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 Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:44 pm
By the time he got to Aloysius home he’d finished the food he’d purchased for himself, since it wasn’t much that he’d bought, but he still was sipping the now lukewarm coffee as he entered the house. A glance about as he headed for the living room, slipping his school bag off his shoulder, he tossed his phone onto the couch as he went to the kitchen. He knew Aloysius wasn’t home, the other was out at the moment working on something dealing with school. So he was fairly certain he was alone, which was good, he needed time to figure out what he was going to do about his step father and his overly large nose being shoved into his personal life.
Finishing his coffee he tossed the cup and went to poke about in the fridge, figuring there was something he could make here, there was enough food kept in the place now. Aloysius might order things from instacart but Liam actually went grocery shopping for things he liked, just to make sure there was a lot of food options in the place.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:45 pm
Liam was not in fact the only one in the house, Melody had been upstairs working on sorting stuff from the closet in the hallway when she heard the door open. She snuck downstairs quietly, peaking towards the kitchen from the railing. They had thrown their phone onto the couch all willy nilly, giving her the chance to try taking a peek at the messages. Her mood about the relationship between him and her brother had lightened up a bit. They were going to the old house from time to time and working on it, leaving her with less responsibilities on that front. Aloysius hadn’t even taken his car back yet either, only just opting to borrow it form time to time so they could get furniture and things moved around. It was odd seeing how Aloysius followed Liam like a lost puppy but if it got her more freedom she would take the chances she was given to focus on finishing up her work.
While Liam was bent down into the fridge she dove from the stairs onto the plush couch, grabbing the phone and looking through the messages. A lot of it was boring stuff until she came upon a photo of her brother and Liam, one that was taken without their knowing. That would be troublesome for everyone given the family fortune and how Aloysius had been publicly known for his mysterious disapearrances in the social circles of the city. She shared half of the duties of the business even if she was still young and this greatly bothered her. “How dare they!” She turned towards Liam holding his phone up. “Who do they think they are?! Trying to sling mud on the Sharp family name.” She didn’t particularly like that Liam was an orphan but he was polite and kept to himself more than anyone she had dealt with, which placed him firmly on her good side. The fact that he was getting her brother to actually attend social events was just a plus that would benefit her as well in the long run and she really couldn’t have anyone stepping on her family name for whatever petty reasons.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:46 pm
Looking up, startled, he nearly fell over as he spied his phone in Melody’s hands. Not only was it there but she had a text message open. “My step father I assume…since my half siblings have a restraining order against them for harassment.” He answered in a near whisper, stepping out of the kitchen an headed her way, so he didn’t need to raise his voice. He didn’t honestly think he could…he just didn’t have the energy to do so. He wasn’t mad with his family, not right now, he was worn out and worried about how to handle things.
“Its not an attack against you, or your family, he’s trying to force my hand. I just…I have to figure out how to handle him. I don’t want to bring more people into this than need be.” And he could just ask Jett to have his lawyers handle it, another restraining order, but he didn’t want to. He knew Jett wouldn’t mind, he might even enjoy it oddly enough, but he should be able to stand on his own two feet and handle it. He’d stood on his own two feet for much of his life and now suddenly he wasn’t and couldn’t seem to get his feet under himself much.
“He’s assuming I’ll give in and give him what he wants…but I don’t want to. It’s not fair…” Family shouldn’t act like his was; shouldn’t treat him as they were. He wasn't just some object for them to use and then discard, as they’d even said they would do. “I didn’t think he’d take things this far.” Not after Jett’s lawyers had slapped his half siblings with restraining orders…he should have figured this would happen, he had in the beginning thought it would in fact happen but things had been silent so long he’d given up thinking about them much.
Secretly he’d hoped his mother was dead now and no longer suffering, and they’d no longer need him. How he wished he was still just some orphan without a family or a future sometimes…it had been easier back then…simpler. At least he was accepted by his court and Aloysius and even Melody, which was an odd thing but she seemed ok with him.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:47 pm
“And what is so important? I am going to need some explanation because this is not something I really want Aloysius worrying about let alone knowing about. He already did enough damage to our reputation with his disappearances, even though I know why he would go away it doesn’t help that he left things to fall apart around him. I am working hard to fix the damage he has done to the family just like I know you, whether or not you know it, are quickly repairing the damage that was done to him.” Her voice softened at that last part, letting the other know was important given she couldn’t be close enough to her brother anymore to help him herself. She took a deep breath and tried to shake the building anger out. Her next attempt was with a much calmer and metered voice.
