April 28th, 2008
Monday
Lunch Hours


It was spring and the weather was rather nice. Wizards and witches were walking on the street, looking around for something to eat. Most of them were workers; they wanted something quick and cheap. River watched some of them from his seat. For today, he had chose a small restaurant near the Ministry's building. They offered mostly cold drinks and snacks and the waiter was nice to him. River ordered a bowl of salad and a glass of cold tea. It was enough for him to carry out the rest of the day. He wasn't on a dangerous mission and was busy handling some paper works. River prefer it to be that way. He wondered if he really fit for the job.

Shaking his head, River put that thought aside. He took of his glasses and put it on the small round table. Without it, River's light brown eyes stood out more. The thick black framed glasses didn't help him well with first impressions, but he felt comfortable wearing it.  He darted his eyes lazily, searching for a particular someone. 

Outfit

With her purse strap clutched tightly in one hand, to discourage snatchers, and a simple brown paper bag in the other, Kia looked like everyone else in the milling lunchtime crowd. For this, she was thankful to her muggle uncle, who kept her wearing the current muggle fashions. She had no idea how her less knowledgable coworkers kept from drawing attention to their robes and pointed hats, but she assumed that was why most of them ate at work. She however, could go as she pleased to any muggle restaurant and not even be noticed. It was a nice feeling.

It was also a nice day and Kia was surprisingly elated to be meeting up with her old friend River. The two were and interesting pair. How two people that were so quiet got the nerve to talk to each other was beyond most people, but that was what Kia liked about River. The two could eat a lunch entirely in silence and leave without a word, and neither would think twice about it. It was comfortable with him, and that was more then she could say for most of her coworkers. This wouldn't be the case this time however. Kia actually had something she wanted to talk about, the subject of which was burning a hole in her pocket with every step she took.

Arriving at the restaurant, Kia spotted River and made her way over to him. With a nod in greeting and a simple "Hey..." she sat down across from him. Pulling out the contents of her lunch bag, since Kia didn't see the reason to spend money needlessly, she surveyed her bounty. It would come as no surprise to anyone who knew Kia that nearly everything before her, if not everything, had strawberries in it. A sandwich with peanut butter and strawberry jelly, a strawberry yogurt and a small package of plain old strawberries. The only thing that wasn't strawberry was the baggie of carrots. She was also devoid a drink, which she quickly remedied by calling the waitress over and ordering, you guessed it, strawberry lemonade.

Turning back to River, having finished her order, Kia took a bite of her sandwich and chewed it thoughtfully before swallowing and saying "... Have you ever been given a love letter River?" It was blunt and to the point, but Kia never wasted words if she could help it.

"Hey..."

"Good afternoon." River nodded as Kia sat across him. She was wearing muggle outfits and he wasn't surprised. More and more women wore them these days. His mother said muggle clothes were far more stylish. As a man, he didn't understand. He thought robes and boots were fine. And Kia, as beautiful as she was, had a little bit too much fondness to strawberry. This was proved by her choices for lunch. River didn't mind it too much, though. He put his glasses on again.

Being friends with Kia was quiet alright. They were comfortable with each other. River was comfortable with Frank Pratt too, but he sometimes felt the need to slap him for his antics.

"... Have you ever been given a love letter River?"

The food came right after she said those words. The waitress put his order and went off rather quickly. River picked up his fork and played with his salad for a while and then started to eat. He was thinking about what to say, because unlike Kia, he needed to make sure of his words. Polite, but to the point at the same time. He finally looked at her piercing green eyes and shook his head, "I wrote one, though."

"I wrote one, though."

Most people, at this revelation, would have spit out their food, gasped for air and laughed hysterically. River Doyle was the least likely person, in most peoples minds, to write a love letter. Considering how long it took for him to decide just to say those four simple words, she could imagine how long it would take him to write a love letter. She could see it now, River huddled over a pile of parchment, scribbling greeting after greeting, throwing away each page after crumpling it in disgust because it just wasn't the right way to say hello. A small smile tugged at her lips at the thought.

She didn't, however, spit her food out and laugh. Instead, she finished the bite she was working on, swallowed it and cocked her head to the side, an inquisitive look on her face. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed..." She didn't go on to ask who it was, since it was none of her business, but she did add "... Tell me... why would you write one? I mean... why not tell them to their face? Was there a reason you couldn't tell them?"

