mariawarrington (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mariawarrington) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} 20somethings,@ 2022-02-27 10:08:00 |
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| Entry tags: | c: kieran doyle, c: maria warrington, d: 2028 02, ~ complete, Ω: rp |
RP: Coworkers (?) Chatting
Who: Maria & Kieran
What: post group therapy chat
When: 02/25/28; afternoon [Backdated]
Where: The Belby Assembly office
Warnings: None
Completion Status: Complete
Maria took her time folding the dozen or so cheap, metal chairs after the end of her fourth ‘group talk’ meeting at The Belby Assembly. Since she had met Kieran a month ago. Group therapy, especially in the aftermath of a Moon, was a big thing at Belby. Maria had resisted the idea, but Kieran had made the point that if she wanted to volunteer, she kind of had to know how things worked and start getting to know the Weres who used Belby’s services. As a general rule, Werewolves weren’t the most trusting lot; her volunteering without ever having had anything to do with their clients wouldn’t have been the most welcome.
She sighed and lifted the last of the chairs onto their little cart. The ‘general use’ room was for group talks five times a week, and other times used for meetings, classes, job training, and even yoga (Saturday mornings). She pulled the cart of chairs into the furthest corner, and then pulled the long, roughed-up folding table from the wall and set it up in the middle of the room again.
She could do these things with magic, but she’d gotten the feeling from spending time in the chaotic office that people preferred things done by hand. It wasn’t anything against magic, everyone who came in - with the exception of a couple of particularly unlucky Were Squibs she’d met - was a witch or a wizard, but the dynamic as a whole seemed to really focus on hard work and using one’s hands and “putting in the effort”. Kieran had called it “elbow grease” with a wry smile more than once in the weeks she’d known him.
If anyone could ‘know’ him, anyway. Maria was closed off and insular to the nth, but even she found Kieran… hard to crack. He seemed to speak more with his face and his hands than with words. Always with a whisper under his breath and a secretive smirk, when he smiled at all, anyway.
Maria thought as she pulled the trash bag from the small bin near the door - snack wrappers and empty water bottles from the meeting filling it up - to take out, that Kieran was harder to read than even her step-brother.
As if conjuring him with her thoughts, he walked past the open door to the now empty and neatened room, and she turned just at the right moment, “hey,” she said, quietly. He unsettled her. She had never spent time with “her own kind” before and she still wasn’t sure about this whole volunteering thing, but if it kept her family off her back, she’d keep it up, she supposed.
How hard was it to silently sit through depressing group meetings and fold up some chairs a couple times a week, right?
Kieran may have started taking the long way back to his desk, just to check in. He still didn’t quite believe that Maria had signed up to volunteer. He’d pass the activity room during group therapy hoping at some point to hear her voice, but unfortunately nothing. He never pushed or brought it up. She’d opened up some on that first day and the ill-advised hospital breakout. He pushed the image of the adrenaline fueled kiss out of his head. It didn’t mean anything.
He heard squeaking wheels being pushed across the floor. The chair rack would need to be replaced soon. Her work ethic still impressed him. She’d done anything and everything he had asked her.
“Hey, how was group?”
She gave him her usual shrug, and spoke to a point just to the side of his face, “Same as usual.” She didn’t participate, just sat quietly while others talked about their struggles or triumphs. She didn’t feel right - in a way - talking about her (other than her attack and subsequent condition) idyllic childhood of privilege. She also didn’t feel like the others would like her talking about. And so, other than her first name and the fact that she was a witch and a Werewolf, the few she had met at the group meetings really didn’t know anything about her.
She finally looked more directly at him. He looked better than he had after the Moon last month - better rested, or something. It had been five days since this month’s Full, and her father had let her flee St Mungo’s after just one overnight, mostly thanks to her insistence that her volunteering duties couldn’t be skirted. Even if it had just been an excuse. Another manipulation, some might say.
“How’re you?” She asked, after a long pause.
