Two's Company - Modern AU [Caitrin]

[lucan]

Lucan was tired. Physically and mentally. Not only had he been up all night trying to finish some important deadline at work, but to top it all off, he'd once again found himself paying double rent for that month. He needed a new flat mate. It was the only solution that would stop him from wanting to drink himself stupid every evening. Money was tight, and even as an acountant there were boundaries.

He'd placed an advert in the local paper at the beginning of the week, now that his newly departed flatmate had left without warning - suddenly announcing by a note on the kitchen table, that they had moved in with the 'love of their life'. Lucan snorted. The note had Gwaine written all over it. He'd even had the decency to sign off with an 'x'. Luc had found that he hadn't the strength to text Gwaine and demand an explanation, the only good thing that had come out of it all was that there were not more raving house parties, or random people sleeping in his bath. Gwaine didn't even know who half the people were that turned up to these (what he had called) 'Gatherings'. They were anything but! And after a hard day at the office, all Lucan wanted to come home to was a nice cup of tea and his bed.

He was currently sat and leant over the kitchen table mindlessly flipping through some out of date magazine. Lucan had even resorted to wondering whether he should ask Griff to move in, but then had abolished the thought from his mind as he knew the carnage that would come with it. Plus he would most likely be paying the rent for them both.

Someone had better hurry up and take the room soon, otherwise it would be back to his father's country manor, and Lucan really didn't want to return home and ask to stay there until he found somewhere more suitable. Plus his father had a split personality and one day would be barking mad (pretending he was a pirate - most likely influenced from his career as a captain in the navy), whereas the next he would be the gentleman of the manor again.
There was no way he was going home to Captain Aubert, but should he have to - then he would buy his father Muppet Treasure Island to keep his pirate phase at bay. He hoped.

Tagged: Caitrin de Archer
Setting: Luc's Flat, Somewhere in London im gathering
Notes: This will be horribly hilarious.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin Archer was sick of living under her Uncle’s roof, and that was the end of it. She’d had to move back home after graduating from her University course in nursing because she couldn’t afford the London lifestyle on her own. She was only on a small wage from the hospital anyway, so it was impossible to imagine she could afford a flat with her own. The flatmates she had been living with at University had all moved back home, so she had just gone back to her Uncle’s until she could think of a plan. Though she had only spent a month there and she already hated it. He was treating her room like a wine cellar, and her bookshelves were now a mix of nursing books she’d picked up on her course, historical fiction and wine bottles.

With this in mind, she was on her way to view a room that had been advertised in the paper yesterday. The room was pretty cheap, and she needed this to work. If she had to spend one more day under her Uncle’s roof then she would completely lose it. She’d had to come straight from work, so she was still in her blue, rather unflattering nurses uniform. Her hair was hanging loose in curls around her shoulders, and she ruffled it before turning the street to where the flat had been advertised. She wanted this to work, she needed her own place. After all, she could hardly hold house parties in her Uncle’s home. He didn’t really approve, and Caitrin didn’t have enough money to go out in London all the time.

She pulled the advert out of her back once more, just to check that she had got the address right. She bit her lip, half paranoid she’d knock on the wrong door and end up annoying someone in the middle of the day. She’d been up half the night with patients on the wards, so she wasn’t in the best of moods. Finally she found the house in question, and knocked rather briskly on the door. She tapped her foot against the ground while she was waiting and sighed slightly to herself. Eventually though, the door was opened and Caitrin smiled up at a tall, dark haired man. She held out her hand to shake his, “Hello, is it Lucan? I’m Caitrin, though everyone just calls me Cait. I’m here about the room?”

[lucan]

The knock on the door had startled him somewhat. He'd been so engrossed in his magazine and listening to The Beatles that he hadn't been expecting anyone to call. He got up and headed down the hall to open the door. He was quite taken aback to see a red head in a nurses uniform standing in front of him - looking quite tired if he said so himself. He didn't voice this to her, however she was now smiling and explaining that she'd come about the room. "That's right" he smiled back, "Please to meet you Cait, come in" he stood aside to let her through.

Ok so 'Potential Flatmate Cait' seemed promising from first impressions. Then again Lucan preferred to read the whole book instead of the cover. He was surprised that she still wanted to look around - despite him being the only other person that she might be sharing with. If Griff were here now, he would already be telling her that the room was hers. That was just like his brother - pouncing on anything that breathed.

