Foreshadow

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

Italy, Raven Manor - June

Dressed in a Dalmatian onesie, Wilfred Raven crawled through the air ducts of his home in order to hide from Cirino Raven, who was convinced that he could get Wilfred to wear something 'more appropriate' for the lunch. Wilfred felt spectacularly dressed - he had never worn his Dalmatian onesie before - and knew that he couldn't wear his penguin onesie (as that was for the weddings to come). He didn't want to ruin the surprise for everyone, who he was sure had no idea what he would be wearing. He paused, however, and covered his ears as a loud tingling noise ran through the vents, and quickened his pace. That would surely be the doorbells, and he was determined to get there before anyone else so he could greet the guests (as long as they were someone he liked).

He slipped the cover off of the vent and began dangling down, his tip-toing enabling him to reach a cabinet filled with what looked like really boring plates, and he began his descent. He fingered the cabinet open, and used the shelves haphazardly to climb down to the floor, trying and failing to avoid breaking any plates. After about quarter of a million galleons worth of damage done, Wilfred carefully waddled along the floor, clasping the only surviving plate in his little hands, and used this plate to reach the absurdly tall handle. The handle was placed at such a height to make it nearly impossible to reach, and it would just have to be something they would have to fix eventually.

He waved his hand frantically as one of the cleaners attempted to answer the door for him. Assuring the woman that he 'got this', he proudly opened the door and beamed at the legs that greeted him. Merlin, tall people. He was relatively long for a five year old, but had nothing on the height of his family, who were all part-giants when compared to him. He doubted any would appreciate him saying as such, however. Craning his head up, his hood falling against his back, and squinted his eyes slightly.

"Who are you?" he asked abruptly - in Italian - to the slightly shorter man beside Alessio, who he had not seen for a really long time. He only recognised him with such assuredness because he looked exactly like Cirino and Basilio, and he knew that Cirino was somewhere behind him, whilst Basilio was last seen sulking somewhere. He then remembered his manners and stuck out his hand, releasing the plate he had been holding in the same movement. "I'm Wilfred!"​

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[Cirino Raven]

All Ciro had planned for today was a short lunch with his family, and whomever they saw fit to bring, themselves. His mother, having been sick earlier, would not be attending, whilst the chances of Papino attending were slime, and he was very glad for it. He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible, but had already met several hiccups. Basilio, upon learning exactly who was invited, had taken 'ill' as well, and refused to leave his room. Ciro was having none of it, and refused to leave his brother alone until he was up and getting dressed, even going to far as to drag him to the lunch whether he was still in his pyjamas or not. Confident that Basilio was doing more than just being a potato in his bedroom, he left to check on everyone else. The kids were still in New Zealand, at school, whilst Izabella was with Abbigale getting herself ready. It was Ciro's job to hunt down Wilfred, and it was a job he was not prepared for. Merlin only knew where the small boy had found himself now - probably in nothing but his pyjamas and slippers and perhaps with a blanket wrapped around him if he were cold.

It took Ciro a little over an hour to track down Wilfred's exact whereabouts, after everyone else in the manor pointed in various directions. Abbigale thought she had seen him near the larder, whilst Roberto swore blind that Wilfred was in the garden. As it happened, Wilfred was currently in the vents, dropping in and out at various locations for whatever reason his young mind thought good enough. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed that the blonde boy was some kind of elusive mastermind.

That was, until he heard the sound of several very old plates connecting with the floor in the harshest way possible. "Wilfred!" he called, his deep voice ringing through the hallway. He doubted that, even if Wilfred heard him, that he would acknowledge him. The was known for his World-class selective hearing, which only allowed him to catch anything relating to lollies, chocolates, and animals. He retrieved his wand from his sleeve and returned the plates back to the cabinet, fixed and now each and every one of them with a charm to stop them from being broken again. He was slowly getting around to casting it on everything with the rate that Wilfred broke things - it only got worse when Emily moved in, the pair of them would shatter everything in the house without even trying.