He gave her a reassuring smile. She always seemed to be a bit too much in her head. Guarded. Worried. “Better.” After two Fulls he seemed to be back on somewhat of a normal schedule. Well, ‘Were’ normal. “Been having an issue sleeping recently.” He was a bit detached. “Nothing really to worry about .” He trailed off.
She really wanted to make a smart-ass remark about helping him sleep... but it felt inappropriate. Gods, had it just been that long since she’d last gotten laid? Oh. Right. That night. Right. Best not think of that. Did even know if that couldn't be ‘getting laid’ but it was better than thinking of alternative definitions... Right.
“Well, sleep schedule is important, or so I’ve been told around here,” she added, noncommittally, bland. Fuck. Did she only have two modes? Manic and Nothingness? That didn’t seem like a good thing.
“Anything wrong?” She meant about not being able to sleep, or like, why he couldn’t sleep, but she also didn’t know why he might tell her if there was, she was a nobody to him, just like to everyone else here. Everyone else everywhere, really, besides maybe her Dad.
He wasn’t sure how to say it. A buzzing? His brain just felt like it was moving faster than he could handle. “I’ve just felt off. Like, I’ve got all this internal mental energy and no real outlet to expend it.” He was perfectly capable at doing his job, it was the down time. “Ever feel like that?”
Maria might actually gag at the easy jokes he was sending her way had she been at all closer with him. Like, if they were friends. Well, might she? Maria didn’t really have friends. Other than Coira. She might have counted Albie and Scorpius among them at one point... She would definitely be making dirty jokes at Coira right now though.
She did allow herself a somewhat self-indulgent smile when she replied, “Only nearly every day of my life.” She didn’t think it was a Werewolf trait, but she had a theory that the condition added to it. Sort of like her addictions. She figured she’d be an addict even if she’d never been bit, but the bite certainly hadn’t helped things. She didn’t elaborate, again.
Kieran looked at her skeptically. Her face was turning red as if at any moment she would burst into laughter. He slid his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, got a name for it?” His voice was flat. He was told he needed to open up a bit more. He was trying. It felt like someone pulling his canines out. He could deal with lethargy and insomnia, but this was different.
This time she did snort just a little bit, a puff of air of laughter through her nose. “Well, other than spending time in this gods awful depressing building, what else do you do?” She really wanted to tell him to just get laid and get out some of that energy but she was pretty sure that wasn’t something you just said to people. Not that she was an expert. Like, like, a year she’d gone from virgin to like... drugged up, public sex with strangers... but still. Physical release seemed like a good idea if you couldn’t sleep, right? And if you weren’t in love, sex was purely phyiscal release, right?
“I mean to say, at the Ward, they’ve told me to focus on my hobbies, that’s all,” she finished lamely, trailing off.
“Eh.” The noise escaped his mouth. “I read.” He didn’t sound sure whether she would count that as a hobby. “It’s not like I was able to do much in the way of physical activities.” He gestured to all of him. “I don’t know if I ever developed any hobbies.” He realized how much of a dullard he sounded like.
“Things might have changed a bit since you were there, but when I was at Hogwarts, they were always trying to get me to be more physical - like they thought it would help or something,” she rolled her eyes, “like the change is a bad mood or something.” She’d never been an outdoorsy or athletic person, but she knew either way it wouldn’t help with her condition. Besides maybe making her even more tired and rundown than usual.
“How are you not like, tired, like all the time?” Even with Wolfsbane making the Moon easier and her time being coddled at St Mungos, she never seemed to have the energy of her peers, unless there were… substances involved.
For some reason, awkwardness and all, she didn’t want the conversation to end, even if she didn’t really have any reason to stick around now that the meeting was cleaned up. Grasping, she asked, “What do you like to read?” And immediately felt so stupid, so she followed it up with, “I take photos.”
