Buns and Ovens and all that (Genevieve)

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Meredith was more nervous than she'd ever been in her life, and it had taken her nearly a week to decide who to turn to - or if she was going to turn to anybody. The person she most wanted to speak to was Gwen, but she'd just been here and she didn't want to wait for a letter to come back and she had no idea if the Queen would tell anyone else, normally she was pretty sure she could trust Gwen with anything, but this?

She'd been through a list of all her friends over and over again and finally settled on the first person who'd been there for her after everything had happened, the person she could trust to probably be calm and reasonable and supportive and help her figure this out. 
So she was hovering outside Genevieve's room working up the courage to knock, alternating between almost doing it and nearly walking away, when eventually she just went for it, hammering on the door with just a little more force than was strictly necessary.

"Vivi? It's Meredith, can we talk?"

[Genevieve]

Completely immersed in her latest discovery, ‘The Lord of The Rings’, Genevieve had pretty much forgotten where she was, who she was, what day it was and everything except who Sam and Frodo were and whether they were going to make it across the plains of Mordor without being found and killed. It was incredibly tense, and so when there was a sudden, forceful knock on her door, she jumped so hard she knocked over the mug of tea that had been sat going cold on her nightstand beside her.

She froze for a second as she returned to reality, wondering who on earth would want her attention that badly, when she heard Meredith’s voice call out, and grabbing an old shirt and throwing it over the spilt tea to try and mop up some of the spill, she ran to the door and pulled it open, Return of the King still in hand.

“Meredith! Hi! I was completely lost in this book - have you read it?” She gushed for a moment before looking at her friend, a concerned expression immediately appearing as she stood aside to let Meredith in. “What’s wrong? What’s happened? Let me get you some tea.”

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Oh, uh, yeah," Meredith nodded distractedly, barely even glancing at the book in Vivi's hand, which really only highlighted how out of it she really was - any other time she probably would have immediately started raving about how amazing lord of the rings was.

"Please. Wait... No... maybe..." She frowned, then shook her head, heading into Genevieve's room and sitting down on the bed "I mean yes, please, I'll have a cup of tea."

[Genevieve]

Something was very wrong, and as Meredith came inside and sat down, Genevieve closed the door and immediately started making tea, clicking the kettle on and pulling out two mugs and teabags, before turning to Meredith. She didn't look good, and Genevieve moved to sit next to her on the bed, concern etched onto her features.

"Meredith? What's happened? Has Mordred..." Meredith looked almost as bad as she had the night Genevieve had found her burning clothes outside the dorms, so it was understandable that her thoughts immediately jumped to Mordred having hurt her again. She swore, if he had, again, after everything he'd done already, he might well be the first person to see Genevieve truly angry. "Meredith, tell me what's happened."

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Her face suddenly got so pale it was almost white at the mention of Mordred.

"Oh my gods. He's going to freak out so much... what am I going to do..." She mumbled, staring blankly into space, her expression horrified. It was almost like she wasn't quite registering what Vivi was actually saying to her, but eventually she managed to actually answer the question.

"Nothing has happened.... Well,nothing new.. sort of... it's more..." She tried to collect her thoughts "ever since... that night... Well, a couple of weeks after it, I started getting, um, getting sick a lot. I felt really tired and... stuff... and I kept throwing up... and now...I'm... late... I thought it was just the stress, but we didn't, I mean, there wasn't.. I think..." She looked helplessly at Genevieve, hoping she could fill in the gaps.

[Genevieve]

She frowned, confused, as Meredith spoke again. He was going to freak out? About what? She stayed quiet, allowing Meredith to get out everything she needed to say. Whatever it was, they could deal with it.

She listened carefully, frowning slightly. Was Meredith saying... was she...? As Meredith looked at her, Genevieve realised what Meredith was trying to say. She took a couple of breaths, her mind racing as she filled in all the gaps. Oh Gods. Arthur and Merlin were going to go mad...

"Meredith? Are you... are you pregnant?"

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

Meredith was glad Genevieve could figure it out without her having to say much more, she wasn't sure she could actually say it yet. She wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but she couldn't really feel any relief just now. Instead she nodded miserably, staring at the floor.

"I think so... I mean, I'm pretty sure... what am I going to do?" She finally looked up at Genevieve desperately, hoping she'd somehow have the answer. She was only 17, this couldn't be happening... Her parents were going to have a fit. Arthur was probably going to murder Mordred, just straight up tear him to shreds. She'd have to go home and get married and live in scandal.... or not.

[Genevieve]

Oh Gods. She was. She was pregnant. This was decidedly not good. Genevieve felt herself getting a little worked up, and took a couple of calming breaths. She had no right to get worked up about this - Meredith needed her right now. Meredith had come to her for help and support, not for drama and hysterics. She reached out and took Meredith's hand, squeezing it gently.

