Topic: A Cousin's Concerns

Jonathan Granger

Date: 2012-06-03 14:45 EST
The little loft on the riverside felt a lot brighter these days. Jon's most recent visits had been colored by Ollie's absences, the stresses of raising a special baby girl on her own obviously taking their toll on Piper. But today was something almost completely different. As Ollie swept down onto Lyneth, father and daughter indulging in their closer relationship, Piper greeted Jon with a wide smile and a warm embrace, drawing him over to the kitchen to let her husband and child have play time together. "What a lovely surprise," she smiled to her cousin by marriage. "I didn't think you'd come back here; by all accounts, you and Victoria are inseparable." Deep blue eyes twinkled laughingly as she moved to put the kettle on. "Tea?" Jon returned Piper's embrace warmly. Despite what others might think of him, he really did care about his family and friends. His life had changed in the last year or so since he'd met and fallen in love with Vicki, but he still cared about his family and tried to make time for them, when he could. Piper and Ollie were no exception. Relieved that Ollie had excused himself to spend time with Lyneth, Jon was left alone with Piper to discuss his concerns. "Tea would be nice, thank you," he replied, cordially, choice of beverage being the last thing on his mind. The mention of Vicki brought a warm feeling to Jon's heart and a soft, but brief smile to his face, but he wasn't here to discuss Vicki, but Ollie. "We are, aren't we" I asked if Ollie would be one of my groomsmen. I hope you don't mind." He thought he'd start with small talk and ease into discussion of Ollie. "Of course I don't mind, don't be daft." Even after a year in Rhy'Din, Piper's rounded BBC-standard English accent hadn't suffered at all, her voice still soft no matter what she was saying. Her hands moved automatically to load up the teapot as she spoke. "Have you managed to set a date yet?" Jon remained standing, taking a lean against the cupboards while she moved about the small kitchen making tea. "We've decided on September," he replied, with a small slightly mischievous smile. "Unless we lose our patience before that and decide not to wait." Or unless she gets pregnant, Jon thought, but as far as he knew she was taking precautions to prevent that, for now. He had been thinking about stealing her away to an exotic locale and eloping, but he had promised her a Big Granger Wedding and was trying not to get too impatient about making her his wife. Piper's gaze was a little knowing as she eyed Jon, her smile echoing his. A loud cackle of baby laughter caught her attention for a moment, her gaze lifting to glance toward Ollie and Lyneth as she poured boiling water into the pot, leaving it to brew for a little while. "I'm glad you're happy," she nodded, her voice warm still as she perched on a stool beside him. "Everything seems to be settling back to the way it should be." "Thanks," Jon said, his smile fading. It had been a long time coming, he thought. He had paid his dues and deserved to be happy finally, and he had Vicki to thank for it, but that wasn't why he was here. "Piper..." he started, his expression changing, warm but concerned, hinting at the depth of emotion hidden behind those eyes of Granger blue. "I'm worried about Ollie." There, he'd said it. Piper's eyes flickered toward her husband as he was mentioned, wary concern of her own flashing across her face for the briefest moment. The smile faded as she looked down at her hands, twisting her hands together before one rose to tuck a lock of sable hair back behind her ear. "What do you mean?" she asked, her nonchalance utterly unconvincing. She didn't have him convinced in the least. He was an actor and she wasn't. He knew what to look for, noticing every nuance, even the slightest hint that something was off. He'd noticed it right off the bat with Ollie, and he noticed it now with Piper, as well. As much as she might try to pretend everything was fine, he figured she was just as worried as he was. "He's not acting like himself. Something is wrong." He gave her a pointed look, even as she glanced at her hands. "You haven't noticed?" She rose from her seat, turning her back on the loft to face Jon, her hands twisting together once again, a sure sign of her uncertainties. "Jon ....until a few weeks ago, Ollie was drinking heavily, not washing, and not even sleeping here," she said quietly, her porcelain pale skin darkening with an uncomfortable flush as she admitted out loud to the problems in her marriage she'd hoped no one else had noticed. "Having him here and taking an interest ....that's not wrong, is it?" Her eyes lifted to Jon's, her brow furrowed in a worried silent plea to be reassured. Jon's expression darkened. He knew all too well the dark hole of despair Piper was describing that Ollie might have fallen into. Jon's personal demon had been cocaine, but he'd fought that addiction and overcome it. Alcohol, he knew, was a far worse demon, but that seemed to be only part of the problem. Ollie's behavior may have been erratic before, but what Jon had just witnessed defied logical explanation. As far as he was concerned, he'd thought Ollie and Piper were happy. What did Ollie not have to be happy about' He had a beautiful wife and child and his career seemed to finally be taking off. Jon's expression changed again, softening, not wanting to alarm Piper, but needing to be honest with her. He reached for her hand and drew her back down to settle in a chair opposite him. "I don't want to scare you, but....I've known Ollie all my life, and he's just not acting himself." Piper shook her head as she was drawn down into a seat, staring down at her fingers as she turned the delicate band of gold on her left hand. She glanced up at Jon, awkward and uncomfortable. British reserve was something people joked about back home, but it was very real. You didn't talk about what was wrong; you went on as though nothing had changed. "I know," she admitted with a swift nod, biting at her lower lip for a moment before looking up to meet Jon's gaze. "I know something's not right. He asks questions about things that he knows the answer to, he seems to have completely abandoned his painting. The only thing he seems happy and comfortable with is spending time with Lynnie." The unwelcome jealousy she felt knowing that her daughter preferred her adoptive father to her biological mother flared for a moment, and Piper looked away to hide it, not wanting Jon to know everything she was hiding. Thankfully for Piper, Jon didn't pick up on the jealousy she was feeling toward Lyneth's preference for her father. He was only slightly relieved that he had not been imagining things, that Piper had noticed something off, as well, but that relief was short-lived at the realization that something really was wrong with Oliver. The question was what? Ollie had said some strange things to Jon, and though he didn't want to alarm Piper, maybe it would make more sense to her than it had to him. "He said something about not being able to stay. That he was only here for a short while to make sure his daughter is safe. He said something about the Old Ones." Jon had to pause for a moment to remember what Ollie had said. "The ones who were there before Danu's children, I think he said. Does that mean anything to you?" Piper's head snapped back around, her gaze suddenly sharp and alarmed, despite Jon's attempt to keep that from happening. "He's not staying?" Her voice had risen in shock at this revelation, one hand rising to cover her own mouth for a moment as she got a grip on herself. "What do you mean' Jon, I didn't even know what fae were until I got pregnant and came here. You know more about magic and myths and what came before than I do!"

