sunday_reveries 8.16-22 - "Are you insane?"

[take_mychances]

Also serves as an RP thread for arkhams_dr, questionorigin and a_carrion_crow.

Why am I doing this again? Dalia had been asking herself the question all day. Now it was finally time for her to leave work and head over to Crane House for dinner with Duela and Jonathan (and presumably Joshua, who never missed out on an opportunity to condescend to her) and she was still questioning

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[questionorigin]

Unlike her mother, Duela Crane knew how to prepare a meal. Granted, she hadn't made anything too fancy-- roasted chicken, lightly breaded, smothered in lemon sauce over a bed of rice. The chicken was in its final stages of cooking when she heard the doorbell. After checking that she had enough time, she went to the door.

"Hey kiddo," she said with a smile as she opened the door. Duela couldn't believe how big her sister had gotten. Little sisters weren't supposed to grow up! Dalia was supposed to stay a kid forever, if she had any say in the matter. "Come on in. Dinner's just about ready."

[take_mychances]

Dalia rolled her eyes, but briefly patted her sister's arm as she went inside. "Enough with the kiddo stuff," she said, glancing around. The largeness of Crane House never failed to impress her, although she wasn't usually the type of person to feel envious of others' riches. It was a beautiful home.

[questionorigin]

"Always going to call you that," Duela said lightly. She smiled at her sister, motioning to the sitting room. "Dinner has to cook a little longer, but feel free to have a seat if you want. Joshua's upstairs right now, and Jonathan's in the basement."

[take_mychances]

"Great," Dalia smiled, genuinely trying to make the most of her trip, or at least be polite. She went to sit down where Duela indicated.

[arkhams_dr]

Crane reappeared in the room, looking around for Duela. He opened the kitchen door to announce "Joshua claims he's not hungry, but he'll be social if that's what you want. He says he's found some interesting connections in that particular volume."

[take_mychances]

Dalia looked over and called to Duela, "Don't force him to be social on my account. I'd hate to keep a super-genius from discovering the cure for the common cold or something."

[questionorigin]

Duela laughed from the kitchen, her usual mood restored. "I'll chew him out about being rude later," she called back. "He'd just sulk if I dragged him down here right now."

[arkhams_dr]

"I can hardly fault him for not wanting to be interrupted. It's unlike him to miss a meal at all - I think we can forgive him this once."

[take_mychances]

While Jonathan got his tea, Dalia made her way to where she remembered his study was located. She turned on a lamp, though that didn't do much for the shadowy room and sat down in the high-backed chair across from the desk.

[arkhams_dr]

Crane entered, carefully carrying his cup and saucer. He'd changed very little over the years - become a little slower, perhaps, a touch of grey hidden in his dark hair. He sat behind the desk, flanked by two portraits on the wall, one of Duela and the other of a woman, dark-haired like him, with intense, pale green eyes.

"You had questions."

[take_mychances]

For a moment, Dalia was at a loss for words. She frowned, trying to think of where to start. "My dad says she was normal before she encountered you. Duela...says she always had problems...What was she like when you encountered her? I mean--why--were you in contact with her--in the first place?" Dalia looked away, arms crossed over her chest.

[arkhams_dr]

"She did have problems before we met - not terribly uncommon ones, but problems nonetheless." His eyes stayed fixed on her face, not blinking. "She contacted me, then, after some research, she provoked me. Deliberately. I sent her a...message, if you will, one that most would have taken to heart. She pursued the matter. Clearly, she wanted my help. Despite what you think you know of me, I am very, very good at my chosen profession. She never told you?"

[questionorigin]

After fixing Jonathan his tea and handing it off to him in the kitchen, Duela fixed a plate of the chicken and rice for Joshua and another two cups of tea. She'd deliver Dalia's coffee once her sister was done talking to Jonathan.

Duela knocked at her son's bedroom door, barely managing to do that with everything she was carrying. "Joshua, may I come in? I've brought you dinner."

[a_carrion_crow]

It took a moment, but Joshua pulled open his door, earphones on and a look of confusion on his face. "What? Oh, thank you." His desk, bed and every other surface in the room was littered with notepaper, and books lay scattered, opened to underlined passages. That morning, his room had been immaculate.

[questionorigin]

Duela smiled. "Would you prefer I leave this with you or would you like a little company?" If he was busy working on something, she knew he might want to be left alone... just like his father when he got involved with a project. She always knew how to bring Jonathan out of that state if she felt it went on too long, but Duela tried not to do it too often, to let both her husband and son work as they pleased.

[a_carrion_crow]

Joshua seized the plate like he'd just remembered that food existed - perhaps he had, at that. "No, no. I'm almost done. I just need to check it over tomorrow for any mistakes, and then I can send it off to Vienna. I don't want Fritz to find anything wrong, that's all."