Tweak

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Tweak says, "bad dog!"

Dominic Chambers (knowhow) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2015-08-12 14:34:00

Entry tags:

character: angelina johnson, character: dominic chambers, status: complete

Motor Running
Who: Dominic and Angelina
What: Moonlit Motorcycle Rides
Where: The sky!
When: Wednesday 11th August, evening
Rating: SFW for now

After setting up the room for choir, Dominic decided to settle down in the Common Room at a table near the bar. He ordered food and a (soft) drink and sat down with notebooks and reference images spread in front of him. Seamus had finally decided on the theme for Dean's birthday - and Dominic was excited about it. He'd wanted to do something 1920s inspired for a while, and had photographs of several experiments on his own spare room to consider. He'd meant to keep an eye out for Dean but after fifteen minutes or so Dominic decided he probably wasn't working that evening and let himself get lost in the work.

His plate of chips sat half-finished and pushed across to the opposite side of the table as he bent over his notebooks, writing lists of spells he'd need to cast and decorative touches he wanted to add. His denim jacket was flung across the nearby chair - leaving him in jeans and a t-shirt. Far too absorbed to notice the time, he didn't even hear Seamus behind the bar pointing him out.

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knowhow
2015-08-13 10:29 am UTC (link)

Dominic looked up at the greeting. "Shit," he said, glancing from the woman to his wristwatch. "Is it time to go already? I swear I just got here." He straightened in his seat and started to tidy his notes away - endeavouring to maintain some kind of order so they wouldn't be a total mess when he next needed them. While his hands were working, he looked up again. "Sorry, yeah - I'm Dominic. You prefer Angie?"

Eventually, he'd tidied everything into his bag and was ready to go. "I can leave this here," he said, hefting the bag in one hand while he fetched his jacket with the other. On closer examination, Angelina's features - combined with the name - rung a faint bell. Dominic was pretty sure she hadn't been in his year, but maybe he'd seen her around school, or possibly on the Quidditch pitch.

As they passed the bar, Dominic handed his bag over for safe-keeping. He could pick it up tomorrow morning when Finnigan's was open again, there was nothing in it he desperately needed for the evening. "How was choir?"

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angie_j
2015-08-13 05:08 pm UTC (link)

She snorted inelegantly when he was startled. "Yup, I'm all done trying to imitate a non-scary banshee," she said. "And yes I prefer Angie. I mean I answer to just about anything, but that's the polite one, yeah."

She leaned against one of the chairs as he tidied up, amused by the vast swathes of what appeared to be notes. It was the one thing that neither of her jobs really seemed to come with. Yes there was a certain amount of paper-type information with the photography work, but it rarely involved notes, just invoices and the actual photos. "Awesome," she said when he said he could leave his bag. They could have packed it onto the bike, but it was easier that they didn't have to deal with it.

"It was good," Angie enthused. "I mean, I'm honestly not the most pitch perfect singer, but it's a lot of fun, and we're not trying to sing fancy shit so I have half a chance of being able to find the songs to hear if they didn't make it to New Zealand!" She'd really been enjoying choir, and most of the others were a lot of fun to chat to after the rehearsals had ended. "Do you actually do any of the activities at the pub, or are you just the set them up? I got that right, didn't I? You said you set up for choir?"

As they headed for the door Angie didn't bother to swing her jacket on, she was fairly sure it would be warm enough until they actually got on the bike.

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knowhow
2015-08-18 10:12 am UTC (link)

"Don't say that around Seamus," Dominic counselled immediately. "You'll put the idea into his head and he'll never be comfortable around choir again." He assumed Angie knew who Seamus was - most customers did, especially if they were taking part in the activities. "He hates banshees," he added, by way of explanation. "You may not have noticed yet, but you'll never hear Celestina Warbeck in here."

