InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I am the one and only!"

Dean Thomas (artistdean) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-08-18 16:53:00

Entry tags:

character: dean thomas, character: seamus finnigan

Who: Dean and Seamus, open?

What: Dean wants to be grumpy with friends

Where: Finnigan's - bar

When: Late afternoon

Rating: SFW

Dean was feeling distinctly unimpressed, and now also damp. The paint base he'd spent most of the day making, had made dozens or even of times before, had exploded over him. That hadn't happened since he was an apprentice. Clearly some small impurity had got in the cauldron despite all precautions.

Braith had come running at his shriek of protest and just pointed towards the door. She was a woman of few words and he knew it meant she would clear up while he went home to shower and give in for the day. Luckily the base wasn't poisonous or even dangerous, just mildly clingy. Over half an hour later he was finally feeling clean and Apparated himself to Monument Alley, swiftly making his way to the pub.

Seamus was installed behind the bar and Dean pulled a somewhat grumpy smile to his face. "Hey, can I get that free drink now? Stupid base exploded all over me, got sodding everywhere." He slapped his journal down on the bar and plonked himself on a stool.
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openbottle
2014-08-18 04:32 pm UTC (link)

Seamus quickly gathered the cards he'd been setting out on the bar and slipped the pack into his pocket, casting a stasis charm on his way and then looking up at his mildly damp best friend. He wiggled his eyebrows as he leaned across the bar to be closer. "Everywhere?" he asked. "What were you doing, painting in the buff?" He let that hang for a moment before adding, with a grin, "Again?" He rocked back on his heels before Dean's unnaturally long limbs could reach him, laughing to himself as summoned a clean glass.

"What do you want?" he asked. "Butterbeer'll warm you up." Dean wasn't much of a drinker at the best of times, not since the potions, let alone in the middle of the afternoon. "Or coffee?"

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artistdean
2014-08-18 05:20 pm UTC (link)

"No, you berk, I was making paint base, you know the bit of my job that requires me to use my Potions OWL, it got contaminated and exploded and it just found gaps and where it didn't find gaps it soaked through," he shuddered theatrically. "And I've told you nudity is a perfectly valid way of staying cool and saving clothing when you're not expecting clients and your colleagues respect closed doors in the baking heat." He swiped half-heartedly at Seamus and just rolled his eyes when he jumped out of the way. "So, no. It's August, not a July heatwave."

"Butterbeer is tempting but I'll have tea please. Not planning on going back, don't need the caffeine hit. Might take my potion and get sleep so no booze." He shrugged.

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openbottle
2014-08-18 05:35 pm UTC (link)

Letting Dean babble on about paint and potions and nudity, Seamus warmed water for the tea and set about making it the way he knew Dean liked. The bar was quiet after the lunch rush (which hadn't, in fact, been a rush by any definition of the word) and he had time to sit while Dean drank it.

Which, moments later, is exactly what he did - hooking his foot around a stool and dragging it over so he could sit on his side of the bar while Dean remained on the customer side. A gently steaming teapot and two cups rested on the bar between them. "Proper little tea party," he observed, lifting his pinky while he poured. "It'd be good if we had some biscuts..." His stomach grumbled at the thought, but he knew it was fruitless. The kitchens at Finnigan's were great for turning out roast meat, stews and every kind of potato but pastries and sweet things were somewhat beyond their current staff.

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artistdean
2014-08-18 05:58 pm UTC (link)

Dean watched as Seamus made the tea, it was always a soothing sort of thing to do, polishing off some of the annoyance of the ruined paint base and the fact he'd have to start again tomorrow.

He picked up his tea and held it in his hands for warmth, smelling the fragrant steam. "Did you forget to eat again? I probably have something left at home if you can keep this warm for me. Cake maybe. I slept last night so nothing new..." he pondered, trying to remember what was hanging around in the cake or biscuit boxes.

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openbottle
2014-08-18 06:23 pm UTC (link)

"I'm fine." Seamus bit back the instinct to lie that he'd had lunch. He didn't like Dean to worry about him too much, but he hated being dishonest with him more. "Unless you're hungry?" he added, after a moment of thought. "I think there's leftover stroganoff. If you can really call it stroganoff..." He grimaced slightly. "Chef got the paprika and the chilli powder mixed up so it tastes like some unholy love child, but you might like it." And Seamus would eat just about anything rather than let it go to waste - that was just his money going down the drain, after all.

