll be fine," Dylan promises, pulling the elevator gate down behind them. He pushes the button for the top floor, then leans into the wall, to wait out the ride. After a beat and more seriously, he adds, "And I'm not really gonna flashy thing you."

You know, like the Men In Black. He probably could make her forget, if he really wanted, but -- no. That feels a little sleazy.

"I appreciate it. And if it makes you feel any better, I spent my whole life keeping secrets. I'm sure I could keep a few more."

She was mostly kidding at letting the how slip. And she's very, very excited to see the inside of it all, even if she's trying not to show it. How often do you get invited to peak behind the curtain?

"I figured," he answers. He really didn't expect her to go spilling his secrets everywhere, and even if she did, he's got a hundred tricks he'd like to try on stage. He could always just swap one thing out for another. He's not bothered.

Shrugging, that in mind, he pushes away from the wall again, as the elevator reaches the top, and pulls the grating open before leading the way out onto the roof. Power cables mark a path to where there's a set up of lights and effects, several feet off, and Dylan glances down at them before he calls back to Josie, "Watch your step."

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