Author Topic:  sunfair sundown [arawn]  (Read 254 times)

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802 Posts 26 snuggly when drunk she/her played by cstine
sunfair sundown [arawn]
« on: March 06, 2023, 10:42:21 PM »
wednesday, 30 march 2005

Are you free Wednesday at 2? Simple questions and simple answers: she was free every day at two o’clock. Edith had arrived in Mortlake at half one, intentionally early so she could get the tiniest of head starts at the pub. The last few times she had met up with Arawn, they had gone to a café; the new venue made it feel like less of a check-in with a former mentor-type and more of a… something else. Something she should be drinking for.

Edith had asked him months ago for a spot of help, doing his investigative things with the Prophet resources he had at his disposal. She wasn’t planning to write anything about them, she didn’t think (assuming that’s what this was about at all). But she wanted to know, thought Fergie might want to know. But mostly she did.

Fergie didn’t know she had asked Arawn to look into the Flumes, pre-Ambrosius. Look for information on his mother, the like. They hadn’t been in any book she could find, which should have been more of a relief than it had been— especially now that she knew Mr Flume’s middle name, and had seen that name pop up in writings about one other particular family that featured heavily in every Purebloods 101 book she picked up. But she hadn’t mentioned that to anyone, least of all Fergie.

But: Arawn, the Ship. She had two pints on her table, one half gone. She had shrugged out her coat after sitting; it was almost inside out on the back of her chair. She glanced up from the anxious glass-turning-on-table-top she was focused on when the pub’s door opened again. She lifted her hand in a half wave, mostly just to draw his attention, let him know he didn’t need to buy a pint before he joined her. “Hiya,” she said, pushing her glasses back to the bridge of her nose. “Alright?”

@Arawn Fleming
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i got my mistakes on a loop inside my head
edith holthouse

30 Posts 34 played by laura
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Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2023, 10:12:56 PM »
Edith had mentioned a vague idea for her next book a few months ago and at the time Arawn had been concerned—and proud, obviously—even before the follow-up request had been made of him: she was researching wizarding purebloods and wanted to see what he could find out about the Flume family. It hadn’t taken him long to establish that her then-boyfriend-now-fiance was a Flume, and that the desire for information might be a bit more personal than she had initially let on.

Arawn had found something, and while normally he might have just sent an owl this didn’t seem the type of thing to post in the mail. He wanted to be present when she read it, provide support and some sensibility (not usually his forte, but he liked Edith), so that she didn’t make any rash decisions in the wake of discovery.

It was a short walk from his house to The Ship, but he was still five minutes late. He pushed open the door—closed against the cooler weather they were experiencing—and let his eyes adjust to the dimmer light inside. It was midweek and mid-afternoon, hardly rush hour, so he spotted Edith the moment she waved. He smiled warmly and strode over, pulling the seat beside her out and lowering himself into it in a manner that suggested he was older than thirty-four.

“Hello,” he returned her greeting with another big, closed-lipped smile. “I am,” he asserted. His eyes fell upon the beers, plural, and he pointed at the one nearest his seat. “This is for me?” he checked, picking it up, “Thank you.” He had a sip and set the glass back on the card coaster, then withdrew the deep green manila folder he had brought with him from under his arm and set it on the small table, which wobbled, closer to him so that she would need to reach over his arm to take it.

He picked up a serviette out of the tin on the table and began folding it methodically. “Have you been well?” He gripped the edge of the table in one hand and ducked down to wedge the folded napkin under the table leg, sat back upright and checked the wobble of the table—gone—before looking back at Edith, smiling; “I believe an in-person congratulations are in order?”
« Last Edit: March 10, 2023, 05:20:25 PM by laura »
 
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802 Posts 26 snuggly when drunk she/her played by cstine
Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2023, 12:43:13 PM »
“Yup.” The pint was for him. She nodded once at his thanks; it was literally the least she could do.

Arawn placed a folder on the table and Edith’s eyes went a little wide at it, waiting for him to say something about it (so she wouldn’t have to ask) because it had to have something to do with meeting in person, not putting it in a letter. God, she hoped it was because there were too much reporting on how great the historical Flumes were that he didn’t want to cramp his hand up writing to her about it. Wishful thinking, probably.

