The Housekeeper (Ruby Rose/Terra Juana fanfic)

FOURTEEN

"Isn't it weird the stuff humans display in museums?" Terra whispered in Ruby's ear while they both watched a Madonna by Rafael and I rested my sore feet sat on a bench near them. The rooms of Norton Simon Museum were almost empty that Wednesday morning and my vampire's voice echoed through the empty space so I was able to hear her perfectly although she believed she was talking discreetly with her mate.

"My dad used to have a cabinet of curiosities in his palazzo in Venice and liked to collect objects, he was even competing with his friends to buy antiquities in auction sales..."

"I know, kings and counts collected Roman cameos and carved precious stones when I was a child but they did it because they were beautiful or valuable, the same way your father displayed rock crystal vases stolen form a tomb in a forgotten eastern kingdom. When they got enough stones to make a coherent collection, they designed a crown or a jewel to display them. It made sense... On the contrary, humans make an exhibition with small things: bowls, hairpins, shattered bottles of perfume... All those coins we saw at the Getty Villa and they weren't even made of gold! Not to mention corpses of people who died long before you and me were born..." The vampire grimaced in disgust while looking at me out of the corner of her eye to check if I still was sat on the bench pretending to ignore them.

"This painting is gorgeous..." Ruby mumbled tilting her head to one side. "I think Marcus has one similar in his villa in Naples, he bought it to that Rafael guy centuries ago but don't tell it to Iselen, I get the impression that her anxiety skyrockets when she learns these things..."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes while they walked towards a painting by Botticelli but admitted that the beautiful vampire with green eyes was right: every time they mentioned the name of a historical figure that they'd met, or an exceptional work of art they owned, or a city that they'd visited and it didn't exist anymore out of a history book, I got pretty anxious. I couldn't help worrying when I realized that my girls' point of view concerning life was very different, they were oblivious to the passing of time and it meant nothing to them, things that humans considered crucial were minor stuff for them. I wondered if it could be the same for me, if one day I'd watch with indifference the milestones in the history of my generation and I'd laugh at humans while they checked out a cell phone in a museum with their mouths wide open in shock. What can you expect from life when you've already seen it all? My girls had lived through so many experiences that I was unable to understand why they felt excited by the idea of sharing their existence with a stupid human like me.

"Amor..." Suddenly, soft hands cradled my face and I realized that Terra was kneeled down in front of me and looked at me concerned. Ruby was sat next to me and put her arm over my shoulders. The museum room was empty and they were controlling some human minds so no one came there to bother us, most likely. "I can feel you're upset, what's wrong?"

"I'm worried because I don't know how to face immortality..." I admitted reluctantly and Terra pulled away, sitting on her heels while staring at me pensively.

"I understand, you're going to lose your family and friends... that hurts and won't be easy. World will change around you and you'll have to adjust to it but, at the same time, you'll remain clung to the past, to the time when you grew up and the culture you learnt, everything will look weird and even hostile but also fascinating... Iselen, your perception of time will be different, you'll be able to travel and learn at your own pace, calmly. Humans feel compelled to meet some stupid deadlines: go to the university, get married, have a mortgage at 30 years old, children at 35, save money for a retirement... Running, living fast, accumulating experiences to boast about in front of other humans, becoming rich and famous, posting pictures on social media so everybody can see you're doing something useful and your existence isn't a failure... That pressure to be bigger and better will vanish. Strange as it may seem, immortality will allow you to live squeezing the juice out of every available minute of free time, in a relaxed way. You won't feel bored, babe, quite the contrary."