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Role-Play Boards => London => Muggle London => Topic started by: Edgar Carstairs on May 06, 2019, 11:19:29 AM

Title: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Edgar Carstairs on May 06, 2019, 11:19:29 AM

Title from Bowie's Underground (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qga12-bAS4A)

Morning. Carstairs Household, Maida Vale.


"Let me get this straight." Edgar and Angela (https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=11697.msg156152#msg156152) Carstairs were on the other side of the small round dining table in the kitchen, their breakfast plates half-finished and coffee cups entirely empty. "You went back to a vampire pub where you were told not to return and you bet your own blood on a game of cards? For a cigarette case?"

Across from them, their son was sat down with his friend Nemo. Everyone was in their bedclothes or near-to. The girl was in last night's attire. Virgil had found a fresh change of periwinkle blue pyjamas and was looking much healthier than he had last night, in spite of the ever present shadows under his eyes.

           "Yes," he replied matter-of-factly, picking at his slice of french toast on the plate. "We didn't  have much of a choice, we weren't expecting it to go like it did."

Edgar recognised the defensive tone and eased up, raising his eyebrows. "Vampires are unpredictable like that," he replied sympathetically. Angela was watching Nemo, eyeing the bruises on her arms and general appearance. In contrast, the older witch was immaculate in her silk night robe.

She finally turned to Virgil - mother and son possessed the same blunt manner of addressing people, like they had wandered in from the faerie world and were addressing normal clay people.

"And you're all checked out, darling? No curse? Rather reckless, my poor sleepy boy," her sentence just went on and on without pausing for breath as she looked at Nemo again, "do have more of the toast, we make too much without Cecil around anymore. And more coffee I think."

Virgil exchanged a repressed smile in Nemo's direction while his mother drew her wand to fetch the pot.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Nemo on May 06, 2019, 12:26:25 PM

They'd been allowed to sleep in, Nemo waking up to the late morning winter sun warming her shoulders. The smell of breakfast greeted them, and they'd taken time to get cleaned up before they were expected downstairs. Nemo felt infiniately better and the time between rising and the kitchen made it seem like last night's horrors hadn't happened. She and Virgil had gone about their morning business nearly without a word because they didn't need them. In the night, Nemo had left Adelaide's room and joined Virgil in his childhood bed and the two slept mercifully soundly.

But the halcyon hours had to come to an end.

The breakfast was welcome; Nemo was ravenous and didn't have to be offered coffee and toast twice. Her mouth full was very handy to avoid chatting.

"You went back to a vampire pub where you were told not to return and you bet your own blood on a game of cards? For a cigarette case?"

Oh, god, it sounded so stupid said out loud like that. But it was so truuueee... Really it had been about pride and not the case, but eh, not a point to argue. Thankfully, Virgil fended off his father.

Nemo was always fascinated by other peoples' parents and the Carstairs were no exception. The subtle ways Virgil changed his mode around them, seeing his mannerisms in Edgar and Mrs. Carstairs, understanding the ways Virgil was different. Nemo hadn't gotten along with her mom in a long time and couldn't remember a time they sat and had breakfast at the kitchen table. She couldn't decide if she liked sitting here with Virgil's parents or not. The sample size was one and the circumstances a dramatic outlier.

Mrs. Carstairs offered more food and Nemo took it, more coffee and toast with a polite, "thank you."

"It wasn't his fault," Nemo said matter-of-factly and dumped more milk into her coffee. He was older, maybe that's why she kept getting the impression the adults were blaming him, and Nemo was an innocent third party.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Virgil Carstairs on May 06, 2019, 01:08:02 PM

There was the potted basil plant he knocked over when he was seven, on the kitchen counter. And next to it the dish rack Adelaide bought for them when she graduated. The tiny nick in the wood of the dining table where Cecil dropped a steak knife, the yellow plate he broke last summer, Aunt Lauren's hen shaped creamer jug rattling around the table pouring unwanted milk into their mismatched cups.

Virgil's homesickness from last night was soothed by waking up here. It felt safe.

            "It wasn't his fault," Nemo was saying while his mother resisted a strong urge to offer her a change of clothes. Edgar refilled his cup and shrugged. "We know," he told her, "but he shouldn't have gone without telling anyone else."

