Who: Meaghan McCormack and Dunbar Oglethorpe What: Dunbar keeping Meaghan company... When: January 19, 2000 Where: Dunbar, Scotland Warnings: Grown children flirting like teenagers. And uh... watch out for that ending... Notes: Excerpts of 'PASUN AT PIG PE EEK' kindly provided by Kas.
"Ellie's coming back on Monday!" Meaghan announced by way of greeting as soon as Dunbar opened the door. For someone who'd come over to be distracted she didn't seem nearly as in need of comfort as she'd been just the day before: she bounced in place, face as bright as her stupid yellow bobble hat.
It had been a shock and a relief to see the clubhouse bulletin board that morning. While some of the rest of the team had seemed worried about what it might mean, Meaghan didn't care. Ellie was supposed to be there and she was coming back, and it was enough to make her want to dance. They wouldn't be stuck with Bart forever. It was all gonna be okay longterm and soon enough. Everything else was just whatever.
Being well-used to Meaghan and knowing her for as long as he did Dunbar was hardly surprised by the form of Meaghan's greeting. He had to admit she certainly seemed in a better mood than she had appeared to be in when he'd talked to her last. "I don't have to ask if you're pleased about that," he said, trying to focus on her and not the absurdly bright hat she was wearing.
"So this meaning you still need or want distracting then?" he asked jokingly. Naturally he'd never be one to actually say no to her company, because apparently he seemed to delight in making life complicated for himself.
Meaghan blinked in surprise. It hadn't even occurred to her not to come around still. "Well I'm here ain't I?" She wiggled her hands in her pockets, safely hidden from view and therefore allowed to be awkward. Wanting was one thing, but needing wasn't something she liked admitting to, even if she still did.
Really, wanting felt a little more awkward than it had yesterday too. She shrugged, the picture of casual and unconcerned, and said, "I mean, since I'm here. Might as well, right? And anyway I want a curry. So let's get one, yeah? Just got outta practice and I'm dyin'."
Dunbar held his hands up a second before dropping. "Didn't mean nothing, was only joking, McCormack." He didn't want her thinking he'd tell her to bugger off or nothing if she still wasn't needing his company. Not that he fully expected her to actually say anything along those lines to start with.
"Oh no, we can't have that," he teased, grinning. "I got leftovers in the fridge if you want. Or should I take that as a hint to go put on a jacket so we can go get curry then?" He didn't completely mind going out for food. Plus delivery to his place was always a tad iffy, even though the house wasn't under a Fidelis. The last time he'd had takeaway delivered it had somehow ended up elsewhere, and he'd occasionally have other people's food delivered and went through far too long chats with the delivery guy about how it wasn't his before the guy got the hint.
"Curry," Meaghan repeated with a decisive nod. Curry was good luck, and she was taking all of that she could today in absence of what she couldn't.
Chicken curry. Beef was for after a win, so it'd have to wait.
"Hurry hurry hurry for curry," she said, jogging in place. It was too light out to stay in just yet, she needed to eat and move.
He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her amusedly. Dunbar had no objections to going out for curry, though he couldn't help but wonder what Meaghan's reaction would be if, acting as she did at the moment, he took his sweet time doing so. Since that scenario could very well end up with him being pummeled on he wasn't going to tempt fate, and grabbed a jacket from the stand by the front door.
"C'mon then," he said, opening the door and standing aside for Meaghan to pass. "Nearest one is a few streets away, and unfortunately not exactly a safe apparation point near enough to it."
"Fine by me," Meaghan said, bounding back down the steps. A walk of some blocks would be good for her right now and as long as they were moving toward food it'd be okay. They walked for a few minutes, her energy and ridiculous hat making her seem more like a kid than an almost-30-year-old woman.
"How'd your morning thing go?" she asked, unable to stay silent for long. "You said you had a thing."
Dunbar's stride was far less energetic but he still kept pace with Meaghan - not that he expected it was possible to lose her at the moment if she kept wearing that hat. Hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket he gave her a shrug. "It went alright, mostly a bunch of paperwork and a couple meetings about... well, not exactly confidential but I still probably shouldn't say," he replied. Lucky for him that the latter two didn't end up running longer than they had.
"What about you?" he asked, as they walked along. "You seem far more... chirpy than you did yesterday. Though I guessed Ellie being back is part of the reason why."
