search within (searchwithin) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-02-22 15:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, brianna, brianna x ophelia, ophelia |
Who: Brianna and Ophelia
When: Evening, Tuesday, 12/5
Where: Home
Status: Complete
With things still feeling a bit tense and strained in the house, Brianna had been focused on keeping busy. She did take the time to go watch Sebastian’s basketball game, the one in which he wasn’t suspended, but things between her and James had yet to improve. She was giving her husband space, but soon she was sure things would need to come to a head so they could put it in the past and move on. Sebastian was gay and that wasn’t going to change, no matter how mad James might be, or how many days he spent away from home.
Usually around this time of year things got a bit quiet at work. Winter was not the really the ideal time for buying and selling homes, so Brianna kept herself occupied with the Black and Red Holiday Gala coming up. She was able to work from home when she wasn’t at the country club, and tonight the house was a bit quiet, leaving her to wonder if she should even attempt to make dinner. Brianna had no clue if Bash would be home or James. But… she knew her daughter was in her room, rather than with Greg tonight, so she left her office and wandered down the hall, hesitating briefly outside of Phee’s room before knocking gently. “It’s mom,” she said close to the door. “Can I come in?”
Phee had been nervous going to school again the day before, but so far everybody seemed to be leaving her alone. She hoped that trend continued. Greg had broken into her flute case over the weekend without her, and all he would tell her after that was that it was ruined and she would need to get another one. She’d been stalling on asking her parents about it so far -- she’d carefully wrapped her flute in a sweatshirt on Monday and then left it in the band room -- because she really didn’t want to have to explain. Phee wavered back and forth on whether she wanted to know what those assholes had done to her case or not. Probably best not to.
She’d holed up in her room after school, puttering through some homework and texting with Greg and Jen now and then. She really didn’t know how she would’ve gotten through this without them, because Sebastian had enough on his plate. Phee just wanted to be left alone in general. At the knock, she looked up from where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed with her books and notebooks around her, and felt that knee-jerk cringe when it turned out to be her mother. Giving a soft sigh to herself, Phee set her phone aside and called “Come in,” at the door.
Brianna had half expected Phee to not answer, or tell her she was busy. So when Phee gave her permission to enter, Brianna opened the door without hesitation, just in case Phee suddenly changed her mind. She smiled when she spotted Phee on her bed. The sight of books surrounding her was a familiar one. At least some things stayed the same. "I thought I would make you whatever you wanted for dinner," Brianna said, smiling faintly as she crossed her arms casually against her chest. "I think it's just going to be the two of us tonight."
Phee’s brows lifted briefly, and then she smiled back, just as faint. It was nice on the surface, but she hated deciding on dinner, on the rare occasions that it was left up to her. She felt like anything she suggested that wasn’t straight-up salad wouldn’t be good enough. Too much fat, too many carbs. Ugh. “Yeah? No menfolk around tonight, huh?” she asked, to stall and think for a second. Her father hadn’t been around much since Bash’s coming out, which was saddening on one hand and frustrating on the other hand that so badly wanted to learn magic. The thought reminded her of something, and Phee sat up straighter. “Oh hey, can you come here? I wanted to ask you something ...”
Brianna couldn't help the soft laugh that stuck in her throat. "No, no menfolk. Unless Bash comes straight home from practice." But he had an active social life, so she wasn't sure whether or not to expect him. She just assumed James wouldn't be home. Maybe she did that so she could be pleasantly surprised when he was. Brianna wasn't sure. Phee's question prompted a curious look from Brianna and she walked towards Phee's bed, trying not to appear too apprehensive. Usually Phee wanted these conversations over with quickly so she could back to whatever she did in here alone. Reading, homework, maybe texting her boyfriend now. "What is it?"
It seemed like Bash was spending as little time at home as possible, but Phee didn’t say so. It kind of wasn’t her business, and she had enough on her mind without fretting overly much about her brother. She could see the worry on her mom’s face, as much as Brianna tried to smooth it over, and Phee really hoped she wouldn’t freak out about this. She cleared some space for Brianna to sit if she wanted to. “So uh, me and Liam went shopping on Black Friday, and we stopped in at the um, Castells’ tea shop?” she started, already hating how unsure she sounded. Phee didn’t even know if her mom knew the Castells. At least beyond the parents in the neighborhood. “And I got to chatting with Zania ... and like, she knows Liam already, so I told her I’m good at plants, and she kind of offered me a job? It wouldn’t be a lot of time or anything, just some hours after school sometimes, in their greenhouse, and she would teach me things too, and can I do it?” The last part came out in a rush, like if she said it faster, Brianna would be more inclined to say yes.
