Absit Omen RPG
Role-Play Boards => London => Muggle London => Topic started by: Moira McBoid on May 17, 2019, 06:54:44 PM
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January 4th
London Aquarium
5:45 p.m.
Moira was early and had been for a while. She could have been home doing more things with the horses. Instead she chose to spend her time sitting on a bench in front of the Aquarium watching people. Leaning back with her arms crossed the young woman appeared both comfortable and not wholly approachable, which kept random strangers from talking to her.
The full moon was getting closer. Since the previous one she was almost painfully aware of it. Probably as aware as the members of the WCU, werewolves, and anyone else affected by it in the past. Moira couldn’t say she had really suffered about that night compared to many others. All she’d done was delay a call for help and effectively caused the deaths of innocent people.
Working at the menagerie was a welcome distraction for her musings. Except today was her day off from work. That meant she had finished all her chores early that morning and was left alone with her thoughts (and horses, but they didn’t talk much). Left wondering how those caught in the ambush were faring. Wondering how the families of the dead were coping. Who she’d piss off in the unlikely event of something happening again this month.
Such thoughts were terrible company so Moira decided to meet up with Fauna and Anton here at six, as Abby’s invitation owl had notified her. So what if she showed up almost an hour early and hadn’t told anyone she’d be joining? It would work out just fine.
Going inside to wait wasn’t an option. Unlike many of her classmates the witch didn’t have any muggle money. Duncan had always offered to let her have some in case of emergencies but she just shook her head and gratefully declined. Besides, it was easier for the other two, and anyone else who might have been invited, to see her outside.
Everything was fine. No wolves, people were happy, and it was a beautiful evening.
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5 minutes before 6pm
After a long day at work and frequent checks of her phone during breaks, Fauna had decided that yes, she would like to meet Anton and a few others at the aquarium for whatever nighttime event they were arranging there. Fauna had changed into jeans and a fresh blouse at work, and thrown her yellow coat with the big pockets on over that, and left the Ministry early to navigate the floos to the aquarium in London.
It would likely be her last chance to leave work at a reasonable time before the preparation for the next full moon kicked into high gear. Though she was on desk duty, there were portkeys to configure and signals to arrange beyond the red sparks and usual methods.
She walked alongside the Thames, tucking her hat over her ears as she glanced over the dark, murky waters. It was less windy today but still blew cold over the river.
Fauna glanced ahead at the London Eye towering a short block away, and felt very glad they were meeting someplace warm. She paused in front of the aquarium entrance, spotting a familiar face.
Was that Moira, sitting on a bench and crossing her arms at the crowd? Moira, in muggle London? Moira, at a social gathering that neither Sasha nor Abby were going to be at? Fauna blinked in surprise. Maybe she was trying to branch out, or she got along well with Anton. That was possible. And it was January. Her letter had said that she would have more free time to meet in January.
Fauna smiled wryly to herself.
She waved, her smile softening into something gentler, and walked over to the bench.
"Hi, have you been waiting long? I thought I'd be the first one here. I'm still working out the floo's," she lowered her voice after a quick glance around.
Fauna forgot to add that she had, well, a bit of a problem these days. A magical no-magic problem.
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Winter holidays were starting to wind down, which was somewhat of a bummer. In due course, Anton's life up at Cambridge would resume and he'd be trudging through the winter cold to classes, the library and his flat. All with a much greater understanding of what the world around him held and surrounded by a whole world of people that were oblivious to it all. But, there was time yet before all the drudgery resumed and Anton had an even more complete partner-in-crime when he got back.
All matters to contemplate another day; this evening the Schäfers' were heading off towards one of their favorite annual holiday events: the last night of the London Aquarium's Lights Under The Sea event. During the holiday's, the aquarium would stay open after hours for donors and VIPs - decked in lights, complimentary prosecco and fancy schmnacy finger foods and the freedom to wander the aquarium when there were fewer people about (though there was no doubt that the smaller crowd tended to think a lot of themselves.)
When the parental units had mentioned to the three kids that they had a few spare guest tickets, should anyone have someone they wanted to invite, Anton had been quick to commandeer a few of the spares and had begun his quest to find others to use them. His sister, Amanda, hadn't cared - she'd already had plans to stay over at Jackie's or Nancy's or ... someone's house. Anton couldn't remember. Micha had been perturbed only briefly until he'd learned that the plus twos that Anton was bringing along were actual, real live witches like him!
