Absit Omen RPG

Ace thought for a moment, he'd never really thought of why he was constantly drawn towards dragons and they almost always injured him in some way. "I dunno really." he answered her, "Dragons have always been my favorite, and while they've given me scars and burns, it was never enough to render me useless." He took a breath, "Most likely was just to scare me off."

Hearing her wooden leg comment made him chuckle, "No, I've got all my original parts, no replacements yet."  He tried to catch the attention of the bartender to get another drink, this one with a little less bite. 

Ace laughed when she asked about his name.  "It's not my real name.  I got the nickname from the other dragon handlers on the reserve in France. They gave me Ace because I would approach any dragon, whether it be an old one or a baby and it would only take once before I'd get injured in some way." He took a drink and continued, "I can't remember how many times I've been burned or bitten."

He heard her question about what he did at the Ministry and replied, "I recently started on Level Four, I was asked politely not to return to the France preserve after the Opaleye burned down half the cabins trying to chase me after I removed her eggs for incubation." He downed more of the alcohol until half the glass was gone.

Ace arched one eyebrow when she asked him if she'd seen him somewhere before.  He almost fell back on past habits and concocted an elaborate tale of stolen nights and many, many drinks. However, he sensed that this girl might just not fall for his usual spiel, so he said, "Maybe, I'm new at the Ministry." 

He remembered she had asked him what he was drinking.  Since he didn't know if they made his favorite drink that he regularly had in France, he just ordered a Firewhiskey.  It was closest to the Flaming Dragon Breath that he could find. The pub in France that he frequented often came up with new things and this one was no different.  He didn't know what was in it, but when he ordered it, they would light it on fire and he would drink it after the flame went out.

"That's a beautiful name." he said after he told her what he was drinking.

Ace looked up as he heard a female voice asking for drinks next to him and then took another drink.  He'd learned his lesson with the last black eye he'd gotten, he wasn't going to chat anyone up out of the blue anymore. 

But as she dropped a coin and went to go get it, Ace knew it would most likely end in disaster. He subtly moved his drink a little over so that when she stood back up she wouldn't knock it over.

"No problem gorgeous," Ace said before could stop himself.  "Although, I wouldn't mind having a pretty girl buy me another drink." he finished with a wink.  He had told himself that he wouldn't randomly flirt anymore, but it seemed like he couldn't stop himself.  Therefore, he figured he might as well just go with it.  "I'm Ace."

Ace had been sitting at the bar for a while, he'd not come for any particular reason other than to drink and maybe enjoy himself a little.  Since he left the dragon reserve in France and coming back home to England, he realized he hadn't even made an effort to explore some.  He'd left as soon as he graduated Hogwarts and there were several new establishments he'd yet been in.

So here he was, Ace had heard there would be some band or group playing here tonight, but really he just came for the drinks and maybe meet someone he could flirt with, without getting a bloody nose or a black eye. He[1]had taken to wearing this outfit or something remarkably similar every day.  Ace hated normal wizard-wear and would avoid it at all costs. Besides, being one who worked with dragons, you had to wear clothes that could be replaced easily if they were to catch on fire.  He'd lost quite a few jackets that way.

He thought he saw a few people from the Ministry here, but as he rarely paid attention to any one but those that worked with him, he wasn't too sure.  So he turned around in the chair to face the people that were in the place and took a drink.

1.	That's what he looks like, just not with the frowny expression on his face.

Ace was, as usual, absent-mindedly staring at the walls of the area around Level Four. He almost didn't hear the question that was asked but he heard the tail end of it and turned to look at who was doing the asking. "No not lost." he said answering the question. "I'm just hanging around waiting for something exciting to happen." Ace said with a crooked grin.

He was just about to launch into a description of exactly why he was standing there hoping to kill maybe a few minutes or start up a longer conversation when someone else approached and said something in a language he didn't know. Then he felt it dripping down the side of his face onto his shoulder which upset him a bit because he was wearing his favorite leather jacket.

Looking up he saw the creature right before it flitted away and as he began to realize what had just happened , he muttered, "Damn pixies," before trying to clean himself off with his wand.

Turns out moving from working all the time at a dragon reserve to not working at all was not the right move for Ace.  He had no clue what to do with all this free time and so he found himself hanging around the Ministry of Magic - specifically Level Four - in hopes that he'd be around to volunteer for something or be dragged into a conversation.

Ace knew he was being weird and maybe a little creepy by standing by the doors to Level Four or constantly riding the elevator or even sitting by the fountain or grabbing a bite to eat in the tearoom. He really had no other choice other than to sit in his flat.

So here he was again loitering around Level Four not trying to get in anyone's way but listening to people talk. In other words he was bored.

In his mind, as he raised his glass for 'dangerous witches', he knew that he'd made the right decision in leaving his flat tonight.  He needed to figure out the social scene now that he was back in England and unemployed as of right now.  "Dangerous ones are usually fun." he said as he finished his drink and ordered another one. "Could you make it stronger?" he told the bartender and put a couple galleons on the bar.

