Perfidious Albion, Chapter Four
Sunday, January 14th, 2018 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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mindcrackloveChapter Four! Totally not because I forgot to post, nope.
Cough cough, Part the Third- https://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/1176264.html
Lasairfhíona yawned as she got up to do the stretches she was told to do by her doctor. He had specifically said what to do (and not do) while she was here, and if she wanted to stay out of the hospital again, she’d better get to it.
Pól had sounded like he had been crying in his sleep, but it didn’t sound like he had woken up, so she had let him be. If he had wanted to, he could have called her or come gotten her.
Tom was still on the base, and was, as far as she could tell, living there for the duration, though he was permitted to come visit them, of course. That would be entirely psychotic of England to not let him see them when they were here, of course.
She and her….brother-in-law…had agreed to meet up for lunch today over at his house to discuss what exactly the entire summer would entail. Probably ought to mention about Pól’s birthday party, gotta remember that. And can’t forget to discuss what they intended to do about 12 July, as well. They normally either went to stay with her family (Tom was always on duty that day), or they stayed in the basement of their house. It had worked pretty well thus far, but this house that they were watching didn’t seem to have a basement at all and she was pretty sure that Baj had mentioned his basement being a mess. But hell, in a pinch, it would do, right?
Pól’s birthday was the day after that, which was a bit unfortunate. He rarely got a really nice peaceful birthday, though she damned well tried to make it so every year. Her son professed to not mind it, but…she minded it. She remembered nicer birthdays for herself. She remembered her parents and grandparents talking about it. She wanted him to have it.
-----
Puttering about, Baj wondered what he should make for lunch. What do you make for lunch with your sister-in-law who you’re meeting for the first time since she married your brother?
Well, since it was entirely up to him (and technically the doctor’s recommendations that he had been faxed), they were going to have soup and salad. Mostly because he had no idea how much either them were going to necessarily want to eat as they discussed what needed to be discussed.
What vexed him the most was the fact the he knew that the only time she had left Northern Ireland was when she got married, and that was Scotland, not England. He really didn’t want to have to basically play as tourist director to her in addition to Paul, but…hell, it was better than some, as long she was willing to learn, he guessed. He knew her son was fine with that, at least.
He shrugged slightly and went to answer the door, it was just about when she said she’d be over, after all. And Nathan and Max were both off playing with friends (and had dragged Paul along with them, from what they had said as they left).
-----
“Hello, Lasairfhíona. Are you doing any better today?”
“Why hello Baj. And yes, a little bit. The exercises seem to help.”
“Did…Did I manage your name right, by the way?” He looked at her a bit quizzically and she grinned back at him.
“Quite close enough, all told. It took your brother quite long to get it, it’s quite okay.” Then again, Tom hadn’t exactly been practicing her name so much as trying to avoid panicking about the fact that she was pregnant, really. Maybe Baj here would catch it faster than he had done.
“Really though, if you can’t say it, you can call me Lassy if you’d like.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’ll keep at it.”
-----
She stared awkwardly across the table at him as he set down the soup and salad bowls.
“Figured we might want to have something a bit light after you were travelling all day yesterday.” He said with a slight shrug. He never cared much for travelling and couldn’t stomach much food until he was settled, but he had no idea if she was similarly inclined.
“Oh, it’s always a bit hard to eat when travelling, to be sure.” So she was similar at least in that small way. It was a start, right?
“Mhm. So, Paul’s birthday is on the 13th of July, right? Was there anything you wanted to do specifically? Like do you bake a certain cake, or have a big party or anything?”
“Oh no, we don’t have a big party. It would be hard to get people over then. We normally just have a nice cake or pie, he’ll usually ask for something specific in the next few weeks.”
“Hm? Does Paul not like having a party, then?” He hadn’t been around the boy enough to know anything about how he reacted to parties, come to think of it.
“No, it’s just that travelling on the 13th can be a bit of a tricky proposition, even on the rare times that the 12th has been calm. When we’ve stayed at my family’s place, of course they celebrated with us, but otherwise well, we’re normally at the house. Not many people can make it, and we don’t feel like going out to see the conditions, so we stay in the basement and make cakes and stuff.”
What.
“What. Is your kitchen in your basement??”
“Eh? No. We have a small camp oven down there and some hot plates. The actual kitchen is right where it ought to be, on the ground floor. Why would we have a kitchen in a basement??”
“I don’t know, that’s why I was asking you. It sounded like you were saying you bake cakes in the basement, and to bake a cake you need a kitchen.”
“But we do bake cakes in the basement, we just don’t have a kitchen there. It’s just the camp stove and hot plates.”
“But if you have a normal kitchen on the ground floor, then why are you baking in the basement?”
“Oh. Because it’s safer there. You know, 12 July isn’t really safe, so we’re normally still down there from the day before for Pól’s birthday the next day.”
“I…see. Okay, I probably don’t really, but I sort of understand. Sort of. Maybe.”
“The 12th day of July is a ‘holiday’ in Northern Ireland. It gets…violent. So we, you know, hide.” She made a vague waving gesture as though Baj should know exactly what she was talking about already and he was being tiring for not understanding her right away.
