Boyd MacFusty agrees that everything is ALRIGHT (attaboyd) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-08-18 19:47:00 |
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The blue water of Mingulay Bay was bloody gorgeous, and the weather was absolutely perfect. The thick sand was heavy with a recent rainfall, something that Addie was used to in the Highlands of Scotland. Summers there were always off-and-on with the rain. That saying, 'if you don't like the weather, just wait five more minutes' had been born in Scotland, after all. Overhead, puffins flew by, and once or twice, Adelaide nearly fell out of the little boat magically carrying her to the island because she'd been leaning so far out of it, trying to get a better look. Four times, she'd nearly dropped the new (old) camera she'd bought from her parent's shop. They'd given her a decent deal on it, but she'd had to spend an evening listening to Marion, her sister-in-law, go on and on about how Addie should really move back in with her parents during this trying time, about how she'd gotten herself pregnant (in a little more detail than Addie really needed, considering the other half of her conception partner was her brother), and asking if Addie had a boyfriend yet (she'd NOT told her parents about Remus just yet, because it had only been four dates, and she didn't want to jinx it). On shore, Adelaide could make out several buildings, most of which appeared to be ruins, but the boat was heading straight for one particular building in the centre of the bay. Once it settled on shore, Addie pulled her not-so-sea legs out of the boat and onto the sinking sand. Reaching back, she pulled her bag with parchment, quills, and her camera out and over her shoulder. The ruins themselves were only mostly ruins. As Addie stepped from the boat, so had it kept on going up the shore until it reached the crumbled entrance way of the nearest stone structure where it progressively vanished from sight as it drifted into the wide, open centre of the rubble. There couldn't be too much care taken when Muggles liked to show up for a short holiday. Any evidence of habitation on the island by other people was so well-hidden that, to date, not a single tourist ever looked twice. And that was why Ewan MacFusty was climbing down toward Addie from the makeshift seat of a boulder that overlooked the beach. She'd never know in a thousand years where to look if someone wasn't there to receive her. He puffed on his pipe -- out here the Mrs couldn't say a word about his smoking habits -- not waving, nor flagging down the younger reporter. She would have to see the only other person around without any of the nonsense being needed; he waited where the grass hit the sand, hands casually linked behind his back until one was needed to lift the pipe from his lips for a brief second. When she was close enough, he had but one simple question, asked in a stern voice that went with his equally stern-looking visage: "Ye'll be the reporter, then?" Adelaide suddenly had an image of her grandfather in her head, though the elder MacFusty was closer to her father's age. His authoritarianism turned her back to perfect posture, and whatever expression she wore from the journal was wiped cleaned. Blimey, he looks like an older Boyd. Exactly. Blinking with wide eyes, she shifted her bag over her shoulder and stuck her hand out to greet him. "Yes, sir. I'm Adelaide Banges, but everyone just calls me Addie," she said, though she had the distinct feeling he was not going to use her nickname. Ewan's eyes slipped down to look at the extended hand for a moment before he unlinked his hands from behind his back to properly greet her. If she thought him the type to have a firm, strong handshake, then she would not have been mistaken. "Ewan MacFusty," he returned, looking perhaps slightly less stern for the moment. Her bleached, short-cropped hair had right about settled it for him that she was that variety of teenager -- or near-teenager -- that had a full set of ideas of her own about the world. You never had to look for rebellious youths; they always seemed to advertise themselves, although being Boyd's father had meant one such case of not needing to look at his son's ridiculous haircut to know. To the boy's credit, at least he still knew his manners around adults, though. "Ye'll want to walk up this way, Miss Banges," he curtly instructed her. The walk wasn't too far to the house. Just over the crest of the hill they were climbing she'd find herself greeted with the first view of the MacFusty residence, and all the sprawl of the island around it. If she meant to see dragons, she very well would, but not with him as a guide. "Certainly, Mr MacFusty." At least my own handshake isn't wimpy, she thought forlornly. Wasn't he supposed to be more talkative or forthcoming or something? Getting an interview out of Mr MacFusty was going to be like pulling teeth. How in the world was she going to get this man to open up at least a little to get some good quotes? On the other hand, she was formulating a journal entry in her head as they walked along the hills of Mingulay. Ewan MacFusty = Fit, fit, fit. Smokes Pipe. Dragon hide strength hand-shake. Not chatty. No butt. Greta and Meredith were going to laugh their collective bums off. There was another bloody puffin just hanging out in the grass, tilting its head at her as if wondering what she was doing with the elder MacFusty, like it was some sort of uncommon occurrence. Still the view was spectacular, and she caught herself gaping a little. "Gorgeous scenery..." Ewan had to give a faint note of amusement in return as she addressed him. A proper upbringing, then, as she hadn't decided to play chummy and risk a first name. A sense of respect was always something he could appreciate, and he couldn't well blame the lass for trying to drum up conversation if she'd been shipped off to do this interview. He looked over his shoulder, stepping off to the side so that it was a touch more walking side-by-side than before. "It's a sight I do nae mind wakin' to everyday," he replied. The puffins didn't even earn a look from him. It didn't matter terribly, though, for they had reached the crest of the hill and straight ahead was the house. It was a large farmhouse at best description, mostly of a stone foundation like the ruins down near the water, and it was fenced in with matching stone walls more than wooden posts. Several dogs were bolting around on the right side in a clearing, playing with a young boy and girl whose laughs and yells were now carrying far enough to be heard. Ewan nodded toward the whole of it, but particularly to the front steps where two more boys were seated with one of the Scottish Deerhounds lazing between