[FIN] Follow bird. Need help. {Rajani + Freds}

[Nyx Argyros]

Lovely. They were going to have to have this part of the conversation, too. Never let it be said that either of the Grimm twins would make anything easy. Not even a setting-straight.

The gypsy looked at the door as though she could see what lie outside - her companions, her most faithful friends - and she smiled. It was a complicated smile, and perhaps a little sad. Not for her sake, but for the twins. First surely knew the answer already, but he was grasping at any bit of hope he could find, no matter how ridiculous.

As it so happened, she had been spending a lot of her time of late looking into the very question he had just asked. Unfortunately, the rumors were true in this case. Never had anyone seen or heard of a Hedge Witch being Chosen.

"Hawthorn is a very clever bird," she said. "But it is just that - the cleverness of a particularly intelligent animal. He's no Witch's familiar. Oberon is different. He's almost like a human. From what I have seen, your girl is about the same as Oberon. You know just as well as I what that means, Fred. Chosen are not Witches, and Witches can't be Chosen. No matter how much they might wish otherwise."  

[LoveByLetters]

It need never be said that the brothers Grimm allow anything to be done by halves, although if he realizes how difficult it is for Rajani to answer this question it does not show. He is more preoccupied with the answer itself and what it means for him and his brother.

For the length of a single heartbeat she will see his disappointment, how his half-mad hopes have fallen in a tumble at his feet with her words. But Unwelcome fluffs her feathers up suddenly, as if made uneasy by this strong emotion, and by the time her feathers have settled again he has smoothed his heart-break from his expression, leaving him looking no more than glum. " .. it ain't fair, Raj," he says finally, "this wasn't supposed to happen."

He finally looks at Unwanted in his little basket, managing to hide any semblance of longing for the fawn that he might suffer under. One hand lifts not to caress Unwelcome again -- it will be a long while before he can do so without thinking -- but to rub at the new-healed scar running just underneath his hairline. The scabs have just fallen off, and it itches.

Despite the fact that First and Last look so alike that it takes someone who knows them very well to tell them apart, the Guardian fawn shows no more and no less interest in First than he shows in Rajani. His eyes do not light up for First, his interest is not sparked. He tolerates them both, he enjoys Rajani's caresses, but they are not his.  

[Nyx Argyros]

"Life is seldom fair," she told him. It was a common enough saying, but right now, it seemed to have more meaning than usual. "And it is seldom what we expect, but that doesn't mean it's all bad."

The entire mood of the room was downright depressing, between First's heartbreak and despair, the fawn's melancholy, and the rook's restless nerves. Not to mention the conspicuous absence of Last. It would be enough to make the gypsy quite grumpy if she were not already there. She could sympathize with the Freds' emotional upheaval, but her patience had its limits.

"So, are you going to sit there and mope for the rest of your life, or are you going to grow up and accept the things you cannot change?"  

[LoveByLetters]

His face goes red at that and he stands bolt upright, probably as he was meant to: Unwelcome flutters her wings to catch her balance, and scolds him with a little chortle for moving so suddenly. "You know I ain't like that!" The protest is immediate and indignant, and on its heels comes the realization that she's got him, she's got him plum to rights, and that almost makes him more depressed again, only instead it makes him mad. She can see the anger light up his eyes and his face, going so red that the only part of him that isn't scarlet is where his skin goes pure white around the new-healed cut he'd been scratching. His lips twist briefly in a silent snarl, and for just a moment she might wonder if he's going to attack her ..

.. but he flings his shoulder into one of the chairs instead, and gives it a sudden shove, knocking it back so hard that it skids several feet and comes to a stop against the opposite wall. " .. you know I ain't," he repeats again in a mumble, apparently not mad at Rajani, not mad at Unwanted, just at the situation as a whole. "I'll go find Last, all right? And I'll set him back, and I'll go find somethin' for the damned thing to eat."  

[Nyx Argyros]

Fury is an ugly thing, but Rajani kept her countenance perfectly calm and serious. After all, she did achieve the intended result. If he did try to attack her, then she would deal with it. She was more prepared to deal with violence now than she had ever been in her entire life. But she did not think he would. Her eyes stayed on him as the chair went skidding away and she watched as his outburst receded and he seemed to deflate a little.

"Alright," she agreed. Moving, just doing something would doubtless do him some good. Besides, she was getting tired of waiting for the younger sibling to show back up. He still had an earful to receive. In the meantime, she could take a better look at the fawn.  