Meaghan didn't mind him not going on about his own work. It sounded boring as hell, even if it was mostly sorta kinda Quidditchy and supposedly important. Maybe.
"S'the reason," she declared. "The rest's all the same still innit?" Bart was still there, Bats were still tomorrow. "Dint say 'bout Luag so I reckon Keke's stayin'." Meaghan shrugged. Okeke was cool mostly and it was funny as hell they stole her from Wigtown, but wasn't really her concern. "But Ellie's part of everyone and s'posed to be there and she will be, and that's the thing." Everyone just needed to be where they were supposed to be, and they weren't there yet but they would be.
Dunbar couldn't help but frown a little at the news that Ellie was back but Luag was still out taking time off for whatever reason. "Definitely got a decent Beater there," he commented, vaguely remembering the few times he could recall watching Okeke play. "Be handy for the match against the Bats." Not that he doubted Portree's ability, but they'd certainly have a better chance of it with two decent Beaters; and he couldn't really say that about their reserve since he hadn't seen them in action yet... or at least that he could recall off the top of his head.
"Glad Ellie's back though, and hope she's doing alright?" It wasn't really a question, but he didn't really quite know what the situation was there and so was a little unsure. Some minutes later, and a few turns, Dunbar gesture up ahead to a building a little ways in the distance. "Only curry place in Dunbar, but they're pretty decent."
Meaghan probably shouldn't be telling him about all the team shit. It was strict Prides-only secrets after all. But Dunbar was Prides even if he wasn't technically on the team right now, so it didn't occur to her not to say.
The sight and smell of the curry shop put that out of her mind anyway. Letting out a low cheer, she broke into a gallop and without warning followed her growling stomach to the dinner and destiny, not even glancing to check if her company was following her.
Dunbar shook his head at her antics, and quickly picked up speed chasing after Meaghan. He was quickly catching up to her, running as fast as he could, then at the last second reached out and snatched the ridiculous bright hat from her head. Turning around, running backwards for a second, he grinned at her (very smugly too) before quickly turning around again and towards the curry shop with her hat in hand.
Not quite used to putting quite so much effort into his running he was a little out of breath and trying to catch it back as he leant against the wall of the shop waiting for Meaghan who wasn't too far behind. "I think this is yours?" he asked, still with a grin on his face despite being breathless, the hat hanging off the end of his index finger.
Meaghan was just a few steps behind him, and glared as she ran up those last few steps. She wasn't nearly as out of breath as him, not being old and out of shape and a quitter, just a little tired from a full day of training. And his legs were longer. That's the ONLY reason he got ahead of her, obviously.
She snatched the hat back immediately, but her offended expression started to fall apart just as fast. Turning to the side to sort of preserve it, she looked at him slyly from the corner of her eye. "You all right there old man? You gotta watch out, you'll do yourself a injury if you go all out like that."
Dunbar let out a breath as he flipped her off. "M'fine, okay. Just out of practice," he answered, starting to have gotten his breath back. "Still beat you though didn't I? Sure yer not going soft?" He didn't actually think she was, and knew if they'd kept going she would've come out ahead, but he couldn't help in needling her.
Pushing the door open, he held it for Meaghan once he was inside. "C'mon then, let's get you fed before you decide to turn on me."
She didn't deign to respond aloud, but answered Dunbar in the usual way, mirroring his gesture and pulling a face for good measure as she passed him on her way to the counter. It was pretty empty, neither lunch nor dinner rush on, so she walked right up and placed her order. "What d'you want Dungface?" Meaghan added, looking back at him and totally missing the snort from the bloke behind the counter.
However, Dunbar didn't and he gave the bloke behind the counter a bit of a dirty look before giving Meaghan his order. "Surprised you don't remember since it's the only thing I ever actually order whenever we got curry," he commented. He didn't mind most curries but he was far from being the biggest fan of the foodstuff or as much of a fan as Meaghan was.
She just shrugged. It'd been awhile since they got curry, maybe he liked something else now. Food wasn't like brooms after all, sometimes you wanted something different.
"D'you want eat here, nearby, or head back?" he asked as they were waiting. Heading back to eat probably wouldn't happen since their food would be cold by the time they got back, and it was never really as nice if you had to reheat it. "There's couple benches outside if ye want fresh air or whatever."
