bells & whistles | brigh

[Bran Fionn O'Dalaigh]

a little closer to grace.

march, 2029

THE MCFUSTY FAMILY KNEW HOW TO THROW A charity ball. At least, it was the fanciest thing Bran had attended in quite some time. His dressiest of dress robes still seemed a little too plain for the likes of some of the philanthropic party goers, who had on veils and headdresses of which Bran could not name with great confidence. The dragon reserve was often a topic of gossip among high society, or so Bran had heard. As the people still pinned the creatures as barbaric and unruly, especially following the dragon 'attack' at Hogsmeade just four years prior.

The McFusty family were keen to 'redefine' the image of rescued dragons, having taken a fair beating after the scandal. Bran didn't really care what people thought about the creatures, he just wanted to make sure they were well looked after. Experience had taught him that people would misunderstand the poor creatures no matter how much he hyped them up, though that certainly didn't stop him from doing so anyway. Pulling at the collar of his robes, Bran nursed a flute of fizzy fairy wine and allowed himself to be paraded around as the local on-call behaviouralist, answering questions about injury statistics and catch and release rates until he felt almost dizzy with it.

Eventually, Bran managed to duck out from under his boss's watchful eye, downing the rest of his wine and looking for the nearest bathroom. He somehow found the cloakroom instead, gnawing on the outside of a puff pastry canapé shaped like a Hebridean Black. When he opened the door, Bran thought he'd interrupted something intimate. A great big bundle of coats ruffling suspiciously and he nearly jammed his foot in the door trying to pull it closed politely when he realised it definitely wasn't some happy couple. In fact, the face that turned to him was one he recognised very well.

"Brigh!" He hissed in shock, her face pale and bloodless with both of her hands in the pockets of an elaborate fur coat she definitely didn't own. "What are... doing...?" He smelled a rat immediately, casting a quick look over his shoulder before he ducked into the room and pulled the door shut behind him. "Are you... picking pockets?" He asked her outright, though he was pretty shocked, he wasn't exactly gobsmacked. His meddling little sister was often up to 'something'. He just hadn't realised she had graduated from mischief to full on crime since he had last seen her.

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

After an... eye opening evening at the Quidditch Holiday Gala, Brígh had developed a taste for the philanthropic. And by that, she meant wrangling herself invites to events she had absolutely no business attending due to the high quality clientele and drinks. But that didn't matter one way or another - curse breaking had become decidedly boring the last few months, as Rhys had been put on probation. It meant that Brígh had to be partnered up with someone else - and despite having hopefully pitched for Irina, she'd been placed with an older wizard called Charlus who was both dull and uninteresting.

So, Brígh needed a bit of adventure in her life. She'd tried wheedling an album release party out of Addy, who had adamantly refused to extend any sort of invitation. In hindsight, it was probably wise - Mal probably wouldn't be too happy to see her again after she'd led him on like that in Greece. But it was holidays and just a bit of fun... but men couldn't be reasoned with. Aidan was working night and day, liaising between Hy-Brasil and Britain on the magical beast breeding population. She was proud of him, even if it meant he had less time for her than ever.

A dull start to the year had indeed made Brígh a bit stir crazy. But as it turned out, old Charlus was good for something. As she was finishing up yet another report on old Viking ruins up in the north of England (their traps were almost as mental as the Egyptians) she overheard him speaking to a colleague about an upcoming charity gala. Said it was all very swish and that, but in not so many words. Brígh wondered why old Charlus would get an invite, but then again he had discovered some pretty old dragon bones back in his prime.

Which brought Brígh to this very moment. She'd managed to sneak in through the front doors with another group who were chatting animatedly about dragon husbandry. She gave them the slip and shut herself in the cloak room. Everyone else had been wearing gorgeous, fat jewels, and her bare wrists looks incredibly out of place. "Bugger," she muttered to herself as she shifted through the pockets of the cloaks, looking for something flashy that she could duplicate. It wasn't stealing if she meant to return it, right?

The door swung open and Brígh looked up in terror, her face pale. She looked very guilty indeed, exacerbated by the fact that it was her brother who stared incredulously. "Ah, shite," Brígh whispered. "Get in, quickly," she hissed, pulling Bran into the cloak room and the door shut behind him. "Look, it's not what it looks like," she began, resuming her search for a nice bracelet. "I only wanted to borrow something. Everyone else here looks so rich... I'll give it back," she added again, for Bran's benefit. "And what are you doing here?" Brígh added after a moment, whirling around to look at her brother. But there was no proper light in here - she lit her wand and held it between their faces. "This is definitely not your cup of tea, dragon boy."

Bran Fionn O'Dalaigh

[Bran Fionn O'Dalaigh]

a little closer to grace.

march, 2029

THE LOOK ON BRIGH'S FACE CONFIRMED BRAN'S worst fears. She was most certainly guilty of whatever great crime she was committing inside the cloak room. Bran's heart sank and he felt a spike of panic frighten him into movement as he checked over his shoulder for other witnesses before shutting them up in the little room and contemplating putting Brigh into a headlock as he stared her down. He still had bloody puff pastry in his mouth, and he'd walked into his very own version of hell.

