Out of the frying-pan (tag Evelyn). on Cascade Hall

Nathaniel Mordue

April 17, 2020 2:47 PM

Out of the frying-pan (tag Evelyn). by Nathaniel Mordue

Sometimes, Nathaniel had moments where he felt very much like his old self for a moment - flashes of clarity. One of these set in as he stood near the snack table, planning out his approach to Evelyn Stones and how to handle any questions he got about it later from his cousin or anything like that, and made him wonder, for a moment, what he was doing.

You're standing here, planning to risk Sylvia's wrath, just to...what? Make a gesture for a nameless first year who has hysterics in public over stuffed animals? What are you doing?

Nathaniel shook his head slightly to clear it. He was not going soft, he reasoned. His mother's appeals for him to consider the possibility that her second husband could be a good decent man who genuinely loved her were not getting to him. He was not proposing to adopt Alexander, after all. He was just doing the job he had been entrusted with - that of being a prefect - as well as he knew how, which was the honorable thing to do. Plus, only an idiot would pretend that a wizard was worthless because his blood was a touch corrupted or his parents unmarried. There were plenty of ways in which networks of connections which included common people could be useful in the world, not least because those who had no power of their own were more likely to be loyal to a patron who treated them kindly and looked after their best interests along with his own. Even through the fog he was usually afflicted with, Nathaniel could tell that Alexander was his, now, and who knew what Alexander might turn out to be?

Perhaps this wasn't why Nathaniel enjoyed feeling like he could help the kid, and perhaps Nathaniel knew that, too. Perhaps his current thoughts were a post hoc rationalization and not even related. It didn't matter. It was a thing just the same - and one which put him on a spot, gave him a role to play, and to not fail at.

There. That was it. He walked over to the Pecari table and mustered a smile for the pale-haired, pale-skinned girl he had been looking for.

"Good afternoon," he said. "It's Evelyn, isn't it? I was wondering if I could ask you a question, if you can spare me a moment."

16 Nathaniel Mordue Out of the frying-pan (tag Evelyn). 1412 1 5

Evelyn Stones

April 17, 2020 3:35 PM

And into the what? by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn was feeling pretty good about life. The Ball was coming up and she was worlds more excited about it than she'd given herself permission not to be before Heinrich had asked. Now that he had, she had to admit that she hadn't been as okay with not going together as she'd tried to pretend. But that was behind them now. She had Ness, she had Heinrich, and she was going to have a great time. On the whole, she wasn't terribly close with many others. Sure, she was friendly enough, but she didn't have any close connections with many others. Tatiana, she supposed, and Mab, were the Pecari exceptions. And Malikhi, in another lifetime. Otherwise, she only knew the folks who played DnD and the ones who played Quidditch for the most part. Everyone else was just a face in a sea of emerald-clad students. Which made it particularly surprising when a Teppenpaw prefect walked by and addressed his comments to her.

The only person she really knew much in Teppenpaw was Katerina, with whom she got on reasonably well but they weren't really close. Had something happened? Did he need her to get Tatiana? Evelyn looked around to see who was at the table and whether the older girl was absent. The other option was that it was about the fact that he was a prefect, not that he was a Teppenpaw, which made Evelyn's stomach lurch uncomfortably. Had something happened to Heinrich?

The other possibility was that he was about to ask to her to the Ball. That was the primary "question" floating around at the moment and the Ball was very soon. She doubted that a Mordue would ask her to the Ball, particularly last minute, and particularly since they hadn't had any conversations that she could remember, but it wasn't a comforting thought to think she might be about to turn someone down, either.

"Yes," she said cautiously, her voice rising into a question herself. "You're Nathaniel? Is everything okay?"

