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Tweak says, "Pants are for the weak."

astro black (blackro) wrote in flippedrpg,
@ 2012-11-22 22:34:00

Entry tags:

ch: squib: astro black, ch: ukr: dudley dursley, p: emmy, p: kaitlin

Who: Dudley and Astro
What: Post-Thanksgiving Food Fight Discussion
When: Post Thanksgiving Food Fight
Where: Harris Home
Warnings: Nah.

Pressing a towel to her hair as she walked into the bedroom from the bathroom, Astro did a quick hop up onto her bed. She was pretty sure she had managed to get all of the yams out of her own hair from Jane's sleuth attack on her and she had found some bits of sweet peas in places she wasn't sure how they got there, but needless to say, she was clean and she was actually enjoying herself. A nagging voice in the back of her head was slightly concerned that Demelza hadn't answered her or come out for the dinner, but she figured that she got tied up with her own fake family. She hadn't yet answered her inquiry, either, but she figured she would by the time Astro got up in the morning. She was actually looking forward to the response, simply because she missed her generalized routine with the pink ladies.

Though Laura wasn't necessarily thrilled by the notion, Astro had decided she couldn't handle anymore of the wardrobe choices Laura had for evenings. She was not a satin nightie type of person and really, if she was going to wear that, it was going to be for a damned good reason. And one that involved Eris. Instead, she had snatched a pair of Dudley's sleep pants from the drawer and one of his teeshirts. That felt more like what she was used to wearing at night, even if it swallowed her and was hanging off her shoulders.

Turning her head to look at him as she let the towel drop to the floor, she propped up her head with the palm of her hand. "What's your Mum like?" She knew her Aunt fairily well (and had always, as a rule, prefered Uncle Peter), but she was curious what Petunia was like for him. It sort of blew her mind that in so many worlds Petunia hadn't gone to Hogwarts. It was just strange.

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duddykins
2012-11-23 03:56 am UTC (link)

Dudley was thankfully less gravy-covered than he'd been before. He was also glad for the fact that Laura and Keith chose two bathrooms instead of one. It had been a lot more helpful than the idea of trying to wash his hair in the sink like he usually did at home if he had to be somewhere and someone else had the shower. The flat was small enough and he and Piers paid for it since Voldemort and his men knew his mother's face. It was better not to let her go out when she couldn't change her appearance. At least not for the purposes of work. She went out in fairly low-key disguises to get groceries every so often.

Dudley was pretty okay with Keith's clothing choices. He had no idea if his colours were matching or not. He didn't know what any of the colours were and Keith could be a little unorganised about it. Not that he was really worried if he looked the best. Keith was a little, but he wasn't.

Astro, for all the awkwardness that marked the beginning of their fake marriage, was actually nice and she sort of dragged him into things that were a little crazy but fun all the same. That was another new thing: just having fun. Home didn't really allow for much of that. Voldemort was in control and Harry was missing and there was too much training and work.

"Now or before?" Because the two were very different creatures.

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blackro
2012-11-23 04:15 am UTC (link)

"Both," she responded as she shifted to lay back full on the mattress. She sort of hated that the beds were separate. She had gotten out of the custom of sleeping alone a long time ago. It so rarely happened. And knowing he was in the room, hearing him in his sleep, made her wish she could push the beds together and just curl against him, if nothing else but for the comfort of a person close by. Laura, however, was against this idea and she didn't want to go over boundaries with Dudley. She didn't know him all that well and she was pretty sure just climbing in his bed like she would one of the people from her world, or the Pink Ladies, likely wouldn't go over well. So she remained where she was, pulling the blankets over top of herself.

"She's my Aunt, back home. Well...sort of. Not biologically, but we never cared much about biological anything. Anyone in a Marauder's family was family, basically," she decided to tell him, though she didn't know if he cared or not. It just felt right to say.

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duddykins
2012-11-23 04:31 am UTC (link)

"Oh. Yeah. I meet Juniper and Peter." But he still didn't know how to think of them. They were family but they weren't. Peter was probably a better dad than his, but he still wasn't his dad. Maybe he'd feel less awkward around them later. He didn't know. "On the journals, I mean. Not in person."

"Mum's always been Mum. I guess a little high strung, a little difficult...but she's never been bad to me. She spoiled me when I was little. She didn't really treat Harry well because he was magical and she and dad didn't like that. I think she didn't like that it reminded her of what she wasn't and couldn't be and so...she just disliked him for it." He looked down. "That's where I learned it, I guess." But he'd unlearned it for the most part. Sometimes he still flinched back from magic. "She was always worried about what the neighbours would think and everything. At one point, I think she was scared of Harry because of his abilities."

