2019-12-14 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Texts exchanged and times set, it has come time for the coveted aunt to dine with her niece. And also Ciprian too, we guess, whatever. He's okay. He has, however, cooked, and he's just taking the chicken out of the oven as Ashira draws at the kitchen table. Every time there's any sort of noise that could possibly be construed as someone coming to the door, she practically gives herself whiplash looking over to see if it's Minerva, and when it is not, she lets out a very dejected sigh, looking down to her picture again. The latest instance of this has her father eyeing her with some dry amusement. "You know she'll be here when she said she'd be here," he remarks.

"I know," Ashira retorts, making a face at him, though that doesn't stop her from looking that way again at the next sound.

Minerva was on time, but that's because she's not wanting to disappoint people by being late. Her role as Aunt was taken very seriously. She's dressed in her usual tailored back dress that looks like it's in the wrong time. She's wearing a black coat over it as it's getting rather chilly outside. She gives a knock to the door and then opens it to peer around the door. Her hat is probably seen first, given she got her old one replaced. "I heard there was a pretty good kid that lived here. Figured she didn't get snatched up by Krampus this year." she comments as she closes the door behind her and heads for where they are.

Ciprian just shakes his head and lets out a little sigh of his own, but again, it's an amused sigh. "How about setting the table, if you're looking for something to pass the hours?" he asks as he goes about getting out the sides for dinner.

Ashira doesn't look very much like she wants to be doing that, but she replies, "Fine," and slides off the chair, going to the drawers to get some silverware. She's about halfway through when the door opens, and her entire demeanor changes. She lets out a happy gasp, and dashes out of the kitchen, launching herself at Minerva with glee. "You're here!" she cries, as though it has been hours, and not...well, exactly at the appointed time. "Not this year!"

Ciprian just laughs as he hears his daughter, and he calls, "Hi, Riya. Your fan club was impatient."

"Not this year, but there's always next year!" Minerva states as she snuggles her niece in her arms and holds her there for a moment, just letting her legs dangle, "You've been giving your papa impatience. Hmmm?" she muses and kisses her on the forehead. "Krampus will put you in the sack for that, and beat you with reeds." she whispers to her with a laugh. "Come, we'll finish setting places." she tells her as she settles her down. "Hello, Cip. I see that she looks like she's been waiting for days." she laughs. "We'll be there in a second." she adds.

Ashira holds tight to her aunt, a giggle of her own coming at the warning. She has always been into that sort of thing -- she really is similar to her aunt in many ways. She does nod when she gets set down, though. "Okay," she says, starting toward the kitchen. "You know school is almost out," she informs Minerva as they go, "and on Friday we're going to go ice skating! You can come too, if you want to." Her tone is hopeful as she fairly skips now instead of walking, buoyant where before her mood had been heavy. What a difference a person makes.

"You'd think," Ciprian replies from the kitchen as he grabs a serving spoon and sticks it into the potatoes, bringing them to the table. "I thought when she learned how to tell time we wouldn't have this problem anymore." The dryness of his voice is certainly tempered by fondness for them both, though. "How was your day?"

Mini Minerva. It was almost horrifying to think of. But she wanted children of her own so someday their might be another. She goes to help Ashira set the rest of the places and there's a smile to her, "Ice skating hmm? I could go and watch...or attempt to stay upright while amusing people." she tells her. "Did you have fun at the aquarium?" she asks her. Then there's a look Ciprian's way and there's a laugh, "Kid's can tell time and still be really impatienct. I hope that didn't come from mom." she muses. "The day was alright. Just doing some inventory at the shop and have a new client to meet this week." she states. "Yours?" she asks him.

"You could do it," Ashira replies with all the confidence of a child who thinks the world revolves around the person to whom she is talking, and that they are perfect and so clearly they would be able to do everything. "We're going to go after Papa gets home from work, because I get out early so first I'm going to go to Grace's house and have a playdate and then he's going to pick us up and then we're going to go!" She twirls around, setting the last fork next to the last plate with a flourish. "And yes, we had so much fun and I got a dolphin bracelet!" She jingles her wrist so that Minerva can see. "Beth came with us and we got matching ones. She's nice. You know she works in the funeral home?"

Ciprian has to laugh again as he watches his daughter, then looks up to Minerva a little helplessly as Ashira goes a mile a minute. "Very true," he concedes at his sister's observation. He brings the chicken to the table, and then he sits down, leaning back with a little sigh, though this one sounds contented. "It was pretty good. I got some work done. It'll be nice to take a few days off over the holidays."

"I can try. All we can do is try our best." Minerva tells her niece with a smile. "And that sounds like a fun time, really." she tells her. Then there's a bit of a look to Ciprian, "And who is this Beth with the matching dolphin bracelets?" she asks. Then she gives a wink to Ashira when she sees the bracelet, "It's lovely." she smiles. "I did not know that she works in a funeral home, but that is really cool." she admits. "She's so full of energy. Maybe we need to put some unisom in her juice for you." she whispers to her brother. "Go have a seat, Ash. It's all set." she tells her niece as she settles down in a seat to Ciprian's left. "Everything looks wonderful, thank you for cooking." she tells him sincerely.

