Three days into her drinking binge, Vivienne was rudely awoken at two in the afternoon by a loud series of knocks on her door. Without bothering to look up from the couch cushion she'd apparently passed out on, she threw the TV remote beside her head at the door. The loud cracking sound did nothing to dissuade the person trying to get in, so Vivienne finally let out a groan before pulling herself up.
Well shit. This was more than likely one of her higher-up employees or contacts if they still insisted on meeting with her. Taking a quick look in the mirror, she was pleased to see that the smudged, messy eye makeup gave off a surprisingly dangerous vibe. Though her recent viewing of the newest Captain America movie might have skewed her judgement concerning the ferocious appearance of smudged black eyeliner.
Yanking open the door, Vivienne was surprised to see her two most trusted – employees, for lack of a better term – standing nervously outside. With a quick wave to motion them in, she wandered to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
"So, my most esteemed gentlemen. Debrief me."
From what she could hear, the two men were nudging one another and trying to encourage the other to start. These two in particular were actually her favorites among those who she interacted with on a daily basis. The vampire and werewolf got along well and their antics frequently could improve her mood. Finally, the vampire Jared said, "People have been looking for you, Lethe. The real powerhouses – Elijah and Klaus Mikaelson."
Vivienne's head dropped and she let out an annoyed breath as she measured out the coffee grounds, making sure there would be enough for Jared and Reed to have some if they wanted, seeing as they were two of the few individuals she was glad to have in her home. She'd been expecting this, but it was still irritating. She had done as they'd asked. The only reason she had returned to New Orleans was to help out Kol. Elijah and Klaus had no reason to suddenly be interested in her life. Truthfully, if she hadn't seen Bekah after transporting Kol she likely would have never reached out again.
Bekah had been incredibly important to her, but it was only because she'd been forced to look at the girl again that Vivienne's longing for their close friendship had reared its head.
Vivienne had gotten used to not having anybody.
Rebekah jumped a little when Vivienne suddenly appeared next to her in her bedroom. It caused a brief bout of nostalgia when she was hit with the memories of how the demon used to constantly pop up and try to scare her, bursting into laughter when Rebekah had let out embarrassing shrieks. However right now she desperately took the sight of her in, a surge of relief flooding through her.
Even though Vivienne had said that Rebekah would see her again, she hadn't been sure if Vivienne would honor that promise. For Vivienne to show up less than a week later gave her hope that maybe the two of them could start seeing each other again regularly.
Vivienne looked Rebekah up and down with a critical eye, taking in her silk pajamas – a stark contrast to Vivienne's own dressed up outfit – before saying, "Get all prettied up. We have a dinner reservation, then we're going out drinking."
Rebekah smiled widely and sped over to her, throwing her arms around Vivienne's neck and hugging her tightly. The demon was incredibly tense and flinched slightly, but after a few seconds she tentatively wrapped her arms around Rebekah's waist and returned the embrace.
When Rebekah stepped back she saw that a small smile covered Vivienne's face before she made a shooing motion towards Rebekah's closet.
"Come on now, hurry up. We're flaunting ourselves around the city tonight."
Rebekah immediately grabbed a new dress of hers she'd been dying to wear out and slid on a pair of stilettos, noting that Vivienne was wearing nearly identical shoes. Without any delay or small talk, she then sat down at her vanity and tried to apply her makeup as quickly as possible.
She could see Vivienne watching her in the mirror silently, but when Rebekah began curling her hair Vivienne approached her and spoke quietly.
"I'll do that. You always make – used to make the curls uneven in the back."
Rebekah had to swallow back emotion at her use of the past tense and willed herself not to give it away in her expression. She'd thought Vivienne was dead. There had been no evidence to the contrary, and nobody she had reached out to had ever heard that name. Now Rebekah knew it was only because she'd begun going by Lethe. She answered back in what she hoped was a playful tone but knew that she missed her mark.
"Lethe. The river of forgetfulness in the Underworld."
She saw Vivienne nod in the mirror as she began gently coming through Rebekah's hair, murmuring, "I thought it was appropriate. I remade myself and did my best to forget my first year back on earth."
Rebekah finally let herself go and her voice cracked as she said, "I missed you. If I had been there- "
She was cut off by Vivienne, but not maliciously when she said, "It might have had the same outcome. The mention of Henrik would have hurt you. It's a touchy subject. Nik overreacted, but considering how Henrik died it's pretty obvious that it would be a hot button. But I missed you, too."
Vivienne gently squeezed her shoulder before focusing once again on curling Rebekah's hair for her, the only sound made was the spritz of hairspray after each curl. When she finished, she stepped back and allowed Rebekah to stand as well. Reaching out her hand, a genuinely fond expression was paired with a gentle voice when she said, "Come along. We can't be late."
It wasn't awkward at dinner. Rebekah had felt herself fall back into the playful relationship and snarky conversations that she and Vivienne had always had, but they both clearly didn't want to talk about anything actually all that significant. Vivienne had cajoled her into discussing the men in her life over the last two years.
"- nothing serious. I've taken a few lovers, but nobody of importance. Love hasn't been a priority of mine – family has been the focus, and I believe Nik-" Rebekah cringed and cut herself off immediately, seeing Vivienne's smile tighten just a fraction of an inch. Clearing her throat, she switched the direction of her sentence and said, "But no. I haven't really come close to loving anyone."
