10 Aug 2012
Friday at 11pm
Witch Weekly Headquarters, the basement

The tiny recording studio forgotten in the basement of Witch Weekly had been slowly tidied. It still had a mouse-hole vibe to it, the entrance to the room nearly obcsured by boxes, cobwebs still in the low rafters, and posters covering much of the glass. The little red light meant to indicate someone was love on air was still perpetually doused even though the studio had been active a couple of times a week, in the wee hours, for months.

It was all the anonymous Waverly Roh-Ballentyne's doing. She'd thrown herself into the clandestine broadcast, hijacking without permission the equipment and radio wave. She played what she wanted, she said what she wanted, even replaying archived programmes from the 1970s - the prescient ones.

Only one or two close friends knew she was doing this, what was keeping her up nights. This new obsession had replaced old ones, the kind of obsessions that had gotten her nicked by Magical Law Patrol or warned by vampires. Her wireless station had its own risks - she'd not asked anyone permission - and that kept her heart beating.

Tonight, late, she had Virgil Carstairs with her. Her very first guest. The studio was lit by a single desk lamp. She was fiddling with dials on an old voice disguiser which looked straight from the 1970s with its Eames contours . A large old microphone sat between them, to be shared.

"Who do you want to sound like," she asked Virgil squinting at the options on a dial. She'd never used it before. "There's Emma, Edward, Claire, Simon…"

They were here to talk about the Ministry moving towards legalising vampire bites, the nibbles on volunteers. The coverage had been in the papers for a few months now.[1] It was a topic in which both Waverly and Virgil had much invested, though they'd both had the good sense to give the entire scene space.

1.	14 July 2012 - Legalisation of Consensual Vampire Feedings

He finished the iced coffee and tossed its plastic cup into his tote bag, which was propped up against his chair. Virgil was wicked tired but not in an unpleasant way.

It was August and he was performing Shakespeare in the Park for Stardust - an evening show on Fridays, and two shows daily at the weekend. They were doing The Tempest this year and he was the servant spirit Ariel, flitting about on the open-air stage. It was fun and exhausting, a little piece of Stardust he could still keep for himself.

Virgil looked tired; he hardly decorated himself lately because of his schedule, and missed it. But between the pizza and coffee he'd wiped out while Waverly was getting ready...

"Edward," the wizard replied brightly, revived. "That was supposed to be one of my middle names, you know? A whole different version of me," he raised his eyebrows as he leaned languidly against the table. "Probably a boring version. Or a straight one, ugh, I can't even imagine."

Not even worth imagining. Virgil fiddled with the sleeves of his cardigan as he spoke - actually, Ceph's cardigan, just a size too big but it was old and comfy and smelled of his boyfriend. "I'll try not to ramble," he added as he sat straight to stretch his arms up. "Don't want to put your listeners to sleep."

Lots of Unspeakables rambled and he had a feeling the knack was rubbing off on him.

Waverly laughed at Virgil's energy and his glancing blow at a straight version of himself; he didn't dare linger there long.  He was an actor and Waverly knew he'd be able to pull it off. But at what cost?

"Don't be nervous," she said, noticing his fidgeting. "This is an experiment."

A rare moment of nerves from her cool friend. For Wav the stakes were low. The station was her secret sandbox, a whisper in an echoless darkness.

Waverly went over how this would work as she set up and tested the voice disguiser. They'd already discussed some of the particulars when Wav had brought up the interview idea, how they'd keep it anonymous like the rest of the station's content, how Wav wanted people to hear underrepresented voices. Virgil ticked a box or two there. That, and he was willing. He had vampire experience and he was dating the head of Beings. Both were more than enough reason to keep this anonymous.

"I'll set us up with an intro, just what the legislation is." She had some articles clipped. The Daily Prophet had coverage, and Witch Weekly had done some as well. She'd also found some bills around Diagon bleating opinions, papered over public service posters for the vampire blood bank.

"I'll let you introduce yourself, whatever you want to say. Then we'll just, you know, shoot the shit. I'll ask questions. Answer however you want."

Waverly had put on a few tracks while they got set up, that way if anyone did tune in, they'd know she was on the air and keep their wireless dialed in. They had about a minute left until the current song ended (muggle sensation Cab Calloway, old jazz music one of Waverly's latest interests).

"Good?"

She felt a flutter of excitement and couldn't keep a smile off her face.

             "Don't be nervous. This is an experiment."

He rolled his eyes, that familiar habit of all teenagers chasing him into adulthood. Virgil didn't get nervous about things like this - nerves were for people who didn't understand that everything in life was a performance. Even the witch behind the apparatus. Especially her, actually.