Dominic grinned as they moved out the door. "Spot on," he agreed. "I set up pretty much everything, so I'm here a lot. I only actually attend duelling club regularly - and the Business Bureau sometimes. I'll stick around and watch chess if Seamus is playing. I think that's it..." He shrugged, because his schedule wasn't particularly reliable. Sometimes he'd stay for Gobstones, which required almost no set up on his part, and he'd attended the very few Battlescars meetings Seamus had wanted him at.

"Is it just choir for you, so far?" he asked.

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angie_j
2015-08-18 01:51 pm UTC (link)

Angie winced and nodded her understanding. "Right you are, no mentioning banshees around Seamus unless I want to feel guilty enough that I have to go drink with the tourists and droves of kids coming through in the Leaky," she said and gave a little salute. "I wouldn't worry about Warbeck, I've never been a fan," she added.

"I've been meaning to come along to Duelling club, it's been far too long since I've had a decent chance to try much in that vein," she said. "I tend to like doing active things, but the quiz appeals too." She'd never been much for chess or gobstones or anything that required too much of that type of thinking. The Business Bureau was something for her in the future, possibly. "But yeah, mostly choir," she said.

As they pushed out into the evening she flicked her eyes to the sky, noting it wasn't dark as such yet, but it was definitely heading that way. "Okay, so I've managed to move my bike out of the city proper now. Easiest way to get there is apparition," she said. "If that works for you?"

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knowhow
2015-08-18 07:33 pm UTC (link)

Dominic laughed, nodding. "It's amazing there isn't a third pub somewhere around, honestly," he said. "I mean... this place has been a pub since before the war - but probably not one you or I would want to come to. I'm always surprised the Leaky was the only option for law-abiding wizarding folk for such a long time."

"You should come, then," Dominic said. "Even if it's just to watch. As long as that sort of thing doesn't bother you, of course." Even as little exposure to Battlescars as Dominic had had, he knew that there were some who wouldn't want to be around a bunch of people duelling - even if it was just for fun.

The night was a little cool - certainly, cooler than the day had been - but Dominic didn't feel he needed his jacket just yet. "Of course," he said easily - he'd assumed as much, honestly. "I'm ready when you are."

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angie_j
2015-08-18 08:51 pm UTC (link)

"You'd think there would be. I'll be good though, I'm not going all the way to Hogsmeade just for alcohol!" She shrugged. It wasn't like she was actually planning to get banned from Finnigan's. She'd never been down Monument Alley before it had been forcibly refurbished so she had no idea about how the pub had been previously, but she could imagine well enough.

She nodded eagerly, she could understand that people might have issues about attending a Duelling club, but she had been mercifully lucky to not have encountered many effects from being a part of the battle. "I'm sort of waiting until I'm settled back into a training schedule again before I pile on yet another activity. My old coaches tended to despair a bit when I told them what I'd been up to." She'd even had some wages docked after confessing to one particularly hair-raising stunt. Well, bungee jumping was hair-raising in their eyes. She'd had a fantastic time. She was waiting to see how strict the Arrows coaches were before she got too crazy.

"Okay then," she said and stepped forward, taking hold of his arm and getting a verbal okay before apparating the both of them to the garage she'd found to store her bike in. Luckily there was a safe spot for apparating to so that no muggles got alarmed. She let go of Dominic again, whipping out her wand to spell a light on. "So, here's my beautiful bike," she said, gesturing to the currently cloth-covered bike that she always took good care of. It wasn't quite her pride and joy, that honour was reserved for her favourite broom, but it definitely had a place in her heart. She stepped forward and pulled the sheet off with practised ease, twiddling her wand to fold the sheet quickly into a neat square.

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knowhow
2015-08-19 12:28 pm UTC (link)

"Who're you playing for?" Dominic asked. He remembered reading in the journals that Angelina was a Quidditch pro, which was only adding to his sense that he must have seen her play at school, but he hadn't paid enough attention to recall which team. "I follow matches when they're on," he said, by way of apology for not remembering, "but I don't really pay attention to all the between-season stuff. I do know you didn't transfer to either of my teams, because Seamus keeps me up to date with those."