Dudley didn't like to talk about before. Before felt like centuries before. Back when things were normal. "She's always been kind to me because I was her child. Maybe a little overbearing...but kind." He paused for a moment. "We had to go on the run, though, when Harry and I were seventeen. The Order thought we might be tortured for information on Harry, so..." At seventeen, that had been more than terrifying.

"Then Harry went missing and we couldn't leave." There was a longer pause as Dudley decided to leave out most of that story for now. "Dad died." Another pause. "It was his own fault, but Mum saw it happen and came back a few months after Dad left. Since then, she's been quieter. She's still Mum but different. She fusses more over Piers and I cause we're all she has left, really. Piers is my best mate." The only one still alive, too. "She's been through a lot but I think she wants Voldemort dead just as much as the rest of us...So...she's...yeah. That's Mum."

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blackro
2012-11-23 05:32 am UTC (link)

"You should meet Juniper. She's basically one of my favorite people ever," she commented idly, as she turned her head to look at him, before settling in to listen to his story.

That didn't really surprise her. Petunia had always been one of the ones to spoil all of the kids. But there were three children of her own, opposed to one, in her world and then half a dozen surrogate and legitimate nieces and nephews. She had a lot more children to disperse to so it never was too out of hand. Plus, Peter was there to sort of balance everything out. She frowned lightly, though, when she heard him mention how Petunia had treated Harry.

She had heard of that before. It was a common thing in a few of the worlds. It sort of threw her through a loop but then again people were different in other worlds. After all, there was the situation of Peter in that same world (and some others) while there were instances were her Father had been a bit questionable in his moral. "Maybe...she just didn't like being separated from her sister? Her and Lily were close in my world. Were they in yours? Before..." she trailed off. There was no reason to really finish the sentence. Lily dying would be an obvious end to it for Dudley, of this she was sure, and she didn't want to utter those words. Even if she knew they were true and not for her world. They still hurt.

Her frown grew and she shifted, sliding upwards into a sitting position. For a moment she was very silent before she took in a breath. "I'm sorry about your Dad," she said, with honesty, because she couldn't imagine that. So many of the world's had so many bad things happening to good people. "I'm glad she fusses over you both. It's nice to know that somethings remain...universal," she commented quietly, thinking back to how Petunia used to grab her by the arm and wipe dirt from her face, always seeming to tut about the influence she had over Juni. She gave the smallest hint of a smile at the memory before sighing.

"Maybe they will bring her here?"

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duddykins
2012-11-23 05:46 am UTC (link)

Maybe meeting Juniper would make him more certain how to feel about her but he wasn't sure. It might just make things more awkward. Then again, what wasn't awkward these days?

"I think as children? We've talked more about Aunt Lily recently than we did before. Mum never really talked about her when I was younger. I don't think they were close after Hogwarts, though..." Which must have been sad for his aunt. He'd never really thought about that until now. Dudley had never known his aunt before. He'd never met her at all. It wasn't until he came to the compound that he was able to speak to her. She seemed nice. He just didn't know what to say to her and he was avoiding talking about certain things because he knew that the way he treated Harry was likely to make people upset.

"It's okay. We told him not to leave. We tried, anyway. He just...wouldn't listen." But even knowing that didn't mean it hadn't hurt. He didn't say it out loud, but he'd thought - on more than one occasion - that his father's death may have been a good thing for him. It woke him up a little more. It made him realise just what he was up against.

"I don't think she could help herself. Not fussing would probably lead to a lack of purpose, so...I don't really argue about it much." He was quiet for a moment. "I hope so. She probably wouldn't want to come, though. But maybe. I don't know." He shrugged slightly. "Is she happy in your world?"

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blackro
2012-11-23 07:03 am UTC (link)

"Sometimes, no matter what we say, people have their minds made up," she said very quietly, but it wasn't clear if she was speaking exclusively to him or not. It was a sad realization but one she was coming to the longer she was in this compound.

"I don't know if any of us would want to come here...but, it isn't so bad. When they let us have the ones we love close by," she found herself gripping at her cover now, holding it tight, as she tried not to let her mind wander to how so many of those she was close to were still not returned. Twenty two days, she quietly added, before forcing that thought away.

"She is, yes. I'm not as close to her as I am my Uncle Peter, though, but she was always very good to us. I don't think she liked how Eris and I corrupted her little girl but...I know she still loves us," she quietly told him, sighing.

