December 7th, 1890 — Fisk House, Bartonburg

It was cold in Scotland; too cold for Zelda to tolerate the outdoors for long. She threw the stick for Yorick in the yard with her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her coat, and came back in sooner than the dachshund would normally tolerate. But Yorick wasn't fond of the cold either, and beelined for the sitting room as soon as they came in.

Zelda took off her coat, hat, scarf and followed Yorick. Their housekeeper had gotten the fire going, and since she was stuck inside - certainly she could not get away with going anywhere else - she supposed that she might as well read. Instead she found Kons in the sitting room, and supposed that she couldn't ignore him.

"No Miss Evans this afternoon?" Zelda asked, neither aggressive nor non-aggressive - her tone was, instead, as neutral as possible. She had no negative feelings about Amelia Evans. But she was jealous of her; Kons and Miss Evans got to have a normal courtship, got to see each other normally, and Zelda's leash was still short as could be.

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Konstantin Fisk

  

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Visiting the family home was not Konstantin’s favourite thing to do at the moment. Every time he did it was tense, bordering on unpleasant, and he had grown weary of teetering on the edge of arguments every time he wanted to see his father and younger siblings. He had hoped to bring Amelia to the homestead but so far the opportune moment had not presented itself and his father, from whom he was hoping to solicit advice, was not due back for another hour.

Opting to wait might have been his downfall.

“No. The zoological gardens are open and she had an excellent work ethic,” he replied, turning the page in the book he knew he would read no more of today. Resigned to a potentially awkward conversation he closed the book and tucked it inside his inner pocket. “How are you Zelda? Behaving yourself I hope?”

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"Oh, I've been up to all manner of crimes and mischief," Zelda snarked. She supposed that she had earned skepticism from her elder brothers - as long as they were actually elder and not Nemo - but that did not make it any less annoying. It felt like she was always in trouble, even with her leash so short. Couldn't someone else do something stupid so they would leave her alone?

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“I don’t doubt it,” he responded dryly, brushing invisible dust off his lapels. It was incredibly frustrating to have to be like this with Zelda - they had always gotten on well for the most part, despite their differences - but she had long since ceased to be a precocious child fresh out of school; if she wanted to be treated as a grown woman then it was time she began acting like one.

“I’ve never known anyone more skilled in evading their chaperones. Perhaps you took a NEWT in it and failed to tell us?”

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"Perhaps you need to meet more people, then," Zelda said in her more faux-helpful tone. She did not have any problems with Miss Evans, but as a working class person Miss Evans did not even have a chaperon - so. Maybe her brothers ought to learn to deal.

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Rolling his eyes Kons got out of his seat and made the executive decision that he could consult his father another day. This was far too intolerable.

“If you can’t be civil I’ll be on my way.”

Perhaps he ought to try talking to Ros first?

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@"Zelda Fisk" | Cassius Lestrange

  

"You were unpleasant first," Zelda said dryly; she dropped into one of the armchairs. Truthfully she was not sure which of them had started it, but she wasn't going to admit that.

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"That's the argument of a child Zelda," Kons replied, huffily leaving the sitting room to collect his topcoat, only to return a moment later.

“And actually you started all of this when you brought that man into our lives. You and I used to be…” He stopped, forcing himself to replace his sadness at losing the sister he loved with annoyance at the method of her loss. “I will always be here for you Zelda but do not expect me to approve. Ever.”

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   J. Alfred Darrow

Zelda flushed to be called a child, and would have gone off to lie in her bed with her hands on her face — dramatic, but not childish as long as she did not slam the door — except that Kons came back. She bit her lip as she looked up at him. There was a pang in her chest because she and Kons had been friends, they had gotten along their whole lives and now here he was telling her that he would never bend. And this whole thing hinged on people bending eventually, but —

"Kons," Zelda said from her armchair, "I was never trying to cause trouble for you."

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"I don't doubt it," Kons replied honestly. Zelda wasn't a bad person after all, quite the contrary, and it was that goodness that he was sure had been exploited by a man that didn't even have the decency to comb his hair half the time. "But the worst of it is that you'll only end up causing trouble for yourself."

  

Zelda frowned at this, the combination of trouble for herself and faith in her. "I can handle myself," she said after a beat, because she could — magically and personally and interpersonally, Zelda was sure she had things well in hand. The whole scheme had been her idea, after all.

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Kons sighed. She simply would not be told that this would end in disaster - at least not by him. Perhaps Ros would have better luck? He highly doubted it, given how stubborn Zelda could be, but she probably stood a better chance on the basis that she was far more terrifying. She might even be able to rid them of the pirate.

Faint hope. He kept turning up like a bad penny and Zelda was all too ready to believe he was worthy of her; as though he wasn't going to break her heart somehow.

"You shouldn't have to. There shouldn't be any need for you to fortify yourself against trouble to come." He sighed, running a hand over his face in frustration. "I hope he's worth all of this."

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   Zelda Darrow

Zelda bit back a smile, but couldn't keep the shadow of it off her face. "I'm confident he is," she said, managing to keep her tone more serious than it was indulgent — and maybe none of them believed her, but she was persistently convinced that this would all be worth it in the end. She had not wanted any of this until meeting Alfred — courtship and marriage, that was. Certainly she did not want Kons to be against her all the time.

She sighed. "And I hope you'll forgive me eventually."

He had to, right?

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“It’s not a matter of forgiving you,” Kons replied sorrowfully, unable to keep the fondness out of his tone as he saw how serious his little sister looked. Why on earth she had to turn all that fantastic passion and determination towards him Konstantin would never understand but it seemed it would happen whether he liked it or not.

“I have to go,” he lied, feeling far too emotional to let this go on any longer. He needed more time to even begin thinking about coming to terms with this and his father’s advice on women could wait. “Will I see you at work?”

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   Zelda Darrow

"I'll see you at work," Zelda agreed, feeling a little morose about the circumstances of this conversation as he left. "Bye, Kons." This whole thing was easier when they were just exchanging barbs — the genuine turn their conversation had taken had been more than she expected.

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