Seamus smiled. Much as he enjoyed Dean's cooking, it was always good to know he'd slept - and it meant Seamus could return the favour of being food provider, for once. Even if that food was chilli-mushroom-beef and rice.

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artistdean
2014-08-18 06:41 pm UTC (link)

Dean winced. "I could eat. I keep getting told I'm still a growing boy by my mother, but I think that'd continue until I became a literal ball so I half ignore it. Not sure the chilli mix up is going to be the best, but I'll deal." Technically Dean had eaten lunch but it was a rushed sandwich in the safe-to-leave-the-cauldron break.

"That sounds like my sort of cock up, though. Impressive." He sipped his tea and sighed happily.

"So apart from the stroganoff issue how's it going? Many takers on the free drinks yet?"

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openbottle
2014-08-18 06:56 pm UTC (link)

Seamus left Dean at the bar for a moment to stick his head into the kitchen and ask for two bowls of chef's latest mistake - which were provided almost alarmingly quickly. Seamus carried them back to Dean, pushing the fuller bowl towards his friend. "You'd better not do any more growing," he complained. "I can barely look you in the eyes as it is." He tilted his head up to do just that, his curls falling across his face at the movement.

He pushed them aside with a snort. "Not yet, but it's still early." Seamus knew the name of everyone who'd taken a journal. In fact, he knew the names of most of his customers, though there were a few who'd been regulars in his uncle's day who'd stopped coming after the first few months that Seamus had forgotten. "Cho said she'd been in later, and Ernie and Lavender..." He grinned. Work didn't even really feel like work when so many of his friends were around. All the back room paperwork stuff, though, that felt like work.

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artistdean
2014-08-18 07:25 pm UTC (link)

Dean looked down at his bowl and gave a slightly strained smile. "You should look for someone new, you know. Chilli and paprika is an easy enough mistake but they keep happening," he said, scooping up some of the mixture and blinking a little at the flavour. "It's not... bad as such, just really not what you want it to be." He was trying to sound placating, but he knew Seamus was well aware of the problem.

"Shall I make the obligatory short joke or just take it as read?" he asked.

He nodded, listening to Seamus talk about who would be turning up later. It sounded like at least a few more friends would turn up. It would keep him entertained, and protected. Boy could his friends be protective. He sort of liked it, but the fact they were almost all far shorter than him amused him sometimes.

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openbottle
2014-08-18 07:38 pm UTC (link)

Seamus's shoulders slumped a little. He hadn't been prepared for the hiring and firing aspect of this job and even two years on it wasn't any easier. His best employees were his friends - Dean and Dominic among them - but he got on well with everyone. Well enough that he didn't want to turn them out on their ears. "I know." He chewed on a slice of beef for a moment, it was slightly overone as well as the mix-up with the spices. "If it didn't look so much like stroganoff it might be alright. It's because it looks and tastes like too completely different things."

He shoved playfully at Dean across the bar before drawing himself up to his full height - still so much shorter than Dean that he had to laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Leprechaun, little people. Been there and done that." He didn't really mind, of course. He gave as good as he got.

"Kenmare game on Thursday," he observed, gesturing at the sports pages of the Prophet, which lay open across the bar. "Glad the season's starting up again."

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openbottle
2014-08-20 09:03 pm UTC (link)

Seamus resisted the urge to hold up a hand to make Dean wait while he fetched quill and ink. His eyes did glaze over slightly when Dean starting talking about pigments, though. He understood on a theoretical level why Dean would need more than one shade of green, but was convinced no one who didn't work with the things all day every day could really remember all the names. "Moroccan green," he echoed. "What's green about Morocco?" He hadn't made it that far in his travels, but he associated Morocco more with brown and sand shades.

He made a mental note to tell anyone who asked to get Dean fine detail brushes and any kind of paint they could find. Dean would make a use for it whatever it was. "Did you see the list of Quidditch team cakes Melinda put up in the journals?" he asked. He was thinking about some recipe books for Dean, but wasn't a hundred percent sure they were a good idea. He didn't want to remind Dean of the sleepless nights, but it might inspire some new ideas. Ones more edible than the cheddar-and-apple cookies Dean had insisted Seamus try last month.

