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Tweak says, "it's the eye of the tiger"

Greg Goyle (goyle_g) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-04-30 14:17:00

Entry tags:

character: astoria greengrass, character: blaise zabini, character: bryony capper, character: gregory goyle, character: harry potter, character: pandora montgomery, character: theodore nott, character: tristan travers

Happy Birthday To Greg
Who: Greg & open to all invitees (please tag your characters!)
What: A party!
Where: 6 Griffin Court, Appleby, Cumbria
When: Thursday 30th April, 7.30pm onwards
Rating: SFW

Catherine Goyle had gone against all her usual instincts to plan tonight's party. This was no stuffy pureblood affair with dance cards and champagne and was instead a genuinely casual evening - or at least, as casual as someone who was raised in that environment knew how to be. 6 Griffin Court wasn't a large enough house to be intimidating or ostentatious, and the front door currently stood open to encourage guests to come straight in from the front garden. Save for the lack of satellite dishes or electric lighting it actually looked much like a well-to-do muggle street, which it very much was not. Just inside the door was a hall with coat stands, and a toilet off to the left. Through the hall was a spacious living room where Catherine Goyle's old record player was enchanted to switch between her collection of wizarding records.

Lisken and Sisken had made all the food and drinks for the party, but were hurried out of sight once the first guests arrived - Catherine didn't want to start a debate on house-elf rights. They had left plates of 'party food' and bottles of decent wine, whiskey and beer in the kitchen for guests to serve themselves.

Since the night was clear, Catherine was urging people to move out into the back garden - which, though tidy, was more functional than decorative. She herself flitted through the party acting as the perfect hostess. She greeted the sons and daughters of her own pureblood friends just as warmly as she greeted the business owners of Monument Alley, despite their generally lesser blood status. She tried not to involve herself in any one conversation too long, conscious that this was supposed to be an event in celebration of Gregory.

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goyle_g
2015-05-06 05:17 pm UTC (link)

Though Greg didn't have any of Theo's social anxieties, he nodded his head in agreement. He liked knowing what he was supposed to do and where he was supposed to be and who was expected to show up. This was all too new and strange. "I like not having to dance," he observed. He never felt less graceful than on the dance floor with some elaborately dressed lady who was wrinkling her nose up at his clumsy steps. "But I wish it was just us." Greg was largely oblivious to the fact his mother was attempting to make his birthday into a political statement and tended to put down the new guests to her relationship with MacMillan.

"I need some food," Greg decided, since that was by far the easiest way to cheer him up. "I wanted cake, but it's too early." He moved into the kitchen proper, glad to see there were no other occupants. Deeming it safe, he left Theo's side to start adding titbits to a plate. "You sure you don't want anything?" He filled his glass with a generous pour of whiskey as well, then returned to his position by the door, leaving the plate nearby on the counter. He wanted to ask about the house elf that Theo had mentioned, but he let it be for now knowing that if Theo couldn't find one, for whatever reason, that Draco would help out.

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nottfinished
2015-05-06 08:48 pm UTC (link)

"I know how you feel." Theo actually laughed a little at that, agreeing but mostly because he liked to choose who it was he got up close and personal with and dancing with whoever asked to appease connections and power structures made him feel itchy under his skin. The smile died into a soft frown at Greg's little sigh of want; that he wasn't getting the party he wanted made him sad for his friend and angry at his friend's mother for not thinking about Greg's happiness, even if he wasn't aware of why Greg's mother had planned everything the way she had.

He caught Greg wanting to eat after discussing it as well and that made him even more angry and irritated; he hated when anything was wrong for his friends, especially when life had already beaten most of them with an unfair stick and then kicked them in the face with a boot of helplessness. He followed Greg into the kitchen like a little plastic bag trailing in the wind, at ease when he saw that it was empty. He settled himself in against a wall and watched Greg make up a plate of food, his stomach making a move but Theo's aversion to eating more pronounced than his slight hunger for the time being. "No, thank you." he confirmed, eyes tracking Greg and then moving to stand at his side. "What's the party you would have wanted?" he asked gently.

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goyle_g
2015-05-07 01:20 pm UTC (link)

"I don't know," Greg said. He'd never really enjoyed making decisions for himself - not even when it meant that he got what he wanted out of it. "Something like this, but with just people I invited." His housewarming had had about the right guests, but his flat was so small that it had felt crowded - and Greg had been told off by Mrs McHavelock for 'associating with Death Eaters'. "And cake. And presents." Opening his presents the day after his birthday just seemed wrong, and it was making Greg more than usually impatient.

Greg's attention was split more or less evenly between Theo and his food, with a vague background awareness of whether anyone was heading towards the kitchen. They weren't, for now, but Greg doubted that would last long. "We could go outside," he suggested. "Or into the dining room." The dining room wasn't open to the party, but it was only locked, not warded, so Greg could open it to let them both in.