“What I mean is what are they hassling you for that they’re trying to work around restraining orders. I thought you were an orphan? Sorry if that’s offensive but that’s the assumption I was under.” If he really was being hassled by people that meant there was something more to what was going on. If they were dodging legal action that meant they were from money in their own right. Ideas began forming in her head as she watched and waited, she really wasn’t mad at him directly but at the situation in general.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:49 pm
Taking a seat he sighed and stared up at Melody. “I am, I grew up in an orphanage.I was left there when I was a few days old with a simple note.” No name even…he’d never had a name of his own…just the name the orphanage had given him, which he was fine with. He liked his name, always had, but there were others with the same last name because they’d had the same fate as him; dumped there as infants.
“Last fall they found me, a half sister and a half brother, I wish they hadn’t now. I’d wanted my family since I was little…but now I wish I’d never had the wish granted, not if it was going to be like this.” Hindsight and all that. He really did wish they’d never found him or that he never knew of them, not now. “Apparently my mother, their mother, is sick and needs bone marrow. None of them are a match so they went searching for me - they found me. THey just want to use me, to see if I’m a match.” And if he was a match they’d no doubt try and force him into giving to the women who had left him behind and forgotten about him, he doubted she’d ever thought of him after that day.
Biting on the inside of his cheek he took a moment to close his eyes, to collect himself. “They’ve shown up at my job, at campus, followed me and got caught at my job by a member of my own court. He set his lawyers to slapping them with a restraining order. It’s been silent for months…I thought maybe they’d given up or she’d died.” He was hoping she’d died really, it would help him and her really. “Apparently my stepfather has decided to try his hand at harassing me now.” And trying to force his hand and make him go through some painful medical procedure and then who knew what else.
“They admitted they only want me for this…then they’ll go back to ignoring me. This is all I’m worth to them. I can save her life but they can’t even accept me. My step brother even hinted at telling me who my father is if I help.” As if it would make him budge. He was dead set against not helping but they didn’t seem to get it. The drink he’d gotten from the fridge, a water bottle, was opened and a sip taken from it…followed by a gulp.
“I don’t want to pull anyone else into this. I didn’t even want my own court to know.” Though he’d gone to Rhona the first time. He’ needed someone to vent to though.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:50 pm
Melody tapped her chin as she thought, this was a scandal that had been covered up through and through. With how close they were in age, the only one she knew who would have dirt on social scandals of that time was her mother. If his mother was currently sick and it was known in the current social circles, that was something that she could work with though. “They must really be up there to go through so much trouble to cover something up. Did they ever give you their last names by any chance? I know it would be hard for them to cover up a restraining order especially if your half siblings are on the younger side like we are. If they are older like my brother is, it might be harder to track the drama to it’s source. I think it is going to be in all of our best interests to work together on this. You and me I mean of course, I don’t want Aloysius to know if we can help it given your wishes to keep this to yourself and my wishes that he doesn’t downward spiral again.”
Plans were beginning to form as she watched him, if her mother had taught her anything about high society, it was that everyone had scandals and not all of them were hidden as well as others. This was her own way of fighting, one that her brother was socially inept at. “We aren’t going to let them take your marrow but, if we want to bring it all crashing down I might have to ask if you’ll cooperate with something less invasive. Something like a dna test with a cheek swab or small blood sample. We need to find something that would almost work as a middle ground that can prove your typing matches to her but without having to go all the way. I need as much ammo to sink them with as I can possibly get.” She would talk around with others if she could just to see what she could find out about anyone in higher society falling terminally ill. If it came to it, she could call her mother and find out about the past info as well.