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artistdean
2014-08-20 09:35 pm UTC (link)

Dean made a mental note to write something in his journal about the colours. He had serious doubts that Seamus would remember any of the right names. "Not a clue," he shrugged. "Just the name of the colour. It's sort of a jewel shade." It was a bit pointless to try and explain all the differences of paint colours to pretty much anyone who wasn't already interested in them.

"Oh, yeah, they looked great. Of course I wanted all the wrong ones for my teams, but if she carries some of them on there'll be some I want. Or I just ignore the teams and get a couple anyway." He liked that Melinda was experimental her flavours, although the ones that got to go on sale tended to be rather more successful than his more unusual combinations.

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openbottle
2014-08-20 09:56 pm UTC (link)

Seamus chuckled at that, settling himself more comfortably on his bar stool. "Me too. My loyalty to Kenmare is not quite enough for me to eat green tea cake." He made a face but then shot Dean a wink. He'd tried far weirder things coming out of Dean's kitchen, after all. "What took your fancy? The raspberry and orange one sounded pretty good to me." This, too, would be useful research - because Seamus was going to make a cake!

A customer demanded his attention and Seamus moved away for a moment, grabbing a few of the clean glasses on his way back. He sat down again, wand in hand while he cast unbreakable charms on each in turn. The charms tended to run out after a month or so and Seamus liked to catch them before that when he could. "Maybe I should buy a couple of cakes for after Battlescars..."

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artistdean
2014-08-20 10:18 pm UTC (link)

Dean wrinkled his nose. "I know what you mean. I sort of want to try it once just to see, but give me fruity or chocolaty any day. Apart from bananas, they always seem weird in cake. The raspberry and orange sounded good, so did the cheesecake." Dean's eyes started to glaze over in a sort of food related lust and he licked his lips, sadly tasting the remnants of the chilli-stroganoff mismatch.

Spelling his own empty teacup to the sink while Seamus served a customer Dean idly looked around the room for a few moments, nodding vaguely to some of the regulars who caught his eye. "Mmm, not a bad idea. Therapy and talking is all great but it can be pretty draining. Positive incentives for getting to the end. I'd say I'll make some, but trying to remember probably wouldn't work."

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openbottle
2014-08-21 01:44 pm UTC (link)

Seamus could tell Dean was distracted by thoughts of cake, and shook his head. "There go my hopes of lasagne," he whined. "I brought it on myself, bringing up delicious cake." Dean's baking, however experimental it might be, was doubtless significantly better than anything Seamus could manage - but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. And if he'd already owled his mam asking her to make a cake, just in case, well... No one need know.

"It's getting easier though. Kinda." Seamus felt like he knew most people in Battlescars pretty well by now, which made it easier to talk in front of them. There were still things he'd never brought up that nagged at him weekly. Should he talk about them? Would it help? Or would it just make things worse...? He pushed those thoughts aside, with the guilt of leading the group without really knowing what he was doing. "Cake would be good." Not the coming Sunday, though. That was Dean's birthday and Seamus and Dominic had been planning what to do to celebrate it.

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artistdean
2014-08-21 02:34 pm UTC (link)

Dean shook himself and then grinned at Seamus and pulled a tiny notebook from his pocket and the pencil out of his journal that was still sitting on the bar. "Look, here, I'm making a note to remember the lasagne. Cake will come if it comes," he shrugged a little sadly. He knew that he tended more towards sweet things when he cooked in the middle of the night. Lasagne was definitely a daytime project.

"Oh, sure. I mean I got all that extra practice in, but I know all about the getting easier to talk. However slowly." Dean wasn't exactly the most forthcoming person when he first started going to therapy, but given how much he had found it helped he was much happier to talk now when he was in a safe space. "If I'm doing lasagne you've got no chance for this week." And I'm not making cake to eat on my own birthday.

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openbottle
2014-08-21 05:59 pm UTC (link)

"You know I'm kidding," Seamus said. "I'll eat anything you bring me and I don't care about regular meals. I had those biscuits you made for breakfast yesterday." He chuckled. "Besides, if I ever get really hungry you know Susan, Hannah and mam will all cook for me. Actually, I think even your mam would cook for me if I asked her. Or Jess." Actually, that wasn't a bad idea. Seamus doubted anyone in their friendship group could rival Aunt Rose's jerk chicken...

