Gwynn (dame_du_lac) wrote in carpediem_rp, @ 2015-10-03 20:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: adrian battye, character: narissa smith, thread: complete |
Who: Adrian and Narissa
Where: by the lake
When: Lunch October 3
Warning: None really
Status: Closed, Complete
Narissa hadn't wanted to leave the dorms, since every time she wandered out of Hufflepuff lately she seemed to encounter the boggart that had still not been eliminated. She wondered sometimes if the stupid thing was just waiting for her. It was still early in the day, so she had asked Adrian to meet her by the lake. She wanted some time with him without the horrible hurtful things the boggart said. She knew it wasn't true (she hoped), but it was still painful and frightening every time she came across it.
She figured a few snacks wouldn't be a bad idea, so she got an elf to bring some things before she left. Of course the stupid boggart was there almost as soon as she walked out, and by the time she got rid of it her eyes were a bit red. She ran the rest of the way through the castle and to the outside, finally reaching the lake and the mental comfort it had always offered her.
Adrian worried about his sister, particularly since she'd indicated she'd run into the boggart (or boggarts) not once by multiple times. He knew her boggart was related to him, and that made him feel more concerned. He didn't want her hurt. He'd tried to find a couple small things he knew she liked to bring with him. Something to make her smile if he could, at least for a moment.
"Hey Sissy." He called as he came up to where she was ensconced by the lake. He frowned when he saw the red of her eyes. He reached out to pull her into a hug as soon as he could. "It's okay Sissy."
Narissa automatically crawled into his arms when he hugged her, her own moving to cling onto him. This was her brother, not the boggart with the nasty snide comments about her behaviour and how he wasn't really her family. Things like that hurt badly because she loved Adrian more than anyone else in her life and so any hint that it wasn't mutual hurt.
"I hate those things. Hate them so much..." She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, refusing to let go.
"Me too." He hated them for terrifying his sister, for making her hurt. "You ran into another one… You are supposed to be going around with friends, Sissy, not alone." Adrian wanted to protect her but had always accepted she had other friends in her life and she should be sticking close to them now. "You've always been more popular."
"Don't want to expose someone else. I've just had bad luck." A small shrug and she closed her eyes. Being with him (the real him) was comforting to her because she could tell he was worried about her, that he loved her. "I'm glad you're here Adi." Because it helped a lot.
"It is easier to confuse them with more people around, Sissy." Adrian argued. "And easier to dismiss them when they are confused." His tone was gently lecturing because he was worried. He wanted to protect her - even when he wasn't with her. "Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to be around to escort you everywhere. Some is possible, but we both have classes."
"I'll be okay." Her voice was a little softer and less sure than normal. "I don't need an escort for classes and rounds I have a few people to go with." Because rounds weren't allowed to be done individually anymore. She didn't mind that, it was always nice to have company when she was doing them since she got bored easily when she didn't have someone to talk to as she walked.
"Liar." Adrian softly called her on it, pulling her closer. "If you use your friends between classes, then that just leaves me getting you for breakfast and dinner and so forth." Adrian wasn't going to pretend he wasn't going to pull the protective brother stunt on her, not when it was clear she was shaken.
Narissa's eyes moved to meet his and she allowed him a slight nod, acknowledging his concern. She didn't especially want him to see her boggart, but at least she had a few ways to combat it, which tended to make things easier. At least easier when it came to getting away. Coping with it wasn't a lot of fun. "I haven't gone. The elves bring food."
Adrian's frown only got deeper when Narissa explained just how much she was hiding in the aftermath of the Boggart. It fixed his determination further. "Why didn't you say something, Sissy?" His sister didn't hide normally - that was his thing. He felt sick that she was.
"It's just a stupid boggart. I'll be okay." Narissa shrugged and looked down for a moment. "I can get past them. I just didn't want to see it. Or be an inconvenience." Because honestly wouldn't that be one of the reasons the not-Adrian threw at her for not wanting her around? She didn't need to add more things into what was already said.
"Except you aren't." Adrian's single sentence answered both her comments - challenging that she was okay, and that she was an inconvenience. "You are usually trying to take care of me, but sometimes you get to be taken care of too, Sissy… Or am I that shitty a brother?" He added the last part deliberately, hoping to get protests from her - and the reassurance he was her brother.
Narissa's eyes narrowed at him, a flash of rage that normally didn't appear except when the people she loved were threatened appearing there. "Do you know what my boggart really is, Adi? It's you telling me that I'm not really your sister, that I'm needy and a whore and you don't want me around. Now think about that and make a connection as to why I maybe didn't want you to see it." She pushed back her hair, frustrated, and shook her head.
Adrian took her temper without much reaction - accepting it as something she needed to get out. "You aren't needy or a whore. You love people, even those who don't deserve it. And anyone who does not want you around - including me - is an idiot." She wasn't really his sister, but he was not going to voice that to her. "It wasn't a desire to see your boggart, Sissy… but to protect you from it. If you don't want me around then..." Then he would honor that too, he finished in his head with a frown.