Waverly explained how the show was going to go down and he crossed his legs, mule slipper dangling off his foot as he listened. In his mind he was already constructing the persona of Edward: an unassuming, soft-spoken wizard with a hint of bold fussiness Virgil knew could be found in himself. It was going to be difficult to tamp down on cutting remarks.

Though it wouldn'y be disastrous if a listener clocked him. They couldn't prove it and he wasn't ashamed of what happened at Hooker's.

"Good? Why yes miss," he slipped into a voice that started more in his throat than his usual one, which drew itself from somewhere deeper. "Good indeed and good to go."

Virgil ran his tongue over his teeth, feeling for strings of spinach from the pizza, and then smiled angelically at his friend.

Written by Nuri and Niobe

"Good," Waverly mimicked Virgil with a wolfy grin. The track ended, Waverly turned some dials and let dead air hang for a few long seconds. Then she began without preamble.

"While we wait on the Wizengamot to make the call on voluntary vampire bites," Waverly began with a little smile on her voice, a trace of awareness that tonight she had at least one listener, an audience to her purring wireless persona. "I'm going to do what the Daily Prophet and Ministry won't dare - have a chat with someone who's actually gone to the teeth. What's the word, Edward?"

—

“The word is pleasure, darling!” Virgil’s mouth widened with amusement as he heard Edward’s voice conveying the gentle enthusiasm he intended, a slight hint of camp. “That’s what drew me into the whole affair.”

Oh, this was fun. It was a break from the current style of Shakespeare at Stardust. A taster, a game.

“The Ministry and papers don’t want to talk the nitty gritty details,” he sniffed in disdain, “simply because it involves pleasure.”

—

Something Waverly's stomach (and other places) fluttered; she knew exactly what 'Edward' meant. Her smile was on her voice when she responded.

"For the virgins: what was it like?"

—

He already knew he would hate Edward if such a person existed in real life. How nauseating! Virgil ran a hand through his hair and made a thinking sound, almost a sigh, as he considered his words.

“Like scratching an itch you didn’t know you had?” he frowned a little to himself. “That deep, sensual satisfaction, but it just…”

The blond made a seeking gesture, realised quickly this was the Wireless, and finished: “It Just. Doesn’t. Stop. Keeps pulling you down, rather, if you understand me.”

—

"I feel you, I feel you," Waverly agreed with furrowed brows. It was interesting seeing Virgil so deftly adopt a persona, and doing it off stage.

"It hurts, but…" she prompted.

—

She was good. Virgil uncrossed his legs and slipped off his shoes so that he could fold himself comfortably onto the chair.

“It hurts,” he picked up her cue in a slow, deliberate way, “but once you, um, overcome that initial pain it becomes a pleasurable pain. You’re just too distracted by the… the dimension of pleasure.”

Virgil didn’t want to say exactly how it made him feel - how, for him anyway, it was almost a sexual pleasure, a euphoria that emanated from somewhere within him and not just the bite.

He licked his lips. “And it sticks with you. There is such an afterglow, darling.”[/i]

That he only knew from his reading and conversations with Ceph. Virgil’s afterglow hadn’t been something to brag about.

—

"Darling," Waverly repeated playfully. She was conscious of avoiding the stiffness they were all used to, which was so strictly enforced in print and on air.

It was easy for her to resist talking about herself, but the temptation was growing. She knew that afterglow. She wanted to reflect and amplify how Virgil was putting it all into words. She took a breath and continued.

"So are these people who go off and get bit? What are they looking for? What were you looking for?"

Waverly had gone because Virgil had gone.[1]

—

Curiousity and a lack of self-preservation, said a voice in his head that sounded a lot like Yavin. But that wasn’t what anyone wanted to hear over the Wireless, so he clicked his tongue thoughtfully instead.

“Moi?” Virgil stalled. “Just looking for a thrill, a connection with something… I mean, someone different.”

He was straight up lying of course. If someone from Hooker’s was listening, at least they wouldn’t be able to mark him out. It would be too much to say he hadn’t been looking for anything particular.

Virgil had simply been collateral in a card game. Curiosity had brought him there but not as a customer.

“Really, aren’t we all looking for ways to break the tedium, to meet new people…?” he raised his eyebrows as he trailed off innocently.

—

"Mmm, one hundred," Waverly replied emphatically.

She marked Virgil's way around the truth but had no objection. His anonymity could go as far as he liked - they both knew the risks involved here. Besides, his answer was gripping enough.

"What about them, thems that bite? Do you think they get anything out of it, other than a snack?"

—

Them.

For a brief moment, he pictured Hooker. Terrence Hooker, taunting and playing and calling the shots, breathing into his neck.

“I think it’s fun for them, playing with their food.” Virgil didn’t look at Waverly but at a point just past her, his wan eyebrows lowered in genuine thought.

