RP: So... Who: Charlotte, Eleanor, Gaspard, Lexa, and Olivier When: 4. July 2009, evening Where: Gaspard's flat, The Quatre, Diagon Alley What: Lexa and Olivier has some questions to ask Gaspard Warnings: Potentially life-changing theories
Eleanor was being careful. Careful not to fidget and fuss too much. She felt guilty for not telling G everything about why the twins wanted to see him, but she also felt that it wasn't her place to tell him something she hadn't really given much thought until now. After all, like she had told Olivier: a lot of people looked alike; that psychiatrist and those two Quidditch players looked more alike than she and Charlotte did, and as far as she knew, they weren't related.
So, now that the food had been arranged and put under a Stasis charm, the table was set, and various wines and beverages had been set to cooling, she curled up on the sofa with Burrito for a break before the twins showed up.
It was safe to say that Lexa was a bit nervous for the evening. After all, it wasn't exactly every day that you asked a near stranger if they happened to be your father. And while she hadn't explicitly asked Olivier how he was feeling either, something told her he shared in her nerves. But there was also a part of her that was excited. This entire ordeal was like a great mystery just begging to be solved, and even if Gaspard ended up not being their father, it was another lead they had managed to hunt down, and cross off.
The difficult part, at least in Lexa's opinion, had been explaining it all to Charlotte. Mostly because, 'oh hey, I think your sister's boyfriend might be my brother and my long lost father' just didn't have the best ring to it. But she had managed, and by managed… she mostly just said that and given her girlfriend a sheepish smile. Thankfully, she was basically dating an angel, and said angel even agreed to tag along for dinner and conversation.
Once they arrived, Lexa tugged a bit anxiously at her hair, giving Charlotte a small smile before locking eyes with Olivier. She was hoping it read something along the lines of 'let's do this!' but since it was non verbal communication, he might have just wondered why in the hell his twin was giving him an odd look. Regardless, Lexa didn't hesitate in knocking on the door, and stepped back to wait patiently for an answer. She might have also reached out for her brother's hand, giving it a quick squeeze for her own encouragement.
"I'll get it," Gaspard announced with a gallant accent and a big boom when the knock came. He liked the twins. El had good taste in friends. She had good taste in all things, if you asked him, though nobody ever did. Eccentric celebrities with 20-something girlfriends rarely got asked their opinion for anything.
"Come in! Come in," he told the group - happy to see Charlotte had joined them as well - and he shooed them into the penthouse. "How is everyone? Charlotte, you must be almost to summer holiday, yeah?" He asked, indicating seats in the livingroom and then asking if anyone would like a drink.
It was a strange feeling, being here, exploring this as an option, but at least Lexa had someone along to bridge the gap between the two groups and make this at least slightly less awkward.
All of this was to say, that he completely understood what had to be going through Lexa's head when she shot him that glance, Olivier slowly nodding. The knock made his stomach flip somewhat-- a surprising feeling he hadn't experienced in a while-- only for it to be compounded by the door's opening. Excellent. Judging by the look on Gaspard's face… El hadn't told him what was up, and while he couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not… he supposed there wasn't much to be done about it either way.
Now or never.
Charlotte followed the two inside-- her hand in Lexa's-- with only a slight amount of trepidation regarding what was to come. But at least she wasn't the one opening up this particular discussion, and at least El was there, and familiar with what all of this was actually about.
Which meant that… only Gaspard didn't know.
"Oh-- yes. And then it'll be on to grading final exams, some time at mum and dad's house, helping out the professors… I'll definitely miss the students, but I'm glad I'll have more time to spend with El and Lexa. A break will be nice."
Tense situation or not, it was always great to see Charlotte and the twins. Well, sure, she and Charlotte still had their episodes, though they had lessened considerably since the beginning of the year. Part of her couldn't help but think that G had been part of that happening… or at least the catalyst to make them talk out a thing or two, and then Lexa and Charlotte had become a thing… and now they were potentially headed towards yet another big change in their lives. Well, for G and the twins at least.
She set Burrito down to play with Miss Bubbles – her feet barely touching the floor before the cat and the dog where playfully chasing each other through the livingroom – before she joined Gaspard by the door.
"You're going to Mum and Dad's for the summer?" she asked, her own lack of desire to anything of the kind showing clearly on her face. "I have an extra bed, Char," she assure her and dealt out hugs all around before she followed them to the living room. "How about you, Lexa? "
She was still listening as she picked up the folder with the parchments from The Daily Prophet and handed it to Olivier. "I got copies of the articles you talked about."
Lexa was doing her best to keep as calm as possible, a smile on her face as they walked through the house. It was best to keep things light for the time being, at least, trying to, but she couldn't help the way her heart seemed to pound in her ears, or the way her stomach turned. Merlin, she really hated this feeling.
At El's question, she was pulled out of her own thoughts and flashed the other woman a warm smile. "I will probably stay around 'ere. Olivier and myself do not go 'ome all dat often. But I am sure dere will be some travelling at least. I 'ave been itching to visit Belize." She shrugged slightly, looking back over at her brother, moving a bit closer to him so he didn't feel cut off or alone. Though she never released her connection to Charlotte's hand, instead squeezing it reassuringly.