A smile appeared on her lips and River raised his eyebrows in anticipation.

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed..."

River shrugged in response and picked up another broccoli with his fork. He didn't mind telling these kind of things to Kia anyway; she wasn't a busy body and won't ridicule him. Well, maybe that was because he hadn't told her who it was. River darted his eyes away in embarrassment as his mind traveled to a special someone. Shaking his head, he noticed something else. Kia seemed to be more talkative than usual.

"... Tell me... why would you write one? I mean... why not tell them to their face? Was there a reason you couldn't tell them?"

He stopped eating. River looked at her in curiosity. Kia was being talkative and their conversation started to sound like a girl talk. Even though he was into men, he was still a man! River looked at his food and ate again. Maybe answering the question wouldn't be a bad thing. River rubbed his nose, he was blushing, "I tended to act stupid around him, so I wrote instead." Why did he tell her these things? Merlin, he needed help. River took a deep breath and sighed in embarrassment. He  was glad that Frank wasn't around right now.

River watched a waiter put Kia's drink on the table. He thanked him and his attention went back to her. "Why are you asking? Did someone give you one?"

River seemed a bit put-off by Kia's questions and she understood. After all, she was never this talkative normally. In fact, usually they said no more then a couple words of greeting and the customary "How are you" and "Fine, you?" sort of thing. So her sudden and abrupt talkativeness must have thrown him for a loop. But the fact of the matter was that she needed to know why someone would send her a love letter. What would make them hide behind a piece of paper. Knowing that River had written one actually served to relieve her worries. He was pretty normal, albeit strange to other people, but he wasn't deformed or creepy... so maybe her illusive admirer wasn't either.

"I tended to act stupid around him, so I wrote instead."

Kia smiled lightly at the waiter as he placed the drink in front of her. Picking it up, she took a long drink and pondered what he was saying. So, if the guy (or girl even) was writing to her, it was because he was scared of acting stupid in front of her? She supposed it made sense, though she couldn't imagine that hiding behind a piece of parchment would help the relationship flourish. She couldn't even write back! Who did she know that might have a crush on her?

Her mind slowly reeled backwards, trying to remember who she knew who might have the tell-tale signs of a crush. None immediately popped to mind except for that strange werewolf guy, Fil, she met the other day. But it couldn't be him. Not only did he not know her well enough to write some of the surprisingly revealing facts about herself, but he was so gruff and snappy. There was no way that he could have written such beautiful and romantic prose. Shaking the idea out of her head, she focused on what River was saying.

"Why are you asking? Did someone give you one?"

As hard as she tried to keep it down, a touch of color brushed her cheeks and she smiled lightly "Um... well... Yeah. Someone did..." She didn't elaborate, deciding to focus on her yogurt instead. If he wanted to know, he would ask.

(( Since I dunno if River would actually ask, We could have Frank come in and overhear the comments if you want and ask instead ))

[[Hope this works! Let me know if it doesn't]]

What was it about the spring time that made men and women flourish in relationships, or similar type situations? It was that time of year for the birds and the bees, sure, and the weather was nice and cozy, but it was just odd how, like clockwork, one could time when the ‘love birds’ would start walking the parks and cuddling on benches to the disgust of others who weren’t in such close minded proximities. Frank had been there a few times himself to understand the feelings, pounding heart against the chest, so on and so forth, but as he was not there this season, it was a little irritating.

All he wanted to do was to have a nice lunch in the beautiful weather (odd to say that in London) before continuing his research for the next big hunt. Glancing at his watch, he frowned to himself. It had been mentioned by River that he occasionally dined at a little restaurant near the Ministry. Glancing down to his light sweater, pulled up to his elbows, Frank started to dust any lint (real or invisible) from the front. Sometimes Frank should know better, and when he was trying to catch his balance after tripping over some of the cobblestone, he let out a grunt and left his shirt alone.

Perhaps, on top of all the sights he had to endure while he walked, he was also easily irritated because of the lack of sleep he had been getting. It wasn’t really his fault he was preoccupied. Running a hand over his face, careful to keep his eyes on the area ahead of him, Frank sighed at the growth of hair on his cheeks. He was so off kilter that he hadn’t made time to shave.