He had asked her a question. “What?” She asked, flicking her gaze up from the folder. She remembered the question after a beat— had she been well? Not really. “Yeah,” she said, nodding again to really drive her point home. She was glad he was focusing on the table and not on her, at least, but he fixed the wobble after another few seconds and then she was all he had to pay attention to. Lovely.

Edith raised an eyebrow at his congratulations, her forehead smoothing out after a second after it dawned on her. Shit. She glanced at the hand she had wrapped around her pint—her nails painted in that clear varnish that tasted terrible if she tried to bite them, which was really not working well with her anxiety, especially the last week or so—and her ring. Right.

She looked at Arawn. “Just before Christmas,” she said, lifting her fingers off the glass and taking another, better look. “Haven’t set a date yet,” she added, because that was always the next question. Always.

But did they really meet up for in person engagement congratulations? The folder suggested otherwise. “Is that…?” She really didn’t want to have to ask if he was able to find anything in the years of archives she thought he had gone through.
let's go out and shout the words we never said
 
i got my mistakes on a loop inside my head
edith holthouse

30 Posts 34 played by laura
    perpetual stirrer of the gossip cauldron
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Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2023, 06:03:53 PM »
It would be impossible for even an unperceptive person to not notice the way Edith was focusing on the folder. Arawn wasn’t prolonging this out of spite – if anything he was trying to be polite, take some interest in his former colleague’s life since departing the Prophet.

He smiled again, smaller, as they mutually glanced at the engagement ring on her finger. He wasn’t about to feign interest in the ring itself, but he was pleased for her all the same. Just before Christmas, she said, and he took that to be a pre-emptive answer to the question he (again) wasn’t terribly interested in asking but he was interested for her. “How lovely,” he said, no hint of anything other than genuine happiness. “You have plenty of time.”

His eyebrows rose softly and he looked down at the folder by his elbow before returning his attention to her face. “Yes,” he answered plainly. He held her gaze for a moment. “I presume you are still interested?” Arawn had been only mildly interested in the obviously-forgotten history of a minor ‘house’ – not because he was snobbish, but because he—like Edith, he imagined—thought it all rather silly. Still, she had asked for his help, and aside from just being a wonderful human being, it had kept him busy.

Arawn had a long sip of his beer then picked up the folder in his other hand, holding it for her to take. Inside were a number of articles throughout the past several decades: predominantly family notices—births, deaths, marriages—but also her father-in-law-to-be’s acquisition of a Hogsmeade institution, some familiar hereditary names… The physical contents of the folder were factual and there was nothing concrete, but if Edith was anything like he thought her to be, she would connect the same dots he had.
 
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802 Posts 26 snuggly when drunk she/her played by cstine
Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2023, 06:46:59 PM »
She did have plenty of time, even if it didn’t really feel like it sometimes.

Yes, he said, because he had a way with words, much like she did. (They were both writers but he was just being concise and getting to the point; Edith just didn’t know what to say.) She blinked as he looked at her, willing him to say something else because again she didn’t want to have to ask.

Was she still interested? “Yeah,” she said, blinking again and keeping her gaze in his. “I am.” ‘Interested’ was one word for it, anyway. Concerned, maybe. Anxious, definitely. She drank when he did because it seemed like he was going to draw this out and she wasn’t going to push him because she wasn’t desperate. Yet.

Edith took the folder when it was offered, pushing her pint to the side so she could peruse the contents freely. The article on top was a wedding announcement—which she had seen, framed and hung on the wall in Majorca—that she quickly slid to the side. There were a few more things like that; she skimmed them all, for the most part, with nothing really jumping out at her. Until, of course, the copy of a business license transfer from a Ciceron Harkiss to Ambrosius Adrastos Flume.

She blinked, focused on the Adrastos of it all. She had known this already, had learned about it a couple weeks ago when she and Fergie had been having a fairly normal question about family names in the realm of wedding invites, the like— and then she remembered seeing that particular name in every book she’d been using for research lately, always attached to Rosier. She wanted to be wrong about it, wanted the story of Ambrosius’s muggle father to be the real story. She didn’t mention any of this to Arawn, of course.

Moving that article to the side, she narrowed her gaze as she looked at the photo underneath. Fergie, but… not. The hair was wrong, and some other things just felt off, but the resemblance was definitely there. Her gaze slid to the caption under the portrait:  Adrastos Rosier. Oh boy.

