One must hold their tongue in anger ...
Gwen listened until the girl's chatter silenced completely, until the click of the door to Regan's rooms echoed down the stairwells before her gaze slid to Jonathan again.
He was still, quiet, but she could see questions, anger and a swirl of other emotions broiling in the air around him. She wondered at what Regan had said to him before she'd arrived home, or whether what had been said between herself and the blond was the first he'd heard anything.
Either way, she was relieved that whatever questions or comments he might have about Regan regarding Percy Weasley, she would be able to speak freely. That Regan had spoken so in front of him allowed her to talk to him without having to pick her words so carefully as she'd been burdened to in the past in respect for Regan's privacy.
He had a million questions running through his head, but most of them he could figure out for himself. Regan had been seeing someone, and that person had told her today that he no longer wanted to continue their relationship. Her upset was understandable. As were her tears.
He wasn't sure why her crying affected him as much as it did, but he couldn't deny the desire he felt to make them stop.
The anger running through his veins, however, was not strictly because Regan had been crying. He'd seen her cry before, and the lingering feeling of uselessness still clung to him, but it was something else she'd said that had made his jaw clench and his teeth grind together.
Regan had given more of herself to this person, this man, than she had anyone else, and now she felt sickly ashamed at the thought.
This man had taken advantage of her and then called it off, probably knowing how much pain it would cause the fragile blonde.
"Who was it?" he finally asked, settling on the question he hadn't been able to answer on his own.
"Percy Weasley. There's a plethora of them, but this one is of the elder set. A seeming gentleman who spends his days in the Ministry archives," Gwen answered, still watching him from across the room. She couldn't see all of his features in the darkness, but she could see from his silhouette against the flame in the grate that his shoulders were tense. "He has an eight year old son and the mother, I've been told, passed in Hogsmeade last fall."
"He has a son," Jonathan repeated, slight shock crossing his features. Regan was still so young yet she'd been seeing a man old enough to have an eight year old son. "Had they been seeing each other long?" It was a stupid question. They'd obviously been seeing each other long enough for her to be crushed over their end, and long enough that he'd had the chance to push her boundaries farther than she would have liked to have let him.
"They were introduced last spring not long after you met her, actually. They've been sporadically seeing one another since, from what I'm aware of." She could see the shock on Jonathan's face at the revelations, though it was only nuanced in his eyes and just the slightest curl of his mouth, down.
The age disparity between Percy and Regan was substantial, but nothing near some of Gwen's own liaisons at the same age. It was true that he had a son, only ten years Regan's junior, but Gwen had taken the ginger man for a gentleman. It wasn't until Regan had come to her the week prior that she'd been aware anything but innocent kisses had happened.
"I think what caused to today's tears is the result of a more recent development," she ventured, trying to be diplomatic for Regan's sake.
"Did you approve of their dating?" Gwen's words to Regan, meant to be comforting and soothing to the blonde's hurt, also hinted at her less than acceptance of Weasley and whatever relationship there might have been.
"I thought, when they began their acquaintance, that it was acceptable. Percy seemed a gentleman, and I know his brother. A player of mine married one of them," she ventured, now treading towards her own past with the next words that needed saying. "Regan is of age, though, and I could not forbid her to see anyone she wished to, nor would I impose upon her something I did myself at the same age."
Sebastian was nearly thirty years her senior, Theodore twenty and both had had children near her age, or older. She was a different person than Regan in many ways, but she could not enforce anything she didn't truly disagree with. Regan would have been like to leave had she tried, and it likely would have turned out direly considering the blond's emotional state at the time.
Jonathan looked at Gwen for a long moment. He didn't know much about her past, beyond what she'd told him previously or he'd been able to find out through her small file at the Ministry, but the information she'd given was stored as his thoughts turned back to Regan. "I somehow doubt you were ever as young as Regan is at eighteen. Whatever this Weasley was thinking, he should have known better than to toy with her."
"He should have, yes," she agreed, watching him carefully, wondering if the small pause before he'd spoken had been because of her revelation of her romantic past. "Which is what I thought when she and I spoke last week, but neglected to say as I wasn't sure it'd be received easily."
Gwen sighed softly then, some of the alertness she'd come into the room with leaving her slight frame. "It has not been easy for Regan and I in all things and though I do not lie to her, I have tried not to trigger any arguments such as we had last fall."
