What To Do With a Thing Called Parents (Kamren, Clarinda & Lux)

Guest

Lux went through the familiar motions of stuffing her single duffle bag with clothes and toiletries. It was something she was used to - packing up her life into a cylindrical piece of sewn cloth. She did it every time she was adopted - thirty-two - to be exact and every time she was kicked out of the house and back to the orphanage.

She didn't own much. She couldn't. Most of her clothes were hand-me-downs from older kids, which she didn't like wearing because it wasn't her style. The rest was a mixture of clothes she'd torn up and patched back together to suit her fashion sense and some she bought using the money she earned working summer jobs. Then there was the other necessary items like her textbooks and electronic devices. That covered about everything she owned. Right now, she was dressed in a dark grey tank top with a picture of a hand sticking the middle finger out paired with ripped black skinny jeans and black combat boots. Then there were of course her multiple layers of black leather bangles, silver skull necklace and nose and eyebrow piercing to complete the outfit.

"So...new family huh," Holly said, her legs swinging over the edge of her bed as she watched Lux pack up her life.

Lux rolled her eyes. "I know. It's torture. And not the good kind."

Holly grinned. "Well, I can't wait to hear what you're going to do to them. Think you can break your record?"

It was an ongoing computation with herself to get kicked out of a foster home as fast as possible. Her fastest was three days. That had been fun! There was no doubt that poisoning the family dog would get her out of there lickety-split.

Lux's hands paused. "This couple is different. I'll have to use different techniques."

Holly's eyebrows creased. "Different how?"

Lux shrugged as she resumed packing. "They don't scare, surprise and react so easily. Especially the guy. He's… slimy."

"You'll do fine," Holly said.

"You bet I will," Lux responded, zipping up the bag and slinging it over her shoulder. It barely weighed anything. She had already said her goodbyes the previous night, Lux style. She'd played freaky horror music through the speakers in the middle of the night, waking everyone up and scaring the poop out of them. Literally. The jump scare she did on the headmistress was the best part and the recording of her reaction would be useful in the future.

She made her way down the stairs, passing the babies room and paused for a bit to see the infants in their cradles and crawling around. She’d miss frightening the guts out of them. She walked down all the way to the ground floor and spotted the couple waiting for her didn’t bother to greet them. They apparated back to whatever hole they were staying in and Lux made herself useful by blasting metal and rock music loud enough to reach the neighbours’ homes.

Guest

Kamren was, of course, excited to have a child in the house. He'd sorted the paperwork quickly with the orphanage after leaving Lux, and returned it within two hours of finishing the meeting with the young witch. Clarinda had set to sorting the room they had left free for a child, and it was decorated plainly. Neutral soft colours - though they were not going to stop Lux from decorating how she wanted to, if she didn't like it.

Kamren had stopped to fill the fridge with a range of foods for Lux, he wasn't too sure on the girl's diet, so they could decide later on as to what they would be eating.

He and Clarinda had gone through everything, until they'd fallen in to bed exhausted after a very long day. A happy day, though, they were finally going to have a child that they could - possibly - call their own. "I'm excited for our new start." Kamren had confided in his wife as he got comfortable for the night's sleep, holding Clarinda close to him as he always did. "Even if it's not going to be easy." He added, leaning over to kiss his wife gently on the lips.

But, even if excited, Kamren had been out like a light after a very busy day. It was one of his quirks, he could sleep in an instant, anywhere, any time.

There hadn't been any issue with picking up Lux. A surprise, to be truthful. They'd gotten all the way home before anything had happened. The bliss of a quiet life was soon overthrown by the young witch's love for loud music. Kamren had given his wife a small smile that said he would deal with the situation and moved upstairs.

Moving in to the room, Kamren slipped his wand from his pocket and flicked it at the stereo, turning it down so he could be heard. "I thought you were more clever than that, Lux. A wizarding family is hardly going to allow you to make enough noise to disrupt the neighbours." He told her, keeping the small smirk from his lips, though his tone wasn't quite free of amusement. "Though, your taste in music isn't too far different from the young boy's next door." He added. Rock music was not his forte, at all, but it wasn't going to bother him.

"Did you want some lunch - we can cook something up, if you would like?" Kamren offered. This was going to be a challenge, but a challenge he was more than ready to deal with.

