So this is family. [Tag Evelyn, Mab, and Ness] on Labyrinth Gardens

Alexander Pierce-Beales

June 02, 2020 1:17 PM

So this is family. [Tag Evelyn, Mab, and Ness] by Alexander Pierce-Beales

It was a warm day, just a few weeks into the new term, but Alexander was feeling chilled. He wrapped his hoodie a little tighter around himself and reached into his book bag to make sure Barnabas was still there, although he knew he was. Mab had agreed to come today, and Alexander almost felt bad for drawing comfort from his purple horse. At the same time, he thought that Mab probably appreciated him not reaching out and holding on to her instead. It was tempting, though. He and Mab met inside, early enough that she and Evelyn likely wouldn't be coming from Pecari at the same time, and they walked down together. He didn't have a lot to say; he'd said his thank-yous and his what-ifs, and now it was time to face it all.

When they arrived in the Gardens, Alexander found that it was even warmer outside than inside, although that only helped a little bit. They arrived just a moment before Evelyn and, to Alexander's surprise, another student, one he thought he recognised as Ness McLeod. Evelyn looked equally surprised that Alexander had brought someone though, so he supposed it was fair. He remembered Nathaniel mentioning Ness, and he couldn't help looking over the prefect now, wondering at the friendship that had brought them together. How much was it like his and Mab's? That made Mab and Ness the same role and that was sort of hilarious because they were clearly very different people.

"Hi," Alexander said, managing to speak first somehow. Evelyn's eyes were grey, not dissimilar to his own blue ones. They were large, round, and searching his face, maybe for the same things he was trying to find. They had different hair color but they didn't not look alike somehow. He wondered which of their shared features were coincidence and which were genetic. "Thanks for meeting up," he added.

Remembering himself, he gestured to Mab. "This is Mab. She's my friend and foster sister." He watched Evelyn's face for any sign of feelings about that, and found, to his surprise, humor.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales So this is family. [Tag Evelyn, Mab, and Ness] 1475 1 5

Evelyn Stones

June 02, 2020 1:41 PM

Something like that. by Evelyn Stones

Asking Ness had been hard for Evelyn, because she really didn't want to add to her friend's plate. It seemed like there was always something new with Evelyn, and she hated that about her life. Still, it was nice to be able to invite Ness in on the process, especially when it might not be such a bad thing, rather than having to talk about it all later. Plus, if any of this became relevant for things going on with her father, Evelyn was glad to have Ness present to see it.

They met in the library give Evelyn a much needed safe space before she went to do this thing. She had told Heinrich about this meeting and his support made her feel a lot more confident, but truth be told, she was excited to be done with this whole meeting and just get to go sit with Heinrich or hang out. It would be nice to just get to unpack it all with him if she wanted and if he didn't mind, or to just sit together and not have to think about it all.

She and Ness arrived to the Gardens to find Alexander and, to Evelyn's surprise, Mab, standing there together. Alexander didn't look much like Evelyn, she realised as they approached. In fact, he looked a lot more like Mab than he did her. He introduced the girl, although Evelyn had spoken to her before, and Evelyn couldn't help grinning. "Hi," she replied, nodding politely to them both. "This is Ness, my friend and foster sibling." She smiled a little more wryly. "Guess we've got something in common."

22 Evelyn Stones Something like that. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Mab

June 02, 2020 2:20 PM

I am moderately amused by Mab

When Alexander told her about his sister being Evelyn, the new Pecari Prefect, Mab had told him the story of last term's returning feast and the hostage exchange she and Evelyn had shared. She hoped that settled some of his nerves that he was going in to meet a total stranger who might be terrible but was still undeniably related to him. She didn't know Evelyn well by any stretch of the imagination but Mab didn't dislike her, and she wasn't on Mab's list of People to Avoid Sitting Next to At the Pecari Table, so there was that in the older girl's favor.

When she spotted Alexander at their meeting spot, she gave him a tight smile, and said only "Ready?"

She wasn't completely convinced that he was, but there wasn't much more to do about that, and delaying the meeting would only make it worse, she thought, so they went out into the Gardens again to get this over with. As Alexander had brought her along for support, Evelyn had brought . . . Ness.

