forum "Forever Yours, beyond time, space and memories"

Started June 06, 2023 by @Fenrir

tune

They in fact, did not get any work done and for once, Cicil wasn't too worried about it. He knew his kids, he knew they'd make up one day of work ten fold in the next class. They could spare an hour for story telling. Or in this case, conspiracies as to what the date would be. From what Cicil had told them, which wasn't much since he knew very little, some students thought it was a proposal date. "I'm already married to Lars." He reminding, gently jiggling the chain with the wedding band around his neck. To his delight and amusement, more than one student argued that they could get married more than once, then the class all at once asked if they could be invited. Civil laughed and promised, if he were to marry Lars again, he'd invite them all. He fell back into story telling which eventually led to Cicil pulling up the many photos he had on his phone and showing the class over projector screen. Lar's message appeared a few minutes later for all to see, causing the students to giggle before Cicil quickly took away the phone and instructed the student to read or talk amongst themselves quietly as he texted his husband back.
"Hello darling, cant wait. I should be out in a few minutes and heading back home. 💜"

Lars smiled a little as he picked out an outfit and brushed some of his freshly washed hair back. Sure, he and Cicil went out plenty of times together even after being married for as long as they have but it felt like it had been a while since their last one.
His smile grew when he read the text his bonded partner sent back but he didn't reply this time. He still needed to get ready. He had already called the restaurant for reservations as well as placing their orders for food. A bit unorthodox in a way but they had been going there long enough to be on a first-name basis with the owner/manager so it wasn't difficult to set everything up.

Cicil had expected a regular night out. Though it was a severe understatement to say anything he and his husband did was a regular, there was a comfort in their eternal lives in the small things. As he had promised, he texted Larson a quick 'on my way back home, millions of xoxo' before he stepped into his car and started back home. He was excited for the date, to see his husband all dressed up and fancy, to try something new at their favorite restaurant, to spent time with the one he deeply loved without a care in the world, to cozy up in bed and try and stay awake with him for as long as possible just to further extend their waking hours together, even if it was just a peaceful night of reminicing on their past lives and sharing gentle touches and soft sleepy kisses. he bit his lip excitely, eager to get home, to Larson. Even if tonight was going to more sparatic than he was used to, he had some level of expectatin on the how the night would go.

What he didn't expect was the little glimmer of red he saw from the corner of his eye before everything went too fast and too slow, too dizzy for his liking and then blurry. The tinkling of shatteing glass and the whine and cruch of metal filled his ears before it went quiet. Later on, Cicil would remeber the odd detail, thinking that it was beautiful, the way the glass shined in the sunlight before it turned to a blur. But now, all he wanted to do was move, but he found that he couldn't One twitch he could manage and a shooting pain went from his upper shoulder down to his hand on the left. Mos tlikely broken. He felt blood dripping down from his forhead into his eyes, making them sting as he tried to refocus and asses his situation. He was alive, thankfully, mercifully. The only reason he knew was because his heartbeat was in his throat, his breathing was hard and raggaed and his throat felt. Another movement, emrald green and black, somemthing that looked liked clothing on a person, stubbling towards him but all he coul dthink about was Larson. They had a date. He had promised to be back home soon and help out on the date and get ready. The hospital visit would probably postpone that. And to worry Larson like this would break his heart. It did break his heart. Rushed voices sounded closer to him, good. Others would come and help. He tried his best to gesture to his phone with his other hand, also in pain but not as bad as his left. "Lar-son" He tried to tell them. As much as it pained him to worry his husband, he was Cicil's emergency contact, he needed to be the first to know what had happened. "Lar-son." He insisted again, hissing in pain as a caugh racked his body, most likely jostling a few broken ribs. He whined softly but leaned into the hand at his brow, grateful for the person who seemed to be comforting him, even if they were strangers. When the hand didn't move, Cicil's brows creased in confusion. Maybe it was because of the shock from the crash and his delusional state but he could have sworn he felt a slight itch at the back of his mind, like something was being pulled and stretched and thinned. He tried to move away but the pain in his left shoulder prevented that. He strugged against the touch, trying to shy away from the warm bright light that slowly bloomed in his mind. A blank canvas. He tried so hard, he wished Larson could know how hard he had tried to hold onto the memories that slwoly slipped away. Their first dates, their wedding, their honeymoon, their million dates, their countless evening spend in each other's arms, the pattern of sars he had memoirzed, the time first time they bought an apartment, a house, their first car, all of it, gone in the blink of an eye, replaced by…nothing. "Larson," He whispered softly, a foreign name to him now as tears he now only attributed to his accident streamed down his face.
Maybe there was a bit of mercy left in the world, in some god or spirit or other worldly being that favored Cicil. Before all his memories were whiped away, whoever had been taking them away got frantic and ripped his hand away quickly. Leaving splinters of memories with Cicil, emrald green, night black silk, his home country of Barcelona, a ring being slipped on his fingers, constant happiness, then nothing at all. Blissfull black. He knew he had been moved, he felt movement around him but he was contempt to stay in the black peacefulness for as long as possible. It was better than the blank whiteness that was accompanied with confusion.

