[identity profile] estebanmd.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] hh_mirror
Stephen had rather wanted to talk with Henry Winter at length, if for no other reason than to cement his hopeful deduction that Henry's recent wedding had well and truly laid to rest the remnants of old animosity concerning the woman who was now Mrs. Winter. Unfortunately, there had simply been no time for conversation. Stephen had brought little Rose Casson to the wedding, which meant he'd been kept busy with such important activities as eating icing with his fingers; and Henry had been kept busy with other matters (the brief abortive dust-up with Bunny had not escaped Stephen's watchful eye, though his primary concern had been to keep Rose away from whatever might happen). Then the bride and groom had gone off on some trip somewhere, or some such thing. Even if they had not, Stephen would not have dreamed of inquiring after either of them. He knew very well what it was to desire absolute peace, absolute and complete absence of any interruption.

As it happened, he did not see Winter again until an odd chance meeting out on the windswept grounds. Stephen was scouting out potential locations for test explosions of anti-clown ordnance. Henry, immaculately dressed in suit and somber black overcoat, appeared to be pushing a very large weird chunk of stone in a wheelbarrow.

Date: 2007-11-26 12:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
As he'd promised Camilla, Henry was finally relocating Xipe Totec to a more appropriate (or at least, less offensive) location. He really didn't want to get rid of the statue, ugly as it was; its provenance amused him, especially since Dax would most certainly have thought she'd come up with a perfectly appropriate gift for an Earth wedding of this era.

He was rather surprised to see Stephen out and about--granted, his own almost unvarying schedule took him to a limited number of places, but it was cold enough now that he hadn't expected to see anyone out on the grounds. What residual animosity there had been (and really, 'animosity' wasn't the right word) had not been dispelled by his marriage; rather it had been wiped away, like old chalk dust off a slate. His cordiality had returned with Susan already, and now that he and Camilla were married, all that had come before had been rendered all but immaterial.

So he gave Stephen a nod of greeting, pausing his stride. "Stephen." He didn't know why he had slipped into using the man's given name--it had simply come out when he'd sent out wedding invitations, which was quite peculiar for Henry. Then again, he'd called Susan by her first name for quite some time now, but that was...different, somehow. Stephen was much more his senior than Susan, and Henry had been brought up to use an honorific when addressing anyone past a certain age. The only other exception had been Julian, but that wasn't a comparison that he was really even aware of at the moment.

Date: 2007-11-26 01:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
Henry smiled, dryly. "It's Xipe Totec," he said. "Professor Dax gave him to Camilla and I as a wedding present. Apparently he's a fertility idol, of all things, whose sacrifices were flayed alive. Dax was quite disappointed that he didn't come with a thighbone for blessing people." He couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice; it really was funny, if you knew Dax. "Camilla refuses to keep it inside, so I agreed he could go in the garden. As pointed out, his supposed powers would actually be welcome there."

Date: 2007-11-26 01:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
Henry, who knew full well where the spoon had come from (as well as Camilla's reaction to it), couldn't help but grin himself. "She was very...definite about it," he said. "In the end I was outnumbered, and so had to part with Xipe Totec's company."

He didn't at all mind putting the thing in the garden; it was only Camilla's reaction that had led him to keep the statue inside as long as he had. "Personally, I think it's fascinating, even if it is hideous. As you say, though, a woman's taste in decor is as good as law." Henry had a decent appreciation for nice things, most of which had been broadened and developed by Camilla, but that didn't mean his taste was perfect. Far from it, given his current situation.

Date: 2007-11-26 02:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
"Susan backed her up on it." No point in being vague, really. "Though I think she saw at least a little humor in it, too. She's met Dax, after all." Henry didn't really know the circumstances of that meeting, but anyone with any experience with Dax could almost certainly find it amusing. She was just so very earnest about everything (including driving, even if it was a truly frightening thing).

Date: 2007-11-26 03:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
Henry had seen the little girl with Stephen--had also seen them enjoying the wedding cakes (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/1488303.html?thread=75190191#t75190191). Henry had been a vastly unusual child, but he suspected many children would quite like having parents like that. He himself had been very distant from his mother, but then again he'd been distant from everyone until he met Camilla.