In a way, it was a novelty to have someone apparate him somewhere. It was usually the other way around. It would be even more uncommon to have someone else drive him. Excluding family, Dominic was really the only person he knew who drove regularly, or owned a car. In the wizarding world it was almost more trouble than it was worth, but Dominic wouldn't give it up. He gave a low whistle as Angie slid the sheet off the bike - her wandlight glittering on the blue-purple surfaces. He happened to look up and catch the neat spell folding the sheet, as well. "She's gorgeous," he said, assuming bikes - like cars and boats - were generally female. "And that's some neat wand work."

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angie_j
2015-08-19 02:14 pm UTC (link)

"I'm joining the Arrows, which as a lifelong Tornadoes fan goes against my heart a bit, but the team are doing well and I'm looking forward to doing more than drills and training matches." She nodded enthusiastically at his explanation. As a professional she'd been keeping an eagle eye on the transfers to be sure of who she'd be coming up against, but most people only paid the closest level of attention to their own team. "Makes sense," she said.

She grinned widely, pleased by his appreciation. "Thanks, I love her to bits, even she wasn't new when I got her. I've taken good care and she rides like a dream. I was a bit nervous about getting her back from New Zealand, but she's just fine," she enthused. She chuckled when he complimented her wand work. "Yeah, well, my Mum is a caterer, folding sheets I can practically do in my sleep. No matter the shape!" She'd been helping serve since she was a teenager, and seen the move so many times that by the time she was allowed to help with the tablecloths herself she had already been doing it on her sheets at school and was almost up to her mum's high standards.

She patted her bike automatically, a habit of hers and reached for her helmet, which had been spelled by a sympathetic biker with natural hair to accommodate whatever she was doing with her own hair. It was handy since a lot of regular helmets did a terrible job at fitting her hair in. She popped it on the top of her head, balancing it easily (even without pushing it on properly) as she neatly slotted her bag into the panniers on the back of her bike. She grabbed her spare helmet from the nearby shelf and held it out for Dominic. "Not elegant, but no travelling without one. I don't want picking up by the muggles."

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knowhow
2015-08-21 12:52 pm UTC (link)

"I must admit, I envy you lifelong fans," he said. "I only found out about Quidditch when I was eleven. Which seems like a lifetime ago in some ways, but I don't have any firm Quidditch loyalty. I'll cheer for the Kestrels or the Bats, or sometimes both." He'd never attended a match between the two in person, but listening on the wireless had found him cheering for goals by both sides, confusing the rest of the pub's clientele.

Dominic stayed standing back for a moment, taking in the bike in her full glory, brain whirring as he considered the interplay of magic and machine. "I should really stop being so fussy about doing magic near my car," he mused to himself. His education in muggle mechanics was sadly lacking, and he didn't entirely understand why electricity and magic were incompatible but diesel power was apparently completely fine. He could see that the two were obviously very different, but not enough to isolate whatever was the problematic feature of electric power. In practically the same breath he added, "There's really no reason a car couldn't be apparated safely." He shook himself out of the inward thoughts. "Did you have her shipped? I can see why you'd be nervous."

When she offered, he reached out to grab the helmet. "I'm not what most people would call elegant," he pointed out, grinning and gesturing to his outfit. "When I'm in the muggle world I swear people check my hands for oil." He didn't mind. Actually, he took a kind of pride in it, in working with his hands and brain in equal measure. He had respect for the people who were all academic, they were far cleverer than he was, but he didn't want to be one of them. He slotted the helmet over his head and fastened the catch.

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angie_j
2015-08-21 07:25 pm UTC (link)

Angie nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, I was lucky like that. Both of my parents are magical but Mum's muggleborn, so I know it's not as easy as that for everyone," he said. Her Mama had told her stories about the culture shock of the wizarding world when she was only eleven, so that Angie knew to take care of those in her own year who needed the extra help. "Dad's not the biggest Quidditch fan, but he supported Tornadoes, took me to a game once or twice," she explained. "I got hooked."

