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melodiouswhite · 5 years

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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde rewritten - Ch. 18

18. The end of the year, pt.01

Hyde arrived home in the early morning hours. As soon as the back door closed behind him, he stripped out of his coat, hat and boots and stretched himself.

“Ah, what a wonderful night!”, he sighed in enjoyment.

Jekyll snorted inside his head. “You started a brawl in the bar, nobbled several men and bruised the poor toffer you were engaging with. Then you came back here as if nothing happened.”

Hyde giggled: “Oh, that was fun! Did you see the faces of the other blokes in the bar, when I flung that one guy against a wall?”

“The one twice your size? Yes, I saw. And their faces, when you broke into evil laughter.”

“Comedy gold!”

“For you, it certainly was. I just found it embarrassing.”

“Come on, look at the bright side! The barman was so anxious to get rid of me that I didn't even have to pay for the drinks!”

Jekyll chuckled in his head. “Well, I'm afraid to ruin the rest of the night for you.”

Hyde blinked. “How?”, he wanted to know.

“You're grounded for a week, unless we go to our appointments with Lady Summers. Just until some grass has grown over the incident.”

“You're so mean to me!”, the brunette whined and pouted at the Doctor's reflection.

“Now, don't sulk. I bought you sweets. They should last you for a week”, Jekyll consoled him.

Hyde's mood brightened immediately.

Jekyll had a light headache in the morning, but it was nothing he couldn't handle (luckily Hyde hadn't drunk too much the night before). It was nothing compared to the massive hangovers he usually woke up with. He could have kissed his alter ego for taking it easy on their first night out. He didn't express that, even though he was pretty sure that Hyde knew it anyway.

He spent the morning with his servants, laughing and telling them amusing stories out of Lady Summers' household (that is, as much as his contract with her allowed – one of the paragraphs had been about mutual discretion after all).

In the afternoon he went to his appointment with Lady Summers, under the guise of being invited over for tea.

“Ah, hello!”, the Prussian noblewoman greeted the doctor, when her butler lead him into the greenhouse. Utterson and Lanyon were here too.

“Hello, you three”, Jekyll replied cheerfully. “It's a wonderful day, isn't it?”

They nodded.

“Indeed it is”, Lady Summers agreed with a smile, “You're in a good mood, I see.”

“Oh, certainly!”, Jekyll confirmed. “Hyde took it easy last night, so I woke up with a light headache instead of a full-grown hangover. For me that is a reason to be in a good mood!”

The others chuckled in amusement.

Lanyon smiled. “And I could sleep peacefully for the last few nights. Looks like I'll be able to reopen my surgery next year.”

“And I don't have to hide my feelings anymore”, Utterson laughed.

The blond felt his heart beat higher and grinned like an idiot.

Neither do I, he replied in his head.

“Please don't get all lovey-dovey on me again!”, Hyde groaned. “You were all mushy during Christmas tiding, now it's time to tone it down.”

Oh shut up, Jekyll retorted, You can't deny that you enjoyed the attention Gabriel gives to you!

Hyde grumbled something that sounded like denial.

“How about you, Milady?”, Jekyll asked curiously.

She grinned: “Well, it's the 30th December and I still haven't received an invitation to the new year celebration in Buckingham Palace. That is a good reason for me to be in a good mood.”

Jekyll laughed: “I'm surprised. Aren't those celebrations mandatory for all courtiers?”

“Usually they would be”, the Countess confirmed, “But the royal family knows me and I know them. They know and respect my desire to celebrate Christmas and New Year at home in the circle of my servants.”

That's very kind of them, Jekyll marvelled.

“It is”, Lady Summers agreed with a smile. “But like I said, Her Majesty and Their Highnesses know and like me. You would be surprised at how nice and normal people they are in private. They only invite me, when they want to spice up their parties a little bit. After all, there is nothing quite like chattering with someone who knows all the gossip and more and whether it's true or not. Especially Queen Victoria loves a good laugh.”

The gentlemen trio burst into laughter.

They all could well imagine how that went. By now they all had discovered, that the tiny Lady was known for snide remarks towards the members of her class.

“You're having questions, Dr. Jekyll”, she suddenly spoke up.

That wasn't a question.

He nodded. “Don't worry, Milady, it's nothing too private”, he assured her.

