first_in_time | Zagreus Sits Inside Your Head (for Splendid

Barbara looked out at the view as Ian put the last of their things in the car. From the front door of the little Bed and Breakfast, she could see beautiful rolling hills for miles. The last of the morning was being chased away as the sun rose higher in the sky, thawing everything out. Even the cows seemed more active on one particular hill.

"I wish we could stay for a little longer," she sighed to Ian, turning her back on it all so that it might be easier to leave. Her arms folded, one hand still held on to the key they were yet to return. "I don't suppose your car has a secret time traveling device so we can spend an extra few weeks here?"

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From:

splendid_roman

Maybe they should have thought about that sooner, but they hadn't considered that anyone might want to call Barbara that urgently. Ian squeezed Barbara's hand, but said nothing, not wanting to annoy Joan any further.

Although Joan looked back at Barbara she didn't notice she was holding Ian's hand. "If you don't have a phone how am I going to contact you if there's an emergency?"

From:

first_in_time

"I have a new telephone number you can use."

"Why's that?"

Barbara hesitated. There hadn't been many times in her life where she'd been terrified of what her mother might say or do, but now was certainly one of them.

She held out the wrapped picture she had in her other hand. "Here, we had this made for you while we were in Scotland last week," Barbara said. Her mother slowed down and looked at the gift.

The hand Barbara had used to god onto the package sparkled at one particular spot. Joan honed in on it and lifted Barbara's hand for a closer look. The clicking together of ideas in her mind was so obvious that it was almost audible.

"And just what did you do in Scotland?" asked Joan in a dangerously quiet voice.

From:

splendid_roman

Since she'd obviously worked it out for herself Ian spoke up. "We got married," he said.

Joan turned to glare at Ian. "You put her up to this."

"No, I didn't." He would have laughed if it hadn't been so tense. He couldn't imagine being able to convince Barbara to elope if she hadn't wanted to. "We love each other and we just wanted to be married without all the fuss. And expense." Surely Joan could understand not wanting to spend money on something not absolutely necessary.

From:

first_in_time

"You know that Ian wouldn't be able to convince me to do anything I didn't want to do," Barbara said to Joan, "but he's right. We love each other and were just sick of everyone pressuring us to have a wedding as they wanted it instead of how we wanted it. So we eloped."

There. It was out in the open. Joan merely glared, only this time it was at both of them and not just Ian.

From:

splendid_roman

"I don't think you're taking marriage seriously," Joan said to both of them. "It's not something that should be done on a whim."

Ian shook his head. "We've been thinking of getting married for a while now. And we've known each other longer than that." The wedding might have been closer to a whim, but their marriage certainly wasn't.

Joan sniffed. "At least divorce is more socially acceptable than it once was," she said to Barbara.

From:

first_in_time

"We're not getting divorced," Barbara told Joan after rolling her eyes.

"I'm just saying."

Barbara sighed and took half a step closer to Ian without thinking. "Are we going to walk? Or would you rather take shots at us for the rest of the morning?"

Joan considered for a short moment then header further into the gardens without saying a word.

From:

splendid_roman

It would have been a lovely walk if it hadn't been for Joan. Or rather her attitude. He could understand her thinking they'd rushed into it, but she could at least have given them the benefit of the doubt when they'd only just got back from their honeymoon yesterday.

As much as Ian didn't want to be here, it would be unfair to leave Barbara on her own with her mother, so he kept hold of her hand and followed Joan. He couldn't think of anything to say to make the situation any better, so there was an awkward silence for a while.

"That's pretty," Ian said after a while, pointing at a bed of purple flowers. "What are they called?"

From:

first_in_time

"Lavender," Joan replied, dismissing him. The present was still in her hands but it appeared she ha forgotten about it until Barbara pointed it out.

"Why don't you open it? We'd like to see you open it."

Joan looked down at the present an stopped her walking again to sigh at Barbara. "You used wrapping paper for baby boys."

"It was all we had."

Another sigh and Joan slowly pulled back the sticker tape to reveal their portrait. It was nice, in Barbara's opinion, but she was curious to see what Joan thought. Not that she had high hopes.

"Barbara, you know not to wear yellow. It does nothing for your complexion. And that style of dress is so very tacky, couldn't you have picked something more flattering?"

She knew that Joan was just trying to hurt her as she'd been hurt for not being included in their wedding but Barbara still couldn't hide the look of hurt that spread across her face.

"I know you've said that."

From:

splendid_roman

Usually, when it came to Barbara's mother Ian tried not to disagree with her too much and tended to keep silent, so he didn't annoy her. But her upsetting Barbara like that annoyed him and he wouldn't let anyone get away with that, let alone her mother, who he was sure should be as biased about Barbara's beauty as he was. He stepped forward a little. "I think she looked beautiful in that dress."

"I'm sure you did. I expect Barbara thinks you're the bees knees, but I know better."