Closing the door behind him, he turned to her. "Do you want anything to drink before I show you around?" he asked.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Well so far so good. From first impressions Caitrin was quite pleased, and Lucan was quite easy on the eye so she wasn’t complaining in the slightest. She shook his hand with a smile, after all, her Uncle had brought her up with manners. “Nice to meet you to.” She grinned and followed him into the house. It didn’t feel like there was just a man who lived here, it didn’t have that feel about it. Caitrin had expected something like her cousins flat, which was just an abundance of washing that he was yet to do and empty vodka bottles he swore he hadn’t drunk. This was just quite nice in a homely sort of way. She quickly found herself in a an open planned kitchen and livingroom, which was quite nice in itself. “I bet you have some wild nights in here.” She said with a quick wink and cast her eyes around the place quickly. It all seemed rather nice, and it was so far so good.

She nodded quickly at Lucan’s suggestion of a drink, “Tea would be a godsend.” She said with a wide grin, “Maybe leave the stronger stuff for another time.” Caitrin said with a slight shrug and a smile. A cup of tea right now sounded like the most amazing thing in the world, it was just what she needed after her shift. Hopefully Lucan’s standards in the kitchens would be a lot better than the ones in the student lets, back then if the cups had been in the same room as water then it was enough. Running her hand through her hair she smiled at Lucan, “So is it just you alone here?” The advert had said one room, but she didn’t know how many other people lived here. Just because Lucan was the only one here at the moment didn’t mean he was the only one here all the time. She walked across to the kitchen, hoping that Lucan had tea bags, otherwise if she liked the room she might just have to take her first nap there now the way things were going.

[lucan]

Luc followed Cait through to where she was currently observing the kitchen and living room, she appeared to have some look of approval on face so Lucan was glad that everything had got off to a good start. He gave a small snort at her comment. "Like you'd never believe." he replied, "That was until my former flatmate moved out." Even then he didn't miss the carnage that Gwaine would bring home with him - drunken friends and a couple of pretty girls on his arm. Just the thought made him shudder. Even now he had never got used to seeing a different girl ask for the nearest taxi firm every week on a Saturday morning.

"Take a seat" he gestured for her to sit down, whilst he got down to making her some tea. “So is it just you alone here?”

Lucan turned and leant back against the worktop. "Just me at the moment. I used to share with a friend, then he decided that after two dates, he'd met the woman of his dreams." a small smirk came across his face. "He moved out and left me to pay off the rest of his rent for that month -hence why I need a flatmate." he explained and turned back to pour the water into the cups.

He finally brought the freshly poured cup of tea over to her, and took a seat opposite "Hopefully this is alright" he smiled and passed it to her. "Are you positive that you want to flat share with a guy? I know that sometimes people can get funny about what kind of people they want to share with."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin chuckled at Lucan’s response, well, if he was used to parties then he probably wouldn’t have any objections to some of her more intimate get-togethers. Though intimate get-togethers often just translated into wild party. That was how she liked it though. Life with a bit of rock and roll was always a lot more interesting than just sitting in every night with a book. She wouldn’t be able to cope with a quiet household. However, Lucan seemed quite nice, so she was sure they would get along, or at least she hoped so. Caitrin smiled at Lucan’s request, and took up the seat on the sofa with a soft smile. “Thanks, so was your former flat mate a bit of a party animal?” Her eyes dropped over Lucan as he turned to make her a cup of tea. He was probably a bit too easy on the eyes, but that was only a good thing. There weren’t many good looking male nurses she could look over while she was on her shift, so she had to compensate somehow. It was a nice little bit of indulgence Caitrin took part in a lot of the time.

Caitrin nodded as Lucan explained why he needed a flatmate. His old flat mate already sounded like quite the rebel, Caitrin had never been one for love, and she couldn’t imagine falling in love quite that quickly. It was far too romantic for her. “I just need to find a place to live, my Uncle is driving me up the wall- I live with him you see.” She shrugged slightly, “I had to move in with him again after university, and I don’t think I can stand it much longer. Families huh?” She joked lightly with another wink. She did love her Uncle, but that didn’t mean she wanted to spend the rest of her life under the same roof as him for the rest of her life.