Lars smiled again when the latest message from Cicil came through and he just replied with a heart. He took a few extra minutes to fix his hair before reopening a game on his phone just to kill time. He trusted his husband to either call or text him if he got caught in traffic or something but he did set an alarm so he wouldn't lose track of too much time.

While the game was nice and distracting, he was surprised that the alarm went off without any contact from Cicil. So, he tried calling him. Normally, he would have tried texting but he wanted to hear his voice but received no answer.

Lars wasn't prone to worry though would admit to considering himself protective, especially of Cicil, but something just felt wrong. He tried not to call when he was sure Cicil was busy unless it was an emergency and it was rare that there wasn't an answer. Or at least a return call as soon as he was able. This… This felt weird.

“Cici, I’ll apologize later and you can call me an idiot the whole time.” he murmured as he turned on a hardly-ever-used app and typed in Cicil’s phone number.

Cicil awoke with a startled gasp, for a moment not understanding where he was or even who he was. The where was easy enough to understand. A hospital room. He had an IV drip in his arm and was in a hospital gown. His left arm was in a cast and he had a few badages over his head. His legs hurt and his back ached but over all he was relatively ok. Save for his mind of course. He took a long few moments to control his emotions, the welling of tears and heavy breathing eventually subsided as he calmed himself down enough to take in his suroundings. He looked around the vacant room, gaze landing on pots and bouquets of flowers with a balloon and a get well card. So he had people that cared about him. That was comforting at least. He found his phone on the little nightstand and eagerly grabbed for it, hoping there was something on it that would help him understand who we really was. Thankfully it had been unlocked by EMTs when they found him at the crash site so Cicil could actually get in it. He scrolled through photos and contact names, trying to find anything that would trigger a memory. He found a lot of photos of himself with another man the same green eyes and night black hair he managed to hold onto in memory, all seemed happily blissful. Perhaps a partner or even his husband. He wanted to cry again, what if this was his husband? Had Cicil really forget all about him so easily? He flicked through countless more photos of vacations, them on the beach or in a city in Europe, of each other and together. Some photos were of what looked like graduated students. So he was married and he was a teacher of some sort. He then moved onto the contacts and scrolled through. He didn't recognize most but knew they were important. He switched to his emergency contacts and only found one. Larson. He bit his lip, hands shaking as he dialsd the number and waited.

After Lars had turned on the tracker app, for lack of a better name, he felt guilty for overreacting at the time… Until he saw the symbol heading for the hospital. At which point, he raced to the building and immediately spoke with a very polite young woman at check-in. It took showing her some of their pictures to convince her to call a doctor. The wait had felt like hours before he finally learned how badly Cicil had been hurt. He had nearly cried the first time he saw his husband in that room.

