Chantal knew it was his birthday and she knew she should have made an effort to stop by earlier in the day but well, it was on her way home and she had been busy and then there was the fact that she did have a present for him. That would soften the blow that her birthday wishes were coming when there were but a few short hours left to the twenty-eighth of February, right? Right.
She parked on the street, at the curb just before Tadhg's drive and spent a few minutes readjusting the bow holding his gift together. The bookseller had gotten a bit creative with both the gift and the wrapping--such as it was, and thought that the overall effect was pretty and more importantly, suited the man it was intended for. Instead of paper or a bag filled with tissue, Chantal had taken a few sprigs of greenery and a handful of budding blooms and attached them with a wide ribbon, binding them to the old artist's sketchbook she was giving her friend. She had found the tome some time ago in an antique shop and thought of him, now she had an excuse to
( ... )
The ferrets were actually behaving themselves in their cage for once, though probably not for long. The MacEibhir clan were seated around Tadhg's dining room table with cream cheese frosted slices of spice cake and cups of tea. Since he was being subjected to a mystical once-over by Da, Tadhg didn't seem to hear the knock at his door. Cait peeked into the living room just in time to see the woman's entry and hear her cheerful call.
She had to be a friend. For one thing she could walk in through Tadhg's wards as easily as a family member, and for another ... Tigger?
Cait couldn't keep her lips from quirking at the nickname. "Hullo!" she said cheerfully. "He's in here." Glancing back toward the table, she saw Tadhg blinking and looking in her direction. "You have a guest, big brother."
"Oh...um, ah...hi?" Chantal stiffened then forced herself to relax, obviously caught off-guard at there being someone else, no make that someones else in the house besides Tadhg. As she racked her brain trying to recall if he'd mentioned expecting company or having plans for his birthday, the brunette made her way into the living room proper but didn't even attempt to enter the dining area with Cait standing in the doorway
( ... )
"Chantal?" Tadhg's query-slash-greeting blended with Switzer's hopeful croon. Not particularly regretting the interruption to the family ... well, interrogation might be a little harsh, but it wasn't far off ... Tadhg left the table to go greet his friend
( ... )
Chantal waved a hand as he introduced his family, the names familiar enough to her and at least the woman's accent fit. There were also similarities and likenesses between all of them, Chantal could see a familiar smile here and an identical tilt of the head there. Yes, these people were all related to Tadhg but none of them gave off quite the same odd vibe that the artist did. She had decided it was his being fey that explained it but now she wasn't so sure
( ... )
"Three layers of spice cake with cream cheese frosting," Tadhg elaborated. "It's delicious." Cait blew him a little thank-you kiss. "And you're certainly not intruding. Everyone will be here for a while yet." Until we've done what needs doing had been his father's rather ominous phrasing.
He chuckled, both at Switzer's attention-demanding antics and the slightly oh no expression creeping over Anraí's face. "No, no open windows. You can take him out safely." Well, safely for Switzer, anyway.
As Chantal went about getting the cockatoo out of his cage, Tadhg reached up to press his ward against his chest. Speaking silently to his siblings and father through their wards, he told them to avoid touching Chantal in any manner, and he'd ... well, he wouldn't explain later, but he'd give them what information he could.
"Oh, all right..." As if she were doing the birthday boy a favor by eating his cake. There was the added bonus that she wouldn't need to worry about dinner when she got home and the fact of the matter was, Tadhg had yet to ever lead her astray where dessert foods were concerned. If he said it was good
( ... )
Tadhg didn't miss the twitch of Rory's lips at Chantal's nickname for him. His older brother started to hum, very nearly under his breath, but púca hearing was sharp enough to pick it up. The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things ... Da quashed any more overt teasing with a look, though amusement sparkled in his own dark eyes. Fortunately Cait was too busy slicing the cake and Anraí was too preoccupied keeping a wary eye on Switzer to contribute
( ... )
"Looks like true love to me," Chantal couldn't keep from laughing at the bird's antics as he tried to nuzzle against the side of the man's neck. She did have an older sister and wasn't immune to the urge to tease people, something Tadhg well knew from personal experience. "It could always be worse, those ferrets seem to have this bizarre fascination with stealing my car keys."