“Thank you.” She said as Lucan passed her the cup of tea, “Just what I need.” She said lightly as she took a sip. There was nothing quite like a cup of tea after a hard shift. Well, Lucan could make fantastic cups of tea, he was ticking all the boxes so far. “I’ve lived with my Uncle and my cousin, Dristan, all my life. Sharing a house with a man is no problem.” She said with a slight smirk, “I’ve always preferred male company anyway.” That was certainly true, whether Lucan got her drift or not, “Will you show me around? I think I love what I see already.”

[lucan]

“Thanks, so was your former flat mate a bit of a party animal?”

Lucan chuckled "The term is a bit of an understatement for him - to sum it up, he loves beer and anything with a skirt and pulse" It was true, Gwaine was the most womanising guy that he had ever met, but still somehow managed to be a good friend to him. Most of the time. "When you have parties every friday evening it does become a bit boring to be honest, especially if you happen to be confined to your room because some kind of strip twister is going on." Luc wasn't about to launch into details about that.

Lucan nodded, knowing full too well how families could be, especially his. "University always seems to do that to graduating students." he rolled his eyes. It had one with him, and thankfully he'd managed to secure a job and the flat just a few months after going back home. "Mind you - my family drives me up the wall, so im glad that i'm as far from them as possible" he smiled.
Her words about her preferring male company made his brows raise slightly. At least she was comfortable with that, and he had no problem with sharing with a girl. He finally stood up. "Right let me show you around. As you can see the kitchen is open planned, shared living room." he gestured around him.

"I'll show you your room and the bathroom and if you're that impressed then I might just go into how much rent you'll be 'donating' to the lovely landlord, who by the way isn't lovely so I wouldn't enjoy running into him if I were you." he gave her a knowing look. Hopefully now with Gwaine gone, he wouldn't be getting anymore complaints from the neighbours.

[Caitrin de Archer]

The fact Gwaine loved anything with a skirt worried Caitrin slightly, not because she was worried about what would happen if she met him, no she was more worried about if she had met him before. She hadn’t had a serious boyfriend before, it had been more of multiple on and off relationships with various guy’s she’d met on nights out. It was how she liked it though, why settle for one man when you could have as many as you want? Perhaps she would get on with Gwaine, though it was clear to see Lucan didn’t share his ideology on life, that was probably a good thing though. “He sounds like a typical man.” Caitrin chuckled, or at least typical of the men she had come across in the past.

Well at least she and Lucan seemed to be in the same mind about families. There was no way Caitrin could stand moving back in with her Uncle, and there was no way she was crashing in Dristan’s flat. Though she was bad enough with the men she brought home on a night out, she had nothing on Dristan who seemed to be a magnet for every woman in a club. Every time Caitrin had stayed there in the past she had come across at least two women who were crashing there as well, and it was hardly fun to be around. “How long ago did you graduate?” Caitrin asked brightly, “I’ll be glad to move out from my Uncle’s home again, I’ve not been there long, but I need my own space again.” As she had had the freedom while she had been at University, she was finding it hard to adjust her Uncle’s way of thinking again. She didn’t want to adjust, instead she wanted to have her own space again.

Caitrin sipped on her tea, she hadn’t finished it yet but she decided to just take it with her as Lucan showed her around. After all, it could be all that was keeping her going at the moment. She nodded brightly at Lucan and stood up as he did and began to follow him round. Caitrin could see no reason why she wouldn’t be impressed by the flat, she loved what she saw so far, and as long as the bathroom wasn’t that bad she would be up for moving in as soon as she could. She quite liked Lucan, so this was all going fantastically. “How much is the rent?” She asked casually, “And it’s fine, I can stand up against anyone.” She replied teasingly as he told her about the landlord, she could stand perfectly well on her own feet, and she would defy anyone to stand in her way.

[lucan]

Caitrin only looked young and Luc estimated that she was around her early twenties. "I graduated about six years ago" he replied, sounding very old at this. He drank a little more of his tea, looking at Caitrin. "I take it you've only just recently?" he asked a little uncertain that he was right on this. "and everyone needs their own space - it's just how to come about it that's the problem."

He showed her around, "This will be your room" he said, opening the door to what had once been Gwaine's room. Thankfully Lucan had de-womanised it so that whoever should move in could do as they wished with it. It seemed big enough for a girl anyway, unless Caitrin just happened to come with a very large wardrobe of clothes. "My room is that last one on the left and then at the end is the bathroom." he retold her, leading her down there and opening the door to the reasonably sized bathroom. He'd de-Gwaine'd that too, the only evidence of their being a guy accomodating the flat, was the toothbrush in the holder and the towel on the radiator.