And, as the four Schäfers-minus-Amanda approached the front entrance of the aquarium, Micha had been nudging Anton's side relentlessly and pointing at anyone they passed who had even the slightest questionable taste in fashion. As such, it was Micha who'd spotted Moira sitting near the entrance with Fauna first and it had taken a firm hand on the shoulder from their mother to prevent him from rushing towards them, once Anton had confirmed his guess. Now, he stood with the wide-eyed expression of a fan girl who'd just caught a glimpse of Taylor Swift.
"Don't worry if you decide to leave before me," Anton assured his parents. "I'll grab a lift home. And, I'm sure we'll cross paths inside," he added, for Micha's sake. "I didn't forewarn them of the potential paparazzi, so let me give them a head's up, first."
Anton turned away from his parents and Micha and trotted the short distance towards Fauna and Moira, grinning broadly as he reached them. "Hiya! Sorry if I'm a little late; hopefully you haven't been waiting," he offered, oblivious to Fauna offering a similar apology not moments before. "No real good excuse. Just some weird natural law of it taking so much longer to get ready when there are more people going." Someone was always finally finding shoes just after someone else had realized they'd misplaced their wallet.
"Glad you both could make it. They're always especially generous with the bubbly on the last night, so it's a good day to come. And, hopefully you won't feel too much like you're being watched; you're kind of minor celebrity's for the day - but they've promised to act cool."
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A waving hand caught Moira’s attention and she nodded in return to Fauna’s greeting. Despite having seen her only a few days before, a small sense of relief passed through Moira upon seeing the other witch.
While they hadn’t discussed the event from a month ago (not for lack of trying on Fauna’s part) or any of the details she had been able to put a few reasonable assumptions together. Including Fauna having been caught in the ambush. Considering her earlier thoughts, it was nice seeing that her fellow alumni was okay.
Unsure why Fauna would be working out the floo system, Moira cast her a curious look. Before she could answer the question, however, Anton joined them at the bench offering a similar apology. “Halò,” she returned his greeting, rising to stand while lowering her arms. Glancing at Fauna again she added, “No, not long.” The lie about her wait time came easy enough.
As for the cool-acting person Anton mentioned, she could only presume that would be his younger brother. The one about to begin his own journey at Hogwarts later that year. She wondered just how similar the brothers were, or were they complete opposites?
In an effort to be polite and somewhat sociable Moira asked, “How are you two?”
Besides, that was why she was here. To see people and be distracted. Asking questions was a good way, so long as they didn’t ask too many in return.
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Fauna spotted Anton jogging up to greet her and Moira. Her expression brightening, she waved at him, then did a double take at the group he'd just left. Was that his family? Must be his family! She hadn't realized they'd be accompanying him, and felt a flutter of nerves and excitement at the thought of meeting them so suddenly. After a moment she politely averted her gaze, murmuring something to Anton about how she was glad he'd invited her and that he was right on time.
"As long as they don't expect us to be cool," she let out a chuckle, casting a wistful glance over Anton's shoulder. She'd love to say hi, but didn't want to impose just yet.
She smiled at Moira's question. It seemed a simple thing, but it felt like a big deal that Moira was here and trying to be sociable. Fauna tried not to overthink it.
"I'm much better than I was a few days ago," she admitted, glancing at Anton. "Er, Anton here brought me soup when I wasn't feeling well. It's that strange flu that's been going around," she went on, unsure if Moira knew about it or would pick up on her very vague description. "Don't worry, I'm not contagious anymore, but I might have been at the New Year's party."
Fauna looked at Moira closely as they followed the crowd inside.
"How are you? You haven't been feeling sick, have you? Not that you look sick," she added hastily. She looked just fine! Nothing worse than hearing otherwise.
The queue inside led to the ticket check and a coat check beneath garlands of sparkling lights. Oh no, was this a fancy thing? Fauna glanced around, relieved to see a few others, mostly young people, dressed casually. She unbuttoned her yellow coat and tucked her hat into one of the puffy sleeves, then slid her mobile and her tiny sketchbook into the back pocket of her jeans. She wore a blouse with a purple and yellow flowery pattern on it, which she could never wear during work hours without risking constant greetings of 'Flora' all day.
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"Good, good!" Anton was glad it didn't sound like either of them had waited very long. He turned to simultaneously offer the gathered family a thumbs up and waving them off before turning back to Fauna and Moira.