“I never said they didn’t try. My head of house even pushed for me to try out for the Quidditch team.” He had to chuckle at himself. He was a shit flier, always had been. “I preferred the library. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m rather solitary.” He had been shifted on his feet for the majority of the conversation, gods the desk life had made it difficult for him to stand. He hunched down for a moment, relieving the pain on his lower back.
“Histories mostly. It’s given way to a bit of historical fiction. No romance truly.” He felt the distinction had to be made. Too often the two were conflated with images of muscle bound men carrying women in their arms. She would probably still tease him for the interest. “Stories of men trying to climb above their station and all that.” He stood up again. “What type of photos?”
“Not into Fabio?” She asked with a small, wry smile. Hmm… she had kissed him in her mania, at his flat, but she actually didn’t know if he was into witches at all. He didn’t mention dating. Ever.
“Oh, anything really. I take pictures at my friend’s band’s shows sometimes, and sometimes just out at a pub for the fun of it. If you can call hiding behind my camera so no one bothers me ‘fun’.” It cut close to the truth; she’d started her hobby at Hogwarts as a way to hide, to be left alone. No one could get close if you had a physical object between you.
He laughed, “Not a muscles person.” He latched onto her mention of ‘friend’ and ‘band’. “Local group? I may have heard of them.” Kieran had a habit of doom scrolling through his winstagram feed until the algorithm took over with suggestions. He probably saw something about local shows in the area from time to time. Photography seemed like more than a hobby to him if she was snapping photos of her friends' band. Afraid that she would snap shut again he decided to keep the conversation casual, avoiding the always insulting ‘you have a friend’ line of questioning.
“Not into himbos, noted.” She gave him a small smile with less sarcasm this time. So, it did seem like he was gay after all. Now she felt bad for her spontaneous kiss - that wasn’t right of her, manic or not. Should she apologize?
“Oh, um, Coira Montague? She’s kind of blowing up,” she wasn’t actually how ‘big’ Coira was considered, but her local dive bar shows were always packed. “We grew up together, our dads are friends going back to school.” She didn’t really like mentioning her Dad to Kieran, since they’re awkward ‘controlling’ conversation at his flat. But sometimes it slipped out anyway.
“Himbos.” He had heard the term before. It conjured images of heroes fumbling around in the dark surviving off of sheer luck and happenstance. “They’re frustrating.”
Maria seemed to be questioning something. Does she think I’m gay? His word might hint at it but that was a leap to him. He wondered if he should say something. It didn’t seem right and the misunderstanding if someone overheard him could be in more trouble.
“Howling Pint?” He saw them advertise the shows on their winsta. “Tall, blonde singer?” He thought he was remembering the promo image correctly, but he couldn’t be sure.
Maria laughed, “yeah that’s Coira, she’s stunning in that ‘Paris Fashion Week runway model’ way. I don’t get it though, her boo is like… normal and boring, and Coira is anything but.” She shrugged again.
Her phone chimed with an alarm telling her it was 5 o’clock. “Oh, I guess the office is shutting down,” she gave him a look that might be… sad? She was enjoying talking with him for once. They seemed to have found a nice meeting ground of easy topics, for now at least.
“Done for the day?” She asked him, unsure of his schedule. Maybe she could introduce him to Wes sometime, since he liked men, and maybe get a friend out of this?
“So he’s kind of boring, like me.” Kieran grinned.
“Yeah. I guess I’ll head out too.” He had a habit of staying over closing time at least three times a week, an easy decision when your entire life is work. “Did you have something in mind?”
Maria couldn’t help her little giggle, “With your life story, you’re anything but boring. Brooding maybe, but not boring,” she shook her head - maybe it was wrong to look at it like that, but she looked at her own life background like that so... Maybe not totally wrong? Gods, she sucked at making friends. She cringed a little bit at herself, the embarrassment showing on her face.