them. "Will nae be me tellin' ye 'bout it all, though." The Deerhound looking up and clawing to its feet shook the two out of their conversation, and it was immediately a race to their feet when they had spotted the arrival of their family's guest. Addie would recognise one face in the set, at least -- the taller one whose longer steps were taking him to his father and the reporter faster than his brother could manage without breaking into a run. At least they appeared to be trying not to look like they were competing to be the first there, but as Michael reached out and gave his older brother an elbow in the ribcage, the whole effort was mostly dead in the water. Ewan gave his sons a sharp look, and immediately the fight was dropped. Anyway, it was the dog that beat them both, wagging it tail and looking expectantly upward to Addie. Boyd had only narrowly beaten his brother, as well -- not that it deterred Michael from getting the first word in. "Michael MacFusty," he greeted the young woman, extending a hand for her to shake. "Who has nae given Bonnie her bath like he told his ma he'd see after," Boyd cut in helpfully, to which Michael only barely caught himself from arguing back about how it had to be Alan's turn. Sure, it was a dirty tactic, but Boyd had taken the day off for this, and Michael knew that. The tosser was getting his just desserts, Boyd felt, for trying to ruin the plan and for that lousy swipe in the side just before. "But I can give Adelaide the tour, sir," Boyd told his father. "No trouble at all." Oh, she probably wasn't going to appreciate what he was doing, but maybe after a bit, he could at least get her to warm up to his company. Somehow. "You won't...?" Oh, sweet Merlin. How was she going to get this interview if the contact wasn't going to be giving her the tour? Betty was going to have her head for this, and she'd come all the way out here for nothing. Maybe they'd settle for some photographs? Addie nearly froze the moment she caught sight of Boyd MacFusty wandering up the path, brother in tow. She tried not to outwardly groan, considering she was walking beside his father, and that just wouldn't do for first impressions. Disappointment colouring her cheeks, Addie's shoulders sagged at Boyd's pronouncement. She was going to have to talk to him, if he was doing the tour. She'd have to ask questions, and now she was beginning to wonder if Meredith was right. That his whole ABBA misstep had been because he was trying to impress her because he knew that he'd be the one giving the tour. Bugger it all. "Oh. Hi, Boyd. I thought you'd be at work..." The dog, however, was familiar -- even if she'd never met it before. She had an affinity with dogs, the bigger the better, and she dropped to her haunches to introduce herself. "Hey you," she said, reaching out to scratch the dogs ears. "Handsome fellow, aren't you?" As Addie stooped to greet the dog, Michael shot a scowl over at Boyd, who merely pointed back at the house and waved his younger brother a good-bye. Ewan looked at his eldest for a moment, his eyes narrowed as he appeared to be appraising the situation. The reporter did know Boyd somehow, and that Boyd had winged a day off during a weekday without any real reason given as to why seemed telling in its own way. Ewan turned to Michael first, who wasn't about to leave without being told by someone other than Boyd to do so, and nodded toward the house as an order to go. Michael opened his mouth, but a sharp glare had him close it again. Then it was Boyd's turn... "If ye know each other, can nae see a reason against it." Ewan gave Addie a final nod. "Miss Banges, enjoy yer stay." Boyd watched his father walk away, waiting until the man was far enough that he couldn't hear. Addie was probably wondering why it was that Ewan wouldn't be answering the questions, but the simple fact was that he didn't need to when three of his sons knew the ropes well enough. It was just the order of things in the MacFusty household, but Boyd wasn't about to go into that. "Every bloke's due his days off," he casually remarked with a shrug. Before she could question it, he plowed right on: "And that's Auberon. He'll prob'ly be followin' us 'round." With the head of the household out of the way, Addie let out a disappointed sigh. She really ought to have known better, considering that private ward he'd sent her that one day when he'd told her that she wouldn't be ignoring him. He knew that she couldn't ignore him when it came to her job. Sneaky git bastard. Auberon was a well-mannered dog for such a big one, and he hadn't even attempted to lick her face even once. Pushing herself to standing position, she looked at Boyd, barely hiding her suspicion. "You took today of all days off on purpose," she said flatly, daring him to deny it. He didn't look sick, and the way his father eyed him, his father knew it now, too. Staring at Boyd for a long moment, she finally said, "I don't understand you. At all." "Had it off," Boyd countered, trying to make it sound throw-away enough that Addie would loosen her grip on the idea, if not let it be thrown away. "Things happen like that, an' ye can trust me that ye wouldna wanted Mike or m'father takin' ye 'round the sights." He raised his brows, hoping his words were making some ground with her. "I know this is yer job. I'm not gonna try anythin', Adelaide. Swear it t'Merlin's sainted mother." After another moment of just looking at him, Adelaide resigned herself to the idea that she was going to have to follow after Boyd MacFusty for this interview. Great, just great. What a rotten way to start off her writing career, interviewing someone she regularly argued with. "All right, fine. I'm here for my job, not trying to make friends." Which was completely not how Adelaide saw herself when it came to doing the actual reporting. In school, she'd liked to get to know the person, ease them a little with talk of other things, and then slip in a question or two about what she wanted to know. She shifted her bag to pull a quill and parchment out of it to begin. "First things first: name, age, and position." Boyd kept his expression as impassively chipper as he could. She didn't want to make friends? All right, that wasn't the end-all, be-all. She still had to talk with him and spend time with him. It wasn't a loss just yet. For the time being, though, Boyd decided he ought to answer her questions in as straight-forward a manner as Adelaide was asking them. He was mostly certain she knew his name now, but... "Boyd MacFusty. Twenty-one. Dragon Handler for the Dragon Research an' Restraint Bureau. Otherwise overseein' the Hebridean Blacks 'round here as MacFusties do." Auberon had plunked down onto his hind legs just beside Boyd, calmly surveying