Mab did not quite manage to stifle a small laugh as the symmetry, which went deeper than she suspected either Evelyn or Alexander understood, and she covered her mouth to hide the smile she couldn't entirely suppress. It was fleeting, but she didn't think it went unnoticed.

She nodded politely to Evelyn, but addressed her own counterpart. "Hello, Ness," she said to the other prefect who wasn't related to her foster brother, once she was able to hold an appropriately solemn expression on her face again. She toggled a thumb between herself and Alexander. "We're Bel Pierce's foster kids." Alexander hadn't been a Pierce long enough to know Bel went to the McLeod's for their New Years' Party every year. Mab herself hadn't gone either. Jessica had come over to watch her last midterm while Bel went out, but she was sure the McLeod Prefect would recognize their foster mother's name, if not Mab's own. She though there was only maybe a fifty percent chance Ness even knew Bel had foster kids. Bel was not exactly the most forthcoming of people.

It worked out. Neither were Mab or Alexander.

"Good to see you again, Evelyn," she added to her Housemate. This meeting, after all, was primarily about the two biologically related siblings present.

1 Mab I am moderately amused 1473 Mab 0 5

Ness McLeod

June 03, 2020 6:35 PM

I am intrigued by Ness McLeod

Honestly, it was sometimes like Matthias’ Stones was in a competition with himself to repeatedly lower the bar of what everyone thought of him. Not that screwing around outside his marriage and accidentally reproducing were more scummy acts than what he had done or allowed to be done to Evelyn but just… Just when you thought you knew every gross and slimy detail there could possibly be to know, it went yet another step.

Ness was trying really, really hard not to project that onto Alexander. She didn’t even know which of the small humans that was. It was… not Morgan. That was as far as Ness’ knowledge of their year group went. Apparently, the kid was in Teppenpaw, so it also wasn’t Random Factoid Boy. Ness kinda liked Random Factoid Boy, but Ness probably had enough of a supply that Evelyn didn’t need that as a trait in another sibling.

Ness just hoped they didn’t have to adopt Alexander too. He was probably a nice kid or whatever, but really, he didn’t have to become the Aladren’s problem. Hopefully, beyond today, he wouldn’t be. Evelyn had mentioned something about foster system/foster home. The latter sounded slightly more stable and happy but Ness was not counting any dragons as being ‘not my problem’ until they’d been shifted off to someone else before they hatched.

What Alexander turned out to be was a very small human in a cardigan.

Ness still didn’t like him because there was no reason to but it was sort of hard to hate him. There was another student his age backing him up, and Ness wondered what that was about until realising that their side looked the same. Mutual support. So… a friend? Ness tried to stifle a giggle at the fact that they’d come to this half-sibling meet up like they were prepping for a duel, each bringing a second.

Apparently though, this was the foster sibling. Alexander was not going to need the McLeods because he had found his own.

“Wait, no frigging way?!” Ness asked, jaw dropping when Mab (wasn’t that a Disney fairy?) revealed they were Bel Pierce’s foster kids. The Aladren was about to say that was awesome but then remembered that it meant that neither Alexander nor Mab had exactly had a good start with their birth families, so kept quiet. Plus this was about Alexander and Evelyn. Though Ness cocked an interested and amused eyebrow at the counterpart, kind of curious to hear more from her, and to know whether she knew the significance of what she’d just said. Ness guessed if she was bothering to name drop Bel it was because she did. This was getting interesting.

13 Ness McLeod I am intrigued 1419 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

June 03, 2020 10:06 PM

I am not sure what I am. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

"One or two things in common," he agreed, trying to match Evelyn's expression.

Alexander was feeling a bit whiplashy. So Evelyn was his sister but she was being fostered by the McLeods who knew Bell Pierce who was fostering Alexander and his foster sister, who was in the same House as and knew Evelyn? It gave him a headache, made Mab laugh, and made Ness straight up jaw drop. Evelyn, for her part, seemed more bemused and curious than anything else.
Still, Alexander wasn't a Teppenpaw for nothing (he noticed then that they represented three of four Houses, which was kind of neat) and he kept a neutral expression as he watched the others interact. He didn't particularly like that Evelyn was immediately drawing attention to what they had in common, but it was mostly a defensive mechanic that made him withdraw, as he was doing the same thing honestly.