[LoveByLetters]

Snatching a cloak to swirl around his shoulders -- Unwelcome clings briefly to his hair to get out of the way -- First is gone with a few last angry stomps of his boots. It is quiet in the nice flat after that, and if Rajani stirs herself to investigate, she will find little that is out of place or suspicious .. but she may be clever enough to find more than one store of coin. Unwanted is quiet for the most part; he seems healthy, and responds to her caresses, possibly by nibbling on her dress if she stays close for long enough.

After about half an hour, there is a creeping step on the stair leading up to the front door, and the door will be oh-so-carefully unlocked. The door creaks slowly open, and this time it is Last that slips inside, with all the care of a man trying very hard not to be noticed. It's clear that First has not found him, probably due to some considerable effort on Last's part; he does not expect there to be anyone here. Perhaps he thinks it is First that sleeps, and that he must be silent to avoid his notice; perhaps he is only being cautious so as to avoid waking the Guardian fawn.

But Unwanted had already lifted his head the moment that the first creak on the stair was heard, his eyes riveted to the door with an interest that he had not shown in anything until now. And by the time Last closes the door behind himself, he is lurching to his feet on wobbly legs and trying to climb out of his basket to run and greet his Chosen. If Rajani had not been able to tell the two apart -- Last wears the exact same clothing as his brother, and has even the same healing cut across his forehead -- Unwanted's reaction makes Last's identity obvious.  

[Nyx Argyros]

Rajani was too curious by far to completely forgo her one chance to explore the Freds' home unsupervised. It was her first time there, after all, and she was not likely to ever get this chance again. So she wandered and inspected, but she still had her own code of honor. She would not take any of their belongings, nor would she unearth every little secret, though she could not resist poking about here and there. Mostly retired she may be, but she had still once been a burglar. Call it a rule of the profession. It would damage her reputation if she did not look at least a little.

Regardless, by the time Last crept into the flat, she had long since completed her inspection, and had looked the fawn over, and had settled herself in one of the chairs. It was mostly in the shadows, so perhaps Last would not have noticed her right away. Not that he was really paying much attention to anything, anyway.

She watched him slinking about for a long moment before she spoke. "So he returns at last. It's bad form, you know, walking into your own home so carelessly. Anyone could be waiting."  

[LoveByLetters]

She will find several things that is possible she can use against them -- for one thing, there is a small slim book about history under First's pillow, and a pink ribbon folded half a dozen times under Last's, obviously a much-cherished souvenir. It isn't difficult to tell who sleeps on which side of their bed, either, even if they aren't here. There are feathers on one pillow, and fur on the blanket at the foot of the bed on the opposite side.

Last will manage to get the door closed, his cloak hung up, and start taking off his boots before Rajani speaks -- an event which nearly causes him to crash to the floor, as his first instinct is to turn around and run. This goes badly for him, when he's halfway through taking off one boot, and Unwanted is staggering across the floor, butting his head against Last's ankles. Only slapping one palm against the nearest wall prevents him from falling in a heap, and when he has managed to steady himself he gapes in obvious shock at his surprise houseguest.

"Like hells! How the gods -- that b*****d! He called you here?!" There is almost a growl to his voice, though any threat it might possess is subdued somewhat by the fact that even with the wall to support him, he is still teetering somewhat. And at least First wasn't completely exaggerating about his condition; he looks awful, with great big circles under his eyes, chin and cheeks unshaven, hair a mess. "Bugger off, Raj, I don't know what he told you but it's all a damn lie."  

[Nyx Argyros]

Difficult though it may be to believe, Last looked even worse than his brother. Rajani did not bother to comment on the fact, however, as she watched him fall all over himself just to stay upright. It was perversely satisfying. She offered him nearly the same mild look that she had given his brother - nearly, because there was a subtle edge added to it. Condescension, perhaps? Mockery? Or maybe it was her elusive temper taking its first peek from behind her calm facade.

"Clearly," she drawled, then nodded to the fawn. "I suppose I'm imagining yon little one, as well?"

The fawn was so clearly excited at his chosen's return that it only served to make it that much clearer how distressed he had been to be separated. He was too young to be left on his own, or even in the hands of someone trustworthy. Of course, given the state of First when she had arrived, she would not have considered him to be an appropriate custodian no matter how trustworthy.  

[LoveByLetters]

"He ain't mine," Last sputters, a lie which is utterly ruined by the fawn's obvious delight in his presence. Finally, after teetering back and forth for a moment, Last sits abruptly down in the entranceway, apparently on purpose. There he goes about actually taking off both his boots, while Unwanted does his level best to climb into his Chosen's lap and nuzzle into his clothing. He is already flushed and so cannot turn much redder, though there is some apparent attempt to do just that when he tries to ease out from under the Guardian to stand up.