Meaghan frowned. "Outside, I reckon." She didn't really feel like staying in here but she sure's hell wasn't gonna wait to eat when she'd already had to wait all this time. Out there was colder than she liked, but the curry would help with that.
Their order came up, and she let Dunbar collect their food while she paid, then held the door for him on the way out. But as soon as they were outside, while his hands were still full, she whipped out the yellow hat. Quick as a wink, she stuck it on his head, pulling it down low almost to his eyes.
Then she grabbed her food from his hands, and grinning, danced over to the benches.
Dunbar, far from being quick enough to dodge her, gave Meaghan a look the second after the hat was on his head. Not that it mattered with it having been done so quickly that by the time he was giving her a dirty look she was already over at the benches. Dunbar could've taken the hat off but he was just slightly more concerned with eating his curry before it went cold. "Is there a reason it couldn't have gone back on your head?" he asked, as he sat down next to her. "Cause my head was perfectly fine without the yellow monstrosity y'know."
"Your ears looked cold. Anyways, thought you liked it, you snatchin' it like you did," Meaghan said in a gross attempt at innocence as she dug gleefully into her curry. "Wouldn't blame you if you did, it's a grand hat and sets your eyes off a treat." It made his skin look like he could glow in the dark, but that was beside the point.
"My ears were fine," he said, before giving a snort of laughter. "Like I'd willingly put this on me own head." He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'like i'd wear flippin yellow' or something like that before he dug into his own curry. "Oh yes, very grand and braw indeed. S'wonder that not everyone is wearing such a fine hat as this."
"They will," Meaghan said sagely. "They just ain't yet 'cause I'm a goddamn trendsetter. S'how it always is, innit, the first folks that do a thing get laughed at by scruffy smallminded bastards, but they're laughing outta other side o' their face when everyone else starts at it too. You'll see." She pointed with her spoon. "Two months. Tops."
Dunbar simply looked at her with a raised eyebrow. It was completely ridiculous, and he wouldn't ever believe it. Not even for a second. "Or two months and people'd be like 'What's with all the yellow? Don't those numpties know that green is better?'," he responded, with a slight smirk. "Y'know like it's always been better than any other colour, except maybe purple, but definitely better than red."
"Ugh, green? Who wears green? And why? What're you tryin' to blend into the forest? What're you a goddamn leprechaun?" She shoveled another bite of curry into her mouth and added, "Green's for trees and grass and shrubberies and creepy bastards hidin' in 'em. Red's way better. And purple's even better."
"Lots of people wear green." Or at least that's what it would've sounded like if his mouth hadn't been full of food, and instead it came out more like "Lossapeoplewergrn.". Dunbar, having swallowed what he'd been eating, scoffed at her addendum. "Ain't nothin wrong with green, and them creepy bastards just wear whatever anyways," he pointed out.
Putting down his curry for a moment, Dunbar reached up and took the ridiculously bright hat off his head and shoved it back on Meaghan's. "Looks better on you anyway, even if it is ridiculously bright," he commented, grinning before going back to curry.
Meaghan scrunched up her face in the international expression for my mouth is full of curry and you're a berk. Then she swallowed and said, "Everything looks better on me," matter of factly. She pushed the hat up a bit on her forehead. She wasn't sorry to get the hat back (her ears were cold) but it was a little too low.
"Even green?" he teased, grinning. Which was better than the comment that flitted through his head of how she looked better without anything - and thankfully hadn't managed to blurt out that particular thought.
It wasn't much longer before he'd finally finished his curry, and was getting up to put his rubbish in the nearby bin before wandering back over to Meaghan. "Almost done?" he asked, even though he wasn't actually trying to rush her.
"Onurffme," Meaghan complained through her last giant bite.
There. Now she was done. Jumping up and over to the bin, she was fed and warm and free.
And kind of wanting a beer.
She nudged Dunbar. "Got anything to drink at yours?" she asked, cocking her head up at him.
Dunbar scoffed. "Course I do!" It would only take something terrible happening for him to not have any beer, or whisky for that matter, at home - and that would be a sad day indeed.
"C'mon then," he said, as he started on his way. There wasn't anyway he was going to be running this time though - not after just having had curry he wasn't. Not even if Meaghan tried to convince him it was a good idea.
But Meaghan didn't seem inclined to run either, walking alongside him at a pace just a notch above a mosey. It was cold out, she wouldn't want to be outside much longer, but she knew the distance back to Tallyskinnyhouse and she had her hat on her head and her mittens on her hands and food in her belly. And a little walk was good for the digestion.