Ciprian lets out another little amused huff at the ask about Beth. "She's a friend," he says. "She manages Lawson's Funeral Home. She was a couple years ahead of you in school. We kind of reconnected and I told her I wasn't into birthdays, so she convinced us to go out and do something. It was fun." Of course, then it had its own harrowing experience, which probably didn't help his dislike of his birthday, but that probably doesn't need mentioning at the moment.

He sits down then, nodding at his sister's aside with a wider smile as Ashira goes to sit down in her place. "That would be nice," he replies under his breath, before saying more generally, "Of course. We're always happy to have you." He looks over at his daughter then, and she tilts her head a little bit down as he begins to say the blessing. "Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha`olam..."

"You'd ask me if a new guys name was brought up." Minerva teases him as she gives him a look. "Just a friend, sounds good. I mean, we all need friends these days." she admits. "And if it turns into something else it might be good as well." she grins. "I think that it would be good to have others around for the celebrating of the end of school for the year." she adds with a smile to Ashira. Then she bows her head and gives a smile as Ciprian gives prayers. Once that's done she gives a look to him, seeing how he's doing so far.

"Okay, fine, that's true," Ciprian admits when he finishes, his smile much easier on his face than it usually is in general, now that he's with his family. "I'm trying to get out more, and meet more people," he confirms. "It's good to have a network. Not that you aren't amazing, but you can't be my only friend."

It's said jokingly, though Ashira looks from her father to her aunt a little skeptically. "She's not your friend, she's your sister," she says, which makes Ciprian laugh.

"You can be a sister and a friend, silly," he replies, though Ashira looks unconvinced by this. Her father's smile does fade after a moment, however, and he continues, "Remember when you asked about what happened with Grace at school?" Ashira's eyes widen a little bit at this, and she nods, but doesn't say anything quite yet as her father goes on. "Well, I wanted Aunt Riya to come over so she could help me talk about it."

"Ohhhh," Ashira breathes, and she looks to Minerva, starting to talk quickly again as she relates the incident. "So, Grace made a toy fly around and hit these two boys in the face who were bothering her," she says. "And then I just asked Papa if that was going to happen to me, and he said he didn't want to talk about it." How rude of him. "Is that going to happen to me?"

Minerva gives a chuckle, "Your father is and always has been my best friend." she admits. Then she looks to Ashira as things are brought up and there's a bit of a soft sigh, "I'll ask it this way, do you feel like you've done anything that you shouldn't be able to do?" she asks her. "Made things move, been able to read thoughts?" she asks her. Then there's a bit of a moment taken to reach across the table, "Your father was just waiting to talk as a family." she admits.

When Minerva says this about being best friends, Ashira looks to Ciprian as though to see whether it's true or not. Ciprian nods without hesitation, though, and when he does she nods, too. Apparently she's more ready to take Minerva's word than her father's. She reaches for Minerva's hand then, cutting another look at her father a little bit guiltily, and she doesn't say anything just yet.

Ciprian, however, says mildly, "It's okay, sweetheart. You can say, you're not going to get in trouble. I promise." He reaches over to squeeze her other hand, and this seems to bolster Ashira's confidence.

"Well," she says slowly, "I fell down at school and I got a scrape, and Mrs. Hastings gave me a Band-Aid. But then I checked it a little bit later because it didn't hurt, and the scrape wasn't there anymore. It was only an hour later."

Minerva gives a bit of a look to Ciprian, he better not lie. "Your father and I had a very harrowing experience when we were younger. And a few years after that is when my eye was lost." she tells her niece. "And no, it will not happen to you." she quickly adds. Then there's a little quizzical look to her niece, "Do you think you healed that on your own?" she asks her.

Ciprian meets Minerva's look, And he nods surreptitiously -- he doesn't look happy about this discussion, but he is, apparently, willing to have it. After all, he did initiate it, right? Ashira's admission does seem to be surprising to him, though, but to his credit, he does not freak out. Outwardly. Maybe he's freaking out inwardly.

Ashira hesitates, looking from her father to her aunt again, before she says, "...I think so. I don't know. I felt weird. And then I got sick that night. I didn't go to school the next day because I had a fever." She does seem to relax a little bit when Minerva says she won't lose her eye, though. "But I don't know if I did. Maybe I just remembered it wrong."

"Well, lets...try something." Minerva states with a soft smile to her niece and there's a look to Ciprian, she can feel him freaking out. Being the mentalist she was she just could feel the runoff. "But if we try it and it works I have to have your word that you will not use the powers that you have unless it is a dire situation, do you understand me, Ashira?" she looks to her. "Because when the powers are used...they attract the attention of very bad men and we do not want them to know you are gifted." she admits.