22 Evelyn Stones And into the what? 1422 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

April 17, 2020 3:59 PM

Air, at first, I suppose. by Nathaniel Mordue

"Wha - oh, yes," said Nathaniel, momentarily confused by her question about whether everything was okay. People asked him that one sometimes, and he was quite weary of it, but there was no reason at all why Evelyn Stones would ever ask him that. Then he remembered that they were not exactly people with a lot of reasons to speak customarily, so that could explain why she would think there was a problem, for him to break protocol like this.

"Everything is fine," he said, taking a seat. "And yes, I am Nathaniel. And also helping a - friend - of mine with some research - genealogy." That was technically true. When people constructed family trees, they included their own parents on them, usually. This meant researching who one's parents were was part of a genealogical research project. "In the latest thing we found, we found someone who has your last name, so I thought it couldn't hurt to ask - do you have any relatives named Mathias in your family tree, that you know of?"

If, by chance, she did know someone by that name, they were treading close to Alexander's worries about upsetting other people's lives, but Nathaniel hoped he could handle it. Either he could lie and say any details she summed up were not congruent with his research or play the relationship off as more distant or something. He tried not to analyze her face, looking for any similarity to his small buddy's, as he waited for a response.

16 Nathaniel Mordue Air, at first, I suppose. 1412 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 17, 2020 4:40 PM

Feels a bit more like an inferno. by Evelyn Stones

CW: Vague reference to past trauma.

Nonononononono. NO. This was not supposed to come to Sonora with her. There was supposed to be a general assumption that everyone had parents and then no one was supposed to ask about her parents. On the one hand, at least he hadn't come to say he'd found an old newspaper or something. On the other hand, whoever Nathaniel's 'friend' was was about to find out that they were related to a human cockroach.

Evelyn's stomach clenched, and she put down the food she was holding as nausea overwhelmed her. She curled in on herself, an involuntary response to all the memories that came with that name. Normally, she did alright seeing her father. After all, she'd spent a lot of time with the man. But when he came up by name, she only had her memories to look back on, and there weren't a lot of pleasant ones. She knew Nathaniel could see her face pale. She was glad he couldn't see the sweat that prickled the skin on her back and arms. She had the sudden urge to hit Nathaniel, particularly now that he was sitting as close as he was.

She didn't know him well enough to know whether he was telling the truth, although the Mordues weren't famous for being nice. Maybe he actually had found a newspaper or something and was just trying to get her to admit it. But if he had, then there was no use denying it. Maybe it was both; there weren't a lot of other records she could imagine they'd have found.

"Yes," she said stiffly. "So your friend is my relative? How are they related to Mathias?"

22 Evelyn Stones Feels a bit more like an inferno. 1422 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

April 17, 2020 5:29 PM

That's less than ideal. by Nathaniel Mordue

"Miss Stones?" Nathaniel's brow creased in consternation and a bit of concern as she curled in on herself, going pale. "Are you all right?"

His mind was racing. It was possible, of course, that she was simply having a kidney stone. He had heard of people doing that; it was supposed to be very painful, and could seem to happen suddenly. Or she had eaten rotten shellfish recently. Or had a bad, somewhat delayed reaction to fumes from a potion in class. Or something. Most likely, though, she was reacting very, very badly to what he had just said.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn. He hoped against hope she wasn't going to start crying. He had a handkerchief, of course, because he was not a barbarian, but...He really, really hoped she was not about to start crying. As far as he knew, he had never come into conflict with her circle - he and Heinrich even got along fairly well, he thought - but this admittedly most likely had something to do with how rarely he ran into the ones who weren't also prefects. He particularly avoided McLeod; the fourth year's brother had done him more than one good turn, and he therefore felt he owed it to Kir not to get into duels with other McLeods. He knew how this would look if Evelyn started crying, though, and while Aladrens were known for logic, there was a difference between logic and reason, and Ness' behavior was sufficiently strange, from what he had seen, to cause concern....