“If you don’t want to have anything to do with them, then I can make sure they know the risks of going against your wishes. They know they have skeletons in the closet and they’re trying very hard to keep them there it seems. I need to make them slip up so I can spread the rumors to get things in motion.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:51 pm
“No, I don’t even know their first names. I just know what my half siblings look like.” He responded as he leaned forward while listening to Melody. She wasn’t mad at him, which was good, but she also seemed on his side and to want to help him. This was good, better than he thought it could be. “I’m darker in skin tone than they are…but both are blond and older than me. I’m assuming I’m the youngest.” Which perhaps made sense, maybe his mother hadn’t had any other children after her mess up which had gotten her pregnant with him? He didn’t even think she’d felt guilt for dumping him and so hadn’t had more children, she didn’t seem like the sort.
“Would it help if I said that my half brother turned up at my job and made a scene? I’m sure it would be on the security tapes….” If he could help Melody in whatever she was plotting he would. He wanted them to back off as well, though she seemed to want to sink his birth family, he didn’t honestly care how they backed off and left him and his family alone. “I don’t want Aloysius to have a clue about this…it’ll set him back and it’s really my problem. He has enough on his shoulders and doesn’t need this as well.” They were certainly on the same page of the same book it seemed, for which he was glad. He didn’t like Melody knowing about this, about being pulled into this issue, but this was better than Alysius finding out.
“It seems like my half siblings are prone to stomping their feet and shouting because I won’t give into them. They get emotional.” Which might be used against them, he was certain Melody could find a way to use it against them. She was more than capable it seemed, plus she wanted to keep her family name safe.
“If you can find her and promise I won’t be made to donate to her, if I’m a match, I’ll do a dna test or whatever else you want. I don’t want to give into them. They just want to use me for their own gains and then throw me away again. I don’t like the idea of the pain, and how invasive it is, but if I had to do that sort of test for you I would. But a simpler one, like you said, I’d be more than willing to do.” Anything to help and put an end to this. That’s all he really wanted after all.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 1:52 pm
Things were looking good for her plans, Liam may not know their names but it was very apparent they had made a public scene. She pulled the little chromebook Aloysius often used for ordering things up from the table and took a seat back down across from Liam. First thing to look up was the testing that needed to be done. It only took her a few websites to narrow down exactly what things happened to find a match and even the whole donating process. It seemed a lot less invasive than he was thinking so before bringing it up she double checked what the older methods for it were. Making a face as she saw a huge pipe like needle, she pieced together some pieces. “Ok, I see at least why you are worried about the whole medical side of that but it looks like that was the old way and it has been updated to be much less invasive now. Also in a way you might honestly not be a match. It looks like family members are actually a lot less likely to match than strangers are for this since blood type stuff doesn’t even matter?”
It shot down that method of connecting the two in a familial sense but she could still look up information based on the scene his half brother caused. “I can see if anyone I know would be able to get the tapes because if I see what they look like I can try getting my way towards them through my circles. I know they really abandoned you but I think it would be interesting at least to do the cheek swab and find out about your real dad. I have a feeling that he might not know and that would very much be a good chip to hold against them to keep them from bothering you again the next time something else happens. Who is to say that she doesn’t get something else that is based on family donation like a kidney or organ something you know? We need to find something to keep them away from you for good.”
She had a few air tags so in theory she could use one to maybe track the stepfather if they met in person to make sure the test is being done. It was at that point she started looking at the gossip posts between her friends. If Liam was the youngest then most of them would only know about his mom being sick and maybe a bit about the incident. Even those with money shopped in person from time to time and might have seen something. “It may take me a bit of time to get a plan in action but I will need you to probably meet up with your stepfather to prove you’re taking the swab test. If he takes you in his car to the doctor's office to do the test you can hide one of these in there easily.” She pulled the air tag off of her keys and showed it to him.
“These ping through any iPhone so as long as someone has one nearby we can always see where it’s at and I took the speaker out of mine so it wouldn’t go off when Aloysius would try finding his keys while drunk. And honestly even if they keep hush hush, there’s no keeping their name off the deed or muckabouts from a fancier house unless it’s way out there like ours is. And once we know that I can also send some aspiring journalists their way to ask about the scandal and your mother’s illness to stir things up.”
