I Can't Even

[Hamish MacFusty]

May 15, 1884

Ham was angry. He knew that was not Grams' intention as she clearly said she would take care of it, but how in the name of Merlin's beard his family had fallen so far in so many respects was beyond him. Fortunately for him, to get the dirt all he had to do was go a little closer to the source; Mac.

He knew Mac and Cecily were friends from school, he also particularly enjoyed the redhead himself, so naturally to hear that his brother had blatantly disrespected her really pissed him off.

Unfortunately he'd fibbed just a little to his lovely wife, saying he was off to see Grams when really he was off to get details. He didn't even bother to knock, just strolled right in to his brother's house, found his niece and scooped her up in a fit of giggles. It was oddly calming and would keep him from yelling. "What the hell is going on?"

  

[Malcolm Macfusty]

Mac was lazing on the couch, because he had spent his morning wrangling Mordred and had no desire to go anywhere, not even to any of the pubs in town. He had just committed himself to the idea of a nap when Hammy stormed in and he sat up sharply, figuring that Ham was there for a reason - and that he probably already knew the reason, because what else could it be? Everyone but Tor had their shit together, except for the two with dead wives, and that wasn't news, just sad.

"Do you want the long version or the short version," Mac deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at his elder brother.

  

[Hamish MacFusty]

Ham expertly balanced Izzie in one arm, the toddler getting heavier than he remembered. Of course to him, his goddaughter was still an infant, even though clearly she was no longer so little. Ham must have been interrupting nap time because she snuggled into his shoulder, little eyes half closed.

Good that would keep him from exploding.

"O' give meh all the details." He may have had to have been quiet at the moment, but the displeasure still colored his voice.

  

[Malcolm Macfusty]

"There was a girl," Mac said, and that really could have summed all of it up for all he cared about the details, but Ham had asked for the long version, so here he went.

"One of Vina's friends, I think," Mac said, "I don't know. Don't actually give a fuck. Her name's Miss Rozenn Lozach, and Tor fancies his stupid ass in love with her, despite having known her for forty-five minutes or something." He didn't like the girl and he was pissed off at Torquil, to say the least.

  

[Hamish MacFusty]

Ham's jaw dropped. He knew his brothers were impulsive, hello, tea debacle and surprise children in the family, but seriously. He was not immune, once upon a time he'd been just as impetuous as his siblings, but when the family was starting to accumulate bastards as often as they were legitimate children, there was a problem.

Now, to top it all off, Tor who had actually taken a step in the right direction and married the girl he knocked up, was off gallivanting with some woman he'd just met. "I hope somebody slugs him or Grams gets ahold of him, because that's infuriating." He was bubbling under the surface, but with Izzie fast asleep on his shoulder at the moment, he couldn't exactly show it. If he was ever careless or thoughtless or crazy enough to disrespect Violet like that he hoped Mac would straight up murder him. Of course Hamish would never, ever, ever do that to his wife, but apparently marriage did not mean the same thing to some of his brothers that it did to him.

  

[Malcolm Macfusty]

"It was probably longer than forty-five minutes," Mac admitted, "I dunno, though - it wasn't very long, and, well - Cecily." Cecily deserved better. And Mac wasn't very good at putting up with people who mistreated his friends, even when they were his brothers. Just because he loved Tor didn't meant that he had to put up with his bullshit.

"I broke his nose," Mac said, "Did I forget to mention that?" The girl had fixed it, but it had been very fulfilling anyways, so Mac was kind of sort of counting that as one of his few successes in this entire, stupid, thing.

  

[Hamish MacFusty]

"Good." Ham grinned at his brother after Mac admitted that he broke Tor's nose. That was getting off easy in Ham's opinion. "Well I should hope somebody offered Cecily a place to stay." He would do so, right after he spoke with Violet about it, if nobody else got there first. "I also hope she gets the kids." That would not be a popular opinion either, but she had not done anything wrong and Ham would much rather see Connor and the new one with Cecily than this new Lozach character. He also hoped that anybody sympathizing with his idiot brother did not expect him to be more than distantly pleasant to this woman. Then again...

"Grams said that both Cecily and the new one left him, how's that going?" Grams was more forthcoming with information than he would have ever expected.

  

[Malcolm Macfusty]

"Well until the new one's born, she has that one - I don't know where Conner is," Mac said, "He might be with Ma." Which was probably the right place for him to be, with both of his parents in the state they were in. "Cecily knows that she's welcome to come here any time she wants."

"Apparently he's - well, you know. Again. In Lews Castle. I wish Tav wasn't in Paris, he's probably the only one who can stop Tor from drinking himself to death," Mac said with a shrug. He drank a lot - they all drank a lot - but that was genuinely worrying.

He still kind of wanted to punch Tor in the face.

  

[Hamish MacFusty]

Hmm, Ham supposed that at least if things were civil, having the babes be around the family wasn't a bad thing. But Tor definitely didn't deserve them, nor apparently, was he capable of caring for them either.

He also knew that he had never suffered a loss like Tor, Tav and Tiger, but realistically, drinking yourself even more stupid that you were already acting was not the best of plans. That was a serious flaw of their family. The whiskey was in the blood, but damn it would kill one of them eventually. "I'll make sure to stop by and see her at the castle then." Ham decided with a derisive nod, finding a chair to settle himself in, adjusting Izzie easily, completely immune to the little spot of drool forming on his shirt. At this point he was more worried about his sister-in-law than his brother; like Grams said, she could take care of that.

  

[Malcolm Macfusty]

"So that's about the whole story," Mac said, "It's a fucken disaster, I know, but." He shrugged. This was not a good year to be a MacFusty - he missed Birdie, and he missed Tav's blonde wife, and he missed not wanting to punch his brother in the face, but there was nothing he could do about it. Probably - hopefully - everything would sort itself out sooner or later, but he just didn't know.

It was all making his romantic issues seem completely and utterly normal, though.

  

[Hamish MacFusty]

Mac's term of "fucken disaster" hardly covered it, but Ham could easily agree. It was a clusterfuck of ridiculousness that couldn't be taken back now. He just hoped that it did not come around and reflect poorly on Cecily, because if it did, even Ham would want to have words with his brother. As of right now he would stay out of it, other than to show Cecily his support.

He would also approach Violet about relocating. Perhaps it was time, as much as Ham hated to do it, that he distance himself from his family's shenanigans. He would not stand to have this reflect poorly on his own wife, purely for her last name.

At that thought, he decided to stay put for a minute; he was still fuming, Izzie was still sleeping and Ham was not taking himself home in an angry state. That wasn't fair. At least here, he and Mac here in similar states of annoyance and he had his lovely little Izzie to keep him collected. So he leaned back in his chair, getting comfortable to think it out for a few. Mac was more than welcome to take his own nap, which Ham had also interrupted; a little quiet thinking time would do him some good.