His nose wrinkled slightly as he shook off Fauna's worries about being cool. "No no - they're going to do their own thing. Complete with pretending they don't really know us. I just can't promise Micha won't trail us with paparazzi-like enthusiasm whenever we happen to cross paths." Micha had promised not to sneak a selfie or post any tweets, but Anton was highly suspicious that promise was pretty casual.
Anton wrinkled his nose, nodding in solidarity as Fauna mentioned her Magic-Robbing-Cruds (though Anton did note that Fauna avoided mentioning the other young blonde man that joined in the visit). "It looked super crudy," Anton piped in, with another sympathetic nod. "Luckily, I have super immune magical powers so I could go into the hot zone without worry. I think." After all, he had no magic powers to lose. If, by some strangeness, muggles got magic from this bug, Anton would have offered to share dishes or play spin the bottle.
They approached the ticket counter and Anton pulled out his phone. As Fauna asked her wand-waving friend about any falters in the flickering, he scrolled through to the e-ticket and held it up for the kid behind the counter to scan with his own lazer-emitting magic wand.
"It all sounded pretty rough," he conceded as he dropped his parka off at the coat check and waited for Moira to follow suit, if she so wished. Even from the entry way, syncopating holiday music with a jazz flare could be heard from the main entrance "But, I think this will be the perfect antidote to all of that. Champagne? Hoity toity finger food? Penguins - I mean, it's the perfect combination. But, first," he cast a conspiratory grin towards Fauna before nodding his head in a hithertoo, trust me and follow without questions manner.
Granted, the gift shop was usually the last stop on the tour but they needed proper provisions. He quickly found what he was looking for: a bucket display filled with all manner of fish-themed hats. In Anton's opinion, nothing accented a fancy, rich-people-only party like walking around with a shark (https://www.amazon.com/Halloween-originality-Aquarium-piranha-children/dp/B071P1ZHNX) biting your head. It was very symbolic.
He grabbed a silver (http://CjwKCAjwxrzoBRBBEiwAbtX1n5lxwSSg1NP2kpOb24bwrlsXzTcbwNweRaZes_7XRlm4Vl4zwBHaFBoCGFYQAvD_BwE) school fish hat for himself and picked up one of the red shark hats before reaching out to plop it on Moira's head.
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Moira glanced between the witch and the muggle as they talked about Fauna being sick and how cruddy it had been. During the New Year's party she had been afraid Blake would fall over, especially after their chat on the balcony. She looked much better now.
"No, I feel alright." Nothing ill about her and hopefully she stayed that way. Losing her magic would be beyond inconvenient. She had no idea how she would manage to efficiently work at the ranch under such circumstances, feeling more like she would be a burden than a help.
The entryway looked fancy with the hanging lights, but the larger portion of her attention was drawn to the man admitting people in. Thanks to her friends she at least understood the concept of a phone, but watching the ritual of pointing the objects at each other before allowing passage was new. It was effortless and quick and the line of people steadily moved forward. Anton dropped off his coat and Moira opted to leave hers (https://images.beautifulhalo.com/images/392x588/201712/K/simple-plain-long-sleeve-single-breasted-denim-jacket-for-couple_1514541899201.jpg) on, though she did unbutton it.
Moira didn't bother telling Anton she preferred whiskey to champagne. They probably only had fancy drinks available here to cater to the wealthier class. Besides, she was an invited guest and planned to not be rude at the very least.
Even so when he reached up to put the shark hat on her head her body tensed up, ready to jolt or shift away before she managed to make herself be still. Yes, the shark had teeth but they were made of felt. They weren't sharp and couldn't rip her apart.
Glancing up and seeing as much as she could Moira was a little uncertain about wearing a hat at all. Hats were easily knocked off or damaged by large creatures over 1500 pounds, after all. Again, she was a guest and she wasn't at work or around the horses. She accepted it.
"Okay… now that that's, um, out of the way what next?"
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"Of course," Fauna widened her eyes seriously at Anton. "I wouldn't have risked you otherwise. Er, if I thought you could get sick."
Anton because he was a muggle and she felt especially protective. Fig didn't deserve the magical measles either, though she was glad he'd showed up and helped explain werewolves to Anton. She avoided mentioning Fig to Moira, however, remembering their argument on the balcony.
To her relief, Moira assured them that she was well, and she seemed back to her usual self since the party. Fauna had taken time to think about it, and now that fate and Anton's social nature had thrown them together, she resolved to find a quiet moment to talk to Moira. She'd try not to be too sappy about it, or awkward, but she couldn't make any promises, just as she couldn't promise not to encourage Micha and the rest of Anton's family to say hello.