She certainly was gathering a few good pieces to play this chess game and the fact Liam was willing to do what needed to be done so he could be free of them helped just as much. He really was such a good kid even if he was a little roughly dressed compared to her and her brother’s normal attire.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:11 pm
“Good, so hopefully I won’t be a match then.” He could hope for that because then they’d have to leave him alone, which was what he wanted from them. He didn’t want them involved in his life at all, not after what they’d done to him thus far. The idea of keeping them away, of holding something against them to do so, appealed to Liam and he was nodding his head.
“Anything to keep them away.” He hadn’t even thought far enough to consider his mother surviving and sometime down the road needing him again somehow. Nope, he was not going to go through this all again. He wasn’t handling this very well as is and he knew it would be worse if it happened again. He didn’t need it to interrupt his life and whatever he’d be doing at that time, like it was doing now. He also couldn’t risk his step father spying on him and finding out about his night life…that would put far too many people at risk. It could put a lot of his court at risk…and they had taken him in and helped him.
“So I should respond to him and agree then? So we can track him and you can find out who they are.” He was nervous, he’d admit to that, but if Melody was able to put an end to this, even if it took some time, he was all for it. Liam had faith in what Melody was saying because she seemed to have a solid plan which made sense, and to think she’d just pulled it all together on the fly, it was impressive and seemed solid really. She knew more about these sorts of things than he did anyway, so she was certain she could hold something over their heads and make them stop. “I wish they’d never found me when they went looking for me.”
Shaking his head as he took a sip from his water bottle. What would have happened if he’d been on his own? If somehow he’d not even worked for or lived at the orphanage but been totally on his own with no friends and just managing to get by? He couldn’t picture things going nearly so well as they were now.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:12 pm
Melody looked up from her laptop as she finished sending out her social net to find some gossip. He hadn’t really considered the future possibilities of them coming after him had he? Living in the moment was a luxury she hadn’t had outside of being a senshi. Nobody really knew her or her status there, it was an equal playing field that she could start fresh on and she greatly enjoyed the lack of stress it gave her. He really was just a kid lost with vultures circling from above. “You don’t have to do it right now but soon. Push for the info about your real father before even fully agreeing to the test. Whether it be a guarantee even if you aren’t a match you get that info for the trouble they have caused you. If I knew how you wrote I’d just type it myself.” She smiled a bit evilly at that, it was a method she had used to get out of events with ‘verified’ excuses.
“Finding people is a fickle thing, look at you and Aloy? Chance meetings leading to becoming something more and he wasn’t even really trying to search for you. These people have the means and money to make problems go away so it would have happened one way or another. It was almost inevitable truth be told, luckily I am here to help ok?” Her eyes softened a bit as she spoke that last part, trying to reassure him. She wasn’t as good at it as her brother was but at least this time it wasn’t a lie. “So cheer up, at least a little bit, or else he’s gonna notice. He really worries about how things are going on the topics you don’t bring up but he won’t push. It’s really different how he has changed. I think it’s for the better in a way, he was always so full of himself in the past and talked down to people a lot.” Aloy really had to have seen some serious events to wear away and his prickliness.
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:15 pm
“Since I’ve never communicated with any of my family I’d say you could respond if you wanted. I don’t think he’d notice a difference and it could be played off as nervous, or something else, if need be.” Shrugging as he spoke. He wasn’t against letting Melody help as much as she wanted, he even went and offered his phone to her. She could respond if she wanted, he trusted her enough, she was equally invested in things working out as he was.
“I’ve never dealt with things like this - people like them. You see it on tv and hear about it, read about it in books even, but to deal with people like them in real life. It’s a lot to take in and it feels like an impossible thing to come against. I’m glad I have help, even if I didn’t want to involve anyone else…I’m glad you’re here to help.” So Aloysius wouldn’t find out and so he didn’t have to bother Jett again for more help, though he was certain the other would have enjoyed it somehow. It also seemed like Melody might be enjoying this as well. Was this a rich person thing? To enjoy playing such games with people and against others?
“I think I can do that, cheer up, especially if it helps Aloysius and keeps him from suspecting anything is going on. I don’t want him set back at all.” And this would do just that. “Go ahead and send a message to my step father.” He trusted her to do it and depending on the response they’d go from there…he’d follow Melody’s lead because he trusted her.
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