Who: Grayson and Jules
What: Siblings that love and trust each other do what they do best, duh.
Where: Juliana's home
When: Sunday evening

It had taken him a little more than a month, but Grayson had finally worked himself into such a frenzy using all his spare time to think about hair-brained schemes for getting Ophelia to come back to him and stay despite his increasingly apparent inability to be stable and trying to figure out what his sister Juliana could be hiding from him about her daughter that he hadn’t been able to stop himself from showing up at Juliana’s door unannounced.

He’d reasoned that there were few reasons for his sister to really lie to him except for pure spite, and he didn’t think she’d be so defensive if that was the reason. She was being strange about it, which meant that there was something about the child that was inherently dangerous in some way -- that only made it more important for him to find out what she was hiding. From his own … familial indiscretions, he’d come up with the brilliant idea that the child was probably somehow too closely related to them.

He lifted his hand to knock on the door casually, hoping to keep under wraps the fact that he was becoming more and more unhinged. His smile had always been a little unsettling, anyway -- that had to count for something. At least he looked presentable today, as he’d changed into a fresh pair of robes that hadn’t become inexplicably torn or shredded.

Unfortunately for him, Grayson's mere presence was all it took to set off alarm bells when it came to Juliana. Blame it on traumatic childhood memories of fights long past, his generally nosy and violent nature, or just the fact that neither of them had been quite 'regular' since the death of their elder brother... all it came down to was that Grayson suddenly showing up at her home was both unwelcome and startling.

Slender fingers curved around the long door handle tightly, and Juliana did her very best to maintain a pleasant smile as she stood face-to-face with the youngest Wilkes man. The tiny, dark-haired subject of his interest toddled around her mother's feet unrestrained, something that happened quite often these days with no nanny to keep an eye on the annoyingly mobile creature that her daughter was becoming. As usual, her mother's response was to simply ignore the issue entirely and hope the house elves would keep her from falling on any knives in the process.

After all, Mischa killing herself would be no good. She needed to live until at least 17.

“Brother...” Juliana cautiously greeted him. “You look well. What brings you here?”

He supposed that it would probably be better to try and appear calm about Mischa so that he could just discreetly either get her hair or her … blood, but that was simply not his style. He pursed his lips into a line, leaning against the doorframe and glancing briefly over to the child.

“Can I not come and see how my sister is doing now that she does not have a nanny to do her job for her?” He arched his brow at her, keeping his arms crossed over his chest and trying his best not to just demand that he give her what he came here to get. That would be a little too tactless, however.

“I can’t imagine it would look good if she became injured. I simply wanted to make sure that she was still functioning.” Yes, that would do as an excuse.

Juliana arched an eyebrow at her brother in mild suspicion. Mild, although inside the emotion was certainly rushing through her at full force.

“Are you really so concerned with her still?” she asked, recalling their conversation of a month before. She hoped that this was not what he was coming about, but knew better than to doubt it. When Grayson set his mind on something, he went after it at one hundred percent, and she knew that Mischa’s parentage was of particular concern to him.

It was at least good to know that Amery had never dared tell her secrets. They had done their fare share of taking jabs at each other in the months leading up to his death, but she supposed that this particular secret was one that not even he would have whispered of.

“As touched as I am by your affection for your niece, shouldn’t you be concerning yourself with your own children first?” she asked pointedly. Reaching down without looking, Jules took Mischa under the arms and lifted her up, feeling the sudden necessity to keep her close, where she could keep control of her. “Please do not lecture me on parenting until you see yours more than once a year.”

Too cruel, possibly, but it had never been within her nature to hold back.

Did she honestly think that he was going to be so easily ruffled? Even with the -- problems that he had with Ophelia, he knew that she really was looking out for what was best for their children. He just happened to disagree with how she was going about it, that was all.

“There is a large difference between my wife taking care of my children and you taking care of your own, Juliana -- I trust Ophelia to be able to take care of our daughter and not … drop her on the head.” He didn’t care so much about the boy, although he knew she took care of him too. He watched the way that she collected up Mischa and then smirked thinly.

“I think I’ve figured out what it is that you’re worried about me finding out.” Grayson felt rather smug about this, even if he knew it was a bit of a stretch of his imagination. He knew the child couldn’t be Amery’s, because as distant as he’d felt from his brother in the last few months of his life, he was sure that he would’ve shared such a secret with him. “Mischa’s more related to us than she should be.”