Vivienne took a long sip from her pinot noir and seemed contemplative before she responded in a distant tone, "I actually know a vampire you might like. Jared is an employee of mine, a complete sweetheart who keeps me on my toes. He'd worship the ground you walk on."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and sarcastically said, "Never thought you'd try to set me up, seeing as you were socially inept when we met."
Vivienne raised her eyebrows and looked distantly amused when she finally seemed to break the unspoken topic the two had been avoiding.
"I'm a better match maker than you, evidently."
Rebekah felt a surge of nausea and tried to convey her sincerity when she quickly responded, "I never would have pushed you two together if I'd known what would happen- "
Vivienne cut her off with a nonchalant wave and tipped her glass back, finishing the wine and motioning for their server to bring another bottle.
"It wasn't your fault in any way. If things hadn't gone the way they did, Niklaus and I might have eventually worked out. I was halfway in love with him even before you decided to interfere."
Rebekah, however, couldn't push aside her distress. She reached across the table and grabbed Vivienne's hand – a small part of her irrationally scared that the demon would leave again if they weren't touching – and said, "You were my best friend."
Vivienne shrugged and seemed entirely unashamed when she said, "You're still mine. I don't have any other friends."
Rebekah swallowed the lump in her throat at hearing that. The friends she'd made since being revived two and a half years ago hadn't gotten as close to her as Vivienne had been. Bitching about anything and everything over iced coffee with her and exploring New Orleans together had always been the highlights of her week. Regardless, she grasped on to the new direction of conversation and took her hand back while saying, "What is it that you've been up to these last few years?"
Vivienne seemed to perk up at the question and sounded proud when she said, "I took over Manhattan, actually. I'm the kingpin of the supernatural black market and intelligence community. I have the majority of the world's soulflesh weapons and white oak."
Rebekah let herself think that over. Vivienne hadn't mentioned destroying the white oak stakes. They were still in the world, and at the hands of a woman who had every reason to hate her family. But for now all Rebekah could do was trust that her friend wouldn't try to harm her or her brothers.
"What is a soulflesh weapon?"
Vivienne didn't answer immediately and instead gave her a long, assessing look.
"I need to know whether or not you plan to reveal any of this information to your brothers. If you agree, I'd like to perform a mind blend. You'll be able to control what I can and cannot see."
Rebekah froze. To let someone into her mind – it was a terrifying concept that set all of her instincts on edge. But… god, if anyone deserved a little bit of trust it was the woman in front of her who had almost died for her family, only to be cast out in response.
A small nod seemed to be all that Vivienne required and she quickly reached across the table to place her hand against Rebekah's temple, her eyes turning black and the dark veins crawling up all of her visible skin. Rebekah thought over her sincerity at not having any ulterior motives behind her questions and felt a strange tugging sensation before she saw a small fraction of what looked like smoke leave her own mouth which Vivienne quickly inhaled.
When the demon sat back she slumped slightly, her features returning to their human appearance.
"Let's be clear - I don't trust your brothers anymore. But I don't see any harm in telling you.
Soulflesh weapons are one of only three things that can kill me. It's what the warlock used on me two years ago. They're the weapons of the Valkyries. And I told Klaus years ago about Valkyries, but I'm unsure how much he told you. They're lower demons that are raised to the higher role based on merit. They're very conspicuous in appearance when their demonic qualities manifest. I get claws and dark veins – they become entirely covered with elaborate scaled armor. But their weapons but can only be used once on demons.
The second way I can die is pretty complicated. It requires trapping me in a circle of wormwood on consecrated pagan ground for the entire Slavic Rusalka week, then drowning me in water that has been infused with steel for at least one year. Any one of those ingredients still hurts like a bitch and can incapacitate or trap me for a few minutes, though."
p style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"Rebekah nodded along to her explanation, not planning on doing anything with the information and only having asked to assuage her curiosity. However, she couldn't help saying in a prodding voice, "You said three things."
Vivienne snorted and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table.
"The third way I can die isn't a weapon or ritual. Any level demon can do a soul exchange. It's happened maybe four times in the last three thousand years. It requires too much power to survive. To make it incredibly simple, it means a demon can pull a soul who hasn't found peace yet out of the Underworld."
Rebekah could only blink at that, a little bit shocked. To her shame, for a second her thoughts strayed to Henrik and whether or not Vivienne could bring him back. But then the weight of the words hit her. Vivienne would be dead, and Henrik had apparently already found peace.
She'd only just gotten her friend back. If anything, Rebekah was going to be more protective than ever of her. She knew that Vivienne hadn't approached any of her brothers yet, though it was inevitable that they would eventually see one another again. If she had, Nik and Elijah would no doubt be ranting and raving.
Her family was startling dramatic for beings that had lived through one thousand years in which they could have managed their tempers. Of course she couldn't condemn them, she was the very same. The waiter arrived then, placing down another bottle of wine. Rebekah had to physically cover her mouth with her palm to keep from giggling when Vivienne nonchalantly extended one of her talons to quickly uncork the bottle.
However, a second later Vivienne smiled conspiratorially at her and leaned in before saying, "I wanted to freak out that old woman over there who's been glaring at us under the impression we're lesbians on a romantic date."
Rebekah gave in to the inevitable and threw back her head as she burst into laughter.
Alright, I've had this written for a while... I know 3 updates in 2 days is overkill, don't get used to it! As always, let me know what you think about the characters, plot, etc. xx