"That would have gone down smoothly!" Virgil interjected in a droll voice, smiling dryly at his parents as he imitated a much more chipper version of himself, "Oh, hello Ariadne, just thought I'd let you know I'm going down to the local vampire pub, try and read their minds, you know, the usual. Don't wait up!"

Angela chocked on her coffee, laughing in spite of herself. "Do be serious."

Virgil took another bite of the eggy toast and pulled his cup away from the overeager creamer jug. "I am. I will be," he paused to stop himself from falling into another spurt of sardonic commentary, and touched his free hand to his neck. "... I don't know what else to say."

Edgar put down his fork and leaned forward slightly. "You can promise me you'll be more careful next time," he spoke slowly before gesturing at the two of them, "both of you. It's not asking a lot. Just be more careful, okay?"

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Nemo on May 06, 2019, 01:18:26 PM

Virgil mouthed off to Edgar, and Nemo quickly covered a laugh with her hand and it came out a snort. Nemo was surprised at how calm Virgil's parents were about this. Edgar hadn't fussed over them last night, they hadn't got a lecture, and if this was all they were going to get now...? It made her feel a little bit like she was crazy; last night had been the worst thing to ever happen to her and it was, 'be more careful'? Weird family.

She almost wanted a good laying into, but quickly decided that no, she did not. They hadn't contested her claim that Virgil wasn't to blame so she didn't have to convince them. She looked over to Virgil with a smile. He was always so chill when she was around him, witty, but this was biting.

"Next time I'm going to learn to play blackjack," she said into her coffee. Gallows humor wasn't really how she coped with terror, but the social chameleon in her had her riding that Carstairs wave a little bit.

She noticed when Virgil's hand went to his neck and she found herself looking at it too long.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Edgar Carstairs on May 06, 2019, 03:33:21 PM

            "Next time I'm going to learn to play blackjack."

He sighed, just as Virgil laughed. Was that a yes? It was hard to tell with Nemo, Edgar didn't know her well enough. His son, he knew, would tread more carefully next time. Maybe not much more but even a little bit of caution could go a long way. His eyes followed Nemo's to the scar. As upset as he was, it was hard to think of words that could have as strong an affect as the consequence of their actions had last night.

"Don't let Virgil teach you," he warned Nemo with a smirk "He'll cheat."

A whirring noise outside the room interrupted their breakfast, and Angela got up from her seat in time to spot what looked like a mechanical duck hopping into the kitchen. "Oh I'm late for work," she muttered sedately, giving the duck a very ladylike kick before coming around the table to kiss Virgil's head.

           "Dinner, tonight, don't make me come fetch you," the witch decreed on her way out in a flurry of silk and golden brown hair. He barely had time to call out a hurried "Love you!"

That was, of course, what it was like to marry a Carstairs. Edgar turned back to the table, not sure if he had it in him to finish breakfast but making a valiant effort. "You two are alright, yes?" he chewed on his toast - his differently coloured eyes on their faces. "Need anything at all? Besides more coffee," he added with a glance at Nemo's cup.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Nemo on May 06, 2019, 04:45:46 PM

Virgil would cheat, huh? That would have been helpful last night if the vampires wouldn't have immediately caught on, she was sure. Edgar was joking, but Nemo had been too. She wasn't going back, she'd promised herself last night. There was no possible reason to do something so completely insane as go back.

It seemed like that was as chastising Virgil's father was going to be with them. Be more careful. It sounded like the most understated warning in the world. Be more careful next time to defy the Camden Town Hookers, be careful next time you climb up that ladder, next time you're brewing that Elixir of Kaboom. It made more sense that Virgil's parents would find a way to ground her. But no, Edgar was just worried.

Nemo turned in her chair when the toy duck click-click-clicked into the kitchen and back at Mrs. Carstairs as she went into a little bustle of activity, kissing heads and giving out motherly orders. She smiled at the little maternal gesture - made Virgil seem all of seven years old. God, their family was strange. Not off-putting at all - she wanted to stick around just to see what more there was. The, the tone shifted upon Mrs. Carstairs' departure

You two are alright, yes?

