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

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

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.

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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."

Edited 2016-10-01 21:11 (UTC)

"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."

"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?"

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.

"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."

"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?"

"It's a good area. Pretty central," Daryl nodded, jerking his head for her and her son to follow him again. He led her off toward the dining area where a small smoking room was attached. Hillingdon House used to be a hunting lodge before it got taken over by the clan and much of the 'historical' features had been left as is. There were newspapers from around London stacked in a pile on one of the end tables and Daryl went digging through them to find one of the apartment and house listings.

"This one goes out about once a week," he said as he pulled it from near the bottom of the pile and turned to hand it over. "Whole area's pretty expensive, 'specially if you want more than bedroom, but should be able to find something. Can go out and get you some others."

There was a local store he could pick a couple other listing books at.

"World Weirdness Weekly's the paper for people like us. Should have a few in there, too. Might be haunted, though." Which, if she wanted to share her home with a ghost, it wasn't necessarily a bad arrangement.

Liadan and Johnny followed Daryl into the smoking room. Liadan liked that the house had not been modernized too much. She loved older architecture, and thus did not care for modern, minimalist aesthetic she saw so many places these days.

If her daycare was going to be a success, then she would need a decent amount of space. Thankfully, Bran had few living expenses while he was out of town working, and so with two incomes they hopefully could affording something suitable.

"This is a wonderful starting point," she said, looking through the papers. "I think perhaps that a haunted home might not be the best fit for us, though it is good to know that there's a paper for ... people like us." She gave him a wry smile. "I'm actually looking to start up a business once I get settled and World Weirdness Weekly would be an excellent place to advertise for it."

"It reads like a tabloid," he warned her, moving to lean against one of the walls so she and her kid would have plenty of space to sit down as they liked. It was done on purpose, of course. So those who weren't a part of their world wouldn't think much of it or look too deeply. But that was just the way things were and had been for as long as he could remember. Even in the states, the only way to get real news for those like them was to look to those sorts of publications. At least once he'd discovered them, his family hadn't made fun of him for it. They just made fun of the stories and thought he was a fan of the 'jokes'.

"What kinda business?"

A quick scan through the newspaper proved Daryl's words right. "Well, at least it will be an entertaining read," she muttered, before finally finding the classifieds. The listings did look a touch on the unusual side but she might be able to find something there that was a good deal, provided she was willing to put up with whatever reason caused the price to be so good.

She looked up at Daryl's question. "I was thinking of offering daycare for young meta humans. It can be difficult to find an appropriate person, especially for those who have more challenging powers."

That idea had merit and he looked instantly more interested by far, brows raising in an obvious manner.

"What about shifters?" he asked, mostly because Hillingdon had the highest number of Shifters in their ranks than any other faction in the city. They were still a minority even there, sure, but if she was going to be catering to the clan's meta-humans, she definitely should be open to the shifters in them. That the question might allude to him being one wasn't given much thought. He didn't really hide what he was, he just didn't advertise it.

Liadan thought about that for a moment. "I do not have personal experience with shifters but they would certainly be welcome. I imagine the challenges would be quite similar for both shifters and meta humans, especially for those whose powers manifest when they are young."

She paused, thinking. "Are shifters able to change form at any age?" She has a feeling that Daryl is the right person to direct this question to.

"Depends on the shifter," he shrugged before confirming the suspicion with a rather causal, "I did it the first time right around puberty. A coupla the others I met here, they said they did it in their late teens. One did it when he was three." The family dog apparently didn't freak out as much about having a 'new' puppy in the house as the parents did.

"Figure it probably has more to do with the circumstances than anything else. But if there is someone with a kid, better to have 'em in the hands of someone who won't freak out if a new pet suddenly shows up at the house." Plus, shifters and meta-humans tended to get along pretty well. It probably wouldn't hurt any of them to socialize more at a younger age.

That sounded very similar to meta human powers. It was no wonder than that the shifters and meta humans tended to be grouped together.

"Yes, exactly. I hope if you know anyone with children in need of a good caregiver that you'll put in a good word for me, once I get going?" While she would certainly be advertising in the paper, she had a feeling that most of her leads would come through word of mouth.

"Guess I could." Daryl didn't really know anyone outside of the Clan and if she advertised in the House they'd find out about it easy enough. "You gonna get a space for it, or at your place?"

He glanced down at Johnny to make sure the kid was still doing okay, "Could find some crayons or markers or something for him?"

