Closed How Do You Solve a Problem Like Carter?

[Phillip Kaster]

Ingrid and Jonathon's manor, Ilkley, UK​

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Phillip stepped out of the floo, looking around at the manor in some distaste. The whole manor was decorated in drab and dreary colours in his opinion, obviously Jonathon's taste, because it certainly wasn't Ingrid. Dusting himself off, and cleaning his glasses, he looked around for the closest chair and sat down, sighing. His mother had ordered him to New Zealand to figure out what Carter's problem was, since he'd neglected all of her letters for close to a year. Phillip didn't think it was very fair, after all, why should he have to trudge around after his brother? It wasn't like he'd seen much of him in nearly ten years. Last Phillip had spent any quality time with him, he'd still been married, considering his marriage ended over seven years ago, that said a lot about the relationship he had with his brother. In all honesty, he figured Carter probably just didn't want to answer her, if only they all had that option. But no, Kiefer was the good boy who did what he was told and lived in the manor, Ingrid got married to tall, dark and silent to get their mother off her back and Phillip had tried to escape in other ultimately failed ways. Phillip didn't really want to be here, but if he was going to do this, he was going to need a buffer, he and Carter weren't close, they never had been. Carter never approved of Phillip's... proclivities and he'd always preferred just to ignore him. Phillip hadn't cared, it suited him just fine. "Ingrid." He didn't need to speak loudly, his sister would no doubt have been alerted of his presence and if she hadn't even expecting him, well, she certainly knew he was there now. He'd been on the floo network for years, though this was the first time he'd actually used it.​

 

[Ingrid Ramsey]

Ingrid was spending the day with her children today. It was rare that she would manage to get any extra time off from work so this was definitely a novelty. And so, she, her three children and their nanny, Annie, sequestered themselves in the playroom of the manor. It was a messy room, there really was no point in organizing it up considering that the children would only mess it up in a matter of minutes. All three of them were quite determined to get her to stay with them in the room all day, and that was kind of her plan anyways. Annie, bless her soul, was kind enough to go out and bring them snacks every few hours. In the afternoon however, Ingrid was alerted of the floo network being active. It took a few minutes to actually convince all three children to let her leave the playroom. And a lot of distractions. Soon enough though, she was able to make it to the sitting room where Phillip had seated himself. "Phillip, what brings you here?" she said as she approached her brother. "Anything you want to drink?"​

 

[Phillip Kaster]

Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Phillip still valued his family, despite everything that he went through with them, he wasn't sure he could have stood to be around them all that much. As it was, Ingrid, and possibly Helene, were about the only siblings he even felt remotely close to. Ingrid, because she didn't care about what he got up to in his own time and Helene because she was far too sweet to ever question either his priorities or his choices, which was possibly something that was both for and against her was a good sibling. Still, when Ingrid appeared and greeted him, he couldn't deny the slight sweep of affection he felt for her. He'd not seen her in many years after all, so it was nice to be face to face with someone he was once close to. "Mother has developed a rather large bee in her bonnet," he said, standing up out of his chair and moving closer to Ingrid, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hello, Sis, long time no see." It wasn't every day he would admit that he missed the affection they all once shared as children, but, to be honest, he tried not too think too much about his youth, given they all seemed to have especially fond memories that he most definitely did not share. "No drinks, thank you, I'm afraid we've not a lot of time for pleasantries." He moved back over to sit again. ​

 

[Ingrid Ramsey]

Ingrid could not help but grin as Phillip mentioned their mother. Really, the woman could be rather bothersome. And she would know, after all, she had lived with the woman the longest, only being kicked out when she got married. And even her marriage had been orchestrated by the woman. Sure, she and Jon had become happily married eventually but that had taken a lot of time and amount of rather unusual circumstances. As it was, it could still be rather hard to be around their mother. "When does she not have a bee in her bonnet would be a more proper statement dear brother," the woman said as she gave him a one-arm hug just as he gave her kiss on the cheek. "You really should come over more often," Ingrid said with a small smile, she cared for all her siblings and rather missed them from time to time. She saw all of them so rarely nowadays since she was quite busy with work and when not working, her time would be spent with her husband and children. The woman frowned however at Phillip's next statement, apparently his visit would not be much of a social call, however she wished it was so. "Of course," the woman said as she gestured for him to sit while she sat on the chair opposite his. "What's wrong?" The lost contact with most of her siblings really did pose a problem currently considering that she had very little clue about what has been up with them in the past couple of years, so she was drawing a blank as she tried to figure out what Phillip could possibly be wanting to talk to her about.​