Guest

Lux was making herself at home, and by that she meant defacing the walls of the bedroom The Couple had stuck her in. When she’d first entered the room, she’d nearly gagged at the disgusting colour that lined the walls. Sure, a girly-girl would die for a room like that but for Lux, it inspired nothing but bile. How anyone could survive in such a colourless boring room with no personality was incomprehensible. She’d go insane if she stayed in this room another hour.

So, after setting her one bag down and arranging a few items around the room (which included a few human bones she’d picked up at Bogin and Burkes, a jar of blood, a medieval torture device and her collection of scissors), set set off around the house to find something she could paint the walls with. She wasn’t the best of artists but she could come up with nice creations. It wasn’t difficult to find the store room as well as a few brushes she could use. She lugged them back to her room and started work, mixing colours till she got the right shades and applying them to the wall, creating feminine and yet bold and rebellious patterns. Her head bobbed to the rhythm of the music, singing along a few lines. She’d never admit it to anyone but she possessed quite an amazing voice. She’d just completed the first wall, putting in a few dainty bats to it when her music came to an abrupt stop.

A Muggle expletive left her mouth and she turned around to see Camera standing there. She put a hand on her hip and kept her mouth shut until the son of a bachelor was done with his little speech. She let the first comment pass, not even dignifying it with a response. What he thought of her did not affect her, not in the least. If he thought she was stupid, then that was his mistake and he’d learn from it.

She raised one eyebrow. “Allow? That implies that you have some form of control over me and maybe you do...legally, but you’ll never control who I am or the decisions I make. And I couldn’t care a worm up Merlin’s hairy ass about the boy next door.” The music wasn’t a big deal, she’d just turn it back on after he left the room and nothing but physical force could stop her.

She paused for a while as he asked her about lunch. She wasn’t entirely picky with food and ate almost anything. She had been conditioned in that manner at the orphanage. Eat or starve. The only question now was if she wanted to make life difficult for them. But she had to think this through carefully. She already knew that these people did not react to her like how others did. Unpredictable. That’s what they were. Perhaps it was best to keep things simple until she had a window of opportunity.

“Anything’s fine. But be sure to have coffee,” she responded. Coffee to her was like oxygen to the body and she loved it more than life.

Guest

After they had come to an agreement with Lux, Clarinda spent the rest of the day getting the house ready while Kamren did the paperwork and other necessities. This was sped up by the position her husband occupied - there were less questions of credibility, money, and the issue of if they were competent to look after a wizarding child - and they were done before the sun had set.

Still, it was tiring, and at the end of the day, they retired to bed, excited but exhausted, and she murmured her agreement against his lips, and then moved to lean her head against his shoulder. “We will need to show her a lot of love and understanding,” she said, then paused momentarily. “I confess, Kam, that the reports we read worries me. What could have possessed the girl to do such horrible things?”

It took her much longer than her husband to fall asleep, but she always found comfort in listening to his slow breathing, and eventually, she, too, dozed off.

The next day, Clarinda geared herself up for more resistance, but was pleasantly surprised when things went smoothly and they apparated the girl back to their place without any hassle. But then, the music started, and Clarinda raised an eyebrow, letting out a soft chuckle and nodded at her husband. Allowing him a head start, Clarinda nevertheless followed behind, curious to see what Lux had been up to.

She stood to the side as her husband spoke, holding back a chuckle at Lux’s reply. The language was inappropriate for a child of that age - for anyone, in fact - but she decided to handle one things at a time. For now, the child needed to know they truly wanted and loved her. Correction would only work when there was mutual love, trust, and respect, and Clarinda was no idiot; she knew they were quite aways away from that.

Instead, she moved to join her husband, giving him a look that conveyed all that she had thought. He would understand, she was sure. Slyly, more for the Slytherin’s benefit than her husband, Clarinda asked, “I suppose, dear, we could always use a muffling charm should Lux wish to continue blasting her music. That way she can play it as loudly as she likes without disrupting anyone.”

Her eyes glinted, and she very nearly winked at Kam, but decided against it, instead offering him a very minute smirk. It lasted only a split second, and then she turned and swept her gaze around the room. “That’s an interesting choice of decoration,” she commented. “I was going to offer you paint once you had settled down, but it seems you have already found it.” Her tone was conversational, and held no judgement for what the girl had done; indeed, they had purposely left the room walls bare should Lux have wished to take things into her own hands. “If you need any other materials, though, do let us know.”