With that she gave Tadhg a grin. "Too bad for them, I've started leaving the keys in the car." This was the solution she came up with for that particular issue the last time she was on house sitting/pet caring duty for the púca. "Thank you
( ... )
Switzer started to ever-so-delicately nibble on Anraí's ear, triggering an amusing (for Tadhg anyway) what are you like, bird?! look, leaving Rory to chuckle at her description of the ferrets' antics. "I'll have to keep your solution in mind. The little thieves filched my wallet last time I was here -- now come on, Switzer ..." The tallest MacEibhir was trying to help out his older brother by coaxing the cockatoo onto his own arm. Switzer was having none of it, pressing himself up against the side of Anraí's head.
Smiling at the contest of wills, Tadhg forestalled Cait's look of concern at his friend's comment about cake ingredients. "Chantal's a vegetarian, Cait."
"Ah." Judging by her expression, little sister had picked up on the corollary of so we'll politely not discuss the eggs, honey and butter then. She already knows about the cream cheese, anyway. "I'm glad you like it, Chantal. Next time I bake for big brother, I'll keep that in mind."
Oh, bird. Chantal laughed and tried to look apologetic as she watched Anrai and Switzer. "I wouldn't have let him out if I'd known..." A quick glance at Tadhg, "Maybe."
And she waved her fork back and forth at Cait's comment, "Oh, it's all right. PETA might string me up for eating this but they're not here so." She took another bite of cake and enjoyed it for what it was. "Tigg--Tadhg didn't mention anything about having a family celebration, not a planned birthday visit?"
Of course, he hadn't said a whole lot of anything to her lately, as incommunicado as he'd been." She also scraped a lot of the frosting off her cake and piled the forkfuls onto her somewhat moody friend's plate. "I don't need to be bouncing off the walls later."
Tadhg responded to Chantal's quick look with a cheerfully naughty grin. "I would." And had, when it came to letting Switzer annoy his oldest brother. Anraí's arched eyebrow and snort confirmed this, at least until the look gave way to a relieved/amused smile when Rory finally persuaded the reluctant cockatoo to perch on him for a while.
Ruairí gave his son's friend an easy smile as he answered her question. "It was rather last minute, yes." And clandestine, though Tadhg couldn't truly say he'd been surprised. "It's difficult for all of us to fit a trip into our schedule at the same time, so when we found a gap of a few days ... well, it's been a while since we were all in Santa Barbara together."
Tadhg arched his eyebrows at the wads of frosting appearing on his plate, a look that said and I do? But he still smiled and ate some. Puca/sugar = OTP.
"Perfect time of year to enjoy the city, in before the tourists are crawling everywhere." Not that she didn't appreciate the business they bring but she didn't really care for the change in the feel to some of her favorite haunts when they're buzzing with out-of-towners. Plus, it's just that many more people to avoid, physically.
Tadhg and his frosting got a knowing smirk from her as did his comment about turd-bird. "So, what's with Switzer thinking you're his girlfriend?" She had to ask Anrai, even if the answer was somehow tied up in Tadhg's oft-odd sense of humor and way with animals. She really wouldn't put it past him, after all, to instigate the matter.
As it stood, she wasn't so sure he didn't have anything to do with the ferrets harassing her.
Chantal has brought him presents and ice cream, adopted his snake and cleaned some highly questionable things out of his refrigerator. Surely she didn't believe that Tadhg would repay all that by setting his ferrets on her?
Anraí and Switzer ... well, there he might need to take the fifth. He filled his mouth with another bite, oozing innocence.
"I wish I knew," Anraí replied. "I personally think little brother should set the featherball up with a real girlfriend, but Tadhg tells me that even that might not break the bird of his ... preoccupation." Biggest brother's narrowed eyes showed that he might harbor a few suspicions about Tadhg's veracity there.
Brought him presents because she likes him, cleaned things out of the fridge because they scared her, adopted the snake because she wanted a companion she could touch...it didn't preclude his possible guilt in mostly harmless hijinks
( ... )
Since the two-leggeds were obviously talking about him-- because really, why shouldn't they be? --Switzer spread his wings and lifted his crest in proud display, throwing in a wolf-whistle for good measure. He then bobbed his head in Anraí's direction several times.
Once the laughter from that died down, Cait turned her smile on Chantal. "I'd be happy to sign those books for you, Chantal. But really, I'm sure I could fit in a visit to your store with no problem. I love bookstores, especially independent ones, and we're certainly not going to spend the entire trip cooped up in the house." They'd need some breaks from sorting out her brothers' emotional bits and bobs, or they'd all go stark raving.
