(1937-12-24) An Unexpected Awakening
Details for An Unexpected Awakening
Summary: Sorcha indulges in her customary holiday awakening for her brother, unaware that he's not so much of a 'monk' anymore.
Date: 24 December, 1937
Location: Keenan's Flat
Related: None
Characters
KeenanSorchaVeruca

Since things were made up in Keenan's mind, he didn't worry about setting any sort of alarm to get up early. He brought Rue home with him for the promised 'dessert' when he was being cheeky before they left. He took plenty of time doing his best to drive the arguments out of her mind that he was pretty sure were still there, so that she would fall asleep without even thinking about it.
So it is that while Niamh's chivvying everyone downstairs to get up, get dressed, and gather their things to go to Cornwall, he's still sound asleep in his own bed. But not alone in his own bed. Spooned in front of him is a witch with ebon hair, and he's tucked his head into her shoulder, whether he's aware of that or not.

*Woosh* There's the telltale sign of apparation. Right.Over.The.Bed. Because a redheaded pillowbomb is descending onto Keenan in the wee hours of the morning. No need for an alarm clock when you have a baby sister! "Keen! Wake up!" She pounces on the covers with the quick plop of a pillow towards the head of the bed, "You can't possibly leave me alone with the two of… Oh!" And, it's about then that she realizes that there are not two manly legs under her but a bunch of legs! And extra hair! And she flops back, ending up head over feet flopped on her bum onto the floor at the foot of the bed.

Veruca is slightly more than half awake, because of a tickle at her shoulder. Only a couple days, and Keenan's scruff is coming in nice and scratchy. She shifts sleepily, not really to move away because it's so nice and warm here, but what could be worse than the scratch of whiskers at ungodly o'clock? Wait one second and……. there it is. Suddenly, there's a weight falling onto the bed that has Rue awake in short order, thankfully with the instinctive urge to pull the bedclothes up to her neck even as she gets a bit of the wind knocked out of her with a graceless "Oof!"

Veruca's stirring impinges on Keenan's conciousness, but not enough to really start him the way to being awake. He's still practically sound asleep when the 'Pillow Bomb' descends, and he curls reflexively to protect himself before his sister tumbles over the edge. He groans and rolls on his back, his forearm over his eyes.
"Sorcha…" the greeting is filled with the exhasperated fondness that only a big brother would have for a baby sister dropping in on him in such a manner. "Filleann an feall ar an bhfeallaire," he warns her lightly. He rolls his head to look over at Veruca to see if she's, "all right?" he asks. Pushing himself up on his elbows, he looks down to his floor. "If ye're not mindin', could ye head tae tha kitchen an' when we're dressed I can introduce tha two of ye?"

Sorcha is now sitting on the floor with her legs in front of her wearing a solid pout as she looks up through her mass of auburn hair, "Fine. Agus n raibh m briseadh mo chos n rud ar bith, go raibh maith agat as iarraidh." She manages to stand up, righting herself and streightening her skirt with a properly dignified expression, though her hair is still a right mess, "Nia says it's almost time to go." And with a spin on her heel, she opens the door to the bedroom and heads out to the other room, closing it behind her.

Seriously, they have to stop staying at Keenan's place. If it's not glaring irishmen, it's sisters. Veruca has the blanket tucked across her chest, holding it in place with one arm, leaning on the other. She answers absently to Keenan's concern, "Mmhmm, fine." Dark eyes are on the littlest O'Shea, not quite so little, her expression mildly surprised and rather stoic. The siblings exchange words, reminding Rue to learn Irish Gaelic already, and Rue's eyes follow Sorcha until the door is closed. Then Rue just flops back, staring up at the ceiling. "What… just happened?" She only pauses a moment, then rolls over, looking around, to try and locate her clothes.

Keenan raises his eyebrows at her return, having a hard time not laughing, but he does throw a pillow after Sorcha as she goes. Once the door is closed he rolls onto his side, and lifts a hand to cradle Veruca's cheek. "I'm sorry, mo thaisce. I had nae idea she was 'home'. An'…" he takes a breath. "It may take them awhile tae get used tae tha idea that… I actually have someone with me." He leans down to kiss her gently, trying to make up for the rude awakening with a sweeter touch than an 'oof' that knocks the breath out of her. He lifts his head, and smiles. "We do actually respect privacy among tha family… I've just never had a…private life fer them tae respect before." His finger traces her cheek lightly.
As for Sorcha, when she's out in the flat proper, she may notice that it's decorated differently this year… especially that the swag that's usually along the wall has been twined around the main rafter. And the fact that there is a woman's robe over the back of the couch, and shoes next to Keenan's at the door.

