"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...
"Here's my pretty boy," Chantal was murmuring softly to the bird as he walked up the length of her arm until he felt satisfied with his living perch. Switzer gave her another pretty caw and ruffled his feathers a bit, showing off or preparing to groom himself, she wasn't quite sure. "Well you don't get any cake, no."
But she did know where the birdseed treats were. Chantal gave the quartet in the dining room another smile as she walked to the kitchen pantry and found the container she wanted. Of course, the container wasn't where she'd have placed it but Chantal wasn't about to chastised Tadhg for his lack of organization in front of his family. Whistling softly to get Switzer's attention, she held out a small bell-shaped object made mostly of seed. "Nummy. You want this? Hey...bird. Hello?"
Switzer's attention was elsewhere despite the whistles and the waving of the treat well within his line of sight. "Okay, I know it's not cake but come on...I'd eat this. Maybe." She wasn't so sure she wanted to snack on Cockatoo treats that had a funky vitamin smell to them but she'd eaten odder. "Your bird has gone full retard here, Tigger."
She was referencing Tropic Thunder and the last movie night they'd had. Apparently, or so Chantal thought, she'd insulted the avian diva because he took flight and found himself a new place to sit within the dining room. The top of the curtain rod directly above one of Tadhg's brothers. Nonplussed by the bird's fickle behavior she simply went about getting a a plate a fork out of the kitchen for herself. She wasn't in any hurry to join the party in the dining room, though had she been aware of Tadhg's gentle warning to his family, she might have hesitated a bit less before finally making her way into the room.
"You baked this?" She was looking at Cait, a bit surprised at the professional icing job on the sweet dessert.
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.
Tadhg's dining room table was large enough to seat eight comfortably, so they had no trouble making room for one more. Cait placed a piece of cake on Chantal's plate while Tadhg poured her a cup of tea. His sister nodded cheerily in response to his friend's question. "I did. I make most of the birthday cakes in this family." In addition to swirls on the sides and crosshatching on the top, Cait had sprinkled the confection with candied violets.
Collecting the cream and sugar and setting them next to her cup, Tadhg gave Chantal a deliberately bland smile. "You'll have to forgive Switzer," he said with calm gravity. "He seems to have fixated on a certain someone." He nodded at his oldest brother, who was giving the bird a don't you dare look while Switzer sized up his shoulder as a possible landing pad.
"I can't think why," Anraí sighed. "I certainly don't encourage him." At the sound of his voice, Switzer keened and dropped down to perch on him.
"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."
She fixed her tea and curled herself into something close to the lotus position as she sat in one of the chairs, another creative solution to inadvertent problems. A full table meant there stood a good chance of a knee bump or a foot brush from someone and Chantal was always careful about minimizing such risks. Taking a bite of the cake, she again addressed Cait, "This is amazing. really. I'm not going to ask what you put in it, I'm sure I'm better off not knowing."
Vegetarian, she was still willing to turn a blind eye to some things as long as she could claim some sort of ignorance.
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.
As she sipped her tea, she gave Switzer a thoughtful look as he sat on Rory's shoulder. "If he's that much of a pest, birdie boy can always come chill at the bookstore while you're here." Anytime you're here, really. Chantal really didn't mind Tadhg's menagerie.
And speaking of her livelihood, Chantal turned her attention to Cait again, "Owner and operator of Bound By Interest, bookstore downtown." A bit of explanation as her eyes lit up with more than friendly interest, "Tigger's outed your pen name and I do happen to have a handful of your books on my shelves. I won't ask you to come in, you're here for family and not business plus your agent would likely want my head on a pike for not going about things in the proper channels." Oh, how her tone denoted her opinions of red tape and nonsense, "Buuuuuuuuuut...if I bring a few copies of your latest over, do you think you could sign them?"
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."
"Oh, well...in that case." She grins and lifts her cup in mock salute. "And no, I wouldn't suggest staying here specifically." She gave Tadhg a sharp look before smiling at Cait again. "He's been home alone too long, I'm sure he's managed to just about undo every attempt I made at organizing his messes since the last time he took off for parts unknown."
Not that Tadhg was a total slob, he just seemed to have a system of organization that defied any form of logic Chantal could identify. "Sorry to rag on you on your birthday, Tigger."
But not sorry for ragging on him in general.
"And if you want to flee all this testosterone, you're more than welcome drop by either the shop or my house. Make him give you directions." Touch me not didn't equate to anti-social after all and Tadhg's sister seemed like someone she'd like to get to know.
