RP: Light Stalking
Who: Tate & Nancy (npc - Quin's Nanny) What: A little stalking for good reasons When: March 13th Where: Victory Road Warnings: Tate technically stalks the family for good reasons.
Ever since Valentine’s Day, Tate could only seem to focus on one thing. He might, potentially, have another sibling that he had never laid eyes on. A little boy, from the sounds of it. He wanted to see this child, he wanted to be able to see his sister too if he were honest. Every time he had gone out drinking, it was all he could talk about. He’d talk to anyone who would listen, about how he had siblings. Two, that he hadn’t seen in ages. He was going to see them soon. Though he just had to figure out how to do that.
It had struck one night, after sharing a blunt with a muggle that he’d worked with back in France at one of the high-end restaurants. They had been catching up and talking about Tate potentially getting an audition where the guy was working now. He’d hang around near Quin’s house until she left with the kids, she had to leave sometime. He’d follow, just long enough to get a glimpse of the kids. She wouldn’t be expecting it. A small, very small, voice at the back of his brain said that he could potentially just walk up to Quin and ask to see them. She had sent him cupcakes on Valentine’s Day. He couldn’t though, he wasn’t sure he could handle it if she pepper sprayed him or something. At least she couldn’t hex him.
That was how he was spending his Monday. He’d taken up a spot on a corner near the house. He had a newspaper in hand, just a boring muggle one, and a cup of coffee in his other hand to keep him warm. He was just wondering how long he’d have to wait for her to leave, when he caught sight of her, the children, and another woman leaving the house together. He folded his newspaper then, waited until they were on their way, before he followed slowly after. He kept a few feet back, far enough away that he wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention that he might be following them.
Nancy and Quin shepherded the babies down the street a short ways. There was a magical short cut not too far away, hidden into a wall in an alley. It was much more convenient to use it, now that it was in place, than for poor Nancy to make multiple apparations or to use a car. Nancy activated it for her with a tap of her wand whenever she needed it.
Goodness, she would be so lost without Nancy, Quin thought fondly as the young woman cheerfully swung Auri up into her arms. Nancy was a good friend as well as her children's nanny, for all they had a ten year or so age gap between them.
They made their way from there through Diagon. She had several chores to knock out and then they'd go play in the park for a bit. The first was at a store that sold a lot of little knick knacks, and so Nancy wisely decided to keep the kids outside while Quin dashed inside to buy what she'd come for.
Tate watched as they walked down an alley, which was peculiar on it’s own because he didn’t think there was anything down that road. He had assumed that they’d need a car, something, to get to their destination. He knew that Quin had no magic, he assumed the nanny (if she had one) would have some. He had just been hoping that they wouldn’t be apparating anywhere they had to go. It was the only way that he wouldn’t be able to follow. He didn’t know how apparating worked with children though, so he hadn’t known if it would be a possibility.
Though as they went down the alley, he watched curiously from just around the corner. He was able to catch her wand tap, even seeing where and how, so that when they had slipped through he was able to repeat the process and followed them through. He was only a few minutes behind, just enough to see Quin running into the knick knack shop, while the children waited outside with the nanny.
It was too perfect an opportunity. He tossed the coffee and newspaper he’d been using as a disguise. Instead he had a brilliant smile in place as he walked up to the young woman, not even glancing at the children just yet. “It’s awful adventurous of you to take two small ones out like this, is your husband at work?” He was using the angle of just a friendly stranger that was flirting with the young mother on the street. He had purposely mentioned a husband and everything, as if fishing for information. If he were honest, she wasn’t bad looking. She was fairly attractive actually, but Tate’s mind was clouded by needing to see his siblings.
Nancy peered up at the taller man with a certain amount of wariness, though the brightness of his smile automatically earned him one from her. She was a pretty enough girl, brunette with longish hair and very pretty hazel green eyes. Her hair was pulled back.
Auri hung back behind Nancy, not unusual in her interactions with anyone she didn't recognize, her little arms wrapped around Nancy's leg as she peered out from behind her. Felix was cuddled up in her arms, being rather amenable foe the moment.
"They're not mine," she said politely, free hand curving protectively in a mimic of Quin over Auri's head. "They're my charges though." She tilted her head and peered at him with Frank look, finding him familiar somehow even if she didn't instantly place him.
When the brunette smiled back at him, his smile grew and actually reached his eyes. He was fairly sober, he’d only had one beer before he’d left so his blue eyes were bright for once. His eyes stayed on the woman’s, only glancing towards the children when she called them her charges. He noticed where Auri was, he’d already known the baby was in her arms. He had had to watch himself when he had seen that face staring back at him from the woman’s arms. There was no doubt that baby was a Swelle. He looked exactly as Tate had as an infant.
“Oh, so that means you might be free Friday night?” The guise of a date seemed the best way to stand here a moment longer. While he waited for her answer, his hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out a beat up little Rubik’s cube that his father had given him. He knew this interaction had to be brief, Quin would be back soon and he wasn’t ready to talk to her. Not sober and not with children around because he was still so incredibly pissed off. He didn’t know how long she would be in the store so he was hoping to get this woman to trust him, maybe just a little. He meant the children, and mother if he really thought about it, no harm.