She could see Dominic's mind working as he spoke. Maybe he'd been a Ravenclaw. Not that being cerebral definitely meant Ravenclaw, but it was a good indication. She didn't think she remembered him from Gryffindor though. "I'll be honest I didn't do the spell work, she's second hand the guy I bought her from had already done everything, or had it done. Not sure." She shrugged, she'd been able to try the bike out before she bought it and been satisfied it was in order. She kept it well maintained and it ran just fine. She nodded. "Yeah, I had her shipped. Well wrapped in actual packing and protective spells, but it was a pretty tense space of time there."

When he gestured to his outfit she allowed her eyes to drag down his body with intent. He was definitely cute. She'd noticed when he first stood up in the pub, but there was no harm in a little flirting surely. Flicking her eyes back to his face she grinned. "Yeah, well I swear like the proverbial sailor and my mouth sort of gets away with me sometimes, so I'm not going to win any elegance contests either," she said, smacking her helmet down properly over her hair and clicking the catch shut.

"So, have you ridden before?" she asked. That was a good thing to ask. If he'd ridden either broom or bike before he was at something of an advantage, especially once they got into the air, but neither was really necessary. She pulled on her leather jacket and zipped it up properly, wriggling slightly to adjust it so it sat okay over her shirt and nothing was clumping uncomfortably.

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knowhow
2015-08-25 01:29 pm UTC (link)

"Sounds like you got the best of both worlds," Dominic agreed. He laughed slightly to himself before adding, "I envy that, too, honestly... Or maybe I don't. Finding out about magic all at once when I was eleven? Totally changed my life. If it had just been normal all along I might not be so fascinated by it." He also thought knowing what could be done with electricity was in some ways an advantage, because he had things to try and replicate with magic. Weren't the journals he'd made essentially a hardcopy form of an online message board?

Moving closer to the bike, Dominic nodded. "But the fact that the bike can be enchanted to fly, and still run in the normal way, means that the magic doesn't interfere with the mechanics." He paused then, tipping his head forward slightly. "At least. I assume you can still drive it like a muggle motorcycle?" Maybe it could only fly... though in that case, why not just use a broom? There was marginally more storage, but that didn't really seem like enough to make it worth it.

When Dominic pulled himself away from his consideration of the magical-mechanical implications of the bike, Angie was giving him a definitely recognisable look. He grinned back, lifting one shoulder. "I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting the girl with the flying motorbike to be Miss Elegance." He smirked. "I pictured you in knee-high boots and a leather jacket." He returned the favour of letting his gaze travel down her body, ending with the booted feet. "So I was very nearly right."

"Not a motorbike," Dominic admitted. He'd never actually had the chance before. "Pedal bikes when I was younger, and brooms at Hogwarts. I was one of Ravenclaw's chasers for five years."

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angie_j
2015-08-25 04:50 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, I think it was a pretty good mix. Got a pretty good contact with the muggle world, shit Evan and I even went to muggle primary school, but Dad works at the Ministry, so I got a serious mix of cultures," she said. "I was never all that academic though. It's admittedly less fascinating when you've grown up with it." She shrugged. It wasn't like she could go back and change how she'd grown up.

She snorted inelegantly and nodded. "Yeah, she drives like a normal bike too, it'd be a bit shit if you had to get it to somewhere useful to be able to use it," she said. "I'm planning on us driving for a while to get properly out from the houses and get a bit darker before we go up."

When he gave her the same sort of once over she felt a happy little thrill go through her. Flirting felt good, and she smiled. "I mean I do have knee-high boots but they're not really the sort that are practical for the bike," she teased. She had got proper biking boots too, but she didn't always bother wearing. "At least the jacket was right. Although I'm not as much of a badass as you were maybe thinking. Even if I ride a badass bike."

"Well, you've gotta have some sense of balance then, so that's a good start. And the broom experience definitely helps," she said. She frowned slightly, thinking. "We probably played against each other then. I was on the Gryffindor team from my second year on. Also a chaser." She bounced a little on her feet, pleased he was a fellow player, even if it was only former one in his case.