“I know. Go on, fire away!”

“Why do you hold your sessions in your greenhouse?”, he wanted to know first.

“I discovered that the plants have a soothing influence on my clients. It's prettier and healthier than those nasty arsenic wallpapers. As for those of my clients who are allergic to pollen, I receive them in my parlour.”

“So you don't use wallpapers?”

“No. I hate the patterns, I hate the poisonous ingredients and I hate the attitude of the producers, that all the poisonous metals aren't dangerous in wallpaper. They're wrong. I know that, because I tested it on rats. People don't understand, why I don't plaster my house with colourful wallpapers, but at least the paint on the walls doesn't make me sick. Besides, my furniture and décor beautify my interior just fine.”

Jekyll couldn't argue with that.

Once again Lady Summers was wiser than the rest.

“One last question”, he said, “Why did you become a therapist?”

Suddenly she looked uncharacteristically unsure.

“I'm afraid that's a question I have no satisfactory answer to”, she told him hesitantly.

Jekyll nodded, even though he was disappointed. By now he knew better than to pry.

“I have a question!”, Hyde suddenly piped up and Jekyll withheld a groan.

Lady Summers lifted an eyebrow. “What is it, Mr. Hyde?”

“I will never get used to how she can talk to both of them”, Lanyon muttered, but Jekyll ignored him.

“Your first name is Luise, right? What does the F. W. in your name stand for?”

The Prussian grimaced. “It stands for Friederike Wilhelmine. I was named after my grandfather. I have more given names – eight in total – but I don't want to give all of my names and abbreviating all of them would just look ridiculous on my brass sign. Even my maiden name was insanely long. Only my personal certificates contain my full name. I prefer to just be Lady Summers, or Luise to my family and close friends.”

With that, Hyde was satisfied, much to Jekyll's relief.

And he wasn't surprised. Lady Summers was an aristocrat. Having at least four given names was normal among the high nobility and it often said a lot about the family the name carrier was from. No wonder the Lady didn't want to talk about it.

“And what about you? What are you three going to do tomorrow? Who will you celebrate New Year with?”, she inquired curiously.

The three gentlemen looked at each other and smiled.

“We're going to celebrate together”, Lanyon informed her.

The Prussian nodded. “That's wonderful.”

Then she turned to Jekyll: “Let's talk about something else. I heard your servants threw you a big welcome home party?”

“Yes, Milady. And it was wonderful. I believe I shall take a page out of your book.”

She tilted her head curiously. “How so?”

“I think that I'm going to interact with my servants a little more.”

The blonde woman beamed at him. “Splendid! I love being a good influence! Having loyal and discreet servants is worth its weight in gold. Don't forget that, Dr. Jekyll.”

Jekyll went home in as good a mood as he had come. He was certainly looking forward to New Year's celebration.

How will this year's end will be? Now that everything has changed, he wondered.

“I don't know”, Hyde answered, “But it's going to be awesome, I can feel it!”

The blond chuckled.

“Hey, Jekyll.”

“Hm?”

“I know that I'm grounded and shit, but couldn't you make a teeny-weeny exception for New Year?”

“No, Hyde. If you want to see the fireworks, you can observe them in your ghost form.”

“But Jekyyyyyyll”, Hyde whined.

The older man snorted. “No. But I will go up to the roof balcony with you, I promise.”

“Do you think Utterson would come along?”

Jekyll sighed: “I wish. But Gabriel is acrophobic, so we can forget about that.”

Hyde sighed in disappointment.

That made Jekyll smirk. “Could it be, that you're growing fond of him?”, he teased.

Hyde sneered. “Don't be stupid. I'm not fond of people. His company is just entertaining and – stop laughing!”, he snapped, when his creator began to snicker.

Jekyll couldn't remember the last time he had felt so smug. But it certainly felt psychologically rewarding.

“Sure, Mr. Hyde. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Hyde glared harder and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a profanity.

The Doctor frowned and warned: “Edward Hyde, don't give me reason to expand your house arrest to a month.”

Hyde's reflection flushed with anger. “I hate you so much right now.”

Jekyll's expression softened. “Hey now. Don't be upset. I will let you out for a bit, when we're on the roof. No one will get hurt and you will get to see the fireworks with your own eyes. How does that sound?”

His alter ego calmed down considerably.

