Who: Melinda McKinnon and Deidra McKinnon
What: Discussions
Where: Matt and Deidra's house
When: After the radio show
"What are
you so pissy about?" Melinda chewed noisily on the end of a carrot, watching her sister-in-law bustle about the kitchen. Deidra
never bustled, she rarely put such an effort into dinner, but it seemed like something had struck her into putting a full three courses onto the table tonight. Melinda was quite sure it wasn't because of
her presence.
Deidra stopped at the sink and turned, eying Melinda carefully before pressing her lips tightly together and darting off toward the living room. Melinda rolled her eyes and pushed back into her chair, leaning on the back two legs. She had never really gotten along with her sister-in-law, not because she didn't like the girl, but mostly because they were very similar. Melinda and Deidra both had very short tempers and were very stubborn about their ideals. So, that often led to snippy conversations that Matt would have to interrupt with some joke, or bring Milo over to get them to stop.
Well, she had
tried to find out what was the matter, and Melinda kept an eye on Deidra as she hurried back into the kitchen with a small towel. As she began to wipe up some spilled water, Melinda let out a sigh.
"Do you want me to cut the carrots?"
"
No, you don't have to do
anything, Melinda," Deidra said without turning around. Melinda's eyebrows rose quickly, and she straightened her shoulders, now
quite interested in her sister-in-law's mood.
"Again,
what has you so pissy?
You invited me over for dinner, remember?"
"Yes, and that was all good and fine until you went and started causing trouble again!" Deidra snapped quickly, turning around with the towel balled into her fist. Melinda's brow furrowed in question, and she sucked in her cheeks. What the hell had she done now? "I can't believe you were saying all of that stuff on the wireless!"
Melinda let out a laugh, "That's what's got you in a tizzy?" Oh, that was a bloody
riot, "Why on earth are you upset about
that?"
"Be
cause, Melinda," Deidra started, face immediately getting red. One thing about the 'discussions' Melinda would have with her sister-in-law was that Melinda was able to keep herself quite calm and collected while Deidra nearly blew her top after the first line was thrown, "You're going to cause
trouble."
"How long have you known me, Deidra? Hm? It's been nearly ten years, and you're
just figuring out that I'm a trouble maker?" Melinda was clearly amused by all of this, and slung her arms over the back of her chair, crossing her legs to show that she was ready for this fight. It was a good thing Matt didn't get off of work for another hour.
Deidra stood stock still, looking as if steam was ready to burst from her ears. Melinda held back a wince as she prepared herself for the shriek that was about to erupt, but was startled at the low and cold tone the other woman's voice took on,
"You're going to get yourself killed, Melinda," Deidra said slowly. Melinda's mouth continued to lie in a straight line, "You're going to get yourself killed like that friend of yours."
"Dorian was a hero--"
"And so
what, he's still
dead," Deidra shot back, crossing her arms and pressing hard against the counter behind her, "You think he gives a shit now about being a hero or not?"
Melinda stood up quickly, hand going in the air as if ready to start a debate in front of the Wizengamot, but Deidra quickly stepped forward with her hand shaking centimeters from Melinda's face.
"You are going to get
killed, Melinda, if you keep talking like you do, or they're going to hurt you, or they're going to hurt your
family, and---"
"Is that what all this is about?" Melinda interrupted heatedly, standing tall over the much shorter woman, "You're scared that
you're going to end up getting hurt?"
"I don't give a
shit about what happens to me," Deidra snapped just as harshly, puffing up greatly to try and gain some height, "But
nothing is going to hurt my son, and I swear to
God Melinda, I will
never forgive you if something happens to Milo,
never!"
Melinda stepped back slightly, still frowning greatly, but silent. She didn't find it fair at all that Deidra was bringing the baby into all of this, even though she knew there was a good chance of something happening to them. She didn't like to think about it, especially now, knowing that Marlie was part of that blasted Order of the Phoenix, but---Deidra
couldn't think she could just
stop fighting for their rights--
"So you expect me to just sit back and watch You-Know-Who take over the world," Melinda said coldly, shaking her head because the mere thought of backing down made her sick. She watched the other woman look away, moving back toward the sink and draping the towel over the neck of the faucet.
"I've already lost a brother to this war, Melinda," Deidra said, her tone much softer, more needy than before, "Will's going to be an auror and now I've got Nate---I'm in this war no matter what, but--but I don't want to cause trouble like you do, I think you're the most selfish person I've ever met, running your mouth like you do."
"They pay
attention when you cause a scene--"
"THEN FIND ANOTHER WAY!" Deidra shouted back, forcing the room into silence with the echo of her exclamation. Milo's soft cries from a few rooms down the hallway broke through, and Melinda finally caught her sister-in-law's eye again as she made her way through the room to get her son.
"I'm doing what's right," Melinda stubbornly said. Deidra stared at her hard for a long few seconds before leaving the kitchen. Melinda let out a breath and sat down at the table, grabbing the bowl of carrots to start slicing them.