the immediate area. "Am I allowed t'ask the same back? Just... just for the sake of knowin'." "That's not usually how it goes, MacFusty," Addie answered, trying not to roll her eyes. Thankfully, she had her hands full jotting down the information he'd just told her. That done, she glanced back up. "Besides, you already know. Adelaide Banges, eighteen, reporter for the Daily Prophet." Somehow during the few moments they'd been standing there, Auberon had taken a shine to Addie and he'd plopped his behind right next to her foot, looking up at her from beneath his furry eyebrows up at her. "Auberon... Why are you looking at me like that?" Boyd had to smile at that: she had answered him back. There wasn't any real reason she needed to, but she did. This was approaching an actual conversation, and so far there wasn't any fighting between them. "Could use just Boyd, ye know," he offered as he watched Auberon stand up, walk to Addie, sniff her feet, and then settle again. "An' ye did give him a pat on the head. Far as he can tell ye're right mates now." Addie couldn't say no to a dog, despite it being Boyd's dog. She gave him a ruffle on the head before exhaling. Better to get this over with, she thought. "How long have the MacFusties been the guardians of the dragons here? What sort of stories have been passed around from generation to generation about how they came to watch the Blacks?" Oh, great. Hardly five questions in, and Boyd was already stuck for a definite answer. "How long?" he echoed, looking outward at the cliffs as he mulled it over. "Does a really sodding long time count as an answer? 'Cause it goes back generations, but I have nae ever heard -- I mean, it'll be centuries now. "An' the stories're more or less: 'See those teeth? One time yer uncle was nae paying attention to where they were, and they're fuckin' sharp so quit gettin' so close, ye tosser, unless ye want to end up with no legs.'" Boyd gave Addie a shrug. "Me cousin's favourite one. Nae exactly the sorts of stories ye were after?" She couldn't help it; Adelaide groaned out loud, smacking her hand over her eyes. Seconds later, she exhaled through her mouth, glancing up at the sky and pressing her lips together so completely that it looked like she didn't have lips. "Any sort of records or will I have to go to the Ministry to find out when it all became official?" She was going to the Ministry for those records, regardless, but god-damn. Even the elder MacFusty's curt and short speech would be more preferred than a bunch of stories that may or may not be true. "No, not really the stories I was after," she said tiredly. "Can we start the tour now?" Boyd watched Addie's reaction, brow furrowing as they both stood in silence. "Was nae even the least bit funny?" he asked hopefully, although she looked so very un-humoured, that he felt he didn't need to hear the answer. "Right -- I'll get ye whatever dates ye need, but I do nae know them off the top of me head," he sighed, snapping to Auberon, who stood up and stepped back over to his master. "Better start this way first." There was a foot-beaten path in the wispy grass leading off into the distance from where it started by the house that Boyd and Auberon had started down; Boyd stopped only to turn and make sure Adelaide was following. "If ye're keen on seein' the dragons, that is," he told her. "No, I'll look it up at the Ministry, nice, proper, and official," Addie said, shuffling off down the path after him. She glanced over her shoulder toward the house, where the two children were still playing with another one of the dogs and wishing she was ten again. At least then, it was okay not to think about the state of the world. In fact, mums and fathers all over the world tried to keep their children from learning too much about Death Eaters and dragons biting legs. Pointing over her shoulder, she asked, "I thought there were more MacFusties than just your family? How come this is the only house around?" He only needed to have a bit of patience, Boyd reminded himself. After lying to her -- twice -- and all the arguments in the journals... and that small mistake about ABBA that he almost knew she thought him an idiot for because if Meredith had come nudging him about who he meant to impress by it, then the girls probably had been talking about him somewhere. Anyway, he figured it wouldn't be instant that Addie would try out just talking with him. Boyd followed the line of Addie's finger, looking over at the house that was quickly shrinking in the distance. His mistake to have pried his eyes off the path because that accident-prone nature of his jumped right in without hesitation. There weren't any rocks or roots to catch his feet on -- no, Boyd had tripped on his own two feet. He flailed his arms outward, only just steadying himself before toppling over. Flattening his shirt front, he breathed out a sigh, and tried to pick up his thoughts again. "The rest of the family's spread out," he explained, hoping the stumble wouldn't be noticed. "Other islands..." Boyd gave a vague wave outward to the sea. Addie tried so hard not to laugh at Boyd's clumsiness that her ears popped with the effort of it. Pulling the parchment to her face, she hide whatever smile she had behind it. He was trying to play it off, and really, she didn't want to laugh. This was work, by god, and laughter was not allowed! Especially not when Boyd Lachlan MacFusty was involved. Clearing her throat, she asked, "But... there are dragons on Mingulay, right?" The rustle of paper as Addie covered her mouth caused Boyd to look over to her, flipping his shaggy hair out of his face from where it had started to block his vision. He pulled a mild frown as he met her eyes from over the raised parchment, but didn't at all seem inclined to ask what she was doing. He could guess, anyway; she would laugh at him nearly falling flat on his face. Well, if that's what amused her, she would probably see it actually happen before they were done. Of all God's creatures, the Boyd MacFusty species was not blessed with grace. Boyd stopped as she asked him about the dragons, turning to fully look at her. "I told ye that ye'd see 'em," he replied, narrowing his eyes just enough for the proper effect of suspicion. "Is that doubt, then?" "No!" she blurted out, tetchy at his suspicion. "I just didn't come all the way out here to take a tour on a dragon camp without so much as a dragon. I'd end up fired for not doing my job properly. As it is, I'll probably get in trouble because Ewan, your da, was supposed to be my point of contact." Instead, she got his son, the lying git. Ergh, this was going to double up on her work-load so much. She'd have to double-check every sodding thing he said! "Just... lead the way, and