InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "K9!"

arrogant_black (arrogant_black) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2011-02-19 11:22:00

Entry tags:

james potter, molly suresh, regulus black

Who: Regulus and Molly, with a guest appearance by James
What: Breakfast then discussions
When: This morning
Where: Molly's flat
Rating/Warnings: We'll go with medium to start with...
Status: In progress, closed

Just when Regulus thought things couldn't get worse, they did. Not something that rested lightly on an already damaged, pessimistic mind. There were two glaring positives his previous 'family' held over this new configuration. First, he'd established a routine, one small thing that garnered familiarity. And for someone with an abused past like Regulus' any amount of steady repetition, even in the smallest measure was an island refuge in a wide tempestuous sea of uncertainty. That was gone now, he was back to square one, he had to figure everything out again. The second thing was the previous 'family' lacked one James Potter.

Juno had promised they wouldn't let things get worse, but that only held true if it were a pandemic complaint. His new situation affected solely him (and James and Molly, but they weren't 'everyone else'). He'd promised to keep things together to stay with Juno, but he couldn't handle this, all of this, the change plus the forced association with someone he despised so much now on top of the removal of his consent. Would someone as severely abused as him consider this forced 'family' situation anything but the taking away of his autonomy? He simply could not process this like everyone else could. He knew there would be no storming the Library for this, he was on his own, and he could not keep the promise made to Juno.

And when Regulus couldn't deal with something, when it seemed as if all avenues of recourse were bared to him, he checked out. He shut down the part of him that engaged with his environment.

He heard Molly at the door, asking him if he wanted to come out to eat breakfast with her and Potter. From where he sat inside the bathtub he ignored her. No, he didn't want to come out to eat with them, not that he had anything against Molly, if it were just her he wouldn't have had this strong of an objectionable response. But she'd just asked a question about how he felt on a particular subject, plus it was a Yes or No question. Those were easy to ignore. But after some coaxing phrases, which he also ignored, she switched tactics and framed her words in the form of a command. She was no longer asking. He got up.

Wordlessly he opened the door, left the bathroom and walked to the kitchen to take his seat at the table. He didn't look at James, he didn't touch the plate in front of him, he just sat silently, intent on filling his obligation that allowed them to eat, and nothing more.

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stolensnitch
2011-02-20 02:34 pm UTC (link)

James was busy piling his plate with everything he could see, although he was careful enough to make sure and leave enough for everyone else. He was sixteen, after all, and a very active one at that. He'd been accused of having hollow legs more than a few times in the past. Regulus's complete lack of movement or caring had him wanting to poke the older wizard in the face, just to make sure he was actually there, but he figured that wouldn't go down well, and Molly's pre-emptive telling-off was still fresh in his mind. He liked her, and so he left well enough alone, which basically meant ignoring Regulus, and ate.

"I think we're going exploring through the city. Lily asked if I wanted to go for a walk, anyway, and then she said about going out with Harry and that I could go along with them. And Harry said I could go and play vido-games with him and Ron," James babbled happily, "and I think that'll mean I could work on sorting out Quidditch stuff as well. Harry said that my first fake-Dad made some equipment before, but he doesn't know where it went, so we'll just have to work on muggle things."

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humanmapquest
2011-02-20 03:01 pm UTC (link)

She could do this. For about the billionth time since waking up and discovering her newest situation, Molly told herself that she could do this. She just had to get through each meal, one at a time, and make it through each night. That was it. The rest of the time, Regulus could stay locked in the bathroom if he wanted, James could go be a teenager and get to enjoy himself, and she could focus on her job and schooling. It wasn't ideal, of course, but Molly knew better than to expect such a thing from the current living arrangements. No, she'd be lucky to get out of this without something exploding, all things considered.

Especially given the fact that they weren't the only ones in the flat. A fact made more than obvious earlier that morning when Molly had finally taken notice of the small house elf that was perched, drunk, in the corner of the living room, muttering what equaled obscenities whenever she wandered too close. Yes, she had ignored Kreacher - had actually felt a rather large spike of pity for him, in fact - but he, too, was liable to wear thin before this was all said and done. However Molly was determined to make the best of it so she shoved the thought of the house elf from her mind, did her best not to let Regulus' lack of acknowledgment get to her, and focused almost primarily on James.

Her smile had been a polite one when he'd first begun speaking but, by the time he was finished, she was authentically smiling. For the briefest of moments she forgot that things had changed, that Merlin wasn't the other person sitting at the table, that the entire meal wasn't quite as awkward as it really was. She simply listened as James told her about his plans for the day, glad he seemed to have things to keep him busy throughout all of this.

"Video," she said when he'd finished. Her tone wasn't rebuking, just soft and amused. "It's pronounced 'video games'. And I'm sure you'll have a nice time." Pausing to take a bite of her food, chewing and swallowing, she finally added thoughtfully, "And if you want some help finding that equipment from before, I can probably manage it."

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