Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 08:35 PM
"...We'll discuss this later," Andre said gruffly, and lowered the mirror, immediately slouching in his chair. He rubbed a hand over his now sweat-beaded forehead.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 08:41 PM
Spider trotted in a few moments later, blissfully unaware and gnawing on a lemon she had begged off Ashon. The outer rind looked like a giant jaundiced walnut, but the inside was still juicy. "All's well on the watch," she reported cheerfully, and bumped the door shut with her hip before turning to face him full-on--and swallowing a seed in shock. "Oh hell!"

She scooted over behind him. "You're all right? What's happened?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 08:44 PM
Andre just sat, dumbstruck, and put the mirror on the desk.

"I."

He shook his head.

"I talked to Sylvie."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 08:46 PM
Spider's mouth hung numb and open. "No. No no no no . . . please don't tell me what I think you're gonner tell me. Not now. It's . . . " She shut her mouth, swallowed, and looked him in the eye. "Her or Starling?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 08:49 PM
"BOTH of them!" Andre exclaimed, flustered. He threw both hands into the air. "You-- Spider. I need you to talk to her! I can't do it! There are certain things that a man should never see his child doing and hell if it hasn't happened with both of the-- at least Elaine had most of her clothes on!"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 08:52 PM
"Both of them? Andre, what the hell has . . . wait, Elaine's with . . . what? Just . . . what?" She nearly shrieked at him, "What's happened to Si? Is she all right? Where is she?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 08:57 PM
"MOST LIKELY TIED TO A BEDPOST WITH THAT DISRESPECTFUL SCOUNDREL OF A BOY VIOLATING HER LIKE A PAIR OF WILD RABBITS!" Andre cried back at her in utter misery.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 09:04 PM
"What? she cried again, stunned. Then realisation hit. "She and Starling are--"

The young woman slammed both hands down on the desktop. "DAMMIT ANDRE DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN! I thought somethin' horrible had happened to 'em!"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 09:05 PM
Andre blinked. "What's not horrible about it?!" he asked, looking honestly confused.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 09:08 PM
"Considerin' she's out in the middle of feckin' nowhere? On a pirate ship, with that son-of-a-bastard Mortmain? Anything! They could've hit a storm, or gotten taken in by privateers. She could have fever, or gotten hurt--anything!" Spider hurled the remaining half of her lemon down into Andre's lap.

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 09:16 PM
Andre jumped as it hit his thigh. "What the hell?!" he growled, throwing the lemon onto the floor. "That hurt! For god's sake, Spider, you're the one who-- what the hell do you want me to do, not react to watching my daughter getting pawed at and bent over like some cheap whore because you might walk in unannounced and jump to conclusions?!"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 09:19 PM
"Oh for pity's sake, Andre." Spider crossed her arms over her chest and scowled down at him. "Aye, it's a shock, but it's not horrible. She's sixteen. And somehow I sorta doubt Star had to conk her o'er the head to get her legs open." She sighed. "Look, sorry about the lemon, what? You scared me."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 09:24 PM
Andre kicked the lemon, but neither accepted nor dismissed the apology. "The boy was a right ass about it," he muttered. "Accusing me of treating my daughter like a possession. I know men who possess other people literally, and they're entirely different--" He ground his teeth. "But you know that. She should know better, Spider. So should he. I'm not old enough to be a grandfather, and both of them--! They're much too young for this!"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 09:29 PM
"Hate to say it," Spider said with real regret, "but they're both just about the age for it. I don't think Starling's but fifteen or sixteen his own self. He's a spoiled brat. You know better than to take him serious, leannan."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 09:36 PM
"if anyone wants to touch my daughter like that, he had better start being serious," Andre answered angrily. "right now, even Jochy is looking better than he is. At least Jochy apologized. Respectfully. If I hadn't let him off the hook so easily, that boy wouldn't have thought I was lenient about my daughters being plucked like apples."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 09:41 PM
Spider nearly laughed, thereby doing possible irrepairable damage to the future husband/wife relationship. She turned it into a cough. "Um. Not risin' to Starling's defense or nothin', but last time I checked, he was hangin' off the tree himself."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 09:43 PM
"So?" Andre asked. "I'm not saying she's blameless. But he's not the one who's going to have to deal with the consequences, is he?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 09:48 PM
Spider realised she was rapping her own fingers across the bulge of her stomach. She had to make herself stop. "No," she said seriously. "He's not. They're kiddies, Andre. They get into shit behind your back; that's like the whole point of bein' a kid. You yell at 'em like this, they're gonner just work harder at not gettin' caught--and then what happens if one of 'em do get in trouble? Who they gonner go to?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 09:55 PM
"For God's sake, Spider, I got thrown out of a country for doing what they did," Andre pointed out. "I was practically the same age. I've got every right to be angry. I've got a right to demand a lot more than that of both of them. He told me to my face that his interest in her was temporary!"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 3 2008, 11:16 PM
"So does this mean we strike sail to have 'em thrown out of . . . where are they both now?" Her pale brows lifted in cool doubt. "Andre. Calm down. Deed's done."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 3 2008, 11:52 PM
"No," Andre answered, a strained not in his voice. "I'm not saying that, Spider. Of course not." His shoulders shuddered, and he gave her a pained look. "I just...I want them to face up to the gravity of what they've done without having to actually live through the kinds of consequences they could have."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 12:16 AM
Spider sounded a bit pained herself. "Sweets. They won't. I didn't when I were sixteen and neither did you. That age, you think the whole world makes exceptions for you. Only way you believe it don't is when it doesn't."

