Absit Omen RPG
Role-Play Boards => London => Muggle London => Topic started by: Alex Cooper on February 13, 2022, 02:36:34 PM
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Alex was searching for a seat, most who hear she is a professional sports player might assume she is used to running around and being on her feet all day, very few imagine she's a sports player who doesn't really use her feet, she wasn't even that unhealthy and did enough exercise on her feet so they shouldn't hurt that much, however that changed recently due to the weight added due to having an entire little human attached to her stomach.
Her feet were killing her as she wandered through the city, she had plans of going shopping but honestly she's been out for an hour and she's already had enough, from her feet hurting, her awkward somewhat waddling like movement, the tightness of her shirt that no matter what she wore it always felt oddly tight, to just the fact she felt like she constantly needed to go to the bathroom. She wasn't fond either of the clothing she was having to wear to feel comfortable, loose shoes, stretchy sweat pants and a stretchy shirt, she hated the look but anything else just felt uncomfortable to wear.
She finally found a bench to sit down on in a small park area, lots of green and some nice trees, she groaned as she saw people on it but almost if seeing her stop walking towards it, they made space and moved away for her, as much as she hated being pregnant, the fact others made space and treated her more gently was oddly nice, if not condescending.
It took her a moment after sitting down to notice the music nearby, glancing for the source her eyes went wide as near the bench was a girl she recognized, she waved towards her awkwardly.
"Mairead? Is that you?" She then tapepd the bench next to her as if offering to sit.
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Busking had the potential to be lucrative or a complete waste of time but, like in real estate, it was all about location, location, location. Also like in real estate, the competition for the best locations could be downright brutal.
Since leaving Hogwarts over spring break, Mairead had managed to case out a few reliable locations in both muggle London and Diagon Alley that seemed to meet the three primary criteria: good bit of monied foot-traffic, not seemingly in high demand by other street performers and away from cops' common beats. Attempting to obtain a busking license as an unaccompanied minor was bound to attract too many questions. And, following rules was for nobs and squares.
Her daily haul took a hit from the regular need to relocate but the loss was somewhat offset by having access to coin purses in both the wizarding and muggle worlds.
This afternoon, Mairead was playing for tips in the muggle world. A steady stream of work-weary Londoners were finding their way into or through the park. The brisk set of jigs Mairead was playing on her flute had already brought in a couple of quid - as long as the cops kept their distance, she might get enough for a proper meal that evening.
But, when she finished the set, it wasn't cops that interrupted the session, it was a familiar voice. Mairead grinned at the quidditch player (sparing a moment of giddy pride for the fact that Mairead was friends with a professional quidditch player) before settling onto the bench next to her.
"Ye look fit t' pop," she offered with a grin, nodding towards the woman's belly. Then, with a sardonic grin, she added: "I assume we're not tryin' to keep it secret anymore, right?"
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Alex rested her head back with a groan at the first point, it wasn't her fault of course, but the idea of...popping was unnerving to her, she wasn't looking for the day, dreading, although it would be nice to get drunk again afterwards, but by her estimates she still had a month to go, provided nothing went wrong, she closed her eyes and took a breath before sighing.
"Please don't say the word pop, I already feel like I'm going to explode, do you know how many times I have to get up to pee an hour now? Its far too much, not to mention the stretching, when I get back to Quidditch I'm going to have a fleshy parachute from my stomach." She pulled her head up gently as her hands idly stroked her belly, it was sore but manageable for now, as she did so a small smile spread across her lips.
"Oh I think hiding it is long gone by now, especially after that article (https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=21335.0) a few months ago." She slowly took her eyes off of herself to look at Mairead, busking was an interesting choice, she'd known kids to do weirder for money, she personally did carwashes back home to get money for stuff she wanted as a child, she supposed busking was good for practicing music also.
"Made much today?" She asked as she looked her more over, she got a hint of worry at the state of her, busking was something she knew those without homes would do often, and a part inside her was deeply worried about the state of the girl, she hoped it wasn't early motherly instincts, she didn't want baby brain to take over that badly.
"You and your parents living well together? Or just hoping for extra pocket money?" She asked without wanting to outright ask if she was on the streets, although she was too forwards still.
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Mairead grinned, her eyes flickering to Alex' belly and back before shrugging. Child-birthing was a bit of a group affair among women back home. She'd always been too little to be of any real help but she'd seen enough to not be naive about the process. As she watched the quidditch player fidget nervously, she suspected she might even be less naive than the older woman.
"If yer anything like Auntie Vonnie, then yer prob'bly pissin' every twenty minutes. 'Course, ye may not be yellin' at useless men all the time, so that might help." Mairead didn't know why but Siobhan always seemed to complain more about peeing all the time right after yelling at her husband.