"And as for my agent ..." Her smile shifted to something decidedly minxish before it disappeared behind her teacup. "... what he doesn't know won't elevate his stomach acid."
She parked on the street, at the curb just before Tadhg's drive and spent a few minutes readjusting the bow holding his gift together. The bookseller had gotten a bit creative with both the gift and the wrapping--such as it was, and thought that the overall effect was pretty and more importantly, suited the man it was intended for. Instead of paper or a bag filled with tissue, Chantal had taken a few sprigs of greenery and a handful of budding blooms and attached them with a wide ribbon, binding them to the old artist's sketchbook she was giving her friend. She had found the tome some time ago in an antique shop and thought of him, now she had an excuse to ( ... )
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She had to be a friend. For one thing she could walk in through Tadhg's wards as easily as a family member, and for another ... Tigger?
Cait couldn't keep her lips from quirking at the nickname. "Hullo!" she said cheerfully. "He's in here." Glancing back toward the table, she saw Tadhg blinking and looking in her direction. "You have a guest, big brother."
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He chuckled, both at Switzer's attention-demanding antics and the slightly oh no expression creeping over Anraí's face. "No, no open windows. You can take him out safely." Well, safely for Switzer, anyway.
As Chantal went about getting the cockatoo out of his cage, Tadhg reached up to press his ward against his chest. Speaking silently to his siblings and father through their wards, he told them to avoid touching Chantal in any manner, and he'd ... well, he wouldn't explain later, but he'd give them what information he could.
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With that she gave Tadhg a grin. "Too bad for them, I've started leaving the keys in the car." This was the solution she came up with for that particular issue the last time she was on house sitting/pet caring duty for the púca. "Thank you ( ... )
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Smiling at the contest of wills, Tadhg forestalled Cait's look of concern at his friend's comment about cake ingredients. "Chantal's a vegetarian, Cait."
"Ah." Judging by her expression, little sister had picked up on the corollary of so we'll politely not discuss the eggs, honey and butter then. She already knows about the cream cheese, anyway. "I'm glad you like it, Chantal. Next time I bake for big brother, I'll keep that in mind."
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And she waved her fork back and forth at Cait's comment, "Oh, it's all right. PETA might string me up for eating this but they're not here so." She took another bite of cake and enjoyed it for what it was. "Tigg--Tadhg didn't mention anything about having a family celebration, not a planned birthday visit?"
Of course, he hadn't said a whole lot of anything to her lately, as incommunicado as he'd been." She also scraped a lot of the frosting off her cake and piled the forkfuls onto her somewhat moody friend's plate. "I don't need to be bouncing off the walls later."
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Ruairí gave his son's friend an easy smile as he answered her question. "It was rather last minute, yes." And clandestine, though Tadhg couldn't truly say he'd been surprised. "It's difficult for all of us to fit a trip into our schedule at the same time, so when we found a gap of a few days ... well, it's been a while since we were all in Santa Barbara together."
Tadhg arched his eyebrows at the wads of frosting appearing on his plate, a look that said and I do? But he still smiled and ate some. Puca/sugar = OTP.
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Tadhg and his frosting got a knowing smirk from her as did his comment about turd-bird. "So, what's with Switzer thinking you're his girlfriend?" She had to ask Anrai, even if the answer was somehow tied up in Tadhg's oft-odd sense of humor and way with animals. She really wouldn't put it past him, after all, to instigate the matter.
As it stood, she wasn't so sure he didn't have anything to do with the ferrets harassing her.
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Anraí and Switzer ... well, there he might need to take the fifth. He filled his mouth with another bite, oozing innocence.
"I wish I knew," Anraí replied. "I personally think little brother should set the featherball up with a real girlfriend, but Tadhg tells me that even that might not break the bird of his ... preoccupation." Biggest brother's narrowed eyes showed that he might harbor a few suspicions about Tadhg's veracity there.
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Once the laughter from that died down, Cait turned her smile on Chantal. "I'd be happy to sign those books for you, Chantal. But really, I'm sure I could fit in a visit to your store with no problem. I love bookstores, especially independent ones, and we're certainly not going to spend the entire trip cooped up in the house." They'd need some breaks from sorting out her brothers' emotional bits and bobs, or they'd all go stark raving.
"And as for my agent ..." Her smile shifted to something decidedly minxish before it disappeared behind her teacup. "... what he doesn't know won't elevate his stomach acid."
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