Meeting McKellen

[Liessel]

Teatime on a Tuesday afternoon. Liessel had been hoping that the rain would hold off, but her hopes had been dashed with the roll of thunder that had capped a flash of lightning around noon. The rain had been steady since then and showed no signs of lightening up. Fear of ruining the dress she'd picked for this special occasion had kept her indoors, and away from the pleasing view of her garden behind the house. Not that much comfort would have come from it anyway. She was too nervous to relax into a view like that.



This was something that had been months in the hopeful making. She had spent many weeks assuring Father McKellen that one day he'd get to meet the people she talked of to him.



She'd gone from pacing her bedroom, the swish of her pale blue skirt the only sound made as she crossed the floorboards. Her room eventually became too small, and so she left it only to find herself downstairs and running out of things to do. Little nick-knacks were repositioned and then shifted back into their original position. She'd checked the tea service she'd chosen just as many times, as well, until she found herself in the parlor having been shooed out of the kitchen by Cog. There she sat, splitting her attention between the clock on the mantel and the big window, with its heavy drapes, that gave a framed view of their front walk.


The Gaunt-Schraber rumbled up to the front of the house. It still sported a Dole-shaped scar (now hammered back into shape, but without a finer repair job than that while Felix and Avery fought about how to take advantage of the unfortunate incident), but between the Flynns and Eddie the motorcar was back to sounding coolly predatory. As for the stand-out obviousness of the Gaunt-Schraber in London...



Avery said he'd be damned if he was going to go about in his own city like he had anything to be afraid of. Like he didn't belong there. Like he should be skulking.



He got paid to skulk often enough as it was, so on his private time he was going to zoom around like he owned the place.



He and Felix had dressed for the occasion, in their best. Cradled to Avery's arm was a wine he suspected Aurelia and Liessel both might like, whether they drank at all during this visit or saved it for themselves to try later. In Felix's hands--and the focus of his attention--were a series of cards written out in Avery's handwriting that he was rifling through with a frown on his face while they waited for the door to be answered.


Adeline Webber was here out of spite. Word had reached her of the invitation to tea at the Knightsbridge house – if one were to call the slightly passive aggressive offer an invitation. Her presence was requested but the choice was hers. What a lovely way of putting the stain of the decision on her hands while leaving the other party’s completely free. She knew that party trick all-too-well. The socialites her mother used to force her to entertain with would use similar practices with those who did not ‘fit in with the lot.’



“I invited her but it seems she decided not to come.”



As if Adeline would allow such winds to fan an already steady fire.



So, she was here, moving up the walkway wet and cold with no streetcar to take her and no umbrella to shield her from the downpour at Tuesday’s teatime. The sloshing of her shoes was almost louder than the thunder as she moved closer to the Flynn brothers who were also waiting to be allowed entry.



“Hello.” She greeted over a loud crack of thunder. "I do hope someone is home to let us in."


Avery would have run down the steps with his own umbrella, but Felix had dropped a card and he'd stooped to scrape it up for his brother and missed his chance. His umbrella, and Felix's, had been shaken out already and were useless to Adeline.



The card that he was passing back to his twin brother briefly flashed toward Adeline as Avery said, "If this is a prank, I'm not sure if I'd rather break in or applaud."



The card said, in Avery's schooled handwriting:



The Contradictions of the Book of Genesis



Felix accepted it back and flicked it into place atop the stack. "There are so many of these I might as well not open my mouth the whole time."


The door behind Felix was opened, revealing Liessel standing there in the doorway, "I am sure you will be fine, Felix," she said before opening the door a little more widely., "Come in out of the rain. He has not arrived yet."



Her next words were thrown back over her shoulder, "Cog, please bring some towels for Miss Webber."


Having caught glance of the card, Adeline barked out a surprise laugh.



A laugh that was finishing up when the door opened to reveal Miss Wickham and the reverly she felt moments ago, despite her current situation, dimmed just a hair.



"Thank you, Miss Wickham." She said with a politely trained nod as she begun stepping out of the rain and into the house.


Adeline's laugh earned her a glance from each of the brothers. Avery's looked arch-browed mischievous, and Felix's was more frowny and perturbed. They let her enter first, of course, marching toward towels--and whatever else she anticipated in this company, in this house.



After she'd passed him, Avery said low to his brother, "I didn't say you couldn't bring up any of them. All I'm saying is that you might think of this as a job and not declare war on the man before we've shared a few biscuits with him...."



Coming even with Liessel, Avery leaned in to greet her with a kiss to her cheek and to offer her the wine.


The coolness from Adeline was given a smile, though her teeth clenched tight behind it. Wickham. "If you'd like, you can help yourself to some dry clothes as well. Cog will show you to my closet." Cog, who was just coming with a few towels for the drenched Adeline Webber.



Her attention was diverting after that, her smile far warmer for Avery as she reached for the bottle of wine he was offering. "Thank you, Avery." Her cheek had turned into the kiss, and then she was turning toward Felix, "What can I do to help make this less painful for you?"


There was no coolness from Adeline in that greeting; only a politeness that was learned over several hard years. Now inside, still dripping like a washed-out London rat, Adeline Webber took a moment to enjoy the heat on her chilled skin.



“Not necessary.” Adeline replied while she mopped water from her forehead and curled her toes into boots that squelched when she walked. “I will dry in time and it would be a shame to waste another dress on the London rain.”



Receiving the towels, the youngest of the Webbers did her best to dry off as much as she could.


Avery moved further in to shrug out of his overcoat after he'd dropped his umbrella into the stand. That left Felix there, setting his cards aside for a moment to get out of his own. "Tell me your friend can take some polite--uncurated--inquiry without his head just dropping right off onto the floor."