Felix was a friendly baby, and he did indeed look just like a Sewell. The only thing different was the exact color of his eyes, which had a slightly more changeable quality of the ocean about them, a little more fey than Tate's own eyes. Almost everything else was completely Sewell. He made a grab for Tate's scarf but Nancy deftly kept him from doing it. It was a well practiced move for the boy was always doing it anymore.
"Maybe, maybe not," she replied with just a bit more give in her manner. She wasn't prone to buying into just any game but she also wasn't dead. Quin and Tim had never stopped her from haing a life outside of her duties, though she didn't have a big one, nothing steady and she wasn't the sort to just dally about either. "I'd have to ask my mistress if she's plans or not."
Auri was busy staring at him around Nancy's hip. He seemed familiar to the little girl, he looked a lot like her daddy but in this light she of course knew it wasn't him. She was too shy to just speak up right away, but she didn't stop looking at him as she hid behind her nanny.
For some reason, Tate hadn’t expected her to agree to a date with him. He grinned at her answer, he really hoped she’d still want that first date once he made his actual intentions known. She was attractive, definitely. He just had a feeling that he’d be getting a cancellation from her, should she actually give it much thought once Quin told her just who he was. He was trouble and he knew it, he knew that Quin could probably tell this woman horror stories about him. Tate had no idea just how badly his siblings had been pestering Quin, if any of those stories got to her… Well, he’d definitely not have a date.
“Well, when you ask her?” He pulled the Rubik’s cube from his pocket, holding it out flat in his palm. “Will you give her this? You can check it first, before taking it. I won’t make you take it if you don’t feel safe.” Because this was not at all about hurting anyone or scaring anyone. He gave her a reassuring smile, trying his best to look as harmless as he was. “My name is Tati.” He said in a soft voice, just loud enough he hoped for her to hear and not Auri. He didn’t know how much she knew and she’d blow his cover if she tried to hug him. “I mean absolutely no harm. I just need to get this to Quin, she needs to give it to someone else that looks extraordinarily like her.” He’d not just reach down and hand it to Auri, he was sure that was the fastest way to be killed in the street by a nanny. He really just hoped she knew a bit about his family, enough to get what he was trying to say without saying.
She gave the Rubiks cube a curious, confused look and then the dots connected. Her eyes widened and she automatically shifted her stance. Her hip nudged Auri further behind her, and at the same time she put Felix farther back, and her wand dropped into her hand though she didn't quite draw it on him.
"You're one of them," she said, and there was a wealth of judgment in that word. Quin hadn't said anything bad about them, of course, but Tim had said a few things, and Nancy had drawn a bunch more conclusions on her own from innocuous things she'd seen and heard from her mistress. She knew that family had been making sounds about the children, as well as Quin's biological family.
But she'd also heard Quin say she trusted this Tati. Her mistress did tend to be trusting,t hough, and so Nancy was rightly paranoid about the entire thing. "You hold that out right there," she said in a calm voice intended not to alarm the children. "If you try to take them, I will strike you down where you stand." The threat was delivered in that same calm, quiet voice, and if the tip of her wand shook faintly, it didn't mean she wouldn't do it.
If he held it out, she'd run several scans on it before even touching it. She was torn about telling him to keep it and stay away, mostly because Quin had said good things about him. That was the only reason she didn't start screaming right here and now.
Tate could tell the exact moment that it hit the woman, just who he was. Or rather.. Who his family was. He did his best to not make a face, he was not one of them. He was Tate. He was so sick of being lumped in with the other idiots. He’d never raised hell about anything, at least not until now. Now he was starting to push barriers but it wasn’t because he wanted to just take the kids, the money, or whatever it was his siblings were after. He didn’t care about the money, he knew how to make his own, he didn’t care about taking the kids because he knew he couldn’t handle raising them. There were so many reasons that he wasn’t one of them. He just had a feeling she didn’t want to stand there while he listed them.
Instead though, he gave her a bright smile. “Not preciously, but yes. I don’t want the same things, just ask your mistress.” He at least hoped that Quin knew he’d never want to take the kids. The money… Well, he could understand why someone might think he did want that. The kids though, there was no way. He’d be able to feed them, sure, but he wouldn’t know what else to do to keep them alive and raised properly. Something his father would have liked, he was sure.
The thread fell on deaf ears, Tate was getting used to threats with the family it seemed. Tim had given some nice ones that were disguised as conversation. As if everyone just threatened people in the same breath as asking how they were. He did however satnd there with the toy out, in his hand. He didn’t move, he did however have to mess with her just a little when she went to pick up the cube again, he may have bounced it in his palm to startle her, chuckling as he did so.
His eyes slipped from the woman then, he’d made his intentions known so he didn’t feel so shy about looking to the kids then. He glanced at the blonde girl peeking around the nanny’s skirts, and then let his eyes drift to the smaller child in her arms. “I promise, I really do mean no harm. If you believe me?” And since his hands were free, he slipped a small white business card from his pocket. It had his full name, all professional in black ink in the center. Under it gave his head chef title at the last place he’d worked in France, but it had his current number. “Either.. Call or just meet me at Sweet Nothings, Friday at say 6?”
