Absit Omen RPG
Role-Play Boards => London => Muggle London => Topic started by: Ambrose Pepper on June 02, 2021, 03:32:42 PM
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Ambrose Pepper ached. He had spent three nights out in London, not living the high life, but skulking around drains. He had been tasked with investigating the possible sighting of blue caps in the city’s victorian sewer system. Thankfully, their search had already been narrowed down by a cluster of sightings in the Abbey Wood area in the South East.
But as beasts went, sighting blue caps was fairly low priority, so after some guidance and advice from an experienced beast handler on the first night, one had literally dropped him off by side-along apparating and then picked him up at dawn. It was, of course, easier to see the blue glow in darkness, especially when Muggles were asleep.
This was a test of his abilities and resilience, he understood. As the hours ticked by on the third night, he was beginning to feel rather despondent. Then at that moment, he saw the flicking of blue light. Not a passing Muggle emergency but tiny, delicate, fluttering blue lights like gas flames.
It had taken quite the resolve not to punch the air with glee. Instead, Ambrose watched them approach a stack of silver sickles. He hardly dared to breathe. The blue lights flitted towards them, before several more emerged from between the metal grate of the drain, recognising silver.
They circled, and their little hands began to sift through the pile, it vanishing before his eyes until two sickles remained from the stack. He flicked his wand, still holding his breath, and flipped the rod of the net up and over carefully capturing the group, and the silver inside.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he whispered suddenly, “but you can’t stay here, it’s not safe.” He waved his wand with careful consideration, and the net tied a knot in the neck. “We’ve got a lovely proper mine for you, not a stinky sewer.” It was no ordinary net, of course, but the blue caps tested its strength in their protest at capture.
Quarry ensnared, Ambrose turned his mind to how he was getting back to drop them off. He’d not yet passed his apparition test, and his minder would be hours yet. Knotted net over his shoulder like a bindle, he hailed the empty road with his right arm, signalling to a bus that nobody - not even Ambrose could see at that very second.
A moment later a triple-decker streak of violet metal hurled to a halt in the middle of the London night.
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It had been a good evening tonight, not too busy but enough to keep it going at a steady pace, it was an incredibly fun night really for his job as it made it easy and time had gone quickly. His normal shift should end in an hour or so but he had booked in for the entire night, meaning he had...somewhere around 18 hours for the day once he was to get home, but that was later really.
He heard the bing meaning that they would be stopping soon...
With a loud boom, the giant triple decker bus had stopped by the side of the road, in its enthusiasm the bus almost seemed to do a cartoonish lurch forwards with the back of it rising into the air before slamming down again onto the road.
Sam stepped himself down from the back of the bus to deliver his line, he was paid to do so after all.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded Wix." He glanced towards the road they had come down and flashed his wand, extinguishing a small flame that the bus had caused on the road from the tyres.
"My name is Sam Forester and I shall be your conductor for this evening. Tickets are Eleven Sickles, thirteen for hot chocolate included, fifteen for additional hot water bottle and toothbrush." No one ever went for the fifteen sickle option but he was obliged to mention it, if anything he might get a bonus for actually selling a toothbrush one day.
He gave a soft smile towards the person who had hailed them, even if it smelt a bit like...a sewer...that might be a slight problem but they can get over that certainly, there had been much worse smelling people on the bus before.
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Violet coloured metal towered above Ambrose on the previously deserted London road. There was a sudden smell of hot engine, rubber and varnish, and the beast handler apprentice was joined by a purple-suited wizard of similar height on the pavement.
“My name is Sam Forester and I shall be your conductor for this evening…” He smiled but there was that ever so slight wrinkle of the nose. Ambrose caught it, and amongst all the engine smell realised he had spent the night traipsing about various drains and gullies. He decided not to say anything, but dug into his pocket for his coins.
“Eleven… no… thirteen,” Ambrose counted out, extending a hand in fern green fingerless gloves to drop them into Sam’s waiting palm.
He hauled himself aboard promptly, into the magical glow of the bus, filled with beds. Mostly vacant, though Ambrose could hear voices upstairs. There was one wizard with a long grey beard snoring gently on the lower deck, he’d bound himself to the bed with ropes and wore stripy pink and white pyjamas with matching nightcap, including pink pompom. Given the way the bus lurched away, Ambrose realised this was a practical solution.
