[cork] if you don't care for tea... [ruari]

... you could at least make polite conversation.
-- the mad hatter

June 2003

A soft melody played in one of the many gazebos spread across the lawns. As a string quartet dressed elegantly plucked softly as few danced, it was too early for that. Laughter could be heard, giggles really, as the little ones played pranks on a sleeping elder wizard. All across the pristine manicured garden and lawns there were tables decorated in yellows and summer flowers with decadent hors d'oeuvres and treats. Dinner would be served family style later by a mix of house elves and magic. There was a large wizards lawn chess game set up and a few of the children were building sand castles on the shore of the small serene pond. It was a beautiful day for a garden party really. The sun was shining, barely a cloud in sight, and yet a soothing cool wind blew through and tickled the skin under Nessa's loose long black hair. The witch half wondered if some of the older, most powerful, wizards had somehow conjured such perfect weather. That or one of her cousins had threatened mother nature. Each was equally as likely.

Moving casually through the small crowds and racing children Nessa's sun dress fluttered across her skinny knees. Florals weren't really her style, but the high cut leather jacket across her shoulders made her feel more at home. With weather like this though it wouldn't be long before she shed it. One hand toyed with the gaggle of rings and things that hung from a long silver chain on her neck, each of them connected magically to one of her clients. There was one ring in particular she had been paying special attention to these days, she took her job as a midwife very seriously.

Her other hand held a satchel full of little coin purses. It was the same sort of party she felt like she'd been attending every June since her own graduation. Cousins a plenty Nessa had lost track of who exactly was graduating this year but she had been sternly reminded to bring gifts. A bit self centered, the witch naturally had no idea what to get the little Regans so she got them what she always did: a handful of galleons in a deep purple velvet pouch. Everyone liked money right?

After placing her gifts on the growing mound she turned about and eyed the gathering. Tall strides carry her; it didn't take long for the Irish witch to join her cousin Ruari at the snack table. A smirk crossed her face as she plucked a crystal glass full of sparkling liquid up from the table.. "Ruari~" she began, in a friendly albeit suspicious way,, "What are we drinking dear cousin?" Taking a sip she felt the smooth liquid tickle her throat and soon realized it was not alcoholic.

This was certainly not the table she had meant to be at.

pinterest inspo~ @Ruari Regan

She'd already tripped over three children this afternoon.

It wasn't really Ruari's fault because when there was a Regan party, it soon became a par-tay. The sun was high and warm and their ancestral home was bright, noisy and bursting at the seams with love. Ruari dove right on in.

She was living in Cornwall now, leapfrogging from one family stronghold to another. Living with Hal was dreamy. They'd bought a small cottage together and had spent the better part of eighteen months rebuilding and redecorating. She loved her new home, nestled close to a harbour so the sounds of seagulls wheeling overhead were now soothing instead of jarring. She was further away from Ireland but closer to the Trickett clan, so she still had that warm envelope of affection either way.

Heaving a happy sigh, the tall witch wiggled her bare toes into the still-warm grass as her pale grey eyes watched her family come together. Being part of such a big family was hard work, of course, but the pros outweighed the cons. Her blush coloured dress hung off the witch's boxy frame like it had meant to. Ruari was the type of woman to be able to wear those shapeless "sack" dresses and make it work for her. With her blonde hair in curls and a glass in her hand, she tilted her face up towards the sun and closed her eyes.

When mentioned by name, the dressmaker cracked an eye open and grinned. "Wow!" She gushed, her eyes wide as she appraised Nessa's appearance. "Look at you!" She cooed, gesturing to the splash of floral her cousin was sporting. Ruari cracked a grin. "Very cute," she said kindly, her heart only breaking a little bit when the shorter woman decided to throw on a leather jacket - Nessa was the type of woman to wear a potato sack and no one would mess with her, she really didn't need the leather.

"Elderflower presse," Ruari added helpfully as she nodded to their glasses, then it dawned on her. "There are kids here, Nessa," she said in a stage whisper, her eyes on the little ones who were chasing one of the countless family dogs around, weaving in and out of the adults' legs. "Here." With that, long fingers reached into her bag and extracted a small bottle of vodka, which she dutifully tipped into Nessa's glass. "That was my coping mechanism when dealing with Auntie Rosie, so you're welcome," Ruari explained, giving her cousin a wink and clinking her glass against hers.