 

[Phillip Kaster]

Phillip snorted both out to humour and derision at her statement of their mother. Clearly her assessments had not grown any subtler with her time spent in England. "Yes, well, she's gotten slightly less so in the last few years, I think father had worn her down some," he said. Though he would never go out of his way to applaud his mother for anything, she wasn't he troublesome meddler she had been, once she'd married Ingrid off and Carter had returned to his wife, however ill-fated that had been, she'd started to mellow out a little. Thank Merlin. He sighed then, as he sat back down and though of the best way to broach the subject with his sister. She had always been the closest to Carter in terms both of relationship and birth. They were a lot alike in a lot of ways, though not in the ways most people would have expected. "Yes, you see, Mother has come to me with a problem, she knows I'll actually work to fix it, given my history, but its not something so easily looked into." He started, crossing his legs. "Apparently our dear brother, Carter, has been neglecting mother's letters and she's become concerned there is a problem. Personally I say we just let him deal with his own sh*t since I know he wouldn't care much about me, but you on the other hand, he actually likes you." Phillip knew he would have to be the one to go, but he wanted to delay it if he could, or at least have some back up. "Mother wants us to go and see him and make sure he's okay." Honestly, he was probably just done with all of her crap, not that Phillip would blame him since they were all a bit done with here these days if he was honest. ​

 

[Ingrid Ramsey]

Ingrid merely shook her head and had to hold back from snorting herself at the thought of their father finally wearing down their mother's ... personality. "Well that would have been interesting to watch if only to see how much Father has worn himself down before he actually made a dent on Mother," she said with a roll of her eyes. Really, their father had been rather unsuccessful in his endeavors to actually wear down their mother's whims so it would be rather amusing to see if he really did eventually succeed in calming the woman down even a peg. The frown on Ingrid's features refused to leave as she pondered upon her brother's words. There were too many worrying things in the current situation they were in and it seemed that it really was serious considering everything at present. Carter neglecting mother's letters were worrying enough and the gravity of the situation was made all the more vivid since even Phillip was asked to check on their brother. Ingrid herself had little to no clue on what was going on, but she worried and Phillip was right. They would probably have a better handle on the situation if she were to go considering that she had a better relationship with Carter than their brother. "Do we have any idea on why he's probably shutting himself out?" the woman asked, worry lacing her tone. "When are we leaving?" she asked, knowing that since it was a pressing matter, she wouldn't have very long to prepare. The children would probably be disappointed, but family was family and she'd just have to explain that to them before she left with Phillip.​

 

[Phillip Kaster]

"I think it was more for Mother finally giving up on it that Father actually succeeding." Phillip admitted. After all, it wasn't like their Father wasn't persistent, but so was their mother. After all, she had managed to marry them all off, despite each and every protestation. Of course Kiefer was always going to follow their mother and and Helene had been lined up to marry Johan for years. Carter went about things a bit differently, though he almost did marry Kaya and of course Ingrid had married Jonathon on their Mothers wishes and though Phillip didn't think much of the man, mostly because he was the strong silent type the Phillip has always detested, he could see that his sister was happy at least, if not particularly content. She had her work and Jonathon had his, the kids were well looked after. It was only Phillip left and he had no inclinations for any of that rubbish and didn't think he ever would. He much preferred his own life and he didn't care much to share with someone else, he'd tried that and it hadn't gone well at all. "His wife did die, I assume he just wants to be left alone, but you know Mother won't rest until she knows for sure." He said, already a bit annoyed by all of it. If Phillip had turned around and ignored her letters, she wouldn't have said anything about it, but no, Carter the favourite had to be checked in on and since their Mother was currently ill, she could not do it herself. "If you're coming, we should leave as soon as possible. I should be able to book a plane for tomorrow evening." This sort of thing had to be handled delicately and portkeys for international travel were both expensive and tiring. Phillip also rather disliked portrays and preferred to flow wherever he went when convenient. A plane as the next best thing. "There's one heading out of London tomorrow. We can be in New Zealand by Thursday." He said, nodding.​