"Wilfred - don't!" He exhaled sharply as Wilfred pulled open the door without a care in the world. Muttering about how he had told Wilfred to not go about opening the front door unattended, Ciro was met with his slightly older brother, Alessio. He grinned at him, and switched to English for the sake of Robin, whom was also there. "Glad you could make it, Alessio." He had also invited Robin, but had honestly thought that neither would come. "It's good to see you're healthy again, after the last time." His smile turned sickeningly-sweet at that, considering everyone understood that none of them had ever been sick enough to warrant not going somewhere, but frequently used a large variety of illnesses to get out of things. He then turned his attention to Robin after giving his brother a quick hug. "Good to see you as well, Robin," he greeted, smiling slightly at the shorter man. There very first meeting had been awkward, and he saw fit to correct any first impressions he may have left, starting by fixing his tie. "This is a lovely tie, by the way," he added as an afterthought, patting it flat. His hand then fell to the top of Wilfred's head. "This is Wilfred, by the way, he was greeting you in case you didn't catch that. Topolino, this is Robin, speak English around him."

He held the door open further for the pair, tugging Wilfred out of the way gently via his hood. "Come on in, everything's sort of nearly ready. The food is, in any case. The people... not so much, but we're getting there." Oh so slowly getting there. The dining room was completely set, names were put in their rightful places, and the scent of food was beginning to fill the halls. All that was needed is the arrival of a couple more people, and for everyone already here to get ready and sit, and it would be a good day. Hopefully.
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[Robin Lichester-Raven]

Robin understood one out of every three words Wilfred spoke, but he knew a greeting when he saw one. As soon as the door to the Raven Manor opened to reveal a dalmatian with a chubby-cheeked face, he turned to grin at Alessio and held out his hand also. He didn't even flinch at the dropped plate- broken things were a common sight in Ales' peninsula home, and it was usually the acrobat's fault. Last time it was a strange ceramic pot that had been filled with a powdery grey substance. Alessio had gone as grey as the dust, but he never did explain to Robin what it was he'd broken.
The curly-haired man shook Wilfred's hand curiously and was soon interrupted by Alessio's carbon-copy brother, Cirino. Basilio was nowhere to be seen yet, but Ciro was already mothering him with a tug and and a pat to his tie, and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He knew that the triplets were different in temperament, but Ales had done the exact same thing not ten minutes ago before they'd left. Granted, he'd had no idea what he was wearing in the first place, but it seemed important that he should have one.

Truthfully, Robin was nervous and excited. He and Alessio had only just started to maintain a balance of comfortable domesticity (after he'd learned what he could and could not get away with, i.e. touching Alessio's paints, badgering him while he was working, trying new 'recipes' in the kitchen, using their bed sheets as a zip line; the list went on). Living comfortably with his new boyfriend was one thing, but meeting his family was another. If he didn't know better, he'd think that Alessio was avoiding introducing him. Okay, it was blatantly obvious. One could only have dragonpox so many times. Still, Robin was getting bored, and the last two invites he'd begun to insist until his handsome curse-breaker caved on the premise that the acrobat wore a tie. Great, he loved costumes!

They were invited quite cordially into the dining room, and Robin took it upon himself to lift Wilfred onto his hip on the way past. This was standard practice at any meal in La Grande, as the younger children often got distracted or were left behind while the dishes went flying. Wilfred, or 'Topolino', didn't seem to fit in with the freshly shampooed carpet or the perfectly hung portraits. He was a daisy among the poppies.
"I'm Robin," he told the boy as he walked. "Alessio is my boyfriend, I live in a circus tent, and I hope there's pudding." Robin didn't particular enjoy the company of children, but he knew what to do. They tended to like straightforwardness, as well as a healthy appreciation for dessert.​

 

[Alessio Lichester-Raven]

Alessio really should have stayed in bed today.

However, there were only so many times he could get away with the 'I'm too sick to travel' excuse, before Ciro would invite himself over - and that was worse. At least with this arrangement, he could still fake food poisoning or something and leave early. In preparation for the day, he had sent a list of foods to not give Robin, detailing anything from soups to lobster. He wasn't expecting lobster, however, as he assumed that Ciro would go for something more traditional and, quite frankly, nicer tasting than crustacean. He had also composed a very long list for Robin, instructing him on what was appropriate, and what wasn't. He rang the bell and rattled off the last one before being interrupted by Wilfred.

