User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-02 16:19 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Iden cleared his throat and walked over to his brother, still holding Michael's hand. "Michael, this is my brother, Ollie. Ollie, this is my boyfriend, Michael," Iden said rather stiffly.

Oliver stood up and offered his hand. "My brother consistently forgets that I prefer Oliver. It's nice to meet you, Michael. Mum tells me you work in a library," Oliver said, making polite conversation but not actually acknowledging Iden.

"Excuse me," Iden said and headed for the kitchen. "Mum, what in Merlin's name is going on? Why is he here?" he whispered to her.

"He is here because it's Christmas, and it's a time for family."

"But, Mum-"

"Iden, hush. The only way he'll get over all this rubbish is to see how lovely Michael is and how happy you both are."

Iden sighed, thinking this was a terrible idea, as his mum ladled cocoa into the last mug on the tray and passed it to him. "Go give them cocoa, Iden."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-02 16:36 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Yes," Michael responded, "I'm the Associate Librarian at the British Library, Arcane Books Section. It's a rather wonderful job if you love reading and researching. I think Iden mentioned that you worked for Nott Commodities? That must be a very fast-paced job."

Michael was going to try to make the best of this. He only vaguely remembered Oliver from Hogwarts. He was a sixth year when Michael was a first year. Back then all of the sixth year Ravenclaws, except the Prefects occasionally, spent every non-class, waking hour studying and couldn't be bothered to socialize with the firsties.

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-02 18:32 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Iden came out with cocoa and offered some to Michael before turning the tray towards Oliver. "Yes, Nott Commodities does keep its employees quite busy," Oliver said, taking a mug without acknowledging Iden again. "I do sometimes envy those whose jobs allow them to slack off most of the day, but then I realize how dull it would be and how useless I'd feel just sitting around."

"Really, Ollie, what job would you be referring to?"

"I think you know which job."

"Tattoos can be very useful, you know. Only you don't know because you don't care to know anything about me except what you assume-"

"You walk about looking like a human pincushion, covered in little cartoons and engaging in deviant-"

"Boys! We have a guest and it's Christmas. I will not have you behaving like obnoxious children," Moira snapped as she came in from the kitchen holding a tray of scones. "Sorry, Michael. I didn't raise them to act so inappropriately. Have a scone."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-02 19:58 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Thank you, Moira," Michael said, taking a scone. "Oh, Iden, will you summon the food and presents, please," he asked with a 'be nice' expression.

Then he turned back to Iden's brother, "Oliver, did you know that Iden is actually making rather impressive breakthroughs in the tattoo industry. He's invented a few charming techniques that may revolutionize magical tattoos. I'm really quite proud of him; he's very dedicated."

Michael was not very sure that he was making things better, but he was trying.

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-02 20:14 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Iden left the room for a moment to summon everything to the kitchen. It made for a good excuse to disappear and a chance to calm down.

Oliver smiled slightly at Michael, "Breakthroughs? Isn't drawing on people rather straightforward?"

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-02 20:26 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Well, one would think that were the case. I certainly did when I first met Iden. The tattoo design is effectively 'drawing on people', but making the ink move in exactly the right way takes a great deal of skill with charms. And Iden's been working on interactive tattoos, ones that can store and recall data or interface with magical features of a person's environment. I find it all very intriguing on a theoretical level, and it's just simply amazing that he's been able to make some of it actually work on real people."

Michael paused for a second to eat a bite of his scone. "Currently, I'm in the process of convincing him to write his research up into an article and submit it to a journal. Some of the really important art and trade journals are looking for articles about new practical applications for Charm Theory." He paused again and took another bite. "Moira, these scones are amazing."

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-02 20:43 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Moira smiled and took a seat on the couch. She'd heard all about Michael's tattoo, but was going to let her older boy walk into any embarrassment he felt like causing himself by discounting Iden. Oliver had become a bit of a prat lately, and he needed to be taken down a peg.