Brianna really wasn't expecting that. But she hadn't been expecting Ophelia asking for birth control either. Honestly, raising a teenage girl was much harder to navigate than raising Bash and Tripp, though Brianna had always thought having a girl would have been easier. It so wasn't. She was working over what Phee had said... Castells, greenhouse, job, teaching things. Brianna didn't have much to say about her daughter getting a job. Honestly, Brianna would rather Phee just focus on school, but Phee was smart and she didn't think a job would hurt Phee's academics any, as long as it was only part-time. But it was the 'teach me things' part that concerned Brianna more than anything. "Define teach you things," Brianna said, studying Ophelia closely.
It wasn’t an immediate No, like she’d been expecting, so that was encouraging. Brianna looked very wary though, and Phee suddenly felt put on the spot. “Um ... I dunno, like ... some stuff about magic? Like, herbs and plants and what to use what for, that seems to be her thing. We didn’t talk about a lot of specifics yet. And I showed her a little of what I can do -- like, with growing stuff -- and she seemed really excited.” Phee couldn’t help but smile at that, still flabbergasted but proud that she’d impressed an experienced witch. “I’ll run anything she tells me by Dad before I try it, I swear,” she added, just in case that was a concern. “Please Mom? I might be really good at it, and she said she would pay me for my time and everything.”
It didn't feel right to say yes without talking to James. And Brianna had a feeling he would say no, straight out. Because he should be the one teaching his children magic, except he wasn't home. Not long enough for that anyway. Brianna could feel her own magic on occasion, a restless desire to do something with the fire inside of her. But she wouldn't know the first person to turn to that wasn't her husband. It still felt like a secret, something to be ashamed of. Despite the last few weeks, being raised to believe magic was dangerous and wrong still weighed on her. "But you would try it at her shop, wouldn't you?" Brianna asked. "If she's teaching you, I have to assume she would want you to learn it hands-on, like your father does. I don't know that he would want another witch teaching you magic. He wasn't thrilled about Ms. Kelly and Bash."
Phee knew she would be at the Castells’ house, not the shop, because that was where the greenhouse was, but she didn’t correct her mother. Zania had a twin brother, and Brianna might be even more apt to say no if it meant Phee was spending time around some adult guy none of them knew. She wasn’t personally worried, but she wasn’t her own mom either. The details could come later. “I won’t, I promise!” she hurried to say. “She can show me and I’ll just take notes! And then Daddy can approve them or whatever. It’ll probably mostly be just like, learning ingredients anyway instead of whole spells. Look, I even bought a new book for it!” She leaned to one side and unearthed the thick leather-bound book from the antique store from between her Biology textbook and the comforter. Phee hadn’t even written in it yet, not really, just her name on the inside cover, but she loved touching it. It felt almost warm in her hands, heavy and important and hers. “And it wouldn’t be a secret or anything like Bash did ... he’ll say yes if you do,” she added, looking pleading. “He’s gone a lot anyway and I wanna learn so bad.”
Brianna had to physically resist the urge to burst into humorless laughter at the thought that Phee believed James would say yes to anything just because Brianna did. Her husband was stubborn and opinionated and he wouldn't care about Brianna's opinion here, especially if he didn't want Phee learning magic from another witch. It took her several quiet moments to think things over before she sighed and pushed her hair back behind her ears. "I want to know your schedule, and when you'll be with Zania and when you'll be home. Anything she shows you is to be shown to your father before you attempt it. If he gets angry and says no, then that's it, Phee, do you understand?" Sebastian had a hard time listening to his parents, and she didn't need to see that rubbing off on her daughter.
From Phee’s Daddy’s Girl perspective, James was always inclined to give her what she wanted, it was her mom that was the hardass. She’d seen her father get angry dozens of times, of course, but never at her. That probably had something to do with the lack of trouble she caused in general, but still. When Brianna relented a bit, Phee burst into a sunny grin. She dropped the book and pushed up onto her knees to hug her mother’s slim waist. “Of course, I promise!” she said happily, already thinking she could probably talk her dad out of any protests he might have. “Thank you!” Phee bounced a little on her mattress as she let go, just beaming. She was excited now -- she had a hot boyfriend, new friends, a hopefully-fun job, and two sources to learn magic from! Things were looking up.
It was probably telling how stunned Brianna was when Phee hugged her. She couldn't really remember the last time her daughter did it willingly. Brianna wasn't entirely thrilled that the hug was coming as the result of magic, but it was what it was. She still didn't think James would be pleased with this, but it was his problem to deal with when Phee approached him about it. She returned Phee's hug and let her go with her daughter pulled back. "How are things besides that?" Brianna asked, since her daughter seemed happy and more likely to actually give her straight answers than the typical teenager shrug and 'things are fine' response. "School? Greg?"
