coirarockshard (coirarockshard) wrote in 20somethings, @ 2021-12-06 13:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | c: coira montague, c: maria warrington, d: 2027 12, ~ complete, Ω: rp |
RP: Let's Get Drunk
Who: Coira + Maria
What: Maria Needs to Vent, Coira Provides the Drinks
When: 12/5/2021, 7 PM (Backdated)
Where: The Howling Pint
Warnings: Smoking, Cursing, Angst, Drinking
Completion Status: Ongoing Complete
Coira felt like she was in a bit of a twilight zone. Her friends had been coming to her for advice for weeks about their relationships and it seemed...odd. She'd been shite at them and never really kept anything long term but after receiving texts from Maria, she figured the best thing she could do was buy two extra packs of their favorite cigarettes, a beer, and a shot of whiskey and wait for Maria to arrive.
–
Maria headed to The Howling Pint in a right state. She really shouldn’t leave the house at all, she knew, but the temptation to get her frustrations out and alter her miserable state of mind was just too much for her fragile will power.
She sort of slammed the door shut when she arrived, not meaning to, and she shrunk even further into herself at the sound. She found Coira immediately and didn’t even greet her oldest friend, just sat in the stool next to her and took the shot - it may have been Coira’s but Maria didn’t notice either way - back quickly and then a sip of the beer. Again, she didn’t know if the beer was meant for her, but there was always more beer.
“Please tell me you brought fags, and a lighter, and we can get more whiskey, and you won’t patronize me.” Maria said it all staring straight ahead. She worried she might burst into angry, pathetic tears if she looked at her friend and saw pity in her eyes.
–
Coira didn’t blink as Maria downed her shot and didn’t speak as she chased it with the beer. She nodded, silently pushing the two packs of fags and a lighter over to her. “You’re brand.” Coira knew how important it was to have the right cigarette on any occasion.
“I spoke to the bar manager. I’ll cover the first two rounds and he and I’ll figure out the rest.” Coira shot her own whiskey in solidarity. She wasn’t worried about the tab. She’d become the unofficial house band over the past year which gave her a little bit more of a bargaining chip.
Coira lifted her drink, tapping the bottom on the bar before taking another swig.
—
Maria silently cursed that there was no smoking in pubs anymore. So she signaled for another shot of whiskey, took it, still not looking her friend in the face, and indicated she was going outside to smoke. Cold be damned.
After coming back in (after chain smoking two in a row) she sat back down and drank down about half a pint. She said, still staring ahead, “I can cover whatever, you know that.” Coira was one of her friends who understood Maria’s growing up in the lap of luxury, despite her condition.
—
“I know.” Coira caught the bartender before he disappeared, ordering another round. “I’m saying you don’t have to.”
Coira slid her pint to the edge of the bar receiving the full on. She smiled and thanked the bartender. “We don’t have to talk about anything.” Coira stared down into her beer. Silence seemed to be the realm tonight.
She thought about Albus. Idiot! Coira understood part of her friend’s rage, the abandonment. She never made the mistake of trying to equivocate being a werewolf. That was dangerous. But she found her mind drifting to Chet. What would she do if they suddenly ended? They had shared their damage, their vulnerabilities. Would she be out there in the cold chain smoking too?
“Four double whiskeys.” Coira could see over that dark edge and tried not to remember what the bottom looked like. She split the shots between herself and Maria.
—
At that, Maria finally turned her eyes on Coira, who looked fabulous in her own grungy way as always. “Pity drinks it is, then,” her voice was caustic, she didn’t like pity, she saw it too often in Healers faces, and her fathers, since she was six and attacked.
Maria didn’t reply to Coira’s offer of silence, but when her oldest friend slid the two double shots in her direction, she gave a quiet, “Thank you,” barely a whisper above the noise of the familiar pub. She wasn’t sure what she was thanking Coira for - the drinks, the tab, the companionship, the offer of silence, the understanding... There was a lot. But Maria wasn’t good at that sort of thing, and Coira also knew and understood that. Another thing to thank her friend for.
Out of nowhere, post-first double shot moving quickly, smoothly down her throat, she asked, “How’s the fam?” It was a usual catch-up topic between the two - not many people could understand being raised by accused (or even real life) death eaters, but they had that in common. Maria’s Dad Campbell had been out of country during the war, he had never taken part, but his money or her grandparents’ may have been involved - she’d never asked any questions deep enough to get real answers on that can of worms. Coria's father had been accused, Maria knew, though they’d never spoken in depth about their family’s (real or rumored) involvement. But they could discuss their family issues otherwise, another thing Maria appreciated about their shared experiences.