He had called the school to let them know that Cicil wouldn't be able to teach for a while, but he was very touched by all the flowers his students and the school sent. He even went to the school and thanked the class personally.

He let out another sigh, running his hands through his hair for the nth time in as many days. Dark circles gave his normally bright eyes a haunted look as he thought about Cicil. He was more or less able to go about his day but there was a definite void despite his frequent visits.

When his phone rang suddenly, Lars jumped about a foot in the air and grabbed it. His heart stopping when he saw who was calling. “Cici?” he almost whispered, his voice cracking as so many emotions tried to escape at once.

Cicil paused, considering whether he should hang up or not. Larson already sounded so heartbreakingly relieved. to hear from Cicil, to tell him him he had no recollection of Larson of their marriage or anything before would surely break him more than he already was. But Cicil needed to know what had happened to him. Or at least figure out who he was before everything went so horribly wrong.
"Y-yes," he tilted his head back onto the pillow and took a few deep breaths so as to not cry. At least he wasn't alone. "Larson, darling I need you to come to the hospital please, I-" he choked back a sob, unable to keep his emotions in check any longer. "Something is wrong with me and I'm scared, I don't know what happened but I don't think it's good." he whiped away tears but they just kept coming as the severity of the situation hot him. He had forgotten his life, who he was the people that were important to him, the life he knew he had cherished so much was gone so easily. "please, Lars." He begged softly, hanging up and setting his phone off to the side. He felt hopeless, he barely knew himself now. What good would he be outside the hospital if he knew next to nothing about his own existence, what good would he be as a husband or a teacher?

“I'll be right there.” Lars answered quickly just before the call ended and quickly changed into something a little more appropriate for the public than his sleepwear. Hearing Cicil so scared worried him. Could the doctors have missed something? He didn't know but he would hurry all the same.

It really didn't take him long before he finally arrived at the hospital. He gave a brief wave at the person behind the counter before all but running down the hallway to Cicil’s room. “Mi vida?” he knocked softly at the door before slowly walking in. “What’s wrong?”

Cicil took went back to looking through the photos on his phone, not expecting for their to be hundred. THe farther he went back into the camera roll, the older the photos seemed to get. Some looked to be from the 80s, the 60s, the 20s, some even older. Had either of them been a digital designer? Maybe these were fun filters or photshoped to look vintage. The more Cicil zoomed in and tried to find flaws in the editing, the more he was conviced they were real. But how could that be, it wasn't like he was immortal. Cicil tried not to complicate things more for himself, at least not until LArson came in and could answer questions. From what he could gather from the pictures, Cicil knew he was married to Larson based on the pictures in the camera roll and the ring on the chain around his neck. They couldn't have looked more than in their late twenties but basd on what they had worn in the photos and the wear on the ring, some how Cicil was conviced it was longer than a few years they had been together. Cicil had also gathered that he was covered in tattoos. He could see a few on himself under the cast and peeking out from the hospital gown but the picture revealed nearly most of his body was covered. One in particualr that stood out was the one his neck. Something about how the flowers were positioned seemed to essentuate something, perhaps a scar or injury but it tugged at something particular in his foggy mind that he couldn't quite grasp at.
He was in the middle of zooming in on another tattoo when he heard someone knock and open the door to his room. He watched as Larson, his husband, walk in slowly, allowing for Cicil to take in his appearance. Green eyes, ones he'd been dreaming about in recent nights when everything else was blank and confusing were heavily rimmed with dark circles, his pale skin seemed washed out and overall he looked so tired. He seemd like a ghost compared to the man he had seem in the pictures, so happy and full of vibrant life. All at once, Cicil was hit with sadness again, and he reached him the best he could with his right arm, not far at all considering it was the arm connected to the IV. "I'm so sorry," He rasped, choking sobs wracking his body as he apologised over and over again. Incoherant and splutter mixed iwth the return of his accent mad eit near imposible even for him to say anything coherant. "perdoname please, I tried! I really tried, my amore, I did. I can't-" He whined as if pain, trying his best to reagin some sort of composure, if only to keep the nurse from coming in and sedating him. It was bette than forgetting everything but not while he had a chance to see Larson. He sniffled softly and looked at LArson, commiting the second First time meeting him to memory. "I don't remember anything, my love." He whipsered. "My life, you, myself. I- I can't remember any of it, I'm so sorry."

