Will this cause a problem? Yep!

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette tossed a small red ball up into the air and with quick reflexes she caught it again and held it within her small hands carefully but tightly. Being five months pregnant made Nicolette rather be at home resting or something, but instead she was here to meet someone named Audel for Effie to bring him to meet Alphonse for some kind of special meeting or talk that had be had in order for Effie's fate to be decided. 'This kid better hurry it up or I'll leave him here to rot.' Nicolette sighed and dropped the ball to the ground where she let her golden eyes glances around the street she was standing in for some form of human life anywhere, and there was none. A frustrated sigh left her lips as she leaned against the wall again, once this Audel person showed up she would take him to the manor where he would hopefully meet with Alphonse and quickly get this issue solved. Why he wanted to meet with that idiot over Effie was completely beside her, she was pretty much there to escort him and make sure Alphonse didn't try to pull any stunts when he wasn't in control anymore. He decided to do anything otherwise and she would snap his damn jaw so he couldn't say anything else, simple as that. Nicolette actually wanted to see what this boy would do and how serious he was about the situation.

Effie had told Nicolette that she mentioned to Audel that someone was going to bring him to meet her brother, she didn't know why he wanted to go to the manor she somehow she conned Niccy into taking him. 'The things I do for this morons.' She sighed and winced when she felt her son kick and cause the painful feeling in her enlarged stomach, obviously he didn't like being here either and was punishing her for Effie's request. After a moment of hoping there wouldn't be another kick she heard the sound of footsteps and picked her head up, she hoped that was Audel.

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel walked silently for a tall man, with lengthy strides and his hands jammed into the pockets of his usual dark coat. He looked quite as if he was going to an important business meeting which indeed he was, but that was the face he usually pulled when walking through the streets. Behind the mask of impassive seriousness lay a jumble of nerves and complete uncertainty as to whether he'd even live through this, let alone get what he wanted. Effie had literally begged him not to stage the meeting but Audel had insisted; their compromise was having Nicolette Styx take him to the manor. This was the part of the plan that he wasn't exactly fond of, though it beat having Effie take him and risk her witnessing what was to come. Not that he had anything against the pregnant Death Eater, but it was someone he was unfamiliar with and therefore a dangerous person. Audel wondered whether she would be taking the same stance as Noah (i.e. 'Hahaha, good luck chummy, you're going to need it.'). Hopefully not; the last thing he needed right now was doubt about his plan. The one good thing that he was exceedingly thankful for was that Effie didn't know his true reason for visiting Alphonse; to ask for her hand in marriage. There was a whole world of trouble that would create if Effie found out. There'd be no way she would let him go to see Alphonse, then.

He spotted the red ball first and watched its progress towards the person who was throwing it. There was no mistaking his contact at this point; Nicolette looked strikingly similar to Effie although older, and she was just as pregnant as Effie had told him she would be. Audel felt a greater pang of nerves as he imagined Effie at that stage in pregnancy, much more vulnerable than the woman before him. The red ball dropped to the ground and Nicolette Styx looked up and met his eyes directly by coincidence. "Mrs Styx?" said Audel by way of greeting before stepping up to meet her. "I'm Audel Ater. Thank you for agreeing to take me to the manor. I hope you didn't have to wait long." he said, neglecting to extend his hand out of concealed shyness. Audel glanced at his watch and noted that he was exactly on time down to the second. Anxiety still told him to get moving just in case.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette boredly raised an eyebrow when he had called her Mrs. Styx, of course she was used to her surname being the same as her husbands but never had someone ever been quite this formal with her. Perhaps it was just because she was so used everyone knowing her so well, or maybe it was just that this young man was just a glutton for formalities. "Trying calling me Nicolette, the other one makes me feel old." She rolled her golden eyes as she spoke to him softly, it lacked the usual bubbly nature that she used to speak with to people, instead it had shown a bit more of a unfamiliar coldness to it. The happy bubbly Niccy was slowly fading away as she became more involved with the Zhefarovich family, it was with that that she was constantly being reminded that deep down she was nothing but a murderer and some who shouldn't really believe that being happy all the time would fix their problems. Sparkling golden eyes stared the boy up and down, this was the first time she had gotten a good look at the man who had gotten Effie pregnant, he looked fairly normal, for an Ater anyways. "Anyways, I'm only doing this to make sure you don't get roughed up to badly, and because Effie begged me to." Nicolette sighed irritably before she scratched her cheek and stared up at the man she was bringing to the Snow Manor, she honestly felt that she was getting to be more and more like her husband every day and at times it felt so weird.Without another word Nicolette reached out and gripped the boys shoulder tightly, and apparated them off to France, where he was certainly going to learn a thing or two about his future children's half of the family.

Arriving directly outside the Snow Family Nicolette regretted everytime she saw this damned place, Alphonse Snow was not someone she really wanted to deal with while being this pregnant. However she promised Effie she would take care of the man she admired so much, and it wasn't like she couldn't handle Alphonse if needed, the Zhefarovich family would most likely have her back in this. "Are you sure you want to do this, kid? Why are you even hear to bother talking to Alphonse anyways, I'm pretty sure he already knows you knocked Effie up." Before she decided to lead him inside she wanted to know something, was this guy really worth all the care and trouble Effie was going through to make sure he was going to be okay? If he appeared to be nothing but scum she was sure it wouldn't take to much just to end his life right here, but the Black Sheep of the snow family seemed to know something that Nicolette couldn't really see yet. As she awaited an answer she brushed some of her light blonde hair away from her golden orbs so they could stare at the surrounds of the infamous Manor of the Snows.