He remembered how Vaillancourt had cornered him in the lift[2] at the Ministry, told him not to hide the twin scars of pride.

“Yes,” emphatic now, with a better hint of Edward in his voice. “That’s it. A little thrill… that’s what it is for us, so why not for them?”

Virgil smiled a dark smile. “Maybe we’re not so different from one another.”

–

"We're all just looking for some kind of connection," Waverly said, her tone reflecting Virgil's shift to the more serious. She decided to lean closer to that, the taboo of it.

She paused only for a moment. "Can't deny the difference in, like, power. It's all based on trust that they won't take more than offered. Is that the thrill, oh, this could be it for me. It's Saturday night, bored as hell, gillyweed won't do, Fates take me?"

—

He laughed, delighted, a laugh only heard by those close to him - scarcely disguised by Edward’s voice. Virgil found himself leaning forward against the table, chin resting on his knuckles. It was fun, this.

“I don’t know about that… it’s only a fleeting power…” he trailed off thoughtfully and pushed out his lip.

Working at the Ministry, being subject to its atmosphere and endless political bickering, brought other perspectives to mind.

“Life or death, darling, but what’s the life of a vampire who has killed?” Virgil posed the question archly. “If they’re discovered, well, a life on the run isn’t it? First a sexy thrill, suddenly a monster to be hunted.”

—

"Can't ignore that," Waverly acknowledged. There was that. It was an interesting analysis from her politially-connected friend.

Then she made a small transition in her tone. "Break time, I think. When me chum Edward and I come back, how legalisation will change everything. Or nothing at all. Don't go away."

Waverly flipped some switches and set a needle onto vinyl, the breathy Bloodlet by Munroe.

When they were safely on a cold mic, a big smile spread across the normally stoic Waverly's face and she threw her arms up in a big stretch.

"Fuck me, you're brilliant," she gushed. "We are pulling this off. I can't believe it. We can take as long as we want."

Waverly was utterly thrilled.

1.	28 Jan 2012 - Red Lights into Paradise [M]
2.	8th Dec 2011 - Close Encounter of Another Kind

Virgil, as susceptible (if not more) to praise as any thespian, lowered his legs from the chair and performed a sort of seated bow for Waverly. He loved this. Sometimes he wondered what he was doing on level nine when he could be acting instead - spending days and evenings on stage, curled up nights against...

The spell broke and he grinned at his friend.

"Not half bad yourself Miss Roh-Ballentyne," his eyebrows went up appreciatively. "I wonder who's listening? I'll keep an ear to the ground when I get back to the Ministry on Monday."

Surely someone on level four was listening. All he needed to hear was a murmur... perhaps even a murmur of minds, if he was careful about it and could pluck the right words out of a stream of thoughts.

"The Ministry? Oof," Waverly let out a puff of air. Her mothers would recognize her voice in an instant. "I hope not."

Like not, though. They went to bed with the elderly and if they were up late, they were working. Regardless, she wasn't really ready to be found out. She had no idea how Queen G would react to her commandeering these wireless wave's.

"I need a vampire next," she said cool and dangerous. She didn't ask if Virgil knew any - she knew he did. She did as well, but was far too smart to consider returning to Hookers after Terry's warning (though Virgil had erased the worst of it).

"Kelp?" She had gillyweed in her bag.

"That would be random," she said returning to people on Level Four listening in. "I'm trying to imagine that, chaps in suits and vests huddled around a box."

He smiled slightly at Wav's reluctance to be heard - it was a controversial subject, there was always the possibility. But then again, it might not be worth noticing. Virgil thought of how his vision of Alec Carter, clear cut and Mysteries-supported, had been looked over. Sometimes things just slipped under the proverbial radar.

"Mm, roll me up," he accepted the offer of gillyweed, still floating on the dregs of a joint smoked before his late supper. "Are you thinking of Vaillancourt? You'll need to convince him to go anon."

Virgil could easily conjure an image of the Consultant Vampire in his mind. Vaillancourt was one of those persons who looked like they were always meant to be a vampire; to imagine them as merely magical was out of the question.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms out behind him. "They're not all chaps in suits and vests," he remarked in his catlike languor. "I mean, look at your mums. And nobody huddles around their Wireless, Merlin, we're not in a war!" Virgil laughed.

He pictured Cepheus, sitting down with Claude in his lap with the Wireless on and a cool breeze slipping in through the window. No, no, put that away.

"I like watching them all," he said with an unintentional, thoughtful smile. "The Ministry lot..." the wizard lifted his hands, using his fingers to frame his bright eyes in Wav's direction. "A spy."