"You wee rat!" He hissed at her, as he'd done plenty of times while they fought as children at home, over next to nothing mind. It was a familiar state of mind, though he hadn't been in it in quite some time. Brigh knew how to pull him right back to his roots, that was for sure. His brows nearly disappearing into his hairline, he crossed the small space to grab at the coat Brigh had her sticky fingers buried inside. "It looks pretty clear to me, Brigh." He scoffed, wrestling the fur coat out of her hands and nearly toppling over when he felt the full weight of the expensive piece. "You'd have to be blind as Saint Lucy not to see you're thieving!" He added with a sharp jerk of his chin.

"Everyone here is rich!" He corrected her, his sister barely visible over the armful of suspicious fur he was juggling. He spat a mouthful of stray hairs from his mouth and cringed as he tried to find the hook it was originally on. It was near impossible, due to the sheer amount of robes and coats lining the walls. "You've lost your mind." He huffed, trying in vain to hang the coat and watching it puddle on the ground when he failed. "This is my bosses gala, I work for the McFusty's." He reminded Brigh with a stern mouth.

A sweat had started on his brow and he resented the nickname, said with little to no guilt. He held out an expectant hand, letting the silence stretch between them without movement. "I know you got it- whatever you were looking for." He told her, shaking his open palm again. "Give it back, or I'll hang you from your trousers, Bee." Though he wasn't 100% certain she'd been successful, he knew Brigh and he knew she'd never have given the coat up if she hadn't gotten at least a 'something'. The coat was the only thing between them, looking like a hairy carcass and smelling a bit like one too. 

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH]

Brígh wanted to stamp her foot, but the close quarters of the cloak room didn't really allow for that. "It's not stealing!" she hissed, still rustling about in the deep pockets. "It's borrowing... I'll give it back," she reiterated, giving up on that one cloak and moving to another. But Bran wasn't one to give up, and wrestled the cloak out of Brígh's sticky fingers. "Spoil sport," she muttered, more to herself than to him. Brígh commented that everyone here looked rich, and they wouldn't very well miss jewels for a few hours if they'd been so content to leave them in the pockets of their cloaks. But Bran's glare stopped Brígh - for the moment, at least.

Grinning cheekily at her brother, Brígh was quick to answer. "You presume I had a mind to begin with." She held her lit wand up between their faces and placed her free hand on her hip. "Oh, I didn't realise it was a McFusty thing. I just sort of..." she trailed off, her face reddening. "Well, I'm here now." She shrugged as if that was the end of it. "I count as your plus one, right? Addy forgot to invite me to her gala, so I'm pretty used to just turning up." Brígh fixed Bran with a saccharine smile. "Shall we go out and show them a proper jig?"

Brígh had even started towards the door of the cloak room when Bran stopped her. She grimaced - he knew her too well. "Twenty fecking years..." she mumbled, turning back to face him. "It's just one thing!" She actually did stamp her foot this time, before reaching into her bra and withdrawing the delicate diamond and emerald tennis bracelet she'd been lucky enough to find in one of the pockets. She'd been looking for a ring to match, without success. "It would look so pretty on me. And I don't want to keep it. I just want to sparkle a bit tonight..." said Brígh, her eyes growing huge and round as she looked up at Bran.

Bran Fionn O'Dalaigh

[Bran Fionn O'Dalaigh]

a little closer to grace.

march, 2029

THE MESS OF DIFFERENT EMOTIONS SHOWED plainly on Bran's face as he battled with each individually. A scrunch of disapproval between his brows, a guilty little crease in his cheek. He seemed to go back and forth in his mind as Brigh stood before him with those stupidly convincing doe eyes and her bottom lip pouted just as she had done as a charming wain.

He looked down at the sparkle of the ornate bracelet where Brigh had dropped it reluctantly. The diamonds still managed to twinkle in the low light. Bran's mouth twisted to one side and he grunted in a mixture of defeat and pure frustration. "Fine!" He acquiesced with a heavy sigh. Gabbing a begging hand and lifting it, Bran made quick work of the fiddly clasp as he fastened it onto her bare wrist, where the gems sparkled smugly.

"It goes back before midnight, Cinderfeller." Bran added sharply, reaching up to flick Brigh's forehead in warning before he stepped back towards the cloakroom door. Satisfied at their compromise, but unwilling to be caught lingering in the coat closet like some kind of armpit sniffing pervert. Giving Brigh one last warning look, as if that might work to convince her not to steal a precious, yet unappreciated piece of jewellery.

Turning his back, Bran risked a cursory crack of the door, peeking his head out and confirming the coast was clear. The hallway was thankfully dim and free of any staff, or wandering partygoers. He closed the crack and turned back to Brigh with a sweep of his arm, ushering her out in a hurry. "Move, move, move!" He hissed like a drill sergeant, kicking at the back of her heels as he moved them both out into the hallway with a guilt ridden flush to his neck and ears. Brigh looked as fresh as a daisy, of course, she was a born criminal.

"If you get caught," Bran cast Brigh a long look from the corner of his eye, "I don't know you." Tapping the side of his nose twice with a conspiratorial little smirk. Though it wasn't his best face, Bran couldn't help but enjoy the spike of adrenaline it caused. Brigh's criminal influence at play, of course. She was always 'up to something'. They moved in sync back towards the hustle of the ballroom, the sounds of tinkling glasses and faraway laughter drawing them back into the fold with a glamorous ease. Bran forgot about the fact that he had been considering leaving just a handful of moments ago. 

BRÍGH ENNIS O'DALAIGH

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!