"It's good to see you, though!" She added with a bright smile. "How are you? How's life? What are you up to lately? How's the love life?" Ruari fired questions at Nessa rapidly, pausing only to wiggle her eyebrows at the brunette.

She held in a sigh at the idea of Elderflower presse. While it sounded lovely it wasn't exactly what Nessa had been on the hunt for. She had never felt like she entirely fit in with this part of their family. Garden parties, sunshine, laughing toddlers, she didn't care for any of it really. A smirk found it's way to her dark lips as she shrugged off her cousin's comment. "So? It's not like I'm going to share." She said softly, whispering back in a playful tone that rarely showed itself. Nessa had always enjoyed Ruari's company, there was something about the other witch that was just comforting enough to keep the balance between Nessa being jealous of her and annoyed by her. It was a difficult balance to achieve. Her smile brightened when the shiny little bottle surfaced and she tilted her cup toward it graciously. "My hero." She said quietly, toasting to her, before realizing exactly what Ruari had just said.

"Wait is she coming over here?"

The dark witch was afraid of no man, she looked death in the face, she had a leather jacket, but damn if the idea of Aunt Rosie creeping up on them didn't send shivers up her spine. She turned quickly, head whipping about on the search for their Aunt who was only too quick to pull them into uncomfortable hugs. Cringing at the idea of being wrapped up in another perfume-laced assault on her shoulders Nessa turned her back to the table to keep a watchful eye out. "I swear if she asks me when I'm going to settle down and pop out a few babies one more time..." Her thoughts and words drifted as she raised her glass to her lips to take a sip of her adult-approved beverage.

"You too," she answered politely as she sipped away. The barrage of questions that followed was to be expected. She'd already fielded most of them from other members of her family this afternoon so she was well versed in the answers by now. Maybe it was because she was selfish or maybe she just wasn't born with the same compassionate genes as some of her cousins but Nessa had never cared to ask anyone else these sorts of questions. Not just for the sake of keeping the conversation (and the idea of the perfect little family) going. With Ruari however it was different, Nessa actually did want to know how she was doing. The last they'd seen each other she'd been pining after a Trickett and Nessa wondered how that had went. She answered her questions nearly as quickly as Ruari had asked them, efficiently paving the way to make her own inquiries.

"Oh you know, things are great. Been working at the shop a lot. Not much of a love life to speak of." She had been dating a rather dark wizard for some time but she didn't mention it. She wasn't the marrying type so nothing was ever that big of a deal to her. Nessa had never been on the hunt for her one true love, she'd already found it, every day when she looked in the mirror. She took one last sip of her Elderflower presse plus and gave the empty glass a bit of a disappointed look before looking back over at her cousin with a soft smile.

"What about you? Ever shag that Trickett fellow?"

"No but she's not far," Ruari added with a melodramatic shocked look as she grimaced and drank. The secret nickname for Aunt Rosie was bloodhound. Or sometimes "Great White", purely because she smelt blood in the water and sensed weakness. But the tall blonde cracked a grin. "She says that to everyone so I wouldn't worry too much," she told Nessa warmly and gently. She could relate, though. It was a lot of pressure and almost as though their family members thought them less of a woman because they weren't pregnant.

Ruari nodded along as Nessa spoke but couldn't quite help but feel the other woman wasn't being so honest but that was why her hair was so shiny - it was full of secrets. "How is the shop?" She asked politely. Ruari didn't spend much time there. It was awfully hot and noisy and the family line of jewellery was rather too clunky and heavy to feasibly be worn every day.

Then she promptly choked on her drink.

A pale had flew up to cover her nose as the elderflower juice threatened to come flying out of her nostril. Managing to control herself, she dabbed at her eyes with a paper napkin and cleared her throat. "His name is Hal," Ruari corrected her cousin firmly before she avoided her eye. "And I did, actually," she added demurely as she smoothed a hand down her skirt. "On Christmas Eve. Twice," she smiled.