"Possibly," he said when she asked stiff, clipped questions. "I'll leave it to him to go into the details...I'm sorry I upset you," he said, meaning it. Despite his apparent natural talent for it, Nathaniel disliked making people unhappy. He preferred calm and order wherever they could be established. It was one reason he was beginning to wonder if the world would be better off if he became a hermit. "I deeply regret it...I assume something's happened to him, then?" he said, thinking the reaction looked like nearly-raw grief.

16 Nathaniel Mordue That's less than ideal. 1412 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 17, 2020 5:54 PM

SUCH an inconvenience. by Evelyn Stones

"I'm fine," Evelyn replied, taking a sharp breath in as she decided how to reply.

Nathaniel looked concerned, which was nice of him. He hadn't meant to throw her into a crapstorm of bad memories, so she really couldn't blame him for having done so. Plus, he was helping a friend, and that was nice of him. And now he was sorry about upsetting her, which was also nice of him.

She did notice his use of a pronoun, so at least she had something to go on. She wondered if there was a way for her to find out who he was friends with. Ness might know, or maybe Katerina. Evelyn wasn't sure she wanted to have this conversation with Katerina, but hey, there were options at least.

"I'd like to hear those details from him," she said, relaxing some. She really didn't want Nathaniel to think she was angry. That was far from the case. She wasn't angry at Nathaniel at least. She sighed when Nathaniel asked whether something had happened to Mathias frickin' Stones. Wouldn't that be a dream? She felt bad for thinking that, particularly for what it would mean for CJ, but she couldn't help wishing things were as simple as him falling off the face of the planet or something. "No, nothing like that," she replied. "You didn't mean to upset me, don't worry about it. As far as I know, there's only one Mathias in my family tree and that's my father. He. . . we're not close."

She cocked her head, narrowing her eyes as she wondered at the possibilities. What if his friend went to Sonora? It would be really crappy if no one ever followed up with her and she found out she had some question mark relative but never actually found out who they were.

"I'd like to know more about your friend, especially if we're family." The last word even came out like she really believed it.

22 Evelyn Stones SUCH an inconvenience. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

April 18, 2020 10:22 AM

Yes, I agree. by Nathaniel Mordue

Gentlemen did not swear out loud in front of women, but gentility could only run so deep. In his head, Nathaniel was therefore swearing a lot as he learned more about the situation he had so foolishly wandered into.

He's my father. We're not close.

'Not close' was how Nathaniel would describe his relationship with Simon. It was perfectly cordial, but not close. There was nothing painful in it, though. Nothing that would make the sound of Simon's name hit him like physical pain. The only way someone could get that kind of reaction from him would involve mentioning one of his parents, or Elphwick.

The conditions did overlap, of course. He was certainly not close to his father or Elphwick, at least. It was far too mild a term to apply to his feelings about them, though. He hated them; he had dreams at night about finding his father, saying hello, Dad, and then cursing the man, and they were not nightmares. This was not the sort of sentiment that most people would describe as a lack of closeness. It could, however, inspire a strong physical reaction, especially if unexpected.

"He's a good kid," he said of Alexander. "A very nice fellow. A little quiet, other than asking a lot of questions, but that's all right. Bit of a worrier, but I'm hardly in a position to judge. Not someone...intrinsically bad to be related to - if you are," he added. Their faces really were not entirely dissimilar, he thought - but then, how many faces really were, when you broke it down far enough? "Thank you - I'll see what he thinks about - details - would you mind my asking where you're from? State-wise or regionally?" he asked, thinking of another way to see how likely it was that they were dealing with the same Mathias Stones, now that he rather hoped they were not.

16 Nathaniel Mordue Yes, I agree. 1412 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 18, 2020 11:05 AM

Ungh. by Evelyn Stones

Good kid. So he was school aged or younger. He could be at Sonora right now. But how were they related? Nathaniel was obviously fond of him, but she doubted that meant they were family. There weren't a lot of people that would describe Jeremy as a good kid as far as she knew, for example. She didn't think it was particularly fair that this good kid was going to find out who she was and would ostensibly know how they were related and she didn't get to.

