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Tweak says, "It's a chiller thriller night!"

Alex Miller (alexinking) wrote in 20somethings,
@ 2022-01-21 20:12:00

Entry tags:

c: alex miller, c: jeremy evans, d: 2028 01, Ω: rp

RP: Two Americans Across the Pond
Who: Alex and Jeremy
What: Closing at the Leaky Cauldron
When: 21 January 2028
Where: The Leaky Cauldron
Warnings: Tbd, likely none
Completion Status: In progress

It had been ten days since she'd started at the Leaky Cauldron, and Alex felt far more comfortable and in a groove than she could ever remember at any new job she'd ever started. She'd worried a lot about how she would fit in culturally and linguistically, but everyone here just seemed so friendly and welcoming, and almost no one had made fun of her accent (which she'd never really considered an accent before). And Albie's help figuring out the menu had done so much for her confidence.

When she'd realized that Jeremy Evans was also a coworker, Alex had been excited to see another friendly face, as strange as it was for so many of her Ilvermorny class to have ended up here. They were working the closing shift for the kitchen and bar together tonight before the overnight clerk came in to manage any late night check-ins and supervise the minimal traffic of those who used the pub as a throughway between Muggle and Magical London.

"So when did you decide to come out here?" she asked curiously, things finally have calmed down enough for casual conversation.

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evansoverthesea
2022-01-22 02:10 am UTC (link)

Jeremy had finished putting up some mugs and pint glasses. "About a year or two after graduation." He found it interesting how many Ilvermorny alumni had found their way across the Atlantic. "A cousin needed a flatmate." It really was that easy he had needed a year or so to take care of his mom and save enough money for the trip, but it wasn't hard finding work once he was here. Thanks service industry, he thought.

"So what brought you over?" He threw his dirty rag into the laundry bin and picked up a new one.

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alexinking
2022-01-22 02:19 am UTC (link)

That seemed awfully cut and dried, and Alex couldn't help wondering if there were more to his reasoning than he was letting on. Not that she could blame him. Even though they'd been in the same class at Ilvermorny, they hadn't been close friends or anything. And it had been over five years since they'd graduated. She leaned against the bar as she watched him put away the glasses, not bothering to focus on the work in that moment.

"A bad breakup and a sister to the rescue," she said plainly, a wry twist to her lips. "My sister followed a guy over here years ago and stayed even after ditching him," she elaborated a moment later, knowing Eve didn't mind the condensed version of her own journey across the pond being told. "I'm hoping a little of that UK magic will rub off on me." Because Eve truly was doing amazing these days.

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evansoverthesea
2022-01-22 02:50 am UTC (link)

Jeremy could feel that she didn't quite believe his simple story. He still sent a portion of his checks to his mom in Canada and aside from paying his own bills most of his money was socked away. "It's nice that you have a family like that. My mom's still over in Canada."

He wondered what she meant by UK magic. She didn't seem to mean actual magic. It made him think of Bennie. He didn't remember what life was like before they started dating anymore. Had he seen her in passing at school and not even noticed.

"What kind of magic are you looking for?" He didn't know if she noticed him from WeeVee, but he kept it a bit lowkey when bartending. "I didn't see myself going out for a television show." To be honest outside of finances he lived life one day at a time.

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alexinking
2022-01-22 02:57 am UTC (link)

"Oh yeah, my parents are still in Colorado, but I'm really glad Eve's out here," she said. And she was, even if she still wasn't sure whether she'd stay out here much longer once Eve was back.

Alex was about to answer when he added that bit about himself, and she chuckled softly. "Right? It's so weird and exciting, having a friend who's made such a huge dream come true! I'm so excited for Bennie. And you, of course," she added. Of course she'd recognized him on the show, but she just couldn't see Bennie or Jeremy as celebrities, not when they'd known each other through all the awkward puberty phases.

"I'm kind of hoping to finally finish a novel," she admitted. It was her huge dream, to tell the stories that loved to play out in her head, to bring life to the characters who popped up more often than she should admit, and to publish them and maybe have other people connect with them.