"We bought a cottage together. We live together now. You didn't read it in the family newsletter?" Ruari asked, her rain cloud grey eyes wide as her pretty face fell in disappointment. Her full lips down turned to form a frown, actually nettled by the discovery. "He's here somewhere," she added warmly, positively glowing in the sunshine because she was still firmly in the love bubble, even eighteen months on. She didn't want to bore Nessa with the in and outs of relationship bliss with @Hal Trickett  but it was sort of hard not to.

"I thought I was pregnant for a little while," she admitted with wide eyes as she looked over at her cousin. "Turns out I was just bloated. I'd been eating a lot of rice," she smiled as she refilled their glasses. "Are you staying all day?" She asked Nessa lightly, knowing the brunette was a very busy lady and very much hated family gatherings. "There's nothing --" or no one "--you need to get home for? Because I'm sleeping over -- ooh!" She gushed, gripping Nessa's wrist excitedly. "Slumber party! I'll make face masks."

"Oh that shop is doing great, more orders coming in every day, you know how it is." Nessa waved off another question, only slightly tooting her own horn in the process, but she felt it had been earned. She worked hard and in her (oh, so, modest) opinion she had single-handedly turned the whole place around. Now it was clean, it was organized, and most of all it was profitable. Her cousins and uncles spent all day in the smithy making all manner of things, some of them searched the world for hard to come by artifacts, and she spent her days enchanting items. Most of the work was by commission but once and a while she flexed her own creativity to make something completely new.

The expression that rose from Ruari was exactly what Nessa had been hoping for. She loved putting people off their guard and her cousin was particularly easy to fluster. She gave her a warm smile as she handed her the paper napkin. "Oooh Hal." Nessa wiggled her eye brows a little more as she spoke, teasing the other witch and then nodding. "Well I am impressed." She admitted, twice, at Christmas, that was quite the achievement. Nessa listened as Ruari began telling her about the two of them. Only pausing to give her a dead pan look and shake of her head. "Must of missed that issue." She said as she sipped on her beverage. Nessa wasn't exactly the type to read the family newsletter, or even bother to pick it up from her stoop when it was magically delivered. She'd ignored it so many times she was pretty sure her Aunt had placed a charm on it to notify her if she ever opened it. She was certain any day now the smother of a witch would figure out how to break through the wards Nessa had on her apartment and accio the newsletter smack dab on her lap.

Looking around she realized she didn't actually remember what he looked like. She knew there were a ton of Tricketts, just like the Regans, but she couldn't place his face among the crowd. They were like the Hatfields and the McCoys, except a lot less shooting and a lot more snogging. "You'll have to introduce me?" Raising an eyebrow at the pregnancy scare Nessa's eyes couldn't help but slide down to her cousins torso. She was as skinny as ever, and then let out a soft chuckle. Too much rice. That was a new one.

"I mean I don't know about all day but if I don't at least stay through lunch I will get an earful later." She confessed with a little roll of her eye. Nessa wasn't much for family these days, or really ever, but she took them all for granted. She was blessed to be part of such a large family, they looked out for each other, and they provided, but she didn't see it that way. Most of the time she thought of it as controlling, annoying, and strict. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoying dressing up in fancy gowns for the more elegant parties though. "No...." Nessa responded slowly to Ruari's leading question, she raised a slightly concerned eyebrow, wondering where her cousin was going with the thought.

"Ruari we are too old for slumber parties." She told her flatly as Ruari grabbed her wrists, her face was serious, her dark eyes set on the other woman's face. And then her expression changed measurably as she broke into a smile. She might have been a hell-raising. independent, dark witch, but that didn't mean she was against Girl's Night. "I will stop by the store and get some junk food!" She returned Ruari's gushing voice, a little too excited for the idea. She was always so serious but once and a while Nessa let out this side of her, usually with the help of alcohol, but sometimes through pure self-care and snacks.

"You sure your man won't miss you?" Nessa teased, winking at Ruari.

Ruari nodded quickly as Nessa expressed how busy she was. Ruari wasn't chocka-block just yet. She was usually the busiest around Christmas and New Year because there was a lot of fancy parties going on. The dressmaker should really pop by Cork more often than she did but the workshops were hot and noisy and she didn't really like the smell of fire.