—
Coria wrinkled her nose. “You know my dad. The Falcons made it to the playoffs but the whole season’s a loss because they didn’t win the Cup.” She tried her best to understand his competitiveness but the aggression and intensity seemed like wasted effort when you were telling your players to play like common thugs. “Mom keeps telling me to reach out to him. She says she misses me. And I kind of miss her too but I can’t with Dad.”
Coira hadn’t noticed that her leg had started shaking as she spoke. “Sorry.” She downed one of her two shots. “It seems childish, but he’s such an ass.”
—
Maria shrugged, “He is nothing to be sorry about.” She remembers Daphne being nicer than Graham growing up, but that wasn’t saying much. “And I wouldn’t worry about the quidditch shit, it’s just his thing,” she shrugged again. Kind of like her dad with... well, money? Honestly, she didn’t know what her dad was ‘into’ these days, he was out of the country so often. Maybe he had another family or something.
Ouch. That made her think of her big brother... Not something she ever thought about. Wesley had made it clear long, long again, before she even knew him, she was so young, that he wanted nothing to do with her or Campbell. Whatever. It would be kind of nice to have a big brother to go to right now, though... to comfort her, and talk about what an idiot Albie was, and reassure that not everyone left... Fantasy though, that’s all that was. She didn’t tell Coira what she was thinking of, didn’t know if Coira even knew about Wesley. Doubted it.
She took another shot, starting to finally feel the booze settling into her brain and her bloodstream. “Smoke?” She asked Coira with a lifted eyebrow and a sigh, there were warming charms, and a little picnic table out front just by the sidewalk.
—
“Gladly.” Coira nodded, scooping up her pack and lighter. She let the bartender know they were stepping out. She smirked as she walked out the door. Break-up or not, Maria knew how to pull her out of the spiral that was her relationship with Graham. Her brother had become everything her father ever wanted in a child anyway so it made it easier in a way.
They stepped out into the cold London air and Coria pulled her first cigarette. The sharp smell of chemicals filled her nostrils as she took the first drag. “I guess I should be glad that he has Lachlan. It definitely leaves me to do my own thing.”
—
Maria perked up at the mention of Coira’s older brother. He was built like a greek god. She’d always found him to be... well, just plain smoking hot. And with so much whiskey, it was harder to hold her tongue for once, so she laughed and leaned into her friend, keeping mind to keep their lit fags away from faces, “Dude, who wouldn’t be happy to have Lachlan?” And then she laughed a small puff of laughter again.
Straightening up she said, “but for real, your dad’s an ass. It happens.” She shrugged. It was true. “Mine’s in... Morocco? I think? That was the last I heard at least. I haven’t told him about the break up. Then again, I never even told him I was seeing someone,” her father Campbell could be... protective. Too much so.
—
Coira laughed and rolled her eyes, “You just picture him lifting you up in those arms of his.”
Even Coira could admit that her brother was aesthetically attractive and she liked teasing Maria, especially when the whiskey started taking over.
“You know, if you needed a rebound…” Coira let her voice trail off. She wasn’t sure about pimping out her brother, but she knew planting the thought at least would keep Maria’s mind off Albie.
—
Maria shook her head, “I don’t think I could just yet”, she said, even with the hottest dude she knew. Maybe she could make out with a random stranger - man or woman - out at a bar or something, but... Well, Albie had been her first. Her only so far. That felt too... tender, just yet.
“Albie was my first, C...” She admitted out loud, even though her friend knew, she felt like she needed to say it again, just to, she didn’t know, remind herself that it was the truth, she supposed. “My only,” she added, rolling her eyes. Gods, who knew who Albie had been sleeping with since he’d been pulling back. Could be anyone. Probably that pretty, successful girl, the other photographer. She took a long drag, finishing her smoke in one stroke, and then snapped another between her lips immediately and lit it without a breath in-between.
—
Coira lit another cigarette. “I know.” Coira slipped back into her head again thinking about Chet for a moment before chasing her cigarette with a swig of beer. Coira let a period of silence pass in between them. Coria slammed the rest of her beer pushing the anxiety out of her mind, “New round?”