He heard the question of if he worked on one of Xavier's ranches and just as he was about to both deny it and ask what kind of ranches, another pretty young witch joined them with questions only for Xavier. 

"I'd drink with my boss if I had one." Ace said as the bartender sat a glass in front of him that looked promising.  It was smoking slightly and was dark green.  Ace grinned and picked up his glass, moving from one side of Xavier, avoiding the new girl who seemed to have eyes only for Tawse, and settled into a new spot on the other side of the girls they had previously been talking to.

"So, you guys know each other quite well it seems?" he said as he sat his drink down on the bar and faced them.

Ace was lost in their conversation, clearly they knew each other well enough to make comments about things he knew nothing about.  After all, he'd only met all three of them tonight for the first time.

He almost spit out his drink when he heard one of the girls compare his new friend to a dragon.  He couldn't help the snicker that followed his recovery from almost spitting out his drink. 

He waited for a pause in their conversation for him to add his own comments.  Stepping closer to them all, he  made his comments known.  "I don't know him that well, but I can't see him as a puppy of any kind, as for a dragon.  I don't see many men being compared to dragons." He took a sip of his drink, "Although, I've compared quite a few women to dragons.  Especially when they are angry."

Ace just listened to the girls talked, he'd figured out a long time ago, they liked to be listened to.  "It looked like he could use some assistance is all." he responded to the question he was asked.  Honestly, he was looking for things to do and right now, it seemed like this kid was going to be interesting to hang around.  At least he attracted company... even if it wasn't exactly friendly.  He could work with that.

"Surely he can't be all bad." he said to her.  "I mean, even the devil can be good sometimes." he added a wink for good measure.

Ace's attention suddenly shifted from the young man he'd sort of rescued to the lovely young ladies on the other side of him.  "Name is Deveraux." he said, not wanting to give out his first name yet.  He didn't know them, but they were a sight to look at.

After hearing the second one's question he replied, "Not taking care of him really, but extracting him from a potential harmful situation." he said with a grin. 

He leaned against the counter, maybe the young bloke could learn a few things from him, he knew he flirted.. like a lot... but he tried to be tasteful about it. 

"Auror trainee's the both of you?  Must be exciting." he said.

Although he had just joined the young man at the bar, his eyes were drawn to the ladies who were on the other side of him.  He watched as both of them seemed to find his new companion as less than desirable, but he put that in the back of his mind and winked at the one facing him.  He couldn't help it.

He caught the attention of the bartender and just said, "Give me something strong, with a little color." He had no idea what they served here, he was so used to drinking straight Firewhiskey, or something one of his buddies at the reserve made, he called it Dragon's Fire... it was like setting your tongue on fire, but it was delicious.

"I didn't do much to save ya lad, but a blind man could see you were headed for trouble." he told him.

While waiting for his drink, he watched one of the ladies seated at the bar behind his companion toss something at the young man's head.  Ace just shook his head, wondering what trouble was going to start now.  Excellent, he needed something to throw him out of the bored funk he was in.  This setting just might be what he needed.

Ace wanted nothing more than to go home and shower and change after his morning run.  He didn't want to be rude, so he answered her questions as best he could. "Yeah, read about that, it was horrible.  Dragons are the best animals on the planet."  He started walking away from her slowly, "Nice to see you, but I should really get home.  Ta."

And with that he meandered back down the Alley towards his flat.

Things had certainly changed on Diagon Alley in the last ten years that Ace had been in France.  Sure he had loved the life on the reserve, secluded in the wilderness with only the people who worked on the reserve and their families to converse with. But he had missed being able to go out and get a drink when he wanted one.  They didn't really like anything alcoholic on the reserve because it sometimes affected those who were working around the dragons.

So he found himself at this place called Spellpunk, he'd never been there before, but here he was.  People-watching.  It was a weird hobby he knew that, but it helped him figure out who could and couldn't be talked to without an altercation happening.

Speaking of altercations, he sipped his drink and leaned back against the bar as he watched a young lady flirt with someone who looked to be just out of school. Ace shook his head.  He could spot several things wrong with what was going on there, but he was going over it in his head, seeing if he should intervene or not.

Another weird hobby of his, sticking his nose where it didn't belong in an effort to help.  And this kid could probably use his help. Especially since he didn't see the young lady's male friend approaching them at the table.  Ace shook his head as he heard the guy's 'What are you doing with my girl?  He stood up from leaning against the bar and slowly walked over to where the three of them were, fully intending to keep out of it unless something physical happened.

But he just couldn't help it.  He stepped up closer to them and said to the young man, "Hey, been looking for you all over the place."

"I might remember the name." he said as he looked around the alley, it had changed alot since he had been here last.  "I don't read many articles from the paper, and I was looking to see if they had any new books on dragons." he told her.