Avery grinned, and hung up his coat. Because he wasn't insensate, he had caught the frigid undertones between Liessel and Adeline, and though that didn't kill his grin, he did make a point of stepping over to offer with a gesture to take the extra towels from Cog to hold them for Adeline if she wished. "I can't recall the last time I was this interested in speaking with a priest," he admitted to her. "This 'secret friend.' I want to know what he's been told about us."


“Thank you.” She said graciously to Avery, handing him the unused towels so that she could find someway of looking presentable before the guest of honor arrived.



“You’ve never met him before?” She asked, looking at Avery before finding Felix. “None of you?”



Felix looked past Liessel and so he was shaking his head to Adeline--Nope--even as Avery was.


"He's been kept at a distance," Liessel said just as the Flynns were shaking their heads to answer Adeline. She was handing the bottle of wine over to Cog carefully since his hands were now free of the towels, "for reasons of safety. It was not possible before with Septimius and the other Surveyors hunting me, but now --" Her smile was warmer this time, happy and nervous at the same time, "And, I think he is good natured enough to enjoy a conversation that challenges him".


"What time is he to arrive?"


"And is Aurelia due?" Avery hadn't heard anything about whether she could attend or not; that was not all that unusual.



Felix was out of his own coat now, with it hung up, and the cards were back in his hands. He shuffled through them again. "A lot of these are just diseases," he muttered.



"I was hoping he would have been here before you arrived, but the rain might have held him up," Liessel told Adeline, before looking toward Avery, "She's just upstairs. She should be down shortly."


“What kind of diseases?” Adeline asked curiously to Felix then. “May I see the cards?”


"Measles, Bubonic Plague, Scarlet fever...." As he rattled off more ailments, Felix stepped over to offer the cards to Adeline.



The one that happened to be on top right then was Leprosy.



Wheezing back a laugh, Avery said, "I was trying to cover all the bases."



"Why in the world would you need to?" She found herself asking, blinking toward one Flynn and then the other.


"This one says Chickenpox." Adeline read while she flipped through the cards.


The next one said The Council of Rome AD 382.



Avery looked back at Liessel and was still fighting down a grin. "The last time Felix was in the room with a priest--"



"I was perfectly polite to Father Camejo," Felix noted with a scowl.



"--who was not once infected with lycanthropy, there was a little Apocalypse of an existential crisis. I thought we might spare the furniture."


Had she made a terrible, awful mistake? It wasn't going to be that bad, was it? On top of her nerves a dread settled that turned her stomach.



It would be alright, she told herself. It would be fine. It would all be fine. There was little more she could do to smooth her nerves because there was a knock at the door behind her.



Liessel turned part way toward the sound and found herself arrested there, stuck between her reaction and the sound of someone at the door. It took a moment to wrestle herself free from that in order to turn freely and open the door.



The man standing there looked the part of the priest from top to bottom. He was a middle-aged man with thinning hair. He had taken the time to begin shaking his umbrella out while waiting for the door to open, while behind him on the street a carriage was pulling away from the curb.



Well, it was too late to cancel now. Liessel stepped back, unable to answer Father McKellen's welcoming smile with one of her own. Her head was still stuck on the cards, and what she had heard just before opening the door. She did have the where-with-all to open the door wider and motion for him to come in.


Adeline moved off to the side at the newest sound of a knock.



“Do you know if anyone else has been invited?” She whispered to Avery in the moment that Liessel opened the door and allowed Father McKellen entry.


"Gerold, maybe," Avery whispered back.



Then the door clicked open, and he turned to look.



Had Avery Flynn ever laid eyes on Father McKellan before? Had he ever surreptitiously swung by a certain church on a certain day to get a look? Had he ever attended a sermon?



You wouldn't have suspected a thing, seeing him peering curiously toward the door in that first half-second.


Father McKellen stepped in with a nod toward Liessel, who reached to take his umbrella for him, and then he was sharing a nod with the others standing in the foyer. His greeting was a simple, "Hello." Before the foyer caught his attention and he made no secret of him taking in the large entry way.



Liessel was there behind him after shutting the door, just at his elbow and coming around. He shifted to make room for her as she started speaking, "Father McKellen, this is Miss Webber, and Avery and Felix Flynn."



His hand was out in a flash, presented for handshakes easily.


“Miss Adeline Webber.” She clarified when her name wasn’t fully presented to Father McKellen. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope the rain didn’t cause a strain on your travels today. It is quite a storm outside,” her hand gestured to the sopping dress and still dripping hair with an almost sheepish smile. “as you can tell.”



We would happily have driven you.



While Adeline greeted Father McKellan, and even as Felix was moving to take the offered hand with his cards held back in his other hand, Avery fell very slightly out of time to really see the young woman for a second.



"How much does she need?"

"She wouldn't say. Beyond that, it's Adeline. She won't accept it. She made it a point for me not to tell Cyrus. I don't think she wants anyone to know."



He saw Liessel, too, at the door still, the foyer getting crowded, and what he'd hoped she'd find at least a little funny now had her stiff with mortification. Anticipated mortification. He moved over to offer his hand after Felix, and to say, "I love a good English storm, myself. Sopping shoes and all. You know the ones willing to brave them will make for hearty company. Welcome, Father. What a pleasure to finally meet you."


"Miss Webber," He answered Adeline warmly, "The weather -- if ducks can enjoy it, then so can we, and you seem as if you've gone for a right good swim.



His smile easily shifted toward Felix, whose hand he took with a good and solid grip, and then came Avery's. "Aye, the pleasure is mine," the priest said, casting a look toward Adeline and Felix to include them as he continued, "I've heard so much about Miss Wickham's friends, but I was beginning to think we'd never get to meet."


"Well, just calll me a duck then." Adeline's smile was warm and kind to the Father.



Soon though she stepped back to complete drying off and waiting for Liessel to take them deeper into the house.


"We began to suspect similarly," Felix said, stepping back, also looking for Liessel to take over and guide them. "Do you understand the circumstances of that...?"



