inertial (inertial) wrote in euphorialane, @ 2009-01-21 03:19:00 |
|
|||
Keira slammed the door of the flat. Then, for good measure, she opened the door and slammed it shut again. "STUPID BLOODY ... BUREAUCRATS!" she shouted. One of the cats -- there were so many and Keira never bothered learning any of their names -- went skittering off into another room. She flung her wand down on the floor, and it bounced a couple times before rolling away. Her cloak, hat, and scarf followed quickly, ending up in a heap of fabric around her feet. "I HATE THEM ALL!"
She stormed into the kitchen and threw the teapot onto the stove. Keira reached for her wand, to put water in the pot and start the fire under it, when she remembered that she'd thrown it down and it rolled off to who knows where. "DAMNIT!" She kicked the stove, which sent pain shooting up from her toe. "OW, SHIT!" She hopped out of the kitchen and in search of her wand, only to trip over the cloak and everything on the floor. Down she went, banging her elbows on the floor. "SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Keira sat up, crossing her legs and glaring in the direction that Ritchie was sure to be. He had to be home, he usually got home before she did. And he was ignoring her. "RITCHIE!" she yelled.
Ritchie heard the yelling first, naturally. Then the noise before he heard his name. Please, oh bloody hell, please let it not have been one of the cats who had gotten in the way. The day was going good, so far. He didn't need his ears ringing from her yelling. As he headed out of his bedroom, Josie ran across the hallway, seemingly frightened from the sound. Heading for the sound of the yelling, he found Keira sitting cross-legged on the floor. It was only mildly comical, but he had to hold it in. After years of practice, it just came him naturally!
"You rang?" he asked, with a serious frown, surveying the apparent mess. That was not his cloak, hat and scarf on the floor, so it couldn't have been his fault. "What's wrong, babe?"
Keira glared up at her husband. She wasn't getting the sympathy she knew she deserved. "THE MINISTRY IS FULL OF LOUSY BUREAUCRATS, THAT'S WHAT!" No, she could not tone it down, in fact. "AND I HATE THEM." She was scowling, and she was angry, but deep deep down inside, she was also really upset, too. She just chose to show it by being a bitch and yelling and being angry. Hey, it worked. "And it's still BLOODY COLD outside and I can't feel my nose and my foot hurts." She didn't care if she sounded pitiful with that last, she needed sympathy, damnit, and he was going to give it to her.
As rickety as their marriage was, there was just those rare moments (yes, quite rare) when all Ritchie could do was just smile to himself and think of how adorable she looked. She probably wouldn't have wanted to see that right now though. Plus, he was too tired to argue today. Pushing himself away from the wall, he came over and plopped himself down right next to her, in the same style as she was sitting. "Your results came," he said. It was a statement, because he could only guess that would be why she was so upset. Because if they had and it was positive, he more or less would have expected her to be praising the Ministry rather than insult it.
He took her hand in his too, as he had spoke. He was sympathetic, honestly. He knew she tried so hard but there was just something that kept her out. She was frustrated and probably just wanted to hear him curse them out with her. "Come here." Okay, so if not cursing them out with her, he could have at least had his arms around her.
She felt like being petty. After all, she was in a bad mood, and he was staying calm and being nice. And he didn't seem nearly upset enough that, once again, her dreams were crushed -- CRUSHED! -- by the stupid Ministry. Oh, sure, she was good enough to be a hitwitch, but not an Auror. No, they saved those positions for the people they liked and who kissed their arses. And here Ritchie couldn't even muster up a simple "damn them, they're right bastards and don't know what a good thing they're losing out on for the Auror department." So she pulled her hand away and crossed her arms, scowling instead of going into his arms ... which she did want to do, but she was feeling petty.
"They said thank you for your application but you're JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR OUR SPECIAL AUROR PROGRAMME." No, it wasn't those exact words. But that's what the meaning was behind them.