Instead, he pitched forward, grasping the poles. The net, which was balanced over his shoulder, slid down to the crook of his elbow and swung out perilously close past the nose of Forester. Blue light flickered within, and the net flailed.
“Oh, sorry, sorry!” Ambrose exclaimed, not necessarily to the other wizard, but to the occupants. He didn’t want them escaping into the bus.
“Ministry of Magic,” he added, realising he’d not spoken his intended destination. The bus lurched again, and this time net and apprentice came unstuck. The bluecap net landed with a flop on an eiderdown while Ambrose pitched up the gangway towards the driver.
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Sam watched him count the money and nodded, putting it away, they wanted the hot chocolate it seemed, it was popular, and given the smell off him it made sense they might want something refreshing with it after all. Stepping back they watched the person get into the bus, they never actually gave their name but it didn't matter at all, as long as Sam got their address and Sam did their job.
Sam moved to the hot drinks station, it did seem fairly reckless to have a hot drink on a bus like this, they've amazed that the Knight Bus had only been sued 20 times in the past three years for burns suffered from the hot chocolate. Atleast none had been under their watch.
Sam started pouring one as they heard the location....the Ministry might be a bit tricky but they can manage it.
"We'll have to drop you off outside one of the entrances, the last time we tried to park inside the Ministry...um..." Sam probably shouldn't bring up that incident, they were lucky no one died and that the driver and Sam were the only ones on the bus at the time...
"What's your name anywa-" Sam started to turn before there was a powerful lurch from the bus, the poor passenger was flung and their net was launched over at another passenger! That was not a good thing at all, magical creatures were risky on the bus if they got free, Sam didn't want a repeat of 1926 New York.
"Watch out for your blue caps!"
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“We’ll have to drop you off outside one of the entrances-”
“Yeah, sure!” Ambrose replied, keen to appease.
“-last time we tried to park inside the Ministry…”
“Watch out for your blue caps!”
Ambrose hauled himself back up with both arms, eyes intent on seeking out the net.
“Need a quiet corner,” Ambrose explained, using the upright poles of the bus like nordic walking sticks to progress down the gangway again towards the net on the eiderdown. “If there’s such a thing?” He swung round the pole nearest to the bed by his elbow, starting to get the hang of the jolts and changes of the bus, and landed his other hand on the pole of the net.
“Well, this seems as good as any,” he shrugged. The blue caps squeaked and fluttered against the net like angry Christmas lights. He folded it over once more, grappled his wand from his jacket and cast a few more charms, brow furrowed as he did, without a word on his lips. If Sam were to ask him anything in that moment he’d not heard.
The bus lurched again, and Ambrose stumbled back against the next bed, and back again. He seized the net and stowed it in the overhead compartment with a third charm, which grew vines around it and the bus to hold the net in place. The vines twisted around the brass and silver poles and Ambrose at last sank down on the end of the bed.
“Thanks,” he said at last, out of British politeness, “Oh I’m Ambrose, nice to meet you.” He thrust his slightly grubby hand out to shake.
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Sam watched as the passenger, now known as Ambrose managed to wrestle control of the situation with the Bluecaps, locking them up with vines to ensure they stay trapped in place, it was certainly one way to get it done after all, they couldn't fault him for that method as much as they might want to. Although it did raise a little bit of concern incase the net did break in any way, Sam wasn't issued a creature catching net.
Sam gently took the passengers hand and shook it in return as they offered the hot chocolate they had paid for, they were getting very more interested in learning as to what they were even doing with so many of the creatures and also stinking of the sewer all around, sure there had been much worse guests on the bus before, but this was just interesting to Sam right now.
"Nice to meet you, as said earlier. I am Sam." They said politely as they glanced at the bluecaps yet again, making sure they were holding. "Would you like a blanket to cover the caps for now? And why do you have so many?" Putting two and two together, Sam could only guess Ambrose worked on Level Four potentially.
"Just being tossed the worst jobs possible and too difficult to apparate them all back with yourself?" Sam understood, they couldn't apparate at all, their test had ended up very badly and was a rushed trip to the infirmary afterwards, since then Sam has never tried again.
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"Thanks Sam," Ambrose grinned, and did his best to perch on the bed beneath the vines and bluecap net. "That's a good idea!" He gave a thumbs up with his left hand, his right doing its best not to slop hot chocolate everywhere. It was bloody blistering, but smelled amazing after such a long cold night.