Ashira's eyes are as wide as the dinner plates on the table as she nods, now only looking at Minerva and not her father. It's probably a good thing -- Ciprian's face has lost some of what little color it had, and he has to look away, though it is probably almost painfully clear to Minerva what his state of mind is at the moment. However, he doesn't interfere, and his daughter says solemnly, "I promise." Eight year olds certainly know about 'bad men' -- Ashira has read enough fairy tales to be wary of things in the dark, and is not yet old enough to have consigned them all to myth.

Minerva takes a deep breath and then lets it out as she slides her hands from the table and something happens when she places them in her lap. When she moves next she's holding her finger like she injured it. She goes to sit my Ashira, "Will you see if you can heal this?" she asks her as she keeps her finger covered for the moment. "And it's just a little blood, you don't mind the sight of blood, you're a big girl." she tells her. There's a look over her nieces head to her brother and an apologetic look.

Ciprian lets out a little breath, and forces himself to look back just as Minerva does whatever it is that she's done to her finger. His mouth twists just a little ,but still he says nothing, and instead just meets his sister's look. He's still composed, at least, and he does manage a slight smile for her, even though it doesn't reach his eyes.

"I don't mind," Ashira says. "I'm always the first aid helper at school." Clearly she is totally fine with it. She looks over her aunt's finger, and her face screws up a little bit as she concentrates. For a moment, it seems like something might happen -- but eventually nothing does, and she sighs, shaking her head. "No," she admits, "I didn't feel anything this time." She sounds...well, yeah, disappointed.

Minerva looks to Ashira as she concentrates and she closes her good eye. She just...feels for things. "It doesn't always work when we want it to, believe me, I know." she muses before she pops her finger into her mouth to suck the blood off. It was just a pen knife cut, nothing too serious. Then she wipes it off on her dress. Teaching the child horrible manners. "Well, I have some news little one, you do have the glimmer...or as an old friend use to say you do sing." she smiles to that. "We just don't know to what extent. My abilities lie strongly in the mental. Your father..." she looks to Ciprian, did he have something to tell them?!

Ashira nods dejectedly, though when Minerva goes on, she looks up, and again her mood turns on a dime when her aunt tells her that she does, in fact, have something special about her. "Really?" she exclaims, clapping her hands in front of her. "Are you sure?" She finally remembers to look over at Ciprian, though she can't hide her grin, and Ciprian does, at least, try to be excited for her, even though he's not really excited at all, but more dreading it.

"Yes, sweetheart," he replies, and she grins, bouncing up and down in her chair a little bit. "But remember what you promised. You can't try to use it right now. Okay?" He looks over at Minerva then, and he starts to say something else in response to her question, but his daughter cuts him off.

"Papa can move things," she announces. "I know he can. I saw him." She gives an almost accusing look at her father, even though she's still smiling, and Ciprian lets out a sigh, reaching up to rub a hand over his face. He can't deny it, though.

"Yes," he confirms, "but like I said, I almost never use it, because I don't want the Dark Men to be anywhere by you. That's why I don't. So you have to stick to your promise, too."

Minerva leans over and kisses Ashira on the forehead softly, she wasn't happy about the little one having powers, but they couldn't change it. So may as well teach her early. "You shouldn't use your powers to show off or anything like that. Not even if you won't get caught. It leaves a trail." she tells her as she sits back. Then there's a look to her brother, "Oh? Papa can move things." she squints at her brother.

Uh oh.

"Your family line is obviously very rich with things, so I'm guessing learning you had powers was inevitable, sweets. But, we'll protect you and keep you safe." she smiles to Ashira.

Ciprian looks like nothing so much as a kid who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar right now, though there's also a certain resignation to him, as well. It's out now. Might as well lean into it. "He can," he admits, glancing to Minerva briefly before he looks back to his daughter. That is probably a conversation for another day -- for now, he just lets Ashira answer.

She does not disappoint. "I won't," she promises. "I'll only do it if you say I can. When I'm learning. That's it." She does look very solemn still -- at least she seems to understand the gravity of the situation.

Minerva gives a smile to the both of them and a bit of a lingering look to Ciprian, another day they'd talk. "Alright, I think that's enough talk of that for a moment. Who wants dessert? Grandma and Grandpa sent something special. You want to help me plate it in the kitchen?" she asks Ashira.

"Me, me!" Ashira says, and she nods vigorously, standing up and bouncing a little bit on her toes before she starts toward the kitchen. "Yum yum yum!" Obviously the excitement of knowing that she is, in fact, special has not worn off yet.

It's probably a good thing that they're both leaving the room for a moment -- it gives Ciprian time to compose himself. He's certainly going to need it. He does, however, look after her, any residual smile fading, before he stands up and turns away, heading toward the bathroom. Hopefully he'll have managed to get it together before he comes out again.