"Speaking of Jess, she can come to your birthday as long as she promises to be more than half-dressed this time!" Dean's sister's crush on Seamus had become somewhat less awkward as the years went on. For a start, she seemed to have finally accepted he was really definitely gay and not just saying so to escape her.

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artistdean
2014-08-21 07:08 pm UTC (link)

"I do, but a reminder isn't a bad thing." He glanced at his other notes and list of tasks and underlined make paint base with a grimace. "I care about you eating regular meals. I mean you're right about everybody else cooking for you, but still. I wouldn't advise asking Jess though, she's not quite got the hang of it yet. There would be crunchy burnt bits and almost raw bits. Mum and Aunt Rose are on a mission to fix her issues before she goes to uni."

Dean couldn't help but snort at the accurate description of the outfits a slightly younger Jess had worn to try and attract Seamus. "She's pretty over it now, I think she'd be fine, but nah, I'm going over on Saturday evening to do birthday things with the family. Also a bit of a congratulations-slash-going-away thing for Jess. I mean I know she doesn't go for another few weeks but she's going to York and there seemed to be a huge list of going away parties coming up for all her friends too. It will be weird without her here." He leaned over and rested his elbows on the bar and his head on his hands. "You can come along if you're not working, but I know Saturdays are busy."

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openbottle
2014-08-21 10:24 pm UTC (link)

Seamus's smile was easier than Dean's, but still not his usual cheeky grin. He sat down carefully, mindful not to disturb any of Dean's things. He sat half-angled towards Dean, their arms brushing, then ducked his head to rest against Dean's shoulder, so that Dean could still see the door. It wasn't really necessary, with as tall as Dean was, but better safe than sorry. "I'm sorry too," he said softly. Just because he hadn't intended to, didn't mean he hadn't hurt Dean. "You know I'd never..." Date Jess, or even pretend to. It would be like Dean dating Graeme, which would be... Yeah, 'creepy and wrong' about covered it.

"By rights, I've got a whole hour off and I've already eaten. You want to stay here and keep me company?" It was a backwards question for what he really wanted to ask. They both knew Seamus would rather Dean stay here and Seamus go back to the pub if an hour was too much.

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artistdean
2014-08-21 10:38 pm UTC (link)

Dean relaxed just a little more at the comforting weight of Seamus' head on his shoulder. The fact Dean was telegraphing his actions so clearly, taking care of him... sometimes he wasn't sure why his friends put up with but when he'd brought it up there had been so many answers that he'd made it into another list for his boxes. Slowly he snaked his arm from between them and around Seamus' side, tugging him slightly closer. He was still feeling a little jumpy but the contact was good.

"I know. It was even a good joke. Man it wouldn't even be the worst idea, it came from a good place it just," he swallowed and tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. "I hate it when my brain does that, the slightly random anger. It was probably partly holdover from the paint base exploding. You know me and explosions don't go together well."

Bringing his head back again Dean looked at the flickering candle flame, and glanced down at Seamus. "Yeah, I'll stay, at least for a while. Braith basically gave me the 'don't come back' look earlier, so it's not like I've got anywhere else pressing to be.

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openbottle
2014-08-21 10:54 pm UTC (link)

As Dean pulled him closer, Seamus shifted to lean against his chest, his arm sliding around Dean's ribs in return - holding on just a little tighter than his usual loose-limbed sprawl, his fingers all but curling into Dean's t-shirt. "It was a terrible idea," he corrected. "For a start, I know she's over her crush on me but it would be too much like leading her on, or something." He shook his head a little. "New rule - no dating one another's family members. Ever." Not that Seamus had a lot of eligible family members for Dean to date. Graeme was straight, his parents married. There were the cousins, he supposed.

He felt a jagged cut of guilt when Dean mentioned the base exploding. He should have known. Not that it would have helped him avoid the trigger he'd hit, but he might have been more prepared somehow... Seamus hazily recognised that it was an irrational thought and tried to push it away. "Your brain can get randomly angry at me as often as it likes, I'm never going anywhere," he said stubbornly.

He nodded, glad Dean would stay for a while. It'd be good for both of them, hopefully. "Braith is scary," he teased. "You should stay here, be safe."

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artistdean
2014-08-21 11:11 pm UTC (link)

Dean's hand clenched a little as Seamus started to talk the idea through, but it soon relaxed again. "I can get behind that. Not that I'd really want to, but yeah. And frankly if you actually dated any of my family you'd need to come out all over again and that's got to be no fun at all as a prospect," he said, remembering the start of his own coming out process. "Not that I'd care, but, well, you know it's no fun."