He managed a sticking charm to pin the mug down, though the duvet seemed to be on a mission to vanish off the bed beneath his backside as he did. Sam asked more questions but now Ambrose had two hands to receive a blanket and wrap it through the vines. Hopefully the darkness would appease the bluecaps like their favourite underground conditions.
"I've been tracking them," Ambrose explained as he wrestled the blanket and tried to keep his balance on the erratically moving bus. "They've got lost. Meant to be down mines and such. Didn't want the muggles to see them. I don't mind, I get all the weird jobs but it beats taking my NEWTs at school." He grinned and pivoted round one of the upright poles again. "That's why I'm not apparating. I haven't passed my test yet. Figured the bus was a better option than waiting around in the cold all night for someone to pick me up." He shrugged his shoulders and grinned again at Sam. Though a bit muddy on the outside, Ambrose's friendly manner shone through.
"Impressed you recognised them!" He was energized by the warmth and the conversation. Ambrose loved to talk about his favourite subject. "Most people would guess they were fairies. Has someone brought them on before?"
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Sam shook their head at the question, although the rest of what Ambrose had said did make otherwise perfect sense, finding their way into sewers and wrecking havoc amongst the muggle workers, they wondered how much work the Obliviators likely had from muggles finding them in the first place or if they hadn't been dealt with quickly, although it would be nice if the Obliviators had some work, they likely didn't have work that, that often...atleast for non Knightbus incidents ultimately.
"I got an Exceeds Expectations in Magical Creatures for my NEWTS. It was one of the more enjoyable subjects to study as I got to pet creatures." It was as good a subject as any ultimately, just had massive perks from being able to pet the creatures, especially the fluffy ones, the book was not a pet that they ultimately liked, it was horrible especially when it tore itself partially apart from not stroking the spine.
Not to mention it was creepy as anything! Freaky meat eating aggressive spider book!
Although with the man saying what his age likely was, although Sam couldn't pin it down properly, they were obviously not done with Hogwarts yet, which made it more mad that they were just abandoned this late to do the job! And to find their own way home at the end of it all!
"Right, are you going to be repaid for the bus ticket?" Sam asked quickly as they reached for the ticket machine, if they weren't then Sam was going to hand the money back, that shouldn't be something Ambrose was left to pay for himself, especially at Apprenticeship wages.
"Oh and if you wish, it'll be a few stops, we've got to go to Northern Ireland and Wales before London, barring any other pickups. We have a toilet on the third floor, and although its technically staff only, if you tap the lock three times and drop in this." They took out a small chip like coin. "It'll turn into a shower for you if you need it, or atleast to just get some scented stuff over you, its not a good shower."
Sam looked at the passenger as they offered the chip, it was going to be awhile before they reached London to leave him at the Ministry, and Sam didn't really care if they got in trouble for letting a kid who was abandoned in the sewers to tend to Bluecaps clean himself up or get money back.
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"I got an Exceeds Expectations in Magical Creatures for my NEWTs..."
"Woah! That's awesome!" Ambrose exclaimed, having left Hogwarts after his OWLs he held that outcome in high regard. Why was Sam not part of the Division? Sounded like they were qualified!
“Are you going to be repaid for the bus ticket?"
"Uh, I'll give it to Mrs L, she'll tell me if I can." Mrs Lanningham was the font of all knowledge. She was Mr Spectre's secretary and nobody messed with her. Ambrose had learned early on to abide by all her advice and never speak ill around her.
Sam reached out and dropped a shiny gold coin into Ambrose's hand. It was minted with a picture of the Knight Bus on one side, and a toilet roll on the other, with runes around the edge.
"It'll turn into a shower... just get some scented stuff over you..."
"Oh, oh right! Thanks, thanks Sam." Ambrose cottoned on a little late, but appreciated it. Sam was a creatures person after all, he wasn't some bratty Slytherin looking down his nose at Ambrose for the state he was in. He was looking a bit worse for wear, and it might give the impression he was half competent if he turned up looking less bedraggled in London.
Checking the net was still safely bound in the vines and blanket on the lower deck, Ambrose swung from pole to pole as if navigating a ship in a storm, and headed for the stairs, issuing an upbeat 'cheers' to Sam once more as he ascended the spiral staircase.