Jonathan Granger

Date: 2012-06-03 14:46 EST
Jon's concern manifested itself in a frown and he took a firmer grip on Piper's hand, shaking his head slowly in confusion. "I don't know. He wouldn't tell me. He changed the subject. I thought maybe you'd know what he was going on about. I don't know that much about that sort of thing. I left Rhy'Din when I was sixteen and before that..." He shrugged, having lived a fairly sheltered life before leaving Rhy'Din to pursue a career on Earth. "He said he doesn't belong here, Piper. Do you know what he means by that' He said something about Lyneth's gifts and her magic." Panic had flared in Piper's eyes as Jon spoke, her own hands tightening on his. "No," she said softly, shaking her head. "No, I don't know what he means, and I don't want to think about my husband leaving me, Jon. But if something has happened, and ..." She trailed off, the panic receding into concern once more. "He never talks about Lynnie's magic. Ever." She bit her lip, frowning worriedly. What did this mean' Was Ollie somehow under someone else's control" Had Lyneth's real father found them' Blessedly Piper was, at heart, a practical young woman, and thanks to her search for some way to protect Lyneth while still pregnant, she had contacts. "Theres a woman at the Library," she said quietly, glancing a little nervously toward her husband and child where they were still playing. "Her name's Magda, she helped me with the research when I was pregnant. She might be able to make sense of this." Jon frowned further as Piper seemed to start making sense of what he had told her, though he still felt somewhat lost. He'd known Lyneth wasn't biologically Ollie's daughter, but that had never seemed to matter, and he had been so busy with his own life and concerns, he hadn't really noticed the changes in his cousin. Ironically, Jon was missing the old, acerbic, irritating Ollie and was worried what might have happened to him. "I got the feeling it wasn't really Ollie I was talking to," he admitted quietly, looking to Piper now for understanding. Slowly, Piper's eyes lifted to meet those of her cousin by marriage, her alarm melted away to reveal very real fear. Her fingertips rose to touch the little vial that hung about her neck; a gift from Riley Lo to protect her and her child against the Fae who would want to take her baby away from her. "Oh no," she breathed. "But he can't have found us." Her hands gripped Jon's tightly. "He can't. I've done everything I can to keep her safe, I won't let them take her away from me. Oh God, Jon, what can I do?" Jon's face paled at the reaction from Piper. He really had no experience with fae and if that's what they were dealing with, he had no idea what to do. Vampires, that was another matter, but that was like ancient history to him. That door was closed, and he didn't want to open it again. He glanced at the vial around Piper's neck, holding tightly to her hand again, that vitally human connection between them. "What's that?" he asked, curiously. She hesitated, blinking rapidly as she realised what he was talking about. "Oh, it's ....it was a present from Riley Lo; she says if I smash it, it'll conjure a warrior who can protect us. But it only works once." She shook her head, swallowing hard. "We shouldn't let him know we suspect anything. If he is going to take Lyneth, then it'll happen sooner, if he thinks we know, won't it?" "I don't know, Piper, but..." He glanced to where Ollie - or whoever was using Ollie's body - had disappeared to spend time with Lyneth. Turning back, he lowered his voice for her ears alone, "I would make sure he's never alone with Lyneth, and..." He trailed off, pressing his lips tightly together as his jaw clenched. It was painful to think that someone who had once been one of his closest friends had come to this. "I think you should talk to someone who can help. Someone who knows more about....this sort of thing than I do. But don't let him know you suspect anything is wrong." Piper tensed, aware that