Once they were seated, Lexa took another breath as El brought out the articles from the Prophet, and she could barely believe they were actually about to do this. To ask this. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.
"Thank you, Eleanor," she said, running a hand through her long hair before she glanced over to Gaspard. "I am sure you are aware, but the Prophet 'as been speaking a lot about the.. Err.. resemblance between you and Olivier. At first, it seemed silly, no? Dere are plenty of people who resemble each other in the world. But.. well, Olivier and I could not 'elp but question…" she couldn't manage to ask though, looking over to her twin for help.
"Oh! Belize is amazing, I once went cave diving there," Gaspard said to no one in particular, having heard Lexa. When she mentioned the Prophet he paid slightly more attention, but only as much as he gave, well, truthfully, anything.
He gave her a curious look, though, when she trailed off. Lexa didn't seem the shyest of girls, so her hesitance had his attention more than anything else. He was... intrigued. "Question what?" He asked, the question just hanging there, in the air, around all of them.
Olivier cleared his throat. "Uh, yes. Ah… you wouldn't happen to have spent any time in France… flocking… gallivanting around… sowing oats… that sort of thing, uh, circa spring 1981?"
He might have been more explicit, but… the topic alone made Olivier just this side of uncomfortable, and, well, his sister, her girlfriend, and his sister's girlfriend's sister's boyfriend and their potential father (how had this gotten so convoluted, again?) were all in the room, and none of them would likely appreciate anything quite so frank about Gaspard's sex life. Hell-- their likely father's sex life. That made it so much more… weird and vaguely uncomfortable, right? Maybe he was alone in that sentiment. Still…
"Neither of us look anything like our dad. And we already knew that their marriage was more family obligation and pressure, not because they loved each other. So I owled our maman the other day, and she more or less admitted to the fact that she had an affair of sorts to try and escape her betrothal. Didn't… really work out for her, obviously, but..." He shrugged. "If you want to get a paternity done, that's fine. It's not like we want anything from you. It would just be kinda nice to know, yeah?"
Charlotte had tried to stop El from saying anything by waving her hand in a slicing motion in front of her throat, her eyes wide for a moment until the words left El. Well. Wonderful! She'd been hoping to avoid that conversation or at least let it come up naturally-- but with Lexa. "No, um-- no, that's quite all right. I'll be fine. I can always stay at Hogwarts if need be."
Lexa's squeezing of her hand seemed to calm her, though, and she let herself relax somewhat as Olivier thankfully took over the conversation for the most part. She just hoped this wouldn't be as horrifically awkward as she was expecting it to be.
Eleanor suppressed her urge to squirm. Over the years, she had encountered several of the girls Mr. Shingleton had… brought to his bed, and most of them she had given her regrets later on, when they had wanted a repeat of what had happened or somehow expected that Mr. Shingleton owed them at least an explanation. It hadn't been her favourite part of her job, but she hadn't been outright bothered about it either: her job had been to assist Mr. Shingleton, and breaking the news to these girls had been one of her tasks.
Now, however, she wasn't with Mr. Shingleton, she was with G, and though she had been well aware of the topic, hearing about his 'gallivanting and sowing oats' with not just a girl, but a very real woman made a flare of discomfort appear. She didn't say anything, though, but instead reminded herself that though she was no longer Mr. Shingleton's assistant, she was G's girlfriend, and she only wanted to do anything to make things easier and better for him. Reaching over, she threaded his fingers through his, giving his hand a gentle squeeze to let him know that… that she was there? That it was alright? That it was going to be alright? She didn't know, but he could take any comfort from it that he wanted. Or not.
Gaspard's eyebrows slowly made their way to his hairline the longer Olivier spoke. Well, yes, he had been in France at that time, if he recalled correctly. Maybe it was Belgium? How was he supposed to know what country he was in during spring nearly 30 years ago? Who knew that sort of thing? But then, somewhere from the back of his brain, a pretty smile and mysterious eyes flash through his mind. Light hair, a terrible laugh, a week in the French countryside, tasting champagne and spending hours in bed... Viola. He looked up, seeming to come back to himself, and realized he's said the name out loud, barely above a whisper.
Well, since Olivier had asked the hard hitting question, she supposed she could step in from here. And if the look on his face didn't solidify her suspicions, the name on his lips certainly did. Though it was barely audible, Lexa had exceptionally good hearing, and she couldn't help but clear her throat before nodding her head in the affirmative. "Oui, sir. Viola Moreau. She would 'ave been Viola Villenueve back den, if dat information 'elps at all?" Merlin, this was getting more uncomfortable by the moment, and Lexa, who rarely shied away in any situation, couldn't help but look at the floor, her face bright red. But she had to continue, because there was still something of utmost importance to get out.