 

[Ingrid Ramsey]

Ingrid nodded in agreement. That would be paint a more accurate picture from what she knew of their parents. They were both stubborn people, probably why all of them grew up to be just as stubborn really. Not the most pleasing trait all of them had, but it was something that was definitely of use every now and then. Ingrid nodded sadly at Phillip's words. Despite her marriage being off to a rocky start - a complete and total understatement - she couldn't very well imagine losing her husband now. She had grown to care for Jonathon a great deal and she could only imagine a fraction of what Carter must feel right now. However, even if he did want to be left alone, if he was going to go about thinking that he'd be alone for a long, long time, he surely thought wrong. Especially now that Mother had raised her concerns and Phillip was here. Ingrid would be having a talk with Carter that was for sure, if only to make sure that he was okay and that he knew, despite their busy lives, Ingrid would be there for him. "I will be coming. I'll send an owl to work informing them that I will be unreachable for a week at least," she said as she brought out her wand to summon the materials she needed to write a letter to work. It would be rare that she'd suddenly take a leave of absence anyways. Some would probably be irritated, but Ingrid hardly cared right now. "Tomorrow it is then," she said as she began to write the quick note she would be sending over. "I'll talk to Jon when he gets home. Will you be staying for dinner? I'll start preparing it soon," she asked as she continued to write the note. It was quite short, just saying that she'd not be coming to work for the week due to urgent family matters and that she'd be unreachable for the week. It didn't take long to write, she'd just have to send it later.​

 

[Phillip Kaster]

Phillip shrugged at his sister. This was honestly all quite bothersome and he wasn’t sure how she was managing to deal with it as she was. Phillip could barely stand to even be in England let along New Zealand. It had nothing to do with his ability with English and more to do with his dislike of international affairs. Still, it couldn’t hurt he supposed. Rolling his eyes, Phillip stood up. “Very well, if you’re sure I will make arrangements. Best make it two weeks to be safe, we’ve no idea what we’re going to find there, or the resistance we may meet. He’s just as likely to try and hold out until we have to leave again before letting us find him. You know that as well as I do.” Phillip was sure he was just being a stubborn assh*le, but he couldn’t say that was true for sure. There were a lot of things he could say about and against his brother, one thing however was that he had always made an effort for his family, so despite his protests, Phillip was slightly concerned about the state his brother was in. He’d never admit it though because as far as everyone else knew, Phillip and Carter despised each other and he was happy for that assumption to remain. He couldn’t be seen to be going soft in his elderly years now. “I suppose whilst we’re near by, we should drop in on our dear cousins as well”. He suggested. He’d never met any of the other branch of Kasters, this might be a good time to do so. “I believe they live in one of the small communities in Central Australia.” He said. When she asked if he would be staying for dinner, Phillip shook his head. “No, I’ve urgent business to see to whilst I’m here. I’ll be here early tomorrow for you. Be ready, we’ll be heading to the airport early. You know I hate muggle transport so we’ll be flooing to the home of a friend of mine, she lives just outside of London.” He said, turning on his heel and heading back towards the fireplace. “Give my best to the grouch would you?” He asked, taking a pinch of the powder off the mantle and throwing it into the fire and disappearing.​

 

[Ingrid Ramsey]

Ingrid nodded at her brother and thought about it for a moment. Perhaps two weeks off from work would not be so bad. She'd still have to talk to Jon about it but she was quite sure that he'd have no large issues with it. And well, if he did, she was sure that she could get him to see reason before morning. With a flick of her wand, the woman adjusted the letter as needed so that it could be sent to the Ministry and directly to her boss. "That is a pleasant idea," she agreed. They rarely saw each other, and much, much less of their cousins so a visit could not hurt. Besides, they would be there for around two weeks, they'd have plenty of time. The woman clicked her tongue in disapproval as her brother stood and began to make his way over to the fireplace while Ingrid followed him to escort him. "Very well, I'll see you in the morning," she said in agreement over their travel arrangements. Before she could reproach him - not seriously of course before Jon could be a grouch sometimes - however, her brother had already left and Ingrid could only shake her head. She really had to convince him to have dinner with them sometime. With a sigh, Ingrid headed off to the study. She had arrangements to be made for their trip to deal with their brother.​

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FINISHED​