[Open] Well done, daughter, oh bravely done (Daytime, Oct 1)

[defy_the_stars]

From all that Liadan has heard, there has been plenty of upheaval within London's supernatural community. It's almost enough for her to wonder if this was the best place for her and Johnny to come, but what is done is done. Besides, Bran will be able to see them easier here than even back in Sevenwaters.

At least she already knows where Hillingdon House is, after Faolan showed it to her before. She headed up to the doorstep, Johnny beside her. "This is where Daddy's friends work," she told him. "Hopefully one of them will be able to help us decide where we should live." She had booked their hotel room for a week, hoping that would be enough time to find a suitable apartment.

She knocked on the door firmly three times, then waited. Hopefully, someone was here today.

Comments

[anniesgonemad]

Annie peers through the peephole, trying to see if she recognizes the woman and her son. She doesn't, but they look nice enough. Returning to flat feet, Annie cautiously opens the door, but doesn't invite the pair in. That could be dangerous.

"Hello? Can, uhm- may I help you?" Her own accent is Irish, and she's just about as tall as the dark-haired woman. She gives the woman a soft smile, then turns her attentions to the little boy beside her. "Hi," she says to him, giving him a small wave.

[defy_the_stars]

Johnny is going through a shy phase these days, so Liadan isn't surprised when he hides behind her legs. She smiles at her son, then turns her attention to the woman who answered the door.

"Hello. My name is Liadan Waters and this is Johnny. My husband is an ... acquaintance of Faolan O'Neill." With Bran, she couldn't quite say friend about anyone not in the Painted Men. "May we come inside?"

[anniesgonemad]

"Liadan Waters," Annie repeats, frowning just slightly. Usually, she was wary of letting strangers into their home, but they knew Faolan. Carefully, she takes a step back. "Come in, I- ah, I don't know where Faolan is right now, but, um you're welcome to wait...?" It's almost a question by the end of it, and she gestures towards the sitting room.

"Let me, ah, get some tea?"

[defy_the_stars]

"Tea would be lovely," Liadan says. She can tell the other woman is nervous and does her best to sound and appear reassuring.

She and Johnny walk over to the sitting room and settle down on a couch. She pulls out her phone and starts up a game, before handing it to him. That should keep him mostly occupied, while they wait.

[anniesgonemad]

There's a tight nod as Annie waits for them to sit. "Alright. Maybe some- some cocoa for Johnny? Anything t'eat?" Annie was quite the cook, and would happily have whipped something up for them.

When the answers are given, she excuses herself to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

[defy_the_stars]

Johnny's face lights up when cocoa is mentioned. "I think that's a yes," Liadan said with a smile. "A cup of half cocoa, half cold milk would be perfect for him. Nothing to eat, thank you, we had lunch not too long ago."

[anniesgonemad]

It doesn't take too long for Annie to return with two cups of tea, and one of cocoa. She places the tray down on the coffee table between them, and offers Liadan her cup, first.

"I'll send Faolan a text, see where he's at," she said with an uneasy smile. She slides her phone out of the folds of her dress and writes up a quick text and hits send. It's right after this she realizes something:

"Oh- I'm Annie. Hi." She gives an awkward little wave. If this woman was as Irish and as supernaturally inclined as she and Faolan were, it was better to avoid giving her surname. She was the lone survivor of a massacre, lead by vampires. It wasn't exactly something you really wanted people asking about.

[defy_the_stars]

"It's lovely to meet you, Annie," Liadan said, before taking a sip of her tea. It was hot and lovely and just what she needed on this busy day.

"I should have gotten Faolan's number when I saw him last but I didn't know then if I would be moving to London or not. It's awfully far from home."

[anniesgonemad]

Annie smiles softly at the woman across the table.

"Oh- well, uhm, yeah. It is far." She shifts a little. "Where abouts are you from originally? I'm from Inishmaan, that's why I ask."

[dirtyredneck]

"Ya ain't gotta knock to go in," Daryl said as he came up behind the woman and her child. He was thoroughly American in every way, from the thick and rough accent to the way he wore his clothes. He was also Hillingdon Clan. He moved to go around her, grabbing the door and pulling it. Eyes going to the kid more than to her. Kids weren't usually brought around the House (and for good reason), so he had to assume she was there to make a bounty or something like it. That and the fact he'd never seen her before.