Out in the room, there's muttering, indistinct but Sorcha sounding certainly, though she stays well out of the bedroom.

The soft touch draws Veruca's attention back to Keenan, and she rolls toward him, actually looking amused as she returns his soft kiss. "It's adjustment for everyone, I'm sure," she says lightly, but with a wry twist. She nudges him lightly, "Don't keep her waiting." Still, she waits a moment longer for the touch on her cheek, smiling at the ginger healer. With more purpose she scoots out of bed, spurred by the departure from the warm bed to locate her things quickly. Getting quickly assembled, in just a couple minutes she is combing her hair back with her fingers, not bothering with securing it, but just smoothing it. Her eyes shift to Keenan, to see what progress he's making.

Once the bed is devoid of the warmth of Rue next to him, Keenan rolls out the other side, and finds his slacks from last night to pull on. He finds a fresh shirt, however, and then rakes a hand through his hair. He's almost behind Rue when she's finished dressing, and he smiles down to her. "Ye're absolutely lovely," he tells her sincerely. He pauses. "I told her an od Irish proverb, 'Evil deeds return tae tha evil doer,' and she replied that her leg wasn't broken an' thanked me fer askin'." He leans down to kiss the woman one more time as he twines his fingers with his. "An' I often call her 'little trouble'."
With that, and one more mischievous grin, he leads her out of the bedroom. "Moran triobloide, tabhair pog dom." he calls out, looking for the redhead. Giving Rue one more smile, he turns to his sister. "This is mo cheadsearc, Veruca Max. Rue, this tha youngest of our family, Sorcha O'Shea."

Sorcha has, at this point, managed to get her hair to rights, muttering under her breath loud enough that her brother's sure to hear her, "You don't get off that easy. Conas a suposed liom a fhil amach!? T riamh a thabhairt abhaile duine ar bith, t t beagnach manach." She narrows her eyes a little bit, looking over at Veruca… at the shoes… at the robe… at Veruca hearing the introduction, before her eyebrows go right up and her mouth literally falls open, "Really?! She's… and you're… and why is it that nobody tells me anything!? It isn't as though I'm five." She turns to Veruca and says, almost apolgetically, but not quite, "I'm not. Honestly. Lovely to meet you." Unlike her siblings, her tone doesn't have the brogue lilt to it that gets thicker and thicker as they get into things. Her tone, instead, is quite crisp and nearly Brittish with just a tilt every once in a while. But then her full attention and energy goes back to her brother, "And even if I were, I'd hope that I at least deserve an owl or -something-. From one -or- the other of you. Yes, I did meet the Scott too, thanks." She crosses her arms over her chest, eyebrows raised at her brother, waiting for some kind of explanation.

Veruca laughs softly at the translation, absently smoothing Keenan's shirt where it doesn't need to be smoothed. "She does have a point," she says lightly. Slender fingers twine comfortably with Keenan's, and she's prepared to step out with him, dressed in yesterday's skirt and blouse, nylons on and shoeless. Keeping about a half step back, Veruca looks vaguely apologetic, for Sorcha having had to be surprised in this way. She doesn't fault the young witch in the least for the narrowed eyes and sharp words to her brother. At least, they sound sharp. Rue's smile warms as Sorcha's attitude shifts quickly, murmuring a quick, "A pleasure." Then she lets Keenan absorb the majority of his sister's words.

Keenan absorbs his little sister's words with a laugh, and gently lets go of Rue to pull Sorcha into a hug, even if she's being resistent. "I've been many things, Sorcha-lass, but a monk is nae one of them. There are just some things ye nae bring home." He kisses the top of his sister's head and turns warm, tender green eyes to Veruca. "This is… a new development," he admits. "I thought I might come clean at Christmas, if I'd hae known ye were goin' tae wake me up at Niamh's ungodly hour, than I would hae told ye sooner."