The middle deck had similar beds and candle sconces. There was some sleeping figures tied down to the beds, one snoring profusely. The bus shuddered, seemed to twist impossibly, but continued on its way. Ambrose, catching his stomach, continued to ascend to the top deck. Here the countryside seemed to streak past, yet only the tops of trees and the tallest buildings flowed against the windows, as bridges seemed to leap out of the way of the impossibly tall vehicle.
Ambrose glanced down the shadowy deck, expecting to see much the same, but happened to lock eyes with a young witch not far off his age. She looked familiar, but Ambrose couldn't immediately place her.
"Hey," he nodded cordially, and waved the coin as some kind of explanation for his climb, and thumbed towards what he presumed was the toilet Sam described. Though he imagined she might have no idea what he meant by it.
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She was barely holding together, she had actually done it, and had run away, now she was on the bus, admittedly she could likely still turn around and just go home, it was a chance to escape what she had chosen and go back, no one would ever know, no one should ever know...
That however was soon pulled away from her, a person was trying to gesture to her, she hoped he didn't recognize her from anything, although she faintly remembered him from Hogwarts, which meant he may in turn remember her, that ruined her plans...although she could come up with a lie, but wouldn't that ultimately unravel if he ever mentioned it? No it was safer to keep to her course.
He gestured to a token in his hand and then to the toilet...that wasn't good...
...he was an idiot.
Of course her lying would go badly no matter what here.
"Uh...hi...yeah...you need to go to the toilet?" She asked faintly, her voice weak from stress and hoarse from crying.
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“Yeah, I was just.. kind of… kind of saying hello as you looked familiar, but gesturing that I was, rather than taking a seat - er - bed - up here.” Ambrose managed to explain through some false starts.
Her voice sounded funny, like girls did when they had been crying a lot. Perhaps the shower could momentarily wait. He hadn’t quite put a name to the face yet, though it was coming back to him…
“You were in Gryffindor, right?” Ambrose asked, “Or are, rather? I left last year.” He gave a shrug and gestured to himself. The bus gave a lurch and he snatched the hand out to balance on a pole to keep his feet instead.
“I’m Ambrose, you’re… Louise - no … Lucy?” Despite being labelled stupid for his frequent magical accidents back at Hogwarts, Ambrose did actually take notice of his housemates, and know a considerable number of names belonging to girls, even if this witch might never have batted her eyelashes at him even ironically.
“You alright?”
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"Oh...uh...hello." She replied weakly, a weak nod followed with him correcting the name, looking down she gave a sigh. "Yeah...Lucy, Lucinda. I'm a fourth year." She corrected him further as she looked up to meet his gaze, although she retreated quickly to look more in his general area, unable to keep a look towards his face, she didn't want to, she couldn't really stand to.
The fact he's now seen her and knows her name is troubling, it means he might be able to rat her out, its not like she had a way to really deal with this either right now, her best bet was just to lie and hope for the best.
The lurching bus was a problem but she was getting used to it slowly, in an odd sort of way it was...calming? Like the rocking of a ship from the waves crashing about it, only in this case it was a bus driven by a maniac.
"I-i'm fine yeah..." She lied her best. "Just a bit stressed....I guess? H-how are you?" She tried her hardest to remember him, a previous conversation (https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=20578.msg186669#msg186669) with The Headmaster coming into her mind. "You're doing an Apprenticeship right? Knox mentioned you before." She wiped her eyes gently with a soft sniffle from her nose as she attempted to compose herself.
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"Just a bit stressed... I guess?" His old housemate replied, seeming to be a little awkward in her replies. Ambrose remembered it was late, and perhaps she had been trying to get to sleep on this lurching bus.
"H-how are you?" She asked, perhaps just being polite, until she followed it up with, "You're doing an apprenticeship, right? Knox mentioned you before."
Ambrose was taken aback, firstly at the fact she knew and that she had referred to the Headmaster of Hogwarts by his firstname. At the top of the spiral staircase, Ambrose's features went through a progress of surprise and honour at this realisation, while also mixed with the fact he had the feeling Lucinda had been crying.
"Uh - yeah, yeah I am. With the Beast Division." He couldn't ever tell anyone this without beaming proudly. "Are you thinking of doing that? Is that why Professor Greyfriar mentioned me?" The Headmaster had never been anything but supportive despite Ambrose's shortcomings with his practical magic and studies.