“Violent in general or violent specifically against you?”
“Yes. I mean, both.” She shook her head slightly, trying to figure out how to word things.
“I think we might both live in our own bubbles.” Baj replied, solving her need to explain what she had meant.
-----
“So Pyro, your mum is…an interesting person.” Dinnerbone figured there was probably a better way to say that, but he could not, for the life of him, figure that one out.
“I uh well…I mean…she’s nothing like your da, so I mean, I guess so?” Pyro looked back at Dinnerbone with a fairly confused expression. “I guess I’m trying to say, the last time she left Northern Ireland was when they got married, so that was a while ago.” People always seemed surprised by that information, for some reason. He wasn’t quite sure why.
“I guess that makes sense. It’s still weird though, because I mean, we’re all part of the same country…”
“Uh, um.” How do you tell your cousin that that’s kinda the problem and you kinda want to be a part of a different country?
“Oh wait. That’s kinda debatable, isn’t it?”
“It’s entirely debatable, and that’s the whole of the problem, really. Hey, question.”
“I might have an answer, what is it, Pyro?”
“What happens around here on the 12th of July?”
“Not a hell of a lot. Why, you want to celebrate your birthday early?” Some people did that, of course, when you wanted your birthday to fall on a weekend or what not. Less of an issue with summer birthdays, but still. Couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Oh, no. But if nothing happens on the 12th, then we can probably celebrate more on my birthday!” He smiled happily over at his cousin, pleased with this logic.
“That it what it. You don’t celebrate your birthday normally??” He knew damned well that people in Northern Ireland celebrated birthdays. They had normal birthdays, he had seen this on tv before. He knew it to be true. Pyro, therefor, must celebrate his birthday. This was perfectly valid logic.
“Oh no, mamaí bakes a cake with me, but I mean, you can’t bake very much using a camp stove and hot plates, and that’s all we have in the basement.”
Dinnerbone stared at Pyro for a very very long moment.
“There is so damned much wrong with that statement, Pyro, that I don’t even know where to start in on it.”
-----
Stretching, he wondered what today would bring. The last few days had been a bit hectic for BTC and he was glad they were finally at a break for him, give him a few days off of work. He’d been given a two day pass (under orders that he’d get it ganked if he didn’t stay on perfect behavior) and he really didn’t want to lose those privileges. He wondered if going to the local supermarket was safe. Probably, hell, if something happened he could just…leave. Leaving was totally and always an option. He had to remember that.
Translations, notes, etc
Surprise! No notes this time! If you have any questions, just ask in the comments!
Onwards to Chapter Five- https://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/1181344.html#cutid1
Cough cough, Part the Third- https://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/1176264.html
Lasairfhíona yawned as she got up to do the stretches she was told to do by her doctor. He had specifically said what to do (and not do) while she was here, and if she wanted to stay out of the hospital again, she’d better get to it.
Pól had sounded like he had been crying in his sleep, but it didn’t sound like he had woken up, so she had let him be. If he had wanted to, he could have called her or come gotten her.
Tom was still on the base, and was, as far as she could tell, living there for the duration, though he was permitted to come visit them, of course. That would be entirely psychotic of England to not let him see them when they were here, of course.
She and her….brother-in-law…had agreed to meet up for lunch today over at his house to discuss what exactly the entire summer would entail. Probably ought to mention about Pól’s birthday party, gotta remember that. And can’t forget to discuss what they intended to do about 12 July, as well. They normally either went to stay with her family (Tom was always on duty that day), or they stayed in the basement of their house. It had worked pretty well thus far, but this house that they were watching didn’t seem to have a basement at all and she was pretty sure that Baj had mentioned his basement being a mess. But hell, in a pinch, it would do, right?
Pól’s birthday was the day after that, which was a bit unfortunate. He rarely got a really nice peaceful birthday, though she damned well tried to make it so every year. Her son professed to not mind it, but…she minded it. She remembered nicer birthdays for herself. She remembered her parents and grandparents talking about it. She wanted him to have it.
-----
Puttering about, Baj wondered what he should make for lunch. What do you make for lunch with your sister-in-law who you’re meeting for the first time since she married your brother?
Well, since it was entirely up to him (and technically the doctor’s recommendations that he had been faxed), they were going to have soup and salad. Mostly because he had no idea how much either them were going to necessarily want to eat as they discussed what needed to be discussed.
What vexed him the most was the fact the he knew that the only time she had left Northern Ireland was when she got married, and that was Scotland, not England. He really didn’t want to have to basically play as tourist director to her in addition to Paul, but…hell, it was better than some, as long she was willing to learn, he guessed. He knew her son was fine with that, at least.
He shrugged slightly and went to answer the door, it was just about when she said she’d be over, after all. And Nathan and Max were both off playing with friends (and had dragged Paul along with them, from what they had said as they left).
-----
“Hello, Lasairfhíona. Are you doing any better today?”
“Why hello Baj. And yes, a little bit. The exercises seem to help.”
“Did…Did I manage your name right, by the way?” He looked at her a bit quizzically and she grinned back at him.