She did smell familiar for some reason though.

He held the door open for her and the kid, "You here about a job?"

[defy_the_stars]

Liadan had met enough hunters in her life not to be surprised by another who was clearly far from home. "I didn't want to presume anything," she explained. Johnny pressed himself up against her, watching the man carefully. She squeezed his hand, before walking in the door. "Thank you," she told the man.

The inside of the house looked as she remembered it, but of course it had not been long since she was last here. She turned back towards the door, before answering the man's question. "No, I'm not here about a job, at least not exactly. I was hoping to speak with Faolan O'Neill, or perhaps leave him a message. My name is Liadan Waters and I've just moved to the city and thought I might be of some use to your group. Oh, and this is Johnny."

[dirtyredneck]

Waters. Daryl's brows scrunched. Waters wasn't exactly a common last name and there was a hunter in the clan that sported it already. He wasn't there, but she did smell familiar for some reason, so going out on a limb as he pulled the door shut behind them and then stepped around to lead her and the kid through the house: "You related to Bran?"

After a second, he nodded to the kid, "Hello."

[defy_the_stars]

"Yes, he's my husband."

Liadan smiled. She knew Bran's reputation would proceed him with the clan. And it would be nice to be with people who not only knew him but thought well of him, since those at home still viewed him as the man who had gotten her pregnant so young.

She looked down at Johnny. "Are you going to say hello?" He shook his head quickly. "Sorry," she said with another smile. "He's feeling a bit shy recently. I don't think the move has helped."

[dirtyredneck]

"It's okay," Daryl's gruff voice softened, "He don't know me. He don't gotta talk to me." He gave another nod to the kid and kept moving. "If Faolan's here, he's in his office. If he's not, he will be at some point. Man spends half his time over here."

Hillingdon House, being what it was, had some 'public' gathering areas for those who were arranging bounties, settling up jobs, or sharing news about sightings relevant to the hunters that made their living in the Clan. The rest of the space was for the Clan and the Clan alone. Bran was her husband, that made her part of the Clan. And while a few of the others stopped to stare incredulously as Daryl led Liadan and her kid through to the private, none of them questioned it. And all of them went back to what they were doing with a shrug. A few would probably ask him about it later, but they all trusted him to know what he was doing.

When they got to the office, Daryl knocked politely before opening the door. It was empty.

"Looks like he's out," he turned to her, leaning against the doorframe, "What kind of message you wanting to leave?"

[defy_the_stars]

Liadan paid more attention to the other occupants of the house this time than she had during his last visit. These were going to be her people now, after all. She nodded at anyone who met her gaze. She wasn't sure she quite felt like she belonged here but hopefully one day that would change.

She wasn't surprised that Faolan was out. After all, he hadn't been expecting her this time. "Mainly I just wished to let him know that I am in London. I have some expertise as a healer, and so felt that my services might be useful to the Clan." She decided not to mention the fact that she had personally treated one of Faolan's wounds, since it was not really her place to say such a thing.

"Also, I was hoping he might have advice about where to find a suitable apartment. I do not the area well. Do you, um ... I didn't catch your name?" She was aware that this was because he had said it.

[dirtyredneck]

"Daryl," he supplied without hesitation. A healer in Clan would be very useful. She'd have a lot of patients. And not having to go to an actual hospital always helped keep things from being looked at too closely by the non-supernatural crowd. Which, in turn, kept most of the authorities away.

"I live in Richmond," Daryl said to her next question, which he assumed was going to be 'do you know where to find a suitable apartment' since that was where the line of thought seemed to be going. "Not sure Faolan would know any good places around here neither. But I know the papers to look at. Could go get you some."

[defy_the_stars]

"It's nice to meet you, Daryl." She knew firsthand how useful a healer could be for hunters - it was how she'd become involved with the Painted Men in the first place, after all. Between that and her planned daycare for meta humans, she expected she'd be quite busy. But that was how she liked it.