Ritchie knew not to sigh when she moved her hand away. That would only spark an angrier reaction. Instead, he focused on her words and furrowed his brow. Really? If someone was a Hit-Witch, why didn't they let her be an Auror? Wasn't it the same bleeding thing? What did he know about these things, really? "Blimey, love. I'm sorry. I really am. They don't know what they're missing." Except they probably would considering it was all in the same department. Couldn't he just give her a hug? Talking was hard. He tried again, but just reached out to rub one of her arms softly. He was being the good guy this time. It had to count for something.
"Did they tell you exactly why you're not good enough? Supposedly?"
Damnit, it was hard to stay angry when he was being so nice and quiet. She needed to yell, and it was easier to yell and be angry when he was yelling back, too. And if she let the anger go, then she'd just be sad, and she didn't want to be sad. She didn't move away when he rubbed her arm, though. It did count for something, but she wanted to be angry.
"They said I'm too temperamental, too much of a loose cannon. That I would just compromise things and they don't think I'd be very good at being stealthy." Keira stonily met Ritchie's eyes as she told him what she was told, DARING him to say anything that might be in agreeance with what she had been told.
Ritchie paused. Well, it made sense. Aurors were more into stealth and hiding out until the right moment and... stuff like that. And Merlin only knew how loud Keira could get, even if she just stubbed her toe. The image of a stealth operation gone wrong because of her temper came to his mind, and he had to try mighty hard to keep himself from laughing. He managed, but... shite, she was staring right at him. Right. Directly. At. Him. And he was hesitating. Bad idea. "Oh," he started. "That's bloody ridiculous! You can learn to control your temper! If they just bleeding give you the chance, I'm sure you can change that!" Before this conversation could veer into a not-so-pleasant direction, Ritchie smiled, moving his hand down to her's again. "Want me to make you anything? Tea?"
"You think I have to CHANGE myself?! I'm a damn good hit witch and I'd be a damn good Auror and I shouldn't have to change a thing!" Okay, she had a temper problem. And she was loud. But she shouldn't have to CHANGE herself. "And you're just going to offer me TEA after saying something like that?!"
"Keira." He wasn't going to yell. He was not going to start another brawl. The last thing he wanted was for his neighbors to have the desire of hexing his mouth off the next time they saw him. "You're brilliant. Your temper just needs to be in a little bit of control but other than that, you're brilliant! Stealth is a big deal, apparently. Even people with.. tempers needs to quiet down for that." He would have added in "explosive", because that described her behavior perfectly, but that wasn't going to smooth anything out.
Why did he have to be so reasonable? And ... condescending. Like she couldn't be quiet. "I can be quiet just fine!" she hissed out, barely audibly, though it was a very angry hiss. The kind you didn't really want to hear from a snake -- or any other kind of animal, for that matter. "And I can be stealthy!" Okay, she wasn't so sure about that part, but it wasn't like being stealthy was hard or anything. You just had to sneak around and be quiet. And she COULD be quiet, if she wanted to. She just usually didn't want to be quiet, was all. But he had to go and say she was brilliant, didn't he? "... they know what they're missing, right?" Aww, look at that. A normal tone of voice out of her.
Ritchie nodded. Success! He had somehow managed to keep this all into a quiet discussion. Or maybe not a discussion, per se, but it seemed like a change from the very loud yelling they would normally have at this point. "They don't know! Those ignorant fools... they can't see that you can be quiet." Yeah, right. "You just have to keep trying to show them that again and again until their thick skulls finally get it." With a pat on her knee, he stood up. That seemed to go well.
"Tea then? For two? I heard you walking in and out of the kitchen before I heard you crash here. Josie got scared and ran into the bedroom. I'll get her out soon enough, since I know you rather not be in the same room as my cats are in." He managed to keep the bitterness out of his tone, though he still wasn't pleased with her insulting his cats before, when they were under attack from the doxies.
