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Who: Rhys and Alistair
When: Monday
Where: Dresden Academy/St George's Way
What: A search for alcohol
Rating: SFW
This day was always a challenge for Rhys. For most Wizardfolk in the UK the day started with memorials and ended with celebrations. He and his family attended both, with their own private gathering during the day. Some years the memorial was hard and the celebration easy, whilst other years it was the opposite. He did tend to find it easier to celebrate his sister’s bravery and sacrifice, and the path she had given him in life.. but there was that part he’d tried to lock away - the guilt he had felt when he found out she had perished. It was something he had never properly dealt with, and that had an effect on the way he mourned. Not that acknowledging those feelings would change anything or even make it easier.. but it was a burden, and one that was obviously particularly heavy on this day.
He and Alistair had arrived at the academy the night before. Rhys had only unpacked the bare minimum before crashing, but he awoke relatively early and pottered about - putting bits and pieces away until it was around the time he had set to contact his parents. Rhys asked them about the memorial, shared some stories, and updated them on how things were going in the states. He and Alistair had spent some time in Washington DC getting the bureaucratic side of things out of the way before heading to Burnham City. Here they had stocked up on supplies and looked around prior to their placement at the academy. It was still early when he finished speaking with his parents, but not so early that he couldn’t make a bit more noise, so Rhys busied himself with getting all of his personal items put away. He would move on to the more communal stuff after. It sort if worked as a distraction - it didn’t really stop him from thinking, but it did keep him busy. A part of him did wish that they had organised everything with today in mind, but he knew that it would have been silly and impractical to delay things. But he still wished.
Rhys tried to avoid Alastair throughout the morning. He felt that he should seem particularly happy today, but being there just didn’t seem right. Unfortunately it was only early afternoon when Rhys finished unpacking. He plonked himself on one of the couches and worked at being cheerier. Fuck it, he thought in the end. “I’m going to the pub.” He said it loudly enough so that Alistair would hear. He was free to follow.. although as soon as he stepped out of the house Rhys realised that he had no clue where the pub was. “Any ideas?” he asked - not even turning to see if Alistair had followed.
When: Monday
Where: Dresden Academy/St George's Way
What: A search for alcohol
Rating: SFW
This day was always a challenge for Rhys. For most Wizardfolk in the UK the day started with memorials and ended with celebrations. He and his family attended both, with their own private gathering during the day. Some years the memorial was hard and the celebration easy, whilst other years it was the opposite. He did tend to find it easier to celebrate his sister’s bravery and sacrifice, and the path she had given him in life.. but there was that part he’d tried to lock away - the guilt he had felt when he found out she had perished. It was something he had never properly dealt with, and that had an effect on the way he mourned. Not that acknowledging those feelings would change anything or even make it easier.. but it was a burden, and one that was obviously particularly heavy on this day.
He and Alistair had arrived at the academy the night before. Rhys had only unpacked the bare minimum before crashing, but he awoke relatively early and pottered about - putting bits and pieces away until it was around the time he had set to contact his parents. Rhys asked them about the memorial, shared some stories, and updated them on how things were going in the states. He and Alistair had spent some time in Washington DC getting the bureaucratic side of things out of the way before heading to Burnham City. Here they had stocked up on supplies and looked around prior to their placement at the academy. It was still early when he finished speaking with his parents, but not so early that he couldn’t make a bit more noise, so Rhys busied himself with getting all of his personal items put away. He would move on to the more communal stuff after. It sort if worked as a distraction - it didn’t really stop him from thinking, but it did keep him busy. A part of him did wish that they had organised everything with today in mind, but he knew that it would have been silly and impractical to delay things. But he still wished.
Rhys tried to avoid Alastair throughout the morning. He felt that he should seem particularly happy today, but being there just didn’t seem right. Unfortunately it was only early afternoon when Rhys finished unpacking. He plonked himself on one of the couches and worked at being cheerier. Fuck it, he thought in the end. “I’m going to the pub.” He said it loudly enough so that Alistair would hear. He was free to follow.. although as soon as he stepped out of the house Rhys realised that he had no clue where the pub was. “Any ideas?” he asked - not even turning to see if Alistair had followed.