He wondered a little at the dynamic of this whole thing, though. That was really the sticking point for him. Evelyn was the oldest, and smallest (she and Mab were close height-wise and he was sure Evelyn was five feet or less tall), and blondest, and somehow, despite everything, she was the most foreign. She seemed like a stranger - which she really was - and she seemed completely unreachable to Alexander. He was reminded again of when he'd asked Nathaniel about what he wanted from this conversation. What was his goal? Nathaniel had been right; this wasn't just about him.

Truth be told, the four people here were more family than at least two, probably three of them had ever experienced before. Perhaps he could think of Evelyn as his cousin. And Ness, he supposed. But then, he didn't exactly think of Mab as his sister. He wasn't sure if that was because the concept was new, or unknown.

Alexander nodded, taking Ness' question as the easiest to respond to even if it didn't really call for a response. "I'm a new addition there," he said, his soft voice barely raising enough to be heard if Evelyn and Ness had been any further away. That was his way, and he wasn't going to waste mental energy trying to think too much about that. He looked at Evelyn, speaking to her then. "I grew up in a group home in Seattle. Uh . . . my birth mother dropped me off there. Your . . . our dad . . . Mathias . . . he didn't know."

For a moment, he almost looked away again. But Evelyn didn't. They were two people with completely different lives, and the same dad, and he thought that maybe he'd found someone who, in a way, he really was connected to. Perhaps Nathaniel had been right after all. In any case, he suddenly found that maybe he did sort of understand what it meant to have a sister. After all, he had half of one in Mab and half in Evelyn.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales I am not sure what I am. 1475 0 5

Evelyn Stones

June 03, 2020 10:24 PM

I'm a mess. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn grinned, happy to see she'd made a halfway decent impression on Mab. The girl wasn't famous for smiling, although she did have a rockin' sense of humor, and Evelyn thought it was pretty cool that she'd managed to find her way into relatively good graces with her. She was also happy about what that meant about Alexander. Presumably he was a funny, sweet kid. Since Mab seemed to know more about the Pierces than Alexander - and Ness knew more than either herself or Alexander as well apparently - Evelyn had to assume that Mab had invited Alexander into her home with Bel Pierce. That was sort of beautiful. Ness had, in many ways, done the same for Evelyn, although Evelyn had been much more imposing, unfortunately. Needs must, and Evelyn needed to repay that kindness, even if it took the rest of her life to do so.

The topic turned quickly to the sorts of things that Evelyn least wanted to discuss, although she'd known they'd come up. She'd primed herself, ready to hear her father's name. Ready to hear that he wasn't just her father and CJ's father. That he hadn't been for the past twelve or so years. She had so many questions, but she suspected she probably didn't have half as many as Alexander did. She'd grown up with answers she didn't want and he didn't have any of them yet.

She wasn't sure whether Alexander knew that Nathaniel had told her that Alexander had written to their father (weird) and so she wasn't about to confirm that their father did indeed know now (wow that was a lot of names and he/him pronouns - this is why gossiping was not worth the effort). That being said, she couldn't help noticing that Alexander seemed to be almost defending himself. "He's in jail," she responded. She'd opened her mouth to say something else entirely, but that had come out and. Now she couldn't take it back.

As she was thinking about how horribly wrong this was all going, she realised that Alexander just nodded sadly in response to the news, either not surprised, or merely incapable of being any further disappointed. She pressed her lips together, not wanting to feel bad for this boy. She already had a brother to take care of. This one was not going to be part of that; the only reason she was helping take care of CJ was because he was little and couldn't take care of himself, and they'd been through some of the same things. Only a few of the same things, but still. Alexander had an entirely different life, and if not for a few boxes of files in a hospital in Seattle, they would never have known they were related. Which was a little gross to think about because if there were a lot of people walking around out there who were unknowingly related, there was no doubt that some weird baby-making was possible.

