Arran Higgs (silverbroom) wrote in lazarustheic, @ 2017-07-01 07:31:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, character: arran higgs, character: marlene mckinnon |
who ? arran higgs and marlene mckinnon
when ? saturday morning
where ? diagon alley
what ? running into each other
status ? completed in gdocs
Since the first time she’d ran into Arran after her accidental loss of a shoe, Marlene hadn’t seen Arran out on her morning runs whenever she did them in Diagon Alley. She assumed it was because she ran later than Arran did, or took a different route, at least. That was until that Saturday morning, when just as Marlene was winding her run up close to a grassy bit with a bench which she intended to use for stretching, Arran was already ahead of her. “Hey,” she greeted stopping her run and offering Arran a smile.
“How are you?” Marlene asked lifting one of her legs up to use the bench for leverage. She didn’t really think she’d seen Arran since their not-date with Jareth, which had to be months ago now. They’d spoken on the journals since, but that wasn’t quite the same, Marlene supposed. She’d been busy, though, and evidently so had Arran. Also, it probably didn’t help that their last proper outing had been rather on the awkward side. “Congratulations on coming third in the League,” Marlene offered, because whilst it was now a month ago, she was sure Arran would appreciate the congrats anyhow.
--
To be quite frank, Arran had barely thought about Marlene since he'd had to tell her they should only go out as friends. He'd gone along to her gig, because he'd been invited, but hadn't seen her afterwards because she'd been busy with the rest of the band, or with friends. Arran hadn't really tried to see her afterwards. He felt bad, about making things awkward with her, and a little bit for not being the kind of supportive friend she'd maybe needed at the time. He couldn't feel bad about not continuing to date her, though, not when he was now getting married to Chloe. So when she greeted him as he started to slow down from his run, he felt a familiar wash of uncomfortable feelings, a panic that he wasn't going to be good at this kind of conversation. He pushed it away, doing his best to pretend it wasn't there.
"Hey," he responded. His expression brightened significantly when she congratulated him. "Thanks! It was a good season. There are worse things than losing to my sister." Especially this year, but that was another thing Arran wasn't thinking about. "Congratulations on your gig," he said. "I saw a lot of people talking about it after." Mostly, Arran thought, those had been other members of the band, but there had been comments from spectators too. "How does it feel being a big rock star?"
--
Marlene laughed when Arran asked her what it was like to be a big rock star. "I don't think I'm in any way that," she pointed out. "But yeah," she added with a smile. "Our first concert was super good and we've done a few smaller ones since, with similar sets, and they've been really well received, so it's all been super interesting." That was certainly true, even if they were hardly rock stars. Marlene was hopeful that the band's popularity would only grow, though. Not because she much cared for being a rock star but because she really wanted them to succeed for everyone's sake, besides, they were a very good band.
"Do you want a smoothie?" Marlene asked after stretching her other leg. "There's a place around the corner that does really healthy stuff, I usually get one once I'm done with my run," she explained. Marlene disliked running with a water bottle, so she usually just went and had one of the smoothies after. "You can tell me all about how you've been in like however long I haven't seen you," she teased, quite sure it had been a while. “And,” Marlene added in case Arran was going to tell her he was too busy. “It’s my birthday, so you have to.” Which was, she was sure, true.
--
"Good," Arran said, genuinely pleased that Marlene was enjoying her career choice, even if she wasn't quite a big rock star yet. "I had a good time at your gig," he said. "And you got to be on TV, that must have been exciting." Even if not many people had wizarding televisions yet, Arran still thought it must feel like an achievement. "I tried to get some of the cameras to film me, but they were more interested in the music," Arran joked.
Arran would have said yes to a smoothie anyway, but he nodded quickly when Marlene said it was her birthday so he had to. "Happy birthday. Have you got any exciting plans?" Arran liked having a party for his birthday, but he did realise not everyone felt the same. As for what he'd been up to, Arran wasn't quite sure his engagement or his attempts to be better with people were great conversation topics. "I went to Borneo," he said. "And saw lizards and rainforests and watched Chloe do a tightrope walk."