Edith glanced up, finally, and found Arawn looking at her rather intently. “Was there—“ she tapped the tip of her index finger on the photo. “There’s no official connection, is there.” It was less of a question; if there was any sort of official connection, people—at the very least, Fergie—would know.
let's go out and shout the words we never said
 
i got my mistakes on a loop inside my head
edith holthouse

30 Posts 34 played by laura
    perpetual stirrer of the gossip cauldron
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Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2023, 08:23:42 PM »
Arawn picked up his pint to assist in making room on the table, and he sipped at it as Edith began inspecting the contents of the folder. It was obvious when she came across information that was new or otherwise startling because she paused. He paused in the same moment, carefully placing his glass back on the coaster with as little noise as possible so as not to interrupt her thoughts. He knew, then, without either of them needing to communicate, that she had seen that name before, and there was a bubble of pride stuck under his ribs – not quite free to float to the surface because of what it meant, or what it might mean to her.

He was unsure what Edith’s exact reaction would be, but given past precedence—and her critically acclaimed published work—he imagined she wouldn’t be filled with joy. Edith uncovered the photograph next, and Arawn watched her features like an eagle watching its prey.

She lifted her gaze to meet his and Arawn didn’t falter, only glancing down briefly when she tapped her finger on the photo. “No,” he answered promptly, wanting to put her out of her misery as quickly as possible – but that photo, that name, it was only a small jump—certainly not a leap—to make.

“But,” he continued, “if I—we—were to dig further, I’m sure we could find some very convincing unofficial connections.” He was half-warning her, half-querying if she was interested in pursuing this further. It was one thing for the possibility to exist, to press in at times unfounded, but quite another to risk a confirmation if that wasn’t the result she wanted, if she had been hoping to rule the possibility out.

“I can tell you more about Adrastos Rosier.” His light eyes flicked to the photograph as the subject moved, apparently disgruntled, then back up to the witch across from him. “Or have you already beaten me to it?” The smallest of smirks pulled at the corner of his lips – an attempt to redirect her thoughts slightly to her journalistic qualities rather than the nature of what she was delving into.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2023, 08:24:19 PM by laura »
 
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802 Posts 26 snuggly when drunk she/her played by cstine
Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2023, 10:54:56 PM »
There was nothing official; Arawn would have found it if there was. Edith tapped her finger a few more times, quickly, thinking. Nothing official just meant there were no birth records, really– everyone thought Ambrosius’s father–Fergie’s grandfather–had been a muggle. She imagined it was almost a point of pride for the current generation of Flumes or maybe that was just her projecting her feelings on the situation; either way, this wasn’t good news.

Edith brought her gaze up–she had been fixated, eyes unfocused, on a spot just north of the photograph–and back to Arawn’s as he spoke again. He–they--could dig in further. Did she even want to? “Yeah,” she said, agreeing anyway, before she could really stop herself. There’d probably be something convincing, as if the photograph wasn’t enough. And anyone who saw it and knew Fergie–or a younger Mr Flume (and here Edith stopped herself from thinking about any implications for those future Flumes she had been thinking about a lot more, lately)--would know.

She didn’t look at the photograph again when Arawn offered to tell her about its subject– as if she hadn’t been scouring literally all of her pureblood research up to this point this past week–since that completely normal, shouldn’t-have-been-so-profound conversation about middle names in the family–for any mention of Adrastos Rosier. And he must have known that, asking if she had beaten him to it. “I–” she started, closing her mouth again and breathing out through her nose. “This is all off the record,” she said, fighting the impulse to trust Arawn’s ethical creed not to abuse their conversation.

“Go on,” she said, lacing her fingers together and placing her hands in her lap– so he couldn’t see just how much she was fidgeting.
let's go out and shout the words we never said
 
i got my mistakes on a loop inside my head
edith holthouse

30 Posts 34 played by laura
    perpetual stirrer of the gossip cauldron
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Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2023, 09:12:39 PM »
Arawn watched Edith’s finger tap the photograph, and the portrait of Adrastos Rosier that stared up at her, disgruntled by the mistreatment. She looked at him then, and he kept his expression impassive. Yeah. The corner of his lips twitched in empathy.