"And finally, don't mention Felix. Period." The last thing he needed was Felix inhabiting any part of the dinner conversation. The smashing of the plate only served to remind him of the kitchen disaster which occurred last week, that he was still fixing. Making everything unbreakable took time, especially when he accidentally missed something, only to quickly find Robin mishandling it. It was a rough time for him, one that he had perhaps not completely thought about when he had first invited Robin to stay - but he was not close to regret. Although, had he the power, he would have certainly gone back and charmed everything before inviting Robin. The amount of vases, plates, tiles, bars, and bushes Robin had managed to break or maim were endless. Then there were torn sheets, clogged pipes, broken branches and the amount of dirt stains on the doors, the walls, the floor and (somehow) the roof at some points were so numerous, he might as well try and remove the paint and leave the dirt instead.

Having fixed the plate, Alessio held it as he was greeted by his brother with a hug and sarcastic remark. "Thank you, I've had plenty of rest," he replied, a smile forming on his face. He looked at Robin for a moment, seeing as the only reason either of them were here was because Robin wouldn't relent, his smile turning somewhat bitter. They weren't going to have fun, he could just see it. Their day could've been spent much better. He gave a partially genuine smile to Wilfred, whom he hadn't seen for Merlin knew how long. He was bigger, at least, so some time must have passed.

Once allowed into the house, Alessio placed the plate on a side table, to be collected and returned to its rightful place later. If it even had one, anymore. Wilfred was accident prone, and that often meant that everything he touched was destroyed. He watched Wilfred and Robin like a hawk as the young boy was carried, remember quite well why he was rarely carried to begin with. Walking a few paces behind Robin, he glared sharply at Wilfred, silently informing him to behave, and the young boy buried his face in response. With that done, he ignored the pair and walked with Ciro. He automatically assumed that Basil was the one holding them up, although he wasn't sure what Abbigale was like when it came to parties, but Basil was the most likely cause for lateness.

Placing his hand on Robin's back to gently try and reign his wandering in, he guided him to their place on the table. He shrugged slightly at Ciro, as this was all his problem, not Alessio's, and pulled out Robin's seat before taking his own. He had no idea who was invited, but judging by the names written carefully on the placements, it was going to be an uncomfortable situation to say the least. He had only moved over to the other side of Tuscany in order to avoid these situations, but alas, here he was. He pinched the bridge of his nose and opted to sit in silence. He had done all he could do to try and temper the situation, now it was a matter of just waiting for things to go wrong.​

 

[Wilfred Lichester-Raven]

Wilfred was not frequently carried. The five (nearly six!) year old was anything but too heavy to be carried, and so he had no idea why everyone refused to carry him. He felt that he was a perfectly sized child and easily carried by anyone within the house. Although, perhaps not his mother. But otherwise, everyone else could probably scoop him up from the ground just as Robin had. Naturally, the Dalmatian-impersonator was going to lick the man's face, but after receiving a particularly sharp glare from Alessio, who was wandering along behind them, he thought better and hide his face from view. If he couldn't see Alessio glaring, then he simply wasn't, and that was that. It was easier to pretend the glare didn't exist, than try and look at him again. Besides, there were other things to look at, like the stranger's hair, which was soon being twisted carefully within his fingers. It was all brown and curly, like Basilio's, but Basilio never let him touch his hair, even when he asked nicely or tried to be sneaky about it. He had a sixth-sense about these things, Wilfred was sure of it.

"Hello Robin!" he greeted brightly, giving him a dimpled smile, being grateful to have found yet another distraction. He frowned slightly as Robin continued to speak, and completely disregarded all information other than his name when he heard the words 'circus tent'. He didn't want to talk about the pudding situation, it was painful. Being banned from his favourite dessert was a tough potion to swallow. "A circus tent?" he replied, his nose scrunching up a little with curiosity as he tried to picture what that would look like. He had never seen a circus tent before, but he knew what a tent was, and what a circus was. He looked around his home, and decided that a circus tent was probably the opposite of what his house was like. "Are you a clown?" he asked, staring at him closely, as if that would cause a red nose and make up to appear. "You don't look like a clown."​

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[Robin Lichester-Raven]

Robin giggled outwardly but shuddered inwardly. Clowns. Euch! "Hell n- I mean heck no, I'm not a clown," responded the acrobat, casting a quick glance towards his boyfriend in case he'd heard his slip-up. 'No swearing,' Alessio had told him, and then they'd had to start an entirely new sub-conversation about what was considered swearing and what wasn't. He'd also been banned from swearing in Romanian, too, even though Robin had argued that none of his boyfriend's family spoke it. 'Hell' could be used only when Wilfred was not around, as the five going-on-six year old was bound to use it. Oh well, thought Robin jovially. That's only one mistake out of a giant list of mistakes I can possibly make tonight. What's one swear, anyhow?