“Something in mind?” She asked, “Oh! For after... here.” She shook her head, “No, not really, my dad’s gotten better about the whole ‘escaping the hospital house arrest’ thing,” she said with a chuckle, “But I don’t want to push it. I’ll probably head home.” This was accompanied with a small smile, somewhat apologetic. Then she turned and reached for her knapsack, lifting it from the floor and onto her shoulder, “Walk me out?” She asked, even if he was gay, friends walk each other out, right?
They stopped by his desk to get his things and then headed out, chatting a little bit more about their weekend non-plans and how boring and normal it turned out they both could be. Maria actually let with a small smile on her face, something... New for her.
She sighed and lifted the last of the chairs onto their little cart. The ‘general use’ room was for group talks five times a week, and other times used for meetings, classes, job training, and even yoga (Saturday mornings). She pulled the cart of chairs into the furthest corner, and then pulled the long, roughed-up folding table from the wall and set it up in the middle of the room again.
She could do these things with magic, but she’d gotten the feeling from spending time in the chaotic office that people preferred things done by hand. It wasn’t anything against magic, everyone who came in - with the exception of a couple of particularly unlucky Were Squibs she’d met - was a witch or a wizard, but the dynamic as a whole seemed to really focus on hard work and using one’s hands and “putting in the effort”. Kieran had called it “elbow grease” with a wry smile more than once in the weeks she’d known him.
If anyone could ‘know’ him, anyway. Maria was closed off and insular to the nth, but even she found Kieran… hard to crack. He seemed to speak more with his face and his hands than with words. Always with a whisper under his breath and a secretive smirk, when he smiled at all, anyway.
Maria thought as she pulled the trash bag from the small bin near the door - snack wrappers and empty water bottles from the meeting filling it up - to take out, that Kieran was harder to read than even her step-brother.
As if conjuring him with her thoughts, he walked past the open door to the now empty and neatened room, and she turned just at the right moment, “hey,” she said, quietly. He unsettled her. She had never spent time with “her own kind” before and she still wasn’t sure about this whole volunteering thing, but if it kept her family off her back, she’d keep it up, she supposed.
How hard was it to silently sit through depressing group meetings and fold up some chairs a couple times a week, right?
Kieran may have started taking the long way back to his desk, just to check in. He still didn’t quite believe that Maria had signed up to volunteer. He’d pass the activity room during group therapy hoping at some point to hear her voice, but unfortunately nothing. He never pushed or brought it up. She’d opened up some on that first day and the ill-advised hospital breakout. He pushed the image of the adrenaline fueled kiss out of his head. It didn’t mean anything.
He heard squeaking wheels being pushed across the floor. The chair rack would need to be replaced soon. Her work ethic still impressed him. She’d done anything and everything he had asked her.
“Hey, how was group?”
She gave him her usual shrug, and spoke to a point just to the side of his face, “Same as usual.” She didn’t participate, just sat quietly while others talked about their struggles or triumphs. She didn’t feel right - in a way - talking about her (other than her attack and subsequent condition) idyllic childhood of privilege. She also didn’t feel like the others would like her talking about. And so, other than her first name and the fact that she was a witch and a Werewolf, the few she had met at the group meetings really didn’t know anything about her.
She finally looked more directly at him. He looked better than he had after the Moon last month - better rested, or something. It had been five days since this month’s Full, and her father had let her flee St Mungo’s after just one overnight, mostly thanks to her insistence that her volunteering duties couldn’t be skirted. Even if it had just been an excuse. Another manipulation, some might say.
“How’re you?” She asked, after a long pause.
He gave her a reassuring smile. She always seemed to be a bit too much in her head. Guarded. Worried. “Better.” After two Fulls he seemed to be back on somewhat of a normal schedule. Well, ‘Were’ normal. “Been having an issue sleeping recently.” He was a bit detached. “Nothing really to worry about .” He trailed off.
She really wanted to make a smart-ass remark about helping him sleep... but it felt inappropriate. Gods, had it just been that long since she’d last gotten laid? Oh. Right. That night. Right. Best not think of that. Did even know if that couldn't be ‘getting laid’ but it was better than thinking of alternative definitions... Right.