In her mind it was love that made her his sister even if biology hadn't done so, and it was a point that she would gladly argue for hours. The fact though that he even thought that (and she knew he did sometimes, even though he didn't say it) hurt. "It's not something any of us can be protected from, Adi. Even if you're not seeing your fear in a boggart, it still exists." Her voice was soft as she leaned into him, her eyes closing again.
"We all have to live with our fears, Sissy." Adrian pointed out. It was just how one handled that fear that determined how they lived. "But boggarts are something that others can shield you from… so you don't need to constantly be faced with the fear in physical form." He reassured her - or tried to. He obviously wasn't doing a very good job with that. "And obviously it's a problem if you're getting the elves to deliver your food."
"The elves don't mind." This said with a tiny laugh and she curled closer against him. "It's a stupid fear. And...for a lot of people it wouldn't make sense. I don't want them asking about it." Part of her desire to hide it from others was to protect him as much as to protect them.
Adrian wasn't worried about himself - only his sister. "Of course not, they're elves and everyone likes to help you. As for asking… we already don't have the same last name. The questions are out there, Sissy."
"And inviting more isn't in my to-do list." She ran a hand through her hair again and sighed. "It's bad enough that the names hint at the fact. You're my brother, Adi. I don't want anyone to think that you're not, no matter what."
Adrian frowned a little. Like he was keeping secrets from Narissa again. "I'm having dinner with my father every week now," he reminded her - although he couldn't remember if he'd told her about them at all. It had only been happening since the return to Hogwarts. Tony Stark had been firm to remind him that the truth of his parentage would get out. Adrian didn't want to just quote the other man though. "And with the Quidditch scouts sniffing around… it's likely to get out."
"Yeah." Nari shrugged one shoulder a bit. "Doesn't mean you're not my brother." Because he had been raised with her, not whoever his father was. He had not told her who, so she didn't push on that. If he felt she should know, he would have said. "And most people don't know who your biological mother is, it's not public knowledge after all."
"No, but Tony seems certain it will all come out - that the tabloids will put it all together." Adrian warned her. "Especially if I get signed. Even if I don't, because of my connection to him." And then what would Narissa do?
A faint quirk of her brow and her eyes widened. "Your father's Tony Stark?" Her voice was soft and faintly surprised as she looked at him, and she shook her head. "You're still my brother. That's it. I don't care what anyone says."
Adrian realized at her reaction that he hadn't told his sister who his father was. It had been to try to protect her but then he'd just forgotten. He was careful not to go around advertizing. "He figured it out after seeing me with Wallace at lunch at the World Cup, and demanded a blood test to prove it… but given who he is…" Adrian shrugged. "She never told him. He didn't even know she'd had a child."
Narissa nodded slightly, bypassing the fact that he hadn't told her. He had now and it didn't matter anyway. "I guess that makes sense. So..." She looked away and ran a hand through her hair, forcing herself to not dwell on the fact that he had a biological parent involving himself now and probably wouldn't need her and their mom and dad anymore. "He's trying then?"
That was why Adrian had feared telling anyone - and why he had been so unsettled when he had learned he had a father. Their parents were just that - his parents. "He is. He wants to be a part of my life." Adrian admitted. "So we are having dinner once a week to get to know each other… but that too is the tabloid risk. Wallace is already a star of them, as he is." Adrian looked down. "I wish it wasn't likely though." Adrian liked his life as it was.
"Yeah. It could be worse though. Could be the type of guy to pay you off to forget it." Which honestly part of Nari would have preferred. He was her family, her brother, and she couldn't find herself pleased at another reminder that that wasn't exactly true. "Hopefully it can be avoided until you're done at least?"
Like Narissa, Adrian had been content not knowing. "I guess. If that were the case though, I probably wouldn't know now, anymore than I did before." He tightened his arm around her. "It would be nice to avoid it altogether, but, things don't work out that well." Not for him at least.
Narissa nodded. "Did you tell mom and dad who it was?" Because obviously he had to have told their parents about it. It was only logical. "Maybe you and he should put it out rather than getting caught unaware when they finally find out? I mean...at least that way it's on your own terms?"
"They know," Adrian admitted. "He came to Mom's gallery… and… I'm not ready for that. Or what it will mean for all of you." It would cost him the family he'd grown up with, and the world would suddenly view his parents as… not his parents.
"No matter what, Adi, you're my big brother and the most important person in my life." She kissed his cheek lightly and rested against him again. "I just don't want you to get caught in a bad situation because someone releases the information without you knowing. If you and he do it... You can control it."
"If we controlled it…" then it would never be an issue. It would never come out. "It will never be completely controlled." Adrian lamented. And then… would his sister's fears come true? "Your boggart is me… but… I don't want you hurt because of me."
"My boggart is losing you." Narissa raised a brow slightly at him. "It's you not wanting me as your sister. Not this. This isn't your fault and there's not much you can do about it. It just is. Stark might be your father, but I'm still your sister."
"I'm lucky to have you as my sister." Adrian answered softly, honestly. There was nothing else to say about that. "You said I'm stuck with you…" He wanted that to be true - now more than ever.
"Always. As long as you want to be my brother." It was a clarification she rarely used, but if he didn't want her around... Well. He said he did. The boggart had shaken her confidence a bit but he said he was lucky to have her and she would accept that.