Because Father McKellan, like Adeline, had called Liessel "Miss Wickham."



Liessel had been waiting for an opening, and had found herself watching the introductions carry themselves out with her hands clasped tightly together.



When it seemed like there was enough space for it, she stepped forward and unclasped her hands to lay one gently on Father McKellen's shoulder just as he began to answer Felix, "Perhaps this would be a better conversation for the parlor." A small wave toward the room was given.



Father McKellen looked her way, gave an amiable nod and made ready to follow the group into the larger of the house's sitting rooms, "I think -- so," He offered in answer to Felix, "What she's told me was terrible tale. Frankly, I thought it sounded like it might have come out of a fairy story or some such thing at first. But Miss Wickham -- I'm sorry--" He paused, his eyes finding where Liessel stood as he made the correction, "Miss Erphale spoke so earnestly that I had no choice but to take it as truth."



Felix Flynn did not always catch the true nature of "Perhaps"es. He could at times take them at face value, which meant that a noncommittal Perhaps was a matter of conjecture, possibly of opinion, and was neatly countered in its entirety by any Perhaps not. Often, of course, "Perhaps" meant "Absolutely," "Without Question." Example:



Without question this would be a better conversation for the parlor.



Today, cards in hand, and with no desire to linger in the foyer, he did take the pointing and turn accordingly to lead the way, glancing toward his brother.



Avery saw, and nodded to him, flicking a pointed look to the cards, and then checked to be sure Adeline was indeed ready herself. He folded the damp towel and left it where Cog could clear it away. "It is the truth, Father," he said, reflexively waiting until Adeline proceeded toward the parlor before doing so himself.


Avery Flynn was not alone in questioning why Adeline Webber had been invited to visit the Knightsbridge house for such an occasion. Adeline Webber as also wondering why the former priestess saw it necessary to extend an open invitation to her home – especially given their most recent conversation. She could find no reasonable explanation which left her to wonder if this was some twisted game Erphale was trying to play.



An attempt to prove a point against her argument maybe?



Adeline didn’t know enough to be certain.



However, not willing to allow any dirt to scuff an already easily tarnish-able reputation among the Flynns and Dumitru, she was here with boots that squished as she walked to the parlor with the others.


Liessel was taking up the rear, using that position to simply find her breath where it flowed through her lungs.



Joseph McKellen had just said he took it as the truth but hearing that statement from Avery had him shaking his head as if he still couldn't honestly believe it. The word "Remarkable," was breathed into the room as he headed himself toward the couch, but stayed standing in wait for the ladies to have their seat, "But the rest of you are from London?"



He had to confirm that, because the prospect of a world beyond the one he knew, one that wasn't written of in scripture and in theological tales was astounding!


Once Liessel had arrived, and she and Adeline had taken their seats, Avery and Felix did, too, and Felix had stuffed the notecards away. Avery saw, and thought that was either because his brother had memorized them (or taken the gist to heart), or because he'd decided that he didn't get to grill a priest all that often.



"For some years," Avery told him. "So we do have an idea how fantastic it must have sounded. But you must have come to some peace with it indeed, or you wouldn't be here." Either that, or Father McKellen had decided to take names so that he could have them all committed. Avery wanted to hear him speak his real thoughts on this matter, if he could get him to.


“All my life.” Adeline replied in turn. “London has been my family’s home for many generations. I’m not certain if you know my father, Francis Webber? He works, my apologies worked, at the London Bank for many years.” She paused, waiting to let McKellen give thought to that before continuing.



“I’m not certain if you’ve heard of it but my eldest brother James owns the tinker shop Webbers near your church?”



Once everyone was seated, Joseph joined them. He gave a nod toward Avery, and said "Yes, though the thought of it still strikes me when it comes up. At first it had been almost too much to think through, but then I thought that the Lord works in mysterious ways -- so, why not?" His hands moved with his words, little gestures that punctuated what he was saying before he found himself looking Adeline's way with a blink, "Webbers? I had a clock repaired there once -- it was last year."



Francis Webber took a little more thought. He had an assistant that did all the banking for the church. After a moment, he hit the right note for the name and was left nodding toward Adeline, "And yes, I do know your father's name. Though, I haven't spoken to him myself. My secretary does all the banking. I'm sure she's mentioned him."


Avery and Felix both, just then, looked between the priest and Adeline, struck by the same thought: that maybe she'd recognized Father McKellen's name, and that was why she'd accepted the invitation. Sharing that idea, as the beat of the conversation went, the brothers waited for that to go further.


“The London Bank handles the financial affair so multiple churches within London.” Adeline surmised with a little nod. “And yes, Webber’s closed sometime around February of this year.” Her brows pinched a little. “I’m not certain when it is expected to reopen.”


"Your brother sold automatons, didn't he?" Felix asked. He'd once repaired clocks and watches to keep himself and Avery afloat, and he had an affinity for other people who could work with such careful precision. But just now that wasn't what was on his mind. He didn't say anything like I should like to have visited his shop--though, to be fair, that could have been because even Felix sensed that would be weird under these particular circumstances. Even so, Avery felt the bracing, and readied an intervention, but Felix turned a smile on Father McKellen and asked, "What's your view on magic and mechanical servants, Father?"


"He did." She nodded. "His models were quite popular for a time before the shop was closed."



Averys question, a far more interesting one to Adeline, caught her attention and had her looking at Father McKellen for his answer.


Speaking of mechanical servants...



Liessel rose quietly, not wanting to disturb the conversation and excused herself with a quiet, "I'm going to see if I can help Cog get things together." And then she was gone from the room with just a swish of her skirt.