Lars all but darted towards his side and gently took the offered hand, pressing soft kisses against the skin. “Cálmate, mi amor. Esta bien.” he murmured as Cicil started to panic. Though as he listened to the near rambling, his heart stopped at those three words. It didn't seem possible. How could centuries' worth of memories just vanish? He was no medical expert but he knew that the mind could be fragile. “Nothing? Nothing at all?” he asked just above a whisper. “Let me call the doctor. Maybe they’ll have an explanation.” he suggested, giving his husband’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “What do you remember?”

Cicil really did try to calm himself, taking deep breaths and focusing on Larson but the constant reminder of what he lost was too much. He shook his head "not much, no, I'm sorry." He replied, gently squeezing Larson's hand, wanting to keep that contact with him. He was Cicil's only tie to his life, and without him, he would surely be lost, more so than he was now. He sniffed and nodded, "mostly just feelings. Bits and pieces of wamrth and happiness, sometimes something cold but not unpleasant." He tried to explain, he reached for his phone and showed Larson the photos "I've been going through these but not much is coming back."

Lars didn't leave Cici’s side, just pushing the button to call either a nurse or the doctor, and tried to stay calm as well. “You don't have to apologize, darling. This isn't your fault.” he tried to assure. He truly didn't blame Cicil for this. It couldn't have been his fault.
He sighed with a sad smile as his husband told him the few things he did remember and glanced at the pictures nostalgically. It almost felt like he had been stabbed in the heart just by looking at them and knowing that the man in the picture… was so badly hurt that he couldn't remember them.
“Amore… I’m glad you remember that much.” he admitted, gently reaching up to brush away the tears forming in those familiar green eyes. “I’m sure we can find a way to bring those memories back. We've been through the impossible before.” he added with a watery smile.

(sorry for the wait😅been busy this week but I'm back!)
"Maybe not but it shouldn't have been so easy to lose. They're my memories, something I should have held onto." He argued softly, gently pressing Larson's hand to his cheek and kissing his palm, comforted by the coolness of his skin. "We are really this happy." He smiled softly as he scrolled through each photo. "If I didn't say this before then I'll say it now, I'm glad I married such a wonderful person. It's comforting to know I'm with someone that that loves me and being together." He mused softly as they waited for the doctor. He glance up and gave an optimistic smile. "If we've been through the impossible before then this should be nothing, right?"

(It's ok. I understand having a busy week.)

Lars shook his head slightly. “I'm no expert but even I know how important a mind is. Even if you did fight to keep them, and I believe you did, it may have been a losing battle from the start.” he shrugged, uncertainly. But he smiled when Cicil kissed his hand. “My darling… You have said that before and it means so much to hear you say that now… when you don't remember me.” he murmured as he blinked away tears. “And, yes, we really are that happy.” he chuckled, looking at some of the pictures. “I certainly hope so.”

“I'm sure you have a few questions about me that you want to ask while we wait.” he sighed as he realized an obvious detail that would confuse anyone who didn't know him. “I don't mind if you ask. It's probably better to get them out of the way now rather than later.”

