The invite wasn't in the most well-trafficked area. All through the City pubs would be slammed with suits, every table taken, standing room only. Anyone could look in and see the lot of them through the windows. Well, this wasn't one of those pubs. Nor was it one of those quaintly historic old world locales with a dated sign and atmosphere. This place was, frankly, a shithole. Its flickering neon lights and expired posters were a source of amusement to Josie, its clientele steady drinkers who clung to the bar and weren't inclined to chattiness. The cheap varnish on the tables called to him; the dusty bowls of peanuts made him kinda fond. Give him flashy, glittering, expensive charm. Give him Manhattan, basically, the 21st century.  That's what Josie liked, all chrome and glass, buildings like the Gherkin whose nickname might've as well been Masculine Insecurity. But short of that give him a dump full of tired, vulnerable people, and Josie could entertain himself all night.

It was just a real fun place. The booths were like black holes of bad springs and bad decisions so he had a pretty good excuse to snuggle up and get a look at Sid better. Their cracked vinyl was a roadmap that'd make anyone cringe; under a blacklight they must be filthy, but Josie fingered them casually. He was too big to worry about something like germs. He filled up a corner booth almost completely, sunglasses obscuring his eyes and tie loose around his collar. The tie had little flamingos on it. He'd called in a business lunch.

Sid hadn't exactly been keen to turn up, but he wasn't about to say no to Josie - the man had a way of 'swinging by' to see what had delayed him. He was only a recent hire at Hogwarts, hadn't even taught a class yet. His life was coming back, slowly, and was beginning to transform. But into what, he didn't quite know. Hogwarts and the vision that had drawn him there seemed foreboding, even if the castle itself so far seemed restful and safe.

But sat across from him, crushing him into the side of the booth, was the giant reminder of his other life. The man who'd helped him put the marks in his arms and had all too often put marks there on his own. Josie was a lot of things and was now, well, his ex...he supposed. What they'd had had never been so clean as to deserve a polite label.

Josie took up the whole seat, shoved the table across to Sid's side, casually stretched out his legs...and in a few little casual adjustments Sid was, effectively, trapped. Yet he reclined prettily, smooth as silk on the exterior even if the man made him walk on glass.

"You take me to all the best places," he cooed. It was nearly a wheeze - the table was dug into his ribs. He gave Josie a charming little smirk, his leg rubbing up against Josie's in an entirely purposeful way.

"Nothing but the best for you, baby." Josie's face was all grin. He pushed the dusty dish over: "Have a peanut." Nuts went really well with flat beer. Besides, Josie was treating Sid to lunch so the free peanuts were on him. Anything more and Sid wouldn't be able to fit into such tight trousers. It was a luxurious deviation from the guy's usual diet of hallucinogens and air.

Aw, but Sid made him feel so shy and retiring. Must be that nostalgia. He dimpled like a 300 pound schoolgirl. In their tiny booth his long legs nudged insistent against the other's, jostling the table. It was a tight squeeze. Whatever sweet nothings they felt like whispering were just between the two of them; what the corner booth of a shitty pub hadn't guaranteed for privacy, Josie's easy muffling charm under the table had. They had all afternoon if he wanted. He knew Sid would've cleared his schedule for him. Sid was always so obliging - 'Josie take this, Josie take that.' But that was just the kind of relationship they had. Sid was a doll right down to the poseable limbs.

"Weeeeelll." Josie drawled the word out. "This is great. Cozy. Now fill me in. You know I like to keep up with your exploits." He was still wearing that disconcerting shark's grin, wide and lazy and yet somehow unnerving. There wasn't really anywhere else for his attention to go, and a minuscule chance that he'd let himself be distracted.

Sid hesitated for a fraction of a second, but then he plucked one of the nuts from the bowl. They were dusty; when he placed the nut on his tongue, it tasted vaguely of cigarette smoke. He smiled anyway, sliding it into his mouth with two delicate fingers as he pressed his lips round them, bright eyes all heavy lidded the way Josie liked.

It was a bit like being pinned by a giant, pink-accented shark. Even the grin was more unsettling than assuring, dimples or no (though they were such an innocent feature; fate had placed them on Josie as a joke, he suspected). He chewed the peanut with careful strokes of the teeth, watching Josie the whole time. The man had a way about him that made Sid both want to shrink away and challenge him.

But it hadn't entirely been a question; Sid, for once, didn't dodge it....too much.

"My exploits?" He asked, innocently. "I'd hardly call it that. The stars have called me to Hogwarts, and so I have gone. The children, it seems, need me." His bright yellow eyes sparkled at bit as he mentioned the stars. He'd made similar faces before, when the stars had called him suddenly overseas.

Josie let out a bark of a laugh, surprised and delighted. Sid had actually eaten the thing. He leaned in over the table, making it creak like it was being tortured, and let Sid get an up close and personal look at just how charmed he was. That move with the fingers was cute but not especially subtle. It pursed Sid's mouth in an intimately familiar way. Generally Josie appreciated a little filthy straight-forwardness, but by now Sid was too practiced at the bedroom eyes schtick. It was old hat; it was boring. He wanted a bite of something real. He'd always had a preference for genuine reactions. Josie liked to chase them, like to worry them out.

"The stars, huh." Josie regarded him with a certain worrisome interest. He was a very apt listener. People said so all the time. "And what're you gonna teach them? How to smile and spread their legs? Seems like an interesting choice for your lifestyle, kitten. I never pegged you for a nurturer."

Sid's little smile didn't hide the way his eyes flashed. Josie had a way of demeaning people - particularly him - and the way the man went about it was damned effective...because, generally, he grasped those things that Sid worried about himself. Some of those doubts Josie had placed there, he knew, but it didn't matter now. Sid tensed his jaw, stiffened. Where once he might have let it slide or demurely agreed, now he steeled.

The smile came back a moment later.

"No," he said. "None of them are worth getting fired over." Not that he wouldn't smile and spread his legs for Minerva if she asked, but he was quite sure his days of schoolboy leering had struck him firmly from her list. Either way...

"Call it an awakening, Josie; I wanted to see what hard work was like." He picked up a peanut and flicked it, idly, across the room. "I heard it leads to good things." He flashed his teeth. "You could try it some time."

Aw, now that was beautiful. Those gold eyes flashing - yes. He gave Sid shit but really, it was for old time's sake. Josie had other hobbies now, ones that talked less pretentious. He just couldn't have Sid forgetting where he came from. Someone had to keep him humble.

"I work hard for the money," he disagreed, straightening his tie with an exaggerated wink. Maybe he could find some time in his 60 hour workweek to give Sid a little more of his undivided attention. He'd read a book about this once - kids acting out when they felt like they were no longer Daddy's favorite. Running away from home, walking the streets, it was shameful what a consummate poster child Sid had turned out to be. "You can try it, but people are so picky nowadays. They like their authority figures to keep it in their pants; they like 'em to stay clean. I don't remember you being great at either of those things."

He took a slow draught of his beer, tongue meandering a sluggish line along the edge of the glass. "If I was a parent - " Josie pouted, faux-concerned - "I'd be worried about my kid picking up bad habits."