Jekyll's house was relatively empty on the 31st December. He had given most of his servants the day off to spend New Year with their families. Only Poole and those of his staff who had no family were still here today.

Lanyon and Utterson would come in the evening and until then, he would stay in his lab with Hyde.

“Hey there”, he said to the mirror as soon as he entered the lab.

His reflection morphed into Hyde.

“Why, good morning”, the brunette greeted sardonically. “Have you been yearning for me, my dear soulmate?”

“Don't flatter yourself”, Jekyll scoffed, even though both knew he was lying.

He looked around the lab. It was messy. And since it was the last day of the old year, this was the perfect opportunity to tidy up. So he went to work.

After about ten minutes, Hyde complained: “Goddammit, Jekyll! It's so boring to watch you tidy up!”

“Well, you can come out and help me”, the Doctor retorted.

“I'm not moving a single finger for you.”

“Lazy bone”, Jekyll muttered and put the clean vials into their respective cabinets.

After half an hour he skimmed over his lab and nodded in satisfaction.

Everything was nice and clean.

Why did I not do this sooner?

“Because you were gone for over a month?”, Hyde supplied.

The blond sighed and sat on the cot in the corner. Then he gestured to the spot next to him.

“Come here and sit with me”, he requested and the brunette stepped out of the mirror.

Jekyll hadn't seen him in such a corporeal form outside of his control in quite a while. He couldn't help but relish in the sight.

Hyde started, when his other self put an arm around him and pushed him down onto his lap.

“Jekyll, what are you-?”

But he relaxed right away, when the blond began to run his fingers through his hair.

Jekyll smiled fondly, when Hyde closed his eyes and began to purr and lean into his large hand.

He can be so adorable …

“You're rather affectionate today”, the smaller man stated.

“I suppose I am”, Jekyll confirmed.

“Why is that so?” It sounded a tad suspicious.

The taller man raised an eyebrow. “Can I not be affectionate without reason?”

“Not towards me.”

The Doctor sighed: “I can't honestly answer that question without starting an argument. And that's not what I want.”

“Is it not?”, Hyde queried.

“No. I don't want to go into the new year with unsettled arguments.”

Hyde cracked a bilious green eye open. “Now I'm all the more curious.”

“Can you guess, what my resolution for next year is?”

The younger man smirked: “What, to get into your lawyer's inexpressibles*?”

Jekyll chuckled: “That too, but it's not what I mean.”

“Oh? What is it then? Don't leave me hanging!”

“I wish to earn your forgiveness.”

Hyde's eyes flew open and he stared up to him incredulously. “Is that supposed to be an apology?!”

“No. Not yet, at least – I know that an apology won't cut it. I want to make up for my treatment of you. However, I will not be taken advantage of”, the older man cleared up.

The latter was added, just in case. Hyde was highly intelligent and had no qualms with taking advantage of others, if he got the chance.

The young man's eyes filled with suppressed anger and a hint of anguish.

Gabriel was right … he furrows his eyebrows just the way I do.

“I can't forgive you. Not like this.”

“I know”, Jekyll replied sadly.

Of course it was too soon, just like the Lady had said.

But maybe someday …

Maybe someday things would be better.

Suddenly Hyde glowered up at him. “Oi! Did I allow you to stop running your fingers through my hair?”, he snarled.

Jekyll chuckled: “Of course not. Do forgive me, my other half.”

And continued to stroke the long, café brown hair under his hand, silently envying the young man for having such beautiful, rich hair.

Hyde purred again, then slowly dozed off.

He's such a cat sometimes …

---

(*inexpressibles - a very prudish [very Victorian] term for pants. There was a period in the Victorian Era, when saying ‘pants’ or ‘trousers’ was an uncouth thing to say. I’m not sure, if that was still the case in the 1880s, but I thought it was hilarious.

A/N: I wanted to add a sequence, where Lady Summers tells the gentlemen about Chinese traditions and demonstrates her Chinese skills. But then I realised, that it didn’t fit into the dialogue, so I deleted it)

#The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde #Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde #Dr. Jekyll #henry jekyll #Mr. Hyde #edward hyde #utterson #Mr Utterson #Gabriel John Utterson #dr lanyon #Hastie Lanyon #oc #jekyllxhyde #jekyde #jekyllxutterson

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