Phee’s expression flickered only a little when Brianna mentioned school. It wasn’t that school itself was bad, she’d just been having issues with idiots. She didn’t want to get into all that with her mother though, not when everything else was so good at the moment. Not least of all because part of her was pretty sure Brianna would agree with the sentiment from those boys, if not the methods of shaming. “Things are good,” she said, still smiling. “School’s fine, I got an A on my last AP Bio test, reading Hamlet in English ... Greg is amazing.” Her expression turned blissful at the last part, and Phee sank her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from launching into a gush. She probably did that too much and she was sure her mother didn’t want to hear it anyway.
Brianna never thought she would see the day that anyone would describe Greg Wheeler as amazing. But Brianna had been a teenage girl once too and she sort of cringed now when she thought back on how gooey and gushy she had been over her boyfriends back then. At the same time, she also sort of envied the look in Phee's eyes. It had been a long time since Brianna felt that way. But it had been a long time since she had been young and so naively in love as well. "I'm glad," Brianna said. "For both of those," she added, just in case it was necessary. "You and Greg are... being careful, right?" Phee was on birth control but that wasn't the only step the two of them ought to be making if they were having sex now.
Phee wasn’t stupid, she knew what her boyfriend seemed like from the outside. Loud, brash, sometimes overly energetic, not terribly bright. Even she’d expected him to be more shallow and dumb than she was discovering he was. She understood how people were missing his amazingness, but Phee was getting quick to defend him, so it was probably good Brianna didn’t comment on that part. Phee nodded firmly at the question. “Yes, we’re being careful,” she assured her. They were still using condoms, since Phee had read all about how the pill wasn’t effective right away. It had almost been a month, so in another week or so they would be free of the latex. Phee couldn’t wait. But that was probably also something Brianna wouldn’t want to know, so it wasn’t like she could talk about it. “He’s really good to me, Mom,” she did add, giving Brianna another smile.
Despite what Brianna might think of Greg's brains, he had always been a good friend to Sebastian. It was still an odd match in her head, realizing Greg was dating her daughter, but it wasn't her place to tell them to stop. If they liked each other, they liked each other. As long as Greg didn't interfere with Phee's academics and future, Brianna didn't find it to be a problem. She wasn't sure James knew yet, but maybe he did. It wasn't like they did a lot of talking lately. That would have to change soon. "I'm glad," Brianna said with a small smile. "Greg has never struck me as the type to treat a girlfriend poorly and I'm sure he knows that if he did, Sebastian would kick his butt." She chuckled softly in her throat. "Just... continue to be safe, okay? And if you need anything, I'm here."
Phee had never had one of those ‘my mom is my best friend’ relationships with Brianna. She’d been taught the sex ed basics and managed to frankly ask to get on birth control, but that didn’t mean she felt comfortable enough to really talk about details. They just weren’t that kind of close. Besides, whenever a question popped into Phee’s head, she went to the internet. There was a lot of bad, stupid information out there, but she’d found some good forums and sources to pull from, and things seemed to be going okay so far in practice. She gave a little huff and a rueful smile. “I think he’s more scared of Daddy than anything,” she said. “But thanks, I will. Things are good though ... we have fun and he like, never hesitates to show me off in public or anything.”
It probably wouldn't have been helpful to tell Phee that Greg should be scared of James. Phee was daddy's girl and probably didn't think James would ever get upset or angry with her, but that wasn't how it worked. If anything, James would probably be more upset about Phee having sex than Sebastian being gay. Maybe. Maybe not. Their kids were becoming young adults, and it was difficult to accept. "Well, he shouldn't hesitate to show you off," Brianna said, as though that much should be obvious. Maybe she had issues with Phee's weight from time to time, but it would certainly ruffle her feathers if someone else did. Especially a boy. Especially Greg. "I'm pretty sure you're a big step up from the girls he's dated before."
That made Phee beam all over again. She knew her mother thought she was too fat, and it was difficult being the only bigger, curvy person in a family of slim people, and Phee had spent a lot of years already beating herself up for her weight. However, despite the recent spate of bullying, her self-esteem had been positively buoyant lately. Maybe having a boyfriend shouldn’t have affected her that much, but it did. It wasn’t just Greg -- starting to expand her magic had something to do with it too. “I mean ... who wants some popular, dumb, skinny chick when there’s all this, right?” she agreed, half-amused and half-sarcastic as she gestured to herself and gave a little eye roll. It would have sucked if Greg wasn’t so obviously into her. But he was and she was a step up, dammit. “Can we like, all have a dinner sometime soon? I know he’s met you guys a million times, but I dunno ... just seems like a thing we ought to like, get out of the way.”