Oliver looked skeptical. "Real people are letting him experiment on their skin? Has he been paying them?"

Iden arranged the food on the kitchen counters and put the presents in a manageable pile, preparing to carry them to the livingroom.

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-02 21:24 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael laughed softly at Oliver's comment, trying to make it seem like he took it to be a joke.

"No, not at all," he said. "Now that he's a professional, people pay him for his time and talent. His current, ongoing project involves a tattoo that is capable of providing reference data on any book in the British Library. It's quite amazing and quite useful. I believe the next phase of the project is to upgrade the tattoo to identify and catalog all other magical books within a certain vicinity of the user."

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-02 22:16 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Oliver smirked. That was rather interesting, but who the hell would need it except Michael, who looked entirely to respectable to have something tattooed onto himself. "Is he going to put that on you, then?"

"I already have," Iden said behind the pile of presents he was bringing in. "Had to travel to China and California to consult with other artists, took about a year of planning before I'd put the first phase on him." Iden set the presents down and sat next to his mum on the couch, gesturing for Michael to join them, which would fill the couch and leave Iden in the middle.

Oliver blinked a few times. He would ask if Michael if he realized that tattoos made people look less professional, but that didn't seem to matter since he was already a pixie (which made people think oddly enough) and the tattoo was work related. He wasn't actually sure what to say.

"Pull in a chair from the kitchen," Moira said to Oliver, who used that as an excuse not to respond. Moira smiled, "I think you won that round, Iden. Now stop fighting."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-02 22:22 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael took a seat next to Iden and ribbed him softly, "Listen to your mother and be nice."

"Moira, I like the way you've decorated the house. Just enough Christmas cheer. Any plans or resolutions for the New Year?"

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-05 12:07 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Moira laughed and drank some cocoa. "Oh, I'm too old to believe I'll actually keep a resolution, but I do plan on spending some time in Italy this summer... thnks to my son being entirely to generous."

Iden blushed at that and said, "Well, Mum, you can't expect me to keep giving you scarves at Christmas and flowers on your birthday now that I've got a real job."

Oliver came back with a chair. "You're sending Mum to Italy?"

"Yeah. Now that Michael and I are splitting rent and both have jobs, I have enough to start making it up to Mum."

"Making what up, Dear?" Moira asked.

"Adolescence," Iden joked. Oliver said nothing. He seemed a bit bothered that Iden had enough spare money to throw it at their mother. Iden took Michael's hand and kept talking, "Maybe you should send your mum, too. She'd have to take a plane, I imagine. Portkey and side-along would probably both be a bit disconcerting for her."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-05 13:58 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael thought about the idea for a moment. "I don't think she's ever done portkey. That would probably terrify her. I do know she's done side-along. I'm not sure if she minds it or not. I'm not very keen on the idea of her getting into one of those tin cans. I'm told that it's the safest form of Muggle travel, but it looks so dangerous. I'd have to read up on what makes them stay in the air. I think she'd like Italy, though."

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-08 00:28 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Moira smiles reassuringly, "If she doesn't mind side-along, I'd be happy to take her with me. It would be lovely to spend time with your mother. After all, I really should get to know her better, considering."

"Yeah, and Mum took Muggle Studies up through NEWTs, so she won't act all silly round Muggles like some wizards," Iden added.

Oliver scoffed quietly. "Considering what, Mum? Are they getting bloody married?"

"And if they were, Oliver? There wouldn't be anything you could say about it," Moira snapped, edge in her voice. "I'd be quite happy having Michael in the family."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-08 01:36 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael blushed quite strongly. He had thought about bringing up marriage, not that he wanted to get married soon, but to talk about. He didn't even know whether Iden would ever consider marrying a man.

Michael gave Iden's hand a squeeze and did his best not to sound awkward, "Thank you, Moira, I'm flattered. And, um, I'll speak to Mum and see if she's interested. A travel buddy can be nice on a trip abroad, and Mum could sure use some time away from Dad."