Liessel's rising had drawn McKellen's attention, and he had made the motion to rise but was stilled and sat back down as Liessel gave a small motion of her hand as she started for the doorway of the front parlor. As this happened, he was saying, "I saw some in the shop of Miss Webber's brother," He said, looking her way before continuing, "They are fascinating things, those automations. Machines with the characteristics of man! If we were all made in the likeness of God, then what The Almighty must think of things made in the likeness of us."



His Irish accent was thick, coloring every vowel and consonant. "Now, magic, I am afraid to say, is something that I brook no agreement with."



It wasn't difficult, in truth, to know what a Catholic priest meant by saying that he didn't agree with magic. Even so, it was Avery who, after also rising a little with Liessel and sitting back down, asked, "In light of Liessel's tale, you mean?"



Felix glanced at him, hiding most of his surprise so that only a sliver of it shone through on his face in the form of a slight tilt to his head and an eyebrow just a fraction out of kilter with the other.



Joseph found himself looking toward the door that Liessel had disappeared out of as he considered that. The answer should have been easy, and in fact it was.



"That, and in general." He told the room, looking back toward Avery, "I have nothing against those who practice the arcane, but I cannot condone it either."


"Is this the first time you've ever encountered any form of magic?" Adeline inquired curiously. "Or have you always had a suspicion that there were... stranger things happening outside the normal reality of our world?"



"Personally?" Father McKellen's gaze easily swept over to rest on Adeline, "I'd never put much stock into its existence when I was younger, but over the years I've had my eyes opened. Talk to enough people, and you start hearing things. Hear enough of those things, and you get the idea that there's more out there than meets the eye."


Felix Flynn clamped his mouth shut and sat so still that he barely breathed. After a moment, only his eyes moved. From left to right; from Father McKellen to his brother. Let me at this.



Avery cleared his throat and pretended not to see him. "I want to say, I feel very fortunate that you had the resilience to hear Liessel's story for itself. I think you've been a lifeline for her, Father. She's never said anything that suggested to me that you were anything but a kind presence."


Adeline let Avery’s kind words settle over Father McKellen like a warm blanket. They were thoughtful, considerate, everything they should be when expressing gratitude on behalf of a beloved friend.



But when the warm and fuzziness of emotions finally began to cool, she opened her mouth.



“What did you think about the report on the Dragon attack at St. Martin’s that was later blamed on a blown gas pipe?” She inquired. “If I’m to remember correctly, that’s not very far from your own house of worship.”



"I am only too glad that she took some comfort from my company," Jo said, his gaze briefly falling into Felix. For a second, he tried to decipher what that expression on Felix's face said before he turned his attention toward Adeline at the mention of -- "St Martins," The name of the church was said lowly, respectfully, and with it came a nod of confirmation. It was, indeed, not too far from Saint Hubert's, "--those poor souls. The Devil was in his glory that day."


"If by 'Devil' you mean a massive dragon that that took those souls, then yes," Adeline said with a straight face. "She was most certainly in her glory that day."


"You didn't actually answer her question," Felix noted, half-aware of whatever Father McKellen's face was doing in the wake of what Adeline declared into the room.



On that note, Avery did not Felix! his brother, as in fact he wanted to know all of these things himself, and Felix was right. He had agreed to go on holiday. He had agreed to try to stand down from emergency vigilance. He had agreed to stop trying to control everything that was not life or death. So this time, he bit his tongue and very curiously observed how the priest was handling this.


The priest met Adeline's straight face with an expression that was not so straight stitched. He took a moment, eying her only to briefly cast a glance toward Felix.



"Evil takes many forms," is what he settled on, "Dragon, or Devil. The loss of life was great and felt by us all. It was a horrible thing." He paused then, and considered Adeline for a moment longer. Perhaps that wasn't exactly what she was looking for. "--Are you asking me if I believe that it was actually a dragon?"


"Yes."


"Yes." That from both Flynns, too, chorused right in with Adeline's.



"I hadn't," the chorus of 'yes'es had him looking from face to face, "But -- I'm beginning to think that I might want to reconsider my stance on that. I honestly hadn't thought them to be real, even after that happened."


A master at schooling her face when necessary, Adeline stared at the Priest for a long moment. This was Erphale's friend. And this most certainly wasn't her home. Nor was this her event to host.



All of those things were taken into consideration as she carefully asked her next question, "So, before today, you believed that it was a blown gas pipe that murdered so many at St. Martin's despite reports of it being something else?"


The Flynns, though they were different souls, had always been united by their curiosity. And though Felix was itching to dance around Avery's cards of forbidden topics, and though Avery was eager to set at ease this special friend of Liessel's, both of the brothers were waiting to see more about Father McKellen on this topic. Because as a way in to seeing him, the dragon was as fine a topic as any other--and better than some.



The priest started to laugh, but it wasn't a jovial laugh. It was a nervous laugh and came with another shifting of his gaze toward the Flynns. These people were friends of Liessel.



"A blown gas pipe seemed likely," he said, his own tone careful, "However horrific, while a dragon seemed the farthest thing from plausible, and just as -- if not more horrific." He took a breath, and with it his chest rose as he paused to consider, "--Are they real, then? Dragons. They really do exist?"


"They do." Adeline replied. "I was there the day one rampaged through St Martin's, killing people I've known my entire life. I was the one who wrote the story exposing the events that truly happened that day before the Times released its retraction. The blown gas pipe was a complete fabrication to cover the truth."



She took in a quick breath.



"I wasn't sure if your acceptance of," just a split-second pause to make a decision, "Liessel's story meant a change in perspective such as the original story of what happened at St. Martin's versus what the masses were led to believe."


The Flynns didn't blame the people who believed in the gas main story any more than they blamed the people who believed that some "Tropical Wind" had blown narcotic pollen northward over Europe and England and the rest of the world instead of in a rampaging Alfar. Felix might scoff, and it might make more work for Avery, but they had crossed out of normal life some time before, and they knew that that was probably how it was always going to be. The gas main story worked because it was the most likely version. Only once you knew there had been a dragon, and that it had been a real creature not a figment of a gas-poisoned hallucination, did the questions begin to pile on, like: if there was a dragon THIS time, is it possible that some other gas main stories might not be that most likely version of the possibilities?