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel nodded slightly as the woman requested to be called Nicolette, though it didn't sit well with Audel to call her that yet. If the person wasn't comfortable hearing their surname and Audel wasn't comfortable calling them by their first, then he usually settled into calling them nothing at all unless he absolutely had to. Calling her Nicolette seemed too ... familiar. Perhaps they would be familiar in time, as he hoped they would soon be related. He bit the inside of his cheek and looked away grimly at her next words. Well, what had he expected? Audel still had no idea just what kind of trouble Alphonse would cause for him but he still understood that there was a good chance of him getting his *rse kicked. Maybe he'd have to take it silently too, if that was the only way he could get what he wanted. Audel almost flinched when Nicolette took his shoulder suddenly but accepted the contact and allowed himself to be apparated away to the manor. Even as rich as their family was, he still had not expected anything as grand as the Snow Manor. No doubt there's a hundred of the little Snow rats running about the place like a cage maze, Audel's instinctive prejudices told him. He ignored the snide Ater voice and looked to Nicolette.

He looked down at her with a vaguely resigned look and nodded again. Of course he wanted to do this; Effie was the only one who meant anything to him; the world could go to hell for all he cared. He should have expected more doubts. But how did Nicolette know that he was really after something else, as well? He supposed it was smart to be suspicious. Fair enough. Audel looked over to the manor as she did and answered in his soft, deep tones. "It would indeed be a pointless meeting if I'd just come in hopes of being accepted - I'd just be handing myself on a platter to Alphonse. What I want ... what I really want is to request Effie's hand in marriage." He shoved his hands into his pockets again and began walking up the gravel drive towards the doors of the main building. "Because it's Effie, and I'm only giving her the best. If it means leaving my family and suffering all Alphonse has to offer in response, I will. I won't leave her with child out of wedlock."

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette had followed Audel up the Gravel drive as quickly as she could manage being as big as she was right now, but immediately stopped her walking for a moment when the young male had said that the reason he was here was to ask Alphonse for Effie's hand in Marriage. "Whooooa." Her voice still sounded fairly cold but at the same time took on a motherly tone as she rushed to stand in front of him and hopefully stop him from walking any further. Her Golden eyes were wide and she looked as if she had trouble taking in the news fully, The thought of little Effie being married and having a family outside of the Snows truly shocked her in many ways. She tried to think of something to say to him but froze when she realized that there was nothing she could probably do to make him change his mind. "Your not kidding about this are you? Dear god your going to get all of us in trouble for this kid. Come on!" She snapped and waved for him to follow after that brief statement, he probably wouldn't lie about asking this but she still wondered if this boy was in her right mind for even thinking to consider that Alphonse was going to be okay with this. for a fraction of a second she even worried over her own self being, he was going to get upset over this and she wasn't completely sure she could hold him back in her current state if he decided to act upon his anger. After a bit of walking they had reached the main doors Nicolette gave the kid one last serious look, she seriously hoped he knew what he was doing. Opening the large door that led inside the manor she waited for Audel to come inside before she closed the door and stared around the Main Hall for a moment. Once again Nicolette motioned for him to follow her, all this travelling around was definitely all that healthy for a pregnant woman but at least it gave her an excuse to get out and see some action for once.

After a bit more travelling they finally reached the door Nicolette was told to bring Audel, Alphonse's Office was usually the one placed you didn't want to end up in alone but Nicolette would be here to keep an eye on this kid no matter what. "Sit here, Alphonse should be here soon enough." Nicolette pointed to the red chair that sat in front of the desk before she went over to the desk itself and leaned against it, her small arms folded across her chest as she glanced around the office with distaste, oh how she hated this room. Hopefully soon it would be Theodore's to be in instead of his father's, that was only if he decided to take the throne though. in the very same office there was also a Conference Area that Nicolette could only hope would remained unused, it was bad enough that Alphonse was involved, bringing the rest of the higher family members would just result on the poor boy being ganged up on. "I know it's not much of my business, but do you even love her? Does she even have any idea what your planning to do right now? Kid this isn't a game, Alphonse had murdered his own family without a care, what on earth do you think he could do to you for this?" Nicolette asked hushed, she was sticking a limb out for this kid but she needed to know if all of this was really worth risking his life for like this. "Wouldn't you just be better off leaving Effie alone?" Her voice had lost the coldness for a moment, she was allowing him to change his mind quickly if he saw that it was what he truly wanted. If he wasn't willing to commit to Effie then this would all be useless and he would suffer for it.

 

[Alphonse Snow]

As if things weren't bad enough for him, he had recently found out news that his younger sister Effie was now pregnant with twins by some man she was not even married to, it was something unusual for the younger Snow and all Alphonse could wonder was why on earth this had happened. It also seemed that the man who had impregnated his sister wanted to meet with him as well, what a brave man he must be in order to want to come face-to-face with the man who once ruled the Snows. Now that he was knocked down Asparuh was in charge until Theodore could step up, it was something he was not pleased about but couldn't change as long as Asparuh and his family stood in the way, on top of it Nicolette was being extremely watchful of his every move. She constantly reminded him that he was not in power anymore, even in her pregnant state he was amazed with how well she managed to be active and be around all the time. Somehow she had taken a 180 with her personality too, she had become much colder and darker, somehow he figured either that baby of hers or the family itself was to blame for that. In less than a moment Alphonse opened his office door and stepped inside, immediately his icy blue eyes landed on the male sitting in the red chair. "No need, I'm here. The others may be along so or may not, it all depends on them." He stepped into the room, his large build looked intimidating to most but right now he was not nearly upset enough to be scary yet, just curious about the men sitting here, the one that had gotten Effie pregnant. He sat down in his chair and leaned back a little, one of his tanned hands went to his chin as he continued to stare down the young male.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Was the only thing he managed to say, it was really the only thing he needed to know at the moment as well. Who was the man who had spawned with his sister and in the world did he want to meet with Alphonse about? In reality he didn't care, all the man had to do was leave his sister alone and go on his merry way and everything would be fine, why did a meeting need to be called for this