try not to wipe out on the way, eh? A clumsy dragon-keeper is a good angle for a story." Not that she had any intention of writing the whole story about him. "All right, all right," Boyd countered, lifting his hands as if they would cushion the impact of her words. "Sorry. Lighten up, Banges. I'm only teasin'." Cripes. It was like every little thing he did was getting her more and more defensive, even though he rather fancied he was being precisely the same as... well... John Smith was when they'd first run into each other in the Hogs Head Inn. "Anyway, I was 'bout t'tell ye to take a look up," Boyd continued after convincing himself that he shouldn't argue with her last point. Maybe he was a bit clumsy, but there wasn't any need to tell everyone in an article about it. She had to be kidding. Right? Right? "'Cause that is nae a puffin overhead." The difference between John Smith and Boyd MacFusty was quite a chasm, Addie thought. John Smith had approached her at a bar, smiled winningly and made a few cute jokes. Boyd MacFusty was supposed to be taking her on a tour, showing her the life of a dragon-keeper, and keeping things strictly professional. That and John Smith hadn't lied to her. At least until he'd told her his name. Adelaide looked up on command, mouth dropping open on instinct as was wont to do in these circumstances, and lo and behold, there was a Hebridean Black circling overhead. Her eyes widened, and perhaps there was a little bit of a smile on her face. Unfortunately, what came out of her mouth wasn't quite so enraptured. "It looks like it's circling to cut loose on us. They don't drop loads of shite on unsuspecting reporters regularly, do they? Because I pressed this outfit this morning." Boyd pivoted his head on his neck to send Addie a look of near disbelief, both brows drawn upward. "Nah," he returned. Well, if she wasn't going to be impressed, then she couldn't fault him for turning that sarcastic tone right back around. "They specifically look for the ones with pressed blouses," he sighed out. "Come on, then." Boyd had started off once more, only just fending off the urge to grumble about how she'd all but shot down the wonder of that first glimpse. Usually people were more excited -- 'ooooh-aaaaah' and all that sort of stunned manner of a reaction. He had his hopes that she might even have given a start. Anything more than staring upward and making smart commentary as had happened. "Let's get ye that story." "Oy, just trying to make a joke," she said amiably enough, nearly catching her shoe on a root of some sort. Flushing a little and stepping clear around it, she followed off after him. Catching up quickly, she walked alongside him. She walked in silence for a while before she suddenly stopped. "Hey..." Gnawing on her lower lip, she ventured. "Can -- can we start over?" Overcome with embarrassment, she shook her head. "N-never mind. Forget I said that." This was getting impossible: not only did Boyd not know how to gauge her reactions, but he couldn't follow her logic behind the last few. If there wasn't something about her that he liked so much -- if he didn't like her snappiness, despite how it stung at times when a bloke was on the wrong end of it -- he might've called it a failed attempt by now. There had to be something wrong with him he decided, as he gave her a lousy rendition of a smile in payment for the admission that she'd been kidding. It seemed a stupid thing that it mattered that much that she hated him, that it bothered him the way it did. Although, as Adelaide stopped walking, and Boyd's attention was pulled back to see what the matter was. He made to turn, once more succumbing to his clumsiness and tripping on a small rock for the least few degrees. Reclaiming his balance, he listened intently. And, for a pause, he could only look at her, somewhat dumbstruck. ".......What?" Addie frowned, suddenly self-conscious and more than a little like a worm on a hook. Jerking her head down, she stared at his shoes hard, as if she could will the feet inside to stop getting caught up together. "Are your shoes too big for you?" Boyd inclined his head at an ever steeper angle as he regarded Adelaide from the half a dozen steps away he was. "What?" he repeated, this time to her latest question. And damn it if he didn't find himself looking down at his trainers, as well. "No, they're... they fit just fine, thanks," he replied as he lifted his eyes to blink at her. "But what was that before the shoes?" he asked. "You just keep tripping over your feet, and so it makes me wonder if they're a bit loose..." Oh well, distraction failed. Time to cut straight to the chase. She shifted and began walking down the path, not looking at him. Ergh, what a mess! Had he simply told her his real name back in the Hogs Head, they could have easily have laughed it off and been done with it. Instead, there was all sorts of nastiness going on, and Addie was too immature to know how to really deal with it. "I said never mind." "Bit loose, yeah, but I can nae pull the laces any tighter," Boyd confessed. He didn't know why. His shoes were definitely not worth talking this much about, but it seemed like it was something Addie was willing to simply converse about. No fuss. No argument there. At least, there wasn't until she insisted on that 'never mind' business again. Boyd couldn't prevent his face from closing up into a bemused scrunch. He was going to get dizzy the way she was volleying between things. "I did nae imagine that ye just asked t'start over, did I?" he tried, his tone cautious and soft, just in case it set her right off all over. "That's what I'd said, but then I said never mind, because I knew you were going to make a big huge deal about it," Addie answered, stumbling in earnest now down the path as quickly as she could in whatever direction the path was taking. "Like you are right now." "Wait!" Boyd called out, whipping his head around as she bolted by. "C'mon, wait up!" It was lucky he had the advantage of longer strides because she didn't get very far at all before he was beside her again. "I'm nae tryin' to make any deal of it, I swear -- ye did nae exactly give me the chance t'reply, ye know. How's a bloke toUMPHFF...!" It probably would have helped to have been looking where he was going, but caught up in the moment, Boyd had ignored that one sage bit of advice. He untangled his limbs from the short brush, tripping before he was fully standing on his feet again, and taking a dive into the grass instead. Even for him, this was a new record of prattishness because he wasn't minding his feet. He looked sourly upward at the sky as he remained sprawled face-up in the tall grass. "Bugger," about summarised the string of swears going through his mind. Addie