Spotting River, Frank made his way over to him. He waved at his friend, but as River didn’t respond back, he figured he was too far back or hidden behind a few people that he didn’t see Frank. No matter, he was almost to the table.

“—you asking? Did someone give you one?”

His eyes moved from River to the dark haired girl (he only saw the back of her head). Frank raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious but not wanting to intrude. He considered going and placing his lunch order before he joined the two at the table. That was, until he heard the voice.

“Um… well… Yeah. Someone did…”

Stopping in his half turn to get a waiter, Frank nearly stumbled over. That counter balance one was supposed to have with their arms out from their body when they pivoted around didn’t seem to work with Frank. He was too preoccupied suddenly anyway. Taking a moment to make himself noticed, Frank grinned at River and patted him on the back before sitting down. “Afternoon River, Kia.” Nodding to her as well, he rested his hands on the arms of his chair. “Someone did what, now?”

River felt a hand on his back and looked up. He quickly narrowed his eyes at the sight. Frank was quiet late, but after seeing the bags under the man's eyes, he decided not to say anything. Maybe he had a rough day at work. He nodded at Frank's greeting and looked at Kia again. He wanted to ask, but wanted to be polite at the same time. The letter was too personal to talk about. The atmosphere became a little bit tense as Frank sat down.

“Someone did what, now?”

"Nothing." He answered too quickly and put the last bit of salmon into his mouth. But then again, he was feeling curious. He wanted to know more about Kia's problem. Maybe he just had to pick his words carefully so Frank wouldn't have any idea about the topic.

Wait, that would be rude.

Oh, the heck with it.

River then looked at Kia and said calmly, "I can track it if you want to." During his three years Auror training, River learned a lot of new things. How to do espionage works and most importantly, how to track criminals. Finding the sender of the letter wouldn't be hard.

“Afternoon River, Kia. Someone did what, now?”

Surprised when another voice cut in, Kia glanced up to see Frank Pratt taking his seat. She didn't know the man outside of her scant interactions when he accompanied River, but he was a nice enough guy and she didn't mind his presence. He wasn't, however, close enough for her to talk to about her love letter. She clammed up the moment he asked, suddenly immersing herself in studying the sandwich in front of her. Her father always said if you had nothing to say, to fill your mouth. Of course, he had only meant it in regards to her brother talking about gross stuff at the dinner table, but she felt it was just as relevant here. So she took a big bite of her sandwich and left the subject change to River.

"Nothing. I can track it if you want to."

That wasn't a subject change! Her eyes snapped up and gave him a sharp look before she carefully swallowed what she was meticulously chewing. "That won't be necessary... I would rather find out on my own..." She said slowly, eying Frank out of the corner of her eye. She felt a bit rude talking about it in front of him, but at the same time, she needed to figure this out. It was driving her insane. Maybe Frank would know... She didn't know why she thought so, but he seemed like the type to write flowing poetry and love sonnets to a girl.

"What do you know about Love letters, Mr. Pratt?" Kia said slowly before biting off the tip of a strawberry, licking the juice off her lips and chewing thoughtfully as she focused on him.

 “Nothing.”

Frank paused as he glanced to River, in the midst of settling into his seat. After a moment, his eyebrow raised, Frank finally just shrugged. If it wasn’t his place, it wasn’t his place. Smiling warmly at Kia, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs at the ankles, making sure to only occupy his little space. Something was obviously up, but he wasn’t going to drag it out of River, and didn’t know Kia well enough to prod much with her.

“I can track it if you want to.”

The upside to not being part of the conversation was being able to watch the two try and talk around him without making straight out comments. Crossing his arms over his chest loosely, comfortable in the warm sun, Frank smiled and watched Kia’s reaction to River’s statement. Aw… she wanted the conversation to have ended when the not so well known sat down. Understandable, though—Frank wasn’t one to go on telling his hidden life to anyone.

“That won’t be necessary… I would rather find out on my own…”

Biting his lower lip, Frank decided to not partake in any more questions at this point. She obviously didn’t feel comfortable. Glancing around for the waiter, he wondered briefly if he should go with a steaming cup of coffee to wake him up, or some cold water to soothe his parch. Such decision… They were briefly interrupted as Kia seemed to focus on him.

“What do you know about Love letters, Mr. Pratt?”