"It's going to be ok." She smiled reassuringly at her friend. "I promise, it's going to be ok." Her mind was racing through all the different scenarios that could come from this moment - gods she hoped Mordred was going to step up and deal with this, not retreat like he had after the duel and leave Meredith to deal with this on her own. Genevieve told herself that she was going to make Mordred step up on this. "First things first. You have to tell Mordred. You need to talk to him. You should figure this out together."

The kettle clicked off, and Genevieve stood up. "Actually, no. First things first - strong, sweet tea." She began making the tea, quickly and deftly brewing it before passing a mug over to Meredith. "This is not the worst thing to happen, ok?" She smiled again, sitting back down beside Meredith.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Oh gods no, no,I can't tell him, what's he going to say? Oh god what if he just shuts off again and goes all... like he did before... how can I tell him about this? How are we going to deal with this?"She came close to hyperventilating, stopping herself abruptly and grasping for the mug. Her eyes flashed greenish gold for a few seconds like she'd just done a spell, but nothing seemed to happen and she didn't seem to notice.

"Tea first," she repeated, clutching the cup and appreciating the warmth "tea makes everything better." She took a sip, apparently unbothered by the heat of it.

"I don't know how tea is going to fix this though..."

[Genevieve]

"Meredith. You can't deal with this alone. You have to tell him." She bit her lip nervously, trying to figure out what she could say to help. "It wouldn't be fair not to tell him." She said quietly. She noticed the flash in Meredith's eyes and frowned, wondering what had happened. She hesitated, waiting, but when nothing happened she allowed herself to relax slightly.

She smiled at Meredith's words. "Where there's tea, there's hope." She said quietly, her favourite mantra. She blew on her own tea to cool it before taking a sip.

Reaching over she took Meredith's hand again. "This isn't like before. He might surprise you. And if he doesn't..." Genevieve wasn't going to be the only one going after him... "If he doesn't, then you've got me. And Tristian, and everyone else. But... he's really been trying, hasn't he? Perhaps he'll come through on this. Perhaps he'll step up and be the Mordred you need him to be."

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"Maybe..." Meredith agreed, looking down at her cup "I hope so... I mean I can't exactly hide it can I?" She gave a hollow laugh, trying to stop herself from crying. She wondered how long it would be before it became obvious, before people looked at her in the corridor and knew because there was no way of covering it up, even with really baggy jumpers or dresses or... She was getting panicked again. She reached a hand up to run through her hair, sparks jumping from her fingers like too much static.
She frowned, shaking her hand as if she was trying to get them off her hand. More jumped from her fingertips, dissolving into the air.

"You're right... I have to tell him..."

[Genevieve]

She saw the sparks, and her worry increased. Losing control was not good, especially with someone who had magic, something who was still learning. She'd spent enough time studying and listening to Merlin to know that. She had never felt nervous around magic, having grown up with Merlin, Meredith and Lorelei, but she was getting nervous now. "Meredith," She reached out and took her shoulder, "calm down. Take a deep breath, ok? You have a long time before you have to even think about having to hide anything."

Feeling herself calm a little at Meredith's words, she smiled, nodding in agreement. "It will be ok. I can come with you, I can be there when you tell him, if that will help."

She continued watching Meredith carefully, nervously looking for signs of out of control magic.

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"I know, I know.. I'm just..." She took a deep breath and another sip of tea, forcing herself to listen to Genevieve and focus on being more relaxed. It was a lot, but she couldn't keep freaking out about it, she couldn't freak out for nine months after all... of course that thought sent another wave of panic through her and she had to take another long sip of tea.

"It's just a lot. Thank you, for being here, for listening, for being so calm... everything. I really appreciate it."

[Genevieve]

"Of course." She smiled at Meredith, squeezing her arm reassuringly. "It's what I'm here for."

At least she was giving the appearance of calm, because inside, she was as far from calm as she could possibly be. She had never fully trusted Mordred, she hated the way he made Tristian so unhappy - even if it wasn't entirely Mordred's fault - and she was still angry at him for the way he had treated Meredith. And the duel was a whole other issue. She believed in seeing the good in people, and she believed there was good in Mordred, but she wasn't sure if he saw it himself, and people who didn't see the good in themselves were the ones who caused pain and destruction for those around them.

And if he and Meredith were bringing a baby into that mix... it scared Genevieve.

But there was no way she was going to tell Meredith any of that, her friend had enough on her plate right now. She looked at her carefully, her mind racing.

"Meredith, you should tell him sooner rather than later."

[Meredith Emrys-Pendragon]

"I will," Meredith said with a nod, trying to make herself sound more certain than she felt. It was only a moment before her shoulders sagged again and she sighed "As soon as I figure out how... I just... I need to find the right words, but I will tell him, he's the very next person I'll tell, I promise."
She could keep that promise for as long as she liked as long as she didn't tell anyone else, right?

She drained the rest of her tea, hands fidgeting with the empty mug, looking full of nervous energy.

"I have to go... do... something... I feel all worked up. Maybe I'll go the gym or something, work out this energy and then I can figure out how to tell him..."