RP: Christmas Cousin Time Who: Iris and Hailey What: Christmas cousin time When: 19 December 2027 Where: Persephone and Alistair Perks’ house Warnings: None Completion Status: Complete
Persephone and Alistair Perks’ home was always open to friends and family, especially at Christmas. It had been something of a tradition to hold an informal party sometime in the days between Christmas and New Year’s with people free to drop in whenever they got the chance. The kitchen was packed with food and people would even bring additional leftovers to share.
This year, Iris was pretty impressed with the hot chocolate station that her aunt, Sally-Anne, had put together. She was just contemplating how many marshmallows might be too many marshmallows when Hailey joined her.
“Hi. Have you met the new kids yet?” Iris’s parents were currently fostering a pair of siblings, both under ten, who had been with a couple of different families already this year. “I think they might be struggling with some of the Scottish accents,” she added with a grin.
Even though she'd spent more time with her Aunt Dora than her Aunt Persephone growing up, Hailey always loved going to the Perks home. It was calm and stable in a way her own never had been. But she supposed having a crazy, narcissistic mother and loud, nearly flamboyant father would do that.
She'd been talking to Aunt Persephone about a few rudimentary healing spells she'd been trying to learn recently, but when she was pulled away, Hailey glanced around, spotting Iris at the hot cocoa station. Her sweet tooth roared to life, and she joined her cousin there.
"Uh, I don't think so?" She couldn't always keep track of the kids her aunt and uncle fostered, and if she thought about it, she might feel bad about being so flippant about them. She had to laugh at the comment about the Scottish accents. Her own accent wandered a bit, her dad having a bit of a brogue while her mother's was a distinct, clipped British. "I can see how that would happen. Sometimes I can't even, and we grew up with it!"
“Mm, they might have gone up to their rooms.” Iris thought she’d seen them piling up big plates of food earlier. Mostly desserts, actually, and she couldn’t blame them. Everything was delicious.
She added another spoonful of pink mini marshmallows on top of her drink, watching them sink comfortably into the whipped cream. The older Montgomerys, she thought, always ended up sounding much more Scottish when they spent an extended period of time together.
“So how are you feeling about being a big sister again?” Iris had been wanting to ask Hailey that for ages but she’d felt weird about doing it by text.
Hailey started doctoring up her own mug, considering Iris' question. "I'm actually kind of excited about it," she admitted. "I love seeing my dad so happy. I don't think I've ever seen him this happy. It's so weird though. It seems like a lot of old people are having second families." And even though she knew her dad wasn't that old, he definitely fit in the category to which she was referring.
"And honestly, it should keep them from harassing us about settling down and having families!" she added with a light laugh.
“That’s good.” Iris sipped her drink, licking a smear of cream from her top lip. “He seems more Uncle Hype-y than ever. And the wedding was fun. They seem really good together.” She still thought that it was hilarious one of those gossip sites thought she’d taken Eve home for the night. Iris loved Eve, but not like that.
“Well, at least neither of us will be having any accidents in that department,” Iris said with confidence. “It’ll be nice to have a little cousin to spoil.” With no siblings, she wasn’t going to be an auntie, but Auntie ZJ having another baby was almost the next best thing.
“Are you… Have you seen your mum this Christmas?” she asked carefully.
"They really are," Hailey agreed easily. As angry as she'd been about their relationship, it had never been because it was Aunt Zee but rather that he'd kept it a secret from her. She was over that now, though. Mostly.
Her eyes widened a touch as she nodded. "Thank Merlin for that! Did you hear Jaimeson got Lucy Weasley pregnant?" She knew that Lucy had decided to keep the baby (Jai had been so excited when he'd messaged her the picture of the ornament Lucy had gifted to him a few days ago), so she didn't feel bad saying something about it now.
"I'm gonna love watching the baby without actually being responsible for it," she admitted, fully intending to spoil the crap out of her newest baby sibling.
Hailey sighed at the question, bringing her mug with a heaping mound of whipped cream and sprinkles on top to her lips to buy herself a moment. Everyone knew she wasn't her mum's biggest fan, but she'd had to keep a delicate balance to keep people from pushing too much to find out why. "Nope. I don't think she minds though," she said negligently, shrugging one shoulder.
“No.” Iris stared at Hailey, eyebrows raised. “But I heard she got fired from the Ministry.” Jaimeson was close friends with Nate O’Leary and gossip had a way of getting around the staff at Taboo. Lucy Weasley was a girl whose aura seemed to shout I have a ten-year plan, don’t mess with me. “That’s… unexpected.”
Iris offered her cousin a small smile, quietly wondering whether Hailey minded. Uncle Hype’s kids didn’t have the same close relationship with their mum that she had with hers and though it was entirely futile she wished there was some way of changing that.
“I feel like I’m interrogating you,” she said with a laugh. “Sorry.”