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knowhow
2015-08-27 11:06 am UTC (link)

Dominic nodded. He didn't know if he'd ever have children - it didn't seem all that likely, since he wasn't the type to settle down with one partner - but if he did he'd want to give them the same experience Angelina described, minus the Ministry affiliation. He gave a quick snort of laughter. "If you ask the Hogwarts professors they'd probably tell you I was the least academic Ravenclaw they ever taught," he said. "I'm fascinated in a practical way. Make me sit down with a book on the topic and I'm likely to fall asleep."

And now Dominic was picturing Angie in knee-high boots... and not a great deal else. "That remains to be seen," he teased. "The bike and the leather are getting you a lot of badass points. I don't know what you'd have to do to lose them."

Dominic had been trying to judge Angie's age for a while, and trying to remember whether he'd ever flown against her. "I think I might have been too young," he said. "I didn't start on the team until my third year. That was the year after the Triwizard Tournament." He couldn't be sure, of course. He wasn't good enough to judge ages that finely.

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angie_j
2015-08-27 05:58 pm UTC (link)

The comment about the professors made Angie laugh aloud and nod. "Yeah, I like doing stuff. I may have got some comments about not being like my brother with the implication that was definitely a bad thing," she said. She was oddly proud of that one considering how stuffy Evan was.

"Well, let's see," she said. "When I'm not being all badass in leather or on a broom I like to wear a lot of girly dresses. I mean that doesn't negate the badass thing, but it's way less obvious." She giggled and moved over to her bike, kicking out the stand and beginning to move it towards the doors.

Angelina suddenly realised why she hadn't recognised him as such. "Ahhh, yeah, Triwizard was my sixth year. I was captain in my last year though, so I should remember you," she said, frowning. "Clearly I'm getting forgetful in my old age!" she joked. She flicked her wand and opened the garage doors. "C'mon, you can saddle up when we get outside."

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knowhow
2015-09-14 01:44 pm UTC (link)

Dominic was happy to walk a step behind Angie as she manoeuvred the pike. "I don't have siblings," Dominic said, never quite sure whether he was pleased with that fact or not. "I think it would have been hard to leave them in the muggle world if I did, assuming I was the only wizard in the family. I didn't mind leaving school, I thought Hogwarts was going to be ten times more exciting, but leaving brothers or sisters would have been different, I imagine." He hadn't really liked leaving his mum and dad that much, not that he'd admitted it then.

"Nothing wrong with girly dresses," he assured her. "A beautiful girl in a sundress is the reason god made summer." He grinned, obviously exaggerating. "And if you can manage heels more power to you, I know I couldn't."

Dominic filed the age and quidditch information away with a nod. "Maybe I just didn't make much of an impression," he said with a shrug. "I was decent, but by no means the star of the team. More the solid, reliable type - which I like to think still applies."

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angie_j
2015-09-14 08:19 pm UTC (link)

A little hum of agreement escaped Angie. "Yeah, I just have Evan and, I mean, he's my brother and I love him, but we're complete opposites personality wise and we were never really close," she said and shrugged. "He was in Ravenclaw actually, couple of years older than me. He was a prefect but never the most sociable guy. He fits the head in a book stereotype so you might have missed him."

"Sometimes there are heels," she admitted, wriggling her arse slightly. "But it takes a fuckload of spellwork to keep my feet from killing me so it's not too often."

Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she turned back to look at him. "Solid and reliable I can work with," she said. Her mouth was hidden behind her helmet, but it was smirking.

They were out of the building now and she doused the lights and closed the door again with a couple of quick spells. They were at the sprawling edges of London, as it finally started to peter out into countryside. Close enough that it was an easy ride to somewhere they could get up in the air. She swung herself onto the bike with the ease of much practice. "Okay, so, the important thing to remember is to hang on to either me or the handles just under your seat. It might be easier to lean forward towards me to start with. Lean into the turns and if I tap your hands loosen off a bit. Don't squish your driver. Very important that!"

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