He actually laughed. "Fencing? Let me guess, she got the idea from Dax, didn't she?" Dax had been quite enthusiastic about trying to persuade him that what he and Camilla really needed was a Klingon wedding.

The grass was somewhat soupy, sucking at the wheelbarrow's tire, and he had a tricky moment of navigating it through a divot in the lawn. "That is something I still haven't fully fathomed myself, honestly," he said. "There is a logical progression, but logic doesn't cover everything." He thought a moment. "In a way, I owe it in at least some measure to a serial-killing demon Camilla met in the Sorting Room. Somehow, over the course of their conversation, she came to the conclusion that she wasn't as averse to the idea of marriage as we had all once been. He really is an odd man--how on earth he of all people gave her the idea, I still don't understand. He came to the wedding, actually, though I don't know if you met him--tall man, smirks a great deal. I understand he was the one who told Susan her hair had turned purple, an occurrence I'm convinced Camilla had something to do with."

He laughed again, realizing he was rambling, as he was sometimes wont to do. "That started it, at any rate. Actually, he nudged things along in another sense, too--Camilla was briefly married during the tent village fiasco, and the wedding ring she'd been given had been charmed to always return. Susan loaned Camilla a ring to take its place, and Ryder opined that eventually it was going to have to be replaced, whenever Camilla gave the ring back." Carefully he avoided another puddle. "I still think he and Susan were in on it together, as...odd...as she was at the time. They were force-married at the time, too, and I think that Ryder at least was terribly bored."

Date: 2007-11-26 04:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
...Listening to Stephen's account of his own marriage made Henry suddenly feel he'd gotten off very lightly indeed. His relationship with Camilla had hardly been a tranquil one, at times, but at least she'd never run away to another country.

"I have to admit, compared to you, I've had very little difficulty," he said, shaking his head. "Though I would not say bringing it about was an easy thing. As to the celerity--well, I honestly didn't expect Camilla to take me at my word, when I suggested the date. Then again, I really should have known better." There was actually a hint of fondness in Henry's voice, which was little short of amazing--he who so very rarely betrayed anything of the sort to an outside party. "Camilla and I...there is no really coherent way to explain it all, since I will admit it's not something I can make clear sense of even to myself, at times." There was also a very great deal he could never say aloud, to anyone, about all that had gone on at Hampden, and especially not anything about Charles.

"I'm not by nature a social man," he said, stating the patently obvious, "and I'm not someone who was really capable of being at all close with anyone, until I met her. We were at school together--long ago, now, though not so very long for me, all things considered. Back then I don't think she would have ever contemplated the idea of marriage," though he had, albeit for different reasons, "but now that we're here, that we've been here...things changed. I died, and I came back, and Camilla traveled all the way here to attempt to bring me back. I can't really speak of it, but how and why I died changed things as well, even when I had first returned, and since we've been here we've both learned a great deal." About themselves, and about each other, and in Henry's case at least about life in general. It had taken some terrible experiences to teach him some of the things he knew now, but then that was part of growing up.

He recalled his first serious thoughts about marriage, and the talks he'd had with Francis and Susan. On the surface it all did sound straightforward--it was only when applied to himself and Camilla as people that it became very complicated. "I spoke to a couple of friends of mine, before I actually asked her, and what both said boils down to 'You know you're going to ask anyway, so just do it and have done with it'. In the end, they were right." For perhaps the only time in his life, Henry had been nervous--no, to be honest, he'd been downright scared. Only Camilla could do that to him.

Date: 2007-11-26 05:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] h-m-winter.livejournal.com
Henry considered this, and very nearly snorted. No, there had been no argument or pleading, though the persuasion had been, in a sense (even if it had only been because I want you to). "Interminable waiting for an answer?" he echoed. "Interminable, no; waiting, yes. She asked for time to consider, so I went to America with Dax and Dr. Silvey--I'm not sure if you've met her--in search of the magical lieopleurodon. It wasn't until I came home that she said yes." That had been one of the most anxious times of his entire life, even distracted as he had been by random bat-attacks and Dax's driving.