He tried hard to make that a certain statement, and he watched his sister’s face closely to try and discern her reaction.

“That’s what you think, do you?”

The answer was quiet, solemn, but not entirely guilty. Or--that’s what she hoped, anyway. Juliana stared at her brother for a long moment, the only movement on the scene being the baby in her arms, and she pursed her lips into a fine line as if considering what he had said. Inside, there was not the shock that she would have expected of herself at this sort of a revelation... it was there, but it was accompanied by some sort of acceptance, as if Grayson discovering such a thing had been inevitable. Maybe it had been. As much as she could claim to hate him, her brother had always been a very resourceful man with a knack for getting to the bottom of things.

But he was also good at bluffing, and a part of her wondered if that’s not what was happening at the very moment. The whole family had hints, of course, of his own indiscretions among current family members. Would it really have been difficult for him to decide that Mischa’s father was related somehow, just as a guess or simply to shock her?

Well, whether that was it or not, she would have to simply go on it. There was no way that letting Mischa’s details out now would do either of them any good. It was unlikely that Grayson would run and tell anyone, family pride being on the line and what not, but the fewer people who knew the better.

“That is a very serious accusation to make, and I can honestly say I’m disgusted at the notion,” she finally answered. “If all you have come here to do is insult me, then I’m sorry to tell you that you are not welcome in my home.”

He laughed. Honestly and truly, he was almost proud of the way that Juliana was reacting. Although he knew that she hated his wife and probably disapproved of more than one of the choices he’d made (fortunately, he doubted she knew that he’d killed their brother), he needed now more than ever to know that his sister hadn’t somehow grown weak.

“Be that as it may, I’m confident in my statement.” He wasn’t, really, but at this point and time he knew he couldn’t afford to waver even if he did end up being completely incorrect. “I would just like your assurance that the father isn’t going to become a problem.” Because if he was, he was going to have to take care of said problem.

“And why would he become a problem?” she asked, a curious hint to her voice that sounded of sarcasm. “He can hardly do a thing locked up in Azkaban, can he?”

The way she said it, it was clear that she wasn’t particularly trying to continue to claim that The Boy was Mischa’s true father. While she played that card plenty in public, in the privacy of her own home, with her brother, she knew that it could hurt no one to--to an extent--freely say that this was not the truth of the matter. She could never say it outright, but she could make it obvious with her tone that she was less than serious. On top of it, it would give Grayson something, even if it was something he already knew.

Finally regarding her daughter for the first time, Juliana turned her eyes down to Mischa’s face, all her features so unlike those of herself of her “husband.” She was a pretty girl, at least---prettier than she would have been with Travers genes, she was certain. “Our late brother had enough concern on the matter for the both of you and no issues came of it. It’s fair to say that there is no threat.”

He knew that it would be best to just drop it here and now, but he was still a little too wrapped-up in finding things to think about other than the way that Amery had died to be able to let it do that so easily. Some part of his mind was put at ease with the thought that the father wasn’t a threat, but … well, he had made the mistake of trusting his brother in the past. He pursed his lips into a tight line.

Juliana had made the right decision having a child with someone other than Travers, he supposed. Nobody needed that curly-haired gene messing with things. “Forgive me if that does not completely set my mind at ease, sister. Do you still have affection for this gentleman to the point that you would not wish me to … harm him?”

“Harm?” For some reason, the question surprised her, although considering who it was coming from, she knew she should not have been. Yes, it was no stretch of the imagination to assume that if Grayson did discover Christopher’s identity, there might be bloodshed involved. The idea of it was almost enough to push her to tell him right then and there, to be honest.

It wasn’t that she didn’t... love her cousin plenty... but to say that she had been pleased with his fault in this entire situation would have been a severe overstatement. He deserved to be punished, after all she had been put through.

But that would be no good. Difficult as it was to weigh, Grayson knowing her secrets was not worth the momentary rewards of seeing Christopher put through pain. Lucky bastard he was.

Waving a hand to dismiss her own surprise, she sighed in disdain at the unfortunate situation. “I really could care less what happens to him, as you can imagine,” she told him. “It is a mutual agreement.”