There was a brief and slightly awkward silence, so Michael offered, "So, does this family open presents and then eat breakfast or the other way around?" Michael was thinking about the warm dishes full of yummy Christmas breakfast foods in the dining room.

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-10 20:52 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Well, when they were boys, it was always presents first and food afterwards. Now, I suppose it's up to them," Moira said.

"Presents first, please, Mum. I can't stay long," Oliver said as if they'd had the conversation about his timetable before. They hadn't, but Moira figured he was building himself an escape route and said nothing.

Iden shrugged and got up, fetching presents for everyone. Clearly, he'd been the one playing Santa for more than a few years. He grabbed the leather desk set he'd gotten for Oliver and handed it to him. It was spelled against ink stains and tea spills and kept papers from wrinkling while placed on it. He handed Michael his present from Moira, a bag that looked like a simple messenger bag but held up to 25 average-sized books and weighed 5 pounds no matter hom much was inside it. For himself, he grabbed a present from his mum, a set of robes that were steel grey with black and burgundy pinstripes. He handed Moira whatever Michael had gotten her.

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-11 02:19 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael hadn't been entirely sure what to get Moira. Since he knew that Iden was sending her to Italy, he got her the Witch's Guide to Italy and a travel journal charmed to record the details of her travels for memories. Michael kind of felt guilty for not getting Oliver a present, but Iden didn't know Oliver was coming and they both decided that leaving a present for someone you didn't know was kind of odd.

"The bag is absolutely lovely, Moira, thank you. It will be incredibly useful," he said.

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-24 12:47 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Thank you, Iden. It will be a nice addition to my desk," Oliver said shortly. It was a very nice desk set, but it seemed to Oliver like Iden was rubbing his conventional and stable job in his face.

Moira hugged Michael. "Oh, I'm just awful about journaling. This will make it so much easier," she said.

Iden ran his hand over the robes. These were really nice. He flicked his wand and more presents landed lightly on people's laps. Oliver got Moira a cookbook with moving picutres to demonstrate each recipe. Moira got Oliver a very nice scarf, hat, and gloves that were self-warming. Iden gave Michael a book on advanced magical paper preservation. Oliver gave Iden a scarf.... a pink scarf with silver tassels.

Iden blinked and picked it out of the box with one finger. Moira glanced up and then looked reprovingly at Oliver. "What are you playing at, Ollie?" Iden asked.

"Playing at? I thought you'd like it."

"It's pink and glittery. Made for an 8 year old witch."

"Or a pixie...."

"Oliver!" Moira said as some sort of warning, but it was entirely too late as Iden had already lept to coffee table and grabbed Ollie by the front of his robes.

"Alright, I'm a pixie. We've got that just fine without your pink, shiny reminders. I'm a pixie. But you know what? I don't think that's what your mad about. I think you're mad that I have a stable relationship and a job that pays better than yours. I think you're jealous," Iden hissed at Ollie before shaking him slightly by the handful of robes he still had.

"Jealous? You're unnatural. You're a freak. You were before you engaged in this 'relationship' of yours and you're even worse now. Jealous? I'm ashamed. Now let me go," Ollie said quietly and coldly back.

"Boys. Stop this. Oliver, maybe you ought to go," Moira chimed in, wand out and ready to stop this by force.

"Mum's right," Iden said, grabbing Ollie by the shoulders and shoving him hard towards the door. Ollie stumbled and caght himself on the wall. "You should go."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-24 15:03 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael didn't react to Iden's outburst at first. He was just too shocked. He'd never seen Iden react with such anger and violence, even holding back as he was. When he snapped out of his disbelief, Michael stood and put a hand on Iden shoulder.

"Iden, enough, please," he said. Then he looked over at Oliver, who was recovering his footing, and said, "Oliver, this doesn't have to be this way." It was a feeble attempt, but he tried.

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-24 16:09 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Iden's made a choice and so have I," Oliver said to Michael. "I'm only sorry he's gotten you tangled in it. You seem nice enough." With a flick of his wand, Oliver's presents came flying to him, the desk set intentionally close to Iden's head.