It was hard not to look hurt at that, even though he knew Joan didn't have a good opinion of him. Ian looked away and wondered if they should cut this walk short and speak to Joan again once she'd calmed down a bit.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara pulled gently on Ian's hand to bring him back to her and sighed a little.

"We're meeting Ian's parents for lunch and should probably get ready," Barbara said quietly. She didn't want to argue with her mother and now they were all hurt. "We'll see you again soon."

From:

splendid_roman

"And there I was thinking you just wanted a walk."

A walk wouldn't go amiss at the moment, but without Joan. Ian tugged Barbara back the way they'd come, leaving Joan glaring after them.

"She'll be all right once she's calmed down a bit," Ian said, trying to reassure them both of that fact.

From:

first_in_time

Barbara sniffed and squeezed his hand. "I hope you're right. I'd hate to think that we'd be like this forever."

From:

splendid_roman

"You're her only family, she's not going to risk losing you just because we eloped." He stopped to put his free arm around her and hug her.

From:

first_in_time

Both of Barbara's arms went around Ian and she hugged him tightly. "You haven't seen her hold a grudge before," she said into his shoulder.

From:

splendid_roman

He hugged her back properly, purposely not looking back at where Joan might be. He hadn't, but he couldn't believe that Joan would hold a grudge against her daughter for that long. "She can't hold a grudge forever. Not against you."

From:

first_in_time

Barbara nuzzled into him some more, her finger clenching onto his cardigan. It hurt that her mother couldn't be happy for them right away but Barbara knew that Joan was projectin how awful she felt about not being included. She had though that Joan would be happy for her because she wouldn't hav to deal with Ian's parents, whole she possibly hated more than Ian.

"I just don't understand why she has to be so awful sometimes. Why can't she just accept things the way that they are instead of trying to control them all the time?"

From:

splendid_roman

He sighed. "I don't know." He wished there was something he could say to make it better, but Joan was the only person who could do that. He had to settle for hugging her tightly and waiting until she was ready.

From:

first_in_time

It felt good to be in Ian's arms, even if they were in public. He felt warm, and filled her with a sense of safety and belonging. She could have stayed like that for the rest of the day but there was one more set of parents to tackle before they thought about going home, let alone being together, just them.

"Come on. We really should go and meet your parents before they start wondering where we are."

From:

splendid_roman

"We have plenty of time, we won't be late," he assured her, checking his watch. But they should leave soon, in case the traffic was bad.

He kept one arm round her on the way back to the car. "The gardens were pretty, we should come back for a walk sometime."

From:

first_in_time

"We should," she agreed quietly. "At least your parents should be a little more agreeable."

From:

splendid_roman

"I hope so." But even if they were also upset at not being invited to their wedding, he couldn't imagine them being that bad.

"We just have to get it over and done with and then we can ignore everyone else for the rest of the summer holidays." He smiled at her.

From:

first_in_time

She smiled back and kissed his shoulder as they parted to sit in their seats inside the car.

"It'll be interesting to go back into routine, and it'll be interesting to see if anyone realises that we're married."

From:

splendid_roman

"The rings are a dead giveaway," he pointed out. He started the car and switched the radio on for some background music. "But I don't think we've been behaving any different now we're married." Not in public anyway.

From:

first_in_time

"We haven't really been around other people since we've been married. Maybe they'll spot some kind of difference, even if the rings are a dead giveaway."

By the time they reached the restaurant, Barbara was in considerably higher spirits. She helped Ian choose a table and sat close enough to his side that she could hold his hand in her lap while they waited for Ian's parents.

"I'm surprised they haven't got any of the grandchildren today. Don't they often have one lot over most weekends?"

From:

splendid_roman

It was just as well they didn't - Ian didn't really want to have this conversation with a child present. "Tom's home at the moment, so I think he's spending time with David and Jamie." They were going away for week in the summer, but Ian couldn't remember when. "I'm not sure what Alice is up to." But if his parents did have Katy to stay at the moment he was sure they would have mentioned it.

And when they arrived they didn't have any children in tow. Ian stood to greet them, keeping his left hand out of sight, sure that his mother would spot that instantly. After handshakes for Ian and his father and hugs for everyone else they all sat down and opened the menus on their table.

"You never did say what this was in aid of," Audrey said, not really paying attention to her menu.

Ian would have preferred to wait until they had eaten to tell them, but they wouldn't be able to hide the rings that long. He hesitated a moment over his answer and he was briefly saved by the waiter coming to take their drink orders and Robert chose them a good wine.

While the waiter fetched the bottle Ian said, "Barbara and I have just been in Scotland, where we got married."

"Congratulations," Robert said. "We should have had champagne."

Audrey rolled her eyes at him. "Why did you do that? I thought you were planning a wedding closer to home." She sounded more confused than upset.