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Post by Guinevere Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 13:09:38 GMT -5
"I'm not doing this," Gwen said instantly. "Am I supposed to feel badly because that didn't go well?" She met her brother's eyes defiantly. Justin, so far, was on her side. Maybe he didn't sympathize with her, but he wasn't telling her she had to do this, either. And her mother and her other brothers understood.
"He can't make me do this, Justin. I'll run away first." Gwen could be over dramatic sometimes, and she was the first to admit it, but she was completely serious right now.
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Post by Justin Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 13:15:54 GMT -5
Justin sighed and rubbed his head. With so many other things going on, this was an extra drama that he didn't need. But he knew he would help however he could. He would not allow Gwen to marry Adrien Wolff.
"You won't have to," he assured her in a tired voice. "I'll figure something out. I don't know what yet.... you know as well as I do that once Dad has his mind made up about something, it's next to impossible to change it. But I don't want to have to call that git my brother-in-law."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 13:34:40 GMT -5
"I just saw Adrien leaving. How did it go?"
Thatcher chose this moment to come into the room, shrugging out of his cloak and looking for all the world like he thought everything was peachy keen. Oh, he knew better. And he knew that the look on his daughter's face was pure hatred. She would get over it when she was a good little housewife.... right? He did actually believe that she would be happy once she was put in her place. It was just getting her to that point that was proving to be difficult.
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Post by Justin Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 13:45:39 GMT -5
Justin shot a glance at Gwen, then sighed again. "It was just short of being an unmitigated disaster," he said bluntly. Perhaps it was an exaggeration, but the look on his father's face bugged him nearly as much as it was bound to bother Gwen.
"Dad, we need to talk. Er... Gwen, maybe you should go up and see if you can find Xavier."
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Post by Guinevere Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 14:09:10 GMT -5
Gwen frowned. "I'm not-"
A child. That was how she wanted to finish the sentence. This was her future they were discussing... why did she always have to leave?
But she cut herself short, even without the looks from Justin or her father, and nodded. "Right. I'll be upstairs," she said softly, getting to her feet and exiting the room quietly. Maybe she would have fought more if she didn't need to talk to Xavier. The look he'd given her when he barged in... she sighed, pulling herself up the stairs and knocking on his door. "Xav?"
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 14:11:44 GMT -5
Thatcher watched his daughter go, his hands doing their best not to fist. When it was just him and Justin, he turned back to her eldest. "You're not always going to be there to save her. It might be best for you both if you just learned that now."
He took a seat where Gwen had been previously. "And don't waste your time trying to talk me out of this. I've already heard all of the arguments."
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Post by Justin Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 14:29:42 GMT -5
"Oh, you have?" Justin said angrily. He crossed his arms over his chest and drew a sharp breath. He knew perfectly well how bloody stubborn his father could be, but he could be just as stubborn. He despised Adrien Wolff, perhaps more than even Gwen did. This short interview with the man had been more than enough to convince Justin that there was not a more unsuitable man in all of England for his sister.
"How about this one? That man has no soul. If she marries him, we'll never see her again. Or if we do, we won't even recognize her. He'll lock her up and slowly kill her. Marry her off if you must.... just not to him. I don't want to be associated with him at all, much less to have him married to my only sister."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 15:18:10 GMT -5
Thatcher actually smiled. So it wasn't the fact that he was marrying her off that bothered Justin... that was unexpected, at the very least. The again, he was a death eater and likely understood the necessity. If he let Gwen choose her own husband, who was to say that she would choose someone with the right blood? He refused to have a halfblood in his family.
No, it was something a little more selfish of Justin. "I'm surprised at you, Justin. Your distaste for Adrien has very little to do with Gwen, does it?" He sighed. "He's not going to 'slowly kill' her. I chose him for a reason. He'll tame her, yes, but past that, as long as she behaves, he'll probably just leave her alone. I can't say that for a lot of boys suitable for her."
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Post by Justin Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 15:26:41 GMT -5
Yes, Justin was practical enough to know that Gwen would have to be married off. But he also didn't want to lose Gwen, and he felt certain that would happen if she married Wolff, if for no other reason than because Justin despised the man and would refuse to spend any time with him.
"You're underestimating her," he said in a flat tone. "Or overestimating him. If he 'tames' her, as you so delicately put it, she will be miserable and empty, a hollow shell of herself. But if he doesn't, and just leaves her alone, she will act out, just to get him to notice her. You're resigning her to a life of loneliness, and I can't believe you're so willing to do that to her."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 15:38:25 GMT -5
Justin had a point, and Thatcher could see it, even if he didn't understand it. Gwen was social. She liked being around people, and she liked attention. He even knew how she acted out to get such attention sometimes. He could see her throwing a fit or sneaking out or anything just to get Adrien to pay attention to her. It was such a prime set up for an affair on her part... certainly she wouldn't go that far.
"That's all in the very worst case," he replied. "They could learn to live together as friends, if nothing else. All they need is a mutual respect."
He was quiet for a moment, regarding his son in his angry state. "Wolff wasn't my first choice, Justin. I'll give you that. But I would rather have her with someone who won't care what she does, within reason, than someone who would get angry at her for everything she did."
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Post by Justin Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 15:43:39 GMT -5
Justin's expression was scornful. "Friends? Respect? With him? The man likes nothing. What can they even do together? He has no passion for anything. They'd have nothing in common. What can they even talk about? Having a conversation with him is like having a conversation with a crust of bread."
He let out another sigh and ran his hands through his hair. "Let me find someone for her, OK? Just... anyone but Wolff."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 16:02:26 GMT -5
"It wouldn't be so difficult if she tried a little harder," Thatcher countered. "You have to admit that she's doing nothing to make this easier on anyone. I get it, all right? He's not what she dreamed of when she was six. But she's not living in some kind of fairytale, and this is the reality she gets. Frankly, I think he'd be good for her. She needs someone with a little less passion, because she has too much."