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel heard a soft 'Whooooa' behind him as he continued to walk before being stopped as Nicolette shuffled ahead of him. They locked eyes for a moment, golden to black, and he held her gaze evenly before she obviously decided that there wasn't much to say about the matter anymore. He nodded wordlessly in affirmation of her next brief statement and continued on walking in silence. As they entered the main entrance hall into the building, Audel was strangely comforted by the wide expanses of marble but at the same time, repulsed. It reminded him so much of the Ater manor in terms of space though theirs was mostly wood based. He wasn't sure whether he should feel more at home; for one, he hated the Ater manor and he wasn't at home at all. He was probably here to be attacked, injured and probably die if no one cared to stop Alphonse. For the first time since coming to the conclusion that he needed to wed Effie, Audel doubted the practicality of his plan. He couldn't exactly offer Effie much in terms of good husbandry if he was a corpse. He might even go through all this, only to turn him down. A shiver in his stomach told Audel all he needed to know; he had to try or he had failed already.

Audel swept himself into the chair as Nicolette told him to, uncomfortable with the idea of sitting but figuring that she knew best, anyway. The room that they were in made him incredibly uncomfortable and he immediately loathed everything about it, wanting nothing more to simply apparate out to a better location. It would be completely counter-productive to do so and decided to answer Nicolette instead. "Yes I love her, no she has no idea, Alphonse could be the Dark Lord reincarnate for all I care, yes I know and I'm sticking my head in the line of fire for this-" he answered coolly and swiftly, not wasting words. Audel stood at the last moment and turned to look at Nicolette with a dark smouldering in his eyes that was both pure and honest. "- And I will not leave her and my children to fend for themselves." Perhaps it was a good thing that he stood, for seconds later Alphonse Snow entered the room and announced himself as he sat in the large chair flanking the desk in front of them. Audel moved his coat back and sank slowly into his chair once more and regarded Alphonse apraisingly. His face remained disconnected and cool but he felt literally ill. It was time to show what he really had. "I am Audel Ater. You are probably aware that Effie is pregnant with twins; these children are mine. I've come to take responsibility for her and for them, and ask for Effie's hand in marriage. If I could get into contact with her father to ask, I would, but I can't so I'm here and I hope there could be some sort of understanding reached." said Audel matter-of-factly. Well, now down to the nitty-gritty.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette stared at him with widened eyes and the smallest crack of a smile on her face, for some reason his whole statement just struck her as funny in so many ways. It wasn't that she didn't believe in love or anything, because she sure as hell loved her husband with all her heart, but something this kid said was just striking her differently than the way she usually felt when she was with Kalif. "Chilllllll, I figured that much. But what if Effie doesn't want to do this?" She winked at the kid and fully sat on Alphonse's desk just in time for him to open the door and walk in, looking as grouchy and hateful as ever. Nicolette peered at him coldly before she shifted uncomfortably, the baby had moved again and no matter how long she had been pregnant for she always found it to be uncomfortable whenever the baby moved around or decided to kick at her. Alphonse's first comment made Nicolette roll her eyes but begin to grow nervous, should she get someone else just in case?

"Oh....AHAHAHAH!" Audel didn't waste any time in just spitting out what he wanted Alphonse to know and despite Nicolette having more of a coldness to her she still that that side of her that loved humor, and it had come out in a full swing. Not only was this poor man probably scared out of his wits, but he appeared to be in love with Effie and Nicolette knew that love was something that could mess with even the most prideful and strongest of people. Plus Alphonse was in for a rude awakening, his most hated family now involved witht he Snows...what a thrill!

 

[Alphonse Snow]

Alphonse dismissed Nicolette's rudeness with a roll of his eyes, maybe he should call her husband and have him take her home or something, he surely didn't want to deal with her attitude all day. Alphonse continued to sit in his seat as the boy started to explain who he was and why he was here, but the moment he heard the name Ater come from his mouth his eyes narrowed and his fingers clenched into a tight fist. His little sister had conceived children with someone from a family that was not in good terms with The Snows. But his angered just continued to grow as he even discovered that the boy wanted to not only be with his sister and raise future descendants of the Snows, but he wanted to marry his little sister as well? "An Ater knocked up my little sister?" His eyes shifted to Nicolette angrily who just held up her hands as if to say that this wasn't her fault, for once he had to agree that she had little to do with this situation. Instead his icy blue eyes shifted back to Audel as he tried with all his might not to wrap his hands around the man's neck and wring the air out of him. Alphonse didn't know what angered him more, that his sister actually dared to lower herself to be with one of them or that she was now carrying descendants of them, one of them was actually interested in A Snow.