"And sometimes watching someone learn something the hard way is difficult to watch and let happen, but necessary," he said, understanding why she would have kept her opinions of Regan dating an older man to herself, even if she hadn't approved.
He rose from his spot on the floor, the front of his shirt still damp from Regan's tears. He held out a hand to Gwen, his face set into determined lines. "What do we do now?"
She held his gaze a long moment, fingers twining with him as she registered the fact that somewhere between him coming to stay at White Chapel and now, they had become a 'we', even in regards to Regan who'd put him off for most of his time with them.
"We hold her when she cries and remind her that she's worth something. One doubts themselves when dismissed," Gwen replied, free hand tracing the dark, wet spots on his shirt. "We tuck Tess in and think about looking at estates in the country for that pony she'll be wanting soon," she added, gaze lifting to his then.
Jonathan couldn't help the raised eyebrow as he gazed at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Gwen had just spent so much time redecorating White Chapel, preparing it for the holidays, that it was a bit shocking to think that she was considering someplace new. He hadn't been aware that Tess had any desires in the way of ponies, but if she did, there was no place on the grounds to house one.
His question to her had been about what they were going to do about Weasley, but he had a feeling the answer would have been that it wasn't their place, despite the desire to make the man disappear, and they could only help Regan heal the hurt he'd caused.
It wouldn't as satisfying as hearing the man's bones breaking for every tear he'd caused Regan, but it was the most important thing they could do for her sake.
"Estates in the country? With a required stable?" She'd obviously given the idea some thought, if she already had necessary architecture in mind. "Perhaps with more rooms?"
"Mmm," she hummed in the affirmative, finally stepping into his space and pressing her body to his, hand coming up to lightly rest against his chest. "A pool as well, I think. Or near a lake. I've already a nephew and there's Tess; a few more on the way. They should all be able to have a grand time when they visit their aunt."
Her thoughts had turned briefly to the idea of moving even though she'd just finished White Chapel. They were settling, finally, but even with the family gathering at Christmas, she'd vaguely thought that there would need to be more space the following year. Enough room for the family to stay on if they wished. She'd not meant to say anything just now, but it slipped. Perhaps because part of her wanted to know if it was something Jonathan wanted to do, too.
Covering the hand she rested on his chest with one of his own, he pressed his lips against hers. "An estate in the country it is."
Summary: Jonathan and Gwen discuss the evening's activities.
He was still, quiet, but she could see questions, anger and a swirl of other emotions broiling in the air around him. She wondered at what Regan had said to him before she'd arrived home, or whether what had been said between herself and the blond was the first he'd heard anything.
Either way, she was relieved that whatever questions or comments he might have about Regan regarding Percy Weasley, she would be able to speak freely. That Regan had spoken so in front of him allowed her to talk to him without having to pick her words so carefully as she'd been burdened to in the past in respect for Regan's privacy.
He had a million questions running through his head, but most of them he could figure out for himself. Regan had been seeing someone, and that person had told her today that he no longer wanted to continue their relationship. Her upset was understandable. As were her tears.
He wasn't sure why her crying affected him as much as it did, but he couldn't deny the desire he felt to make them stop.
The anger running through his veins, however, was not strictly because Regan had been crying. He'd seen her cry before, and the lingering feeling of uselessness still clung to him, but it was something else she'd said that had made his jaw clench and his teeth grind together.
Regan had given more of herself to this person, this man, than she had anyone else, and now she felt sickly ashamed at the thought.
This man had taken advantage of her and then called it off, probably knowing how much pain it would cause the fragile blonde.
"Who was it?" he finally asked, settling on the question he hadn't been able to answer on his own.
"Percy Weasley. There's a plethora of them, but this one is of the elder set. A seeming gentleman who spends his days in the Ministry archives," Gwen answered, still watching him from across the room. She couldn't see all of his features in the darkness, but she could see from his silhouette against the flame in the grate that his shoulders were tense. "He has an eight year old son and the mother, I've been told, passed in Hogsmeade last fall."
"He has a son," Jonathan repeated, slight shock crossing his features. Regan was still so young yet she'd been seeing a man old enough to have an eight year old son. "Had they been seeing each other long?" It was a stupid question. They'd obviously been seeing each other long enough for her to be crushed over their end, and long enough that he'd had the chance to push her boundaries farther than she would have liked to have let him.
"They were introduced last spring not long after you met her, actually. They've been sporadically seeing one another since, from what I'm aware of." She could see the shock on Jonathan's face at the revelations, though it was only nuanced in his eyes and just the slightest curl of his mouth, down.