"The rent is £400 per calender month, should you choose to move in this month then i've already paid it so that I don't have the landlord on my back." There was no need for her to worry about that if she decided to take the room, all he wanted was a flatmate to help pay the rent. "Any questions?" He finally asked, allowing Cait to take it all in.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin nodded at Lucan’s question, “I only graduated from my nursing course earlier this year. But I was lucky enough to land a job right away.” She’d managed to get a job straight after graduating, as one of the doctors at the hospital she’d been training at had remembered her and offered her a job on the spot. She’d always been at least near the top of the class, but it was her personality which swung it most of the time, Caitrin found it quite easy to get on with most people, and patients were no exception. “What was your degree in?” She asked curiously, she’d already pointed out hers had been in nursing. It had been some of the best years of her life, but she was happy enough in her chosen profession; she loved being a nurse, it had been her ambition since she’d been a little girl.

As Lucan opened the door to her room, she had a quick look round and her eyes lit up right away. She could imagine herself in here after a long day at work. She set her cup of tea down on the desk, and let herself fall dramatically into the bed; back first. The bed was simply heavenly, and Caitrin was never one for being shy. “This is fantastic.” She said with a wide grin and sat up on the bed, “I love it already.” This was already her room, and she sure of it. Caitrin stood up finally as Lucan gestured to continue the tour. She took her cup of tea with her of course. The bathroom was just as pleasant, and it did fortunately have a bath. Caitrin loved a good soak at the end of the day. Her student let had always just had a shower, so a bath was still a luxury for her.

Lucan began to speak about the rent, and she started to get excited. 400 a month didn’t sound that bad. It was a bit more expensive than her student home, but she hadn’t expected anything less because it was a nicer flat. Well, there was one question biting at her of course, “When can I move in?” She asked with a grin and a warm smile, “Well, that’s if you want me to move in of course.” She couldn’t imagine him saying no, but that was just to be sure, she never liked to assume anything.

[lucan]

Ah, so he had been right then. It was lucky that she had been able to find a job straight away - at least she'd had one area covered without having the worry of looking for a place and a job at the same time. "I seeeee" he nodded in approval, "At least you had that when you came out of University." Lucan put down his cup as she asked what he'd studied. "Accountancy" he answered, "I work in a firm in central London - nothing exciting" he smirked.

He was glad that both the room and bathroom were to her liking - and with her now asking when she could move in, Lucan was only too pleased that she actually wanted to. "As soon as you're ready" he told her, "I just need to let the landlord know that there's two of us sharing again and not just one, and then you can move in whenever you like." Thank goodness! At least he didn't appear to have a flatmate who was as mad as a box of cats. From this first meeting it seemed as though they were going to get along just fine, and that was enough for Lucan to go by.

“Well, that’s if you want me to move in of course.”

"Why wouldn't I?" he gave her a look, she seemed to be - after all - the only decent tenant he'd stumbled upon so far. If he was to say no (which was unlikely) then he knew he wouldn't get as good as Cait. "If you love Horrible Histories and The Beatles, then that's good enough for me" he teased.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin knew she had been lucky to walk out of university into a job, because there were always news stories that graduates could never get jobs. She knew plenty of people on her course who were stacking shelves in shops because that was the only work they could get. Nursing was her passion though, and she couldn’t imagine doing anything else, so she had put her heart and soul into the course and it had paid off immensely. “Accountancy sounds... fun?” She said with a quizzical look on her face. She’d never go for a job which involved numbers all day long, Caitrin enjoyed a more hands on approach with her work rather than sitting at a desk all day looking at figures and statistics. Though if it worked for Lucan, she supposed that was all that mattered really.

Beaming as Lucan said she could move in whenever she was ready, she took another few moments to just take in the small house in general. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but she could now think of it as her home, and it was her key for getting away from her Uncle and cousin. She had more than enough to pay the rent, she couldn’t believe how reasonable it was really for what she was getting. She and Lucan seemed to be in one mind about most things, so she was sure this would all go smoothly. “How does Friday sound? It’s the one day I’m not on call.” She explained with a wide grin, she might have days off, but if she was on call they could haul her into work at a moments notice and with little explanation. She was quite enthusiastic about moving in, but like she’d said, she couldn’t spend one more day under her Uncle’s roof.

