It was a little bit gross in here, but Althea was comfortable enough. At least it was quiet. Not a million children underfoot, and plenty of choice in the way of seating.

Thea chose the cleanest table, which also had a nice view of the door and took out a book to read while she waited, trying to take her mind of things. Probably this would turn out horribly but her mother had always told her to give people a chance. Maybe they'd end up best friends forever.

Yeah right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

Dash hated anyone being late. He believed that being punctual was important, and it was always the number one thing on his list. This was why as soon as the small hand hit the three he had opened the door to the Hogs Head, and walked inside casually.

It only took him a few seconds to sweep the pub and spot his old school mate. "The place isn't so..charming. But a charms Professor could fix that, yeah?" Dash grinned widely as he took a seat. Not because he was happy or excited, but because he figured it would annoy Althea off the most and he would enjoy that.

Sigh. So much for reading her book. Althea closed it carefully and returned it to her bag, looking up to the kind of grin that... grr. She made an effort to smile back.

"Well if you keep up that sort of charming talk, I won't have to do a thing." Thea said sweetly. She was going to be NICE if it KILLED HER.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

His grin vanished and was replaced by a smirk. "You're feeling better then I see?" It seemed like the fire breathing dragon had gone to sleep. Or some something like that. All Dash knew was that Thea wasn't as....deadly as she had been when he had invaded her class.

"So besides giving people such lovely nicknames, and attacking the writers at the Daily Prophet, what have you been up too since Hogwarts?" You know, since they graduated. He didn't know much about the new Althea except that she looked a lot less nerdy and seemed to be a long more...angry.

"I'm fine." She answered, trying to SOUND fine and not like she was grinding her teeth. In her head she was grinding her teeth, but actually she flashed them pearly whites.

"I went to university after Hogwarts and earned a degree in Magical Metallurgy and Advanced Experimental Charms." She answered, being civil. "Yourself, Dash?" Bag?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

"Have you noticed-" Dash paused looking up at the counter in time to share a glance with the bartender. Nosy. "-That when people say they are fine they generally aren't? It's a funny word really. You think it would show how alright you are but really it just displays how things are less than perfect." Funny word.

"For some reason that doesn't surprise me." Really, Ravenclaw. smart. Of course she would go to study more right out of Hogwarts. "I worked for a couple of years at a Muggle Library. Then took a career in the MLE." One that he had been forced into..but still.

"Things are always less than perfect, doesn't it make it easier that there is a word that expresses that? I'm fine with fine." Althea answered, crossing her legs and settling more comfortably.

"I'm proud of my achievements." She answered by way of agreement. She'd worked HARD. Wait, a muggle library? That was interesting, she supposed. "What, you did the 'Auror thing'?" She rolled her eyes a bit. Aurors, she'd found had a certain kind of attitude about them. Like they thought they were better than people.

"Listen, do you want a drink?" She did. Althea stood up and waited to know if Dash wanted one too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

Stubborn. "Well only if you look at everything in a class half empty sort of way. Things can't always be less than perfect." Dash shrugged it off. He didn't want to get into an argument. He just wanted to show her that he was right.

"As you should be. Not everyone can earn a degree in Advanced Experimental Charms and Magical..whatnot. I could try though..." It sounded interesting. But there was just no ambition to go out and actually go back to school...in the learning sense. "Hit Wizard." He corrected. "And what was that for?" He raised a brow at her rolled eyes. Was she insulting the MLE? Not that he really minded..but...he had to know.

"I could get i-" But Althea was up before he had even finished his sentence. "Yeah. Sure"

"No, less than perfect is better than how things usually shape up." Althea answered coolly, "Except in my work, of course." By which she unintentionally implied that her personal life was lacking. Which it was, but that wasn't fodder for the Dashbag. Sigh.

"You could, if you had any interest in metal charming." She responded. She'd found herself not only passionate about it, but good at it. She enjoyed tinkering.

"Well that's a little better, at least." Thea shrugged one shoulder. "Nothing, I just haven't had a good run with Auror-types."

And was there anything in particular he wanted? Althea hovered for a few seconds more and then decided he'd just have to put up with what she got. She went to the bar and returned a few minutes later with two mugs of warm and surprisingly fresh apple cider.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

"Well, that explains why you seemed so bitter." Dash said cheerfully. But he would stop there. He tried not to be the type of person who would kick someone when they were down. Tried being the keyword of course. "So, what things usually shape up less than perfect?"

"Which I don't! Probably still be amazing though...but you know, be that one person who just manages to scrape by and graduate." There was always that one person.

Huh. "You and me both." So he was exaggerating. "But Aurors aren't that bad." Most of them. The ones that weren't power hurry. "They are like children. You just have to know how to handle them."

There hadn't been any drink that Dash really wanted. In fact he would have been just fine with a glass of water. But as Thea returned with apple cider he smiled a genuine smile. "Haven't had this in years." Really, he felt like a kid again. Yay!

Bitter. She eyed him. "Are you asking because you actually care?" Because Althea wasn't about to tell him anything if he was just going to use it to annoy or make fun of her. She wasn't stupid and she tended to avoid putting herself in situations where unpleasantness would follow, where possible. Dash was pretty good so far at that sort of following.

"Not in my field." She held her hand out to show the faint scar there. "Metal Charming tends to literally cut the wheat from the chaff." Oh people definitely lost fingers. It just wasn't the sort of career you chose to give half effort. Coasters tended to choose easier options.

"Oh I can handle them." She answered coolly. She could. She just preferred to... not. Children she could handle too. Actually Althea liked children though, so she wasn't sure that particular comparison worked for her.

That smile was... different. Tentatively, Althea smiled back and even offered her glass up. "Cheers."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaos.Doodles

He blinked a few times, then rolled his eyes. "Of course. I wouldn't even ask if I didn't care." That would be wasting his time and his breath and Dash didn't do that. Althea was his colleague and an old friend. Might as well find out what was going on with her.

Oh look! An expression! Dash was about to say something about it but stopped himself. History never did make for a good conversation, unless you were speaking to historians. He observed the faint scar on her hand. Interesting. "How did you get that? Coasting a bit in the beginning?" He doubted it though. She was a Ravenclaw. Claw's didn't coast.

"Oh of course you can. You are a strong woman and and all that right?" Right? Woman could handle anything and everything and could destroy men and stomp on dragons and take over the world with all of their mystical powers. He coughed.

"Cheers." Dash brought his glass up to Thea's taping it slightly before taking a sip of the apple cider.

Really? Althea wasn't completely convinced... "Relationships, for one." She answered succinctly, not entirely prepared to give details. It wasn't like they were in their cups and the bartender wasn't facilitating bonding, so she'd keep the details of her woes to herself.

She looked at her hand and smiled. "Not coasting, experimenting. The thing about metal charming is... well, metal can be sharp as I'm sure you know, and some alloys can be magically unstable. That's from shrapnel. The metal charmer's bane." War wounds. Yea she was tough. Thea laughed quietly.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. She tried to figure out if there was a wisecrack in there. She WAS. She liked to think so at least. "Is that your opinion, Dash?" She asked, mildly. Actually she was curious as to what he might say and met his eyes straight on.

She sipped her drink after the little toast and relaxed a little more. It was nice not having children underfoot for just a moment or two. Or so she told herself.