She snorted quickly as her cousin said she was impressed. "Honestly? Me too," she added quietly, her rain cloud grey eyes wide in wonder. Hal was definitely out of her league and she often found herself refraining from asking if he was really happy with her. But that was not attractive, nor helpful. She grinned, hands clasped in front of her as she swung from side to side, the skirt of her dress swooshing with her as she gave a dreamy sigh.

"He's great," she smiled with a nod. Great wasn't what she should be using to describe Hal. He was...effervescent. Sparkling. Funny, kind, smart, warm. He was the only person she knew who could talk her down when she was about to explode. And Jeff, her dog - their dog - adored him.

Ruari frowned quickly at the look Nessa shot her. "You should really at least flick through it," she said softly as she looked around. "You don't want to keep track of things?" The blonde asked, bemused. As much as Ruari loved her family, it was a jungle and she liked keeping abreast of the situation and use it as some sort of ammunition, because Merlin knew she needed it. "There was a family crossword in this issue and your name was in it," she told Nessa with a smirk. "The clue was "which family member is a skilled spell caster?". I thought it might have been Torrence but," here, she pulled a face and shrugged.

At the prospect of Nessa wanting to meet her boyfriend, Ruari bounced on the spot in excitement. "Of course!" She gushed. "I want him to meet everyone but I think his head might explode," she frowned, wondering if Hal had a similar sort of panic when she tried to meet all of his family members. She'd actually tried to memorise his family tree before she burst into tears.

With a sympathetic expression, Ruari nodded. At these sorts of things, sneaking out wasn't really an option. "The food's always great, though," she added, as though that alone would make Nessa want to stay. It must be hard on her. Unlike Ruari, Nessa liked her own company. Socialising seemed stressful and overwhelming for her. About to extol the virtues of the cheese board she'd seen, she frowned.

"No we're not," she huffed, deflated. Unfortunately for the brunette, Nessa was really the closest thing she had to a sister. As much as she loved her brother Clooney, it wasn't quite the same. But she'd changed her mind.

"Yaaay!" Ruari chorused as she grabbed her cousin's hands and squeezed, beaming, before she frowned. "Wait," she said quickly. "You're not taking the piss?" She asked cautiously, wary because a lot of people thought she wasn't terribly bright and they were completely correct in their assessment. The mention of junk food made her grin, suddenly full of the joys of spring before she laughed and shook her head.

"Nah," she smiled. "He's in work early tomorrow. I think he could use the peace and quiet," she admitted. Ruari did have the habit of smothering when she really liked someone. She was always there, like an overexcited puppy. Quickly, she refilled their glasses again. "We can ask some of the other girls?" She ventured. "Or it can be just us, like old times. I miss you," Ruari added quietly as she squeezed Nessa's fingers.

"Good then it's a plan," Nessa gave her cousin a little smirk as she sipped again on her freshly refilled the glass and felt a little more comfortable. maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was being around Ruari but she felt more at ease here. Her dressmaking cousin was so much better at these social situations and to be honest Nessa was a little envious of that. While she didn't much care for gossip, garden parties, or being overtly social in general, she did see the merits in it and how it could be useful. The dark witch sometimes wished she was a little more of a socialite before she remembered she hated the idea and was glad that she wasn't. She'd keep coming to these gatherings, but she'd never do much more than that as far as the Regan newsletter was concerned.

"Either way," she shrugged as she looked around at the table near them. She would be fine if it was just the two of them or if they invited some of their other cousins. Merlin knew there were enough of them to fill her tiny house but she wouldn't mind the company. As she thought about it her mind was already turning about what she needed to do to prepare. Naturally, Nessa ran a tight ship, her house was immaculate, organized, and supremely clean, but the perfectionist already had a whole list of things she'd need to do to make it even tidier for the arrival of guests.

She turned slightly to gaze across the lawns and smirked at the dogs that were chasing the small witches and wizards. It was a beautiful party, the decorations were lavish yet tasteful, showing off the wealth of the clan, as always, and the food was spectacular. Their picky grandmother would accept nothing less, of course, and Nessa could respect that. She'd always admired the way their grandmother commanded excellence, she was a fierce witch and Nessa aspired to be the same. She cared more about knowledge and magic than she did about table skirts and silverware but the principle was the same she supposed.

"Are you free this weekend then?"