He reached out to take a few steps closer to her, so as not to raise his voice so much over the churn of the engine below and the creak of the bus chassis. He wet his lips before he asked again: "Are you sure you're alright?"
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"Um....yeah he did...I'm thinking of leaving Hogwarts and its the only real way I can." She said softly as she gripped onto the bed posts tight to keep herself stable as the Bus hit another shaky turn, causing it to wobble about before returning to the usual unstableness that it was infamous for.
"I-i'm fine...honestly...just you know..." Her mind flashed at what excuses she could use, there were many excuses she could use, many simplistic ones. Her friend called her a name, she just wanted to go home, she was tired, she was ill...
"Just...girl stuff...and the full moon coming up..." She half lied about the situation, the moon was a concern, a major one, she had no real plan on what she could do for Wolfsbane, her best hope was being able to buy some, but she was going to go broke quickly, maybe she could find a potion shop and...steal some? It seemed the only real way she would be able to do so.
She turned a slight red with what she had said, trembling softly before her head looked away, she still wasn't sure if he needed the toilet or was for something else, was he just wanting to talk to someone?
"Um...so are you here to sleep or...the toilet?" She asked gently as she looked at the older year yet again.
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"Just girl stuff..."
"Oh! Oh, yeah. I under - well - I don't you know - but I have cousins and..." Ambrose was tired and this had caught him on the hop.
"... so are you here to sleep... or the toilet?"
"Right, yeah," Ambrose thumbed over his shoulder. "Got to freshen up. Been down in the drains capturing blue caps all night, got to get them back to the office. Sorry if you can smell me like..." Ambrose made an awkward face and retreated back one shiny pole at a time.
"Hope your stuff, er, gets sorted," he added, and then brightened, "oh! And owl me if you want to know more about being apprentice!" He grinned at Lucinda, and then slotted home the token from Sam.
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He was leaving her alone now, it was relieving having him go, she was amazed that she had managed to trip him up so badly with the one lie, even if it was a more awkward one at that, she slowly started to relax herself in the bed once more, doing her best to not smell him as she did so, although atleast the sewer smell on him was nowhere near as bad as some of the boys of Hogwarts.
"Y-yeah...I'll owl sometime about it. Thank you." She felt horrible, he was being so kind and sincere, yet here she was, it felt wrong but there was not much else she could do now, she just hoped she hadn't put his life in danger like her parents...
With the coin slotted in there was a sound of clanking and clunking, before the door opened inwards to reveal a small shower with a sliding door, cutting it off from the other half of the room for the towels, drying and dressing, with various racks and towels to do so in. The shower floor itself seemed to have a sticky substance on the floor of it to help people from falling over as the bus drove about.
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“Cool!” Ambrose replied as brightly as one could in the wee hours of the morning after a long night of stalking bluecaps. “See ya.”
He disappeared into the phone-booth sized compartment at the top of the spiral stairs, deeply inhaling the bubbly, soapy smell as he stepped inside.
Some time later, the beast apprentice stepped back out into the lurching bus body, jacket over his arm. Pink bubbles and steam billowed out over his head and there was a gurgling of water and pipes. Ambrose smelled of cherries, or certainly fruity. The scent clung to his clothes too. He’d been busy showering when the garments had jumped into midair by unseen hands to be brushed, steamed as best as possible in the slender space. He’d have to find some more coins to tip Sam with, that experience alone had been more than worth the ticket!
Ambrose leaned back in to replace one of the towels from round his neck into an expectant enchanted washing basket. The wicker lid was open like a mouth, hopping across the tiles towards Ambrose’s outstretched arm to receive it.
With a lurch, the bus sent Ambrose stumbling backwards. Somewhere on the deck below Sam’s voice was calling another passenger to their stop. The door slammed shut to the tiny bathroom. Ambrose caught hold of one of the poles and looked round to see if he had disturbed Lucinda, but she was gone, or had climbed under the blankets of her bed, it was now too dark up there to tell for sure. He hoped she’d gone to sleep, everything tended to be better after a good sleep.
He shouldered his jacket again and headed down the spiral stairs, catching sight of a hunched-over witch alighting from the bus with two cats at her heels and a wheeled shopping trolley.
