Forever or Never

Forever or Never: 27

Victor's eyes naturally opened when he felt a hand against his face. Truthfully he was trying to ignore the stinging mark from his father's hand by the sheer force of his will. With his eyes now open, he looked up to Mercy. She stood leaning down, one hand holding onto the case handle while her other tentatively pressed against his face.

"You should hunt something out for the swelling." She commented while putting her case down and turning swiftly. Victor fidgeted in his seat and watched her as she walked away. He leaned his head back, by 'you' she really meant 'I'. Which he was fine with, he didn't actually feel like moving for the foreseeable future, his father's visit had really put him out of place. "Let it out," Mercy sat on the chair arm and placed the cloth she'd hunted out in kitchen against the still prominent red mark on his face.

"He only came because what he had to say, was something that affected him personally. I mean, talk about self-preservation." Victor said in a highly irritated tone as he looked up at her. She was looking at him sadly, "Don't."

"He is your father."

"Mercy-"

"You are not the only person in the world who has problems with their parents, Victor." Mercy stated.

"You cannot relate-"

"Yes I can!" She shouted annoyed at him. "Your father is seemingly the ever pessimist that you are in fact his son, or at least that you are indeed a very capable, smart, brilliant person. He could not give a damn about what you do, he does not care about your work; he merely cares about his self-preservation, as you said. As long as you don't shame him, or at least publicly cause a scandal and he's dragged in, then he doesn't care. He's happy to let you go about on your own little course." Mercy said with a frown while lowering the cloth from his face. "Mine, would rather prefer I was a male so then at least I'd be of some use, because as yet he had hoped to marry me off to some wealthy man, and I'd have had children by now; therefore cementing not only his legacy, but my husband's. He doesn't care for what I do. He could not give a damn. Do not think you are the only child who is compared to their sibling, because you are not." Mercy frowned and spoke through gritted teeth. "The only difference between us, is that at least your father tries to interfere when he thinks you're doing wrong, even if it is mostly for his sake and benefit. If I was to run away, my father wouldn't care...do not be mistaken, when he came to collect me from here when I was unwell, it was a front. My mother is a laudanum addict and barely knows I'm even there. Seriously, Victor...parents are annoying, aren't we old enough to accept that and get over whatever it is that they do? We are all separate beings in the same universe, life is too short to dwell on this...well, if you have your way then life isn't as short as it is made out." Mercy smiled in good humour, her annoyance slowly ebbing away as she thought of her final words. "Darling, we are more alike than you think, and I truly don't know whether you realise that." She said while drying his face from the cloth, she kept her hand lingering for a few moments before she smiled widely and leapt off of the chair arm and plucked up her case; not before throwing the damp cloth on a nearby table.

"I can't prolong our lives." Victor piped up after a few seconds, he pondered over her words and decided to say this with a light smile.

"Are you sure you can't create the fountain of youth?" Mercy looked over her shoulder at him with a grin and a mischievously curious look in her eyes.

"I could probably create many things, but not that." Victor leaned his chin against his hand and watched as she turned, violin now in her hands tuning it as quietly as she could while he spoke. "Maybe that is why we are like we are." Mercy looked up from the instrument to him with a raised eyebrow. "Why we are together, I meant." Victor rolled his eyes as she moved over and sat back on the chair arm, she placed the violin in her lap and looked down at him. "When stated so bluntly, we do have more in common than I first thought." He looked up at her and smiled, Mercy let out a laugh when he lightly grasped onto her shoulders and pulled her gently backwards. She ended up sitting in his lap with her legs over the chair arm, he simply cradled her head in his arms and looked down at her.