"That's . . . not fair. He gets to know but I don't?" she scowled a little, but it was clear that she wasn't angry with Nathaniel himself, just the situation. At least, she hoped it was clear. "I'm from Oregon," she said. "My father lives near the coast." It felt good not to say that she lived there. To distance herself from the person who had given her life and then nightmares and that was it.

She turned on the bench so that she was facing Nathaniel. It meant that she was particularly close to him, but probably only by her own standards. She looked hard in his eyes, wondering if she could find the answer there. "Tell your friend that I'd like to know who he is," she said a little harshly before softening her voice. "And tell him that Mathias Stones isn't someone he wants to reach out to. For . . . safety reasons." She doubted that her father would hurt some kid from another family, but if they were related to the same cockroach then this kid might as well know. At least he was a "he." Besides, she couldn't ever predict exactly what her father would do, and although he'd gotten somewhat nicer - or less violent - over the past few years, the bar had been set impossibly low and she didn't see him often enough to know for sure. Hurting a kid he didn't know when he found out they were related wouldn't be the craziest thing a man like Mathias Stones ever did, especially after his little glass house started falling apart.

"Did you find Charity Stones on that family tree? She might have had a different last name. That's my mother." Someone related to her father wouldn't necessarily be related to her mother, but she supposed that family trees often showed spouses and such. Genealogies were funny like that, especially for stupid old families like the Stones and what not

OOC - I definitely made Charity's maiden name at some point but can't find it at the moment, so this is me working around that.

22 Evelyn Stones Ungh. 1422 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

April 18, 2020 11:47 AM

Quite. by Nathaniel Mordue

Nathaniel grimaced as Evelyn objected to the unfairness of the situation. He did not want to be unfair to anyone, but he had given his word to someone else, and that was a matter of honor.

"You aren't wrong," he said, filing away 'Oregon.' Nathaniel himself was from Oregon. It was not far at all, in magical terms, from where Alexander seemed to have been born. "I am sorry to be unfair - I do expect he'll want to talk to you, when I report you're...not hostile, and do know Mathias Stones," he offered. "And then that will be resolved, anyway." Unless Alexander didn't cooperate, but then, he seemed desperate to know about his family, so why would he balk now? Especially since it was hard to ruin a relationship which didn't exist, or barely did, and that had been Nathaniel's charge's seeming hesitation about introducing himself to his relations.

Other reasons he might want to hesitate short of contacting his father, however, seemed to exist. Nathaniel's eyebrows were nearly touching in consternation as he processed what she said about safety reasons. That, and her behavior before...dear Merlin. It seemed likely that he had even less of a monopoly on disappointing parents than he'd thought.

It was possible that it was not as bad as it sounded. The man could be involved in the government somehow, dangerous stuff, with enemies. Or he could just be the sort of unpleasant that Nathaniel's father had been to his mother, which could account for a daughter, in particular, feeling revulsion. The implications, though, were clear, and Nathaniel felt a bright flash of indignation cut through the fog in his head as he considered them. Nathaniel had never seen any reason why a witch couldn't duel as well as a wizard, if she wanted - she had a wand too, and went to school the same as he did - but men who hit women were scum. If, in some bizarre other world, he and Sylvia turned their wands on each other, they would both have a fighting chance. If they started - brawling, behaving like uncivilized Muggles, then it was very unlikely to be a contest at all. Nathaniel was much bigger and stronger than his cousin physically. Short of extensive training in brawling that she did not have, Sylvia would be next to helpless in such a situation. It was vile.

He tried to remind himself that he did not know for sure that that was what she was talking about - and, more pertinently, that it was not his responsibility to intervene in other people's families and call the man out on his poor behavior even if it was true and Mathias Stones appeared before them the very moment Nathaniel found out. He barely even knew Evelyn, and he could not save everyone. How many times had Sylvia and Dr. Greene tried to get that through his head? He could not save everyone. No matter how wrong that felt, and no matter how little he saw anyone else doing to help him out...