Adeline's words were far gentler with the priest than they might have been, and Felix said, "Approved of or not, you were right: there is more out there than meets the eye. A lot more."



--Killing people I've known my entire life --



"My condolences," It was a heartfelt offering made with a nod of his head toward Adeline. He'd met many since that day who had lost someone in the tragedy. Some were from his own church who had lost friends, while others were family members -- like Adeline -- who had lost someone dear to them that day.



For a time, after the event, he'd opened the doors of St Hubert's to one and all from the neighborhood that needed a place of sanctuary to help them through. The denominations had been different, but as the good Lord taught: Love they neighbor.



That had come first, his recognition of those lives lost. Coming in after that, though, was Adeline's They do.



It brought a quirk of a smile to Father McKellen, a teasing out of the left corner of his lips like he couldn't quite convince the rest of his mouth to agree that smiling was the thing to do just then. It was a mystified expression, and it only deepened with Felix speaking up.



He was quickly swallowed with thoughts of stories he'd heard as a child: Knights in shining armor doing battle for Lord and land, rescuing damsels from the clutches of the evil dragons that had ensnared them.



It felt to be in poor taste with what Adeline had revealed still there, and very real in his mind, but Joseph McKellen could not help himself as years of those childhood stories came flooding back into his memory.



"What of fairies, then? Are they real, too?"


"They are." Adeline confirmed, though her eyes were beginning to roam from where Father McKellen spoke to where Liessel had gone with Cog.



Hopefully they would be returning soon with tea and a plate of biscuits that would be just enough to tide her over until supper and help her keep the coin in her purse for a little longer.



But the floor creaked from upstairs and the sound of footsteps moving down the stairwell became an alert that someone was coming. Someone who did not have the tender foot that Liessel Eprhale did. There was no time to ponder who that might be when Aurelia Dumitru's petite form darkened the doorway.



"Oh. My apologies." She said with that heartbreakingly beautiful smile of hers. "I didn't hear you come in. I would have been down much sooner." Gliding through the room in a pale dove grey dress, strikingly red hair in soft romantic curls around her heart shaped face, Aurelia stretched out her white laced gloved hand to Father McKellen. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Father."


Whether or not the heavy footfalls of fast approaching booted feet could be heard from where they were was not for Eli to decide. But approach fast and heavy footed he did as he ran through the rain up and onto the porch, shaking off the rain off his jacket and hat before knocking the door with 5 rapid taps.


The twins rose to their feet, but in both of them it was not the automatic formality that it might have been upon the entrance of a lady they didn't know so well. Avery nodded hello to her, welcoming with some relief someone who might hold the line with him a little, not moving while she extended her hand to the priest but taking it upon himself to say, "Father McKellen, may I present Aurelia Dumitru, who's a great presence in this house along with Liessel. Aurelia, this is the nearly mythological Father McKellen we've heard about for so long. He was just asking after the reality of fairies and dragons, and Miss Webber was bringing him up to speed."



Felix, too, relaxed a little as if the battalion were whole again--though the line he was thinking of holding might have been slightly different from the one in Avery's head.


They are.



Those words, spoken by Adeline Webber, might as well have been shouted at him from a distance too far away for him to hear. A shadow had hit the doorway, and it had drawn his attention swiftly. In unison with the twins, Father McKellen was rising from his seat in welcome of the new face. He found himself briefly taken over by it, the stunning beauty of it was shocking.



His stride was broken, but only for that moment. He used the following seconds to recover himself as a series of knocks sounded at the door, and introductions were made.



He stepped forward easily, reaching with a hand that was firm but not harsh in its meeting with Aurelia's. A glance was shot Avery's way as he absorbed the name he was given, "Miss Dumitru, the pleasure is mine. Thank you for allowing me into your fine home."



***



From behind, out in the hallway, the shadow of Liessel was moving swiftly to intercept the door. She'd slipped into an apron when she'd stepped into the kitchen with Cog, even though her visit there to help the mechanical man would be brief and she was still wearing it when she opened the door only to find a sopping wet Eli standing there. "--Mister Whitmoor? For the love of -- come in, come in!" They were going to need more towels. And maybe a fire....



While behind her, Cog was shuffling his way into the parlor with the silver set balanced between his metal hands.


While introductions were being made, Adeline couldn’t help but wonder why Liessel had called Father McKellen here only to leave him alone with strangers while she tended to things in the kitchen with Cog. Certainly, she didn’t expect the man to find his way through casual conversation with strangers on his own. Even now she felt a sense that the air wasn’t quite right. Aurelia Dumitru’s arriving presence brought about a bit of relief but… she did not know Father McKellen either. It was as baffling to her as the unknown reason that brought her to the Knightsbridge door on this rainy day.



Aurelia charmed and smiled, taking the Father’s hand while Avery made the introductions. “Of course. Any friend of Liessel’s is certainly a friend of mine. And I happen to know with good authority that you have been a very dear friend to her.” She looked around, spotting Cog entering with the silver serving tray. Twisting to look about the room before taking her seat next to Avery, Aurelia asked, “Where is Liessel?”


Avery reached for her hand. His grip said We might soon have to save a drowning man, but it was hard to say, because nothing else said that. Father McKellen was actually doing very well.



As they all sat back down, Felix offered, "I just heard her thunder toward the door to stop what could only be Eli from making more thunder upon it. I have no doubt Father McKellen is about to witness the invasion of England."