"Not a problem, I'm used to it." The long-suffering look on Tadhg's face was enough to inspire Cait to ball up her napkin and pitch it at him. Really, did he think he was Anraí of a sudden?
"And we will definitely get him out of the house as much as possible," she declared in tones that said It Would Be So. "He gets to be entirely too much of a recluse with his projects." The addendum even when he's in a good mood went unspoken. "And by all means we should have a just-girls visit ... perhaps for lunch?"
"Oh, boo-hoo." The extent of Chantal's sympathy on this particular issue. She didn't throw anything at him, however.
"I'm not so much worried about him and his hermit ways, I do the same thing. It would be a shame for you all to miss taking advantage of such a mild winter and the beach. Not that I'd get in the water this time of year even with a wetsuit. I'm not insane." She looked at Tadhg as if to imply that he was possibly certifiable for this activity. "And a girl's night in sounds good. My sister is off in the wilds of South America somewhere taking pictures of pygmies so I'm pathetically without girl talk."
If they were all going to keep up pretenses, Chantal wasn't even going to allow herself to wonder if Irish fey folk engaged in girl talk or not.
Girl talk was in fact one of Cait's favorite things, seeing as she got not so much of it growing up with three older brothers. Tadhg smiled to see her brighten at the prospect. "How about we pay that visit to Bound By Interest a couple of hours before closing, and you two can spend some time at Chantal's after that?"
And perhaps he, Da and his brothers could work through a few of the nastiest aspects of what they had to deal with while little sister was away. He knew he'd best not drop even a hint of that motivation around Cait, though. She had what amounted to an allergy for being protected or shielded by the older MacEibhirs in any way.
It's probably a good thing Chantal was very much in the dark about what Tadhg's actual problem was. She'd not take too kindly to the idea of 'protecting the women' from ugly thoughts. After all, she'd seen and experienced some of the ugliest things human beings are capable of...she's likely risk a premonition for the opportunity to smack each and every one of the male MacEibhirs for that line of thinking.
Smiling at Cait she nodded, "I might keep her." After all, Chantal's only real source of girl talk was her sister who, off on assignment somewhere in the wilds of South America, was quite difficult to reach by either phone or mail. "Sandra's gone and I'm starved for attention and real conversation."
Besides, if she played her cards right, maybe little sister will spill a bean or two about her big brother.
Tadhg would insist that it was Cait's age, not her gender, that made her brothers so protective of her. Having a mother like Máire NiStandún MacEibhir and a grandmother like Gaoth didn't usually lead to sexism. But given that Cait was a few months away from turning 55, the MacEibhir boys were probably overdue for getting over the age difference as well.
Cait certainly thought so, but she was too intrigued by Chantal and Big Brother's vagueness about her to worry about ulterior motives. "Real conversation you shall have, m'dear," she said cheerfully. Chantal wasn't the only one who would be digging for more information concerning Tadhg, though Cait's questions focused more on the present.
Tadhg, blissfully unaware of his upcoming dissection by discussion, had instead focused for the moment on playing host. "More tea anyone? I can put together another pot."
"Here's my pretty boy," Chantal was murmuring softly to the bird as he walked up the length of her arm until he felt satisfied with his living perch. Switzer gave her another pretty caw and ruffled his feathers a bit, showing off or preparing to groom himself, she wasn't quite sure. "Well you don't get any cake, no."
But she did know where the birdseed treats were. Chantal gave the quartet in the dining room another smile as she walked to the kitchen pantry and found the container she wanted. Of course, the container wasn't where she'd have placed it but Chantal wasn't about to chastised Tadhg for his lack of organization in front of his family. Whistling softly to get Switzer's attention, she held out a small bell-shaped object made mostly of seed. "Nummy. You want this? Hey...bird. Hello?"
Switzer's attention was elsewhere despite the whistles and the waving of the treat well within his line of sight. "Okay, I know it's not cake but come on...I'd eat this. Maybe." She wasn't so sure she wanted to snack on Cockatoo treats that had a funky vitamin smell to them but she'd eaten odder. "Your bird has gone full retard here, Tigger."
She was referencing Tropic Thunder and the last movie night they'd had. Apparently, or so Chantal thought, she'd insulted the avian diva because he took flight and found himself a new place to sit within the dining room. The top of the curtain rod directly above one of Tadhg's brothers. Nonplussed by the bird's fickle behavior she simply went about getting a a plate a fork out of the kitchen for herself. She wasn't in any hurry to join the party in the dining room, though had she been aware of Tadhg's gentle warning to his family, she might have hesitated a bit less before finally making her way into the room.
