м j f (catwhisperer) wrote in valesco,
@ 2013-10-27 21:18:00

Entry tags:

max fancourt, melania comstock, oliver comstock

Sitting solemn, Max waited until Melania's brother had passed by before letting his gaze follow the younger boy out of the room. Dinner had been... pressed, as was usual these days, with Oliver seemingly becoming more withdrawn, and Melania, in turn, responding to this shift in the only way she knew how, by loudly addressing it. That didn't exactly lead to the most peaceful of mealtimes, not necessarily filled with yelling fits, but not happy chatter, either. So, it was with an almost silent sigh of relief that half the tension was now currently retreating to his quarters for the night.

Momentary relief, that was. There was still Melania before him, stewing with exasperation and confusion. It created a pang in his chest to see his friend so visibly upset, and, for not the first time in the past couple of weeks, Max thought heavily about a certain piece of information that he was carrying that might help deflate the situation between his best friend and her brother.

Once again, Max felt the difficult rise to speak up fill his throat. That something, that life event, that Melania needed to be aware of... he blinked quickly, and immediately set to busy himself. Pulling his wand out of his pocket, Max collected the plates and sent them zooming toward the sink. But he couldn't bring himself to flick the water on, or begin cleaning up the kitchen (not that it was really necessary to, but seeing as he was living here rent-free, Max liked to do something to pay that back. It was just the right thing to do.

The right thing to do...

He would simply keep his cousin's name out of it. Yes, that would be better.

Max waited for one of Melania's lulls, speaking up quietly, but with purpose.

"Melania." He glanced down at the table before propping himself back up straight in his chair. Oliver's dog beneath him stirred, and even Uffizi turned her head toward him in relative attention. Max tilted his head slightly as he spoke. "There's something you should know about Oliver."

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catwhisperer
2013-11-04 04:47 pm UTC (link)

"I don't know," he answered honestly. He didn't know, he wasn't sure what would be the right thing. It was such a complex situation, made even more complex by the amount of time that had lapsed, and Max felt unable to discern what was appropriate. "I don't know, I--"

This decision was only made more difficult by the moral obligation he felt to protect Nona, to stand by the decisions she had made and help her in any way he could. He was betraying her a little, he knew, by revealing this information at all, and there could only be so much he could tell Melania before it was too much for him to explain away. This much, he knew: he had to let Melania know as much as he could concerning her brother. Anything else... Max frowned, and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

He shifted even more uncomfortably when it was clear that Melania wasn't understanding. Support? Ethiopia? No, no.

"She doesn't live there," Max supplemented quickly. "She lives here. And she didn't--" he hesitated, glancing down at the dog at his feet. "She didn't---" Was there a way to put this delicately? "The child isn't in her care. She wouldn't need---"

Max shook his head. No, this was heading toward a place that he couldn't quite go. "I can't-- I promised her that I wouldn't--- but maybe you can---"

Just as he was about to explain that Melania had all the information she needed to perhaps explain to Oliver, help him along this path, when the cool voice that he had so thought would be tucked away in his room spoke up from behind him.

"Isn't in her care?" Oliver Comstock echoed suddenly from the door. Max's stomach dropped, and he felt his body freeze in its spot. No--- How long had he been there, how much had the boy heard?

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fire
2013-11-18 02:39 am UTC (link)

Melania's head jerked up in the direction of her brother's voice, and felt the blood drain from her face. She, a person who had no real connection to this situation other than potentially having just becoming an aunt to a child no one but two people previously knew existed, was having a difficult time understanding the ramifications of what Max had just told her. There was no way, no possible way, for her to understand what Oliver was feeling with this startling revelation.

"Ollie, we don't know that it's yours," she said hurriedly, jumping out of her seat. If she knew her brother, and this entire conversation aside, she did quite well, he had been listening from the moment he'd left the room. He would take this idea and obsess over it until something horrible happened, Melania just knew it.

Frantic to reach him, she started toward the door. "I know what Max said—but there's no proof, not really. Max was just speculating… This all might just be a—big misunderstanding."

Melania shot Max a helpless look, wringing her hands. She had planned to verify Max's story herself before breaking the news to Oliver gently. Having the news dropped on him like a stone meant without a doubt he would act out irrationally in some way, she was sure of it.

"You musn't worry about this, I'm sure everything will sort itself out soon! We'll get answers, we can figure this out together."

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catwhisperer
2013-11-19 10:57 pm UTC (link)

As insurmountable wave of guilt took over him, Max thought vaguely back to how he had envisioned this would all pan out. And, he realized that he hadn't specifically thought much about what would happen after he had passed his information along to Melania. In hindsight that had been a very poor choice-- what kind of wizard was he to not think his actions through? But, Max resolved fully, there was one thing he was certain he had not wanted to happen: Oliver hearing a whisper of his or Melania's worries, thoughts, or concerns over this potential development. That hadn't been... he wasn't meant--- he had been wrong to bring it up here, now. And he should have been more veiled, withstood the drive to not keep secrets from Melania...

All of the sudden, Max jumped from his chair. He hovered behind it, feeling uncertain and weary of opening his mouth again, or even approaching Oliver. What if all it did was make matters worse? Could they become even worse? It was possible... he had been careful to not speak Nona's name, but Max's thought that perhaps the father was someone else began to sink quickly as he took in Ollie's blank stare, a stare that made him think this was not going to end up as a big misunderstanding.

Max watched as Oliver allowed his sister to approach him, though how aware the proximity of Melania was to the younger boy was unclear. His eyes looked far off, and Max thought it unnerving how casually he stood. After a few silent moments, he broke his gaze to glance at Melania before speaking tentatively.

"It wouldn't be right to automatically assume that I... know what I am talking about. Your sister is right, I just thought she would know what to do about properly investigating the possibility before... potentially making something out of nothing." Merlin, that sounded awful. Maybe it sounded awful because he was awful. What he was doing was awful, wasn't it?

"I saw Nona Pepper seventh year." Ollie's stoic gaze broke, a twist of subdued confusion set hard in his brow. "Is Nona Pepper your cousin?" His voice was so full of raw innocence that it made Max struggle, enough to be unable to properly respond. He looked back at Melania, at a loss for words. Unable or unwilling to give up such information, Max simply frowned at Oliver sadly.

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