December 28th, 1890 — London

Remaining suspicious of people and the stories they told was amongst the most necessary skills for an auror. She tried to allow her family and friends room from this aspect of her life, to allow them their innocent lies or tales. No one enjoyed being nitpicked for embellishing or embarrassed over social niceties, after all.

However, when no article about werewolves and the now passed Christmas holiday presented itself in the Prophet, Fallon'a suspicion towards Kieran grew. It could've been that he simply didn't wish to speak to her at that moment, but why seem almost ... disappointed when she did leave? Why not be truthful and acknowledge a need for space? She was hardly the sort to be offended that he wasn't feeling up to company. And, more than that, why chose werewolves as a subject explicitly? Why was that the first topic for Kieran to summon as a lie?

With too many questions and not enough answers, Fallon arrived on her brother's doorstep once more. Only this time, she wasn't leaving until she was satisfied with his story. She knocked heavily on the door, almost impatiently. Merlin, Fallon hoped there was a simple excuse for his lies.

  

Kieran saw this coming: the demanding knock on the door. He couldn't put off Fallon forever; she was too curious, and she had been unhappy with him. So while there was a non-zero number of people who could come to the door and knock a little impatiently, Kieran assumed it was Fallon before he answered.

The thing was, he still didn't really have a good explanation. He just didn't feel sick this time, didn't have anywhere to be, and could spend actual time with her. Hopefully that would be enough.

Kieran shuffled over to the door and pulled it open, gesturing for her to come in. "You have good timing, I'm getting started on a stew," Kieran said. Well - he was getting started on the idea of a stew, he had pork and potato and onion and if he was generous with other vegetables he and Eileen could eat it for dinner until the Revs pulled a largeish meal together for New Year's Eve. But it was not as if he had started actualizing any of this.

---

  

The lack of greeting didn't surprise her. Kieran had to know why she was here, had to realize his explanation for the other day would only go so far. She followed him inside, dropping her bag and cloak carelessly over the edge of the sofa as she passed it. "Eileen home?" Fallon asked.

  

"No, she's working," Kieran replied. He let the door swing shut and didn't bother latching it. There wasn't a wall between the kitchen and the parlor, and so he headed into the kitchen and leaned against his counter.

---

  

Eileen's absence was likely for the better. And, now that she knew them to be alone, Fallon could address the elephant in the room without further dragging it out.

She followed him into the kitchen and helped herself to two glasses and the firewhiskey. While she had no intentions of having more than a single shot, having the glass in hand would make her seem more casual. Less of a threat. "I must've missed the article about the werewolves," she began casually as she poured them both a drink.

  

"Not everything makes it to print," Kieran said, flippant. He took his drink and took a sip. "There was a shocking lack of public maulings."

---

  

Fallon took a sip of her whiskey. It was plausible that Kieran's article was axed at the last minute, but he specifically said 'it has to go to copy'. That choice of wording, in her opinion, implied the article was already approved and in need of final touches. "Shocking indeed." She commented, not at all convinced by his explanation.

  

"Listen, I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that not every work thing ends up panning out," Kieran snarked at her.

---

  

"No, you're just the first brother to blatantly lie to avoid seeing me." She responded bitterly. Fallon couldn't think of when she last saw Kieran. Was it before she went missing? No, he had to have visited her after that, right?

  

"Fallon, you can't vanish for months for work and then get annoyed that I'm not around every time you want to pop over," Kieran snapped; to his surprise, there was real irritation in his voice. But it was true - Fallon flitted in and out, and Kieran hadn't minded before, but maybe he was starting to. If she'd asked beforehand, they wouldn't be in this mess at all.

---

  

She bristled. Kieran was a reporter who spent more time drinking than he should. What did he know about her job? About the level of effort that went into ensuring people like him were safe?! "I didn't realize I required an invitation to visit." She replied hotly. Then, slightly calmer she continued, "I'm not annoyed you had to leave. I'm fucking pissed you said 'it has to go to copy' and then continued with the lie."

"And, just so we're clear, I've never disappeared for months on end. I'm working. Or should I allow women to be sold into trafficking in favor of a reliable fucking schedule?!"

  

Kieran sighed, the irritation still prickling. "Yes, I get it, your job is the only important job," he said, rambling, with a wave of his free hand. "Everyone else must be lying all the time because you don't see what they do, by all means, pursue a conspiracy." Fighting with Fallon was easier than fighting with Eileen, who was usually right and he knew it, or with Jude, who knew exactly how to cut to the bone and could do it without realizing. Fallon and Kieran had grown up together, in many ways he had practically raised her - fighting with his sister was like putting on an old coat and finding that it still fit perfectly.

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The following 1 user Likes Kieran Abernathy's post:1 user Likes Kieran Abernathy's post
   Reuben Crouch

"That's not what I meant and you know it." She hissed before slamming her glass down on the counter. (It was, of course, what she meant. Kieran was far more capable than settling for a life chasing crime, but Fallon knew better than to ever voice such thoughts.) "What article replaced yours, then?"

  

"For fuck's sake, Fallon, do I look like Ian Pengloss to you?" Kieran said. He took another sip of his drink. Even if he hadn't been lying he would have been actually irritated at this point, so it was not as if he had to pretend. "I don't make editorial decisions. What am I, under investigation?"

---

  

"Of course not." Fallon earnestly insisted. Kieran could commit murder and she wouldn't turn him in. It would eat her up inside and she would likely never be able to think of her brother the same again, but she the thought would never cross her mind. He was her brother first and foremost, everything else fell second to that.

She sighed and ran a hand tiredly across her temples. "You don't want to tell me, fine. Whatever."

  

Kieran still felt as if he was under interrogation, but maybe that was because he was, technically, doing something illegal. And he could not be sure that, if she knew what it was, Fallon would not feel obligated to turn him in.

"There's nothing to tell, Fallon," Kieran said; this time, his tone was more exasperated than it was angry.

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