“Well as long as you don’t mind me rolling in at stupid o clock from the late shift.” She pointed out with a wink. She enjoyed night shifts, but they were a pain if you lived with other people who tended to be active during the day when all she wanted was to sleep and not think about anything. Her eyes lit up as he mentioned Horrible Histories, “I love that show!” She exclaimed. It might be a kids show, but that didn’t matter. The other nurses on the ward loved it too, and it meant they had things to talk about with the children who were admitted.

[lucan]

“Accountancy sounds... fun?” Lucan gave a small snort at this. "Never thought i'd here those two words in the same sentance - but I suppose it's keeping me on my toes for now." He couldn't really complain, he'd spent years aiming for something that would actually get him by with life. "As im sure your job is too?" he questioned and raised an eyebrow slightly. He knew where to go if he ever broke a bone.

Friday. Blimey she was keen! Obviously Lucan had no objections to this and was open for Caitrin doing anything she wished. This could be her flat too after all. "Friday is fine by me, i'll have to leave the key with you though because i'll be calculating numbers at a very nice desk, but you can call me if you need anything." he told her. In all honesty he'd much rather be sat at home watching re-runs of Friends, but that wasn't going to happen.

She liked Horrible Histories?! "It's a guilty pleasure" he smirked, "That's what happens when your father decides he wants a split personality." the navy must have led Captain Cornous Aubert to becoming as barmy as he could be now - his favourite film was Muppet Treasure Island and he would think he was a pirate rather than a retired navy captain. Had Luc have stayed at home then he would've been driven insane too most likely. His younger brother Griff? well, lord knows how he had coped growing up.
On some days Corneous could be a total and typical gentleman of the manour, yet other days he could sway and that would set him off. "and i'll admit now that I know most of the songs off by heart" he admitted, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Accountancy wasn’t something that Caitrin would ever find too interesting, but she supposed Lucan would have to find it interesting in some sense as he was employed in that sector. Nursing was never seen as the most glamorous job, but she loved it anyway. She’d never really spoken to an accountant before, the numbers would bore her she was sure. “I love my job,” She confirmed enthusiastically and she warmly smiled at Lucan, “I’ve wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember.” As a young girl she had always wanted to help and heal people, the opposite of what her father had done of course. Perhaps that was why she had always been so driven to do it.

Friday would work fabulously, the quicker she could move out of her Uncle’s house and into her own space again the better. It was her day off so she’d rather spend it doing something useful rather than just sat in her Uncle’s home getting more and more annoyed with the man. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her Uncle, no she did love him an incredible amount. He had adopted her after all, and she owed him a lot, but she was a woman now and she needed her own space and that was that at the end of the day. He appreciated that though, he didn’t hold moving out against her. In fact he would probably enjoy the fact she was going to stop stealing his wine. “That’s fine, I’ve already got your number anyway.” She had had to ring him to arrange the viewing after all, but she was already incredibly enthusiastic at moving out anyway so there wasn’t much problem at the end of the day.

Caitrin laughed at Lucan’s reaction to her actually liking Horrible Histories. She didn’t care that it was a children’s programme. When she eventually got round to having children she would make sure they watched the show, and learnt all the songs. It was a beautiful image. “A split personality?” She asked with furrowed brows, “My Uncle’s just an alcoholic, but at least you know the cupboards are always stocked.” She winked at him and just gave a short laugh but her words were true. Her Uncle wasn’t a real alcoholic anyway, he drank glass after glass but never seemed to get anywhere near tipsy. It wasn’t incredibly fair. “Do you want me to just come back on Friday then?” She wasn’t sure whether Lucan wanted her to leave him in peace for now, or whether he wanted to get to know her a little bit better first. Well, she still needed the keys didn’t she?

[lucan]

Lucan smiled at this, Caitrin seemed so passionate about her job and that was something that he liked to hear. "Any particular reason why? Or did you just know that the job was meant for you when you were younger?" he asked. Most children always dreamed and grew up taking their dream job. When Lucan was younger he'd wanted to be a pilot, but for now he was stuck in a dead end job just to get by before he could even consider taking on something like that. Still, there was always hope.