--
Marlene's eyes widened slightly when Arran said he'd had a good time at her gig. "I didn't realise you were there!" She admitted. Marlene had invited him, because she said she would, but she'd invited a lot of people, so she hardly would've been offended if Arran couldn't have made it. "You should've had come over and said 'hi'!" She insisted, though obviously it was too late now for that. Maybe next time, if Arran came to another of Pretty Fixation's gigs. She did grin at Arran when he said he'd tried to get on the telly. "I think you need to sing for that," she teased. "At least at a music festival."
When Arran agreed and wished her a happy birthday, Marlene gave a small 'thanks' and another smile, before starting to walk towards the smoothie-serving place. "I'm having a party starting at four," she said and then frowned slightly, realising that in sending out the invites she must've forgotten Arran. "You should come," she told him. "If you're free," Marlene added. It was very short notice, but seeing how she'd only sent out invites yesterday, most people hadn't had a great deal of notice anyway. "Borneo! That sounds very exciting," Marlene commented. She'd never been outside Europe, but she'd seen pictures and was very keen to explore at some point. "Lizards and rainforests," she repeated with some amusement at Arran's energetic delivery. "Who's Chloe?"
--
Arran laughed at Marlene's surprise. He'd assumed she'd spotted him, even if he hadn't said hello. "You were a bit busy on stage," he pointed out with a laugh. "And then once you were finished I couldn't find you." Arran hadn't looked particularly hard, but the crowds had genuinely made it quite difficult to locate people even if you were looking. He grinned when Marlene told him he needed to sing to be on TV. "I thought about learning guitar, when I was about 15," he said. "But then quidditch was more important." Mostly, his dad had told him how much time he'd need to spend learning guitar, and Arran had decided he wanted to devote that time to practicing flying instead. "Did you become a teenager again?" Arran asked, assuming Marlene would know what he was referring to. "I did. It was kind of great and kind of weird."
He nodded and said 'thanks' when Marlene said he should come to her party. He wasn't really doing anything, so he could definitely stop in. "I'll come by," he promised. "Do you want a present? What do you want?" Attempting to guess for Marlene seemed really quite far beyond Arran's skill level. He was only just learning to buy presents for his sister who he'd known literally all his life. The question of who Chloe was was a bit of a complicated one, and Arran paused over it. "We were shagging and going on adventures," he explained. "And now we're getting married." It probably wasn't the best, most considerate way to tell Marlene - but Arran honestly didn't know what would have been better. "She asked me while we were in Borneo."
--
Marlene was sure that Arran was right and she had been busy, but if she'd spotted Arran, she would've tried to say 'hi'. "Thank you for coming anyway," she offered, because Marlene did appreciate that he had said he would ages ago and despite them not having spoken much still did as he'd promised and seen her play. She gave a small laugh when Arran said he'd tried to learn guitar when he'd been fifteen. "I can teach you if you'd like," she offered. "The basics." Because Marlene didn't really think she was better at teaching guitar than the basics, but even those would take a while to perfect. When Arran asked if she'd been a teenager, Marlene shook her head. "Thankfully not," she replied. "I'm already in the future, I don't think aged whatever fourteen, I would've coped with that very well." Especially not since all of her family were dead.
Arran's promise that he'd come to her party earned him another smile before Marlene shook her head. "Oh, don't worry about a present," she assured. "It's such a short notice and I don't really need anything." Both of which were true, Marlene really didn't expect people to bring her presents, she just hoped they'd come to enjoy her crappy cakes. Whoever Marlene had expected Chloe to be (and she had guessed either a friend or a girlfriend), she really hadn't expected the answer Arran did give. Their date had only been a few months ago, it seemed like a very short time to get engaged to someone. "Oh," was the first thing Marlene managed to say. "Um," followed about as eloquently. "Congratulations?" She offered. "Bring her," she added. "To the party, I mean." Because why the fuck not.