started at the sound of his howl, spinning around to see what was going on and praying he wasn't getting eaten by a hungry Black. Though in her head, every time she thought about Blacks, she didn't think about great and mighty dragons. She thought about Regulus and Sirius with long whip-like tails and flapping wings. If she could doodle better than stick figures, she might have tried that one for sure. "Blimey! Are you all right?" she asked, hopping over a small bush and heading toward him. Addie crouched in front of him, hands on her knees, wondering if he was a big enough git not to accept her help. Sticking out her hand, she ventured, "Need some help?" Boyd's eyes stared straight ahead until Addie's face broke his skyward glaring -- at which point he opted for blankly looking at the offered hand. If she didn't think him an absolute idiot by now (or at least more of an absolute idiot, if it was ever possible to surpass the level of absolution), then he'd be genuinely surprised. "Peachy," he replied, catching her hand, though he barely used her support to climb back to his feet. "Thanks -- but'm great. Fine, really," he finished, trying to dismiss the slip as swiftly as he could. "Happens all the time." It wasn't a lie. Boyd picked out a thorn from his palm, trying to figure out what to say next. "Erm -- anyway..." He thought some more, as apparently the first time didn't work. "Just demonstratin' the dangers of the wild out here. Fierce bushes an' all. Deadly nasty things." "So what you're really saying is that you're clumsy. You have two left feet?" Addie asked him, frowning a little as he took her hand but didn't actually use it. He must think she was a daft and stupid little thing who couldn't handle being out of doors. There was nothing worse to Adelaide Banges than someone thinking she couldn't handle something. With drooping shoulders, she glanced around, trying to gauge which way they would be going from there. If the MacFusties didn't have anti-Apparition wards on the island, she would have popped back to London and quit her job at the Prophet on the spot. "Let's just get this over with." That was barely two minutes and Adelaide had shot straight across everything that came between concern and what appeared to be complete annoyance. Again. At least that's how it felt to Boyd. Whatever chance he had to ask about that do over had clearly slipped beyond his grip now. He swore, partly because of another thorn in his wrist, but mostly because it seemed like a good idea. "What'm sayin' is let me do the leadin'." What he did wrong, Boyd accepted that he'd never know, and she'd never tell him without chewing his sodding head off over it. It was amazing how well that crimped Boyd's spirits, and he never was one to mask his troubles. Still, they had work to do. "They like the cliffs. Those cliffs -- straight ahead. That's where we're goin', but down 'long the water. Ye'd rather be lookin' up at them than inchin' over the edges and startlin' any of 'em." "Right then," she said, letting her shoulders sag a little. To her credit, she'd come prepared for some hiking: hiking boots, thick trousers, even a bit of trail mix in her bag should she get hungry -- or worst, lost. Of course, now that she knew it was Boyd giving her the tour, now she thought she might get left out here alone on purpose. "On we go?" Boyd gave a single nod, gesturing with his hand for her to keep up as he start walking again. The walk wasn't a far one at all from where they had been, and soon enough they were meandering across a more rocky coast than the one Addie had come ashore on. One or twice Boyd looked over to her, wondering if maybe enough time had elapsed that he had a fighting chance at reviving the conversation, but erring to the side of caution for once, he decided to sit on it. At least the wash of the sea on the rocks was filling the quiet. But he'd have to speak again. That was the point of being her guide, Boyd realised. "Ye'll likely see their nests along the face of the cliffs," he told her after the silence had gone long enough. "Breedin' time's done with, but I've been down here everyday checkin' in on the lot of them. With any luck ye might just see a hatchling peerin' over." Not being nearly as tall as Boyd, she was having a hard time seeing anything in the side of the cliffs over one particular rock. Though it was slick and wet, Addie climbed as far up as she thought was safe, and since she could not get a better grip on the rock with her fingers, she steadied her hand on his upper arm and leaned in closer to his cheek so that she could get into his line of sight. Any closer and her hair would had mingled with his. In a quiet voice -- because she had no idea how good a dragon's hearing was -- Addie whispered, "Is that one..." For a brief second, she had to lean her weight on his arm to point with the other hand. "...there? That little, tiny beak? Or is that a rock?" Boyd had been entirely distracted by the grip she had on his arm, and although he was trying nobly to keep himself from turning to look at her and being an obvious dolt, he couldn't help looking over just enough to see Addie's face. She was looking with such determination at the rocks, that perhaps she wouldn't notice his stunned expression. He snapped himself out of it as soon as he realised what he was doing, although it took a moment to understand why she was pointing. "Oh!" It took a certain loudness of voice to be heard over the crashing waves, and Boyd was decidely without fear of being overhead by the wrong party and made into lunch. "Yeah, that'll be one of 'em. There's four this year -- three ye can see from right here," he replied, pointing to another location so Addie could see a second hint of hatchling as two miniature wings flapped from a roost. Addie smiled widely, still looking out at the cliff-side. Eager and excited, she nearly squealed with delight. Her grip on Boyd's arm tightened just a little in her fever. If Boyd had wanted wonderment, he was getting it full-blast now."Oh my God --" God would forgive her for that one, she was sure, considering she was reveling in His creations, after all. "They're beautiful! They look so tiny compared to the parents. Look at how little they are!" Oh, if only it wasn't so dangerous to get any closer. Dragons were surely like any other beast when it came to their offspring: lethally over-protective. The grin that had been mostly vanished from Boyd's face ever since they started out was coming back in full on a second wind. This was the sort of reaction he was after, and wouldn't it just be the sight of those wee things up on the ledge flapping about that did it. "There's another," he continued, squinting to memory knew the nest was as he gave himself a