Blinking as he turned his eyes to Kia, his confusion wore off into a grin and he shrugged a little, considering the question. “Well, I suppose I know the basics of them. ” He had been in long and short relationships, passionate and ‘just there’ ones, and had a fair amount of romance under his belt to be able to assess the idea of a love letter. “A bit of an open question, isn’t it? I mean, most people would know a lil bit about them, right?”

Scratching the back of his head, he bit his lower lip and considered the question a bit further. “I know that they’re fun to write, but hard to give out.” At this point, his free hand came up a little and waved as if to propel his discussion. “You know, that pit in your stomach of ‘will they feel the same way? Will they look at this as sweet or creepy?’ It’d imagine that it’s harder to give than to receive love… letters…” Realizing he was carrying on about such a silly thing, he felt a light blush spread to his cheeks and he dropped his hands to his lap.

Thankfully the waiter came over. “Ah…” Glancing at his watch, noticing the time, he frowned. “Hot tea please… with honey.” Taking the menu from him, Frank set it down on the table and worked over the question. “They can get messy though, love letters. If you don’t… use proper etiquette, I suppose…” That seemed silly to say but made sense in Frank’s mind. “I mean, imagine had Greyfriar written back! I bet that would’ve been a gruff translation, eh River?” He assumed that, as Kia and River came off as tight friends, that he wasn’t divulging anything that hadn’t all ready been spilled.

[[The Knox insertion was approved by River…]]

River frowned, he was disappointed. It would be much more interesting if Kia let him track the letter. He shrugged and decided that it was alright. Maybe he should think about the sender feelings too. It would be rude to ruin someone else's plan anyway. He continued to listen to Frank's words. River nodded in agreement for the most part. Fun to write? It wasn't. It was rather uncomfortable and confusing; choosing the right words, writing with good grammars, and it had to be perfect. Frank was a more social person, so it must be easier for him.

“I mean, imagine had Greyfriar written back! I bet that would’ve been a gruff translation, eh River?”

River choked on his drink and started to cough dramatically. He looked at Frank and glared as if he wanted to drill a hole on the man's head. He didn't dare to look at Kia, he didn't even want to imagine what kind of expression he was wearing at this point. Kia must thought of him as a freak. With some strength left, he managed to stood up. He needed to run; this was too much emotion to handle.

"I...have to go to the lo. I need to-" He pulled away from his chair. "-scream silently..."

He quickly walked away from the table. Good Lord, he was sweating.

“Well, I suppose I know the basics of them. A bit of an open question, isn’t it? I mean, most people would know a lil bit about them, right?”

Kia gave a slight, half-hearted shrug. It wasn't completely true. She had never written one as far as she could remember, nor had anyone ever written one to her until now. But at the same time, she supposed he was right, after all the definition was right in the name. Love letters were simply letters about love. The question that Kia really wanted to know was WHY someone would write one, and more importantly, write one to her.

“I know that they’re fun to write, but hard to give out. You know, that pit in your stomach of ‘will they feel the same way? Will they look at this as sweet or creepy?’ It’d imagine that it’s harder to give than to receive love… letters…”

Kia nodded as she took another bite of her sandwich. Frank's explanation was long-winded and wordy,  but he had a good point. He was just slow to getting to it. She thought about what he said as he ordered a drink from the waiter. Obviously who ever had written the letter knew her. They had mentioned the smell of her hair for one, which few people had gotten close enough to notice. It was a tad creepy to think about, if she didn't know the guy that meant that he was somehow stalking her closely enough to smell her hair. A shiver ran down her back, but it wasn't all negative. Somehow the attention, as creepy as it was, made her flush slightly.

“They can get messy though, love letters. If you don’t… use proper etiquette, I suppose…I mean, imagine had Greyfriar written back! I bet that would’ve been a gruff translation, eh River?”

Kia's response wasn't as dramatic as most peoples would have been learning about the object of Rivers affection. Most people would have choked or spit out their food in surprise and most likely have laughed until they cried in the process. Instead, Kia's chewing only paused and she slowly cocked her head to the side, her eyes locked onto River with an inquisitive gaze. It was as though her stare was saying 'Greyfrair... why Greyfrair?'

"I...have to go to the lo. I need to--scream silently..."