Alistair had stayed up into the night hauling things out of his case, it’d been spelled to hold everything the wanted to bring to the States, but he absolutely hated unpacking. Finding places to put everything and simply wanting everything to arrange itself. He wasn’t particularly neat, it’d all come undone give a week or two, but he didn’t want to spend his spare time doing this sort of crap when he and Rhys started at Dresden. He woke not long before noon and shuffled out, Rhys could be heard in his room and Alistair got stuck into a bit of toast and a cup of instant. Their place had a sort of welcoming hamper - loaded with essentials. He got properly dressed and forced himself back into knuckling down to the rest of his unpacking.
He’d been at it all of an hour or so before he heard Rhys pipe up, causing Alistair to practically bound from his room, perhaps it was a little early to engage in their usual pub protocol, but this was the best form of procrastination he’d yet been offered. He’d mock him for wanting to head to a pub in the early afternoon, but Alistair knows it’s not the day to mess about too much. “Yeah hang on-” Alistair ducked back inside, returning with a few pieces of paper and a coloured map. “Saint George’s Way ought to be the go. Says here there’s the Inn- if you want something to eat.” He grinned, turning the map about whilst studying it. “Ah, and Saint George’s Pub- sounds like home, right?” He added, determined to brighten the mood if he could.
Even in the mood he was in, Rhys felt the need to fill the silence. He wanted to apologise for being a downer and the abrupt exit, so he apologised for the next best thing. “Sorry it’s a tad early for the pub - did you get much unpacked?” It was probably good that Rhys had needed the distraction earlier, or else his cases would probably still have been full right now. “We don’t need to be long,” he added - thinking Alistair might want to get back to it. “Just a couple of pints.” They had found their way to the quiet strip of a village that was St. George’s way. Rhys was happy to have a bit of a look around on the way to the pub. Soon they bee-line to it, but for now they could look.
Alistair glanced around idly, taking in the shops that lined the streets, no doubt he’d eventually get to having a proper look, though if the student weekends here were the same as Hogsmeade he’d be in a hurry to avoid the place. As expected, of course as the name suggested it was indeed a family sort of sight, no doubt to capture the so-called ‘quaint’ English pub, should probably considered kitchy, but for now it was oddly a nice welcome, at least up until Alistair opened the slightly stiff door. Not so unexpectedly, it wasn’t exactly jumping, in fact the ‘locals’ were the sort that made Alistair feel slightly uncomfortable, not in any such threatening way - he was an Auror after all. More these were the sort of blokes that tended to be where whenever the place was open, the slightly depressing, smelly sort and he was definitely too young to be someone who spend from early afternoon onwards in a pub forgetting things. Still, he this was simply a show of friendship, solidarity! Perhaps Rhys’ mood would buck up a bit. Alistair leaned on the bar they wandered further in- “So- how different d’you suppose these kids will be?” He asked of Rhys thoughtfully, they’d not actually discussed the school, well not the students anyway they were more curious about the US as a whole, the school was more a when they actually arrived thing, right? "How different can they be?" He added on second thought before he got an answer.
With a beer secured, Rhys considered Alistair's question. "I don't know," he tried to think of the things he'd heard about American schools. "Do they have a uniform? Or houses?" They'd have to have houses. "They play Quodpot." Rhys would definitely be interested in watching a proper American Quodpot game. "Wonder if they'll be as disciplined." He wasn't quite sure why, but Rhys imagined schools in the US being a little less stuffy and the students a little more.. free. And to him more freedom meant more mischief. "It'll be interesting to see," he nodded, aware of the fact that he wasn't the best conversationalist today. He decided to stop trying for a moment and work on his beer. "Wonder how the celebrations are going." He would probably need another beer or two.