Outfit

Myrni never thought she would say it, but she was looking forward to the end of the school year. She had begun in September with such optimism and enjoyment for her craft. But alas, now she had succumbed to pessimism and gloom. Had all of the staff been afflicted by this?

This was a probing question that Myrni planned to ask of her dear friend and fellow colleague, Aileen Reid.  They had started teaching at the school at the same time and it would be a good measure of how jaded the Arithmancy professor had become in such a short period of time.

She considered that maybe she wasn't jaded about teaching but more because of the type of year she had had to that point. It all culminated into a feeling of exhaustion.

Which was why she was looking forward to hanging out with Aileen and getting the chance to let their hair down. Spring break seemed to be an ideal time for an adult outing and the duo had settled on an evening of drinks at Signature.

The purple dress and boots were Myrni's low-key attempts to be stylish but not overly revealing or sexy. Despite her newly single status, she was not on the prowl for a rebound encounter. As it was, she  immediately felt uncomfortable when she stepped inside of the club and the eyes of several male patrons fell on her.

Myrni ducked her head of brunette hair and headed for the far end of the bar, away from them but still in plain sight of the door so that Aileen would be able to find her easily.

She ordered a drink from the bartender and nervously waited for the chic blond Runes professor to join her. When her drink arrived, Myrni nearly downed it in one gulp, trusting that it would help her shed some of her anxiety.

A wizard sitting nearby commented, “Easy there, sweetheart.” Then he cackled as he walked away, “Save some for later....”

When Aileen walked into Signature that evening, clad in a blue spring dress and lightweight coat, she was unsurprised and seemingly unaffected when several eyes fell on her. She scanned the bar for Myrni, and caught sight of her looking into her near-empty drink as if it held all the answers. Her face softened slightly, and she weaved her way through the crowd with her usual aloof confidence. There was one thing Aileen Reid could always count on, and that was her good looks. Her so-called charm wasn't as reliable.

She slid into the seat next to Myrni, ordering a drink from the bartender, and offering the fellow professor a small smile. Myrni looked as miserable as Aileen felt these days. Between her sister's illness, the disaster during class a few days ago, and renewed threats from the Headmistress and that awful caretaker, Aileen was tempted to leave Hogwarts at the end of the school year and never look back.

But Myrni was struggling as well, dealing with the end of her engagement to Nate and whatever had transpired with Bombay. It was about time Myrni lost some of that ridiculous idealism. And yet, she felt genuinely sorry that her friend had to go through this. She'd been there. One of them ought to be happy, to be foolish, and Aileen certainly wasn't going to be.

"We should be happy, shouldn't we?" Aileen commented, voicing one of her thoughts. "The students are out for the holiday. Look, they're already invading the pubs," she glanced at a seventh year she recognized from across the room, both mortified and mildly amused when he raised a glass to her.

"On second thought, don't look. If we can't see them, they can't see us. Denial is the best coping method."

Her smile widened, trying to cheer her up. Aileen kept a lot of things to herself, but Myrni had been there when Oz had embarrassed her with that flower arrangement over Valentine's Day, and she listened when Aileen complained about students or worried over Abby. Those things mattered. Aileen was attempting to be a decent friend in return, even though it was something she had little practice in.

Myrni was envious of Aileen's unflappable confidence. The Arithmancy professor would forever be plagued by the sobering effects of self critique which tended to keep her ego from becoming too big. She had never been one who chose to stand out in a crowd and had always been content to be overlooked in the company of others like Aileen. It made her uncomfortable to be so vain about herself.

Nathan had never been short on his compliments of her, but a modest Myrni had always been shy in accepting them, even from the man she had adored so for as long as she could remember. For years, it had allowed her a quiet confidence about her looks and the way that she had carried herself, knowing that she had no need to impress anyone else.

That complacency put her at a disadvantage now as she found it hard to deal with the idea of being single again. Aileen was used to this. She had been single for 10+ years. Although rebounding after a marriage to Oz had to be easier than after an engagement to his younger, studlier and overall more amazing brother, Nate.

This last thought soon became the source of a guilty look on Myrni's face when Aileen approached. Did it make her a bad friend to think such a thing? Or was it only bad if she actually said it out loud?