At Alex' question, Mairead shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out the small jumbled assortment of muggle and magic world coins. "Not bin a bad day," she confessed, plucking a stray button from the collection of coins and slipping it in her other pocket. It was actually almost enough for some fries and chicken nuggets - better than the last few nights. Pride, however, took her answer in a different direction. Especially since Alex was clearly already getting suspicious.
"If the weather stays good and don' rain or scorch, I might have enough for a new broom. Especially if I can get a fair bit for me old used one." She feigned a broad, eager grin. A blush rose in her cheeks. "Me parents are fine - just don't have a lot for extras. Don' wanna start loosin' cuz me broom's an antique."
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"Okay maybe not like her, but its still far too much." She tried to joke with the girl as she sighed, her hands continuing to rub her belly as if she was making sure it wasn't just suddenly disappearing on her, with a poof it'll just disappear leaving her free to play Quidditch again, but she knew she didn't want that now, she had come this far, the least she was going to do was birth this hellspawn and care for it.
Mairead was looking proud of her haul so far, she was happy to hear it, she was doing far better then Alex could with busking, although that required her to know any instruments in the first place. The worry was still there however as she turned red at the question of her parents, she got more worried at that, it made sense after all that perhaps they didn't money to buy a new broom for her so she'd have to busk for the extra money, she was just worried for the girl, the red faced reaction didn't help.
"What sort of broom are you looking at? Most are quite expensive, good ones especially even second hand and with only a twig left in the back still go for quite a price, even if trading." They had reached an obviously preferred topic of the two, of course Alex would be into Brooms as a player, and Mairead was a fan looking to make it big, it was good mutual ground.
"I've been eyeing up a classic Nimbus 2001, more for personal rather then playing given its age now." She gave an annoyed grunt as she pulled herself up a bit on the seat. "Although with this, I suppose might better to get something more family friendly, I swear if they don't like Quidditch." She could cope with a Squib, after all she'd still train them to be a Quidditch pro, but if they didn't like the sport there was going to be hell to pay.
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Mairead laughed at Alex' joke - it was good Alex didn't have useless men to yell at. That always made things easier. Though, now that Mairead thought about it, Alex hadn't mentioned any men - either useful ones or ones who needed yelling at for no reason whatsoever. Until now, Mairead had always assumed one was somewhere off stage but she was only now realizing Alex had never actually mentioned anyone.
"Since it ain't no secret, you gonna say who the pop is? They not no useless bloke, right? Or, ye need me to hunt down and beat up the looser that knocked ye up and left ye high and dry?"
Shit. Of course Alex would wand more details about the broom. Fantasizing about getting a new broom was one thing. Delving into details about a broom she lanquished after but knew, now, would never actually be an option was another all together. That was depressing enough to border on annoying.
"Been tryin' not t'get me hopes up for any specific one," she confessed. That was close enough to the truth that it didn't really feel like a lie. Gonna see how much I got and which ever one works, really. Any one would be good - still be exciting." She still rode the broom given to her by Grace Eddy and she liked to think using an older model forced her to rely more on skill. Of course, though, her broom was still back at Hogwarts. Unless, they'd gotten rid of it.
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Alex watched the girl, a half bemused smile on herself as she heard the girl offer so openly to assault the unknown father as was needed, it was funny and she somewhat loved the fact the girl was so free to make those comments at this stage, it was hilarious and she just enjoyed the company of this younger girl for now and her optimism she could do such a thing.
But the topic of brooms made her frown a little, she understood the girls point but at the same time, she would struggle, or atleast she thought so anyway, she gave a gentle nod as she rested back with a sigh, both hands idly rubbing her belly with a slight sigh of pain from the feeling of her poor abused belly and the mean baby that was currently stealing the place of her bladder and food.
"Hhhm, perhaps I might have a broom you could borrow? Until you've managed to save up for a proper one of course." She said with a gentle smile, or as gentle as she could to the girl given the soreness she was trying to rub out at the moment. "I have quite a few, I don't need all of them after all. We'd just need to get to my flat."
She gave a grunt as she sat herself upright with a groan, it was uncomfortable and difficult to do so, but she was determined to stand up again, she had her rest and she wanted to try to get the other girl that broom, plus if she can manage a hot meal as she had a slight concern the girl wasn't eating properly. "Oh yeah, the father." She said with a sigh, the student had brought it up after all.
"Your guess is as good as mine, I was drunk, there were five of us, and it was christmas." She said as the best explanation she could likely give to someone under eighteen.