With a great deal of gentleness, considering she had just lobbed a lemon at him, Spider stroked her hands down his arms. "She's not a little girl, love. She ain't been one for a while now. This didn't start today and it can wait 'til you've calmed down and thought out what needs sayin' for you to take official notice."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 12:34 AM
"I did," Andre replied. "I got shipped to Madagascar. It scared me off women for over two years," he pointed out.

He relaxed a little at her touch. "I want to talk to Judith about it. I don't-- this isn't about controlling her life. I'm-- I'm afraid she'll make a mess of it too early. I don't particularly want our baby to have a niece or nephew for a playmate," he said grimly. And she had the gall to suggest this was anything like we are."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 12:48 AM
Spider decided this was a good time to button her lip. This decision lasted all of five seconds. "Maybe it is? Maybe she's took a shine to Starling. He can be a charmer when he wants to be. I'm not suggestin' he go ahead and knock her up, of course that did not come out the way I meant it, sorry!" She dipped her shoulder in a shrug.

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 12:55 AM
Andre smiled a touch at that. "I know it," he assured her. "You're not--They both more or less admitted it was just a bit of fun," he said unhappily. "I'd-- I don't know; I don't know if I'd feel better or worse if they thought they were madly in love at sixteen. I asked him outright if he was prepared to marry her," he said. "The boy kept sidestepping the question, making accusations st me. I don't-- and we're so far away, there's nothing I can do, really."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 02:53 AM
Spider squeezed his elbow and tried to be encouraging. "You gonner talk to Judes about this for real? I don't know if she'd be much concerned about this. I'll talk to Si if you want, but I doubt she'll listen to me either. But she's managed play it careful so far, and Star's a good kid, believe it or not. They're not gonner hurt each other."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 03:06 AM
"You call him a good kid after you inadvertently catch him doing what I just caught him at," Andre said in a pained tone. "I don't think he gets it, Spider. Judith will be able to...she understands better, that we're not like Tuatha. It's better for Sylvie than most girls, but if they do that back in Africa? Her grandfather will kill him. She's got to marry someone of noble blood, and as far as they're concerned? They are married."

Now that he had calmed down some, he just seemed uneasy. "Would you talk to her?" he asked. "I can't even-- with a girl? I don't want to make you feel like you've got to be her mother, but this isn't something for a man to talk about with a girl."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 03:25 AM
Spider looked amused. "Nah, it's all right. We both sort of agreed that I'm too young to play at her mother. I'll do the sister thing. Not," she added lightly, "like I had sisters. But I had lots of strapping foster-brothers who at least taught me how I didn't like to be talked to in these situations. I'll just say the opposite of what they told me."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 03:26 AM
Andre finally smiled. "And what did they tell you?" he asked her.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 03:32 AM
"Er. Actually they told me to treat men like shit and ne'er give 'em any." She went a little pink. "Maybe not that advice, then."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 03:36 AM
"Well, the opposite is to treat men nicely and put out like a two-penny whore," Andre pointed out. "Which I don't think is really what I'd like her to hear either. Oh, god, all I can think is that this is practice for the new one," he said, running a hand through his hair. "What did I do wrong?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 03:44 AM
Her expression did not much change, but a tiny note of hurt crept into her voice. "Here, now, I didn't hear you much objecting." It made a weak joke. "You didn't do anything wrong. They grew up. It happens to the best of us."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Says the aged spinster."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 03:50 AM
"I didn't say that's what you did!" Andre objected, sounding horribly apologetic. "I have no objections to you whatsoever. If you can get my daughters to behave like you, I..."

He sighed. "Well, no, I would probably object. Oh, god, I don't want to be your father."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jul 4 2008, 03:57 AM
"You would. You are." She tugged at the front of Andre's shirt, trying to be playful enough to ease around the subject. "I'll talk to Si, you handle Judes. Just don't break the Starling's feet or nothing."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jul 4 2008, 03:59 AM
Andre tugged back on hers, giving the girl a kiss on the forehead. "I won't turn into your father," he promised. "And Starling is much too far away for that."