"Papers sound like an excellent idea." She paused, trying to remember where Richmond was and failing. "Do you enjoy living in Richmond?"

[reticence]

Faolan isn't expecting any visitors. If he had known that he was he might have made his way back to Hillingdon House a lot faster than he did, following the early shift he had taken with the Guardians at the Night Council that morning. As it is, he's made a stop to refill his travel mug, the temperature of the coffee reaching just about cool enough to drink as he approaches the house itself.

He shrugs his jacket off just inside the door, throwing it over an arm and juggling it and his bag and his coffee as he trudges his way tiredly up the stairs to his office (it's not that late in the afternoon, it's just been a long day for him already). As he opens the door, he decidedly isn't expecting there to be anyone waiting inside for him. Perhaps it's for the best that he's got a firm grip on his coffee, lest he drop the whole thing on the floor. (Perhaps it's a good thing that his incredibly illegal revolver is carefully hidden away in his bag too for that matter, or else he might have had it out and pointed at her before they'd so much as blinked.)

"I..." He blinks slightly, before trying again. "Liadan...?"

[defy_the_stars]

Liadan and Johnny both look over at the door as it opens. "Hello," Liadan says as she stands up. "We've been waiting for you ... obviously." She really wishes she'd thought to get his number last time she spoke to him, so he wouldn't have been so surprised at her presence here.

"How is your back?" The wound should have healed by now but Liadan wanted to make sure that this was the case.

[reticence]

Faolan shakes his head in response to her show of concern. "It's fine," he responds. In truth, it honestly hadn't really bothered him since she had taken care of it for him and he'd nearly forgotten he'd done anything in the first place, with the litany of other bumps and bruises he got on any other given week.

He glances between the pair of them, quirking something of a smile at the little boy before crossing to his desk and dumping his bag and coat on the chair to free his hands up a little. His Mr Grumpy travel mug remains carefully clasped in both his hands as he turns back to her. "Sorry, I've... Another job," he says, awkwardly. He wonders whether she knows of his role as Guardian, whether Bran would have told her. Whether Bran knows for that matter, with how often he's traveling about. "Can I get you anything?" he asks, awkwardly, knowing she's probably already been tended to by whoever must have shown her in in the first place, but. It's only polite to ask, after all!

[defy_the_stars]

"No, thank you," she replies with a smile. "I'm sorry to arrive so unexpectedly. I thought you might want to know that I've decided to move to the city. So if you are ever in need of a healer's services, you need only call."

She was glad that his back was healing well, though part of that was for selfish reasons - word of mouth was the best way for her to attract customers, after all. Not that she planned to take payment for her healing services but it was a good way to make friends.

[reticence]

Faolan can't help raising his eyebrows at her at the suggestion that she might be moving to London. Bran of course has done a lot of work in and around the area as of late, but he knows how the man tends to travel.

"Moving to London?" he asks. "Not that I'm against the idea, and I welcome a fellow Irishman to the city, but. Something tells me that you're not exactly a city dweller."

[defy_the_stars]

Liadan laughs. "Is it that obvious?" She supposes that she shouldn't be that surprised, given that he knows at least in general where she lives and how remote it is.

"It isn't entirely by choice," she says finally. "There were some problems with a local fae who was far too interested in my son."

[reticence]

Faolan quirks an eyebrow in response to her question, as if to say yes, it is a bit obvious. To someone like him who knows how to read a person, at least. And he knows Bran as well, and knows the man's affinity for privacy for that matter. Putting two and two together...

Well, it makes sense that it wasn't her choice. Though he frowns in response to the idea of it. Lancelot had been stolen by the fae at a young age himself, and he knows all too well how that had worked out for the man personally. "I'm sorry," he says. "Have those problems managed to stay local, then?" Is she in any trouble now?

[defy_the_stars]

"So far, yes. The Lady of the Forest is, thankfully, quite attached to said forest." She tops and sighs, feeling a slight wave of homesickness. "There are some good things, about being here. Bran believes he might be able to visit more frequently, since work brings the Painted Men to this area often enough. But it isn't quite what I had intended for Johnny."

She looks over at her son, who is watching her and Faolan closely. When he notices that she's watching, he looks away.