"You baked this?" She was looking at Cait, a bit surprised at the professional icing job on the sweet dessert.
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Tadhg's dining room table was large enough to seat eight comfortably, so they had no trouble making room for one more. Cait placed a piece of cake on Chantal's plate while Tadhg poured her a cup of tea. His sister nodded cheerily in response to his friend's question. "I did. I make most of the birthday cakes in this family." In addition to swirls on the sides and crosshatching on the top, Cait had sprinkled the confection with candied violets.
Collecting the cream and sugar and setting them next to her cup, Tadhg gave Chantal a deliberately bland smile. "You'll have to forgive Switzer," he said with calm gravity. "He seems to have fixated on a certain someone." He nodded at his oldest brother, who was giving the bird a don't you dare look while Switzer sized up his shoulder as a possible landing pad.
"I can't think why," Anraí sighed. "I certainly don't encourage him." At the sound of his voice, Switzer keened and dropped down to perch on him.
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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."
She fixed her tea and curled herself into something close to the lotus position as she sat in one of the chairs, another creative solution to inadvertent problems. A full table meant there stood a good chance of a knee bump or a foot brush from someone and Chantal was always careful about minimizing such risks. Taking a bite of the cake, she again addressed Cait, "This is amazing. really. I'm not going to ask what you put in it, I'm sure I'm better off not knowing."
Vegetarian, she was still willing to turn a blind eye to some things as long as she could claim some sort of ignorance.
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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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As she sipped her tea, she gave Switzer a thoughtful look as he sat on Rory's shoulder. "If he's that much of a pest, birdie boy can always come chill at the bookstore while you're here." Anytime you're here, really. Chantal really didn't mind Tadhg's menagerie.
And speaking of her livelihood, Chantal turned her attention to Cait again, "Owner and operator of Bound By Interest, bookstore downtown." A bit of explanation as her eyes lit up with more than friendly interest, "Tigger's outed your pen name and I do happen to have a handful of your books on my shelves. I won't ask you to come in, you're here for family and not business plus your agent would likely want my head on a pike for not going about things in the proper channels." Oh, how her tone denoted her opinions of red tape and nonsense, "Buuuuuuuuuut...if I bring a few copies of your latest over, do you think you could sign them?"
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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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Not that Tadhg was a total slob, he just seemed to have a system of organization that defied any form of logic Chantal could identify. "Sorry to rag on you on your birthday, Tigger."
But not sorry for ragging on him in general.
"And if you want to flee all this testosterone, you're more than welcome drop by either the shop or my house. Make him give you directions." Touch me not didn't equate to anti-social after all and Tadhg's sister seemed like someone she'd like to get to know.
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"And we will definitely get him out of the house as much as possible," she declared in tones that said It Would Be So. "He gets to be entirely too much of a recluse with his projects." The addendum even when he's in a good mood went unspoken. "And by all means we should have a just-girls visit ... perhaps for lunch?"
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"I'm not so much worried about him and his hermit ways, I do the same thing. It would be a shame for you all to miss taking advantage of such a mild winter and the beach. Not that I'd get in the water this time of year even with a wetsuit. I'm not insane." She looked at Tadhg as if to imply that he was possibly certifiable for this activity. "And a girl's night in sounds good. My sister is off in the wilds of South America somewhere taking pictures of pygmies so I'm pathetically without girl talk."
If they were all going to keep up pretenses, Chantal wasn't even going to allow herself to wonder if Irish fey folk engaged in girl talk or not.
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And perhaps he, Da and his brothers could work through a few of the nastiest aspects of what they had to deal with while little sister was away. He knew he'd best not drop even a hint of that motivation around Cait, though. She had what amounted to an allergy for being protected or shielded by the older MacEibhirs in any way.
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Smiling at Cait she nodded, "I might keep her." After all, Chantal's only real source of girl talk was her sister who, off on assignment somewhere in the wilds of South America, was quite difficult to reach by either phone or mail. "Sandra's gone and I'm starved for attention and real conversation."
Besides, if she played her cards right, maybe little sister will spill a bean or two about her big brother.
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Cait certainly thought so, but she was too intrigued by Chantal and Big Brother's vagueness about her to worry about ulterior motives. "Real conversation you shall have, m'dear," she said cheerfully. Chantal wasn't the only one who would be digging for more information concerning Tadhg, though Cait's questions focused more on the present.
Tadhg, blissfully unaware of his upcoming dissection by discussion, had instead focused for the moment on playing host. "More tea anyone? I can put together another pot."
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