Homeplot: Home Free

[missingthekeep]

Another day down without waking up in the expected place, yet another spent traveling, and as nice as their time in London was, Sean's really not sure what to make of all this anymore, which is making him nervous. Never would he have imagined that upon finally coming back to his family's home for the first time since losing Maeve, he'd have bigger

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[drownondryland]

"That's it?" Meredith glances from him back to the building in the distance, the one she can only describe as a castle, a little stunned though it's not like she didn't know he'd grown up in a building like that. There's a vast difference between being told and actually seeing it, and though the last week's been full of surprises, she still keeps getting caught off guard. As those go, though, this isn't a bad one; it just isn't what she imagined. She's not entirely sure she belongs in a place like that, for that matter, but she still wants to see it, if only because it's part of his life and she doesn't know if she'll ever get this chance again. "That's your home up there? Seriously?"

[missingthekeep]

"Be it e'er so humble," Sean says, grinning, and if all those familiar walls and ramparts haven't been his home in a long time, they will be as soon as Meredith walks through the doors, anyway. "Cassidy Keep. I ken that she's nae much ta look at, but she grows on ye." Or away from you, as the case may be.

[drownondryland]

"Oh, I'm not complaining," Meredith says, "it just seems... big." And nothing at all like home, humble or otherwise, but she tells herself to reserve judgment until she's seen it firsthand. For all she knows, it's a cozy place once they're inside.

[missingthekeep]

"Does more'n seem big," Sean says with a laugh in spite of his unease. He's unsure if her comment was meant as a good thing or a negative one, but there's to be no getting around the truth of it. "But what were ye expectin'?"

[drownondryland]

"I don't know," Meredith says, since now that she can see it, she has difficulty recalling any images she may have come up with beforehand. It's not really something she's thought about much at all, for that matter, aside from the few times it's come up in conversation, and not always even then. "I'm not sure I really had expectations even. It's pretty. I guess I just have trouble imagining you growing up here."

[missingthekeep]

"An' why's that?" Sean asks, mostly amused, but curious, too. Theoretically, he understands why it may seem odd, especially for someone as low-key as he is, but to him, it'll always be the most normal thing in the world. "'Twas a grand ol' place ta be raised."

[drownondryland]

"It's a freaking castle," Meredith says, like he's not aware, as she gestures up the road to the Keep. "I mean, I'm sure it was fun, but the idea of it isn't very... well, homey, and, and you're you and it's like something out of a freaking fairy tale." And their lives have always been anything but that, even at their best. She's hardly equipped to be Cinderella or whatever the Irish equivalent is.

[missingthekeep]

"An' Lord knows I'm certainly nae one o' those," Sean laughs, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look at her. When he looks back, he finds his gaze settling on the Keep differently, like he's never laid eyes on it before. Maybe it's still not a good fit, he wonders, maybe he was wrong to come back, even for a little while. "Jus' think of it as jus' another house," he adds, doing his level best to ignore his doubts, though it's several more long moments before he can bring himself to look away again.

[drownondryland]

"Okay," Meredith says, a bit dubious still, but willing to try. It's his home, after all, or it was, and she does want to see it, even if her doubts show more than she'd like. Maybe once they get up there, she'll feel far less out of place. "I'm sure it's fine. Great even. I'll love it. You can show me everything."

[missingthekeep]

"Absolutely," Sean says with renewed enthusiasm for the idea. "Maybe take a walk on the grounds later if'n the weather stays this nice. Hell, even if it doesn't."

[drownondryland]

"Even if it doesn't," Meredith agrees, nodding. "You know I don't mind a little rain." She almost hopes it does take a turn; as much as she'd rather see everything when it's clear out, she misses real weather. "It'd make a nice change from the island."

[missingthekeep]

"Really go fer the whole getaway package, aye," Sean says, nodding his assent. "We'll make a whole day of it, have a nice supper, an' beyond that... who knows?" Who ever knows?

[drownondryland]

"Who needs to?" Meredith asks, glancing over. "We'll see when we get there. Until then, that sounds wonderful." If this doesn't last much longer - and that seems like an increasingly large if, but that's a concern for later, too - then schedules matter less even than usual.

[missingthekeep]

"Wonderful," Sean repeats, flashing her a grin. Hopefully her good mood will carry her through what he's got to tell her next, since it's really all that's left to cover before they arrive and he's run out of time to put it off. "Ehm, there's jus' one more thing, 'fore we get there."

[drownondryland]

That sounds slightly ominous, but then, Meredith thinks, she could just be projecting (it's stupid to be even a little nervous about this, when her hands are steady as a goddamn drum with lives at stake, but then, she's always been slightly less cut out for real life than that). "One more thing?" she asks. "What's that?"

[missingthekeep]

Sean pauses before he answers, wanting to put it delicately and having to draw it out even further when he hits a series of particularly nasty bumps in the road, causing the vehicle to buck underneath them. "It's jus' that..." he starts once the going is slightly smoother again, "...ye cannae feel bad if... When we get there, jus' dinnae take it personally if no one's too keen on ye at first."