Brianna didn't like to think about Ophelia as fat. It was more that she was just... overweight for her age. She tried to be tactful and help her with her diet, but Phee generally resisted, which often led to arguments. Brianna knew how awful kids could be, especially teenagers, and she just wanted Phee to be happy and healthy. She chuckled softly at Phee's joke, ignoring the fact that she had been a popular skinny chick back in the day, though she would most definitely not say she had been dumb. Brianna thought about James wanting Hunter over for dinner so they could meet him, but that invitation had an underlying threat to it. And Brianna didn't think having Greg over for dinner would amount to some Big Thing, given how many times the boy had dinner at their house in the past. "I don't see why not. I'll just have to check with your dad to see what weekend works best for him. He's been busy lately."
Phee knew that Greg wasn’t looking forward to doing the official Family Dinner thing. Maybe it would be extra weird since he’d already eaten at their house a million times, but Phee tended to think that would make it easier. She was sure her parents would ask some probing questions, since Greg had expanded from just ‘son’s friend’ into ‘daughter’s boyfriend’ territory, but she didn’t think they would grill him or anything. Maybe if Sebastian had Hunter over too, they could balance each other out ... or it would be a compounding of awkwardness. Phee didn’t know. She just wanted everybody to get along and be happy. Phee’s nose wrinkled a tiny bit when Brianna mentioned James’s absence. “Yeah ... is he like ... avoiding Bash or something?” she asked, her voice dropping a bit like either of them might overhear.
Brianna could only imagine how James's head would explode if they had Hunter and Greg over at the same time. No, meeting one boyfriend in an evening would be more than enough. "Of course he isn't," Brianna said automatically. "He's just been busy, and... he's just trying to get used to the changes. He'll come around." She wasn't entirely sure of that, but she knew James loved Sebastian and eventually things would settle down again. Sebastian was so close to graduation and leaving home that if they didn't find some common ground, Brianna was afraid Sebastian might leave Point Pleasant and rarely come back. "It's nothing for you to worry about."
That was sort of a ‘yes’ even though it started with no, and Phee felt some disappointment on her brother’s behalf. She and James had always been closer than Bash and James, but still ... seeing anything but unconditional love sent her brother’s way made her want to defend him. Brianna seemed okay with it though, so she didn’t want to take it out on her mom. Maybe she could talk to her dad, if she could ever pin him down. “I hope so,” she murmured quietly, studying her mom’s face. “I’m gonna worry though ... he’s my brother. And it would really suck if their relationship like, got ruined because of this.”
"It would suck," Brianna agreed with a faint smile that faded rather quickly. "But Sebastian is still his son, and he still loves him. I just think it's best to give him some space for a bit. He'll come around." She could just keep repeating it until they all truly believed it. But she had faith in James. He might be upset now, but he wasn't going to stop loving Sebastian because of it. "I'll talk to him when he gets home if you want, ask him if it's okay to have Greg over for dinner. Do you want me to tell him you two are together, or would you prefer to do that yourself?"
James had better come around, or he was going to have two upset kids on his hands, Phee thought. Three, since she would definitely call Trip and complain to him. He might not care, but still. Sebastian was his brother too. But she let it go for the moment, nibbling on her bottom lip as she considered Brianna’s question. “It should probably come from me,” she said after a moment, sounding a bit regretful about that. It would be easier to let Brianna tell him, but she knew her dad would rather hear it from the source. “So maybe just let me know when he gets home and we can talk to him together?” she suggested.
"Sure." She gave Phee a small, encouraging smile. James was less likely to get angry with Phee, so that was probably for the best. But as with Sebastian, she would be there if Phee needed her to be. James knew Greg well, so... there was that, she supposed. Brianna gestured to the open door behind her. "I'm going to get started on dinner. You never said if you had a preference for what we ate." Phee might not have a preference, but Brianna felt like making her daughter chose meant Phee would actually come down to dinner.
Phee wasn’t really anticipating any problems from her dad. He might make a face and be skeptical like her mom had, but she felt confident she could express to him how happy she was about it all and it would be okay. Still, having Brianna’s backup made her relax even further. “Oh! Right, um ... maybe some stir fry?” she suggested. It always ended up as mostly vegetables and lean chicken whenever Brianna made it, and some rice wouldn’t kill her, right? It wasn’t what Phee would’ve chosen if there was no judgement, but there was, so she didn’t suggest meatloaf or pasta or any of the other ‘unhealthy’ stuff she loved.
"I can make stir fry," Brianna said. It would reheat nicely too, when James and Sebastian got home, assuming it wasn't late and they were hungry. "I'll call you when it's done." She wasn't as confident as Phee was about James's reaction to his baby girl having a boyfriend - and it being Greg, of all people - but she wasn't going to put off telling him any longer. James should know, and she knew he wouldn't appreciate being kept in the dark the way he had been with Sebastian, so the sooner the better. Hell, maybe it would distract him a bit from Sebastian. They would just have to wait and see.