At the comment about food, Clarinda shrugged openly. “If you wish, I’ll show you how to use the coffee maker. That way you can have coffee whenever you please.” She paused, considering what they had in their fridge. “I think I’ll make lasagna, in that case. Beef, chicken, or vegetarian, Lux?” she offered, making sure the witch had at least some say in it. It was a trick she had learnt when giving her patience food; they couldn’t make too much of a fuss about what was served if they were the ones who chose it.

Guest

After she spoke, Lux didn’t bother making eye contact or facing The Couple, turning her attention back to painting the second wall, experimenting with splashing a few drops of red paint on the black background. She was surprised though, when it was the woman who responded to her retort instead of the man. It looked like she was in for a few more surprises with these people.

But one thing that was predictable was the woman’s response. It was expected of her to be the peacemaker. That much Lux could tell. But she did not expect for the guy to let her talk. He seemed the powerful kind and Lux had seen men like that wield such control over their wife that she was rendered mute in his presence. It was pathetic.

Not turning to meet their gaze, Lux continued painting the words “REVENGE” across the wall as she responded. “Not a bad idea. If you do that and something happens to me and I scream for help - which I probably won’t do anyway - you guys won’t be able to hear me and I can be kidnapped, or tortured or die, which won’t be that bad actually,” she said nonchalantly, putting the last touches on the word so it looked like it was dripping blood and stood back to eye it critically.

At the woman’s compliment of her artistic style, she threw a dirty look over her shoulder. “No one asked your opinion and stating the obvious is a waste of breath,” she replied casually before dipping the brush back into the bucket and starting the outline of a scissors. At the woman’s offer to ask her for any other materials, Lux decided to freak her out a little. She didn’t know if it would work but there was no harm trying.

“Some monkey fur would be great actually. I’ve got a purse made out of it and it would be nice to stick some on the walls in a few patterns,” she said with a sweet smile.

“Ugh, anything but vegetarian,” Lux said scrunching her nose up. Being vegetarian was stupid when one could enjoy feasting on the meat of animals. Vegetarian food was only for those weak of heart. Real people enjoyed meat. Sure, she didn’t mind vegetables but living on that for the rest of her life was unimaginable.

Guest

Kamren had kept hold of his wife's worries, he had his own worries too. But there was nothing a child could do that they couldn't handle. They were both patient people, it might take time, but Lux could be handled, that much Kamren was sure of. Though he hadn't responded, because his wife's worry was founded, but he would prove that it was something they could handle.

That had been hours ago, though, and now he was stood before the source of his wife's worries, in a war of wills.

Well, he'd dropped himself in it by not using very, very carefully worded sentences, and the use of the word allow had been his mistake. Scolding himself internally for that much, Kamren let Lux berate him for the words, simply taking on her dislike of authority in that moment. Of course, it wasn't that bad, the girl was clever, and he would bare that in mind.

Clarinda though came to his aid - he didn't need help, but they were a team, and his wife's opinion and patience was always useful in such situations. She had calmed the situation a little, but Lux, oh Lux had an answer for everything.

"We can put an exterior muffling charm on the house." Kamren supplied. "So we'll still know you're okay, but you won't upset our neighbors with the noise. And, as for the other points. You can rest assured that security in this house is beyond that of Hogwarts." Kamren explained, though he knew that Lux did not know yet of his position. He wouldn't waste time in telling her without being asked, the young witch was, quite obviously not one to care unless she asked the question.

“No one asked your opinion and stating the obvious is a waste of breath,”

Kamren bristled marginally at the words, casting a sideways glance at Clarinda, but not saying a word. Clarinda could fight her own corner, if she thought a reprimand would be adequate in that moment, but he decided that he was not going to supply it.

"We'll look in to monkey fur, provided things go well between us." Kamren responded to the request. If Lux could behave for some time, they would, of course, give her treats, and the like. But only if she was good, Kamren would refuse to reward bad behaviour, as any parent should.

"We'll have beef." Kamren responded when Lux didn't make a decision. Well, she'd made half a decision. "Come down when you're finished on that section Lux, and I'll show you where the coffee machine is. And then you can help me prepare the salad whilst Clare does the lasagne." He added, not instructing her to drop everything now, but with enough authority in his voice that said he did expect her to help.

After all, they were a family now, and families worked together.