Poor River's expression was one of sheer horror and Kia's heart went out to him. She couldn't imagine the horror of that sort of thing being revealed. As he hurried away, she locked a cool glare on Frank. "That isn't something you just blurt out. You should go apologize... " She didn't offer herself because, if anything, River would probably be too mortified to look at her. Besides, she wasn't all that good with sympathy and condolences.

Frank was a bit surprised when River started choking. He was halfway to leaning over to help him cough up whatever it was when the glare hit him. Dropping his arm, Frank’s face showed exactly how surprised he was that River had obviously kept this from Kia. For some reason, he’d thought they were better friends on some level. When he stood up, Frank tried to think of how to rectify the situation quickly, but was coming up with nothing.

“I…have to go to the lo. I need to-“

Opening his mouth, Frank clearly was caught off guard by all of this. Two little sentences, and he was causing River to full out run. He didn’t even have time to process Kia’s reaction as he was a bit locked on his male friend’s horror stricken face.

“-scream silently…”

Oh boy. Turning in his seat as River practically ran, Frank tried to stop him by holding out his hand in the air, attempting to pull the young man back by thought. No such luck. Slumping a little into his seat, he turned back to the table and frowned, clearly trying to work over something. Then her voice cut through and his gaze snapped up to hers, frowning at her glare.

“That isn’t something you just blurt out. You should go apologize…”

“And you’re one to know proper etiquette about that sort of thing, right?” He had a sudden flare up of irritation at her cool and sudden calculation of the situation. Pushing back from the table noisily, Frank stood up quickly. “You brought up the subject after not wanting to talk about it. Aren’t you two good friends anyway?” Letting out a gruff breath, he stalked off after River. Now what? “River!” He wasn’t too far ahead, and after a short jog, Frank caught up. “Hey… I’m sorry. I thought… I didn’t think, I guess.”

Scratching the back of his head, he tried to keep up with his friend without running. “I shouldn’t have said that straight out. I just assumed…” There was that saying of assuming something popping up in his head, and Frank tried to push it aside. “It wasn’t right.”

River was bumping into a lot of people and objects as he tried to reach the bathroom door. He didn't even say the word 'sorry' to any of them, which was rare. The wooden door seemed so far away. Some people already threw him weird looks. It didn't help him at all.

“River!”

Oh, fantastic! Now all of them knew his name. He was sweating and his heart was pumping too fast. Even though River was quiet, he could be a drama queen. He thought he would die from all the humiliation. River fixed his glasses and saw Frank walked...or ran beside him. He didn't feel anger, he just felt extremely embarrassed. Why in the world did he tell Frank about his object of affection anyway? When?  Had he been drunk at the time? River stopped dead on his track and took a deep breath. Breath in...breath out.

“Hey… I’m sorry. I thought… I didn’t think, I guess.”

River covered his face with one hand, his face was hot. He took another deep breath. "It's fine." He finally said truthfully, although his voice was shaking. From Frank's mumbled words, River knew he didn't mean any of it. "Let's just pretend like nothing happened."  It was the best solution he had at the moment. River looked at Frank and threw him a small smile so he wouldn't feel bad.

He then walked back to their table and sat down. River avoided any eye contact and focused all of his attention to his glass of drink. He silently prayed Kia wouldn't ask him about why he liked Greyfriar. "So...what are you going to do with that letter?" 

“And you’re one to know proper etiquette about that sort of thing, right? You brought up the subject after not wanting to talk about it. Aren’t you two good friends anyway?”

"We are good friends... I just respect his Pri--" She started but paused when she saw that he had run off after River. Frowning slightly, since his accusation had hurt, Kia focused on the sandwich that had become suddenly unappealing. Putting it down, she sighed and rested her chin on her hand. Maybe he was right, maybe she wasn't as good of friends with River as she had thought. After all, he had never told her that he had a crush on Headmaster Greyfriar.

She was embarrassed now. Obviously she hadn't been good enough of a friend to be confided in and suddenly she felt like she was intruding on Frank and Rivers usual lunch spot, as opposed to the other way around. It had been a while since she had had such a bout of self-doubt and she found her ever familiar shields of ice wrapping around her shoulders like a cool shroud. She remained silent as River and Frank approached.

"So...what are you going to do with that letter?" 

Kia had, in her thoughts, forgotten that she hadn't told Frank about the letter. She shrugged as she stirred the remains of her yogurt "I dunno. It's probably a joke. I don't know why anyone would write one to me anyways..."