Myrni brushed the whole line of thinking – her mental bashing of Aileen and her mental scolding of herself for doing it – aside and chalked it up (full of delusions of grandeur) to the drink she downed so quickly just seconds ago.

When the bartender took Aileen's order, Myrni ordered a tamer drink with the intent of nursing it longer. She then looked over at the Runes professor and wondered how she was doing.

“We should be happy,” Myrni echoed of her friend's sentiment. She nodded to Aileen's quip about denial being the best coping method. It certainly seemed to be working wonders for Myrni every time she questioned her decision to end her engagement.

As their drinks came, Myrni reached for hers a little too swiftly. But instead of downing this one like the last, she held it up to toast. “Here's to an enjoyable start to spring break...”

Aileen could easily see that Myrni was not her usual chipper self. When Aileen acted more upbeat than the Arithmancy professor, something was truly wrong in the world.

"To a week without Headmistress Snark," Aileen let the glasses clink together and then took a sip of wine, not quite caring if anyone overheard her. She kept up a professional facade at the castle, largely avoiding jokes or complaints like some of the other professors, but simple courtesy hadn't stopped the Headmistress from making her life hell with the Egyptian artifacts, and Aileen didn't know how to hide her distaste anymore.

She was about to ask Myrni what she was planning on doing over the holiday, when a round of shots landed in front of them, courtesy of the young gentlemen - seventh years!- from the other end of the establishment, the bartender said.

"Oh, how thoughtful," Aileen murmured dryly after a pause, trying to decide what would discourage the students the most from sending any further rounds, or Merlin forbid, coming over there to talk to them. Sending the drinks back should do the trick. She didn't do this yet, though, and shook her head as she commented, "Welcome to the single world."

At the last moment, she realized that might have sounded cruel, and gave Myrni a slightly apologetic look.

Myrni was happy to toast to just about anything at that point. She was aware of Aileen being at odds with Headmistress Snark, even if she didn't know all of the details of the estrangement. Myrni supposed even if she did have the details, it wouldn't matter. Aside from her job, she had more of a loyalty to Aileen than Snark.

Myrni's brows shot up with the arrival of a round of drinks, surprised to learn that they were from students. For Merlin's Sakes, she was a head of house! Had they no shame? Clearly it was hard for Myrni to shed the teacher role, even when they were all supposed to be on break.

She snapped out of that quickly when Aileen mentioned being single. She had had months to get used to that idea but it still somewhat alarming. It was going to take even more time to get used to it...and perhaps a few more drinks.

After getting a shot down, Myrni turned to Aileen, determined not to be the one to bring the mood down. “So! Know any magical drinking games?”

Tapendra's night had been going quite well, he thought. He'd met a nice girl earlier, modern wizarding dance music wasn't that bad after all and - most importantly - he was drunk enough to not be embarrassed about dancing. That was a pretty important key to club dancing, as far as he was concerned; be drunk enough that you had an excuse to look like an idiot.

The band had wound down a bit, allowing for a break, and he'd slipped into the bathroom to wash up a bit, getting  rid of the sweat from his face, clothes and body. Magic was pretty handy, sometimes. He hummed in a kind of contented daze as he headed back out, absently drying his hair with his wand.

"...any magical drinking games?"

It was Myrni's voice, drifting through the crowd, that he caught on to. The currently suppressed center of his mind that drove his logic (and shame) yelled at him to leave her be, but that bit wasn't anywhere near the driver's seat at the moment. He was being driven by a good mood and hopeless optimism.

He padded off towards the two women, surprised to see Aileen. He was barefoot now, not sure where his boots and coat had wound up - behind the bar, most likely. The two didn't look particularly cheerful, and unless they'd been bought drinks they seemed pretty determined to get very drunk, if the round of drinks in front of them was any indication.

"Hallo Myrni, Reid," he said with a smile, leaning on the bar next to Myrni. His logic center had yelled that standing next to a possibly irate Aileen barefoot - especially when the Runes Professor was in heels - was not a good idea. Myrni was less likely to kick him.

"Here to celebrate the break? You look like someone's died," he said with bubbly cheerfulness.

Aileen looked at Myrni, unable to mask her surprise when the woman took one of the shots that the students had sent over to them. Well, she supposed now they wouldn't be sending the drinks back. She was caught in a rare, awkward state of speechlessness when Myrni went on to suggest drinking games. What in the world? They weren't in their twenties anymore, which meant that for Aileen, she was well into a state of fuddy-duddy-ness and good old repression.