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	evansoverthesea 2022-01-22 08:03 pm UTC (link)
	"Yeah, she's been fantastic on set." It took everything in him not to smile. They had been dating for four months and have kept it rather under wraps. "Oh?" Jeremy glanced at her. "You're a writer too?" He didn't quite remember what they all go into at school, but it made sense. "What you do like to write?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

alexinking
2022-01-23 01:25 am UTC (link)

"Just on set, huh?" Alex said with a quirked brow and knowing grin. She'd been so excited to catch up with Bennie and hear all about her adventures on this side of the pond, and gushing about the new relationship had definitely been part of that.

Alex hated when people asked her that question, if only because it always felt so awkward to try to explain the characters in her head. She flushed lightly and lifted a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Oh, you know, just like character-driven fiction? A bit of romance, a lot of drama, and bittersweet endings," she answered, sticking with her usual descriptors.

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evansoverthesea
2022-01-23 02:41 am UTC (link)

Jeremy blushed. It seemed Bennie had been talking about him. He still wasn't sure how public either of them wanted to be about the relationship but Alex had known them both for too long. "Bennie's filled you in then, huh?" He grinned showing teeth.

He nodded as Alex started to explain her writing. She started using descriptors that he wasn't quite sure about until she said romance conjuring up images of muscle-clad men with fainting women in their arms. "So realizing someone you're looking for is right in front of you?" He'd been thinking about that a lot when it came to Bennie.

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alexinking
2022-01-23 08:35 pm UTC (link)

Chuckling at the blush, Alex shrugged slightly. "Eh, not in detail, but enough, yeah," she answered honestly. She hadn't pushed Bennie for too many details, as it was, but she'd been happy to listen as Bennie had gushed away. And really, she was happy for her friend, even if she did feel a bit hopeless about her own love life.

Coming from anyone else, she might have thought that was a line, but considering she knew he was dating one of her good friends, Alex didn't even entertain the thought. "I mean, sure, that could be the bit of romance? But that's not really a bittersweet ending. It would be like... a love triangle where the final couple only finds their happily ever after once one of the three dies. Or like, they have to give up everything to be together, and it's hard and frustrating but so worth it to them."

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evansoverthesea
2022-01-23 10:06 pm UTC (link)

Jeremy was starting to think her reticence to write was a bit in her head. She had the ideas floating up there. Why couldn't she just put them down on paper.

"You know you'll have three people that'll buy it." He smiled wondering if he should tell her what he was really thinking. "I think you're closer to a novel idea than you think. Of course I'm not the writer."

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alexinking
2022-01-23 10:23 pm UTC (link)

Alex furrowed her brows, wondering if he thought that was a compliment. She had a lot more than three people who would buy her novel if she were ever lucky enough to get published. But then, maybe he meant here. "Right," she said, nodding slowly.

"Umm, ideas aren't the problem?" she said, not really sure where he'd got that idea. Hadn't she told him she was hoping to finally finish a novel? The thought floated through her mind without warning that she wished Albie had been closing up with her tonight. He was quite fun to work with and not hard on the eyes at all. And he wasn't dating one of her friends, as far as she knew. "I'm swimming in ideas. It's fleshing the ideas out into complete stories and actually finishing writing them that's eluded me. I've got to have at least a dozen works in progress, all in varying states of disarray and incompleteness!" she admitted, rolling her eyes at herself.

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evansoverthesea
2022-01-23 10:28 pm UTC (link)

Jeremy definitely felt like he stepped in something. "So none of that came out right and I'm a bit of a moron." Somehow in his attempt to tell her that he and Bennie were cheering for her he had crossed the line into offense. "I just meant to say that you've got Bennie and my support." Like she didn't already know that, but Jeremy always felt it was nice to hear those things out loud.

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alexinking
2022-01-23 10:48 pm UTC (link)

Can't argue that. It wasn't a very nice thought, but Alex supposed that as long as she didn't say it out loud, it didn't really matter what she'd thought, right? "I know I do, and I appreciate it," she said instead, offering him a small smile and hoping he'd move on from the topic.

"I should probably go do a final sweep of the kitchen," she said a moment later. They were still on the clock, after all.

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