"Monsieur Shingleton, I… feel it is important to tell you my brother and myself do not want anyting from you, oui? We did not come 'ere to ruin your life, or ask for money, or any of that nonsense. We just…" she trailed off, running her free hand through her hair and squeezing Charlotte's hand a little tighter, before reaching out for her brother's hand as well. "We just wanted to know dat dere was someone out dere, besides dat awful man who calls 'imself our father. And we just wanted you to know we exist. Dat is all. I 'ope you are not mad at us, and I know it is… a lot to 'ear out of the blue. And for dat, I am very sorry." She took a breath, knowing her accent was truly atrocious right now, but it always was when she was nervous or anxious, but at least she had managed to get the words out. And now… now was the worst part, waiting for a response. Any response, whether positive or negative.
Gaspard listened to Lexa but the words didn't really register... He was very much inside a memory at the moment. He had no doubt that if Viola was their mother, then of course there were questions that needed to be answered, but... Blond hair. Telling each other progressively terrible puns over and over until they couldn't one-up each other anymore. The feel of her fingers intertwined in his. He hadn't thought of her in... Well, probably in ages. Too busy thinking of everything else, his stupid inventions and stupider lawyers. Falling for Eleanor. Oh gods, he looked up, sharp, suddenly, "Eleanor," he said, the apology and surprise evident in just her name. His eyes searched her own, he'd had no idea, she must know that. He wouldn't keep something like this from her. Not from El, his sanity in this world.
He swallowed and forced himself to look at the twins. The resemblance was... Uncanny. "The only thing to do, I suppose, to get the test." He wouldn't fight it. And he wouldn't fight if they wanted anything. Was he... Gaspard couldn't quite form the thought, but the feeling was there. Was he a father? Had he missed out on best years of these bright, extraordinary young people? He felt like he might be sick.
Eleanor looked down at her hand, her fingers twined with Gaspard's. She could only begin to imagine what he must be thinking. A million thoughts were milling around in her own head. A nagging fear for what this might mean for the future they hadn't talked about, kept trying to push its way through to the front, but now wasn't the time for this. Now was the time to find out how to get this settled. Her name had her look up at him, and the look in his eyes nearly broke her heart. Did he think she would be upset with him about this? Was that why he was looking at her like he was about to apologise? He had never had reason to apologise to her – other than small mistakes or for startling her – and no matter what it was he couldn't say right now, she doubted it was needed. "It's okay," she said softly. "You didn't know."
She patted his hand gently, then looked across the table to the twins and Charlotte, and felt a bit like an intruder. "I'll go find a list of Healers and doctors specializing in this," she said, wanting to give Gaspard some time with Olivier and Lexa to… get to know each other a bit more? "Charlotte? Will you come help me with the food, please?"
Charlotte had been holding her breath for most of the exchange, most eyes in the room glued to Gaspard. His worry, however, puzzled her extraordinarily when he turned to look at Eleanor; goodness, it wasn't like he could have known… though… this did certainly make one thing a bit more awkward… namely the fact that Gaspard's girlfriend's sister was dating the person who was, evidently, his daughter.
Practically leaping up from the couch at the sound of El's request-- though parting with Lexa's hand was a bit more of a challenge-- Charlotte quickly nodded. "Yup! On my way."
Olivier had nodded solemnly, his lips pressed together at the sound of their mother's name falling from Gaspard's lips. Well! Excellent. That certainly confirmed any and all suspicions. Now the question would be how to keep a lid on this regarding the news media… well, if Gaspard cared. Their mother would. Fuck-- their "father" absolutely would. But this was the British media. It was just a matter of keeping it in the country, then, possibly…? At the same time, their mother should have probably thought about this before. Or told them. That certainly would have helped, that shred of honesty…
"Unless you had a body double that slept with our mother back in spring '81, I doubt a test will tell us anything we don't already know." It would be up to him, though. Well-- and his sister.
When El stood to do some research, Gaspard followed her with his eyes, "Someone with discretion, please?" He knew she would think of that but the thought crossed his mind solemnly. Surely, Viola didn't want anyone to know - not even him - if she had kept this secret for so long. She must know, right? And of course the twins would want to keep this amongst family, right? Family... goodness, that was a concept that had never occurred to him.
When Charlotte and Eleanor left the room he looked to the twins, but his gaze was soon darting around a bit nervously. "Well," he started, "I hope this doesn't come as a... disappointment?" What did one say to newly-discovered fully-grown progeny? Thank Merlin he hadn't won the election. Long lost children always made for a delicious political scandal, he thought idly.
He pursed his lips, "I think we should probably get the test done and go from there, even if we're all pretty sure..." Which he was, now that he thought of it. Olivier and he shared an uncanny resemblance, and Viola and the timing and, and, and... There was too much to think about. "Baby steps, yeah?" He asked with a nod of his head. Thankfully, Eleanor called that the food was ready and he sighed, the relief obvious, "How about we have a nice night now and get to thinking on all of this later..." He asked, the hope and need - need for a nice night among friends, need for putting this aside, need for space to think about it all - clear in his eyes, and they joined their girlfriends in the kitchen for dinner.