---

She and Imp had stood there looking at the now unhinged door for about an hour after Audrey's departure. Gabrielle had sobbed quite a bit, disturbing the servant to the point Imp longed that he wasn't in servitude so that he could catch Missus Hughes on fire by the snap of his fingers. However . . . his mistress needed him terribly and when it was clear she wouldn't get grab her husband-to-be's attention, Imp suggested Maiko.

Imp had suggested Maiko in November when the explosion at the Leaky Cauldron had made Gabrielle rehash fears that she hadn't had to feel, not since everything of the past, including the second wizarding war. And so, Gabrielle had relented and sent an owl to Maiko, expressing that she desperately needed for Maiko, if she was available, to make haste to the estate before midnight. Fixing and consuming a light dinner was easy enough; it was waiting, watching the clock, hoping for any sign that Maiko would arrive.

Surely, one of her closest female friends wouldn't let her down.....

would she?

The students had arrived at school in time for dinne.. She sat through the dinner and festivity, and upon checking on her office was greeted by a familiar owl-- bearing a letter from Gabie. Clearly, the other witch was in distress. Something had happened-- Mai had her suspicions, but tried to avoid assuming until after getting the full story.  Maiko trekked to Hogsmeade-- and through floo and apparation, she finally made her way to Gabie's doorstep. Where a door had once stood.

What on earth...?

Mai walked around the door and into the house. It didn't look like there had been a duel. Just the one spell, then?

"Gabie, what happened?" Maiko inquired softly, brow furrowed in concern.

Gabrielle heard the distinctive snap of someone apparating to the manor and so, she armed herself with her wand, aiming it briefly until she saw Maiko's face. Lowering it slowly, her eyes went to the door once more and sighed. "What didn't happen was a conversation with incoming family members. Th-the door'll make it, I'm sure," Gabie murmured, trying desperately to keep up a brave face. "Might need your help taking care of it here shortly. Won't you come in? I could use the company..."

Another snap (causing Gabrielle to jolt briefly) and Imp was standing near the pair, looking at Maiko with initial suspicion before smiling in his own way. "Mistress Maiko....a pleasure....." the creature remarked, gazing between the pair still yet. "Go ahead; make a pot of tea...chai. We'll be in the study." Imp nodded, disappearing in an instant, leaving Gabrielle to stare at Maiko a moment longer before she soon began to well up with tears, letting them fall down.

Barriers be damned.

She'd held Maiko and protected her many years prior, so it was only natural that Gabrielle knew she could be herself, not a posed figurine. If only she had been a bit nicer.... "So-sorry to drag you away from the students."

So there was some sort of conflict with Francis' family, that ended in the door and the surrounding bits of wall around it being blown off. Nothing that some quick magical repairs couldn't fix, especially with a house elf around. Gabie looked, physically unscathed. But she was clearly shaken.

Mai greeted Imp with a shadow of a smile, "A pleasure to see you too." She replied, nodding at the suggestion of chai-- a type of tea that she was partial to. let's face it, she enjoyed all kinds of tea. She had a feeling that she would be up late tonight, and the caffeine boost would surely be welcome.

As soon as Imp left, Mai embraced her friend-- Gabrielle was much taller than her, but to be fair most people were. "It's no trouble at all." Her voice was warm, low, and soothing. It was gentle, carefully so.

"Do you want to sit down?" She offered, "Somewhere we can shut the door behind us?"  She inquired. Surely,  Gabrielle would want to get away from this entryway.

Gabrielle took the embrace gladly, beaming happily at how wonderful it truly felt for to have such a friend like Maiko. Exhaling slowly, her renewed blotchy eyes met Maiko's, smiling weakly than before. "With friends like yourself, dear, it really is no trouble at all to come 'round." She allowed herself to be moved shortly after, her mind rattled more than ever, desperate to find good versus bad in the situation. "Fireballs are an absolute nightmare, not to mention how the door's unhinged," she whimpered, placing her face into her hands. At this rate, Gabrielle was hoping for a damn miracle of some sort.

"Christmas, this....what's next on the agenda?"

Gabrielle removed her hands, eyes beginning to water once again. "Maiko, having a child cannot be this heartbreaking. Honestly. It can't." Her shoulders heaved.

Looking at her friend, it was evident Gabrielle was a slew of emotions at the current moment and really needed more than a good, strong cup of chai tea. "I anticipated this happening, but at the magnitude of it occurring? Never in a million years." The witch licked her lips before biting her bottom lip briefly before speaking again. "This is purebred insanity."

Fireballs?! Ruined Christmas? Now Gabie was going on about how having a child was a heartbreaking experience. Mai was bewildered, confused, and concerned all at once. As much as Mai cared for Gabrielle, communicating with her when she was upset was.... A challenge. Gabie had a tendency to lament in the vaguest ways possible. Mai dealt with vagueness enough with students at her job, and when it came to friends she wasn't always as patient. But she tried.

"Okay. What are you talking about?" Mai asked, glad that she finally got her to sit down. "I understand a few things." Mai held up her finger, "Number one-- some big disaster happened and it cost you a door." She raised a second finger, "Number two--It's insanity." She held out her thumb-- three fingers up now, "Number three-- suddenly having a baby is heartbreaking?"

The witch paused, reining in her confusion. "... You anticipated this? What? What the fuck is going on, Gabie? Fireballs?" Okay, maybe she didn't rein it in that well. Did she not want to have her baby? Was this something Francis was pressuring her into doing? Why were fireballs involved? She could hardly imagine Francis being that kind of guy, but sometimes you never knew.

M - language

Gabrielle realised that her rambling really had caused a brand new level of confusion that even she noted that it sounded absolutely fucking ridiculous.

Groaning in severe irritation, she rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears before looking at Maiko with the tri-raised fingers, looking no doubt completely grumpy by all this stupidity. Stupidity that was her own and the stupidities towards the situations at hand. "One, the disaster is Audrey Hughes. We tried to make some amends regarding the situation about what happened at Christmas; clearly, it wasn't the best moment to fix it for us both. Two, insanity is in regards to the aforementioned remarks I've made. At Christmas, Francis and I revealed that we were expecting. Naturally, that didn't get perhaps all the best reactions from the Peppers and Hughes. Thus, some people's temperaments led to fireballs being let loose from fingertips and with it, draperies were sacrificed."

Gabrielle took the tea, drinking from it, brow still furrowed as ever.

"And three, no. Having Mia is hardly heartbreaking. She's the happiest news I've had to talk about in some time. Sure, there's emotional ties to noting that there isn't my mother here to celebrate with me and well, Carmina's bound to show up when it's closer to time. So, it's primarily you, me, Camille. Camille's maternal advice really has come in handy and I'm beyond grateful for that," Gabrielle responded fondly, a wistful smile upon her features. Camille really had made some sense about what to anticipate, what to expect in becoming a mother.

"I'm completely nutters, aren't I?"

As Mai listened, she realized that as much as Gabie tried to be specific about what was going on, her answers were still vague. Still, she nodded at the appropriate moments, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to put the pieces together. Audrey Hughes? She didn't know Audrey very well-- she just knew that Audrey was Shona's partner, and that Shona had good taste. Something about fire on Christmas... Mai had heard a little bit about that. So, Audrey had likely destroyed Gabie's door-- but what led to that? Even people with the most unpredictable tempers still had reasons for lashing out.

When Gabie's words were spent, Mai rested her hand on Gabie's shoulder consolingly.

"You are completely nutters," she confirmed, "We all knew that."