She opened her mouth to tell her that no, she had no idea, when a familiar face appeared. Tapendra Trishna. Despite her lack of appreciation for the subject of Astronomy (especially the muggle bent he had on it), Trishna was alright in her book. Which might have had something to do with him snoring during Snark's last speech.

See, he really wasn't so bad.

Aileen smiled politely at him, wondering if he'd already been at this pub for a while. She sipped at her wine and ignored the shot glass in front of her for now.

"Tapendra," she nodded at him, raising an eyebrow when he said they looked like someone had died. Aileen had hoped their sour expressions would have discouraged anyone from bothering them, but in comparison to the delusional seventh-years, the professor's presence was welcome.

"You look like you've lost your shoes," she commented breezily. "If you need help finding them, we could turn it into a drinking game," Aileen went on, sending an amused glance at Myrni. "Find a shoe, turn it into a portkey, take a shot. Then see if he makes it home by the end of the night."

Myrni grinned when Tapendra approached. "Hey there, Mr. Shooting Star," she said, using her nickname for him. "And yes, we're here to....celebrate...the break. Although being a head of house, I feel as thought I can't exactly escape work completely. I'm sure you can relate being head of Ravenclaw now?"

It was somewhat of a rhetorical question and one that she immediately forgot about as soon as Aileen called attention to Tapendra's lack of shoes. Myrni's eyes went wide as she glanced down  to see and sure enough, it was true! Myrni's gaze moved quickly back to Aileen's face, trying to gauge her friend's mood about the matter.

Aileen's suggestion about making a drinking game out of finding the Astronomy professor's shoes caused Myrni to give her a quizzical look. She wasn't certain Aileen was serious about it or not. But it was a good idea for a drinking game, regardless.

"You don't look like you're celebratin'. You look like you're feeling sorry for yourselves," he said with a slightly crooked grin. Her head of house comment on made his smile widen and take on a slightly shark-like quality. Graham. Haha. What a stupid little shi-

"It's worth it 'cause it used to be Graham's job, an' the kids are great," he said, wiggling his shoulders in an oddly proud gesture. "Every time I go in his office to get his paperwork I get to imagine him yelling in rage that I got it as he wastes away in his mum's basement. It's great. An' his portrait makes a great dartboard." He laughed, an oddly cackle-like laugh coming from him. He looked down at his feet, lifting one and wiggling his toes as if this confirmed his barefootness.

"Lost? No, no, I kicked them off. Somewhere." He waved vaguely. "Over by the bar. I was dancing and boots are...not good for that. Blisters, you know..." He didn't seem to notice the insult he could have felt at Aileen's words. "An' I'd only play that game if you guys played it too. Or there was...money on it." He grinned, his expression back to his sunny disposition. "O'course. There's more fun drinkin' games if you hate your liver. Take a shot for every whack the ugly tree gave Graham, for example. That'd kill you stone dead."

He seemed to notice the order of drinks on the bar, and his smile, again, shifted to mischief as he leaned forward on his elbows, his ankles crossed. "Or 'ave you been lying and it's actually a veiled ladies' night? You'll need more drinks n' that, ladies. Pretty sure you're better than half this rabble."

Aileen let out a laugh at Tapendra's colorful insults towards Bombay. They shared more than one common enemy, it seemed. And he was right about one thing. If she was going to stay at this pub, avoiding students and rolling her eyes at Tappy's drunken humor, she would definitely need something stronger than wine.

With a resigned look that meant she'd probably regret it later, Aileen downed one of the shots and tried not to cough.

"Did you hear that?" Aileen asked Myrni. "We're only better than half the rabble. That's rather stingy of you, Trishna." She shook her head at him in mock scolding.

"I'm just grateful I'm not in charge of the career counseling and all of that nonsense, like you two. Though I will drink to Bombay sitting in his basement, wondering where he went wrong. Was it the time a first-year almost drowned, or was it when his seventh years got lost in the forest and decided they liked it better there?"

Aileen was making the second part up. "Brave the acromantulas or look at Bombay everyday. I know which fate I'd choose," she commented with a smirk.