"Yeah, I took Jai out drinking after they got fired," she admitted. It had been a fun night, though not as fun as it could have been. But Hailey was thinking about Penny again, and that rarely ended well for her. "I know, right! Totally glad it's not me." She wasn't sure she would be able to bring herself to have an unplanned baby. She'd been unplanned and, while she didn't hate her existence, it just wasn't something she would want to go through with. Thankfully, it was highly unlikely she would ever be in that situation.
She shrugged then took another sip of her hot cocoa. "You're totally good, babe," she reassured her cousin. How have you been, though? Any new stalkers I need to scare off for you?" She worried about Iris working at Taboo, even though she knew Nate kept it as locked down and safe as he could.
“Mmm. Agreed.” Even if that had been her sort of thing - and it never had been - that was another reason to stay away from anyone capable of causing a pregnancy. “Better her than me.”
Iris laughed, shaking her head. “No stalkers,” she confirmed. “At least… none that I’m aware of.” Rules at the club were strict for good reason and she felt safe there, well aware that other people might think it was seedy or sketchy beneath the glamour. “The members are pretty much good as gold. They get kicked out if they’re not.”
Hesitating, she picked up one of the mini gingerbread men. “I did kind of have a thing with someone.” The situation with Penny had weighed on her mind from time to time and it didn’t seem to have gotten back to Hailey via Kenzie. “I only found out after that she knew you.” Iris wasn’t one to shy away from talking about sex, but there was a chance there might be small kids around. “The dating pool is way too small, but that's the first time that’s ever happened.”
Hailey wasn't about to doubt Iris. If she said no one was bothering her at work, then she believed her. Didn't mean she wouldn't ask again another time. "Good," she said simply, letting it go.
It seemed like something was bothering her cousin, though she couldn't guess at what considering what she'd already said. And then Iris elaborated just enough. "Ahh," she hummed, wondering who it could have been. The lesbian dating pool was bigger than when their parents were young adults, but it still wasn't terrible large. "Yeah? Who?" she asked, withholding judgement for the moment.
Would Hailey be upset, Iris wondered. As far as she was aware, she was still dating Rori. Plus, Kenzie’s idea of an epic fantasy romance between Hailey and Penny was just that, a fantasy concocted by a hopeless romantic. And Iris had prudently left out the fact that there had been hook ups after she’d found out too.
“Um, Penny?”
It wasn't as though Hailey had slept with a large number of women, and yet she hadn't been expecting Penny to be the name that slipped from Iris' lips. Her stomach coiled uncomfortably and her lips turned down at the corners in a slight frown, but she forced herself to pause and evaluate how she actually felt about it. She had no true claim on Penny and was, in fact, still technically dating Rori, though that was a whole lot of confusion in and of itself and not something she wanted to try to figure out in that moment.
But she'd been halfway in love with Penny for almost a decade! That was a lot of years and feelings that didn't want to be overlooked.
"Oh. Wow," she finally said. "Was it like… a dating thing? Or just a knowing thing?" she asked, stealing Iris' verbiage out of consideration for the setting. It shouldn't matter if they'd dated or just slept together, but yet it did to her. Penny didn't date. Hadn't that always been the problem between them? The hurdle they could never overcome?
“I’m definitely not dating anyone,” Iris said emphatically, hoping to reassure her cousin. Judging by Hailey’s expression, she was vindicated in not disclosing her other encounters with Penny. “Because I really need to stop being such a cliche and making bad choices.” That she had moved in with someone almost straight away more than once was a habit that she badly needed to break.
“I should have told you sooner. I’m so sorry.”
Was it her imagination, or was Iris getting a little defensive? It was probably her imagination. "Well, I've gone stubbornly in the other direction of the cliche, haven't I? Who's to say what's right or not?" she offered, shrugging her shoulders. "I just know Penny can get swept up in moments when she has no intention of it meaning anything."
Her brows furrowed at the apology, and she lifted a hand, waving it away. "Penny and I have a long, messy history, but I don't have any sort of claim on her. And like we already acknowledged, with the pool so small, there's likely to be some overlap at times." She shrugged again. "I just wouldn't recommend putting your heart on the line with her."
Iris shook her head. “I wouldn’t. It’s my fault for not paying enough attention back at school.” She looked down at her melting marshmallows and sighed. “Kenzie kind of spun me out with some epic love story she’s got in her head for the two of you.” Frowning, she added, “Penny… she seems like someone who’s best in small doses.”
Hailey had no intention of holding any of it against Iris. These things happened, and as she'd said, she didn't actually have a claim on Penny. Of course, then Iris explained that Kenzie had run her stupid big mouth, and Hailey sighed, shaking her head. "Kenzie's delusional. There's no epic love story. Pen and I just… gravitate sometimes. But it's never going to go anywhere, and we both know that. It's why I've been moving on with my life. And Rori… Rori's great."
Did it sound like she was trying to convince herself to Iris as much as it did to her? It wasn't necessarily a lie. Rori was great. It just sometimes felt like there wasn't a deeper connection there, like they were both holding back. "But yeah, Penny and small doses definitely go hand in hand." she agreed, swirling her mug around a bit before taking another sip.