--
Arran's motive in wanting to learn to play guitar had mostly been that he'd wanted to impress girls - which no longer seemed at all important, because he had Chloe, and he wasn't sure how impressed Chloe would be with him learning guitar. She was quite excited about him learning to drive, though. Almost as excited as Arran was. "Thanks," he said, because it was nice of Marlene to offer, "but the urge has definitely passed. I'll leave it to the people who did more than sort of think about it. My brother's going to teach me to drive, so I think all my spare brainpower might be taken up already." Not to mention, Arran's continued efforts to improve himself took up a lot of his available time to think. He frowned when Marlene said she wouldn't have coped well with being in the future, not sure what to say. "It was weird," he agreed, because that seemed safe enough.
Though Marlene said she didn't want a present, Arran still felt like he should bring something. It was, after all, a birthday party. But then he remembered Chloe telling him not to put what he wanted above what other people had said, so he nodded. "Alright." Marlene's reaction to Arran's news was, at least, not as awkward as Arran had feared it might be. He smiled when she congratulated him. "Thank you," he said sincerely, because he really did feel incredibly happy and very lucky to be marrying Chloe, so he was willing to accept all the congratulations for that. "I'll ask if she'd like to come," he said, because Chloe had also mentioned that Arran shouldn't promise she'd come to things without first asking her. "Who else have you invited?"
--
"Suit yourself," Marlene said with some amusement when Arran decided against learning to play the guitar now. She did give a small 'ooh' when he said his brother was going to teach him to drive. "That sounds exctiting," Marlene commented honestly. She didn't think she knew anyone who could drive, because most of her friends, at least when she'd been alive the first time around, had been magical and even those who'd been Muggleborn spent most of their time in the magical world and thus had no need for a car or the ability to drive. The teenage thing, from what Marlene had read, really had seemed weird. "How did you find it?" She asked curiously, because as much as Marlene wouldn't have wanted to partake, it did still seem quite interesting. As a concept.
When Arran said he'd bring Chloe if she'd like to come, Marlene nodded, that seemed reasonable. She was also curious of what she was like, it seemed, to Marlene, that this marriage thing was really quite sudden. But it didn't seem right to point out when she didn't know Arran all that well. "Oh, my band," Marlene offered. "And couple of neighbours, some friends I've made and some friends who've returned," she explained. Marlene really wasn't sure she knew if any of the people she knew were people Arran knew. "Jareth, you remember him," she said becuase they had definitely met before.
--
"I'm really excited," Arran agreed. He was, simultaneously pleased and proud and excited that Terence had offered to teach him, as well as asking him to help him choose a car. "I always wanted to learn that, too. But my brother teaching me is way better than a driving school." Arran had looked into it before, but never quite got around to booking lessons or taking the tests. "As teenagers we coped pretty well," Arran answered. "I just put it down to some weird magic that would stop, and enjoyed not having to answer to anyone or be in school." And getting to know Chloe, he'd enjoyed that too. "It's weirder now I remember it happening, because I can see how much I changed." Mostly, Arran thought, for the better. He gave a smirk then. "And how much I didn't," he added.
Arran had no idea whether any of Marlene's friends were people he might know, but he also didn't really care. He didn't need to know lots of people at a party to enjoy himself, he'd talk to just about anyone. "I remember Jareth," Arran agreed with a nod. "How is he? Happy with your gigs?" He assumed so, because Jareth had seemed very passionate about music, almost as much as Arran was about quidditch. "Will you at least let me buy you a smoothie?" he asked, as they approached the counter. "Since it is your birthday."