It was only because it was his eldest in front of him that this was even a discussion. Any of the other boys would have been shut down by now.
"She graduates Hogwarts in a couple months. If you can find someone better for her by then- that I approve of- then fine, I will reconsider. Otherwise, this engagement stands."
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Post by Justin Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 16:25:34 GMT -5
It was, quite honestly, a better response than Justin had really expected to get. Hell, the fact that this conversation had taken place at all was more than Justin had dared to hope for.
Looking up at his father, he released a breath and nodded slowly. "OK, fair enough," he said. He knew better than to push his luck on the matter any further. He was just going to have to work really hard to find someone of a decent bloodline that his father could approve of.
Justin straightened up and shrugged lightly. "I'll start looking for someone soon. If that's all, I should probably get going. I still have an assignment I should be working on..."
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Post by Thatcher Scotts on Oct 24, 2009 19:50:29 GMT -5
"Don't waste too much of your time, Justin." Those were Thatcher final words on the subject. He'd looked for his daughter... he didn't just pick the first guy that showed up. Given her tendencies and the state of things... well, Wolff was best for her. He may not be what she wanted, but Thatcher already knew he'd indulged her too much as it was. Maybe it was about time she didn't get her way.
"You're free to go," he told his son, waving his hand idyly at the door. Then, as though proving he really did care about his children, he added, "Be careful."
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Post by Xavier Scotts on Nov 5, 2009 15:50:18 GMT -5
Gwen frowned. "I'm not-" A child. That was how she wanted to finish the sentence. This was her future they were discussing... why did she always have to leave? But she cut herself short, even without the looks from Justin or her father, and nodded. "Right. I'll be upstairs," she said softly, getting to her feet and exiting the room quietly. Maybe she would have fought more if she didn't need to talk to Xavier. The look he'd given her when he barged in... she sighed, pulling herself up the stairs and knocking on his door. "Xav?" Xavier wasn’t quite sure what to think. He had certainly picked up on the unspoken signals in the room, and he was very good at reading beneath the surface in most situations. And if what he was thinking was correct… Well, he didn’t like it. If there was one thing he valued above anything else, it was the ability to make up one’s own mind. Gwen was outspoken and spirited, and he hated the idea of her being forced to marry someone against her will. That was the kind of thing that a girl should get to decide for herself. Xavier did not believe that women were in any way beneath men. He’d read enough and seen enough in his short life to know that men and women, though very different, were ultimately equal. They each had their own strengths and weaknesses, but in the end, it all balanced out. That was the way it was supposed to be. And he thought it positively cruel for a man to force a woman to do anything she did not want to. So the idea that Gwen might be forced to marry someone she didn’t love was very upsetting to him. He wanted to argue, to fight, to do whatever he could to save his sister. Gwen and Justin, after all, were the only two siblings that he liked. And if Justin was part of this… He wouldn’t be able to bear it. He was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling when Gwen knocked on the door. He hesitated a minute, then replied, “Come in.” |
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Post by Guinevere Scotts on Nov 5, 2009 19:28:59 GMT -5
Gwen opened the door and stepped inside, slowly closing it behind her. She was quiet and graceful, for once looking a lot older than she really was. There was a lot of her mother in her when she was being herself, and not being the willful, stubborn girl she was when she threw up her walls.
She was deeply shaken, but she tried no to let her little brother see this.
"Hey, Xavier," she said softly. "Listen... whatever you think is going on... you can't tell Thane or Timmy, okay?" She wasn't sure why those were the first words out of her mouth. It was just imperative that no one else knew. She wished Xavier didn't know.
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Post by Xavier Scotts on Nov 6, 2009 14:13:38 GMT -5
Xavier let out a snort. Of all the things for her to be worried about right now, she was worried that he would tell Thane or Timmy? Honestly, the idea couldn’t have been further from his mind. He was only concerned about her.
“Gwen, you know I hardly even talk to Thane and Timmy,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. He hadn’t had a real conversation with either one of them in months. Timmy annoyed him, and Thane… well, Thane was just an idiot, as far as Xavier was concerned. He didn’t understand with of them, and he was well past the point of trying.
“Tell me the truth… is that guy your… your fiancé? Is Dad making you marry him?”
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Post by Guinevere Scotts on Nov 6, 2009 15:08:31 GMT -5
"No, but Timmy might ask if he picks up on anything. I don't think Thane will even notice anything out of the ordinary," Gwen replied, wishing suddenly that he family were closer. She wished all of her siblings got along, and wished she didn't have to be the one who linked them all together.
She leaned against Xavier's closed door, crossing her arms over her chest. For a moment, she didn't answer him, but then she smiled and shrugged.
"I guess. Dad's got another thing coming if he's serious about it, though. When I have ever listened to him and done what he's told me?" She pushed off the door, coming to sit next to him on his bed. "Besides, he's not so bad... really." Her nose crinkled, and they both knew it was a lie.
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Post by Xavier Scotts on Nov 13, 2009 15:59:58 GMT -5
Xavier shook his head. “He’d know better than to ask me,” he replied. “I won’t tell him anything.”
She may not have wanted to be the unifying factor in the family, but she was. She was really the only one who was close to all of them. Xavier worshipped his oldest brother and adored Gwen, but Timmy and Thane complete mysteries to him. He didn’t know how to relate to them. Timmy had always picked on him when he was younger, and Thane… well, Thane was just… Thane.
He made a face at her last comment. “Not so bad?” he said. “He’s a bore. You can’t marry him. You deserve better.”
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