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Tweak says, "Fat like a chocolate eclair..."

Roger Davies (pridechaser) wrote in impetuousrpg,
@ 2011-10-10 15:15:00

Entry tags:

char: penelope clearwater, char: roger davies

Who: Roger Davies and Penny Clearwater
When: Monday morning
Where: Her shop
What: Sometimes people need books for stuff.
Rated/Status: Low/incomplete

As excited as he was for the season to start, Roger knew he'd be fighting back a weird sense of dread all week. God, why couldn't it have been the Arrows, or the Cannons. Someone they could win against, someone that wouldn't injure half his team in the very first match. A team that wouldn't look at Roger like he had a humongous target on his back.

He tried not to think about it. Instead, he was going over to Penny's this morning. The team was running longer practices this week, but they didn't start so early. So he had time to drop by and get a book, and he supposed he ought to apologize. Maybe. Although calling Penny bossy and meddling was entirely accurate and she knew it.

He popped into Once Told Tales but didn't immediately see Penny. There was a blonde, bookish girl stacking books onto the shelves behind the till, so he leaned against the counter until she turned and noticed him. "Oh, how can I help you?" She adjusted her glasses and it made him smile. Cute nerdy girl in Penny's shop. Of course. "I'm looking for a book," Roger said, and the girl just looked at him expectantly. Like everyone came here for books. "Is your boss around? Need her expertise. And possibly lecturing abilities."

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penny_please
2011-10-10 08:53 pm UTC (link)

There had been an owl earlier that week from the Publishing company; they were pushing for more material and for 'Dorothy' to make a special guest appearance at a signing in order to drum up business for both the newest book and the company. Having seen the sales orders and the healthy amount of galleons going into her account, Penny knew that the book didn't require any assistance. However, she was stuck in a stalemate with her publishers - they wanted the impossible and there was no way Penny could pass as an eighty year old witch who enjoyed writing romance novels.

As it was she'd taken the time to lock herself in her office and thrash out the details. Her accountancy books lay in a neat stack to her left were also demanding her attention. As her assistant knocked on the door and told her there was someone wanting to see her, Pennys eyebrows arched at the description and the little blush which accompanied Gretchens description.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Roger standing in her shop. "Roger." Her arms were folded over her chest as she took in the sight of her friend standing there. Penny however, was still mad at him and not quite prepared to give him a welcoming smile. "How can I help you?"

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pridechaser
2011-10-10 09:15 pm UTC (link)

"Penny," Roger said brightly, leaning up from his spot on the counter. She looked unusually frigid, even for Penny. So she was definitely more pissed than he had previously anticipated. When Mandy got pissed at him he could usually turn on the puppy eyes and charm and shag her senseless. Not really an option with Penny.

"Just thought I'd pop in and see my favorite bookkeeper before practice," he said carefully, hooking his hands into his hoodie pockets and taking a few steps toward her. He should have brought her a bagel or something. Although from the look on her face? He probably should have brought her a signed first edition.

"Look, Pen," he sighed, waving his arm so she'd follow him away from the curious, blushing assistant. He was sure no assistant of Penny's would go running off to the papers, but you never knew. And this was kind of a private thing. "You're the smartest witch I know, because you know everything. And I know I've been a right prick lately, and I'm sorry, really. But I really need your help with something."

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penny_please
2011-10-11 06:52 pm UTC (link)

The chirpy tone of Roger's voice would normally have her lips curving up into a welcoming smile but she was still annoyed with her publisher and Roger for calling her bossy to be too effusive in her greeting.

"Uhuh. Your favourite book-keeper? The one you've not seen since she moved into her flat in London?" Stepping down the stairs, Penny made her way towards her friend and felt the grudge she was holding start to slip. She adored Roger, always had but letting him know that she found it difficult to hold a grudge against him. That would be too dangerous.