--
It was clear, even if Arran hadn't said as much, that he was very excited to learn to drive. Marlene did nod when Arran said that having his brother teach him was better than driving school. "It's nice," she agreed. "Is your brother older?" Since Arran wasn't exactly young, Marlene assumed his brother could be younger and still teach him. Also, if Marlene had been told whether Arran's siblings were younger or older she really couldn't recall. She did remember that his sister played quidditch like Arran and that he liked films. As far as dates went, Marlene supposed she hadn't been a very good one if that was all she could recall. "I can see how that might seem weird," she agreed with a nod. "But I'm glad it wasn't a terrible experience."
"Oh, yes," Marlene nodded. "We're all very pleased, I think." Or at least certainly no one had said, or really had a reason to say, that they weren't happy. Even Andrew, who Marlene was sure had been the most nervous despite the most experience, had seemed rather pleased with how it had all turned out in the end. When Arran asked if she'd at least allow him to buy her a smoothie, Marlene laughed. "Yes, I suppose that would be acceptable," she said with a smile. "The one with strawberries," she added nodding towards the board. "So tell me about this wedding. When are you having it?"
--
Arran gave a nod to confirm that Terence was, indeed, older. "Three years," he added. "Mum had us all pretty close together. Gemma's in the middle, and I'm the youngest. He learned to drive in the army, but he decided to get a car so now he's going to teach me." Despite some of their frustrations with each other in the past, Arran didn't predict any difficulties with Terence teaching him. Arran had always been pretty good at picking up physical skills. As long as Terence wasn't trying to teach him History of Magic, he was sure they'd be fine. "It was a pretty good experience," Arran said. "Not one I'd recommend everyone else repeat, but for me it was nice. Once I realised the Cannons aren't shit now."
Once he'd ordered the smoothies and paid, Arran gave a small shrug in response to Marlene's question. "It's not really a wedding," he said. "We're hoping my nan will do the ceremony, and we'll have two witnesses, and then a big party for everyone else. But none of the usual wedding stuff." Arran was pleased with the arrangement, because the only bit of a traditional wedding he'd really wanted was the best man, and Roger was being that anyway. "Chloe's sister is arranging everything, and it's going to be the last weekend in July."
--
Marlene nodded when Arran explained how both of his siblings were older. She almost offered in return how her brother was older, too, except her brother was also dead now and Marlene didn't really want to engage in any sort of conversation on the topic. "Well, I hope it all goes well," she wished instead. Learning to drive did seem interesting and perhaps if Arran ended up telling her about his experiences, Marlene might consider it, even if she wasn't sure she had any need for a car or the skill to drive it at all. It seemed fun. Arran's comment about the Cannons earned him a laugh from Marlene. "Yes, well, I'm still coming to grips with that," she teased.
After thanking Arran for the smoothie, Marlene gave a small 'ooh' when he said that they were hoping for his nan to do the ceremony. "That seems really sweet," Marlene commented honestly. Not having a big wedding but a party instead seemed fair enough. Marlene had no particular opinions about weddings one way or another, the only one she'd ever been to had been Lily and James'. Her eyes did widen slightly when Arran said that the ceremony would be at the end of July. "This July?" She asked. It seemed... all really very quick. "Is she pregnant?" Marlene asked and then blushed because that was definitely a rude thing to ask, but that was also the main reason she could imagine someone wanting to get married in such a rush.
--
He laughed when Marlene said she was still coming to grips with the Cannons being near the top of the league. "I was pretty worried that I'd turned out to be a shit quidditch player," he admitted. It hadn't been something he'd been willing to voice at sixteen, but Roger had known anyway, and had reassured Arran that the Cannons were doing well. It pleased Arran to know his best friend knew him well enough to offer that reassurance without needing to be asked. "That seemed more believable than that the Cannons were doing well." Fortunately, Arran knew the truth now - and knew he was every bit as good as he'd wanted to be.