Nemo glanced at Virgil; she'd kept doing that, she noticed, checking in with him for confirmation. She was quiet a minute, buying time by sliding her half-full cup over to Edgar to top off. She ought to give him an honest answer. She owed him that much for how understanding he'd been. Nemo sighed big, her whole body lifting and falling. Her throat got that tight feeling and she swallowed it down. It was that thing where you were doing okay until someone asked if you were okay.

"I don't know," she said. "I mean, I'm not - we're not dead. It was just blood, not even that much."

Nemo rolled her arms over on the table and looked at the blooming purple bruises, little circles like fingerprints. There was the tiniest scab at the needle site.

"Like, it's over. We're safe. Nothing happened to me." She shrugged with a disdain. "What's not to be alright about? It's done."

That should have been it, she should have stopped talking. But she slid down in her seat and covered her face with her hands. "I thought he was going to die," she muttered through her hands in a shuddering breath. She could barely say it.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Virgil Carstairs on May 06, 2019, 05:25:19 PM

He could feel his mother's worry and affection as she pressed her lips to his forehead. Not unlike cousin Alex, she was good at keeping it all in - Virgil watched her leave with a melancholy smile pulling at his mouth.

             "You two are alright, yes?"

The question of the hour, if not the month (if not the year). His plate was empty now so he drank his coffee to avoid the question first, even though it had gone cold. Nemo appeared to be taking Edgar's question more seriously, bracing herself. Virgil looked at her as began to speak, and grimaced as she repeated what he had told her last night. Just blood.

In the light of day, those words were less than helpful. It had been blood that Mortimer Gamp wanted from them too. There was value in it, in something that could facilitate life and magic.
 
            "I thought he was going to die," Nemo sunk into the kitchen chair and Virgil touched her shoulder lightly, saddened.

A glance at Edgar made it worse. The older wizard had put down his fork, hand clasped around the lower half of his face as though in thought. The grief in his eyes gave him away.

Virgil knew what his father was thinking about even without trying. He was thinking about those two nights[1] in February, after they had been kidnapped from Hogsmeade. Two nights, the first of hope and the second of despair: having to  consider the possibility that when the victims were discovered they might not be alive. His parents had already faced the possibility of him dying, or worse.

            "Yes," Edgar surmounted the lump in his throat, breathing out, "yes, that must have been very difficult, Nemo. I'm sorry you had to go through it."

"Me too." Virgil tugged timidly  at her arm, trying to get her to look at him. "Hey. I'm fine. Been through worse, Neems," he lowered his voice but his tone was light and gentle. "What about you? Hooker probably jumped me just to get to you."

As he said it, he realised that it was probably true. He'd been collateral - Hooker had wanted Nemo first, and he'd wanted her in a way that would have been much worse than what happened to Virgil.

1.	12th February - Suffer Me, I've Got No Enemies (https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=18255.0) 16th February - Head of Mysteries Arrested for Murders (https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=18605.0)

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Nemo on May 06, 2019, 09:00:00 PM

Nemo felt awkward and childish under the attention of Virgil and his father, both of them being validating and understanding. She felt fragile to be blubbering about about it with the two Carstairs men seeming so calm, and wished she hadn't said anything. She was supposed to be untouchable and street-wise and self-sufficient and here she was crying like a little kid. She had to be those things or else none of this life in London could work. She couldn't be cracking up like this. And ow was it that Virgil was okay? She wasn't okay. How could he say he'd been through something worse? A thousand heart-wrenching possibilities flew through her mind.

She felt Virgil nudging her and it broke her heart a little not to return what he needed from her. She let her hands fall to her lap and gave him the barest of glances. At least she didn't have tears. She closed her eyes and tried to force her heart to go cold. It was a story now. She rolled her palm over. Virgil said it last night. It could be a song.

If she'd been avoiding his gaze before, she looked him full on now. He'd said the vampire's name. He'd said Hooker. Nemo looked over at Edgar. Hooker had threatened to kill her if she ever went back, and then he'd gone for Virgil. It felt logical in this moment that the threat would extend to them telling. But they'd already told. Yavin. The Healer. Now Edgar and Mrs. Carstairs.

Nemo took another deep breath and sat up straighter. They'd just done their best. If Hooker was going to . She set her jaw and returned a tired gaze to the table.

What could be worse than what happened to Virgil? What Hooker had planned to do to her.