her happy little bubble - so painstakingly constructed in the past weeks - had just burst. But she nodded, drawing in a slow, deep breath. "I can do that," she promised. "Perhaps he'll try to paint if I suggest it, and ....well, then I can take Lyneth out with me." She, too, glanced toward the sound of her daughter playing with ....what? Who' "I should go in there." A name popped into Jon's head. Someone who'd helped him once before. He wasn't sure if this sort of thing was up her alley or not, and he didn't want to see his cousin harmed in any way, but she might be able to offer some advice, if nothing else. "I know someone. Someone who helped me deal with a....problem." Problem was putting it mildly. "Do you have a slip of paper?" Blinking, surprised that Jon would know the name of anyone who might be able to help her, Piper stared for a moment. "Oh ....oh, of course," she nodded quickly, rising from her seat. Her hands found the green leather-bound journal Ollie had given to her almost a year before, opening the scrap-filled pages to tear a slip free. A pencil came to her reaching fingers just as easily, and both were offered to Jon. "You really think they could help?" "If they can't, they'll know of someone who can." Jon scribbled a name and a number on the slip of paper and handed it back to Piper. He didn't have to warn her not to let Ollie know. "If you need anything - a place to stay or anything - call me or Vicki or Caroline. You're a Granger now, Piper. We take care of our own." The slip was palmed with startling expertise by the well-bred young mother, her tension relaxing a little as it became clear that she wasn't going to have to deal with this on her own. "Thank you, Jon." Squeezing his hand, she rose onto her toes to kiss his cheek. "You should go home to Victoria. Don't worry about us; I don't think whatever it is wants to hurt us, or he'd have done it already. But I will keep in contact, I promise." He smiled when she kissed his cheek, only too happy to help. Though he was troubled and worried about Ollie, he cared just as much about Piper and Lyneth's safety and well-being. He wrapped her in a brotherly hug. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to call." "I promise," she repeated, constructing a warm smile that almost matched the one she had greeted him with when he'd arrived. Before he'd brought her own worries into the open with his concerns. Piper walked Jon to the door, very aware now of every sound that came from the man and baby at the other end of the loft. "Take care of yourself, Jon." He smiled in return as she walked him out. "Don't worry. Vicki keeps me out of trouble." Or gets him into it, whichever way you choose to view things. "Remember what I said," he reminded her. "You're not alone." He didn't feel the need to remind her about the ring or the coins he knew Caro had given her, that she'd given to every member of the Granger family, whether blood or not, the safeguards she had arranged to protect each and every one of them. As much as he was tempted to stay, he didn't want to arouse Ollie's suspicions. "I love Ollie, Piper. I don't want anything bad to happen to him." He felt the need to remind her of this, also, before taking his leave. "Neither do I." The sable-haired young woman watched Jon walk away before closing the door, turning to lean her back against it with a low sigh. Her fingers rose to touch against the vial at her throat once again, feeling the reassuring crackle of paper in her palm, and tried to clamp down on an unwanted, mercenary thought. As much as she wanted to keep both her husband and child safe, Piper knew that if she was forced to choose, Lyneth would always be her priority. "Take care of yourself and Lyneth. I'll see you soon." He kissed her cheek in farewell and off he went, back to the diner to call Vicki to pick him up. Before the night was through, Vicki would know everything Jon knew.

((The above ties into Ollie's Hubris SL thread. Thank you to Piper's player for the above scene.))