Dean scuffed his foot on the floor for a few seconds before pulling his wand out and undoing his laces with a charm and toeing his boots off. "I'd prefer it wouldn't get randomly angry at all, but I'm glad you're staying."

"Braith isn't scary," he said with a little huff of laughter. Admittedly she could be somewhat intimidating at times, but she was a wonderful person. "But I'll stay here and you can protect me from her evil gaze!" He mimicked a stereotype of a fairy story princess and held a 'woe is me' hand to his forehead, trying not to laugh.

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openbottle
2014-08-21 11:26 pm UTC (link)

Seamus gave a low groan at the idea of coming out again. It had been bad enough the first time. Though, ironically, it had been Dean he was most worried about after his own family. Not because he had thought Dean was at all likely to be prejudiced but just because... as close as they were, and as much at people at school had teased them about being inseparable... It could have made Dean uncomfortable, and Seamus didn't want to think about what their lives would be like now if they couldn't do this, couldn't touch, couldn't fall asleep together without feeling awkward. If Dean had wanted him to keep a respectable distance... "I'm one hundred percent positive that it's blokes for me, as little as it seems to matter lately." It had been, he was pretty sure, over a year since he'd done more than snog anyone.

"Course I'm staying, Deano." Seamus kicked his own shoes off and curled his legs up on the couch beside him. He was pretty much cuddled up against Dean's side now, but it wasn't as if it was unusual for them. "There's no getting rid of me now."

A tension he didn't realise he'd been holding in his shoulders and back eased when Dean tried (and didn't quite succeed) not to laugh. It was always good to hear him happy. He laughed along with him, trying to imagine Braith breaking into the flat and finding them like this. "Oh, yes, very scary I look right now..." He pouted, glancing at his feet. "There's a hole in my sock and everything."

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artistdean
2014-08-21 11:41 pm UTC (link)

"Well the blokes are stupid then, because you're awesome," he squeezed Seamus for a second, smiling. Not that Dean had much room to talk on the relationship front. He'd rarely managed to get past a date or two. "I'd ask for a high five or something but it's not a good thing we're both terrible at dating."

"Nope, you are as limpet-like as ever. Not that I mind, but definite limpety properties, you've got." He sighed and shifted his arms so he could run his hands through Seamus' hair. It was surprisingly soothing and he knew Seamus liked it.

He snorted, glancing down at the hole that was indeed showing a glimpse of Seamus' foot beneath. "Oh well. We can both die comfy then. Which is something at least," he said with a shrug.

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openbottle
2014-08-21 11:52 pm UTC (link)

"Are any of our friends good at dating?" Seamus asked thoughtfully, neither confirming nor denying that the blokes were stupid or he was awesome. He knew Dean's opinion on his thoughts on that, it wasn't an argument there was any point having now when there was no potential relationship on the horizon. "I mean, Dominic, I suppose. He doesn't really date, but at least he seems happy with it."

He closed his eyes and tipped his head back as Dean's fingers swept through his hair. It was such an intensely comforting sensation that he almost felt guilty that it was Dean comforting him and not the other way around. Almost. It wasn't as if Dean had much hair to play with anyway. "Shush, you love me and my limpety properties," he said, shifting so one knee nudged the side of Dean's thigh. It was his best attempt at an all-encompassing comforting hug in this position and it did make him a little limpety.

"Very comfy," he agreed. "Could almost have a nap like this." He wouldn't, he'd never been very good at sleeping during the day, but he would be content to sit quietly until he had to go downstairs again.

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artistdean
2014-08-22 12:10 am UTC (link)

"No, not really, I guess. Several of them are better at getting laid than either of us but I have libido and trust issues so it's not like I care that much." He scratched a slight itch on his own neck before returning his hand to Seamus' hair. "Plus there's wanking, which is good enough."

Dean sort of wanted to curl his legs up too but he was pretty comfortable as they were and shifting them around would only cause annoyance somewhere so he didn't bother. "Yeah, you know I do."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," he said quietly, his fingers stroking gently, his mind at ease once more. He subsided into silence glad that as much as they talked neither of them really needed it, and sometimes the quiet was exactly what was needed.

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