"I'll tell him," he promised.

He half-shrugged and half-shook his head when asked about Charity Stones. Evelyn's mother. "I'm afraid not," he said. "Or at least, well, if he did, he didn't mention her name to me." He gave her a self-deprecating smile. "I'm afraid I'm not bringing much to your day, am I? I am sorry," he said, yet again.

16 Nathaniel Mordue Quite. 1412 0 5

Evelyn Stones

April 18, 2020 12:35 PM

Thank you, though. by Evelyn Stones

It was gratifying to see Nathaniel get visibly upset at Evelyn's words, and she sort of hated that. It had felt good to talk to Ness and Heinrich and Kir (to some extent) and such too because it was so good to have someone care. Even if they didn't care directly about her - as Nathaniel likely didn't - it was so good to see that she was justified in being angry. That all the hatred and fear and frustration and rage she'd carried by herself for so long was a load others could help her carry. She found that she was less angry when others were angry on her behalf and the relief, even now after years of changes, was palpable. It was relief and a break from the exhaustion she usually dealt with, far enough beneath the surface that it wasn't generally a conscious thought, but it was still there.

Evelyn nodded and leaned away, glad that Nathaniel seemed to understand. Glad that this boy wanted to reach out. Glad that Nathaniel got that this situation sucked a bunch. She supposed she ought to be excited to meet more family, particularly since her grandparents were either dead or had practically excommunicated their respective children, Evelyn's parents, and she didn't have any aunts or uncles to speak of. Which did beg the question: how was this boy related? It must be a very distant relation.

"Thank you," she said, letting the last of her sharpness fade. At least she could trust that this boy, whoever he was, would know what he needed to know. She waved a hand when he apologised. "Don't worry about it. It's not your fault and you had no way of knowing." She smiled a little, hoping to reassure him. "And it's good to officially meet you. She offered a hand to shake, wondering whether Nathaniel would go playfully or seriously with this. "I'm Evelyn Stones, of the Oregon Stones. Stoneses? You brought you to my day. That seems like a good thing at least."

22 Evelyn Stones Thank you, though. 1422 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

April 18, 2020 6:37 PM

You're welcome. by Nathaniel Mordue

"You brought you to my day. That seems like a good thing at least."

Nathaniel flushed slightly It was definitely a flush, not anything like a blush. He was quite confident on this point. Or, at the very least, he was significantly more confident on this point than he was on the one about whether or not she was just painfully earnest for some reason, or if she was - well - flirting with him.

Surely not, he thought. Flirting, he thought, was...duplicitous, double-edged, indirect. It did not involve outright compliments. Did it? Surely not. It was just a freak thought, he'd had there. He could not wait until he was decrepit enough to have a conversation with a woman who wasn't Sylvia, a teacher, or his mother without thinking something he ought not think in the course of it.

"You're too kind," he replied. "But thank you. Nathaniel Mordue, of the Oregon Mordues," he said, mimicking the formal introduction as he took her hand and shook it, though with a slight, almost automatic half-bow over her hand as well. Bowing over a lady's hand while seated was not quite as easy as it was in some other circumstances, but he'd had plenty of practice in his life. "I hope we can meet again under more pleasant circumstances sometime," he said, almost meaning it. He was still fairly sure Sylvia would not approve, but he did not like to think of himself as someone who invariably brought conflict with him to any new acquaintanceship he made, and was quite tired of that seeming to happen, with the exceptions maybe of Heinrich Hexenmeister and young Alexander...Perhaps, he thought, he had suffered enough to satisfy some perverse god of fortune at last, and was turning a corner. That would be nice. It seemed unlikely, but nice.

16 Nathaniel Mordue You're welcome. 1412 0 5