RP: Taking shelter at the pub

[tt_charlie]

Date: 18 March 2002
Characters: Charlie Weasley, Open to Everyone! (Feel free to start separate threads to mingle.)
Setting: World's End Pub
Content: NC-17 [Possible language]
Status: Public : Open



After securing his windows and doors, Charlie had stopped in to see Ginny, letting her know that he was going to the pub for the duration of the storm. There was bound to be other people with the same idea to pass the time in good company, with entertainment (darts and a viewing box), and alcohol, as opposed to huddled in their homes. Plus, he hadn't felt like trying to cook, either. The walk down to the pub had been a small hint of what was to come with the monsoon, and Charlie was glad they had taken precautions at the Ark for the animals to ride out the storm.

The deck of the World's End was empty for once, even cleared of the furniture - secured in the garage, no doubt. Charlie pushed in the door, keeping a good grip on it to prevent any damage, thankful to get out of the rain and wind as he shut it behind himself. There was already a good crowd in the pub. He tossed his cloak on the hanger by the door and headed to the bar. On the viewing box was replaying a BBC comedy show - The Kumars At No. 42.

Comments

[tt_neville]

Neville was continuing his resolution to get out of the greenhouses long enough to hold actual conversations. Also there was the fact that if there was a storm, buildings made of glass (no matter how sturdy or magically protected they supposed to be) were probably a pretty stupid place to be.

He went to the pub and ordered a pint of whatever was good, leaning up against the bar and idly scraping dirt from under his fingernails as he looked around at the crowd, who all seemed perfectly cheerful despite any impending natural disaster.

[tt_alicia]

With Sasha’s help yesterday it had hardly taken any time getting the house secured and ready for the impending storm. Viktor had left for the Ark afterwards and Alicia had gone back to spend the night at her brother’s house. Even though she knew he would be careful and that he was capable of what he was doing, the spotty datapad connection had made her constantly worry that something had happened to him. Then a couple of messages had come through at once, and she had calmed down, until the network had gone down again, and she had started worrying all over again. Eventually, she had fallen asleep, and she had woken up to find Sam refusing to spend another 24 hours similar to the first evening she had spent here. Before she could object, she had found herself running through the rain with her backpack – filled with everything she figured she might need for waiting out a storm – towards breakfast at The World’s End.

Breakfast had been delicious, as always, and it hadn’t taken long before people had started talking more freely between the tables than they normally did. Sam had drifted off towards the back where he was playing cards with a group of people, two of which she recognized as working in security and one she thought might be working at the farm. Alicia, on the other hand, had ended up shooting darts with one of the Muggle doctors who lived in the Settlement. She almost felt bad for the poor bloke; there was a reason Alicia had been the one most often picked to do penalty shots back in school, and her ability to score on the Pitch apparently translated into her ability to hit the dart board.

“And that, my friend,” she cheered, doing a little victory dance after she had just sent her final dart straight into the bullseye, “is how it’s done. I need a drink.” Leaving him behind to play with someone else, she headed towards the bar, though turned to see who had opened the door. She sent a small wave and a smile towards Charlie when she recognized him, before she slid into one of the free chairs and caught the bartender’s attention. “I’ll have an ice tea, please.”

[tt_neville]

Neville looked over as someone slid into one of the free chairs beside him. He perked up a little when he recognised her. "Hi Alicia," he said, leaning back against the bar. "Nice day for it?"

[tt_alicia]

Assured that the bartender had taken her order, Alicia turned her head when she heard her name from next to her. “Hi Neville,” she smiled back, turning in her seat until she was facing the same way as him. “Might as well make the best of it, right?”

Try as she might, she couldn’t quite discern what he had been looking at. “Did you just come back? I don’t think I’ve seen you around the Settlement since… well, since a long time ago.”

[tt_neville]

Neville made a wry face. "Yeah. I sort of wandered off into the jungle my second or third day. Didn't much feel like being around people, y'know? And, you know. It's interesting out there."