The mechanical man moved past Aurelia, the tray it carried on its way to being placed on the low table between the chairs and sofa while Father McKellen retreated toward a different seat, giving Avery and Aurelia the space on the sofa. "Invasion of England --" He said, in jest, as he sat back down, "Heavens above, what have I gotten myself into?"



The introduction to Aurelia had been as warm as his introduction to Avery, Adeline, and Felix in the foyer; the fantastic stunning news that dragons were, indeed, real and so were fairies was hanging onto the back of his mind like the tiny little flickering flame of a tea candle.


"Come now, Father." Aurelia said with a warm smile as Adeline went to fix her hot cup of tea and a small plate of the assortment of finger foods Cog has brought out. "Certainly, you're up for a little daring conversation today, yes? I promise it will be most interesting and entertaining."


Avery's smile widened and he relaxed as Aurelia propped the conversation right up. A nice even course, set straight between an iceberg and a crag. The relaxing was straight through him, shoulders first, as he let go of the burden of keeping this meeting where he felt everyone could participate in it. He'd been protective of the stranger, but if Aurelia was also looking out for the man, Avery might get to have some fun himself.


Eli stepped inside. "Hoo, shit! That rain's cold!" He shrugged out of his jacket rapidly, yes, sending water all over the floor. "Thank you kindly, Miss Erphale," he said in his alabama accent. He gave her a nod of his head, sending tiny splatterings of cold rain on her from his hat. "I--" He looked down guiltily at his boots. "Should I .... just take them off...?"


"Mister Whitmoo--!" But it was too late. The young man was shaking his coat out all over the foyer, and all over Liessel, creating a puddle on the floor and dampening her apron in the process.



"No," was her exasperated answer, her hands out into the air before her to stop him from moving further, "Just stay there. Let me get you some towels."



She was turning to see Cog returning to the parlor with two three-tiered serving trays full of little triangle shaped finger sandwiches made with a fluffy, soft, white bread. "While you are in the parlor, Cog, get a low fire going, please. Then take Mister Whitmoor's coat and hat into the kitchen to dry."



****



In the parlor, Father McKellen was nodding his head and chuckling a little, "Well, I must say, if the rest of the conversation is as enlightening as it has been so far -- How could I refuse?"


"Of course it has been!" Aurelia exclaimed. "Why look at the company that's been entertaining you. Though, if it's too much to ask, I'd like to know more about you Father McKellen." She smiled warmly. "How long have you been a Priest at St. Hubert's?"


So much for relaxing. Hearing Eli's cursing and exclamations, Avery rose with an apology and excused himself to intercept the chaos out in the foyer. He did not draw a gun, but it was close.


He held his jacket by the neck and looked thoroughly chagrined. Shoulders slumped, head bowed, he looked very embarrassed while he stood there in his puddle.


Adeline too went to investigate.



Her discovery of Mister Whitmoore was revealed by a bright and surprised laugh. "Oh dear!"


Adeline's laugh managed to knock Avery off-course from murdering Eli, but he did say, "Liessel, I'll handle this. You shouldn't be asked to nursemaid this grown man even if you didn't have guests, and after he apologizes to you I'll take care of helping him to navigate the floodwaters he's brought into your house."


"--Three years," Joseph told Aurelia, distracted by those leaving the parlor while Cog went about building a small fire.



***



Liessel had been turning, her hand resting over her heart as if it would help her pull up strength from within the depths of her being. Cog went into the parlor, and Avery and Adeline came out. Her apron was spotted with the heavy signs of water that Eli had splashed on her.



Liessel was fighting the sinking feeling that this wasn't going well, that it was a disaster before it had even had a chance to really get going. Adeline's laugh did nothing at all to help those frazzled feeling nerves.



She stopped, arresting her previous course which was to head off to find towels for Eli in the same spirit that Cog had brought towels for Adeline. It was Avery's offer that had done the stopping. Her friends were in there waiting, and what had been the intentions of only moments had suddenly been something more but was now narrowing down again. "Thank you, Avery."


Eli gave Avery a guilty look. "I'm sorry, Miss Erphale. I didn't mean to get your floor or your clothes wet. I will clean up the mess I've made." His voice was soft, genuinely apologetic.


"You can apologize to Father McKellen in there, too, once you're dry. We all heard you when you came in." Avery put a hand on Liessel's shoulder as she made to pass him, meaning to stop her long enough for him to whisper, "Breathe. It's not as bad as all that. But if Eli acts like it's not, it's pistols at dawn."


Chewing on her bottom lip, suppressing a smile, Adeline shook her head and returned to the sitting room where the others were engaging in polite conversation. She was midway chewing on one of the tea cake sandwiches as she heard Aurelia reply to Father McKellen.



"Only three years!" Aurelia exclaimed. "Where were you before that?"


Felix glanced at Aurelia and said, "Well, we know it wasn't Faerie, don't we."


He waited until Avery had turned back to him after whispering to Liessel. His expression was serious, but he said softly, "Father McKellen?" He was already gathering up his jacket, trying to self-contain the water that still dripped from it. He had already removed his hat from his head, holding it at an awkward angle to keep the water from rolling off of it.

A moment was spared to give Eli a nod, but nothing more. She couldn't wrangle her voice in enough to trust herself with answering him while her focus needed to be elsewhere.



Avery's hand on her shoulder stopped her, and through his words she brought her hand up to rest over his. Her answer to him was just as softly spoken and came after she followed his advice and took a breath, "Thank you, Avery," She said again, letting the ghost of an appreciative smile shine through.


"Ah," Joseph brought a hand up and scratched at his chin, then shook his head with a look going between Felix and Aurelia, "No," He answered slowly, "Not Fairie. I came to London from a civil parish in Ireland -- Layd."


"I don't believe I've traveled there." Aurelia said after a mischievous smile to Felix.



"I fear that I might burn through our topics before Liessel has a chance to return. Do you have any questions you would like to ask?"


