Gwynn (dame_du_lac) wrote in carpediem_rp, @ 2015-08-24 15:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: adrian battye, character: narissa smith, thread: complete |
Who: Adrian and Narissa
Where: Smith Home
When: Monday 24 August afternoon
Warning: None
Status: Closed, Complete
Adrian stood in front of the cabinet, pondering a snack but mostly just staring at the contents of it. He should eat something though. He'd made sure Jackson had something before he went to crash at R's place for a few days, but he hadn't actually eaten himself. He was a little less conscious of taking care of himself. Not that Jackson needed taking care of. Obviously. And given what had happened staying with Adrian, he couldn't blame his friend for decamping to R's place, or wherever he had gone.
Narissa was more than a little shocked to see her brother in the kitchen alone when she came down for a snack. Jackson had been there on and off and she had assumed after what she had glimpsed and heard from her room this would be an on time. Adrian looked strangely inattentive to the food he was looking at, and Narissa walked over quietly. "There's some of your chocolate in the other cabinet and I did leave some sandwiches here, if you're hungry..."
"I gave the sandwiches to Jackson," Adrian explained, moving to the other cabinet. Chocolate would be good. Something cheap though, so he wouldn't feel bad that he wasn't properly tasting it. He took out a couple bars and headed to the sofa. "All your friends got home safely again?"
"Okay. Fair enough. You want me to make you something and then you can tell me why you look like someone stabbed your puppy?" He didn't have a puppy obviously but the expression fit. He looked like something wasn't right and the fact that he had pulled out the chocolate that she would normally eat? That didn't reassure her at all.
"I've never had a puppy, Sissy," Adrian pointed out, inadvertently mirroring her thoughts as he bit into the first of the chocolate bars. "And this is fine." He assured her about whether she should make him anything. " I'm not that hungry, really."
Narissa laughed softly, shaking her head. He was very obviously her brother if that was the first thing he said, the first thing she thought. She seated herself next to him and rested her head on his shoulder, nudging him slightly. “What’s up? I see two boys enter the shower, I assume two boys also left the shower. Something happen?”
Adrian frowned. He'd somehow missed that she had seen anything. And that she assumed… well assumed correctly about what had happened, but entirely incorrectly too. "I was just helping him into the shower and with things he couldn't reach. His leg got rebroken in the chaos last night so his mobility is worse than usual." Adrian explained, hoping that she would let the matter drop.
“Just helping. Sure.” Narissa quirked an eyebrow. “If he’s hurt why isn’t he still here then?” Her eyes fixed on him and she touched his shoulder. “Am I going to have to hunt him down and kill him? Because if he hurt you…” A faint threat in her tone before she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly for a moment.
Adrian hugged Narissa back because there was no reason not to, although he was quick to reassure her, although the truth was painful. "He's been hurt for a year, Sissy. He's independent." He ate a little more of the candy. "He's my friend, Sissy." There was no reason for her to hunt him down or threaten him.
Narissa sighed. He wasn’t really answering but she would accept it for now. She brushed her hand over his hair and offered a slight smile. “How are you doing?” Because both of them had the same knowledge of what had really happened the night before and honestly? She hadn’t slept since, even though she had secluded herself in her room to give that impression.
"My best friend was nearly trampled to death in a stampede caused by Deatheaters. My muggleborn, partially crippled friend." Adrian shook his head. "The papers are saying it is an isolated incident. A copycat." Adrian's tone was dubious. "I'm just glad our friends seemed to get out mostly safely."
Narissa nodded slightly. She understood that because one of her friends who had been there was also muggleborn. It may have been part of why she’d raced out. Maybe the kiss had been too. She wasn’t too sure on that. Thinking about that wasn’t high on her list of things, honestly. “Do you think they’re really back, Adi?” Her voice was a bit soft now, and she sounded younger than she had in a long time.
"Did they ever really go away?" Adrian asked. "Some of them got away, or bought their way out of jail… or finished their time and were released." Adrian ate more chocolate. It had been thirty years, but their parents had been children at the time, and remembered the terror. Adrian remembered the stories - not the ones the media used on the memorials of the Longest Night, but the ones their parents told of their experiences during the terror. "It's been thirty years though… so its hard to say."
Narissa curled a little bit closer to Adrian and rested against him, not really sure what to say. All of this was really frightening to her. It wasn’t something they’d experienced in their lives and so she had no way of really processing it entirely. Isolated things had happened in the muggle world, sure, but even those were far distant in her memory, given her age.
Adrian wrapped his arm around her letting his sister settle against him more easily. He knew she craved physical comfort. "If you don't have someone you can sleep in my room tonight like when you were little and had a nightmare," he offered. The chances were his little sister was going to check in with one of her friends, but he wanted her to feel safe too.