“As you say. I just want to assure you that...if there becomes a problem...” Oh, this was not going the way he’d thought it would at all, he was going soft himself, “that you can rely on me to take care of it. Without … question.” As much as that pained him to admit. Really, Amery had been the one to take care of Juliana and he’d taken care of Daniella, and now that Amery wasn’t there...

He looked to the child again. “Are you getting another nanny for her? I imagine it would be in everyone’s best interests.”

What was this attitude out of Grayson, she wondered? Where she had been wary, almost affronted at his presence at first, Juliana now felt herself inexplicably relaxing in this conversation in a way she had not with her youngest brother in as long as she could remember. It almost--not quite, but almost--reminded her of Amery, in a way. Lovingly pushy and realistic about all issues, but never quite antagonistic, and always grounded in concern. Just for a split second, she felt a fresh pang of loss all over again.

Forcing herself to shake off that odd feeling, she focused again on the conversation at hand. She had to be present, and to remember that as much as she wanted this to be her other brother, it was most definitely not. Grayson was, for his momentary lapse of normalcy, an entirely different creature and needed to be handled as such.

“I have been attempting to, but it seems such things are difficult these days,” she said. “But I was thinking a strong, proper Russian woman this time, if I can manage it. I fear these English ladies are too soft to withstand my iron-clad resolve on certain matters.”

“That might not be a terrible idea. I’m sure that if you owled some of the relatives back home they would be able to find you -- and possibly deliver to you -- someone suitable.” And if that was enough to appease her for the moment then he should be glad. He still wanted to figure out who Mischa’s father was but he no longer felt like he needed to burst into the house and steal her blood.

That was an improvement, right? He cleared his throat. “Well, now that we’ve established that nobody here is dead...” He paused. “I suppose I can leave.”

“Wait--”

She couldn’t explain what came over her at that moment, but all of a sudden Juliana was not as keen to see her brother go. It was just--it had been so long since she had gotten along with Grayson... and being that her other brother was gone as well... it was striking, realizing how precious the time they had was. And if Grayson was willing to play nicely with her, she had no reason as to why she couldn’t, for a moment, be his big sister again rather than his enemy.

Extending the child in her arms towards him, she inclined her head, suggesting he should take her. “You should at least hold her, before you go,” she said, sounding awkward but sincere. “It’s been a long time, since you’ve seen... her.”

She had nearly said ‘Anya’, but quickly thought better of it. Yes, while she no doubt pitied his situation with his wretched excuse for a spouse, there was no need to bring it up in such a calm moment.

This -- could actually work out in his best interests. And it was nice, truly, to see his sister in a way that didn’t cause immediate distress to one or both of them. He nodded tensely and took the child into his arms surprisingly easily, brushing back her hair - and noting with an inward glee that he’d managed to get some of the loose hairs onto the hem of his jacket.

“She’s very -- well-fed,” because that was the best compliment he could come up with other than ‘she doesn’t at all look like Travers’ which would just bring awkward things up again. He couldn’t quite manage a smile, but hopefully his sister would be aware that he was thankful.

“And it has,” he agreed cautiously. “I am...working on it.” In the best way he could, which was more or less ignoring it and hoping he’d manage to get himself balanced out before it was too late.

As difficult was it was to keep her mouth shut, for the sake of the moment she managed to do so, biting back any cruel--deserved--remarks she had poised on her tongue about his estranged wife. Considering the wide repertoire of them she kept under her belt, it was certainly saying something of her current content with the situation that she did not sling any out.

“I see,” Juliana said, stepping back just to give him a moment with the girl. She knew she was not the same as his daughter, didn’t even look like his daughter, but imagined that at least it gave him some comfort with the lack of protest. Somewhere, that little bit pleased her. “You’ll let me know if you need anything, won’t you? Promises of delivering harm go both ways, of course... I am not entirely useless in this department, if need be.”

The side of her lips twitched up lightly, not betraying how serious she actually felt about that. Oh, if only she had his permission to...

He had to say he was surprised with the offer, but he … nodded firmly after a moment. “I’ll certainly let you know.” He looked down to the child in his arms and … for the first time in a while, felt a little better.

Perhaps this was what he needed - just to see his children again.