"No, I don't know what even possessed you to think that I would allow you to marry my sister, but I forbid it. I'm not going to throw my little sister out there as shark bait for you and your family to destroy. If I had known that they were yours I would have made her give up the children long ago." Alphonse said with narrowed blue eyes and an expression that clearly said that he was angry beyond all belief. His stomach lurched painfully and force a fraction of a second he almost wished Theodore would be the Head just so he could deal with this issue, but it passed by quickly and he suddenly became aware that he had drawn blood on his hand but digging his nails into his hand, he was that angry. "My sister was a fool to have ever met you. Now get out of my sight." He stated finally, wondering if he would actually give in easily or if Alphonse was actually in for a rough evening. Nicolette who was beside him looked a little uneasy too, he hoped she would calm down before the Zhefarovich's got involved.

 

[Audel Lesley]

He'd expected this, of course. What he hadn't expected was the very subtle smell of blood not far away from him. Audel glanced down while Alphonse was talking and saw him burying his nails into the palm of his hand. Audel didn't exactly blame him, since if he'd found out that someone like Noah has gotten Adira pregnant he'd be hanging him like a flag by the neck on the top of the building. In some ways he admired Alphonse' strength of will; but that didn't mean that it was over yet. He could handle the crack of the whip at his own family but the slight at Effie made his lips tighten into a thin line. That was one thing that Audel wouldn't tolerate today. He didn't give half a fig whether Alphonse started calling his family the foulest names on earth since they'd said enough about the Snows. Effie, however, would be kept out of this or there would be blood - and it wouldn't be his. Audel folded his arms calmly and looked Alphonse straight in the eye as he said his next piece, perfectly calm so far and not at all willing to budge. "If I'd wanted to screw Effie over, leaving her alone is exactly what I would have done. Your sister would be having twins and raising them by herself. Instead I'm here with my *rse on the line so I can actually look after her, being an Ater or not. That bit's just not debatable. I'm not here to mess with Effie."

Audel rubbed his chin as he glanced over Alphonse's livid face. Strange ... it was as if he actually believed that Audel would leave after all the courage it took to come here. Alphonse was indeed in for a rough evening. He closed his eyes briefly them opened them to speak again in the silence, glancing towards Nicolette discreetly. "So we seem to be at a crossroad. I'm the guy who got Effie pregnant, sitting before you and obviously willing to give up his name, risk life and limb and give up ties to his family, in order to take care of her and her children so that you'll never have to think about it again ... and you're saying no because ... it pisses you off." He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Sure. Because that's perfectly reasonable and I'm just going to walk out right now and pretend that I don't love Effie and it was my plan all along to get a Snow pregnant and spend the rest of my days laughing at her misfortune." Audel brushed back his hair unconsciously and couldn't help but wonder whether he'd gone too far. But it was a fair point that he'd made and someone had to mention it. Obviously no one else was going to. "Let's try and do this reasonably, at least for Effie's sake."

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette had figured that by this point neither of the men were going to get very far with eachother other today, they both seemed to be very stubborn and intent of having things go their way. After Audel had spoken to Alphonse in a way that not even she did that often a worried look took a hold of her face as she thought about the way the older Snow would try and retaliate back at him with. It was short lived though because soon the Office door opened slowly and piled in all one by one were all of Effie's legal siblings. Anastasia came in first looking as snotty and unhappy about being alive as ever, next was Noah who just looked amused and curious. Leon looked like he didn't really want to be here one bit, and Zoe just looked at Audel distastefully and boredly. The only one's missing in that line were Alphonse and Effie, then all six of the most pain in the butt siblings she has ever gotten the privilege to meet would all be in the same room. As Nicolette stared at all of them carefully she became painfully aware for the first time why Effie was called the Black Sheep of the Snow Family, she looked fairly different from her brothers and sister who all had brown hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes and from what Niccy remembered she didn't have any of that.

"Alphonse Relax a little." Nicolette could easily smell that Alphonse was harming himself and that he was getting angrier then he really should be. Her guard was up and she was ready to have to separate these too if she needed to, they could easily attack each other. Golden eyes landed on the other Snows siblings for a moment, they all stood behind the red chair seemingly eager to see what happened, but this jsut made Nicolette even more nervous.

 

[Alphonse Snow]

Alphonse cast a glare at his late arriving siblings who stood in back of Audel, they only came to see this boy get tore up and thats what ticked Alphonse off even more. They could care less about the welfare of Effie, who currently wasn't present so he supposed that she was probably sleeping or reading somewhere in Manor because she rarely ever left when she wasn't out teaching or getting more books to read. Then again could Alphonse even trust her anymore, what if she had really been sneaking off to meet Audel and such while she said she was going to the Market or something? "How do I know that your not just saying that? Even if it were true, I'm not willing to risk your father bringing harm to Effie like that. You could easily be lying to us for him." He replied a bit more calmly, whispers and a chuckle were heard from The Siblings as they either gossiped for spoke something about the Ater sitting in the room, he vaguely picked up on that it was French that they were speaking as well so chances were they were gossiping. With a roll of his eyes blue eyes he glanced at Nicolette again who still look uneasy.

"If we did this the reasonable way, Effie would already be dead for pulling this stunt on all of us. I could easily go up to her room right now and finish her life off for good, I'm not afraid to kill my Family boy. Do you still want to pull this the reasonable way?" He asked, he was getting that dreaded feeling again. the one that made him feel like he had already lost before he had even started this whole meeting. With him not currently head he could only pull this until someone higher than him decided to speak or until Effie came and spoke against him herself, which he doubted she would do. Nicolette could easily overrule him and end this quickly, but instead she stayed silent and continued to stare at Audel with uneasiness, maybe she wasn't sure whether this would be a good idea or not. "What?!" By this point, after he had heard that Audel loved his sister, Alphonse had stood up from his chair and was staring at Audel as if he just admitted to killing his wife or something, words like that coming form his mouth just put Alphonse at shock. He motioned and snapped for Zoe to go try and retrieve Effie, she nodded curtly at Alphonse and left the office in search of her elder sister. "This is all Bulls*it, I thought Ater's didn't love?! I could honestly care less if you would die without her by your side, I will not allow it. And if makes you feel any better once those little brats of yours are born I will take them from Effie and give them to you." Alphonse said an authoritative, he was feeling a bit confused by all of this now and was a little unsure if he should continued with yelling at this kid. The boy had a strong point but Alphonse would just have to ignore it and stick to just beating him down, once Effie got here the real issues would begin because she was all to used to the abuse and therefore it rarely bothered her anymore.