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nottfinished
2015-05-07 11:19 pm UTC (link)

It was such a simple wish expressed so honestly that Theo felt sad that Greg hadn't gotten what he'd wanted. His feelings against his friend's mother darkened again and he wished suddenly that he hadn't decided to present his gift at a later date and that he had the House Elf here to give to Greg now and maybe see a smile on his face for his birthday instead of that resigned acceptance.

Theo would have been more or less content to spend the rest of the party where he was, hovering at Greg's side in companionable silence but he saw no harm in acquiescing to Greg's suggestions either. "As you wish, you're the birthday boy." he reminded with a quirk of a smile, trying to give Greg this at least. Theo would appreciate a quieter pace for a bit though, this small break in the kitchen just highlighting the fact that he was getting overwhelmed by the noise of the party.

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goyle_g
2015-05-26 11:14 am UTC (link)

Greg lead the way into the dining room, tapping his wand at the door to unlock it - and then resetting both the lock and a temporary ward behind them. It was probably more precaution than was really necessary, but you weren't friends with Draco Malfoy for as long as Greg had been without developing a certain sense of healthy paranoia. That he had Theo with him only made it seem more appropriate - this way, they could both let their guards down at least a little.

The room was nowhere near as ornate or formal as some dining rooms Greg knew his friends had grown up with, but he'd never minded that. It had only ever had to be large enough for six, and had been used as often for family meals as for entertaining visitors. He sat down in 'his' chair, food and whiskey both near at hand. "Mum got me a hearing thing," Greg said, knowing that Theo was one of few who'd really understood how much having his hearing 'cured' had distressed him.

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nottfinished
2015-06-05 12:59 am UTC (link)

Theo followed Greg out into the dining room, not even flinching when Greg brandished his wand which was almost unheard of for him. He was a bit uneasy as the door was locked behind them but he knew it was ridiculous and knew that Greg wouldn't hurt him, not when they'd slept in dorms together; if anything was going to happen it would have happened then and Greg had proved himself to be someone Theo could relax around.

He took a seat close to Greg, comfortable in a dining room that felt lived in and well-loved, nothing like the cold discompassionate room with the long tables that he couldn't remember ever eating in (that he couldn't think of without feeling something sick in his heart, in his stomach). He curled up, toeing his shoes off so as not to get his shoes on the furniture, and put his chin in his hand, listening to Greg in that full-attention way he had that unnerved so many people. "How's it doing?" he asked, genuinely interested.

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goyle_g
2015-06-08 02:00 pm UTC (link)

Theo looked more comfortable with his shoes off and curled up - it was sort of how Greg was used to seeing him in the Slytherin common room and other places. "It's good," Greg said. Though not effusive in his praise, he really did like the magical device. "Everything's not so loud, but I can hear people better when they talk. I like it." It was, really, a perfect balance between the two experiences he'd lived - the background muffled like he remembered from his childhood but people's voices coming through much more crisply so that he could actually understand and reply to them.

Greg gave a slow, small smile as a thought occurred to him. "Maybe I could go watch quidditch again." Quidditch on the radio just wasn't the same, and was much harder for Greg to follow than seeing it himself. It was quite a jump between this party and a noisy quidditch match, though, and Greg thought he should probably check somewhere less overwhelming first - in case the device couldn't hold up to that.

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nottfinished
2015-06-20 08:37 pm UTC (link)

Theo knew that the suitability of a hearing aid as far as Greg was concerned wasn't in it's ability to make everything audible, but to let him understand people without being bombared by world full of noisy cacophony, something that Theo was used to tuning out (at least in his conscious mind - his paranoid subconscious was always tuned, all the time, to everything) but that Greg had never had to do. That Greg actually liked the thing had it high in Theo's estimation and the smile that brought to his face was sincere.

He tilted his head as Greg spoke wistfully, and Theo felt badly about the fact that his friend wanted to go and do things but couldn't, whereas he could do those things but was too anxious to try. The idea of a full blown professional Quidditch match, being among all those screaming shouting patrons, the giddy whirlwind of colours, the crush of bodies and the announcer's voice over it all made him feel a little panicky. His fingers moved seemingly of their own accord to pluck absently at the hem of his jumper. "I don't see why not." he said, encouragingly. "Maybe you could even ease into it. One hearing thing on at a time, that kind of thing, so that it doesn't come as a shock all at once."

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goyle_g
2015-06-24 11:13 am UTC (link)

Once Greg understood Theo's meaning, he nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. It was a good idea - even muffled, a Quidditch match might be too much. "But it would mean I could see Marcus play again." Greg was both proud and fond of his cousin, even if he'd never think to say either in so many words. That Marcus had ended up at Appleby was a bonus - Greg would have struggled to know what to do if Marcus came up against the local team he'd supported for as long as he could remember.

Greg turned his attention back to his food, not minding that he and Theo might sit in silence for a while. Silence didn't bother him, and it wasn't awkward, not with Theo. Greg was just bad at concentrating on two things at once, and food tended to absorb all of his attention if he gave it the chance to do so.

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