“Feeling sorry for ourselves?” Myrni feigned confusion. “Whatever for? There's nothing at all to feel sorry about. Nada.” She shook her head and then tended to her drink quite diligently, avoiding the eyes of her fellow professors. Truth be told, she didn't want to continue re-hashing the same old topics. Her engagement ending, her lingering feelings for Nathan, her hatred for Oscar, and---

Graham.

Myrni paled at Tapendra's mention of the former Herbology professor. If only she possessed a few malicious bones or thoughts like her company did and she too would be able to lash out at Bombay's actions that had managed to cause her some embarrassment, albeit quite secondary when compared to the end of her engagement.

The whole situation was enough to give her a headache if she thought about it too long and tonight was all about not thinking much or well at all.

In an effort to politely steer the conversation as far away from Graham Bombay as possible, Myrni jumped on the idea of the drinking game. “I'll play!” she blurted out, perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than she planned. It seemed her inhibitions were already being broken down. “And no, it doesn't have to be just a ladies' night, Tapendra. You're welcome to join us....unless....there is other....rabble...you'd rather get back to?”

"This isn't the 3 Broomsticks," he said, as if that explained why they were as good as the other half. He'd been dancing. The girls were pretty. Bits of them...bounced.

"He went wrong when-" He started, and got cut off by Myrni suggesting they try a drinking game. Tapendra, which considered that sort of thing the reason one got drunk, reached out behind him with his left leg and pulled the nearest barstool towards him by hooking his foot through the stool's nearest leg, sitting down easily. "Oh, no. She had to go home," he said, vaguely, as he did this. "Amazing..bounce. Err. Anyway..." He trailed off, and coughed.

"A game then, eh? I know an easy one. Either of you ever played 'I've Never'?" He smiled, all sunniness. "It's pretty easy. You just hold up ten fingers, and whosoever turn it is says something they've never done. If you've done the thing they haven't you drink. If no one's done the thing the current person says, then the person whose turn it is has to drink. If you have to drink, you put a finger down. Whoever has the most fingers up in the end is the  winner."

Aileen was enjoying ripping on Bombay when he wasn't around to defend himself, and didn't notice Myrni's discomfort. She did catch her friend's enthusiasm for drinking games, however, and then Tapendra's blunt comment about... bounce. Oh, Merlin. This was going to be an interesting night.

"Sounds better than darts or Wizard's Staff," Aileen commented on Trishna's drinking game, wary of the cheerful look on his face. There must be a catch.

"I'm in, but only if you'll let me go first," she agreed, already scheming in her head.

"I've never had the unique experience of teaching," she glanced at Trishna. "Or advising," she looked at Myrni. "First-years," Aileen stated with a smug smile, testing to see if Trishna was going to let her get away with that. Myrni probably would, but she was too nice for her own good.

“I've Never, huh?” Myrni said as she eyed her Astronomy colleague suspiciously. She listened to the instructions and figured it sounded easy enough. She was surprised that Aileen jumped on it so quickly, but since it meant she would stop bashing poor Bombay, Myrni could hardly complain.

Myrni readied her drink for Aileen's first stab at the game. Myrni bit her lip when the statement came out, because it was clear (at least to her anyway) that if this was the type of stuff they were going to use, then she was going to be three sheets to the wind in no time.

Anything involving unique teaching or advising anythings was just not fair game if it included Gryffindors. Or first-years. And the combination of both was something that Aileen did not have to worry about. She taught an elective like Myrni, but she wasn't a head of house. She had a choice to be involved with the first-years whilst Myrni and Tapendra didn't.

But, crying foul was not going to get her anywhere and Myrni dutifully sipped from her drink before she turned wide eyes to Tappy. “I think you should go next.”

He looked at Myrni doubtfully as he lowered his glass, having obviously had to take a drink at Aileen's question. He'd let her get away with it...for now. He'd get her back, he was sure.

Tapendra sat back, apparently pondering his question in some depth, fingers stroking his beard. He smiled in the cheerfully blank manner of some prince about to decide their fates, apparently fully conscious as to his appearance.

"Hm," he said, nudging the bottom of his glass. He smiled after a moment. "I've never stolen anything from anyone," he said, deciding after a moment that the box from Vedir's did not count as stealing because the bastard had it coming.

He sat back, part of him glad they weren't drunk enough yet to get to the dirty questions and the rest of him morbidly curious.