mental pat on the back for finally getting that smile out of Banges. Boyd pointed once more. "Up that way." The nest itself was there, but it was looking strangely -- no, strangely wasn't the word he wanted. It was wrongly vacant. Something wasn't right; those dragons hadn't the wing-size to manage anything more than a slower-than-outright-drop out of the nests. Flying wasn't an option for them. "I don't... I don't see anything in it. Suppose it could have fallen out?" Frowning, she squinted even more. Damn, she wished she'd brought a pair of omnioculars right about now. Following down the ledge and cliff, a thought popped into her head. If dragons were anything like most animals, if their young fell from the nest or wandered away, the parents abandoned them. "Erm, do dragons abandon their young if they fall from the nest?" Unwilling to resign to the fact that the nest was empty, Boyd shielded his eyes, hoping it would somehow make the scene his eyes were fixed upon look a tad more dragon-filled. There wasn't any hiding a frown now, and that inverted curve of Boyd's mouth was only getting steeper as the seconds passed. "Yeah," he answered, leaning this way and that without breaking his vigil. "There's no way of gettin' the wee thing back up once it's down..." There wasn't any luck: the hatchling wasn't any where near its nest. Boyd turned to Addie, concern writ all over his face. "Stay here," he told her, pointing to the ground where she stood as he started off for the coast below that particular nesting area. "Boyd..." she whispered before he could take off too far. Probably madness on her part, but the idea of a baby dragon just crying out for help on the ground with no mummy or daddy to help it tore up her heart. "Boyd, can I... I want to help, please? Please? I promise to do whatever you tell me I need to do be safe..." Boyd stopped mid-step, turning to look at Adelaide over his shoulder. He gave her an inscrutable look as he considered the request. On the one hand: this was seriously cutting into his brave and manly moment of advancing into the dangers of... well... mostly being shat upon, if he had to be honest. There was always a chance that one of the adults would return in a foul mood and consider the humans below as a cheerful little snack, but that hadn't happened to him yet. Besides, he was beyond pissing himself over the idea of being eaten alive. He could run, after all, and there were plenty of crags to hide in. Score one for mankind on that. On the other hand: she hadn't even faltered before offering. That said something about the character of Adelaide Banges. Boyd wasn't poetic by any means, but he felt his heart was moved by it. Eventually he threw her a shrug, trying not to let on that he was nothing short of impressed among other things. "Right. Stick close," he replied, waiting for her to catch up before going on any further. She ditched her bag by the rock; after all, she could summon it later. All she had with her now was her wand, which, quite frankly, was all she'd need in the situation, she was sure. No time for stupid jokes or arguments. She hurried up behind him, careful to step where he had been if only because he seemed to know what he was doing. "All right then, let's go see what happened to it." As soon as Addie was on his heels, Boyd led on, and if not for being so wrapped up in what became of the hatchling, he might have even been sporting a healthy grin about the turn of events when it came to her. A quick glance was spared to the cliff every few steps to make certain that nothing with gigantic claws, teeth, and appetite was swooping in. At least, despite the rocky terrain being a near obstacle course, the distance they needed to cross was closing up quickly. Only, Boyd jammed on the breaks. The noise they were making by stepping from rock to rock had apparently upset something in the area, and he was vastly sure that the squawk he heard was not the usual sound that ought to be coming out of the ground. Boyd whipped around to face Addie, expression expectant, looking to see if he hadn't imagined it. There were seals that occasionally wound up caught in crevasses and the like, but hope was pulling that it wasn't one. Before Addie could respond, Boyd picked up his pace, heading directly for where the sound originated, and only barely keeping himself upright as he tackled the harsh path to that spot. Addie clamped one of her hands over her mouth to keep from asking questions. She'd heard the noise, too, and it was the most awful, heart-wrenchingly pathetic sound she'd ever heard in her life. Sounded like a baby crying. Not human, of course, but a baby none the less. While Boyd might have been having a hard time with the terrain, Addie was climbing and shuffling quite gracefully, even grabbing a hold of Boyd's arm whenever it seemed like he might have gotten tangled in something along the way. That is, until he stopped, and she bumped smack into the back of him. It wasn't that Boyd had never seen a hatchling at close range before -- far from it. It was the concept of finding one tucked into a niche between rocks on the shore, sadly flopping in a small puddle created by the tide's gradual advance, that struck him as a chance in a million. Usually the dragon didn't last until it was found, or the fall had not been forgiving enough. And yet, padding around below the level of their feet, there it was. Addie had been right about her hunch; the wings of the poor beast were at all the wrong angles, crimped in the wrong places, and looking far too bloodied for it to have simply strolled down for a pleasant stay on the shoreline. Somehow the hatchling had survived the drop -- possibly by spreading the smallish wings it did possess and slowing the fall, maybe even scraping the cliffs on the way down to break its speed by the look of it -- but it was not in any sort of shape to do anything more than wail as it caught sight of the two eyes looking upon it. Boyd tore his vision away from the baby dragon, looking up as it hit that shrill note. The cry was going to be heard by one of the adults if this kept up -- just because it was more than likely abandoned didn't mean it wouldn't be able to call for help. Without another thought, he jumped down into the narrow opening, wrestling off his outer shirt layer. "Got anythin' ye can stand t'part with, Banges?" he asked as he wrapped the hatchling up in his shirt. Good thing that it was only about the size of a small dog. Yeah, she did. She had an outer shirt on, too, and she ripped it off as quickly as she could. Passing it over to him, she held up one of her fingers. Damn, she wished she hadn't left her sodding bag now. It was definitely big enough to carry the hatchling in. "I can.. I can summon my bag