Cait seemed nice enough so he didn't see why she couldn't stay for a while longer, only if she wanted to that was. It would be nice to get to know her before she actually moved in. "Why don't you stay for a while if you want? It would be nice to actually have someone to now talk to instead of sitting here trying to figure out this darn crossword" he chuckled, "take a seat and i'll make you another tea if you want?"

Trekking into the kitchen, he flicked the kettle on again. "You probably will find that most of the time that im home, im either arguing with my father on the phone or trying to fix something." he held up the radio that was currently in pieces. "Thanks to my drunken oath of a brother he managed to destroy my radio, so it's now up to me to try and get it back to its former glory. Last week it was radiator leak - who knows what will be next" he rolled his eyes. Luc grabbed the biscuit tin and popped it on the coffee table in front of Cait. "Help yourself, this flat is just as much yours as it is mine now."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin couldn’t really explain why she had just longed to train as a nurse. Her Uncle had told her that she should be aiming higher, but she couldn’t imagine doing anything else now. She could progress within the NHS, and hopefully even the private medical health services. That was her life at the moment and she loved it. She had spent quite a lot of time in hospital when she was younger, so maybe that was why she had been heavily influenced by nurses, and those around her. Her father hadn’t had the most tender of touches, so most of her childhood was full of hospital visits and knocks on the door from social workers. “Well I erm spent some time in hospital when I was younger, I just supposed I wanted to look after others in the way they used to look after me.” She smiled but she knew nothing would get rid of those memories of her father. But that was in her past, she wasn’t that little girl anymore, and she had healed.

She smiled at Lucan’s suggestion of staying a while longer. She wasn’t in any rush, she was off work tomorrow so she could catch up on her sleep then. Plus, it wasn’t like she was going home to anything but clearing up after her Uncle and her cousin. “Sure, I don’t have anything to get home for anyway.” She smiled at Lucan and sat back down on the sofa, she could imagine herself living here, it was just quite comfortable. “Oh I’d love another cup of tea, thank you.” She grinned at Lucan and handed him her cup.

Lucan’s family sounded just as interesting as her own was. She’d been keeping all her possessions out of show if this drunken brother turned up. He wouldn’t be breaking any of her things, or else he might not live to regret it. “Then warn me when your drunken brothers about to turn up.” She smirked, “I’m sure he’s not that bad.” If you wanted a model of how a family shouldn’t act then you didn’t need to look further than the de Archer family. “But as long as you’re the man to turn to with DIY, I can help heal human beings, but give me a plug socket to fix and I’d probably blow my own fingers off.” She laughed to herself, she wasn’t amazing with DIY, stereotypically she could decorate, but she couldn’t do anything technical. She took one of the biscuits Lucan was offering her with a quick word of thanks. She really couldn’t wait to move in.

[lucan]

"Im sorry to hear that" he gave her a weak smile when she explained that she'd been in hospital when she was younger. "Giving something back then, it sounds like you're quite a woman Caitrin, should I happen to break my leg or anything then i'll call for you."He gave a small wink.

Lucan smirked at the mention of Griff. "That's the thing, I don't know when he will turn up myself! He usually just shows up whenever he feels like it." He shrugged, "But yes, If he happens to turn up when i'm here and you're not then i'll definatly let you know." Not bad? Not bad? Clearly she hadn't met Griff. "Hmmm, clearly you need the Aubert experiance. It's not pleasant." he grinned. Thankfully Lucan could hold his drink. “But as long as you’re the man to turn to with DIY, I can help heal human beings, but give me a plug socket to fix and I’d probably blow my own fingers off.”

Lucan laughed along with her at this. "I try my best." he shrugged, "Sometimes I fail along the way and other times I manage to succeed." Interrupted by the buzz of his iphone on the table he picked it up, sighing as he saw the caller ID. "Sorry, I just need to take this." he apologised and stood up, walking out into the hallway.
"Elaine! How great to hear from you." he said with mock cheer. His step mother now sternly yelling something or other at him down the end of the phone. He wasn't really paying attention in all honestly. "Can I call you back?" he asked, hearing the word 'no' very clearly before she carried on, "Well that's a shame but I have to go, love you too!" he made his goodbye more mocking just to annoy her some more and hung up. There was no way he wanted a conversation with Elaine - just trying to start one with her was enough of a chore.

Walking back in he grinned at Cait, "Sorry about that" he held up the phone. "Stepmother." he confirmed.