"then you'll forgive me if I repeat that I love you, both as a reassurance and reminder that no matter what, we won't change, even if I forget everything again." He murmured softly, gently brushing away Larson's tears away and leaning over to press a kiss to his brow. He scooted closer to side of the bed to better see the pictures, making sure not to hurt his arm.
He but his lip before nodding slightly. "I do." He replied, flicking through a few photos until he found one that exposed his tattoos again. "I thought maybe it had been a scar or even some artistic liberty but it's not is it?" He asked softly, pressing his lips to Larson's hand again, a small amused smile crossing his features as he looked into his husband's eyes, took in each feature again. He wasn't scared of Larson, somehow he knew Larson wasn't someone who would or had ever caused him harm in any way, despite Cicil's own predictions on what he was. "You're a vampire, right?" He asked softly, as if it was a secret only for them two to know.

Lars had to close his eyes to keep from crying at the familiar words. “You haven’t changed.” he whispered as Cici kissed his forehead. Was their bond that strong after all those years that Cicil still trusted him even though he had no memory?
He couldn't help but smile as his husband worked up the courage and brought up his reasoning for asking the question. “I am.” he nodded, matching the other’s tone. “And you are my bonded partner. We have been together for a long, long time.” he chuckled slightly, letting his fangs show for just a moment.

Cicil's eyes lit up with curiosity. He had expected to feel afraid even just a bit cautious about the other but instead he was excited, even proud to be Larson's partner, or what he had called, bonded. "Then I have to thank for this." He said, tilting his head the side to expose the tattoo and bite mark. "It's beautiful." Not necessarily because of the tattooed flowers, Cicil could remember what they were very well, but more so because he had trusted Larson so much as to bond himseld to the vampire. He tilted his head curiously "what does a long long time mean to us?" He asked, flicking through more photos until he found the ones he could only assume we're vintage filters or professional Photoshop of some kind.

Lars chuckled and gently touched the bite on his neck. “The first and only time I bit you. But you decided to get the tattoos to decorate it.” he smiled. “You actually got several in honor of different events in our lives together.” Though he laughed again at the question of time, his smile growing. “Long enough that each of those pictures you’re looking at… They’re all real. We scanned them so we’d have a digital copy of all of them.” he explained.

"I can understand why. If the tattoos signify important events then it makes sense I'd surround the bite marks as well." He shivered as Larson touched his neck and the mark. He looked as his arms, at least that the parts that were exposed and tried to find any familiarity in the abstract details and words decorating him. Some words or phrases were in different languages or symbols. Images depicting landscapes or mimicking art were also marivulously puzzle pieces together to make for a cohesive design even if they didn't relate to one another. "What's your favorite one?" He asked, as always looking back on his phone for more photos to help him piece together what his lack of memory could not.

“My favorite what?” the vampire asked. “Tattoo or picture? Because I don't really have a favorite picture other than the ones we you in them.” Lars teased when really there was always one that stood out among the others. “But at the risk of sounding like a sentimental sap, my favorite piece of art on you is the one on your neck. Because, to me, it symbolizes not just our bond but it reminds me of the day we met.” he smiled nostalgically.

"Anyhting, pictures, tattoos, memories." He listed, finally landing on a photo of them at their wedding. They were dancing together, mid laughing, completely enamored in the moment and each other without a care for anything else save for each other. They looked so happy, something that Cicil could easily see happening between them but not really experiencing the memoriy of anything like that actually happening. "I don't mind the sentimentality. Even if I can't remeber any of this, its very comforting knowing we have such a beautiful life together, filled with memories worth sentimentizing over." he reasoned, smiling softly back. "how did we meet?" He asked, trying his best to remeber back but it seemed all he could remeber was his early childhood, his mama and siblings and then not much else after adolecence.
(Would you be up for a flashback? )

(A flashback could be fun!)

“It was beautiful,” Lars sighed, hating speaking about their relationship in the past tense like that, “but I believe that it will be again. I feel like it has to be.” he admitted as he smiled at each of the pictures. “We met in Barcelona. Your home. It was late because I hadn't adapted to the hot sun yet. Being a vampire, it takes longer for me.” he chuckled. “And believe it or not it was around the start of the Victorian age.” he added with a smile.