"S'just some kinda mistake," he mutters. "He'll figure it out. Better suited to First, leastways. Everybody gets us mixed, he'll catch on."

.. but it's Last that wears the token, on a slender silver chain around his throat, because when he'd tried to leave it at home it'd made him ill.  

[Nyx Argyros]

His pathetic protest received the attention it deserved - none whatsoever. The man had not been home a minute and already Rajani could see that he was going to make things particularly difficult - more so than his brother. Well, that was just fine. She had a fair bit to say to him as well, once he had run out of arguments. Or perhaps before then. She would see how long her temper held. Not too terribly much longer, if Last's present attitude was any indication of how this conversation would proceed.

"He's young, but he isn't stupid," she informed him. "He knows exactly where he belongs. The only question is how long it will take you to catch up."  

[LoveByLetters]

In truth, Last doesn't much like his chances in this game, and he's dragging his feet. He already knows when Raj is going to lose what's left of her fragile temper -- when it comes about to the time when he has to explain the fawn's name. He'd named the damn thing in a fit of pique, and after that it'd been too late to call the stupid little thing anything else.

"This ain't how it's supposed to be," he says finally, with a deep scowl on his normally handsome face. He hasn't managed to stand up alone; he's brought one arm around the determined Guardian, and in the end when he stands up it's tucked against his chest all curled up like a baby. "We ain't no heroes, Raj. We got no truck with witch-animals, nor we got any mind to go fetching after wolves people think they seen in the mist." He tries to storm past her, aware that in socked feet and with a baby deer in his arms the effect is some muted. The scorn in his voice is tinged with something else: he scoffs at the rumors of wolves perhaps because he doesn't want to believe them. So far as the Freds are concerned, their jobs and their lives are here, in the city, not out in the wilds fighting monsters and not getting paid for it.  

[Nyx Argyros]

"Not afraid, are you? The world changes, Last. Whining about it and dragging your feet won't stop it from happening. You think I expected this? I'm a gypsy, not a warrior, but that's too bloody well bad." She gestured to the fawn.

"You think they care what we are? They don't. It's something in the heart they're after. Or mayhap the soul, though I've no idea what this one found in yours." She frowned at the fawn, considering him. How clear his love of his Chosen was.

"It occurs to me," she said. "In our...discussion, I never did get your little one's name. Or the rook, for that matter."  

[LoveByLetters]

A chill goes through him at those words: I'm a gypsy, not a warrior -- and for a moment he is overtaken again by terrifying visions of Unwanted dragging him out into the forest to face the wolves, despite the fact that the only fighting he knows is street-fighting, with brass knuckles and knives and fists. What good would any of that do against something with claws and a toothy mouthful of daggers big enough to bite down on his head?

Then again, with the little thing still so small that he can hold it like an infant in his arms, and currently preoccupied trying to stick his little head into Last's shirt, it's hard to be that afraid of him.

It's much, much easier to be afraid of Rajani ..

He actually pales when she asks about the name. Ain't no graceful way to avoid telling her, for once she's got the bit between her teeth she ain't gonna let go, he knows that. So though he licks his dry lips and hesitates, he finally offers her an answer. " .. y'gotta understand, we were kinda upset, right? And cold and wet and almost sick. And then it was kinda too late, 'cause he took to it." He pauses, plainly bracing himself for being yelled at again.

" .. he's Unwanted. We think the witch-bird's a girl, an' she's Unwelcome."  

[Nyx Argyros]

Her eyes narrowed at his most suspicious actions. Surely they had at least bothered to name the poor things. Everything deserved a name, animal or otherwise. When he started speaking, she went stock still. The calm before the storm. So they were named, but just what were their names? What could be so terrible that Last dreaded even uttering it in her presence?

She paused. Made certain that she had heard him correctly. Yes. There was no doubt about it. That was most certainly what he had said.

"...you named them what?!" She screamed, and it was very lucky that Last had an armful of guardian, else the gypsy might have done something they both would later regret. "You spoilt, cowardly, idiot boy! You're too afraid of them to even be in the same room as them, and you don't even have the decency to give them proper names?! You have forever branded them as, as...unwanted! They are not stupid beasts! Someday, he will grow up and he will understand what you have named him. Then, you will have to explain the depths of your stupidity to him. I can only pray that by the time that day comes, you will have gained enough of a heart that their names will be lies!"

She hissed and turned sharply away from him, adding a few more steps between them the better to restrain herself from expressing her displeasure by doing him bodily harm while he was holding a baby guardian.