 

[Audel Lesley]

Oh brilliant, more people, thought Audel irritably as he noticed a good flock of the Snow family shuffle in 'discreetly' to giggle and whisper with each other while Alphonse spoke. Despite the fact that his own siblings would have done exactly the same thing and interrupt far more than Effie's family, it still didn't stop him being slightly hypocritical and wishing they were all gone. Not even Niccy seemed pleased to see them there, for Audel noticed her actions just as much as he noticed Alphonse's and was acutely aware that the extra whispers were not helping his own nerves. Audel forced himself to listen only to Alphonse and ignore the audience. He let out a dry chuckle when the older man spoke next and folded his arms. "My father and I ... are not exactly on good terms. I doubt he even knows I'm off work today, let alone that I'm here and asking this of you. But when he does we will be having exactly the same conversation as I am with you, where he will threaten and curse and eventually decide he can't be bothered hurting me, Effie or the children." he explained in the uninterested monotone that he always used while speaking about his family, used more often when talking about Acwel. Audel frowned slightly and looked at Alphonse hard before adding "I told you that my regard for Effie and determination to look after her well being is non-debatable, so don't question it. There's no foul play."

Then Alphonse went a little too far. Audel wasn't entirely sure he could keep his cool when his vision went slightly red at the mention of harming Effie. No, not harming ... killing her. Anyone with a good eye could see the nerves bulge on Audel's hands as he clenched them and the blindness in which he look at Alphonse that was reminiscent of a charging bull. But he did not move or strike out; not yet. The conversation could still be salvaged if only he did not leap across the desk and begin tearing off appendages with his teeth. Audel took one long breath, then another ... and he spoke. "I highly doubt that should be considered the 'reasonable' way, Snow." said Audel, his voice deeper than before but still collected. "In fact it'd just bring chaos to everyone involved in this matter," he said before adding softly, "Mainly because I'd have to wipe you from the face of the Earth in return." It didn't even sound like a threat, it was said so clearly and decisively. Just 'this is what is going to happen if you hurt her'. Audel looked up at the ceiling once in order to recollect his thoughts before Alphonse surged up with a cry of 'What?!'. Audel dropped his arms from their folded position and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Was he honestly hearing what he thought he was? "So your basis for argument is that Ater's don't love?" said Audel as the complete non-comprehension of such stubborn nonsense overwhelmed him. He'd never met anyone able to stick so firmly in the mud faced with firm facts before. "Oh, this is futile." he muttered, pushing his hair back. "Don't p*ss around here with me. I didn't come just to agree to take the children when I can, Alphonse. I am asking for permission to wed your sister and I'm not taking any half *rsed deals that suit you. I love her, I want to marry her and I want to raise our children together." said Audel with such burning determination that had never before been heard in his voice.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette hopped off of Alphonse's desk to keep a better guard just in case things got really bad, he had stood up and she could pretty much feel that his fury had increased ten fold in just a few moments. Effie had pleaded with her to keep Audel safe and she was going to keep that promise one way or another. "Okay you two relax, you guys are going to stress yourselves and everyone else out." Nicolette snapped as a hand went up to sooth her growing headache, she sounded a bit motherly but was mostly annoyed at how childish both of these guys were acting with one another. It came to mind that maybe it was just a typical male trait for them to be all macho like this but she couldn't deal with it anymore because it built up her own damn hormones like crazy and she wanted it all to just stop. With a harsh grip, the older Death Eater gripped Alphonse's shoulder and force him to sit down in his seat. Then she made sure to give both the men a nasty glare as if to say, 'cool it or else'.

"Now, has either of you ever pulled your heads out of the clouds long enough to think what Effie would want? Maybe she wants to get married Alphonse, or Audel have you even asked her to see if she wanted to get married? No you didn't...so both of you should just shut the hell up until you know what she wants." Nicolette stated, her voice did not show any sign of her being bubbly or happy at the moment, actual she would just love to curse the lights out of these two for being so moronic. After she finished her spat at the men she let out a snort to annoyance then a soft wince, the baby didn't like her being so stressed out and she took a seat on Fonsie's desk once more, curse her being in this state,

 

[Effie Kingston]

Effie was woken up no less than ten minute's ago by her younger sister who had told her that Alphonse was demanding that she come downstairs and into his office. This morning she had not been feeling well at all and had opted to take a nap, too bad it was ruined because of her brother being his usual pissy self and figuring that he once again came before everyone in this family. So crankily she pulled herself out of bed and didn't even bother to dress herself in anything proper, she was actually hoping that once he spoke to her about whatever it was that he wanted to speak to her about he would allow her to go back upstairs and get some more rest. By this point she was also just over three months pregnant and the little bump she had not to long ago surprisingly grew more than she had wanted it to, it made her feel so gross and self concious about herself that she often refused to look at herself in the mirror to see how much she had grown overnight. Effie still loved her babies though, she just wished they didn't make her feel and look so gross all the time. 'Alphonse better have a good freaking reason to wake me up this time.' Effie pulled the sweater she had more around her in an attempt to hide her pregnant stomach as her slipper covered feet stomped all the way to Alphonse's occupied office. The younger Snow was so cranky and irritated that she didn't bother to knock but instead just slammed the door open loudly and stepped inside, looking not at all happy with anyone right now.