Waverly absolutely cackled at Virgil's 'war' comment and she saw now how silly her conjecture was, how absurd a picture it would be. He was right, of course. Her mum dressed in whatever had the most pockets, god have mercy on her fashion sense.

Wav sorted out the gillyweed and shared it. Now that the first half of the interview was done, she was feeling more confident and able to relax. Any nerves Waverly kept were kept secret. She hated to admit anything bothered her in the moment or in anticipation. It was difficult, caring about something. She'd stumbled into it.

"Oh, the Ministry vampire. Hadn't thought of him."

Waverly was skeptical at first thought, wanting an outside perspective of the institution, wary of revealing herself.

"Oh, are you not the Ministry lot now?" she prodded. She thought of a poster she'd seen, a manic grinning cat reminding all who passed by they were not immune. "How's that work?"

Wav could always put on another record.

He realised, watching Wav roll a joint, that he missed this. There was something liberating about doing things with old housemates - like he could be wicked and dramatic, instead of worrying about coming off as immoral or immature. They were still a stone's throw away from the mischief and nonsensical ways of Hogwarts.

            "Oh, are you not the Ministry lot now? How's that work?"

"Not everyone at the Ministry is on the same side," he murmured, tilting his chin up and staring at the ceiling as he interlaced his fingers over his stomach. "But I mustn't give away too much, must I?"

Virgil wished he could tell her about some of the things they were doing on Mysteries. He'd pay a few good galleons to hear her take on the Sphere from outer space, or the Dementor they housed in their vast labyrinth. Or discuss the way time seemed to dance in the Time Room, or how he was sometimes Yavin's ear to the floor.

Instead, he glanced back down at his friend's lovely face and grinned. "But if you really want Ministry goss, you need to get your hands on a secretary or assistant." Virgil thought of the witches and wizards behind the scenes, eyes that saw more than probably his mind's eye. Then he thought of Abby, fond and warm in his chest.

"Try to get an unimportant one," he added in a drawl. "Not, like, Solomon's or The Minister's. It's the wallflowers who see all."

The drowsy prince liked to be mysterious and he looked good in it, so Waverly didn't move to tease him. But she also didn't ask for more.

"There's that one girl." There was a squib, Waverly remembered, that ran in circles adjacent to hers. Waverly didn't know much about her other than she thought she worked at the Ministry in some non-magical capacity. "The blonde who went with Schlagenweit."

She seemed wallflowery.

He found it odd to hear Abby being described from the outside - blonde who went with Schlagenweit. Was that what people thought of when they thought of Unicorn Girl? The notion was miserable, inaccurate, lacking.

"Abby Reid," Virgil glanced at his hands, as if checking for dirt underneath the neatly trimmed nails. "Squib, she's Solomon's girl. Not at all lowkey."

Between hosting a pentral and holding court in his cousin's waiting room, there was nothing lowkey about Abby at all. Not to him, anyway. Virgil sat forward again, extending his palm for the joint Waverly just rolled.

"We get lunch together sometimes," he added, which sounded too casual for his friendship with Abby.

But what else was he going to say? That he once had a vision of Abby Reid? That, to help her, he went past the Vail in the Death Chamber? How could he even explain that kind of connection?

Waverly almost thought she'd said something wrong, but wasn't bothered. She could be like that, caustic without cause; she expected others to be the same. She shared the joint again with Virgil and noted that the filler song was coming to an end.

Rather than linger on this Abby person, who was probably very lovely, Waverly wanted to move on with their caper. The gillyweed was feeling nice in her head, and there was an angle to cover.

"Ready for round two?" she asked Virgil.

He breathed easier as they moved on from the subject, relieved to keep Abby's name out of Waverly's mouth. The trouble he got into at work, with Nemo or Wav or vampires... Virgil didn't like the idea of Abby being caught up in any of it.

The gillyweed helped his thoughts to drift away from those concerns, and he dug around his bag for a copper flask.

           "Ready for round two?" his formidable host queried.

"Edward's always ready, darling," Virgil intoned in his new voice before taking a swig of cool water. "Ask and the gentleman shall answer."

Waverly make an involuntary sick look at the return of 'Edward'.

"I've created a monster," she said as she finessed the arcane equipment. Once all but one switches were flicked, she caught Virgil's eye contact so he knew they were going live.

On came Wav, who provided the sparest of reviews.

"It's 'Edward' and I back, having a chat about vampire bites - who wants them, who gives them, and why we all ought to be in therapy. So."

She cut herself off to take another puff of gillyweed, aware that the smoke was audible in her throat.

"I find myself thinking … who benefits from legalization? Can't imagine it's the horny repressed worker bee who's always dreamed of getting bitten but has stopped himself because it was against the rules. And vampires, not the biggest fans of the light of day."