Champagne and hoity toity food? She was just at the Ministry party weeks ago! She caught Anton's conspiring look and smiled back cautiously, following him into the shop.
Anton soon found himself a ridiculous fish hat, and he found Moira a ridiculous shark hat, while Fauna, a.ka. Hat Girl, found her own ridiculous hat (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072LPWH81/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B072LPWH81&pd_rd_w=2Hz0T&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=FXiXA&pf_rd_r=1GWJJVYW0WXVANSNYKK9&pd_rd_r=13780307-9c36-11e9-8170-9d97d68298ac).
Fauna sneakily paid for all of their hats, assuming that Moira might not know how muggle money worked and considering that Anton had generously invited them here. At any protests, she blocked the counter with her official Auror stance (arms crossed, back straight, chin up) and tossed one jellyfish tentacle over her shoulder in warning. Transaction completed! Fauna turned to smile at her fish-festooned friends.
"Now, champagne and fish? I mean, watching fish?"
Anton looked right at home with his goofy hat and his wide smile, completely at ease among the hoity toity sort, whereas Moira looked a touch uncomfortable with those felt shark teeth over her forehead.
Fauna snagged a glass of champagne raised it in a silly toast, "To watching fish and blending in as fish."
Muggle fish!
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"I never argue with a tentacle!" Anton conceded, lifting his hands in surrender as Fauna tendered the cost of the fishy fedoras. Now, if they could just put a few flutes of champagne in their hands, they'd be totally ready to slay the party.
Beret Babe was clearly on the same page and managed to snag a glass off a passing tray. Anton did likewise, plucking a spare off the tray and extending it to Moira.
"Well, we have two general options when it comes to 'what next.' Either rubbing elbows and schmoozing with the finest snobs London has to offer. Or, we disappear into the bowels of the aquarium and make faces at fish." At least, those were the official and 'acceptable' choices.
Luckily, Fauna seemed to have the right idea. "Though seeing the likes of us try to blend in with the snobs of London would be amusing, I like the idea of fishing it. Do we go the official, map-approved tour? Or, go AWOL and just meander without a plan?"
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Moira accepted the glass from him, giving it the habitual sniff for anything new, before taking a sip. The champagne was different than her usual harder drinks and different than other bubbly drinks she’d tried in the past. Still, the taste wasn’t unpleasant and she took another sip before tuning in more to what her companions were saying.
Fauna decided rather quickly they should look at the fish, which she silently agreed with wholeheartedly. Fitting in with people had never been her strongest skill. Common folk were easier than those of a more snobbish demeanor. Sometimes they wore her patience thin but usually Moira blatantly tuned them out.
Anton’s next question, at least, was an easy one. “Maps are boring,” Moira chimed in. “Better to wander and see where we end up.” As if to prove her point, she began walking randomly down one of the paths leading further into the aquarium.
Which would be first; sharks, rainbow fish, or something else?
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Onward into the bowels of the aquarium! Fauna, sipping her champagne, was about to suggest meandering when Moira piped up first and started to head in. With a slight smile at Anton, Fauna followed. They were all on the same page. No snobs, no small talk, no maps, just fish for them.
They headed past other visitors who looked twice at their hats, and Fauna caught more than a few chuckles and smiles and one muttering of millennials. Fauna blushed a bit, glad for the murky lighting of the aquarium. It felt nice though, to worry about nothing more than making a statement with her hat again and whether Moira would lead them to some secret exit out of the aquarium.
But no, Moira was made of stronger stuff than that, and soon enough they found the shark section.
"Looks like we found your family," Fauna noted with an amused glance at Moira's shark hat.
Sharks might look scary, but the idea of them didn't bother Fauna at all. She'd taken several family holidays to the western sandy shores and the only types of sharks they were likely to find there were the porbeagles and basking sharks, which very rarely attacked people.
She looked down at the shark walk, the clear pane of glass that separated them from the waters below, and stepped to the side automatically as a small shark swam under her feet.[1]
Fauna cleared her throat and glanced at Anton, "Er, did Sasha ever tell you about the time I uh, accidentally knocked him over into the lake?"
She smiled sheepishly and glanced at Moira, curious if she'd heard about it as well. The story involved a band of nifflers that had chased her and her friend Mysti into the water.
"All to save one of my silvery, shiny hats."[2]