"It wasn't unexpected, though--I knew there was a very good chance she'd ask for time, and that perhaps she'd put off her answer for months. If anything, I was surprised at how relatively quickly she gave me an answer."

He shook his head. "Francis thought I was insane for wanting to be married to begin with--Francis is a friend of mine, whose own marriage was not at all a happy thing--" mainly because not only was Francis gay, his wife was a vapid imbecile of a woman "--and Susan had no idea why Camilla would say no, or why the possibility of her refusal was so terrible. Neither of them know Camilla as well as I do--not even Francis, who went to school with us. Even he couldn't really understand just what a monumental thing I was asking of her--I knew all along that it wasn't simply a matter of loving her, or her loving me. Marriage isn't something either of us would ever dream of taking lightly." Which made Camilla's acceptance all the more meaningful, when she finally gave it.

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Date: 2007-11-29 06:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usethepoker.livejournal.com
Susan had also been out in the garden, though much closer to the Forbidden Forest. All previous experience notwithstanding, she'd been trying (yet again) to meditate, and yet again had failed. She wanted to think that failure was the fault of the cold, which was...well, pretty damn cold, but that excuse didn't hold up even to herself.

She squelched over the damp lawn, her footsteps crunching in the still-frozen bits in the shadows of the trees. Over the last weeks she'd tried meditation, square breathing, yoga, and even (far out in the forest), primal scream therapy, and while she'd felt no hint of that murderous rage that had gripped her on Halloween, she still didn't feel closer to anything resembling actual peace. And that, to put it plainly, frustrated the living hell out of her.

Being cold and wet, as well as frustrated, she stopped by her room to put on dry clothes and footwear that wasn't soggy. Her jars of tea held no allure, and even the idea of a hot bath just didn't quite do it. As had been so often the case since Halloween, her thoughts were in a hopeless tangle--she'd tried writing them out in her journal, with some success, but right now her restlessness wouldn't let her sit.

"Bugger it." Susan didn't even bother putting on proper shoes--instead she stuffed her feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers and headed for Stephen's office. Perhaps the only visible difference Halloween had left her with was in her walk--she didn't stalk, now; her movements were slower, more thoughtful, her air of tensely coiled energy gone.

Padding through the dungeons, she stopped outside Stephen's door and rapped on it with her knuckles. "Stephen?" she called. "Are you busy?"

Date: 2007-11-29 06:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usethepoker.livejournal.com
Susan opened the door and padded in on her slippered feet. "It's extremely damn cold outside," she said, apropos of nothing. "And damp. Do you think that might affect trying to meditate, or is it just me?"

She took a seat in the fat armchair across from his desk, most uncharacteristically hugging her legs and resting her chin on her knees. "Henry thinks I'm just not cut out for it, which is...somewhat annoying, really."

It was an odd sort of greeting, but Susan was in an odd sort of mood. Much like her grandfather, it was rarely a good thing when she got introspective. "How have you been?" she asked, abruptly changing tacks, and added in a burst of complete and utter honesty, "I've been worried."

Date: 2007-11-29 09:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usethepoker.livejournal.com
That actually elicited a quiet laugh from Susan. Stephen really could be terrifically clueless, at times--in anyone else it would have been irritating, but she always had regarded it with fond amusement. It was such a contrast to his normal competence in...well, everything.

"I meant I've been worried about you," she said. "About the whole...well, Halloween thing. Incidentally, I found out what caused it--it was a spell sent out over the WART broadcast. Everyone who heard it had the same symptoms we did; we were hardly the only ones. It just lasted longer for everyone else." Somehow, knowing what had done it was both a comfort and a source of annoyance; it was such a stupid little thing, yet it had turned them both into monsters, and had almost cost Stephen his life. If she ever found out just who had cast it...but damn, she was trying to get away from all that. Maybe she could hire Shaun to beat him up, whoever he was.