(Ok! also i don't know Catalan, so if anything is in a diffrent language, it'll most likely be spanish😅)
Cicl smiled softly "it will be, my love. This is only temporary." He reassured, genuinely hoping whatever had happened to his lost memoires would be recoverable. His eyes widened in surprise, "The victorian ara, that far long ago?" he asked in disbelief but also awe. they had known each other for more than a few decades. centuries of love and being together was what was between them.
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Cicil hopped over a puddle as he made his way through his hometown, clutching his satchel bag and top hat close to his person. It had been another late night at the university and some of his students had asked for one on one time so it only extended his work day that much further. But he was willing to sacrifice his sleep for his students, always. While Cicil didn't mind leaving the college late, he wasn't used to being out this late. He knew the alter the night, hte more dangerous the streets of barcelona became, especially with the new influx of vampires intot he capital as of late. Cicl honestly didn't mind the vampires, he ahd a few friends that were vampires but being alone at night usually wasn't a good idea for a human. He kept his eyes averted as he passed a group of people, muttering "perdoname" as he scooted past.

(It's ok. I don't know Catalan either. But I can manage with Spanish.)

Lars sighed softly and gave Cicil a gentle smile, appreciating the epithet as well as the agreeing hope that his memories would return. “You are very brave. I would never hurt you, of course, but it's nice to hear you talk like you still know me.” he admitted. Though he nearly laughed at the fact that it had been the time period when they met that shocked Cici and not the fact that he was a vampire. “Yes. It was that long ago.”

Larson hummed to himself as he meandered down the streets of Barcelona, already enjoying the night life he had encountered. Not necessarily “civilized company” an apparent “gentleman” should keep but he didn't care much about scandal since it would likely pass in a few decades. As a vampire, he had very little fear for the future or other people's opinions of him. He was determined to have a good time as he was going to live forever, or very nearly.
“Oh, discúlpeme señor.” he replied when a human passed by his little group.

"brave if not a bit clueless but thank you." He chuckled softly, a small smile crossing his features as he slowly moved his hand to rest ontop of Larson's "I do still know you. Or at least parts of me do. I may not remember knowing you but you are still familiar to me on some deeper level than just the mind." He reassured. "Should I question our immortal existence then?" He asked, the entire idea if loving somone for so long still captivating him

Cicil didn’t know what compelled him to peek up at the group as he passed, but he did anyways, the little group of both humans and vampires alike intriguing him. He wasn’t so naive as to think they simply have a few late night drinks and go home but he wasn’t going to judge what others did with their lives. “Safe travels to you all.” He gave a slight bow as a curteous thank you for being allowed to pass without harm, gaze flicking to the vampire who had apologized. He knew most vampires were beautiful in their slightly unnatural way but Cicil had gotten used to the innitial shock over the past few years as he met vampires among his students and everyday life. Or at least he had thought he had gotten over it, but now he wasn’t sure, as he briefly took in the Vampire’s appearance. It was’t even just the appearance, more the way the vampire held himself with a mixture of cocky confidence balanced out somewhat with the lesurliness only and ageless vampire could pull off. To make it seem like he wasn’t staring and to hide the blush he knew would bloom on his cheeks, he held his tophat to his heart and bowed his head to the vampire. “Thank you, senor.” He offered a small smile before turning back on his path back home.

Lars couldn't help the hopeful smile as he took Cici’s hand in his, the assuring words helping to soothe his nerves. “Perhaps it's because we spent so long together that you feel that way or it could even be our bond.” he theorized. Both options sounded plausible to him though he might have to do some research on the latter.

Larson smiled, letting his fangs show slightly, as he looked at the new human. It was easy to hear his heart rate increase but he could tell it wasn't from fear. And that only intrigued him more. The human was quite cute, he had to admit, but he raised a brow at the sudden feeling to watch him. After a brief excuse to his friends, he quickly walked up to the man. “Wait… Uh, espere!” he called out before joining him. “Would you like some company?”