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duddykins
2012-11-23 07:39 am UTC (link)

"Yeah." He wished that his words had carried some weight, though. If his dad had known he was going to die, would he have left? Did it even matter? "Draco and Cho are the only two that really know me. I mean...the Harrys know me but they aren't exactly the same. Plus, I haven't seen Harry since he was seventeen. I don't even know if he's still alive."

He felt himself starting to fade out of the conversation. But that was something he had to stop before it got too far. Otherwise he wouldn't come back for a while.

Shifting on the bed, he looked over at Astro. "Mums are like that. Their kids are supposed to be perfect or something." Only he wasn't. It had taken him a while to realise how bad he was. "I'm glad she's happy some places, though." He was quiet for a moment before, "So the boy that stopped by with the...uh...Promo? How do you know him?" They'd seemed pretty close but that could mean any number of things.

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blackro
2012-11-23 07:47 am UTC (link)

"They are the only two who know you here or in general?" She asked him. There was an important distinction. If they were his only two close friends, then, they would just need to change that. If not...well, they would still need to change it, but they could hope for more of his friends to arrive. "No, it can't be in general. You talk about Piers alot," she then corrected. She had been paying attention to her fake husband's tales, after all.

"Maybe. I hope so," she stated, even if she wasn't from his world and didn't know the proper gravity of it all. She didn't like the idea of any Harry dying.

"Juniper is perfect," she said with a flash of a grin. Then she nodded, "I think at least...there are moments of happiness in each version of ourselves. Even if they don't last for long. I bet your Mum will be happy again, after all, she has you, right?" She offered, giving him a bit of a smile, before her smile grew.

"Promo is my son," she told him.

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duddykins
2012-11-23 08:04 am UTC (link)

"Oh. Uh. They're the ones from my world that know me here. Though, Cho and I don't really see each other much. Uh...Draco and I are closer only sometimes he's more difficult. I've been getting to know Ginny better, though." He didn't want to comment that his lack of knowing her was because she'd been dead. "Piers is the only one I have left from before...outside of Mum. My other friends joined Voldemort. Only they were Muggles so of course he didn't really care whether they were alive or not. Piers was the only one who listened." And that's why they'd been best friends.

"I wouldn't know." But he supposed he could take her word for it. He hoped they were all mostly happy. He thought he'd been happy before but now he wasn't sure if it counted. "She'll always have me." Unless he died...only he'd promised that he wouldn't die until Voldemort was dead.

"Oh." So it was one of those things. "He looks like he's almost the same age as you. I guess that's pretty normal around here, though."

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blackro
2012-11-23 04:19 pm UTC (link)

"Draco seems different. The Draco that is yours, I mean. He's my cousin at home," she said idly before thinking to herself. Piers was a muggle and they didn't have a very large track record of muggles in attendance at the compound. But maybe that would change? She didn't see why it shouldn't and, if she was honest, she felt more akin to muggles in this compound then she did the wizards and witches. It wasn't that way back home but back home she wasn't treated differently because she was a squib.

She was here, but only by a few people.

"I think only the Scientists know," and then she smiled when he mentioned that Petunia would always have Dudley. It was a nice thought and one she was sure Juniper, Chris or Dean would share.

"It is pretty normal around here. I wasn't expecting it. Eris and I...we weren't together yet back home. I guess it was only a matter of time. Juniper certainly seemed to think we were destined to wind up together," she commented, very quietly, as she hadn't mentioned Eris too much. "I can't say kids were ever in my plans though. Not with how our world works. Or at least...I wasn't going to have kids just because the Ministry demanded I did, you know? But Promo...he's definitely not that kind of circumstance," she explained further.

"He's Eris, Harry and I's baby though. It isn't right that...I'm the only one here for him."

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duddykins
2012-11-23 10:05 pm UTC (link)

"I guess he is..." But then Dudley hadn't met him till he'd showed up a few months after he'd joined the resistance. Of course, considering his friendship with Hermione usually came first, he'd been a little wary of Draco in the beginning. Still, they'd moved past it and now they were close. He knew it was bad of him to think, but he'd have taken Hermione over Draco in most situations.

"Or seem to. I don't know if they know everything...but they act like it." Not that that was different from certain people back home with similar professions.

Dudley was quietly relieved that no future children of his had showed up. He didn't want to think about future children. He wouldn't know how to look after them at all. "Eris?" Never let it be said that he didn't always pick up on the non-verbal cues. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't remember if he'd ever spoken to Eris. Probably not. Had she even been there? "Oh. I guess she was glad to be right."

And that last bit caught him off guard. "What?" It was purely a reaction due to surprise. After a moment he tried again. "Err...sorry. I was just surprised. How do three people have a baby?"

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