Edith reminded him that this conversation was off the record and Arawn frowned softly at her. “Of course,” he said simply. He didn’t believe there was any warranted public interest in the decades-old affair of two purebloods – Adrastos Rosier was not the first and would not be the last wizard to have a mistress. Regardless, Arawn understood Edith’s interest, and the perceived problem of her fiance’s ancestry.

Go on, she prompted him. Arawn had a sip of his beer.

“Your fiance’s father was born in nineteen-twenty-nine. A few years later Adrastos Rosier married Cunegunda Rowle and some time after that had a legitimate—” he said this, rather than another, “—son, Erebus Rosier.”

“Erebus went on to marry his own suitably-blooded wife and have two children, Evander and Eris.” He paused here, checking in with Edith; he had rattled all of this off without needing to check the papers on the table between them, or without even breaking eye contact with the younger witch. Edith might not know Evander’s name, no doubt in part because he had generally gone by ‘Evan’, but more likely because she was a muggleborn and had not been around in the First War or the immediate aftermath. “Evan Rosier died in nineteen-eighty-one. His father followed him in May nineteen-ninety-eight.” It didn’t take a genius to recognise that date for what it was.

Eris Rosier however, was a much more familiar name. “Eris was slightly more successful than her male relatives,” he said, sounding almost proud of her accomplishment: “She became Head of the Auror Office before she was arrested.”

“You may already know that she is currently in Azkaban, serving life. Some silly assassination attempt on the previous Swedish Minister of Magic. Merlin knows why, for all intents and purposes they did appear to be barking up the same tree.” He let out a noise of vague amusement and had a drink.

After letting his monologue settle for a moment he returned his attention to Edith. “Are you alright?”
 
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802 Posts 26 snuggly when drunk she/her played by cstine
Re: sunfair sundown [arawn]
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2023, 08:54:45 PM »
Edith blew air through pursed lips; she knew that Ambrosius had been born in 1929 and then Adrastos Rosier had a legitimate son, but still. It wasn’t fun to hear those two facts back-to-back.

Erebus Rosier– the son, or potentially Fergie’s uncle. (She was trying to keep things straight so she could know exactly how bad this was.) She laughed at ‘suitably blooded wife’, though not in a happy sort of way; she followed the laugh with another long draw from her pint. And then there were Evander and Eris– or, Fergie’s cousins. Potentially. Edith knew enough about Eris already but Evander… Arawn was elaborating, so she didn’t have to ask.

They died in 1981 and 1998, because of course they did. She had had a hunch, of course, but it was nice to have it confirmed by someone who had access to the Prophet archives. That someone was now talking about Eris, but Edith wasn’t really hearing him anymore. She might not have been at the Ministry when all of that had happened, but she had been hyperaware of all things Death Eater by that point– that had been around the time she was seriously considering moving to a cabin in Vermont and just, quitting magic. “Ha,” she said without laughing, paying attention again in time to catch Arawn’s (attempt at a) joke. She had another drink.

He seemed to be done. She should probably say something, but she didn’t bother until she was prompted. Arawn asked if she was alright, and Edith looked at him, hesitating before answering him with a rather long winded answer: “Erm.” She was–and not for the first time–pondering the merits of self-obliviation because the next part in all of this was telling Fergie. There was no way she could keep it from him, even if she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of his Rosier connection.

She looked down at the photo again, figuring she had to be at least ninety-eight percent sure based on the similarities alone. And the timeline worked, didn’t it? And if Adrastos–Edith tapped her finger on his photographic face a couple more times–was marrying someone else, of course he would want to keep his illegitimate child a secret. And even if that didn’t make total sense– the Flumes were purebloods, so what was the point of the secret if he wasn’t married yet? Edith’s head hurt.

“Not really, no,” she said, glancing at Arawn again. She ought to elaborate, but she wasn’t sure which direction her thoughts should take next. She wasn’t really concerned with what she might be marrying in to, but– no, Ambrosius was one of the nicest people Edith had ever met, and after everything Isla had been through in the war? Everything was fucked, plain and simple. “It doesn’t seem very fair, does it?” She asked, because that was what journalists ought to be concerned with, opinions on fairness.
let's go out and shout the words we never said
 
i got my mistakes on a loop inside my head
edith holthouse

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