or... do you think we could make it back? Maybe we could do a silencing spell to keep its cry from being heard? If one of the parents comes back..." "Hold... on... a... sec," Boyd muttered, tying up his sleeves so that the fabric of the shirt was snuggly keeping those wings from moving any more than the hatchling had already moved them. He reached up to grab her blouse, pausing to collect his thoughts, trying to process what she'd offered. "Yeah -- the bag. Do that. Plea --" With the small darling beginning to cry again, Boyd had no choice but to press its beak shut between his thumb and fingers. "Please," he finished over the now-muffled noises emerging from the dragon's throat. With his free hand, he reached for his wand, which had fallen out of his shirt and onto the ground in all the on-the-spot-and-mostly-lacking-a-real-pl Addie fought the urge to pet the hatchling, and somehow the sight of it crying without being heard seemed worse than its cry. Like a drowning child or something. Swallowing hard, she turned in what she hoped was the direction they'd come from, but everything sort of looked the same from down here. After summoning it, her brow furrowed when it didn't come. "Do you lot have anti-Summoning Charms on the island, too, because that's a little -- Oof!" Her bag smacked her in the back of the head. No time to be humiliated though; that could come later. She reached inside of it, pulling out all of the contents -- camera, parchment, quills, coin purse, trail mix -- and shoving them into random pockets. The camera, luckily, came on a cord of its own and she could easily slip that over her neck. Holding it open the widest she could, she said, "Here." Addie's winded exclamation caused Boyd's focus to jerk up. It was the rush of things; the sooner they could get out of there, the better he'd feel. Maybe the adult dragons would no longer hear the little one's sobs, but the tide definitely was creeping up. There were better places to be than standing on the rocks when that happened. Besides, the hatchling needed a better look-over than he could give it where it was. Boyd wrapped Addie's shirt around the already-partly bundled dragon. The two layers were thin, even so, but they were better than nothing. "Thanks," he returned, mostly out of reflex at this point, as he clutched the bag and fought it to remain freely open. Even for knowing that the dragon's scales, although not fully matured at this age as Boyd could instantly tell from looking, would protect it from further injury, he resumed handling the creature with exceedingly careful hands. It -- actually she because there were markings around her beak to distinguish that bit with, which he noticed as he lifted her from the ground. She struggled some more as Boyd tucked her into the bag, softly coaxing her to keep still with a few words. Of course, he knew that it was a female voice that soothed more than his would; it was a fact that was true for most animals, but he was doing all he could. "Take 'er, all right?" Boyd raised the strap of the bag up as far as his arm could reach. It'd take being an unforgivable moron for him to try and climb out while carrying the hatchling. "Be careful. Don't you dare get your limbs all caught up in those rocks," she instructed him, taking the strap and slipping it gingerly over her neck -- as if the act of falling down the side of a cliff wouldn't be the demise of it, but being placed around someone's neck would. Addie took a step back to give him some room. "What was wrong with its wings?" she asked, concerned. "They weren't like that because of a fall; they looked like it was born like that. I once foaled a baby with a leg that was backward. Not much you can do about a horse with a backward leg. We had to put it down. Will they have to put the dragon down?" Usually, his counter point to Addie's advice would have be along the lines of a 'yes, mother', but snipping back, even in jest, simply wasn't on his mind. Boyd gave her a nod before hoisting himself up from the deepening puddle. He skidded back down a few inches, but eventually managed to climb up and out with little more bruising and scrapes than he had gone down into the hole with. "C'mon," he told her, sparing a look upward to the cliffs as he nodded to where they had come from, "as we're walkin'." Boyd wouldn't ask her to hand the bag back over. It was smarter that she carried it with his knack for prat-falling. "Did nae get a long enough look, but could be -- leastways it was partly the fall," he continued, flexing his hands out in front of him. Some of the red on his hands was definitely not his own. "No one's puttin' any dragons down, though. The sodding Ministry can nae tell me what t'do out here on me own land." It definitely wasn't Addie that he had the problem with, but that whole 'putting down' situation never went over well with Boyd at work. You mean your father's land, don't you?That was neither here, nor there. One day, it would be his, she supposed, considering he was the eldest. "But..." she started, skidding over a wet rock and throwing out her arm to steady herself. She was going to have to slow down a little if she didn't want to come crashing down. Once she'd managed to keep her balance, she followed once more after Boyd, only more cautiously. "But if it can't fly... how will it survive? Are there spells to right wings? When do they start breathing fire?" That time, Boyd had quickly reached out, making certain that Addie didn't take a spill. There were two birds to be taken out in one fell swoop now if she did, but all else aside, he would've done the same had it only been her. At least they were near enough to level ground by then, which was something of a relief. Adelaide's question struck Boyd head-on, however. He slowed up to allow her to fall into step beside him, his eyes trained on the bag around her shoulders and considering the small beak that kept trying to poke up through the opening. "T'heal wings, sure. Right 'em?" He drew his face up to meet Addie's, giving her an apologetic near-frown. "We'll have t'see." It wasn't worth squashing all hope for the small girl, but magic could only mend so much. "Ye're all right with the carryin'?" he asked as it occurred to him that this all was most definitely not what a reporter's job was. Addie seemed to be helping by self-will, but damned if Boyd hadn't forgotten how little he understood her reasoning at every point before now. "Yeah, fine with the carrying. Not a big deal really. It's not that heavy." Not for someone who was used to it. Greta would have been able to carry heavier, Addie was sure. Addie was trying not to peek at the little creature in her bag, if only because they really needed to get away from here before some fire-breathing