She peered at him suspiciously for the longest moment before warily poking at the cube with her wand and casting several diagnostics in quick succession. They were a little stronger and more complicated than your generic standard, but she'd had a friend from Hogwarts who was a junior Auror now and he'd taught her some better ones after January when she'd asked him to. Just in case. She wasn't about to let the children get hurt if she could ever prevent it.
They were more than a job to her. They were precious and she loved them very much. She jerked and glared when he moved it when she finally went to pluck it from his hand.
Auri gave Tate a little wave, braver with him since he seemed familiar to her little mind even if she didn't directly recognize him at the moment. She looked eerily like Quin, though if you looked there was a bit of Sewell in there, here and there. "If you hurt them, if you betray her trust..." she said softly, just keeping his gaze for the longest time, not blinking. Quin was too trusting.
And maybe it was catching, because she snatched the card from his hand. Just in case she decided to meet him. It wouldn't be an innocent date but maybe she'd show up and talk to him. See if her mistress was justified. See if he was just playing a game with them all. "We'll see," she said tightly, and then had to tuck the card away so she could gently pry Felix's hands from his sudden grip on Tate's scarf, which had come just close enough for little hands to catch.
Tate couldn’t help the fact that his smile got bigger when he watched Auri wave, he may have even gave a little excited wave back, mouthing ‘hi’. He could see his sister, just a bit, in Auri. It was the subtle little things, like the tilt of her nose and things. Subtle little features that spoke of Sewell blood. He’d swear he could see more of his family in Auri than Quin, though he assumed people always said that about their family members. He’d always been told by his mother’s family that he looked exactly like his mother, though everyone knew that he looked identical to his father when he’d been younger.
His eyes snapped to meet the other woman’s when she spoke. “Yeah, yeah, Tim’s better at the threats.” He gave her a strained smile, it was his way of admitting he’d run into Tim. It’d been more than once, the second time had been on purpose. “I got it though, I’ll lose limbs, lives, things. You’re going to have to get in line though.” He was sure that if he did actually do anything to Quin or the kids, there’d be a nice long line of people looking to remove his head.
When Felix had grabbed his scarf, Tate had been just about to turn and walk away. The child choked him, just a smidge, but it brought his face so much closer to the infant’s. Tate’s eyes grew wide and he was quick to gently remove the little hand. He gave a nervous laugh, though those ivy blues were glued to the child. “Gods, you look just like dad.” He muttered, eyes still just a bit too wide.
"I'm sure he is," she retorted back. "Doesn't mean I'm not just as prepared to hex you into next week if you hurt these children." She might not be as experienced as everyone else with things like that, but she was determined and that went a long way. She spent the majority of her days with the two children, often in conjunction with Quin. She couldn't help but be fond of all three of them. Tim was more of an enigma to her.
Felix laughed, a delightful sound not unlike his mother's, and patted Tate on the cheek real quick while both adults hastened to free the tall man from the child's grasp, Nancy tucking her wand away so she could assist.
"Quin always says that," she said in an offhand manner, distracted as she let Fee's fingers fist around her fingers instead.
Tate couldn’t help himself, when she threatened him, he may have gave her a playful smirk with an eyebrow waggle. He didn’t doubt her, not in the least. He just couldn’t help but smile through this because what else could he do? If he had a panic about it all, he’d end up hexed. He had to come off as cool and aloof. He was just so glad that he’d smoked before he’d decided to do this, it was helping keep him level headed for once.
The sound of the laughter made his heart tug, he even gave a surprised gasp of air as he looked at the little a moment. It was a moment, so quick, but he was baking away as soon as he was free and brushing his hand down the scarf. “He does.” He muttered, looking at his shoes. Apparently the baby had rattled him more than he’d thought.
“I should be going,” He said with a nod of his head, lifting watery blue eyes to look at the woman. It was the closest he’d come to tears in ages but the baby had rattled him. “Thank you.”
Nancy couldn't help it, she just rolled her eyes at him. He certainly didn't seem dangerous to her. That didn't mean anything, she knew herself to be a bit young and occasionally naïve, though not in the same manner as her mistress. But he certainly didn't seem like someone who would kidnap a child.
Especially as rattled as he seemed just looking at the baby. No, he wasn't prepared to handle children.
"Good day, Tati," Nancy said quietly. "I'll give Quin your message."
When she said she would give Quin the message, he believed her. It was probably ridiculous of him to believe her but he did. He took her at face value. With a nod of his head, a slightly awkward wave, and he was turning on his heels and leaving. He knew it was a matter of moments before Quin would be coming back out of the shop and the jig would be up. He didn’t want a confrontation in the street.
Tate was sure this would all somehow blow up in his face. He knew he needed to actually talk to Quin at some point. Maybe one day he’d be able to do that without screaming in her face. Maybe.