Felix had hoped to spin the conversation back toward topics he could get into. Having failed on that front, he dug a biscuit up from the tray for himself and poured Aurelia some tea.



"Liessel's friend," Avery told Eli out in the foyer. "She invited us to meet him. Did you get hit on the head and regress back to your childhood? You know better than to do this in someone else's house. You know better than to do it in your own. Get yourself cleaned up and come join us. Liessel's going to break all her teeth trying to smile while that tense, and the least we can do is be on hand to help pick up the bits."


Liessel met cog outside of the parlor doorway, her apron slipped off and handed off to the automation before she took another breath and stepped into the room. That small few seconds would have to do in regaining her composure. She still couldn't find the space within herself to offer an easy smile as she entered in to hear Father McKellen say:



"I am afraid that I have many," There came a sigh heavy with the possibilities that were swarming his head at the mention of Fairie, "-- Liessel's told me that you operate your own business, but she was reluctant to tell me just what it was. So, what is it that you do?" Again, he looked from Aurelia to Felix, catching Adeline in that turn of his head, as well as Liessel as she stepped back into the parlor.


He nodded again. "I'm sorry, Avery." He gave Avery a sheepish little smile, then went off to take care of business. He would retrieve towels and dump the water out of his boots into the toilet in record time. He was back in no time to mop up the puddle he'd made in the foyer before taking his jacket back to the place Cog would've done it otherwise.


"Ah! Liessel, welcome back!" Aurelia greeted with a smile and light wave to her friend. "Have a seat with us. Father McKellen was just now asking Felix what the we do for a living."


Felix put half of his biscuit on his saucer and reached into his jacket. "Allow me." He produced a creamy white card from a slim case that protected its corners and edges. Then he rose to his feet to offer the card across to Father McKellen, offering his hand. "Felix Flynn, of Flynn & Flynn & Associates, at your service."



It was his very best Avery impression, his face smoothed of combative debate anticipation and transformed into a sharp-eyed, weaponized friendliness.



Flynn & Flynn & Associates

Missing persons located.

Fires for the fireless.

Curios for the curious.



91 Kings Orchard End

London



Their phone number was neatly printed at the bottom.


A detour was made on her way to finding a seat nearby Aurelia for a cup of tea while Felix rose and presented the card to Father McKellen, who took it while offering his other hand in an automatic response to the hand Felix had presented him with. It was a reflexive thing, that handshake. It came with a nod of Jo's head and a look down at the card he now held.



"Curios for the curious?" He found himself asking, looking up from the card to meet Felix's sharp-eyed gaze.


Avery came back in time to see his brother mimicking him, and he blew out the last of his annoyance with Eli to return to his seat. "All kinds," he said easily. "We're magicians by trade."



Well, why sugarcoat it? Dragons and fairies were already on the table.



Felix grinned. "We're the best magicians."


The cup of tea Liessel had poured, sweetened, and had added a dash of milk to was delivered to the table beside where McKellen had lowered himself back to sit. He was blinking, looking between brothers as if he hadn't quite grasped that.



"Magicians?" briefly he glanced up at Liessel as she stepped back away from the table and went for her own cup of tea. "You mean like card tricks and such, right?"



He had to ask because his own words from a moment ago were biting him in the ass just then.


"It's much more than that." Aurelia said a little too quickly. "What Flynn & Flynn and Associates do is much more than just parlor tricks used for entertainment."



Avery could never help a glow of pride when his business came up in a setting like this, when the circumstances were right. He'd been wrung out and forcing himself to carry on for some time now, but he did love what they did, and what they accomplished, who they could help because of it, and his sense of his city because of it. He looked to Liessel, though, and said, "Perhaps you should say. And welcome back. Don't baby Eli; he knows when he's been ill-mannered, I promise you."


Liessel finally took a seat, her teacup balanced against her left knee between her hands. She had been listening as she moved around the room, and was now putting her focus on Aurelia as she answered, a smidge too swiftly, and then Avery.



Her feathers were smoothing, which was pretty relative it seemed to her just then. Things were, indeed, not as bad as all that -- just as Avery had said.



"Thank you, sorry to have kept everyone waiting," That first because she had not intended to be out of the room for so long. But, now that she was there, she took a sip of her tea, and looked toward Joseph McKellen and found him watching her, now.



It took her a moment to figure out how to approach this subject, "Do you recall," She started, "How I had not really been able to understand you at all when we first me?"



She watched the priest nod slowly.



"Well," Her cup was settled back down against the saucer with care, "That is because of Avery, and Felix -- it is because of Flynn & Flynn. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to understand anything that you had said to me. They work practical magic, and other types, as suits the need of the business. All of it is done with the purpose of helping their clients. Miss Dumitru is capable of enchanting objects, with the same purpose in mind."



Liessel's gentle voice fell quiet, and Joseph found himself looking around at faces once again. He looked more astounded than anything! He would have never guessed! "I had thought you had just gotten better with the language very quickly," He muttered, looking back toward Liessel, "But all this time--! Why didn't you say?"



"I did not feel comfortable speaking about it without them," Liessel answered McKellen, "It is their business, after all."



"What -- else--" He blinked, shook his head and looked about the room again before he offered, "I -- hope that none of you took me at my word before about not agreeing with those who practice arcane arts."


Aurelia smiled a little at Avery, sharing some of that pride that he felt.



"Of course not, Father." She replied with a small shake of her head. "I understand that this is a hard concept to grasp."



A spark of sympathy brought Adeline's reply. "I struggle with it sometimes." She wondered how different her outlook on life would be if someone had revealed to her the workings of magic and all that was out there in the safe and warm environment that Father McKellen was now experiencing.


"I -- hope that none of you took me at my word before about not agreeing with those who practice the arcane arts."



With such kindness coming from Aurelia in response, Felix's automatic, "We did," was lost.