"Yeah..." she agreed. Hooker could have taken Virgil away, but instead he'd done it in front of her. All of that over an insignificant slight by some random girl. She shook her head.

"I'll be fine," she breathed and rubbed her face all over and ran her fingers through her tangled damp hair. "Sorry, just needed to ... I don't know."

Edgar had offered to help, but she didn't need anything.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Edgar Carstairs on May 07, 2019, 01:06:52 AM

            "I'll be fine. Sorry, just needed to ... I don't know."

She was trying hard to be strong, bless her ragtag soul. Edgar sympathised. He was trying hard too, not to imagine the events Virgil was referring to so carelessly. You couldn't really compare the bad things that happen to people and he didn't think anything could be better or worse - but he knew what his son meant. If you've been through enough, you take the Next Bad Thing in stride.

"Well, however you feel, we aren't going to solve it now." Edgar smiled at Nemo, corners of his eyes crinkling as he got up from the table. "You can both stay in if you like but I have to be at the theatre soon. You're welcome to come along if you need a distraction."

Stardust was good at that. He drew his wand to clear his place at the table, his and Angela's plates and cups stacking themselves before doing a little dance towards the kitchen sink. The creamer jug struggled against the tide, spilling milk on the table like it did every morning.

"Have a think while I'm getting ready."

Edgar left them to finish their breakfasts.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Nemo on May 07, 2019, 07:06:59 AM

Nemo didn't wholly know how to handle the patient and measured kindness of the enigmatic Edgar Carstairs, what it meant to be included in his and his wife's ministrations right along with their son. It was all so put together. She felt out of place but could have stayed forever.

She offered Edgar a little smile of thanks and acknowledgement as he tidied up his place and left them alone again. Nemo corrected herself: here, in the quiet kitchen alone with Virgil - this is where she could stay forever, like an Edward Hopper painting. But even as the past was now a story, the day was obliged to roll on.

With a sigh, Nemo rubbed her face again and let her hands fall into her lap. "What are you gonna do?" she asked Virgil. It was Monday morning. He had work. Probably late already. Work. Yavin. Well, he'd probably understand if Virgil rolled in late or not at all.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Virgil Carstairs on May 07, 2019, 08:43:18 AM

The house was serene, save for Edgar's retreating footsteps on the stairwell and the odd creak of the floorboards. "What are you gonna do?" Nemo asked and at first he thought it was a more general question - what are you going to do with your life now? Now that this has happened to us? Maybe she meant that as well but he answered the more immediate version.

"Walk around London." Virgil placed his hands together, palm against palm, thinking. "In the daylight. I shan't go into work, I'll owl Yavin and make it up on the weekend."

He was working more than overtime anyway, between the Space and Death Chambers on nine. It also helped to have your former tutor as the head of department and Virgil was determined to take advantage of it while he still could. Within reason. It wasn't just favouritism anyway - Yavin excused mischief but he pushed him harder too.

The wizard got up, taking their own plates to the sink and glancing over his shoulder at Nemo. "Want to join me? There's this secondhand bookshop on Piccadilly, right next to the best hot chocolate in the city. Tiny place. Italian. The hot chocolate, not the books."

Chocolate was a good answer to a lot of troubles. They could try and forget yesterday or they could try to talk about it. Either way, he didn't want to be stuck in one place. Virgil wanted to move.

Title: Re: [Dec 5th] Sister, Sister, Take Me Too!
Post by: Nemo on May 07, 2019, 10:51:21 AM

Reclaim their space. Nemo raised her eyebrows and nodded vacantly. It was a good idea. She didn't want to. She wanted to sleep. But it seemed good for the soul. Be outside, be around people, do nice things, remind herself who she was. Nemo liked walking and coffee shops and London and used books and chocolate.

"Yeah, let's do that. Go find our hearts again." She stood up from the table and lifted her arms in mighty stretch, then hopped in place like a boxer trying to shake off the melancholy and the awkward feelings.

Virgil was good. She was good. They could be good. Her mind knew this but not her soul, not yet. The excursion could maybe get that buzz out of her bones.

"Stick the girl," she said with a dizzy, breathy laugh. "Stick the girl, bite the boy."

She remembered it in Lazarus's gravelly voice, that tilt of his head, that shrug of his shoulders. She shook her head, the little smile not going anywhere.