Narissa nodded slightly. "Violet might come over sometime but I don't know when." She closed her eyes for a moment and hugged him tightly, a few tears slipping through her lashes. "I'm glad you're safe, Adi. I..." She shook her head against him. "You shouldn't have chased after me. I wanted to keep you all safe, that's all." And with the three most important people in her life following her in that goal she had to fight even harder.
"You're my little sister. What was I supposed to do? Let you take on trouble alone?" Adrian shook his head. "Has Dad lectured you yet? Or was he just too glad his little girl was safe to ground you properly?" He ran his hand along her arm and back comfortingly.
"A week." Narissa shrugged. In her mind it was worth it. She had gotten a lecture that ended in a hug as well but she didn't comment on that. It happened and she was used to it. She sighed at the petting. Right now she didn't want contact with someone random. She wanted her brother. That was all.
"So I have that to look forward to," Adrian noted with a shake of the head. He'd gotten one from Mom when she checked on him when Jackson was sleeping. "I wonder if I can dodge him and get out of it." Lectures from their parents were different for Adrian and Narissa though, since Adrian didn't typically not argue back to their parents like Narissa sometimes did. He was almost reassured when he was punished - it meant they weren't sending him back.
Narissa nodded and shrugged. “He was glad you went after me? Because apparently being not of age and all that, you’re supposed to look after me.” She thought it was bothersome that she had to be babysat when it came to things like this, but it was what it was she guessed. “It’s okay though. You were the responsible big brother.”
"He'll still ground me," Adrian shrugged slightly not all that bothered by it. "And I am supposed to look after you." Adrian pointed out, using his superior older brother tone. Narissa might chafe under that rule sometimes but it was the natural order of brothers and sisters. The older one looked out for the younger one.
"No." Not in response to the grounding, but the defence. She was able to handle herself and while she knew that Adrian was too it was a desire to guard him that had provoked part of her running out to try and guard the others.
"Yes." Adrian argued back. "I read the handbook on my role as a brother… or aren't I your brother?" It was an underhanded argument perhaps, but one that worked with his sister.
"And I'm your sister. So I have that need to protect you. And Violet too." Because that was important to her. Kavi was less threatened. He was at least halfblood. "It's like you and Jackson kind of." She had no idea how right she was.
It was like Jackson, but it wasn't at the same time. He had a unique bond with his sister. And frankly, a unique bond with Jackson too. Each was somewhat in their own class. "Rushing into the fray is not protecting me because it means I have to go with you, Sissy. I am not letting you do something like that alone. I'm in just as much risk as you since our family are not the supremacist pureblood sort." It wasn't strictly true - they didn't know for certain if he was actually pureblooded or not since Wallace had never identified his father. Adrian doubted she even had any idea who it was.
Narissa nodded, holding him tighter for a moment and sighing softly. "I don't want you hurt. And I mean..." She shrugged one shoulder a tiny bit. "All I could think was to try and defend you all. It just was all sort of fast." And she didn't think when things were happening that quickly.
"I know, Sissy… And with our tent collapsing and everything that happened… I'm just glad none of us were hurt that badly." He kissed her forehead. "How long do you think Mom is going to be there volunteering? Are we gonna be making dinner for Dad?"
Narissa nodded slightly. "Yeah. You know her. She'll probably be there a while. I can do up dinner." She imagined he would stay in the kitchen with her while she did, which would be nice. She wasn't really feeling like thinking more at this point.
"Maybe he'll decide to get take out," Adrian mused. "He's probably still in defender dad mode," which meant providing for his cubs in between lecturing and grounding them. And Narissa was right that she wasn't likely to get a break from her brother for a while. He'd chased her into the fray; he wasn't about to leave her alone in the kitchen either.
Narissa knew pretty well the way her brother's mind worked. She was something of a safe zone for him. Even if everyone else might leave, Narissa clung loyally to those she loved and so even if he was driven crazy by her sometimes, she would always be there. "I wouldn't mind take out. It'd be easier and I can clean up some if I'm not worried about cooking." Because domestic things were calming.
Their parents hadn't left him either, but they also weren't as aware of Adrian's fears as Narissa was. She'd always been sensitive to his moods. "I still need to properly wash up." Adrian admitted. The shower with Jackson had been focused on him. "Not the clean up you were talking about." Adrian knew, but it was a type of cleanup.
"Go get a shower and then we can talk more." Nari teasingly wrinkled her nose at him. "Boy smell. Terrible." Because she used to tease him that way when they were smaller, since he was a lot less likely to run around and get dirty than she had ever been.
"Love you too, Sissy." Adrian smiled at her knowing what she was doing and relieved she didn't start in on him about Jackson again. "You gonna poke Dad about dinner while I do that?"
"Of course." A tiny smirk and she waved him to their shared bathroom. "I'll talk to dad. He's probably in the mood to do whatever we want. You know, because we're all still alive and all." She brushed a kiss over his cheek and then headed to talk to their dad.