Ambrose waited on the stairs, a few steps up, to keep out of the way so Sam could do their job and see the other passenger off. He peered through the windows into the dark. It looked like they were in a dark valley somewhere. It reminded Ambrose of the valleys around one of the Welsh dragon reserves he’d visited. There was one street light further up the street, visible through the windscreen. The image looked smeared across the glass through heavy drizzle.
“Thanks mate,” Ambrose addressed Sam once conductor was back on the triple-decker. “I owe you one - really. That was unreal!” He descended the last steps. “Should charge a ticket for that.”
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Sam looked up as Ambrose returned, holding their hand out to take the token before the bus lurched again, the smell was immediately better, not that it was...bad in the first place but it was certainly nicer to not have the smell staying around anymore. Sam could imagine also that it was relieving for the man to be able to wash after such a grimy night, even if they didn't feel it from acclimating to the feeling after several hours, it must of felt relieving.
"Its not problem, we can't have you in a bad state for official business can we? And if they don't believe you were down there for hours, you can have them come to me." Not that Sam wanted anyone to come to them about the situation, they wouldn't be able to deal with the situation that well, but it was still an offer to stand up for Ambrose nonetheless, with the wish it never happened.
Sam grabbed the previously made Hot Chocolate for Ambrose and offered it once more, still warm and without a drop spilt by some miracle given the whole concept of the bus veering all over the place.
"Your Blue Caps are still all held secure, one tried to escape, they're slippery things. But I stopped it." They smiled with some pride at being able to use their skills with magical creatures, it was fun to use it again even if briefly.
"I think you're only a couple of stops away now."
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“Thanks mate!” Ambrose was genuine in his appreciation. “Yeah, slippery - took me a while to get them out of the sewer.” Ambrose agreed, checking on the net. It wasn’t an ideal location to keep them for a length of time, but needs must. They would be safe at the Ministry once he got them there and booked in.
Happy they were definitely still secure, despite the rocking bus, Ambrose added sheepishly: “another reason why I owe you one for the shower, err, see.” It wasn’t the most fragrant place to lurk around for the weekend.
He perched on the edge of the bed as it swayed and looped his arm around one of the poles. He knocked back some more of the hot chocolate and thumbed upwards. “Bumped into someone I went to school with on the way up.” His tongue chased a smudge of hot chocolate at the corner of his mouth. “Lucy Temple. I bet you bump into people from school all the time working on here.”
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A Lucy Temple? It didn't quite ring a bell, Sam thought they knew the person he was referring to, but it didn't strike them as someone from school, but Sam wasn't too sociable at school regardless so they wouldn't likely recognize most regardless.
Sam shook their head softly at Ambrose, softly crossing their arms as they leaned back into the wall of the bus to keep themselves stable against the rocking of the madness that the bus usually exhibited as it continued to drive recklessly towards the next stop, a soft sigh left their lips as they looked down towards the ground a little so they could avoid looking directly at Ambrose's face.
"No, sorry, I think I know who you mean, but I never met her in school...I didn't meet many in school in general to be honest though." They sighed, slowly rubbing their head. "Its the girl upstairs right? The one who's been crying?" Their voice got quieter as they speak. "She's been...crying the entire night more or less, I've given her the top floor so she can have more privacy, more or less."
It wasn't like there really was a way to have privacy in a public bus.
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“It’s the girl upstairs, right? The one who’s been crying… I’ve given her the top floor so she can have more privacy, more or less.”
“Yeah,” Ambrose confirmed, “and… yeah.” His gaze drifted upwards, thinking of the interaction he’d had with Lucinda. Maybe he ought to go back up, and try and speak to her. Cheer her up. He didn’t smell so bad now, after all.
But the bus was turning, and Ambrose could see familiar London sights streaking past the many windows of the triple-decker bus. The Ministry was approaching. Ambrose and his creature charges would soon be on their way into the office and then to home and a proper bed! One which didn’t need to be bolted down and the occupant strapped in.
“Look out for her,” Ambrose asked, not really knowing the right thing to say as the bus screamed to a halt outside a familiar staff entrance disguised as a public toilet. “I better get flushed and settle these guys in.” He set aside the hot chocolate and seized his wand to unbind the net from the luggage rack.
“And Sam, I owe you mate,” Ambrose reached out a hand to clasp, “creature loose on the bus, or need a pint, look me up.” He grinned, acting all grown up. Ambrose shouldered the net, swung off the bus and raised a hand in the early dawn to Sam in farewell.