“Well, sleep schedule is important, or so I’ve been told around here,” she added, noncommittally, bland. Fuck. Did she only have two modes? Manic and Nothingness? That didn’t seem like a good thing.
“Anything wrong?” She meant about not being able to sleep, or like, why he couldn’t sleep, but she also didn’t know why he might tell her if there was, she was a nobody to him, just like to everyone else here. Everyone else everywhere, really, besides maybe her Dad.
He wasn’t sure how to say it. A buzzing? His brain just felt like it was moving faster than he could handle. “I’ve just felt off. Like, I’ve got all this internal mental energy and no real outlet to expend it.” He was perfectly capable at doing his job, it was the down time. “Ever feel like that?”
Maria might actually gag at the easy jokes he was sending her way had she been at all closer with him. Like, if they were friends. Well, might she? Maria didn’t really have friends. Other than Coira. She might have counted Albie and Scorpius among them at one point... She would definitely be making dirty jokes at Coira right now though.
She did allow herself a somewhat self-indulgent smile when she replied, “Only nearly every day of my life.” She didn’t think it was a Werewolf trait, but she had a theory that the condition added to it. Sort of like her addictions. She figured she’d be an addict even if she’d never been bit, but the bite certainly hadn’t helped things. She didn’t elaborate, again.
Kieran looked at her skeptically. Her face was turning red as if at any moment she would burst into laughter. He slid his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, got a name for it?” His voice was flat. He was told he needed to open up a bit more. He was trying. It felt like someone pulling his canines out. He could deal with lethargy and insomnia, but this was different.
This time she did snort just a little bit, a puff of air of laughter through her nose. “Well, other than spending time in this gods awful depressing building, what else do you do?” She really wanted to tell him to just get laid and get out some of that energy but she was pretty sure that wasn’t something you just said to people. Not that she was an expert. Like, like, a year she’d gone from virgin to like... drugged up, public sex with strangers... but still. Physical release seemed like a good idea if you couldn’t sleep, right? And if you weren’t in love, sex was purely phyiscal release, right?
“I mean to say, at the Ward, they’ve told me to focus on my hobbies, that’s all,” she finished lamely, trailing off.
“Eh.” The noise escaped his mouth. “I read.” He didn’t sound sure whether she would count that as a hobby. “It’s not like I was able to do much in the way of physical activities.” He gestured to all of him. “I don’t know if I ever developed any hobbies.” He realized how much of a dullard he sounded like.
“Things might have changed a bit since you were there, but when I was at Hogwarts, they were always trying to get me to be more physical - like they thought it would help or something,” she rolled her eyes, “like the change is a bad mood or something.” She’d never been an outdoorsy or athletic person, but she knew either way it wouldn’t help with her condition. Besides maybe making her even more tired and rundown than usual.
“How are you not like, tired, like all the time?” Even with Wolfsbane making the Moon easier and her time being coddled at St Mungos, she never seemed to have the energy of her peers, unless there were… substances involved.
For some reason, awkwardness and all, she didn’t want the conversation to end, even if she didn’t really have any reason to stick around now that the meeting was cleaned up. Grasping, she asked, “What do you like to read?” And immediately felt so stupid, so she followed it up with, “I take photos.”
“I never said they didn’t try. My head of house even pushed for me to try out for the Quidditch team.” He had to chuckle at himself. He was a shit flier, always had been. “I preferred the library. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m rather solitary.” He had been shifted on his feet for the majority of the conversation, gods the desk life had made it difficult for him to stand. He hunched down for a moment, relieving the pain on his lower back.
“Histories mostly. It’s given way to a bit of historical fiction. No romance truly.” He felt the distinction had to be made. Too often the two were conflated with images of muscle bound men carrying women in their arms. She would probably still tease him for the interest. “Stories of men trying to climb above their station and all that.” He stood up again. “What type of photos?”