"I-- we have a brother. His name is Charles Jones, but I call him CJ. Your half-brother. He's four and a half. I've also got a half-sister, but she's on my mom's side." She frowned, remembering the letter. She'd shown Ness but they'd never really gotten to talk about it much, in the middle of everything else going on. It had all come right around the time of her birthday and a new sister was not something she want to think about, although it wasn't really that different from what she was dealing with now. Unfortunately, she didn't know her dad's extended family and couldn't pass on much information there. "Seattle . . . "

She'd been trying to avoid doing the math. If Alexander was twelve, and she was sixteen, then she'd been four when he was born and around three when he was 'made'. She didn't remember her father going on a business trip at the time, but it stood to reason that that's what it had been. Just two short years before Evelyn's life would change the first time. Timelines, she decided, were best left unexamined here.

Cocking her head at Alexander, at her brother, Evelyn searched his face. "I like eggs and brownies a lot, and I'm dating Heinrich Hexenmeister, and Herbology is my best subject." She smiled a little sadly. "Siblings should know such things I guess?"

22 Evelyn Stones I'm a mess. 1422 0 5

Mab

June 04, 2020 7:13 AM

You're my foster brother. And she's my foster-half-sister? And that one is my foster-sibling-squared? by Mab

Mab's lips twitched slightly at Ness' surprise. She wasn't sure if that meant Ness was surprised that Bel had foster kids, or if she was just surprised that Alexander and Mab specifically were the kids with that designation. Either way, the name of their foster mother had definitely been recognized, and accepted as a point in Alexander's favor, at least on Ness' end, and Ness would be able to discuss (heh) what that meant with Evelyn later if the older Pecari didn't already know.

At that point she took a small step back to be Alexander's support without being part of the meeting's focus as the two siblings began to actually talk to each other. She felt kind of bad for Alexander, hearing his story again, and her brows rose in obvious surprise when Evelyn told him that their shared parent was in jail.

That sucked. She already knew from her own experience that some fathers were useless, but the closest her old man had come to court was failure to pay child support, not . . . whatever it was Alexander's father had done to end up in jail.

The little brother was - better? - news? She glanced over at Alexander to see how he was taking that information. She didn't remember him mentioning a half-brother before, just a half-sister in Evelyn. Was this news? Four and a half was pretty little. If Alexander reached out to him, he probably wouldn't even remember a time when Alexander wasn't in his life after a few years.

There was zero chance Bel was going to want to take in a four year old, though. She'd made her policy on stray cats and small children very clear: *don't bring them into the apartment.* Not even Cole came to visit Bel's apartment.

She wondered where CJ was living now. Ness' family? Had they gotten a two for one deal? Or was he in a group home now? Or a third foster family? She'd leave that to Alexander to ask about if he wanted.

Evelyn continued with less fraught details about herself. She guessed the older girl was right. She knew some of Alexander's favorite foods already, but she turned toward him in interest to hear what his best subject was. As she was also his sibling, she should know, too. "My best subject is Potions," she told him, hoping that sharing her own best class made this whole thing fell less awkward rather than more. She gave him a small encouraging smile. "Siblings should know such things," she confirmed. *You already have one, and I know you can do this,* was the subtext she was trying to convey.

Subtext wasn't really one of her strong points though.

1 Mab You're my foster brother. And she's my foster-half-sister? And that one is my foster-sibling-squared? 1473 Mab 0 5

Alexander Mason

June 08, 2020 8:19 PM

Barnabas is to Edgar as I am to Evelyn? Or wait no . . . by Alexander Mason

Evelyn seemed playful and Alexander could see why she'd ended up in Pecari. She had Mab's same tendency to watch carefully and seem like she might not be so adventurous, and then to burst out with a grin, a joke, or a scheme that put all doubts to rest. He was surprised that she was dating another prefect. Did they just all run in a pack? Nathaniel hadn't mentioned that to him and he wondered whether the Teppenpaw perfect knew. Would he care? That was an odd thought to come to mind. Why would Nathaniel care? Other than the fact that he and Evelyn were about the same age, there wasn't any reason to think Nathaniel would have any opinion on Evelyn having a boyfriend. In any case, Alexander supposed he was happy for her. Dating, he thought, sounded complicated. And that was before all of this. He still wasn't exactly sure what to think of the fact that he'd now gone to the Ball with his sister in a way. He hadn't asked her because he was into her necessarily, and they weren't actually related, but the double qualifier made him wonder whether he was more glad they weren't really related or more glad that they hadn't really gone as a date. Perhaps he'd just marry Barnabas, or the greater concept of societal morality. That would work.

