It had been a few days since the Gremlins' nonsense, but things had gone back to normal fairly quickly at Grimmauld Place. Luckily for them, the combined magical warding of Bonnie's and Sirius' had been enough to keep the Gremlins out of their home. Which was probably for the best, because nothing would have survived the combined Bennett-Black wrath that would have been unleashed on anything threatening the twins. Because not only would Sirius and Bonnie kick ass, Ras would have as well.
Sirius was with his sister now, out for brunch with Pluto and Kabir. Sirius was polishing off his egg white omelette, when he asked, "So what have you been up to lately?"
The gremlins had been another thing entirely. She’d needed to help with those who had been injured to some regard, so it was luck that things had been safe at Grimmauld Place. She hadn’t seen the gremlins before that she recalled, but it was entirely possible she’d carefully forgotten it. At least things seemed like they were back to the usual. Some unusual creature set free, everyone having to fight them, injuries on the rise.
“I’ve been attempting to find the means of making a potion to help with seeing. Richie had suggested it as something to look into and I’d thought I might. Though, I’m not certain it won’t be something similar to what might already exist through the Prigany Coven.” She shrugged slightly. “Otherwise, I am not terribly busy at this time. I have my broom, so there is that.” She was quiet for a moment, reaching down to pet Pluto’s head. “What have you been up to? Outside of parenting and your Thursdays.”
Ah, the Sight. What trouble that's caused them in their lives, though at the same time, it's brought hope to their people. Sirius nodded though, glad that Rasalas was making friends and focusing her attention on projects that interested her. It always made him happy to see her succeed and fit into whatever situation they happened to find themselves in.
"Do you plan to reach out to the Prigany and find out for yourself whether they've already created something similar?" He asked, before spearing a piece of his omelette on his knife and popping it into his mouth. "Me? I haven't been doing much. Bonnie," and here his face took on a slightly dopey look, "And I have been throwing around an idea of a doggy daycare for me to run. So that's something I've been exploring."
“I guess I could ask them. I might ask if they know anyone more potions-based. There’s so many covens, there’s got to be more than Silniara and they are more healing and less other things.” She shrugged. “Richie and others have more innate skill with being Seers. I have no real interest in the visions myself. Having them, I guess.” She ate some of her own breakfast, something fairly healthy all things considered.
Rasalas noted the dopey look and studied him for a moment. She wasn’t fully certain of their relationship and she’d not worried much about asking because she didn’t really care too much about it. As long as they were happy with whatever they had. “Oh? I am sure with the sheer number of dogs here, it would be a success.”
With the type of sibling hood that they had between one another, Sirius didn't expect his sister to ask about Bonnie and whatever that was going on between them. Which was probably for the best, considering Sirius himself had no idea what was going on between them.
"I'm not worried about the success of it, more that I'm looking for something to feel needed for. Frankly, there's a lot of downtime in Vallo and I don't want to be left to my own thoughts."
She considered his response for a moment before nodding. “That’s fair. I suppose that is part of why I spend my time with Potions. I like it, naturally, but at least it is a somewhat important thing. Perhaps, with time, I might find someone who has some skill with Potions in general so I’m not teaching myself all the time.” She’d like to be able to find some way of it anyway.
“Do you have anything planned out yet or just thinking through things?” A beat. “Is there anything you need help with for it?”
"I wish I could help, but I've always been average at best with potions. My real skills have always been about getting into trouble," Sirius said, smiling, the entire look self deprecating.
Switching back to business mode easily, he pulled out his cellphone and started to look through the gallery. Finding the picture he was looking for, he turned it around and held the phone to Rasalas to take. "So Bonnie's helped me find a building that could potentially work for the daycare. It's close to her shop and it went up for sale a few weeks ago. But it has a large plot of land in the back too, that I think with proper attention could be turned into a park. A little pricey but I haven't spent mine on anything but the twins and Bonnie for months now. I could afford to buy it with what I've made plus a little extra from the Black family fortune, if you would be open to that." It was money he didn't touch, outside of renovating the house to make it bigger and more family friendly when they had started to accept people into the house.
“You shouldn’t do that, you know,” she offered up casually. “You have plenty talent and skill to offer.” Because maybe that wasn’t something she’d have said before their lives were upended, but she was making a point now to make sure he didn’t talk down about himself now. They all had skills others didn’t. She doubted that she could have become an animagus at the age he did. Perhaps muggle things were more of a struggle for her. Things happened. Still, she didn’t want to seem overly aggressive about it either, so she was also careful to keep her tone light and airy.
But she was happy to hear how excited he seemed to be. She looked at the picture he showed her and listened as he spoke. “I think it would be a good use for the money,” she said again in that same casual tone. “Our parents would hate it.” And here a hint of the mischief that she was capable of showed itself in her smile.
"I'm very talented at eating us out of house and home, yes," Sirius joked, entirely uncomfortable with giving himself any kind of credit. He had lived too long, had made too many mistakes in his life, to allow himself to be the smug idiot he had been in his youth.
He quickly changed topics though, grinning at his sister. "Was that a little hint of rebellion in that tone of yours, Rasalas? What would mother and father think?"
Rasalas gave Sirius a pointed look to let him know that wasn’t what she meant. She wasn’t nearly as used to this quieter, less brash version of her older sibling, but she knew that a lot changed after her death. She wondered if her sister was the same or if the side effect of gaining and losing people over and over was part of it.
“I’m certain nothing positive would come of their knowledge of it,” she replied, voice purposefully even and expression a little more neutral. She’d been grappling with the understanding that, as she was, her family would likely no longer see her fit to be the heir of the Black family. Not that she truly considered herself as the heir very much these days. Disownment was still anxiety inducing all the same. “But thankfully we don’t have to worry about that too much.”
He let the subject drop, as he reached down to feed Kabir a scrap. “Once we’re done here, can we go see the site?” Sirius offered, eager to show off for his sister, to show her that he was setting down roots despite the uncertainty of this place. He could have easily gotten lost in his grief over his friends and family disappearing, but he refused to. They would power through it and make the best of this third chance they were getting.
Ras looked up at him and nodded. “Of course we can go see the site, Sirius.” Because if he was excited enough to show her something, she would go there. As long as it wasn’t trying to ride his death trap of a motorcycle. She felt the cold press of a nose to her ankle and glanced down to see Pluto shoving his nose against her ankle before looking up at her expectantly. “You’re spoiling them, you know. Now they’re expecting table scraps.”
“Then let them be spoiled, it’s not hurting anyone,” Sirius grinned, leaning down to scratch the nearest dog behind the ears. With his other hand, he finished his last piece of toast and chugged the rest of his mimosa, before throwing some bills on the table to cover their bill and a tip. “If you’re done, we can go now.” Was he eager? A little. But it was always nice when his sister showed interest in his interests and he didn’t want to lose steam on this.
Ras rolled her eyes. She finished off her tea, getting up as Sirius did. “I’m finished. I think we can go.” She patted the side of her leg and Pluto popped up, walking next to her as she followed after Sirius. “Lead the way to your new business.”