Adeline's response was likewise sympathetic, so Felix let the others have the floor. Those cards weighed heavy in his pocket, but this was not the time to point out the edited nature of eternal gospel.



"I don't believe that any Devil is behind what we do," Avery said flatly--not without some gravity. "I realize where those teachings come from, but we're not befuddled by wickedness."


Among the foods that Cog had brought in on the serving trays were those light, soft bread triangle sandwiches, biscuits, a small jar of clotted cream, a small jar of red jam that held the presence about it of being homemade -- not store bought, a variety of little petit fours, and a handful of Cog's chocolate tea cakes with their little pink flowers.



Aurelia was gracious in her reply, and he was still trying to come up with something that could get around the edges of the thought that this was the reality that Liessel had been living with all this time, and he hadn't known, when Adeline spoke. The young Webber got a nod from him, of thanks and solidarity, and then he found himself looking at Avery.



He was still at a loss! So, he rose, shifted himself forward to pick up one of the small chocolate tea cakes and then sat back down before saying anything further.



What he drudged up through his thoughts was just about as clear a truth as he could manage just then, the tea cake being set aside on the edge of his cup's saucer, "From what Liessel has told me, and what I've seen since coming through her door, I can clearly not argue with that."


It was about this time that Eli came into the sitting room. Gone were his jacket and hat, though he still looked pretty drenched. His boots even made small squishy sounds, but tye outside of them were mostly dry. Today, he looked more like Tom. Not like a vagabond cowboy, but one that had money. His clothes were of good make, but clearly western in style. His long hair had been pulled back into a low ponytail, but one could tell by looking at it it was very... Saturated. Though not dripping. Anymore.



His gaze went immediately to Liessel, then Aurelia. "My apologies for my behaviorally catastrophic arrival." That probably should've been a tongue twister with that southern drawl, but miraculously it wasn't.


Normally, Avery would have let Liessel, and perhaps Father McKellen, take Eli's apology first, but today he said, "Join us, Eli. We're discussing deviltry and magic. On which account, be wise."


The new arrival had Joseph turning his head that way while Liessel rose with her teacup, giving Eli a little nod. "It is --alright, Mister Whitmoor, but next time please be a little more -- reserved -- with yourself."



That was said before she gave a small pause, and made a small, graceful motion toward where the priest sat, "Elijah Whitmoor, this is Father McKellen."



Father McKellen, who was a middle-aged man with a thick irish accent, was rising even as Liessel introduced him and moved toward the second drowned visitor to the Knightsbridge house with his right hand extended.



"A pleasure, Mister Whitmoor," the priest said, "Your friends, here, were just reminding me that there are exceptions to every rule in The Book."


Avery's warning of caution was heard which Eli simply smiled. It was a smile that seemed complacent enough. But his blue eyes danced with tiny sparkles of mischief. At the introduction, he turned to look at Father McKellen, taking the offered hand and giving it a firm once shake. "Pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm not the youngest in the Flynn & Flynn menagerie, but I. was the first," he said with a wink.

"We're more a herd," Felix mused.



"A flock," Avery said, leaning back.



"A murder," Felix finished, smiling as he nodded.


"Certainly not a zoo," Liessel put in as she found her seat again.



The good father was retreating back to his own chair, reaching for his tea and cake as he sat back down, "A murder, you say?" A look sliding off toward where Felix was sitting. "How many associates are part of Flynn & Flynn & Associates? Liessel has only mentioned a few to me."



That other topic was not gone, just as the topic of fairies and dragons hadn't completely escaped him.



The card that Felix had given him had been placed on the table next to him, just beside where his cup of tea had been sitting.


"Probably the 'few' that there are," Avery told him easily. "Does anything you've heard today affect how you view Miss Erphale?"



He coughed out a laugh and correct himself: "Rather, does any of this make you regret having befriended her?"



Avery's question had him turning to regard Liessel where she sat. She was a different person than she had been when she had found herself sitting alone in his church, and in this environment, it was easy to see why.



Joseph's answer started with a shake of his head, just a minor motion, because he found himself gaze-locked with the young woman. She looked afraid in that moment, to him, almost as afraid as the first day he'd seen her.



"Absolutely not." He stated solidly, offering Liessel a smile before looking toward Avery.


Avery watched Liessel keenly for her reaction to that.



Avery would see Liessel's shoulders rise with her next breath and drop with the slow release of it, some tension releasing with it. Liessel's head lowered for a moment or two, her eyes shut while a small smile took to her lips.



The moment was stolen for a prayer of thanks, silently spoken, before she was opening her eyes again and lifting her cup of tea to her lips with careful fingers. Before she took a sip, though, she would have been heard to say, "I am so happy to hear that, Father."


Eli's blue eyes took in the change. He took a few steps back and leaned against a spot available on the wall. He was too wet to rationalize taking a seat in this pristine sitting room.


By the time that Father McKellen was leaving the rain had stopped. The late afternoon sun was casting its long shadows as it peeked out between heavy clouds that hung low over Trevor Square.



Good-byes were warm, and friendly with Liessel telling Jo that she'd come by the church again within the next few days. Then, he was gone from the doorstep and heading down the path toward the front walk where a cab waited for him just at the curb.



His smile was easy, if a bit crooked, as he turned back one last time to get an eye on the large house. It had been an afternoon of the unexpected. Was it the good, or was it the bad kind? McKellen thought for sure it was the former. But he had things to think about, things to pray over. Things that he needed to come to terms with as far as what was revealed to him.



Those concerns were for him, though, and not something to burden his young friend with. She had a good life where she was at. She was well looked after. That had been plain enough for him to see. There was love, and friendship. A piece of something that he had a difficult time of finding while he had sat there listening to her reveal the life she had fled.



He was content with that as he turned back around and ducked into the cab. The rest of it -- well, he'd come to terms with that in his own time.