The age disparity between Percy and Regan was substantial, but nothing near some of Gwen's own liaisons at the same age. It was true that he had a son, only ten years Regan's junior, but Gwen had taken the ginger man for a gentleman. It wasn't until Regan had come to her the week prior that she'd been aware anything but innocent kisses had happened.
"I think what caused to today's tears is the result of a more recent development," she ventured, trying to be diplomatic for Regan's sake.
"Did you approve of their dating?" Gwen's words to Regan, meant to be comforting and soothing to the blonde's hurt, also hinted at her less than acceptance of Weasley and whatever relationship there might have been.
"I thought, when they began their acquaintance, that it was acceptable. Percy seemed a gentleman, and I know his brother. A player of mine married one of them," she ventured, now treading towards her own past with the next words that needed saying. "Regan is of age, though, and I could not forbid her to see anyone she wished to, nor would I impose upon her something I did myself at the same age."
Sebastian was nearly thirty years her senior, Theodore twenty and both had had children near her age, or older. She was a different person than Regan in many ways, but she could not enforce anything she didn't truly disagree with. Regan would have been like to leave had she tried, and it likely would have turned out direly considering the blond's emotional state at the time.
Jonathan looked at Gwen for a long moment. He didn't know much about her past, beyond what she'd told him previously or he'd been able to find out through her small file at the Ministry, but the information she'd given was stored as his thoughts turned back to Regan. "I somehow doubt you were ever as young as Regan is at eighteen. Whatever this Weasley was thinking, he should have known better than to toy with her."
"He should have, yes," she agreed, watching him carefully, wondering if the small pause before he'd spoken had been because of her revelation of her romantic past. "Which is what I thought when she and I spoke last week, but neglected to say as I wasn't sure it'd be received easily."
Gwen sighed softly then, some of the alertness she'd come into the room with leaving her slight frame. "It has not been easy for Regan and I in all things and though I do not lie to her, I have tried not to trigger any arguments such as we had last fall."
"And sometimes watching someone learn something the hard way is difficult to watch and let happen, but necessary," he said, understanding why she would have kept her opinions of Regan dating an older man to herself, even if she hadn't approved.
He rose from his spot on the floor, the front of his shirt still damp from Regan's tears. He held out a hand to Gwen, his face set into determined lines. "What do we do now?"
She held his gaze a long moment, fingers twining with him as she registered the fact that somewhere between him coming to stay at White Chapel and now, they had become a 'we', even in regards to Regan who'd put him off for most of his time with them.
"We hold her when she cries and remind her that she's worth something. One doubts themselves when dismissed," Gwen replied, free hand tracing the dark, wet spots on his shirt. "We tuck Tess in and think about looking at estates in the country for that pony she'll be wanting soon," she added, gaze lifting to his then.
Jonathan couldn't help the raised eyebrow as he gazed at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Gwen had just spent so much time redecorating White Chapel, preparing it for the holidays, that it was a bit shocking to think that she was considering someplace new. He hadn't been aware that Tess had any desires in the way of ponies, but if she did, there was no place on the grounds to house one.
His question to her had been about what they were going to do about Weasley, but he had a feeling the answer would have been that it wasn't their place, despite the desire to make the man disappear, and they could only help Regan heal the hurt he'd caused.
It wouldn't as satisfying as hearing the man's bones breaking for every tear he'd caused Regan, but it was the most important thing they could do for her sake.
"Estates in the country? With a required stable?" She'd obviously given the idea some thought, if she already had necessary architecture in mind. "Perhaps with more rooms?"
"Mmm," she hummed in the affirmative, finally stepping into his space and pressing her body to his, hand coming up to lightly rest against his chest. "A pool as well, I think. Or near a lake. I've already a nephew and there's Tess; a few more on the way. They should all be able to have a grand time when they visit their aunt."
Her thoughts had turned briefly to the idea of moving even though she'd just finished White Chapel. They were settling, finally, but even with the family gathering at Christmas, she'd vaguely thought that there would need to be more space the following year. Enough room for the family to stay on if they wished. She'd not meant to say anything just now, but it slipped. Perhaps because part of her wanted to know if it was something Jonathan wanted to do, too.
Covering the hand she rested on his chest with one of his own, he pressed his lips against hers. "An estate in the country it is."
Summary: Jonathan and Gwen discuss the evening's activities.