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin shifted slightly but shrugged all the same. It wasn’t really for Lucan to be sorry for, there was nothing he could do really. The only consolation of those years of hell was that her Uncle had taken her in, and he had helped her enjoy a childhood alongside her cousin, Dristan. Once she had been taken in by her Uncle, her childhood had been quite loving and she couldn’t complain at all. Her Uncle hadn’t spared anything for her comfort, “Don’t be, it’s not like it can be changed.” She said softly and brushed it off with a smile, “Plus I wouldn’t be the woman I am now without all that.” That much was true, “Well, at least you’ll know where to come if you have a problem.” She jested, as it was handy to have a nurse around the place anyway.

So Lucan just had a brother that turned up whenever he wanted to? Oh great. She made a quick mental note to just make sure nothing valuable was ever on show. At least her cousin, Dristan, would let her know before he called. “Well I’m sure I’ll meet him soon enough then.” She shrugged, she usually got on with men, even if they were brothers of friends. Heh, he sounded quite odd, but Caitrin liked that. What would she do with a man who was perfect, after all? He didn’t tell Lucan of her thoughts of course, he probably wouldn’t approve of her trying to picture how she would be flirting with his brother, if he was good looking of course. She wouldn’t be bothering if he wasn’t. Lucan was quite handsome, but he was also sweet and she wasn’t sure if he was her type. She could already tell he would make a good friend though, “And you have never had the Archer experience, I think we’re even.” She grinned and winked at him, because the Archer’s really were a strange family, no one seemed to like each other very much.

Caitrin just nodded as Lucan took a call from someone called Elaine, and she wasn’t really paying attention to his conversation. She just had her lips on her cup of tea, and was blowing on it softly. There wasn’t really anything which shocked her that much, it was obvious Lucan really didn’t want to be having that conversation. She couldn’t judge of course, she didn’t know the woman on the other end. When Lucan explained she was his step-mother, Caitrin just gave a small grin, “Close are you then?”

[lucan]

"Hopefully not too soon" Luc commented, "Although when he's sober he's not that bad, so I would definatly go for that version."Griff was a laugh when he wasn't stumbling around and slurring. He was also a serial flirt, so Cait would have to beware. She'd soon find out herself anyway.

Lucan smirked and pushed the door closed to reveal the dartboard on the back of it with a picture of his stepmother attached. a few little holes where the darts had pierced through. "Not even that" he smirked, "Im sure she most likely has one of me somewhere." It wouldn't surprise him if Elaine chanted curses about him over her bubbling cauldron. The woman hated him to now end, always had and always would.

He sat himself down again and took a sip of his tea. "Right, I suppose i'd better give you this." he said, reaching for the bowl on the table that had a few objects in. Picking up a key he passed it to her. "Key to the front door, you're gonna need it."

[Caitrin de Archer]

=== Moving Day ===

On reflection, Caitrin Archer didn’t really have that much stuff. Since she’d been moving from student let to student let over the years she only had a few things that she needed to keep for herself. Her Uncle didn’t agree of course, he had had to help her pack, so in his opinion she had too much stuff. She had several boxes that her Uncle had helped to get into her new room, she could unpack later. Lucan wasn’t in at the moment, she’d sent him a text to tell him that she was gradually moving her things in though, so it wouldn’t be a complete shock when he turned up. Rouland was already getting tetchy around his niece, and he kept asking how much help she really needed. He brought the last box up to the room, and at the moment she was faced with several boxes littered around a double bed. Well, it was a start, but she couldn’t get over the excitement that this was her room now, and it was her flat as well as Lucan’s. This was a new chapter for her, and one she wanted to get started straight away. She had the weekend off, she’d used up some of her holidays to get the time off work, it wasn’t as if she was going to be able to afford to go anywhere this year anyway, so she didn’t have to worry about it right away.

Rouland bid his niece goodbye after he got a call from Dristan saying he’d locked himself out of the house. Caitrin promised to come and have dinner with them both within the week, she couldn’t ignore them altogether. She wanted her privacy and space, but they were still the only family she recognised and loved, so she had to give them some attention occasionally. This was her first time alone in the flat, and she felt strange in a way. It was partly hers now, but it didn’t feel like it yet. She was sure it would once she had settled in. In the meantime she made her way into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea while she waited for Lucan to get in from work.