Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne
July 28, 2020 2:03 PM
Want to see if my son will burst into flames? by Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne
Ever since the incident on Christmas Eve, Tabitha hadn’t slept. However, this decision was by choice. She lay (or sometimes, sat) awake until the very early hours of the morning, listening for the unmistakable cries of her adopted son. She’d then dash to his room and couldn’t help but hope that he’d look somewhat more bird-like than human or be spitting flames from his hands. So far, there had been no such results and, trying to push disappointment to one side, she’d then soothe and comfort him and lull him back to sleep before leaving again, recording her lack of findings in her new Zeus-dedicated journal and sometimes moving downstairs to leaf through one of her many books, trying to find all the information she could on Veela children.If Tabitha was honest, she wasn’t doing all this simply because Zeus had suddenly become far more interesting (though the fact that he did possess many Veela qualities was fascinating), there was also a part of her that was operating from a defensive viewpoint. Technically speaking, he was a threat and while Mary had done a fantastic job on calming him down on Christmas Eve, there was a possibility that that method could not always work. Tabitha needed to know, for the safety of everyone, including Zeus himself, just what she was dealing with. Though she hated that she was starting to view him more as a research subject than a son, at times.
On this particular night, Zeus was still sleeping soundly but Tabitha was still wide awake. It was very late and it seemed like he was going to sleep the whole night through. This was a positive in some ways but in terms of her own study, it was annoying. It was time for a cup of tea and perhaps a breath of fresh air. So, trying not to disturb Mary too much, she left their bed and padded downstairs to the kitchen, made a fresh pot of tea, slipped on her coat and made her way outside.
The night was cold and Tabitha was glad for her coat and the warm cup of tea that she cradled in her hands. It was refreshing though and she inhaled deeply before looking up to the clear sky overhead, taking in the pretty constellations.
“Aries is very bright tonight,” Darius’ rough, tired voice made Tabitha turn as the man stepped out of the kitchen back door and approached her. He had his hands stuffed into the pocket of his pyjamas and his hair was sticking up in some places as a result of his sleep. “Could do with that fleece of his, though,” he muttered, frowning a little as he looked at Tabitha. “What’s the matter? Stars are pretty but it’s too cold to be looking at their beauty.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she confessed, looking a little guilty at being caught outside in the dark. “Zeus has me a little... freaked out.”
Darius hummed a little, thoughtfully and pulled out a hand to scratch as his beard as he often did when he was thinking. He knew about the incident that had occurred at Tabitha’s parents, of course. Tabitha had had to tell him to explain why they’d turned up a few days earlier than expected (not that Tabitha wouldn’t have told him, he was her confidant in nearly if not all matters). It was somewhat understandable, to be spooked by the incident. His own twins were a handful but they didn’t come with a risk of developing bird-like features or fireballs in their hands. Children were hard enough. To raise a child that had the blood of another creature? Only Tabitha could find herself in that situation.
“Don’t worry too much about him,” he said in the end, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezing it gently. “So, he might throw a few fireballs at you when he gets angry. Who cares? You know how to put fires out and so what if your hair gets singed? Saves you from having to get it cut! Right now, all that really matters is that he’s safe. He’s still a child, Tabitha. You need to remember that. You worry too much about things that are out of your control. There’s plenty of time to learn about this Veela stuff. For the moment, just look after him and love him and for heaven’s sake, stop sneaking out into the back garden in the middle of a winter night. It’s madness!”
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Tabitha Brooding-Hawthorne
Want to see if my son will burst into flames?
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
July 28, 2020 10:49 PM
When you smile, I fall apart. And I thought I was so smart. by Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
Mary always felt a bit like a blind kitten, mewing in the dark when she woke up without Tabitha there. She'd paw at the bed, a groggy, sleepy, scrunchy-faced, messy-haired disaster, and then sit up, frowning when she found that she was alone. Dorian and Jean-Loup were around but Mary doubted they were up now, and also if they were up now, she doubted that Tabitha had gotten the sudden urge to mingle, which meant it was something else. Ever since things had gotten out of hand at Tabitha's parents' house, the Defense professor had been taking it upon herself to be the one to check on Zeus when he had bad dreams, although those were becoming less frequent and usually they woke Mary up too. So why would Tabitha be awake?The easy answer was that know as Tabitha. Because Tabitha always had thoughts in her brain that she couldn't get out when she wanted and so they came out at midnight instead. Mary decided to follow the trail and donned a robe to go over her night gown and padded barefoot out of the room she shared with Tabitha and downstairs. She didn't realize until she was close enough to make out some of the words that she was following voices. 'Madness' was about the only one she could hear clearly, though, and it was Darius speaking. That seemed on par for course.
Mary thought that perhaps she should be concerned, but she was so tired and it was so cold and she felt a bit stuck in that sort of drunken stage that comes with being part way awake and part way asleep. She made her way to the door, outside which Tabitha and Darius were talking, and pushed on the handle for a moment before realizing it was a pull. By the time she managed it, she'd attracted both her wife's and friend's attention and she swung the door open with a huff.
"Is so cold . . ." she whined, pouting as she reached through the door to tug on Tabitha's sleeve. "Come." She tugged to emphasize her request, whispering it as if to sneak Tabitha past Darius. She was well aware that she was not behaving like a grown up but she was tired and Tabitha wasn't unused to seeing her this way at night. "Come come. Come. I'm cold." She blinked, clearing her eyes as she looked up at Darius. Why was everyone so stinking tall? "What's madness?" she asked, remembering what she'd heard him say before. She was beginning to feel more awake as she stood there, so she took the step down to ground level and curled up into Tabitha's side, nudging the woman until she got the cuddles she wanted. "Is everything okay?"
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Mary Brooding-Hawthorne
When you smile, I fall apart. And I thought I was so smart.
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