"I haven't decided for sure," she admitted. "This whole moving business was a bit sudden, though ... well, actually it really wasn't but it hasn't been that long since I finally accepted that it was going to happen, so it feels sudden." Liadan wasn't sure if that would make sense to anyone but her.

She looked over at Johnny. "Would you like some crayons?" He looked over at Daryl, then back at her and nodded. "Looks like a yes to me."

Daryl's lips quirked up in a brief smile that he fought to hide after and he modded back, moving to leave the room. Gave a quick "Be right back" and headed off to one of the other rooms that held a bunch of different craft supplies. Not because anyone in the house really did the creative stuff it was normally used for, but because it was good for makeshift signs and notices. Which they did use.

He came back with a small pencil box that had half a dozen full crayons and a handful of broken ones. Like someone had dumped the box out and then stepped all over them. Most hadn't been used in years. He'd also grabbed some printer paper for the kid to draw on.

Daryl held the items out to Johnny, but if it looked like he was too shy to take them directly, he'd shift the offering to Liadan.

Johnny seemed to be getting over his shyness, at least a bit, and he took the paper and crayons. Liadan looked over at him, then raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you," Johnny whispered.

Liadan shook her head. Hopefully this stage would pass soon, as Johnny was typically a fairly rambunctious child. But there had been a lot of change in his life lately, change he was still struggling to get used to.

"You're welcome," Daryl answered politely, every bit a Southern Gentleman in that moment. He waited until the kid got himself settled in and drawing before he looked back at Liadan. "You need anything else?"

Liadan knew many hunters and, given who Johnny's father was, most of them doted on her son. That didn't keep it from being adorable, seeing this rough, rugged men turn into big softies around a child.

"No, thank you," she replied. "You've already helped so much, I couldn't take up any more of your time. But if you hear of any children in need of proper care - or any hunters that need to be stitched back together - please let me know."

"I can do that," he said, keeping that same Southern Gentleman tone before he gave her a final nod and left the room. He did wander off for a bit, at least long enough for it to seem like he wouldn't be coming back.

But sometime later, a rather large cat padded quietly into the room. Darting behind the furniture where Liadan couldn't easily see him, but Johnny, being closer to the floor, certainly could. Then he settled down and watched them.

Liadan was engrossed enough in the newspapers not to see the cat but she did get a tingling feeling up and down her spine - far too light a sensation for her to be worried about anything but she certainly was aware of something supernatural being afoot, more so than just the usual when it came to Hillingdon House.

But as she still felt perfectly safe here, she didn't let this feeling bother her.

Johnny, on the other hand, did see the cat and after he was finished one drawing, went over the gentle manhandle it as five year olds are wont to do. He then returned to the table and began to draw the big kitty.

Daryl's ears went back when the kid came over to fondle his head and treat him like a good kitty. But he controlled himself enough to say quiet and not growl or hiss at him. He wasn't there to be a threat to either, but just to get a better idea of what kind of people they were. Well, what kind she was. If she was less or mor than she was trying to pass herself as. Johnny was too young to really be a problem unless he was the bratty sort. And he definitely wasn't. Too shy by far.

For the time being, as the boy went back to his drawing, Daryl remained where he was. Watching carefully. He didn't think she was a bad person. But he was a little paranoid.

There wasn't much for Daryl to see. Liadan went through each paper's classifieds, looking at housing listings. When she found one that looked promising, she pulled out her phone, either calling and emailing to set up a viewing. There were a number of places listed that sounded promising and her schedule for the next week started getting rather full.

She also gave the entirety of Worldly Weirdness Weekly a scan, reading a few articles though she agreed that it was mostly just another tabloid - even if this tabloid actually got things true. She imagined that might be the only way it could be safely published, since anyone not from the supernatural community would consider it a work of sensationalist fiction.

While she was doing this, Johnny continued to colour, finishing up the cat and then moving on to his next subject: fire-breathing dragons. Liadan smiled when she sat it. "You'll have to pick out one of these drawings to send to Daddy," she told him. She always encouraged him to send art and dictate messages for her to add to her letters. It was important that Johnny and Bran stay connected, despite the distance so often between them.

Daryl stayed where he was, eventually settling in and getting comfortable with his feet tucked up under him and in no way ready to jump up and leave. Liadan showed no signs of having ulterior motives and was, in fact, very much the doting mother and dedicated wife. Nothing bad there from what he could tell through quiet observation.

When she started going through the pictures with Johnny, her attention on her child and her back largely to him, Daryl quietly stretched and padded his way quietly from the room. Disappearing out the door before she had a chance to turn around and see him if Johnny made any noise about it.

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

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