"I'm an acrobat," he explained to the sweet child who was combing his fingers through his hair as if he'd never seen curls before. "I do lots of acts in the Circa which I've had a whole lifetime to learn because I was born there. I can't show you most of them here 'cause they need a big arena, but I brought my juggling balls. I'll show you after dinner!" Oops, thought Robin. Wasn't meant to bring those, either. Ah, what's two mistakes out of a giant list?

He stopped to gape as they entered the ludicrously big dining room. There was actual placards with their names on them in front of every seat! Wilfred's was all the way over the opposite side of the table's to his, which made him scoff and, making sure Alessio was not looking, he hurried over with Wilfred in one arm to swap the person's name next to his own with Wilfred's. "You gotta sit with your friends," Robin said to the five year old conversationally. "'Cause how else do you swap the foods you don't like?". Jeremiah, whoever that was, probably wouldn't mind. Probably.​

 

[Abbigale Raven]

Abbigale quite liked parities, it was something she'd always enjoyed, though she'd never had much chance to attend one when she was younger, nor when she was married to Jasper. It was rather a sad thing that Emily not Nathanial could attend as she knew Emily would have enjoyed it immensely. Still, she supposed it was now her job to enjoy it for her daughter, which was fine as she would be happy to do that. Abby made sure she was presentable before turning to Izabella and brushing her hair up into a high ponytail. She'd never really had the chance to be creative with Emily's hair. She'd hated it. She liked to do her own hair and had always been like that. Still, she'd never replace her kids for anything and though she was nervous about the upcoming weddings, hers included, she had every confidence that this was the right choice. What had happened between her and Jasper has not been entirely her fault and she knew that. She still loved him, but she wasn't in love with him and she didn't think she ever was, definitely not in the way she felt about Ciro. It was all so easy with Ciro, despite his father and she wouldn't trade any of this for anything.

Abby smiled down at Izabella and winked. She knew she looked amazing and Abby held Izz's hand as they walked out of the room and headed to where everyone else would likely be. As she got there she noticed that Basilio was not present, but Ciro and Alessio were. Izabella ran off to join Wlifred with talking to whoever he was speaking to and smiled at Ciro. "You do know how this is going to go, don't you?" She asked as she leaned into him for a hug. She's warned him of what was going to happen, but he was too stuck in his ways to take much heed to what she said and went along with it anyway. Abby had been a professor for nearly ten years, she knew trouble when she saw it. "Who's that with Alessio?" She asked as she nodded in the man's direction. She assumed he was Alessio's partner, but she'd never met him and hadn't realised he'd even be brining someone. She didn't really see him as that kind of person, but admittedly did not know him well.​

 

[Basilio Raven]

Basil had been in his room for what felt like years, though of course that was untrue and he was merely there for the last half hour, but after battering and the sure threat of assault from his brother, Basil decided he rather liked his life more than he liked his room and so even with the knowledge of who would be present tonight, Basil managed to halfheartedly make himself decently presentable if only for the sake of his own pride and made his way downstairs. He rolled his eyes when he noticed that most of the arrivals were already arrived and managed to not make an audible snort when he overheard Abbigale asking after Robin. There was no doubt those two would get along well, if only because Abbigale liked to annoy all the living members of the family. Basil had nothing against Abbigale personally, other than her being divorced, American and outspoken, but other than that he thought she was quite lovely. That didn't necessarily mean that he wanted her as a sister-in-law, but he didn't want Keira as a wife and he had no say in that either, so he supposed it was really nothing to fuss over. Cirino could have done so much worse after all.

Coming to a halt close to where everyone else was, Basil sighed. "I'm just going to say now that if this ends the way we all know it's going to end, I am blaming you, entirely it will be on you." He pointed to Alessio and shook his head before taking a seat at the table. He wasn't bothered with formalities because the sooner they got this done the sooner he and everyone else could leave.
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