"Why did you wake me up? Seriously Alphonse the whole freaking world does not revolve around you all the-.....why is everyone in your office? And...Audel? Um...okay....what....is going on?" Suddenly she became very aware of her entire and appearance as she stood in front of her family and the man she had strong feelings for. Her silky blonde hair was unbrushed, she was merely wearing a tank top and a sweater, and not to mention very skim shorts that manage to reveal a lot of leg. Her face turned so red it nearly resembled a tomato, and her stomach twisted with nerves that built up like a damn.

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel waved his hand irritably at Nicolette in a gesture of begrudging acceptance. Alphonse had managed to piss him off far more than he had expected. He'd known that convincing him was going to be frustrating, but Alphonse's stubbornness was making him angry to a point that matched his usual temper with his siblings, who were literally the only people he ever wasted his time torturing in return. Nicolette was right he supposed since Alphonse looked ready to blow a gasket, but Audel wasn't half as stressed as he ought to have been; mostly annoyed. Then Niccy mentioned something that hadn't occurred to him before. What if ... Effie didn't want to marry him, after all? He could beg and plead for acceptance all he wanted from Alphonse, but if he went to propose and found himself turned down regardless, everything would have been for naught and he couldn't bear the thought of her saying no. But why would she say yes? thought Audel miserably, folding his arms again and leaning to the side as he worried at his lip. Maybe she doesn't feel as strongly about me yet. I've gotten her pregnant, sure, but for some people I guess that doesn't mean you have to love someone ... It was an extremely depressing thought and one that poofed into oblivion at the sight of her face.

Suddenly the door to the large office opened and the bottom dropped out of Audel's stomach. Effie had entered and was looking ridiculously beautiful in her tank top and shorts ... and her baby bump, where their children were growing at that very moment. He was falling in love again just looking at her but he knew he had a stupid look of stunned devotion on his face that he quickly wiped off and replaced with chagrin. "Oh! Effie ... um, hi!" said Audel, his cheeks going pink like a child with its hand in the cookie jar. A terrible bluffer in front of Effie, the look plastered on his face said something along the lines of 'Who, me? No, I'm totally not asking your brother for your hand in marriage and attracting a large crowd to my imminent expiration. You must be mistaken.' He didn't make the mistake of trying to approach her since Alphonse probably went for moving targets. All he could do was tuck his hands into his pockets and try not to look as guilty as he felt.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

The Two men had stayed surprisingly Quiet and for a fraction of a second Nicolette actually felt herself able to relax and not have to worry about these two ripping each other's heads off. But the relaxation was short lived when Effie came into the office as cranky as ever, and wearing practically nothing but very revealing clothing that made Nicolette begin to snicker under her breath at the very sight of both men. Audel looked amazed while Alphonse looked disgusted, the rest of Effie's siblings just looked confused but remained quiet for the time being. "Wow Eff, maybe you should put some clothes on." Nicolette stated after a moment, trying to resist the urge to laugh at the scene that was displayed before her once again. Even if she was becoming colder and a lot more serious the bubbly and humorous side of her would probably never completely go away from her system. One thing she did make note of was how much bigger the Pregnant Snow had seemed to have gotten since the last time Nicolette had seen her, twins definitely would make you grow twice as big as just one baby would, she knew this for a fact. 'I'll have to ask Nataliia to keep an eye on her at some point.' Nataliia was a Healer too and eventually Niccy herself become to pregnant to really be out and about constantly checking up on Effie. Once this whole dramatic issue was over she would probably go visit with her sister-in-law and good friend to see how she was holding up.

"You might want to stop staring anytime now." Nicolette whispered to Audel and winked at him almost playfully, but her face assumed to nothing but calmness on it. She had seen the look that he was giving Effie and she thought it was adorable too see someone react in such a way, just seeing her like that. For a moment she was even curious to see how he would react to the family's Veela's.

 

[Alphonse Snow]

Alphonse didn't know what made his day worse, the man in his office trying to drive him literally insane, his family title being taken from him, or the fact that his little sister had just barged into his office wearing practically nothing and she had the most disrespectful attitude to him right now. "Effie Monique, but some clothes on this instant!" Alphonse stated under his breath as he ran fingers through his hair and resisted the urge to smack someone for all the frustration he was feeling right now. It seemed like his life was falling more and more apart as the days passed on, he was losing everything he held dear to him within a matter of time and he was sure it wouldn't be long before his very own life was taken from him him just like everything else. As Alphonse lifted his head to look at Audel he noticed the look on the mans face made Alphonse stop and hold his ground for a moment, he had never seen someone look at his sister like that actually to put it blunt he had never seen someone looked at another person like that and it worried him that he might actually lose his baby sister to the enemy family.

"Take your eyes off of her you filth. How do I also know that this is not just lust related? You could only be after her because you find her to be nothing more than good in bed." This was the last strand of disloyalty for Alphonse to try and snuff out of Audel and if he proved this one wrong too then he would be stuck and with nothing left do to then to allow the idiot to wed his sister. Marrying her would not come without consequences though and he would be sure to point those out if the Ater managed to make enough of an impression to allow Alphonse to agree to this.