Keira wasn't sure if she wanted tea. Tea was calming and she didn't want to calm down, even though that was exactly what she was going to do when she'd gotten home. Right now, she wanted to stay angry, because she didn't want to dwell on the fact that she'd been rejected yet again from the Auror programme. It would mean maybe thinking about possibly maybe accepting the fact that they never were going to accept her, no matter how many times she applied. She wanted to stay mad, because anger she could deal with.
"How do you keep those stupid animals straight?" she grumbled. She appreciated that he knew that she didn't like being in the same room with the cats, but being nice let the anger go, and she wanted to hold on tight to it.
Ritchie's jaw immediately tightened. Okay, so he'd been all nice and even said he'd keep the cats out of the bedroom and yet she had to continue to insult them? What the bloody hell did he do to deserve it? "I get it, Keira," he said with a tone that was slightly, well, snappy. "I've gotten it a long bloody time ago. You think they're stupid. You don't like them. Do you have to say it aloud? I said I'll move them out of the bedroom." However annoyed, he still grabbed the kettle to pour her tea.
"It was just a question," Keira muttered, still sitting on the floor amidst her cloak and things. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees as she watched Ritchie in the kitchen. "Why do you like them so much?"
Alright... losing his cool already was not going to help. And at least she hadn't snapped back at him which was good. So there was no need to start anything. He poured the tea into two cups but paused when she asked his question. Because they don't abandon you or cut their family ties from you completely. Walking over he held out her cup for her, waiting until she took it before sitting down next to her. "Because, well.. I don't have a great life-impacting reason. I just do. I love animals. Count yourself lucky I didn't decide to bring in a Bengal tiger." He added a wink to the last statement to show he said it in jest.
Keira stared grudgingly up at the cup of tea being offered to her for a few moments before reaching up to take it. She didn't drink any at the moment, just stared down at it. She wanted to just grumble and whine and be angry, but he was making it really hard to stay angry. The corners of her lips twitched downward a bit, and she started gnawing on her lower lip. "You like them because they're quiet and they act all nice." In other words, he liked the cats better than her because they were nicer to him than she was.
"They have claws too, Kitten. They're not always nice, especially if you don't treat them nicely." He blew slightly at his tea before taking a sip. "I do like that they don't talk back, though. Or overreact when I'm just trying to be helpful." Ritchie gave her a seemingly innocent smile.
Keira scowled. It was a multi-purpose scowl, both to his use of that horrible nickname and also that last comment he made. "It would be more helpful if you were more sympathetic and not saying I have to change myself to get the job I want more than anything, which I am completely qualified for. And I don't overreact. I react just enough." She was almost tempted to 'accidentally' spill her tea on him, but it would just make a mess and one of those stupid animals would probably come out and try to drink it up off the floor.
Ritchie tried not to roll his eyes, which was successful, but he frowned with her as well. "I'm sympathetic, yeah. But I'm trying to help you when I say you should change yourself. Even to a minimum. Just don't lose your temper so easily when tested on the field. If you can do that much, you can get the job." Honestly, it was like telling a secretary that for the job, she needed to organize. If it was a big part of a job, she'd have to have that quality. Ritchie knew she could manage if she tried. But why she always had to stay angry and throw fits, he never managed to figure out.
"And Pussycat? You overreact plenty. I say that out of love."
Anger had been all that Keira'd had to hide behind ever since her brother died. It was all she knew, to keep from falling apart. It had always worked well enough. "I bet you wish you'd married someone who doesn't lose her temper and doesn't overreact and is just nice and smiles and has dinner ready for you on the table when you walk in the door and loves cats and is just not me." Her tone of voice was flat, but this was a real concern that she'd had ever since the war ended and they realised they had rushed into marriage too quickly. "And who likes those silly nicknames you use."