Guest

At the mention of torture and kidnapping, Clarinda raised an eyebrow, not so much at the suggestions, but rather at the idea that their house would be breached. Being the Minister of Magic had its perks, she knew, but there was always some risk to her husband's being at any given time, and their place was well protected; nobody who entered the place would do so without either of them knowing, and if someone who meant harm tried... Well, it wouldn't end well for that person.

And, since Lux was now part of their family, that meant she, too, was under that same safety measures; she was a Jennson, and with that came all the protection that they both received. But, before she had a chance to say anything, her husband spoke, and she nodded her agreement. Glancing at her husband, she noted his carefully chosen words and understood he had purposely left out the details - that, if anyone even tried to break in, a squad of aurors would be there in less than thirty seconds.

At the obvious display of disrespect, Clarinda couldn't help but smile a little, giving her head a tiny shake. No, Kam, not yet, she was telling her husband, noting his displeasure. They would handle things one step at a time, and this was not the time to outright scold.

But Clarinda wasn't about to let it slide, and instead decided for the more demeaning approach; she would pop Lux's bubble, and show the witch that she wasn't the smartest in the room, and that behaviour like that wasn't going to be tolerated.

"No, nobody did," she replied. "But that's called a compliment, Lux. Do with it as you please."

She paused, then offered her husband a discreet wink, telling him to go with whatever she said next. Then, in a casual tone, she continued with, "What is obvious to one person may not be obvious to another. For example, yesterday you mentioned stabbing someone in the eye. Now, it is obvious to me that eyes do not gush blood. Rather, there will be a transparent fluid. However, this wasn't obvious to you and your description somewhat lacked authenticity."

There was nothing more to add about the monkey fur - as odd a request as that was - and instead she simply nodded again. "I can ask around the ward, Kam. I'm sure someone there knows a supplier," she told him, more to reinforce what he had said, and confirming that they weren't just playing along with the witch but taking her requests serious; it was what family did, after all.

"Beef it is," she acknowledge with a smile, already turning away and making her way downstairs, slipping her wand out as she did so. She was sure Kam would be able to handle things with Lux from there - not that he couldn't already - and focused instead on preparing lunch for her, her husband, and their new daughter.

Guest

Lux suppressed the cry of victory burning in her throat at Camera’s mention of the exterior muffling charm. It had sort of been her goal all along. The only reason why she put the music on that loud was to annoy The Couple, not so much the neighbours. The genius guy got himself in a trap. She would be blasting the loudest metal and rock music whenever she was in the house and it wouldn’t bother her one bit. The possibility that it might bother him was small and he might not react in the manner she wanted him to, but Lux didn’t care. She was going to go for it.

When he mentioned about the security though, it pulled her attention away from a wall just long enough to give him a quick glance. She could tell he was a powerful man; that much she observed from their first meeting. But he had to be way up the top of the ladder to have his house this secure and be assured that nothing and no one could breach it. Lux began to think twice about angering him. Was her future worth the satisfaction of getting under his skin and seeing him riled up? She guessed that Clarinet would probably not let Camera do anything to harm her future as a witch but was she willing to take the risk?

Squaring her shoulders the tiniest bit, she gave herself a firm scolding. You’ve never been one to quit once you set your mind on things. Don’t start now. He might be powerful yes. He might banish you to Azkaban or strip you of ever practicing magic but you are not going to ditch your plan. Do you hear me? Do not ditch your plan or you will be miserable for the rest of your life. With that pep talk, Lux pushed all worry from her mind. She would go through with this even if she never got to see daylight again. She preferred the dark anyway.

Another surprise came when Clarinet gave her a piece of her mind. Lux had honestly not expected this woman to stand up like that; she’d expected her husband to come to the rescue. Lux narrowed her eyes mentally. This was too many surprised for one day and she was beginning to feel like she was losing control of her life. They weren’t reacting the way they were supposed to react and that threw her off balance. She hated the feeling. She’d always been the one in control. No one dared talk back to her and no one dared disobey her. This was entirely new.

She turned to face her with a bright cheerful smile and a slight tilt of the head. “Well, congratulations. You passed ‘Standing Up For Yourself 101,” she said. “But let me make it obvious to you since that seems to be your thing. I know about the fluid in eyes. Aqueous humour and vitreous humour, right? I know blood won't gush out (but it will bleed a little since there are arteries in the eyes. ‘How do I know that?’, you may ask. Good question. If you couldn’t tell already, I’m into blood,” she paused and gestured to the wall and the word she’d painted to look like it was dripping blood, “so I researched and informed myself which parts of the body bleed and which parts don’t. So why did I say that yesterday? Excellent question! Since blood cannot run from the eyes and therefore I don’t have the pleasure of watching blood flow from your eyes, it is equally unlikely for me to truly belong to a family. I’m only here because I’m a minor and for some absurd reason the universe decided to punish me by sticking me with you and this guy here,” she looked pointedly at Camera, “challenged me.”