[tt_alicia]

Alicia quirked an eyebrow at him. She didn’t doubt that it was interesting in the jungle and she did like being there herself, but or weeks on end? No, she was too much a people person for that, but of course that didn’t mean that it hadn’t been the right thing for Neville to do. “Actually, I’m not sure I know,” she chuckled, patting his arm as she turned back towards the bar to accept her ice tea, “but that’s just me. I work better with people than plants. What sort of interesting did you find out there?” She was genuinely curious to hear what had captured his attention out there

[tt_neville]

Neville happily listed off a whole list of plants - some he knew already, some the Herbologists he worked with had already named, and some he had just given temporary names until he could work out what to name them properly. "Oh, and some pretty big arse birds," he added once he thought he had got through everthing and probably bored her to tears in the process. "And smaller ones, but the big ones are more interesting."

[tt_alicia]

One by one the names of plants made Alicia’s eyebrows raise just a little more. If it hadn’t been for the joy in Neville’s way of sharing she would have tuned out before he had even reached the halfway point. Instead, she listened, recognizing some of the names, intrigued by the names he had come up with himself and even amused by some. “Well, the big arse birds tastes better than the smaller ones,” she added in, the laughed softly. “Honestly, Neville, I don’t know if I’m intimidated or impressed by the fact that you remember all of those just straight off the top of your head,” she admitted. “Maybe a bit of both.” Holding her glass up towards him as if in a toast, she looked towards his little slice of bar counter. “What are you drinking?”

[tt_neville]

Neville grinned. Well, he was only really good at two things, and there hadn't been any need to lead any student armies lately, so the plants were really all he had left.

He held up his drink and peered at it. "No idea." He sipped it experimentally. It had a pleasantly mellow, fruity taste. "S'nice, though."

[tt_alicia]

”Good enough for me,” Alicia chuckled, clinking her glass against his before she too took a sip of her drink.

At work, she had often enough watched the Herbologists come and go, seemingly as they pleased. She hadn’t quite figured out their methods, if they even had a method, and yet none of them ever seemed to just sit around. They were always working on something, she just didn’t know what. “So… what’s up next for you?” she asked him, taking another sip before she put her glass back on the counter. “Another trip to the jungle or something more local?”

[tt_neville]

Neville had to think about it for a minute, then he sighed. "I think I better stick around for a while," he admitted. "Or I think my friends might come chase after me. Besides I'm starting to get used to real food, now." He took another sip. "What about you?"

[tt_alicia]

”Ah, yeah, the food’s pretty good here,” she agreed, nodding, though she was well aware that his friends would be his main reason for sticking around. “Oh, I… Heal. No matter how many injuries I Heal, people still get injured, or sick,” she chuckled. “But I’ve been doing some extra shifts over in Two, with the Muggle doctors and patients, both to learn more but also to see if I can’t pull in some overtime so I can take time off later.”

[tt_neville]

"That's great," Neville said enthusiastically. "I'd... like to learn more about Healing, actually. I dunno why they didn't go into it more at Hogwarts. Well, I guess they might have in seventh year and wouldn't know about it." He shrugged. "Still, seems like it would be more useful than learning how to turn umbrellas into flamingos, right?"

[tt_alicia]

Alicia gave a wry twist of her mouth at Neville’s comment about having missed seventh year. That particular year had been hard for everybody and she could only imagine what it must have been like having been more or less locked up at the school. “Well, Healing wasn’t part of the curriculum when I went there,” she assured him, “but…” His comment about transfiguration and his expressed desire to learn more about the field had gotten her thinking. “I could teach you some, if you’d like,” she offered, then held up a hand to amend; “Not the advanced Healing, but, you know, the basics for when you’re on your own or something like that.”

[tt_neville]

Neville grinned. "That'd be great!" he said, enthusiastically. "I mean there's only so far Episky can go, right?" It certainly hadn't been overly helpful during that year, he thought sadly. They'd done their best, but some people would have scars forever - including him. The thin line that ran from eye to chin was barely noticable anymore, but sometimes it itched, and on those days he usually had nightmares.