“Not into Fabio?” She asked with a small, wry smile. Hmm… she had kissed him in her mania, at his flat, but she actually didn’t know if he was into witches at all. He didn’t mention dating. Ever.
“Oh, anything really. I take pictures at my friend’s band’s shows sometimes, and sometimes just out at a pub for the fun of it. If you can call hiding behind my camera so no one bothers me ‘fun’.” It cut close to the truth; she’d started her hobby at Hogwarts as a way to hide, to be left alone. No one could get close if you had a physical object between you.
He laughed, “Not a muscles person.” He latched onto her mention of ‘friend’ and ‘band’. “Local group? I may have heard of them.” Kieran had a habit of doom scrolling through his winstagram feed until the algorithm took over with suggestions. He probably saw something about local shows in the area from time to time. Photography seemed like more than a hobby to him if she was snapping photos of her friends' band. Afraid that she would snap shut again he decided to keep the conversation casual, avoiding the always insulting ‘you have a friend’ line of questioning.
“Not into himbos, noted.” She gave him a small smile with less sarcasm this time. So, it did seem like he was gay after all. Now she felt bad for her spontaneous kiss - that wasn’t right of her, manic or not. Should she apologize?
“Oh, um, Coira Montague? She’s kind of blowing up,” she wasn’t actually how ‘big’ Coira was considered, but her local dive bar shows were always packed. “We grew up together, our dads are friends going back to school.” She didn’t really like mentioning her Dad to Kieran, since they’re awkward ‘controlling’ conversation at his flat. But sometimes it slipped out anyway.
“Himbos.” He had heard the term before. It conjured images of heroes fumbling around in the dark surviving off of sheer luck and happenstance. “They’re frustrating.”
Maria seemed to be questioning something. Does she think I’m gay? His word might hint at it but that was a leap to him. He wondered if he should say something. It didn’t seem right and the misunderstanding if someone overheard him could be in more trouble.
“Howling Pint?” He saw them advertise the shows on their winsta. “Tall, blonde singer?” He thought he was remembering the promo image correctly, but he couldn’t be sure.
Maria laughed, “yeah that’s Coira, she’s stunning in that ‘Paris Fashion Week runway model’ way. I don’t get it though, her boo is like… normal and boring, and Coira is anything but.” She shrugged again.
Her phone chimed with an alarm telling her it was 5 o’clock. “Oh, I guess the office is shutting down,” she gave him a look that might be… sad? She was enjoying talking with him for once. They seemed to have found a nice meeting ground of easy topics, for now at least.
“Done for the day?” She asked him, unsure of his schedule. Maybe she could introduce him to Wes sometime, since he liked men, and maybe get a friend out of this?
“So he’s kind of boring, like me.” Kieran grinned.
“Yeah. I guess I’ll head out too.” He had a habit of staying over closing time at least three times a week, an easy decision when your entire life is work. “Did you have something in mind?”
Maria couldn’t help her little giggle, “With your life story, you’re anything but boring. Brooding maybe, but not boring,” she shook her head - maybe it was wrong to look at it like that, but she looked at her own life background like that so... Maybe not totally wrong? Gods, she sucked at making friends. She cringed a little bit at herself, the embarrassment showing on her face.
“Something in mind?” She asked, “Oh! For after... here.” She shook her head, “No, not really, my dad’s gotten better about the whole ‘escaping the hospital house arrest’ thing,” she said with a chuckle, “But I don’t want to push it. I’ll probably head home.” This was accompanied with a small smile, somewhat apologetic. Then she turned and reached for her knapsack, lifting it from the floor and onto her shoulder, “Walk me out?” She asked, even if he was gay, friends walk each other out, right?
They stopped by his desk to get his things and then headed out, chatting a little bit more about their weekend non-plans and how boring and normal it turned out they both could be. Maria actually let with a small smile on her face, something... New for her.