 

[Audel Lesley]

"Oh! I, um ... yeah." muttered Audel to Nicolette when she encouraged him to stop looking. It was quite difficult though, not because she was wearing a lot less than she usually did but simply because it was her, and he didn't know how to hide his love. Caring for someone was such a foreign feeling that was so honest for Audel that it practically exuded from every pore. He nodded and blushed, tearing his eyes away from the confused beautiful woman and back onto Alphonse, who then officially crossed the line. Audel had no problem at all being called filth, but the moment Alphonse made a remark about him only wanting Effie for her body, Audel snapped. The tall young man simply powered forward and, in a blink of an eye, hammered his fist into Alphonse' jaw. Maybe everyone had expected him to still be reasonable and to say something reasonable like 'That's not why I want her for my wife.' Yet Audel only moved because he felt that Effie's honour was in more danger than his, and had never felt more satisfaction when his thundering punch landed. "You will not speak about Effie in such a way, in her presence no less!" hissed Audel, gripping his hand with the other as if contemplating hitting him again. Perhaps one had been enough, for he moved back slightly and looked towards Effie.

A devious thought struck Audel at that moment which he exploited fully. Leaning in just enough to be out of range for a return blow, he added "She is good, though." with a slight smirk. Audel had had officially too much though of this torment and strife, and so turned to his love and walked towards her. He reached her prone form and carefully took off his jacket to wrap around her shoulders respectfully before pulling her gently against him. Audel looked at Alphonse just once more, communicating just one sentence without words. 'Just try and say no again.'

 

[Effie Kingston]

Effie waved dumbly at Audel, she had no idea why he was at the Snow Manor and why he and the rest of her family were all in Alphonse's office together. It worried her to no end that both Audel and Nicolette had been in this room with her family probably dealing with who knows that kind of insults or threats being thrown at them. She didn't doubt that if things got that bad though that Nicolette would probably be able to handle all of them just on her own, she was so thankful that her older friend had kept her promise and kept an eye on Audel while he was in the presence of her family. Her different color eyes shifted between Alphonse and Audel nervously as she tried to make sense of what they were yelling at one another about, one of them had to deal with her being looked at and the other had to deal with him only wanting her for lustful reasons. And before anything else could be said or thought Audel came forward and actually punched her older brother. "Audel!" She gasped, never before had she seen someone other than Nicolette, Danielle, or the Zhefarovich family ever physically attack or manage to hit her brother like that. Effie was very worried that now her brother would actually harm him or get really upset and do something to separate the two of them.

When Audel came over and placed his jacket on her she turned a light shade of red, then he held her against him and her embarssment grew ten fold. Her siblings had never seen anyone give her affection like this before and she could just tell by their stares that they were either impressed, upset, or worried about the whole situation. "Are you okay? What are you even doing here anyways, you big....nevermind." She sighed and buried her head into Audel's chest and wrapped her arms around his back. Effie was so happy that he was here and that he seemed to be okay and unharmed. The feeling of butterflies in her tummy seemed to tell her that the babies were pleased too.

 

[Alphonse Snow]

Alphonse grunted but remained calm and standing right after the younger man had gone after his face with his fist, in fact he was more bent on whatever it was that Audel had said to him afterwards. He had to use every last fiber of good in him to resist not just killing the little snot right then and there, instead his icy blue eyes watched hatefully as the Ater walked over to Effie had pulled her close to him. The rest of the Snows all looked at him with questionable stares, they were unsure what his next move would be and quite honestly he was a little stuck himself, but Nicolette's stare told him enough that he needed to have this end and he needed to do it now, why or why he started listen to her and what she thought was right was against him. Alphonse waited for one of his siblings to speak up or say anything to defend him or be against the Ater for his assault on him and everything but they all stayed just as silent as they had been the entire time. They all knew this was wrong, trying to combine two family’s that have hated each other for years was going to cause so many problems, and what if Valere was actually alive and came back to see the family having problems like this? But seeing his sister like this, Audel was obviously not going to budge over this, either way Alphonse would be doomed to do something he didn’t like.

"Fine. You have my permission. Change your last name though or I'll change my mind...now get out of my sight." Alphonse stated, when gasps where heard throughout the room he rolled his eyes boredly and went to sit back down in his chair. Effie just looked confused about the whole thing while the blonde standing next to him looked extremely thrilled about the whole situation. Nicolette had been around Effie all her life so she probably strongly cared for the girl. ”I highly advise you Ater, you dare to make a fool of me and leave my sister miserable and to fend on her own…I’ll tear you apart limb by limb. So stick true to your word” Alphonse stated grimly, he would not be made a fool of by trying to let his sister be happy for once. For not the man was on judgment, any false moves and he would be ripped apart without any remorse.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

Nicolette had to admit she was surprised when Audel lashed out at Alphonse, but at the same time impressed that he would go that far for Effie. It was not something you saw a man go out and do every day, she found it incredibly sweet when a guy was protective enough to go that far over someone they cared about. If faintly made Nicolette think of how protective her husband was, she found it very endearing at times. The look at the elder Snow made once Audel headed over to Effie was priceless though, and before it could be stopped Nicolette began to snicker audibly, if only she had a camera right now, it would be blackmail for life. ”HAH! You just got totally owned by an Ater, phew this is priceless.” She could feel Alphonse glare at her roughly and she immediately silenced herself before he got anymore upset than he already was at her. The calmness returned as her eyes drifted over to Audel and Effie, they were so young and adorable that Niccy just to just squeal out loud for the two of them, especially since Alphonse decided he would allow them to marry.