[tt_alicia]

Neville’s enthusiasm was contagious, and if she thought about it, Alicia couldn’t remember having seen him like this for a long time, if ever. Not that they had been close or spent all that much time together, but they had shared a common room for five years and then there had been the time spent practicing in Dumbledore’s Army. “Well, if you know Episky and how to turn an umbrella into a flamingo you’re already on the way,” she chuckled. “Those two things are more or less just variations of the same magic. So…” Alicia pursed her lips and glanced up at him. “If I teach you the basics of Healing, is it possible that you could do a little something for me too? Nothing big or time consuming, just something that can be done while you’re working anyway. At least I think it could work like that.”

[tt_neville]

"Of course," Neville said, eyes widening slightly with curiosity at what she could possibly want from him. "I mean yeah, sure, I'd love to."

[tt_alicia]

”You haven’t even heard what I’m going to ask of you!” Alicia smirked, “So keep in mind that you can still say no, but… if or well, rather when you go out somewhere, and if you see flowers, as in real flowers, blooming and that could be considered decorative and that aren’t poisonous… could you send back some pictures for me?” She shrugged slightly. “I already know the ones that are close to the Settlements, at least by looks, so if you come across any that doesn’t grow around here, then I’d like pictures of them.” Yes, asking a Herbologist to take pictures of pretty flowers did feel a bit like swatting flies using Avada Kedavra to her, but it was Neville’s love of being in the jungle that had made her ask this of him.

[tt_neville]

Neville cocked his head slightly to one side. "Sure I could do that," he said. "I could even bring you samples, if you like. Or is it just the pictures you want?" He didn't see why someone would want a picture of a flower when they could have the real thing.

[tt_alicia]

“Just the pictures for now,” Alicia said, nodding slowly as she reconsidered his offer though settled on just the pictures. “I’m getting married and we’ll be starting the more specific planning soon, so I’d like to see which types of flowers are available here, and hopefully find some inspiration.” Just saying that made her smile turn bright before she managed to rein it back in. “So until it’s more narrowed down, pictures will be fine.”

[tt_neville]

Neville's eyes widened. "What? I guess you really do miss stuff when you're out in the jungle..." he smiled. "That's really great. Congratulations, Alicia."

[tt_alicia]

”Thank you, Neville,” Alicia smiled back. “I don’t think you really missed it, actually,” she continued with a chuckle. “It’s all pretty new and it’s not like it’s been announced publically, so even if you hadn’t been in the jungle, you still mightn’t know.”

[tt_neville]

"That's still great," Neville smiled. "Do I know him?"

[tt_alicia]

”I think it is,” Alicia beamed. She just couldn’t help it, even if she had always found people who were overly in love and happy rather annoying. Right now, she just didn’t care; if she was annoying, so be it. “Most likely you do,” she told him with a nod. “Viktor Krum, he works down at the Ark.” Sure, he used to be a professional Quidditch player, but though he still played, he now made his living working with the magical creatures.

A particularly strong gust of wind made the building shake and Alicia instantly looked up at the glass that were clinking gently against each other. “And it’s only just getting started,” she sighed.

[tt_dempster]

It wasn't in Dempster's nature to be so restless but something about the storm announcement had him feeling just that. He'd checked in to let Kingsley know that if he was needed for security rounds, he'd be at the pub, and headed to the World's End, figuring if he had to he could always just stay on Lisa's couch in the back, if the storm or the crowd got too unruly.

Demp waved to the petite barmaid and took his customary seat at the bar, waving at Charlie Weasley who seemed to have just arrived as well. He ordered a pint and the stew and settled in to eat, not wanting to interrupt anyone with similar plans.

[tt_lisa]

Lisa wasn't surprised to see Demp arrive, and really, to see the pub as busy as it was. She'd convinced her parents to stay in for the night and had sent over some dinner for them just to be thoughtful, but otherwise she and Paul had agreed it was 'all hands on deck' for the storm.

Bringing out Dempster's drink and putting in his dinner order (there wasn't much to order besides the usual, anyway) she headed to a back table with a bottle wine for the big spenders trying to impress a couple of girls who clearly were more interested in the view out the front windows than anything else.

Laughing to herself she heard her name called and made her way to the front with a big smile belying her tiredness.