History

Originally, Rory was the son to one Cillian Gallagher. Eclectic, brilliant and absolutely taken with the lovely, striking blue eyes of Noreen O’Brien, who met the very unfortunate fate of being Rory’s mother, an occupation that lasted for merely hours as she passed away in childbirth. His father, ever the anomaly, took the whole affair in stride, save for the crippling guilt and excruciatingly long grieving period, Cillian was an unstinting father. He was a man of science, one who spent his life travelling the world and exploring the unexplored, the unexplainable with a pen and notebook in hand to document his findings. He brought Rory along to accompany him, more often than was socially acceptable, so Rory spent his time learning to walk onboard voyages destined for all over the world, raised surrounded by the strangest creatures Cillian could manage to examine.

Perhaps, that was where it had all gone wrong, for as doting as he was, Cillian was not exactly sane. He was kind, regardless of species, and tended to call Rory his mother’s name after a drink too many, because his eyes were just as bright, and he was just as enamoured with the world as she was. It hurt, at first, until Rory eventually learned to replace any weird, overly sentimental feelings with the rush of trailing his father through rainforests and murky swamps, with the adrenaline induced-feeling of escaping these biomes alive.

His childhood, a tumultuous affair that exposed Rory to what he considered, a diverse variety of people, animals and everything in between, was one rife with danger, adventure and most notably, companions of a very feline variety. As his father dragged him across western Asia, Rory found that after the people had become too much, the creatures that wandered the forests and the beaches made for much better company. As they travelled further east, it became more and more rare for Rory to interact with the other members of the expeditions, for instead he chose to hone his card-counting skills with the deckhands or his wrestling form with whatever big cat had bothered to become his friend once they had set up camp.

As he grew, Cillian’s parenting grew more and more negligent. He seemed satisfied with just being in Rory’s company, having no other expectations for his son other than for Rory to stay alive and near enough that Cillian would not drink away the memories of his long-dead love of his life. In short, Rory’s education was a haphazard process. He picked up a handful of tongues, but never learned how to read, he could tie all sorts of knots, but could not read a map or any sort of scientific diagram no matter how many times Cillian had locked him in their quarters with his work. In spite of what Cillian had insisted, it did not run in the family. Cillian’s care of himself had begun to slip as well, he had always been the type to lose himself in his work, but eventually it had become Rory’s responsibility to ensure his father was fed and watered, that he did not drink too much to let his genius suffer at the hand of a bottle.

Eventually, Cillian’s work led him to America and Rory followed suit, having known nothing but a life as his father’s handler. He was old enough to think for himself, but having gotten a taste of the unpredictability of his father’s work, Rory found he had no grand intentions to abandon it, even if he was far from scientifically minded.

The circus was an interest acquired after spending too long ashore. He was admittedly, drawn into the glitz and the glamour that a life as a performer seemed to reflect, and the prospects were even more enticing when the old (and, as Rory would later discover, incredibly tasty) lion tamer introduced him to the tigers they had as a part of their crew. It was as easy as that, for no matter the people he would have to deal with to stay close to his new, feline companions, Rory decided he would do anything to stay by their side.

It was probably for the best, that his father had seemingly gone into one of his fits, had forbade Rory (Noreen) from accompanying him, that the crew had finally had enough of the stowaway who could not even read his own name, but it was still incredibly strange to find himself with a fresh start in America, with a new family of faces that would eventually stop blending together.

He met Amelia later, after a night spent too similarly to his father, with too much money spent on drinks and I’m good company after a night of performances that did not go entirely the way he wanted them to. The first time, he had been all proper and had gotten a room in a local in, the next couple were poorly arranged rendezvous where they fell into bed in his meager quarters, surrounded by fellow performers. Probably not the elegance that he thought she deserved, but Amelia as a presence in his life was beginning to look less like a poor decision made in a moment of weakness and more like a routine.

They didn’t even sleep together, a good part of the time, content with doing a myriad of other activities with their time together, like watching the stars with their backs on rough, sturdy canvas, like playing cards or spending hours over a chalk slate until Rory could print his own name (and perhaps even, Amelia’s name alongside it.) It had gotten to the point that there was no reasonable deniability that Rory and Amelia were nothing but client and customer, especially since eventually, Rory had been introduced to Niamh, Amelia’s precious little daughter. She was not Niamh when Rory had first met her, but Amelia did not name her right away and was, ultimately, separated from them both before any such decisions could have been made.

Rory did not know who the father was, only that he was cruel, and that he was someone that Amelia was not in a position to deny, so when it appeared she would succumb to the same fate as Rory’s mother for a man so terrible that it made Rory’s performance injuries seem minor compared to whatever he did to Amelia, it was only too easy to agree to keep Niamh, keep her from her blood father and keep her as his own in case Amelia were to be unable to do so herself. In an ideal world, Rory would have taken them both away from all that, brought her across the world with him and his tigers, but he was far from rich or connected, far from resourceful or smart enough to do what was best, and Amelia had not lived too long after Niamh’s birth, so there was no use in dwelling.

Rory, with Niamh in his arms, had decided he understood what possessed Cillian to act as he did, but he had also pledged that he would not fall into those habits, no matter how tempting the pit of despair that he could fall into was.

The first years were difficult, Rory was not privileged enough to be able to care for Niamh constantly, or to hire someone to look after her full-time, but he found salvation with his new family, members of the circus who had it in their hearts to lend themselves to her care. It was not uncommon for there to be children raised in the circus, but usually it was not some strange little infant seemingly pulled from nowhere, still there was compassion for her, for him and his unceasing effort to raise Amelia’s child.

It seemed as if, against all odds, Niamh had bested all diseases and injuries that could spell her demise,it was clear that, as she grew, she had a sense of perseverance that could rival even the most daring and diligent of their crew, though this was an observation Rory made only to himself, as they could be quite competitive if they wanted.

When their circus finished their latest tour of America and had set their sights on Europe, Rory decided that this would be a great opportunity to show Niamh all she could be, she was already smarter than him, better with words and numbers than he had been at three time her age, and Rory wanted to show her a life that was not his. He was not his father, Rory would not forced Niamh into a life she did not want, but he secretly felt his heart soar as she cheered him on after each show, or when she would grab his hand and pull him through London’s streets and markets, eager to explore the world with him instead of in spite of him.

In between Niamh and his cats, Rory is all too pleased with his lot in life, now if only a certain tailor would stop making himself comfortable in the back of his mind, and if only Rory could get rid of the feeling that he was being watched.