Penny followed him but not before turning back and asking Gretchen to check on the delivery from France. It would afford them some privacy. "You're getting better at grovelling," she remarked before leaning back against one of the stacks at her friend. "Why do you need my help?"

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pridechaser
2011-10-11 10:49 pm UTC (link)

"I've been busy," Roger said, feeling a bit bad that it had been that long. Had it been that long? Oh, because Penny had moved right after the Lavender thing. He glanced up, wondering if Lavender had actually moved there, but didn't feel like asking about her. As long as she stayed up there and didn't bother him, he was fine. "But I would love to visit your new flat sometime. Whenever you are less openly irritated with me and would like to invite me."

"I've had more practice," he sighed, not sure whether to take that as a compliment. Mandy held him more accountable for things, and he sure seemed to be groveling pretty frequently now. Usually he deserved it, but still. Not something he'd had to do before. "I, uh..." he frowned and rubbed at the back of his neck, not sure how to really answer her second question. He couldn't quite bring himself to admit he had a drinking problem, even though he knew he did. He damn sure wasn't about to say it out loud. The words 'drinking' and 'problem' had no business being next to each other, and they would never come out of his mouth. But he knew he had to do something. He couldn't keep going the way he was going.

"I'm going to lose Mandy if I don't get my act together," he finally said, not entirely able to meet Penny's gaze. "It's the drinking, and the girls and the drinking, and she doesn't really get pissed but just really disappointed and I'm afraid one day she's going to just... not put up with me anymore." He shifted uncomfortably. It was weird talking about feelings. It was Penny, but still. "So anyway I thought maybe you had a book or something to tell me how to do it. How to stop."

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penny_please
2011-10-12 09:34 pm UTC (link)

Oh. Of course he'd been busy, even if she hadn't known what was going on with him, his every move was plastered over the journals and the Prophet. Even now one of the causes of those stories was presumably upstairs. Penny followed his glance upwards and thinned her lips slightly. Lavender was her friend and tenant and Roger was one of her best friends. It was a complicated, messy situation made only so by his relationship with Mandy. Ravenclaws were meant to be the clever, intellectual ones and yet were rife with complications.

"Have you? Good. It's a life skill everybody needs to work on." Tilting her head, Penny listened to what he was saying. There was more here than she could guess at but it didn't take a genius to realise that Roger was here, revealing his feelings without too many wisecracks and that had her stepping forward to wrap him in a hug. "I might have a book. Two actually. One's a very helpful book on alcohol issues and how to move forward with them and the other is ah, it's a diary. Its locked to your own magical signature, its not linked to anybody elses and no one else in the world will ever be able to read what you write there. But you have to promise to write in it every day."

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pridechaser
2011-10-13 08:21 am UTC (link)

"I grovel almost every day," he assured her, hoping she'd ease up a little bit on being mad at him. Sure she was bossy and motherly but he loved her for it. She was always watching out for him and there with a hangover potion if he asked for it and he really needed Penny sometimes. She was probably the only level-headed one of all of them lately.

When she pulled him into a hug, he wrapped his arms around her and smiled faintly. He should write a book on how to get ladies in your life to forgive you for stupid shite you did. He'd make a fortune. "Thanks, Pen." The first book sounded fine, what he was looking for. But the second, he arched an eyebrow at. "Diary? I don't really do diaries." Diaries were for girls was the second half of that statement, he just left it unsaid.

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penny_please
2011-10-13 10:54 am UTC (link)

As he tugged his arms around her, Penny smiled against the familiar feeling of his shoulders. He was familiar and sweet; he was the one person she could never hold a grudge against and he'd snuck underneath her armour years ago to claim a place in her heart with her other siblings. Had she been aware of the turn of his thoughts, her affection would have resulted in a very siblingy smack upside the head.

"You do now," she told him with a Look. "Diaries have been in use for thousands of years and its a way of recording your feelings, emotions and journey as you try to give up drinking. When you think you're having a bad day, you can look through the pages and see just how far you've come."

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