Date: 2007-11-30 01:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usethepoker.livejournal.com
Susan wasn't at all sure he'd tell her even if it had affected him--she knew Stephen worried about her, too, and it was always possible he'd keep back something he thought unimportant enough to upset her with. Part of her found it slightly irritating, but she'd accepted long ago that that was just part of who Stephen was. She'd take him at his word, even if she knew he might well be hiding something. If it were of real importance, after all, he'd tell her, upsetting or no. She knew he did things to protect her, but she had no idea just how very many things there were to protect her from.

Susan had very vague memories of body-swapping, but the few times she'd brought it up in the past seemed to have alarmed him, so perhaps there was a reason those memories were vague. "If any of the others were as terrible as that one, I'm glad I don't remember," she said. "Camilla's told me she and Henry hadn't even known about it until I told them. They must either have been completely shut away, or just not paying attention."

Enough of that. She'd wanted to tell him where the spell had come from, but she didn't want to dwell on it. She had another issue--well, all right, several of them, but this one was forefront in her mind. "That potion of mine," she said slowly, "I know now that I shouldn't give it out to anyone else--Henry and Camilla had bad reactions to it, too--but...damn it, part of me wants to. I know humans just don't seem to be built to handle my senses, and that I've done none of you any favors, but I just...I wanted to share it." She paused, searching for the right words. "I guess I wanted all of you to know what it was like to be me, and none of you were really meant to."

She picked at a ragged thread at the end of her sleeve. "Is it very wrong, that part of me still wants to share it, even though I know it would be a truly terrible idea? I know it's the equivalent of mental poison, yet part of me...well. Part of me is completely insensible, apparently."
Edited Date: 2007-11-30 01:41 am (UTC)

Date: 2007-11-30 02:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usethepoker.livejournal.com
Susan did indeed know the saying, though in her experience it was usually applied to a specific type of fate. "Well, yes, it most certainly could have been worse," she said, thinking of the damage they could have done, if they'd let themselves loose upon the school. What she and Shaun had done to Jaime Reyes had been bad enough in all conscience--she and Stephen could have taken the school apart. Possibly literally. "At least the castle is still standing."

She rested her chin on her knees again, staring thoughtfully over Stephen's head, her eyes unfocused. "Camilla told me a little, too, though nothing concrete," she said. "Only that it was...not pleasant. As to what I'd gain from it...." She didn't know how to phrase it, precisely; she knew what she wanted to say, just not how to articulate it. "Do you remember what I said, before the spell broke--what I said about being alone? That wasn't a delusion. So far as I know, I'm the only one who sees and hears and feels like that, and I...well, dammit, I didn't want to be alone in that. I couldn't--still can't--imagine what it must be like not to have these senses, and reasoned that the reverse must be true, too. Apparently it is, just a little more so than I'd thought."

Date: 2007-11-30 02:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] usethepoker.livejournal.com
It was harsh, but what was perhaps worse was that he was right. It was something she'd known all along, too, though she hadn't let herself think about it. She couldn't really make anyone what she was, no matter how much she might want to--her senses, given to anyone else, were a lie. A fascinating lie, maybe, but a lie nonetheless.

"I know," she admitted, sadly but also almost grudgingly. "I don't want to know, but I do. I'd just dump the stuff and have done with it, except that I have to try to ease Shaun off it. He alone had a decent reaction, and I can't just cut him off, or he might well go mad. Liz told me about these patches Muggles use, to try to quit smoking--they give a dose of nicotine, and every two weeks the dose is reduced, thus easing away from the addiction. They don't always work, but I hope the idea will work in Shaun's case." She didn't know what the hell she'd do, if it didn't.

She shifted, resting her cheek against her knee now, and looked at him. "Shaun told me he hadn't thought it was possible to have a mid-life crisis at twenty-five. I told him I was almost twenty-six, and that he'd better stuff it. He has a point, though. I've never been unsure of myself in my life, that I can remember, and I'm discovering that it's...well, not very pleasant. I suppose it's how most people feel, at times, but I'm not used to it. I think I can see now how people could become drug addicts."

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