"This July," Arran agreed. He tried not to think about Gemma when Marlene asked if Chloe was pregnant. "No," he assured her. Chloe getting pregnant wouldn't, Arran thought, have lead to marriage. He was quite glad of that. They were getting married purely because they wanted to be married. "We're just impatient," he explained. He didn't really know how to explain it to someone who didn't know him very well. "We haven't been together long, but this is what we want, and we think it can work." Arran was quite sure it would work, because he had a brilliant time with Chloe, and they could talk about difficult things as well as easy ones.
--
Marlene could definitely understand why teenaged Arran might've worried about playing for the Cannons. She had at first assumed he must not be very good if he played for the team, but having followed the 2017 half of the quidditch season, Marlene had witnessed that the Cannons genuinely were good at this point. It was an odd kind of thing and possible the biggest discrepancy she'd found with living in the future. "But they're not shit!" Marlene pointed out happily. "It's been a really good season for you," she commented. Even including the doping scandal, the Cannons had done impressively. "Shame about Montrose," she teased, mostly because she knew Arran's sister played for the Falcons and thus Montrose's loss was quite a good thing for him (even if they had beaten the Cannons).
Being impatient didn't, really, to Marlene explain why they were getting married so soon after getting together, but she did recognise that perhaps she simply didn't know the whole story. "Well, good luck to you," she offered honestly. "I'll make sure to send you a wedding present," she half-teased, because whilst Marlene would she was sure Arran wouldn't insist on it, especially not if they weren't having a proper wedding (though Marlene did think that a ceremony and a party was basically the same as a wedding). "Is it nice to have someone else organise it?" She asked assuming the answer was 'yes'. "Weddings seem like such a stressful occasion." Which was a shame, because they were meant to be happy.
--
"We're definitely not shit," Arran agreed. "We're going to win one of these days." Arran felt that he still had a good few years before he might have to think about retirement, and in at least one of those years he wanted the Cannons to win the league. He wouldn't be devastated if they didn't, but it was still a nice thing to dream about. He chuckled when Marlene teased him about Montrose, because he was pleased that the Falcons had won. "We can't all win," he pointed out. "And the Falcons deserved it this year." It had been a close thing, but Arran was happy for Gemma and her team. "You should hear my brother brag," he added. Even if, mostly, Terence just bragged to Arran, rather than to anyone else.
Arran was quite sure he and Chloe didn't need good luck, but he would accept it anyway, because it was a nice thought. "Thank you." He was glad Marlene didn't seem pissed off, or hurt. Maybe she was just hiding it and Arran couldn't tell. That thought made him pause slightly, because it didn't seem all that unlikely. "It's certainly not what I expected at the beginning of the year," he said. He hadn't had any inkling he'd be getting married in 2017. Wouldn't have thought he was ready for it, but now he did feel like he was. "It's probably a good thing," Arran agreed. "If it was left to me it would be a pizza and beer party and I'd probably forget to invite someone important. Chloe's sister organises events for a living, so I'm a lot more confident she'll remember everything."
--
"Fingers crossed for next season," Marlene offered genuinely. As much as Montrose was the team of her choice, Marlene found that knowing people on other teams made a difference in her perception. Given, she currently only really knew Arran but that was plenty of enough to at least a little support the Cannons. Marlene did give a small laugh when Arran said his brother bragged. "I bet he does," Marlene nodded. "Two singlings in the top three teams in the League, that's impressive." Marlene, having grown up in a family that loved quidditch, could definitely see how that was something worth bragging about.
No, Marlene supposed it hadn't been what Arran might've expected at the beginning of the year, because he'd gone on a date with Marlene at the end of February and there definitely hadn't been any mention of maybe getting married. It seemed, to Marlene, incredibly rushed, but she really couldn't comment because she didn't know Arran well and she didn't know Chloe at all. It seemed easier to concentrate on Arran's answer about the organising. "Pizza and beer doesn't sound too bad," Marlene teased. "But I do imagine the whole thing might just feel less nice if you had to be in charge of everything. It's nice that you have someone to ask to do it instead." Marlene thought that if she was to ever get married - which she couldn't really imagine right now - she'd like someone else to organise it, too.