“Quite close enough, all told. It took your brother quite long to get it, it’s quite okay.” Then again, Tom hadn’t exactly been practicing her name so much as trying to avoid panicking about the fact that she was pregnant, really. Maybe Baj here would catch it faster than he had done.
“Really though, if you can’t say it, you can call me Lassy if you’d like.”
“No, no. It’s okay. I’ll keep at it.”
-----
She stared awkwardly across the table at him as he set down the soup and salad bowls.
“Figured we might want to have something a bit light after you were travelling all day yesterday.” He said with a slight shrug. He never cared much for travelling and couldn’t stomach much food until he was settled, but he had no idea if she was similarly inclined.
“Oh, it’s always a bit hard to eat when travelling, to be sure.” So she was similar at least in that small way. It was a start, right?
“Mhm. So, Paul’s birthday is on the 13th of July, right? Was there anything you wanted to do specifically? Like do you bake a certain cake, or have a big party or anything?”
“Oh no, we don’t have a big party. It would be hard to get people over then. We normally just have a nice cake or pie, he’ll usually ask for something specific in the next few weeks.”
“Hm? Does Paul not like having a party, then?” He hadn’t been around the boy enough to know anything about how he reacted to parties, come to think of it.
“No, it’s just that travelling on the 13th can be a bit of a tricky proposition, even on the rare times that the 12th has been calm. When we’ve stayed at my family’s place, of course they celebrated with us, but otherwise well, we’re normally at the house. Not many people can make it, and we don’t feel like going out to see the conditions, so we stay in the basement and make cakes and stuff.”
What.
“What. Is your kitchen in your basement??”
“Eh? No. We have a small camp oven down there and some hot plates. The actual kitchen is right where it ought to be, on the ground floor. Why would we have a kitchen in a basement??”
“I don’t know, that’s why I was asking you. It sounded like you were saying you bake cakes in the basement, and to bake a cake you need a kitchen.”
“But we do bake cakes in the basement, we just don’t have a kitchen there. It’s just the camp stove and hot plates.”
“But if you have a normal kitchen on the ground floor, then why are you baking in the basement?”
“Oh. Because it’s safer there. You know, 12 July isn’t really safe, so we’re normally still down there from the day before for Pól’s birthday the next day.”
“I…see. Okay, I probably don’t really, but I sort of understand. Sort of. Maybe.”
“The 12th day of July is a ‘holiday’ in Northern Ireland. It gets…violent. So we, you know, hide.” She made a vague waving gesture as though Baj should know exactly what she was talking about already and he was being tiring for not understanding her right away.
“Violent in general or violent specifically against you?”
“Yes. I mean, both.” She shook her head slightly, trying to figure out how to word things.
“I think we might both live in our own bubbles.” Baj replied, solving her need to explain what she had meant.
-----
“So Pyro, your mum is…an interesting person.” Dinnerbone figured there was probably a better way to say that, but he could not, for the life of him, figure that one out.
“I uh well…I mean…she’s nothing like your da, so I mean, I guess so?” Pyro looked back at Dinnerbone with a fairly confused expression. “I guess I’m trying to say, the last time she left Northern Ireland was when they got married, so that was a while ago.” People always seemed surprised by that information, for some reason. He wasn’t quite sure why.
“I guess that makes sense. It’s still weird though, because I mean, we’re all part of the same country…”
“Uh, um.” How do you tell your cousin that that’s kinda the problem and you kinda want to be a part of a different country?
“Oh wait. That’s kinda debatable, isn’t it?”
“It’s entirely debatable, and that’s the whole of the problem, really. Hey, question.”
“I might have an answer, what is it, Pyro?”
“What happens around here on the 12th of July?”
“Not a hell of a lot. Why, you want to celebrate your birthday early?” Some people did that, of course, when you wanted your birthday to fall on a weekend or what not. Less of an issue with summer birthdays, but still. Couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Oh, no. But if nothing happens on the 12th, then we can probably celebrate more on my birthday!” He smiled happily over at his cousin, pleased with this logic.
“That it what it. You don’t celebrate your birthday normally??” He knew damned well that people in Northern Ireland celebrated birthdays. They had normal birthdays, he had seen this on tv before. He knew it to be true. Pyro, therefor, must celebrate his birthday. This was perfectly valid logic.
“Oh no, mamaí bakes a cake with me, but I mean, you can’t bake very much using a camp stove and hot plates, and that’s all we have in the basement.”
Dinnerbone stared at Pyro for a very very long moment.
“There is so damned much wrong with that statement, Pyro, that I don’t even know where to start in on it.”
-----
Stretching, he wondered what today would bring. The last few days had been a bit hectic for BTC and he was glad they were finally at a break for him, give him a few days off of work. He’d been given a two day pass (under orders that he’d get it ganked if he didn’t stay on perfect behavior) and he really didn’t want to lose those privileges. He wondered if going to the local supermarket was safe. Probably, hell, if something happened he could just…leave. Leaving was totally and always an option. He had to remember that.
Translations, notes, etc
Surprise! No notes this time! If you have any questions, just ask in the comments!
Onwards to Chapter Five- https://mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/1181344.html#cutid1