"Mum and Da have already met the Scott." Sorcha says grumpily as she gets pulled into her brother's arms. She does return the hug, tucking her head in under his chin as she continues berrating him, "And, how is it that the lot of you are allowed to bandy about with your paramours and I somehow doubt you'd be quite so open to the idea if I were to have a fellow around when you showed up in the morning." She pauses and then adds, "And I nearly almost always wake you up before hols. Whenever I can, anyway. I'm glad I at least dressed this time."

Having let go of Keenan's hand so he can properly hug his sister, Veruca eases back a step, letting the pair have a few moments to catch up. Again, amusement sparks in Rue's eyes at Sorcha's totally valid question to her brother, and she also waits for Keenan's answers.

"Aye, lass, but then, ye're not me, are ye?" Keenan asks with a grin. "When ye get older, ye'll understand," his tone shifts into a teasing her with a saying she's probably heard practically from the cradle. And with that, he reaches a hand to the top of her head and messes up her hair once more before he heads to the kitchen to put water on to boil. "I did change tha charm on tha door so that one can't just walk in any time unannounced," he adds lightly. "Would ye like some tea?"

"If I used the door there wouldn't be the fun of waking you up, you'd already be awake." Sorcha says as she steps back and frowns at him a little for the 'when you're older' speech. She turns to Veruca instead and gives her a bashful smile, "Sorry… Normally I don't just pounce on people first thing in the morning, particularly when we haven't been introduced properly yet." At the offer of a cupa she shakes her head, "Nia will be after me if I'm not down there ready to go shortly. I snuck out as it is, so I'll only have a bit of a reprieve." She turns back to Veruca hopefully, glancing back to Keenan briefly before turning to the other woman, "Will I see you out there?"

Veruca's smile to Sorcha is warm, still holding a hint of amusement. "No harm done at all." Despite the self-conscious start to the morning, Rue is easily back on top of the situation. Of course, the question that comes from Sorcha next really shouldn't be surprising, but it still catches her off guard. Perhaps Keenan succeeded in his attempts to make her forget about talking him out of staying with her? "See me there?" she repeats, even as her face eases almost immediately. "No, I'm afraid I have other obligations. But your brother…" She lets it trail off as she looks to Keenan, eyebrow quirking in that certain way that could be constituted as 'a look'. A look that says she's not forgotten, despite his attempts.

Turning back around once the water is on, Keenan comes back to stand in the kitchen doorway. He folds his arms loosely across his chest, and leans against the doorway. There's a light smile on his face as he looks over Sorcha's head to Veruca, then he nods to his sister. "Ye go ahead on down, then, before Niamh comes up here lookin' fer ye, an' starts tannin' both our hides. I'm sure I can get tae Cornwall without her holdin' ma hand." Before Sorcha can leave though, he gives a beckoning motion to her, so that he can give her a proper holiday hug and kiss on the cheek. "Now scoot," he tells her with a wink.

"Fine, kick me out." Sorcha says, goodnaturedly now, going over at the invitation for the hug. She lifts up on her toes slightly and kisses his cheek before moving in for the hug. Stepping back she turns to Veruca, "Well, if you get free, there's always room for one more. It'll be lovely, loads of people. Plus Nia's bringing her fella home for the first time so you could share in the misery together." She turns to look over to Keenan again and narrows her eyes slightly in thought as she walks towards the door with slow steps, "Have you told Sloan yet?"

There's an interest in Veruca's eyes as she observes the hug between the siblings. "Thank you, Sorcha," Rue says softly to the extended invitation. She glances toward the kitchen, recalling last time Keenan left something on the stove, but surely he can't manage to burn water.

At the mention of Sloan, Keenan's face falls somewhat. "Sloan's been busy. I've nae seen him since Rue an' I have been together. I don't know if he'll be out to Cornwall this year. We can hope." With that he waves, and as the door closes behind Sorcha, he pushes away and crosses the room towards Rue.

"Oh." Is all Sorcha has to say that Sloan doesn't know yet. But. She smiles. Seeming… inordinately pleased for some reason. Waving to Veruca she says, "Happy Christmas. See you later, Keenan." She goes through the door and goes down the steps the 'regular' way rather than apparating this time. Hurricaine Sorcha has left the apartment.

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