--
"Two siblings in the top three, and one that won," Arran pointed out. "He doesn't let me forget that." Though, Arran would never want to forget that Gemma had won. It was a great achievement for her, and he was very proud. Better than that, he knew that she and Terence would be just as proud of him when the Cannons won, whenever they eventually did. "It's been a good year," he said. "Not just in terms of quidditch." Though, the quidditch had mostly been very good - apart from the doping scandal. "And for your band, as well," he added, since when Marlene had started there hadn't even been a whole band yet, and now they were performing and everything.
Pizza and beer didn't sound too bad, Arran agreed, and for all he knew that was exactly what Tessa was planning. "I think it'll be pretty good knowing all we have to do is dress ourselves and turn up," he agreed. Everything else would be taken care of, and then they could go on their exciting honeymoon. "We're going to parachute in a cave in Mexico," he informed Marlene. "To celebrate." Arran didn't know which part to be most excited about - but the abiding feeling was that he was just excited to be married to Chloe.
--
Marlene frowned slightly when Arran said that his brother didn't let him forget that his sister had won the League. That didn't really sound very nice, but perhaps Arran meant it in an encouraging way? He didn't seem like he meant it in a bad way, so Marlene decided not to question it, instead giving a nod when Arran said it'd been a good year. She also smiled a little when he added that it wasn't just because of quidditch, because as much as to Marlene it seemed that Arran was getting married very suddenly, he did seem happy, much happier than she remembered him when they'd first met him, anyway, and that was very nice. "It's been an excellent year so far," Marlene agreed, because the band was doing great. "Not being dead's been quite good, really," she joked.
Whatever Marlene thought of when she thought of people's honeymoons, she'd never really imagined parachuting as one of the elements of it. "That's..." Marlene wasn't really sure. "Exciting?" She settled on, mostly because Arran genuinely did seem excited about it. "How do you parachute in a cave?" Marlene asked really unsure, because in her experience of caves, which was albeit limited, you crawled through them, or sometimes walked if they were quite deep and tall, but parachuting in a cave seemed... extreme.
--
Arran smiled, somewhat awkwardly, when Marlene commented that not being dead had been quite good. "Yeah," he agreed, hesitantly. "You'd think it would be better than being dead, anyway." Because being dead was probably just… nothingness, and being alive and aware had to be better than that, didn't it? "What do you think you'll do with the rest of the year?" he asked. "More band things?" Arran wasn't really sure what being a band actually entailed, but he presumed it would take up as much a chunk of Marlene's time as anyone else's job did them.
"It is exciting," Arran agreed. He'd looked up the cave after Chloe had told him about it, and he was very eager to go. He was also hoping they'd arrange a long enough trip to see other parts of Mexico, since Arran had never been. "It's a really really tall cave," he explained. "So you jump in from the top, and freefall for a few seconds and then open your parachute." In case that wasn't clear, Arran added, "It's a cave that goes down, not sideways."
--
Marlene laughed when Arran, really needlessly, pointed out that being alive was better than being dead. "Yes, that is usually the general agreement," Marlene teased. "Probably band things, yes," she nodded. The temptation to add that she wasn't planning to get married was great, but Marlene did stop herself. Especially if apparently all of that could turn around in four months. "I've also got lots of projects," she added instead. "I'm doing upcycling, but like my cakes, I'm not sure stuff I make look very good." And unlike her cakes, you couldn't even eat it after.
When Arran explained how you parachuted in a cave, Marlene gave a small 'ooh'. "That sounds frightening," she commented honestly. It definitely wasn't something Marlene felt she wanted to do, but Arran clearly did, and presumably so did his soon-to-be wife, which was a great deal more important. "I hope you have an excellent time," she wished truthfully. "I need to go home and prep the party," she informed Arran. "But I'll see you later yeah? Four pm, fifteen Gryffindor Gate in Bethany," she added. "Thank you for the smoothie!"