Throughout her lengthy monologue, Lux kept a smile on her face. Clarinet probably thought it was condescending but she didn’t care llama spittle what the woman thought. It was rare for her to let this many words pass out of her mouth at one time Lux spoke her mind when she saw fit to do so and this was one of those times.

She rolled her eyes when Camera mentioned about getting the monkey fur if things went well. She couldn’t care baby bean sprouts if things went well with them or if she didn’t get the monkey fur. It had been a move to freak them out a little but he made the whole thing sound as if she was a three year old. If you do this, you can have the toy. If you don’t, no toy. Perhaps he did think she was a spoiled brat... but that was his opinion.

She heard the authority in his tone of voice as he mentioned her helping with the salad. Almost instinctively, she opened her mouth to rebel but shut it a split second later. She wasn’t that stupid to not know when she no longer had that power she was so used to having. Rebelling now was sure to end disastrously and though on normal days she wasn’t one to care, she knew better than to invite that sort of trouble with Camera. And besides she had enough surprises from The Couple for one day.

“Fine. But only because only because I want to,” she replied. She hated - absolutely hated - being told what to do and to shift the reins back in her favour she had to re-state that she was doing what she wanted and not because someone told her to.

Guest

The small battle of wills going on between Lux and Clarinda was amusing. Lux obviously trying to outsmart his wife was something he had thought might happen, but watching it, yes, it was quite something. Clarinda was as intelligent as she was beautiful, so Lux was going to have to draw something quite impressive to knock his wife from winning.

Of course, this amusement would be saved, and shared with Clarinda at a later point, he was not going to encourage Lux in to trying to win this, because that was not how this was going to work.

With Clarinda heading down to make their lunch Kamren waited until the steps were gone before focusing back on Lux, who was telling him that she was only going to do something because she wanted to. They were bending her, very slowly, in to a person that helped, but did not get told she had to do this, that and the other. He respected her independence, knew he and Clarinda couldn't make up for the loss of parents on the witch's part.

But they could, if Lux played ball, be a big part of her future.

"Of course, only because you want to." Kamren replied when she'd done. They both knew that this was not the case, and he was not going to correct her, or make her feel small in that moment. "I'll see you downstairs in a little while." Kamren added, pulling up the door to the room for Lux and heading downstairs to find Clarinda and help her with whatever was necessary.

Guest

At the lengthy rant from the young Slytherin, Clarinda simply kept a neutral expression, one that neither spoke of approval or disapproval, although it was very interesting to hear what Lux had to say. It gave her more insight into the mind of the witch, things that Clarinda noted down for later discussion with her husband. It was a smart move on Kam's part to challenge her, something that Clare would also mention later, but for now, she kept her focus on the current topic of conversation.

There was nothing for her to say; Lux had been trying to save face, to correct a statement they both knew she had said in error, and Clarinda would not hurt the witch's pride any more. So, instead, she offered her a smile and nodded. "Well, as I said before, if you require any other materials, let us know. I'm not sure we have enough red paint for the rest of the walls," she said, matter-of-factly, continuing with what they had said earlier about supplies.

As she walked down the stairs, she just caught Lux's word, and suppressed a laugh. That's not exactly true, is it? she thought to herself, an amused smile playing on her lips. She knew Kam had won that round. Then again, he wasn't Minister of Magic for nothing.

Reaching the kitchen, she gave her wand a few flicks, setting things in motion; the fridge opened, knives and chopping boards set themselves up, food came flying out from different places, and with another few motions of the wand, the lasagna preparation started.

Hearing a single set of footsteps behind her, Clarinda glanced over her shoulder to smile at her husband. "That went well," she murmured, softly, so that only he could hear. "I was expecting much worse."

» Scrapes, Bruises, and a Thing Called Emotions (Madley)
» There Is My Heart (Kamren & Clarinda)
» The Start of Something Terrible (Kamren and Clarinda)
» Let's Slow Things Back Down for Us (Clarinda & Kamren)
» Everyone has their thing (Open)