doyle sullivan is back on the street (dishonestly) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-09-05 01:24:00 |
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Normally, Caoimhe was the one who worried about Doyle, not the other way around. For all that they were identical in age, he'd always had some problems staying on his feet. There always seemed to be some scrape or another that he was getting into, and Caoimhe had gotten to be on a first-name basis with Sturgis Podmore long before she was in the Order just from going to get Doyle out of yet another bit of legal trouble. As his more level-headed sister, she felt it was her job to look after him just as he'd always looked out for her when they were kids. Today, however, was a marked exception to the rule. Doyle knew that she was in the Order. For all her silence, Caoimhe had never been able to keep any serious secrets from him. However, she usually tried to keep him out of the details of just how dangerous anything she might get up to could be. Today she really couldn't, though, not without outright lying to him, and she just wasn't willing to do that. And on a perfectly selfish basis, she just didn't want to be alone. Normally she would have been enjoying the quiet, putting on her John Coltrane records and reading, but the morning had been more trying than even that could overcome. Today she needed her brother. Doyle knew that Caoimhe was in the Order. He knew that they did stupid things like go to King's Cross when there might be an attack. But he knew that if his sister believed in these people, then there had to be something great about them, to deserve his sis. But hearing about the attack on the wireless, and hearing people on the Alley talking about it, all he could think was that people were saying that people had died. His biggest fear was that Caoimhe was among the dead. Doyle didn't know what he would do without his sister. Relief swept through him when she responded to his journal entry, assuring him that she was fine. There was little that Doyle felt he could really do for his sister. More often than not, she was the one taking care of him (or trying to, anyway; Doyle appreciated it but didn't want to drag her down), but now she needed him. She didn't say as much, but Doyle knew. Unfortunately, this couldn't be fixed as easily as punching Ted Tonks in the face. Although Boomslang Bend wasn't too far from Knockturn, Doyle still apparated part of the way there. It cut down on time. Reaching Caoimhe's flat, he knocked on the door. He knew he could have just walked on in, but after what Caoimhe must have gone through this morning, he didn't want to scare her by just barging in. Caoimhe came to the door, but it took a little longer than it might have normally. She'd been knocked around a lot, and the Torture Curse still seemed to ring through her bones and joints and muscles to slow her down. That piece of rebar that had gone into her back really hadn't helped matters either, for all that Morgan had successfully cleaned the wound and got the bleeding stopped. Even so, as soon as she saw Doyle standing in the hallway she pulled him into her flat and into a tight hug. He was right - she might not say it, but she did need him. Caoimhe was never good at saying much of anything, but she could show him, at least. It took Caoimhe just long enough to answer the door that it made Doyle start worrying about her, that something might have happened in the short time between the journals and now. But when she opened the door and Doyle could see with his own eyes that she was still all in one piece, he exhaled the breath that he hadn't even realised he was holding. Doyle let Caoimhe pull him into her flat, and he wrapped his arms around her, giving her back a hug of equal tightness. He needed his sister, even if his pride usually got in the way of letting her help him, but he would be completely and utterly lost without her. "Are ye sure yeh're fine?" he asked. "'m fine," Caoimhe assured him, her voice slightly muffled into his shoulder. She waited a few moments, just resting against him before she finally picked her head up. It had been a long, miserable day. "Just got banged up a little," she went on quietly, which was something of an understatement. She finally let go of him after that, turning back toward the kitchen. "Have a seat. Drink?" Doyle didn't entirely believe that Caoimhe was fine, but he would let that slide for now. He wouldn't, however, let her out of his sight for the time being, so he trailed after her to the kitchen, kind of like a lost little puppy. "Whatever yeh're havin'," he said. "Need help?" "Get a couple glasses down?" she requested. Normally she'd just say she could get it, but she couldn't really reach over her head very well at the moment, and she wasn't in the habit of using magic for such simple physical tasks. "I'm just havin' cranberry juice," Caoimhe went on as she opened the icebox for it. "Can't mix alcohol with the pain potion. So if you want somethin' else, speak up." "Pain potion?" Doyle asked, his voice squeaking a bit. He got a couple of glasses down as she asked, setting them on the counter. "If yeh're fine, why d'you have to take pain potion?" He didn't want to think about Caoimhe being hurt enough to have to take pain potions. These people couldn't be that good if they were letting his sis get hurt badly enough that she needed to be taking pain potions. "Didn't I just tell you not to worry?" Caoimhe asked, her tone gentle but pointed. She knew how he worried, and he really shouldn't so much. Although...now that she considered it a bit, this might be an excellent time to convince him that he should really come stay with her. If he thought it was more for her benefit than his, it might go over better. "...I just got a little hurt," she confessed. "I didn't want to say much, 'cause I didn't want you to worry so. I'll be all right. It's just slowin' me down at the moment." "D'yeh need me to hang around for a few days, take care of yeh?" Doyle asked. He didn't want her to have to take care of him, didn't want to burden her like that, but him taking care of her was a completely different story. And it wasn't like he'd stay and make her take care of him once she was better. Caoimhe gave him a hopeful little bit of a sheepish look, managing to appear simultaneously reluctant to ask for help and glad that he'd offered. It wasn't entirely manufactured; she really did need the help at the moment, and she really didn't like admitting it. She also just didn't much like the idea of either her or Doyle living alone anymore; it just wasn't safe to be Muggleborn these days. "Would you mind?" she asked, handed him one of the two glasses of juice she'd poured. "I just...don't much like being on my own these days." Doyle took the glass she handed him, but just held it without drinking. "If yeh're hurt, Kee, yeh shouldn't be on your own. I'll stay here and take care of yeh til yeh're better." Doyle, of course, had no idea that this was exactly what his sister was trying to get him to do. He was just being a good, protective brother. He had to take care of his sis. Caoimhe stepped over to him and slipped her good arm around his waist, tucking herself under his shoulder. Shows of affection were fairly rare from her, and her brother got most of them, but even with Doyle two hugs in the course of ten minutes was an unusual. "Thanks, Chipmunk," she said softly. If she was resurrecting childhood nicknames, Caoimhe was definitely having a rough time of things. Caoimhe's reaction -- the hug, calling him Chipmunk -- only confirmed for Doyle that he was doing the right thing, taking care of her. He set his glass down and hugged his sister tight, though he tried to be careful and not hurt her more than she was already hurt. "I'll always be here for yeh when yeh need me, Kee. Promise." That brought a little smile to her face, resting against him for a nice long moment - just enough until she felt like the world was a good and stable place again. Doyle would always be there for her; Doyle had always been there for her, just like she was always there for him. They took care of each other. "C'mon," she said quietly, smiling a little as she finally pulled back. "Let's waste the afternoon watching the telly. 's been forever since we did that." Doyle smiled. "Sounds bril, Kee," he said, picking his glass back up. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd watched the telly at all, really. And after this morning, spending time watching telly with his sis sounded perfect. |