”Ahhh young love, too bad I gotta ruin the moment. Come on.” Nicolette grabbed a hold of the jacket that was currently on Effie and began to pull her towards the office door, she gave Audel a look that said he better come along too, there was some things Nicolette thought he needed to hear before he went off and got his head filled with thoughts of marriage and babies.

 

[Audel Lesley]

Effie tucked herself into his arms and Audel bent his head to kiss her forehead. Now that she was here and he was able to protect her, Audel felt much calmer than before and his racing heart began to slow to match her own heartbeat. Suddenly he jumped as one of the twins nudged against his midsection. Amazed, he stared down at Effie's stomach for a long moment, almost missing the fact that Alphonse had given him permission to ask for Effie's hand. He looked back at Alphonse, shocked at the notion of him having to change his last name, but what else could he do? Now that he thought about it, he didn't exactly want to give his wife his own last name. Maybe it was disloyal of him to think of changing his to Snow, but if it meant one more shield of protection over Effie then it was simply something he had to do. Audel gave Alphonse a grim nod, which was partially acceptance and partially an apology. He was indeed sorry to have to resort to punching him, but not at all sorry that he'd actually done it since he'd won his woman because of it ... hopefully. The way Effie was holding onto him, he could almost believe that she would marry him. There was no telling yet, so perhaps he would soon have his opportunity.

Audel tottered forward as Effie was suddenly plucked out of his grip. Startled, Audel stumbled and began to walk like his legs were lead bricks as he followed Nicolette dumbly down the hall. What was this all about now? Surely they didn't have some terrifying family initiation ritual that they were going to make him endure. Effie was surely looking even more confused and Audel was exceedingly glad that she hadn't heard what the fuss was all about yet. If she knew he was going to propose, she'd probably flip and run away; or worse. Audel didn't want to think about what the 'worse' could be. He just scooted after the pair and hoped things still wouldn't end badly.

 

[Nicolette Styx]

After a moment, when they were back in the main hall again Nicolette stopped and turned around to face the two of them, her look was not very happy or friendly looking because now she had another issue involving this family on her hands to deal with. 'I am getting way too pregnant for this.' Her golden eyes gleamed in the vague light that shined through a window and into the manor, he stare was almost cat-like but she barely ever noticed the way she looked or was looking at people by this point. Audel must have thought that it was all good and golden beyond this point, he still looked uncomfortable but she could see that his tension was gone and that he actually seemed pretty happy with himself or what he just managed to convince Alphonse into right now. Effie on the other hand just looked really confused and worried right now, she definitely wasn't going to like this part very much either. "Well, I must say Effie I can see now why they call you the Black Sheep." She muttered staring the girl oddly, actually from what she heard the real reason she was called this as a child was sort of morbid and cruel, but she needed to remind Effie that what was going on was straight up dangerous, especially when Nicolette semi knew Audel's father and figured that when he found out this was going to turn really messy for all of them. "Now I have to ask, what the hell were you thinking? Are you even the slightest bit aware that they could literally decide to tear you apart..and they probably want to?" Nicolette asked and put her hands on her hips, the hormones were adding to her current anger but the biggest reason she was upset was because of the trouble this was going to bring. Nicolette hated dealing with the drama this family brought around and she sort of wished that she could just call Asparuh, Kalif, or Hades down to just deal with it as their hormones were more in check than hers.

"Now, Audel now that your in the clearing I suggest you watch your back, and keep an extra careful eye on Effie. She's going to be sick and tired a lot, so you should make sure she rests. Don't let her work too much and NO CAFFEINE!" The last part she said was looking directly at Effie, who was a glutton for Coffee and would probably try to drink it as much as she possibly could while be as tired as she seemed to be all the time. Nicolette was a Healer and knew better than anyone she could think of, on what was healthy for the baby and what wasn't. "And for the love of god, try to limit your erm...well just try to keep your pants on more often okay?" Nicolette turned a light shade of red, of course she had no issue with it but she would prefer not to speak about it when it involved other people she didn't know that well. Especially Effie and Audel because they were young.

 

[Effie Kingston]

When one of the babies kicked her stomach and Audel jumped, Effie figured he had felt it gave him a sheepish smile before she let her hand drop to her stomach. These two were going to be a lively bunch that would never sit still once they learned how to get up and move around, Effie was sure she would be chasing them all over the house. "Sorry." She said softly before she was dragged off by an angered looking Nicolette, thankfully Audel came along with as a witness in case Nicolette suddenly decided to murder her for whatever it was that she had done wrong. The moment she was let go in the Main Hall and the older Death Eater began to yell at her for various reasons she began to feel her heart break a little, she knew what she did was wrong but it wasn't like she could help any of it. Her different colored eyes drifted away from Nicolette as she tried not to cry, she wasn't upset but she felt bad that she was putting the people cared about through so much trouble, hopefully they would all forgive her for doing this to them when they probably had problems of their own to deal with. "I'm sorry Niccy, I can't help it that I like him. You always say you can never choose who you-lo...well care for." Effie grabbed Audel's hands and leaned against him a little, she was feeling a little tired and was tempted to ask him to stay over for a little bit longer. She was sure he would probably love to see the house or at least choose to be a comfy Pillow, maybe he would even make her some food.

"Wait...NO COFFEE?! Awh come on Niccy these rules are no fun at all, Audel your not going to listen to her are you?" She looked up at Audel with worry, would he be really cruel enough to listen to Nicolette's advice and torture. Her eyes were all wide and she looked like nothing more than a little lost puppy right now, was being pregnant really going to limit her that much?