Ritchie was at a complete loss for words. Not because it was true... it wasn't. Rather, he was rendered speechless because it just sounded so stupid. It took about a few seconds of looking at her with bewilderment before he shook his head and was able to get something out. "That.. is complete shite. Where did you... What the hell is wrong with you?" He shook his head and stood up to go back to the kitchen. That's it, he was done. No more bothering with being nice because apparently, nothing seemed good enough. "And do you want someone who gets rid of the cats and works a job that pays in galleons? Someone not me?" He tossed the rest of his tea into the sink.
Well, Keira got the fight she wanted, but it hurt to have her own arguments thrown back into her face. Did she want someone who didn't have so many cats, who was more of a go-getter at work? No, she didn't. Even though she picked fights with him constantly, even though they seemed completely mismatched, Keira did love him, and she didn't want anyone else. But she was always worried that he wanted someone not-her, which was why she always fought with him. Yes, it made sense in her mind and was entirely logical. She stood back up, and on her way into the kitchen tripped over the edge of her scarf. She didn't fall, but it was enough to slosh the tea over the rim of the cup and onto her hand. "FUCK!" she shouted, setting her cup aside and sticking her hand into her mouth. Merlin's balls, that hurt. She glared at Ritchie like it was his fault that she'd hurt her hand.
Ritchie almost.. just almost regretted getting angry. But, no. He was giving up on trying to speak nicely to her. Still that didn't change that seeing her burn herself was an unpleasant feeling with him too. "My God, Kitten," he muttered stepping forward and pulling out his wand at the same time to cool the burn.
Keira shook her head, stepping backward, her hand still in her mouth. "M'fine," she mumbled around her hand, looking down. He wasn't supposed to be nice in the middle of a fight. It kind of ruined things. Then again, she wasn't fine ... the burn hurt. She looked back over at Ritchie, debating whether she wanted him to help. On the one (unburned) hand, she still had no idea where her wand had rolled off to when she threw it down. On the other (burned) hand, they were in the middle of a fight, weren't they? Then again (was there a third hand? preferably unburned, since the burned one hurt), they could always pick up the fight after he helped her with her hand. Keira liked that hand. Especially if it wasn't burned. So she stepped back forward that step she'd taken backward. And if he reached for her hand, she wouldn't pull away this time.
Oh, good. At least she didn't blame him for that little accident. Though he was the one who countered her argument by tossing it back at her, he didn't tell her to get up and trip. Taking her hand, he placed a cooling charm on her arm to ease the pain. Even if his job was boring that really, all he did was sit around and wait for something exciting to happen, sometimes he managed to pick up new Charms spells. When he was done, he didn't let go of her either. Instead, without warning, he bent his head low and planted a quick kiss on her lips. "You drive me crazy, Kitten. I don't want a boring hag that just smiles and cooks for me and listens all the time."
The charm helped immediately, and though her hand still hurt some, it definitely helped take care of the pain. She visibly relaxed, and even smiled. The kiss, though, caught her by surprise, but it wasn't a bad surprise. She still smiled, and even (finally!) cuddled up to him. She had her moments of cuddliness. Usually when it was just the two of them. And usually after fights. "Good. Because I don't want anyone else, either, even if that anyone didn't have cats and made more money. You're the one I love."
Ritchie smiled down at her, very much relieved that this argument was now over. "Good. Now apologize to Josie." No, he didn't wipe the smile away. It only grew bigger, because she'd know he wasn't serious.
Keira laughed -- not one of those mean, derisive, haha-yeah-right laughs, but more of a nicer, yay-argument-is-over laughs. She did know he wasn't serious. Partly because she knew that he couldn't seriously expect her to apologise to the cat. Especially since she had no idea which cat was Josie. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder. "I'll apologise to the cat when I get into the Auror Programme." Which wasn't meant to mean that she figured she'd never get into the Auror programme ... more that when that glorious day finally occurred, she would be so thrilled and happy and ecstatic that she might actually temporarily like the little beasts. She leaned back, then rose up a bit and kissed him.