His heart about burst when Mab expressed her best subject to him. Siblings then. That was . . Good. Right? Good? For right now, it felt good, and that was all that mattered. He smiled properly at her then, taking a breath and relaxing. A tension he hadn't noticed had managed to creep into his shoulders and he softened his posture some. When he spoke, it was directed to Mab, although he looked back up at Evelyn a moment later. "Mine's transfiguration, probably," he said, wrinkling his nose. "But I draw a lot. I'm not sure whether academics are my strong point." He glanced at Mab again, this time more instinctively. If anyone knew where his strengths lay, it would probably be her. He wished they'd had a life time to get to know each other the way siblings ought to have had, but if Ness and Evelyn met here too, then they weren't really that far behind. "And I like brownies, too."

This whole thing was so odd, and Alexander couldn't shake that feeling. Mab was his friend, so she became his sister. Evelyn was his sister so she might become his friend. But that seemed like the wrong way 'round, because he didn't actually care about Evelyn at all. He supposed that was what blood relations were all about; you were family because you didn't have a choice, you were friends because you did. Certainly Nathaniel and Jeremy seemed to prove that point.

"I like comic books. And . . . uh . . . I'm single?" What a stupid thing to say. "I don't really know what to say," he admitted, defaulting to honesty. Honesty and vulnerability often wore the same cloak, but they were not the same, as was evidenced in this case; being honest gave Alexander the chance to not have to be so vulnerable. "I don't know whether we're supposed to be friends? Or . . .?"

OOC - Ness' author gave permission to skip to Alexander.

22 Alexander Mason Barnabas is to Edgar as I am to Evelyn? Or wait no . . . 1475 Alexander Mason 0 5

Evelyn Stones

June 08, 2020 8:29 PM

Because you're a horse and I'm a fluffball? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn raised an eyebrow. She was happy that this kid had Mab, but geez, that was harsh of him. She didn't exactly need another brother - need any more siblings - either, but that's where they were at, and he'd been the one who wanted to meet up. Perhaps he was just nervous? Mab seemed really good for him, and he obviously relaxed some when she spoke, but then he was sort of . . . distant. And he was hard to read.

Without really meaning to, she found herself searching his face for her father again. Would this kid grow up and hurt people? Would he be a monster? She asked that about herself pretty regularly, but she had the advantage of never having to be anyone's father as far as she could predict. Heinrich was so full of good wolf that it wasn't something she could worry about with him, and Fionn and Kir - the closest figures she'd ever seen to brothers and fathers in action - were kind and good wolf folks as well. But she didn't know Alexander. She wasn't sure why she didn't trust him though, because she trusted Nathaniel and Professor Wright, and just being a male didn't seem like reason enough. She examined his expression and decided not to worry too much about that.

"I think that is up to us," she replied a little stiffly, although she glanced to Ness and Mab, including them in the first-person collective. "Since neither of us is likely to see the person that put us in each other's lives, it's sort of up to us at this point." She shrugged and shifted her weight, wishing she had taken a seat before now. It was a bit weird to stand like this and she felt like it was a face-off of some sort. A dance battle might've been preferable, though.

A growing sense of resentment reared its ugly head and Evelyn realised that she disliked Alexander for what he was, not who he was. She wondered if he felt the same, and if that's why he was being . . . whatever he was being. Ness standing nearby made Evelyn feel strong, though, and she took a breath again. "There's not a lot of rules for what siblings are," she said, thinking of CJ. She nodded at Mab, too, to give context for this person who she supposed was also her younger brother. This meant she was one of, what, four kids? Maybe more? Weird thought, especially for someone who'd grown up as an only child. "So we can be whatever, or not."

22 Evelyn Stones Because you're a horse and I'm a fluffball? 1422 0 5