"Happy Christmas, Mum," Oliver continued, banishing his presents and then apparating off.

Iden's hand instinctively checked the area the desk set had grazed and was silent for a moment. "I'm- I'm sorry. I just- well- he's so- and... I'm really sorry, both of you. I didn't intend to ruin Christmas."

"He provoked you," his mum responded. "Not that you should have let him get to you. Really, I thought you were about to him. I know he's being a prat about you too, but honestly, he's your brother."

"I know, Mum. Michael, sorry that- I don't make a habit of nearly throttling people."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-24 17:01 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael nodded and smiled weakly for a moment and then shrugged off the whole matter. "So, Moira, what do you plan to see on your trip?" he asked, changing the subject, "Ooh, you should send us postcards!"

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-24 18:10 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Iden half-smiled and used the conversation the other two were in to take a quick break. He headed up the stairs to his old room, and Inky, meeting up with him in the kitchen followed. Iden felt like a jerk and like he'd let Ollie win. Sitting on the bed that was still in the room, he absetly pet Inky's head. He'd be right back down, but he needed a few minutes. Usually, he was the type to take a beating, not almost give one. He guessed it was partially due to Oliver's insane idea that he and Michael were going against what was supposed to be or his repeated implications that Iden had forced Michael into it...

Moira chose to keep the conversation going. Iden was a big boy. He'd figure himself out. "I don't know what I'll be seeing. I've not had much time to plan. There's supposed to be a museum of ancient magic in Rome that would be lovely. And of course I'll be sending postcards. Your mum and I can share owls if she comes along... Is she comfortable with owl post? Iden's never told me how magical she keeps her home."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-24 18:29 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"Oh, Mum likes to do things the Muggle way most of the time. She insisted on making Stephen and I learn how to do things without the aid of magic. I suppose I appreciate that. I don't get out into the Muggle world often, but when I do, I'm much better at navigating that society than the average Wizard. Dad and I have made little magical improvements to the house here or there. It's kind of a game, you see, because in the end she appreciates not having to work so hard to keep things in order, but if the magic is too obvious, she makes us undo it all." He realized that he'd gotten rather off topic from what Moira had actually asked, "But, um, she's not opposed to owl post, even if she finds owls a bit odd. And she's not really opposed to being around magic. She'd probably enjoy seeing the magical wonders of Rome."

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-26 17:15 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Iden's mum laughed a bit at Michael's family game. "I'd like to see the muggle destinations in Rome too and perhaps stop in at Venice and Milan. Really, I'm not much of a planner. I like to go places and just see what strikes my fancy," Moira babbled for a moment, then took a sip of her cocoa.

"Michael, may I ask you something?" she asked, barely pausing before just asking anyway. "Do you plan on putting up with my little pincushion for the long run? If so, do you want children? Ollie, as you can tell, is a bit challenged when it comes to interpersonal relationships, and it seems far more likely that Iden will settle down and adopt than Oliver'll find a girl patient enough to deal with him."

User: michaelcorner Date: 2010-01-27 02:06 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

Michael sputtered a bit at first as the question caught him off guard.

"Well, I'm happy, and I think he's happy. I don't foresee that changing. I certainly don't want it to. And I haven't given the prospect of chidlren much thought. Iden and I really haven't talked about it before. I think I'd like to have children some day."

User: idenpuffed Date: 2010-01-27 02:15 (UTC) Subject: (no subject)

"I only want one of my boys to have a child before I'm 70, just the one would be fine for me... Michael, he's quite happy with you. Just the other day he was mentioning a lovely little hou-"

"Mum, what are you telling him?" Iden asked as he came back into the room, looking much better and with Inky at his heels.

"Nothing, Iden. Just that you'd make wonderful fathers," Moira gently teased.

"Er, okay. You know, there's breakfast waiting," Iden said, blushing quite red.