“Oh, she’s not delusional.” Iris grinned, happy to defend Kenzie. “She’s just a romantic. It’s sweet.” Iris bit her lip. “And maybe a little misguided.” Hopefully Kenzie would get to star in a romantic comedy one day.
“I’m really glad things are going well with Rori,” she said, feeling rather like she’d ruined any festive good cheer. “We should all go out again sometime?” Iris suggested. “Before you’re back on the circuit?”
Huffing softly, she rolled her eyes. "A-K-A, delusional!" Hailey insisted with a soft laugh. Maybe it was sweet. Maybe she was just jaded. But she didn't intend to burst Kenzie's bubble when it came to all of that. Life would probably do that all on its own. It was really only recently that her sister had started exploring her own romantic entanglements, after all.
"Ooh, yes! We definitely should! Spring is going to be here before I know it, and I definitely want to get in all the social I can before my schedule's all wonky again. Have you got plans for New Years yet?" she asked, thinking that would likely be the next chance they'd all have to go out together with all the busy holiday parties between now and then.
“I’m working, sorry.” One of the hazards of working in hospitality. But she would be hostessing, not performing, and there were much worse places to work on New Year’s Eve than Taboo. She’d get to spend the evening surrounded by beautiful people dressed to the nines. When it was a good night at the club it didn’t even feel like working.
“But we’ll find another night. I’ll text you when I’ve checked my work schedule? There’s bound to be a weekend we can do.”
Although she was disappointed, Hailey realized she should have suspected Iris would be working that night. "Too bad! But yeah, we'll definitely sort out a time. It doesn't even have to be a weekend! You know Athena often has weekdays off," she pointed out. And besides, loads of people had random times off this time of year.
"So what did you get me for Christmas?" she burst out quite randomly, giving an exaggerated waggle of her eyebrows. She didn't actually expect a gift from her cousin, but it was full to poke.
Iris rolled her eyes. “I might have got you a little something,” Iris teased. “It’s under the tree.” There wasn’t much left under the tree now, but it had seemed like the best place to put things.
She’d been pleasantly busy with commissions via the Creative Collection this year so hadn’t been able to make her own gifts. However, she’d discovered some really lovely candles at the shop and picked some out for all her cousins - even the boys. Just because they were men didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy nice things for their homes, she reasoned.
Her smile widened when Iris indicated she had gotten her a gift. "You're too sweet!" she insisted. "I'm about done with my shopping. I think I'm going to end up bribing someone to wrap them for me. Probably Clary, though maybe Fiona. She's been asking for things to do." Even though Iris wasn't as mixed up in the big chosen family as the rest of them were, she'd been to enough family events to be familiar with the Sayres and Reynolds.
"All of which is to say, I've got a little something for you too, I just didn't bring it because I've been too lazy to wrap it. And gift bags are boring," she added, chuckling a bit.
“Wrapping is the worst,” Iris said, pouting in agreement. Thank goodness for magic. Iris did almost all her crafting by hand, a habit curated through bonding with her mother as Persephone tried to maintain dexterity in her hands. However, Iris absolutely drew the line at wrapping gifts by hand. Magic all the way.
She smiled cheerfully. “Sounds like another reason for us to catch up again soon.”
"It is! And I'm no good at the spells either. Too delicate for me," she admitted with a faint shrug. She was good at charms, no doubt about that, but she didn't think she'd ever be quite as good at them as either of her aunts.
"We will!" she promised. "Just let me know when, we'll make it happen! I totally got Jasper a Cards Against Humanity set for his birthday. We could even have a fun night in with just us cousins." Things had been too busy since the twins' birthdays for them all to get together yet, other than at their parents' tree trimming thing, but of course that wasn't the right setting for it, either.
“Oh, that sounds fun.” Knowing Gavin he probably wouldn’t join them, but Iris knew he made his own decisions. “You can all come around to mine.” Iris hadn’t had much chance to entertain at her flat since she’d moved in and she was happy to offer it as an option. “We’ll order food and get Kenzie to leave her ‘treats’ at home for the night.” Since she knew neither Hailey or Athena would partake, Kenzie could abstain for a few hours.
“I’ll text everyone later,” she promised just before she heard her name being called from the next room. Even though she hadn’t lived here for years, Iris wasn’t considered a guest so she was at her parents’ beck and call. “I’d better go see what that’s about. Don’t forget about your present.”
It would surprise Hailey if Kenzie would agree to leave all of her treats at home for a night of games, and she wondered briefly if Iris was including weed in that list. Did she know Kenzie had been dabbling in other, stronger things? But, she supposed, that would be something for her sister and cousin to work out themselves. "Sounds perfect," she said, happy to let Iris host the thing.
"I won't forget!" Hailey promised, chuckling under her breath as Iris left to figure out what she was being called away for.