mother came back and decided they were absconding with her baby, which, in retrospect, they actually were doing. "So if it ends up that it can't fly... what will you do with it?" Boyd sucked in a breath. What was he going to do with the hatchling? By his book, the tiny thing couldn't have been picked up by any better a family then it had been, when it had been. The MacFusties were sworn to guard over the Hebridean Blacks, and so it didn't require a single more thought than that. Here was a Hebridean Black, and she would remain in their care. "She's more'n welcome t'stay with me long as she likes," he answered as they were closing back in on the MacFusty dwelling that had reappeared on the horizon as they walked on. "'Fraid this'll cut the tour short, but... bet ye that ye'll get any answers ye need when we're back at the house." Addie suddenly wanted to stop and tell him that he was all right in her book, that she was sorry she'd been such a bint before. And the time before. And the time before that. She figured that might have been why he'd lied to her about his name in the first place. After all, she'd jumped down his throat as quickly as she could the moment he'd even mentioned horses. Instead, she simply gave him a nod in return. Besides, it wasn't as though she only had a short amount of time out here. She could figure out some way to get to take another, perhaps shorter, tour? "Do you think Rosie will be there? I saw her outside playing, I think, but I wanted to tell her that I was sorry for not telling her my name. She talks too fast some times..." Boyd looked alongside to Addie, wondering if this was another brief moment of her trying for conversation, only to bite his head off in the next minute. But he smiled back, taking the chance to finally start telling her about his family as it was given. "She talks too fast all the time, ye mean," he returned with a quirked brow. "She's there. I did nae tell 'er ye were comin' just in case ye we're dreading havin' t'deal with one of us much less two." He rolled his shoulders into a shrug, still smiling as he looked down at his footing to make certain it wasn't getting away from him again when they encountered the area he had tripped coming down. "'Course... now ye'll likely meet the whole lot." Because Adelaide was predisposed to telling the truth; she couldn't help but blurt out, "Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading today, in case you were here." She gave him an apologetic smile, tight-lipped but genuine. "Sorry, but I thought you were an irredeemable liar. Can't stand liars." Addie bit her lip, pondering if she'd said too much, if it was too blunt -- as per usual. "But just for the record? If you had just told me at the Hogs Head what you're real name was, I'd have laughed it off and bought you a beer." "Tha...nks," Boyd managed to reply with as he narrowed his eyes, turning over the words again. Somewhere in there he could swear there was a compliment, and so he sat on the urge to take offense. There was one thing that did break through his extraordinarily thick skull of all she had said, and it caused him to (after a brief stretch of silence) ask with an undisguised note of hope: "That a standin' offer? Could still laugh it off, yeah? I'll cover the tab." As much as Adelaide wanted to accept the offer, she couldn't in good conscience. Not with having been out on her fifth date with Remus, and involved in all out snogging during the last one. "If we're out with friends... certainly. Can't really turn that down, but.. I've sorta... I don't really think it's right for me to go out for a drink with a bloke who's offering to pay. Sounds too much like a date, and I've already got a -- a --" What in Merlin's name did she call Remus? A 'date'? That didn't sound formal enough, considering they'd gone out on five dates. But she hesitated to use the term boyfriend, since they hadn't really discussed that. "Well, a boy friend. A boyfriend. You know? Not really right of me, even if that's not what you meant." "Oh." That made some sense. Addie had told him about a second date going back a week or two, but Boyd hadn't counted on Lupin being the type that... well... He remembered Lupin as being the one always with his face stuffed in a book. Being Addie's boyfriend didn't want to click in his mind. "Yeah," Boyd agreed, barely keeping his disappointment from showing. "That's all right," he finished as they were closing in on their destination. Someone had bolted out the door that moment and was heading straight for them in a blur of pigtails and flapping arms. Boyd made a mental note to thank Rosie later for her perfect timing later. Boyd turned to Adelaide, picking up on his earlier grin as best he could. "Anyway, looks like yer fan club's been alerted," he muttered to Addie out of the side of his mouth, for Rosie was just about in front of them. "Adelaide!!! I was tellin' Mike that I saw ye out there with Boyd-o, but he was grumblin' an'..." Rosie wasn't usually one to stop mid-run-on-sentence herself, but her eyes had fallen on the bag around Adelaide's shoulders. She squinted at it with suspicion as it moved. "Whaaaat's in the --" "In the house ye get, Rosie," Boyd instructed, pivoting her around by the sides of her arms and frog-marching her in front of them. "Ye'll see it inside." "Hey Rosie," Addie started before pulling the bag back and away from her prying hands. "It's a -- Yeah, see it inside...?" Oops, she'd nearly overstepped her boundaries there and told the younger MacFusty sibling what was in the bag. "Should we take the silencing charm off it?" Addie asked, concerned now because, while she hadn't forgotten about it, she hadn't though about how hurt it could be if its cry couldn't be heard. "What if it's been crying out in pain, and we've been ignoring it all this time?" The tragic thing was that Adelaide looked very upset by the idea. "But I wanna see, why can nae I --" "Inside, Rosie," Boyd countered, opening the door with one hand and pushing Rosie through with the other. He then turned to Addie, nodding for her to go in first. "It was cryin' out in pain when we found it. Half scared, too. Look, there's nothin' more coulda been done out there, trust me on that. We'll get 'er fixed up in the kitchen." "What're you two talkin' bout?" Rosie asked, crossing her arms and not at all appreciating that she was being left out of knowing. Boyd looked at her, running a hand up to rub the back of his neck. "Tell ye what, Rosie... take Adelaide to the kitchen an' listen if she tells ye not t'touch or anythin' like, right?" He closed the door behind them once Addie had come inside, and was already walking off before anyone could answer. "I'll get da, so stay put in there," he called over his shoulder. |