She grinned and nudged Dunbar again. "So what're you gonna do to entertain me then? 'Cause seems to me I've been doing all the work so far, and me the guest even." She'd even paid for their meal, though she hadn't really given him a chance to jump in there. He was retired after all. Did he even have any money coming in? Was he getting paid for that QUABBLE shit?
Dunbar mock-gasps and puts a hand to his chest and looks at her as if offended by the very statement she made. "Are you saying my company ain't entertaining enough for you?"
He gives her a slight shrug after a moment as they're walking along. "Reckon anything will probably seem entertaining once we've had a drink or two."
"Pfffft," Meaghan snorted. "Fair enough." Anyway, just knowing they were going to hang out a whole day before was already more planning than they usually did. Back when he was on the team still, he'd just always been around, hours of training every day and drinks and parties and all that shit. Like with everyone, just about. You only met up if you were talking anyways and thought of something. You didn't make plans, you just did shit when you wanted.
But then he quit, and one thing and another, she'd barely seen him in the year after.
She wasn't used to having to try. Or having to deal with mates who weren't living Quidditcher lives even if it wasn't on her team's schedule. Last time she'd had much of that…
Meaghan pushed her hands further into her pockets, cracked her neck and bumped Dunbar with her side.
Dunbar raised a brow at her, and bumped her back. He probably ought to ask if she was alright, and he normally would've done, but he didn't really want the day to get completely introspective and pensive. Not that that was a bad thing but ever since he'd retired they didn't spend nearly as much time together as they used to when they were both playing. Plus there was that whole lingering unrequited thing he had for her and... no, he wasn't going to think about that.
It wasn't long before they were back at Tallskinnyhouse, and he let Meaghan in before closing the door behind them. "So what'll it be?" he asked, taking his jacket off and putting it on the stand. "Got beer, or if you feel like going down that road, pretty sure I got a bottle of whiskey somewhere as well.
Meaghan let out a sigh as they entered the house. The curry warmth hadn't lasted the walk, and she'd had to resort to burying her chin in her collar in an attempt to save her face, all the while feeling the chill trying to seep in through her trousers. She added her coat to the stand, her mittens on top of that and her hat to the very top, like the Snitch on a Quidditch tree. "Gimme a beer," she said, stretching her arms in relief. "I'm gonna use the toilet real quick."
Staring at the stand for a moment, he was almost shaking his head at how ridiculous it currently looked. Dunbar nodded, and headed into the kitchen to grab them both a beer. Walking past the downstairs bathroom to get to the smaller living room he paused when he heard, of all things, laughter coming from the bathroom. He frowned at the door wondering what was happening that had caused her to laugh - not quite remembering that had been the bathroom Meaghan had put that ridiculous toilet light and where the truly bizarre troll romance novel currently resided.
"You alright in there?" he asked.
"Fine!" Meaghan managed to shout back, though it might not have been easy to hear in the midst of her cackling. When she opened the door a minute later, she was carrying the novel and still grinning. "Your toilet's givin' me the glad eye," she said, taking her beer from him and dropping onto the sofa. "Gotta be a real perv to have a toilet like that, I reckon."
"Yeah, well, funny thing is I don't remember ever putting it in there," he responded, giving her a pointed look as he sat down beside her. Even if Meaghan had at first kind of evaded before admitting that it was her fault he currently had some ridiculous toilet light in his downstair's bathroom... okay, so it was partly his fault as well at being too lazy to remove it. "Wassat?" he asked, after taking a small drink and gesturing to the book in her hand. He couldn't see the spine or cover from the angle he was sitting, and he didn't rightly remember all of what he actually had in his bathroom to be honest.
Meaghan's grin widened and she turned the cover to face him. PASUN AT PIG PE EEK ran across the top in hideous magenta text that clashed horribly with the olive-brown-yellow-orange picture on the front, a picture that might possibly be a troll on a windswept mountain top, if you squinted and were generous.
"It's your favourite," she crowed, shoving the monstrosity at him. She couldn't tell if he'd ever even cracked the book open. It had been shiny and new when she got it, but she'd spent a good ten minutes marking and messing it up before ditching it here, just so it'd look well read.
"Read us one of your favourite bits then," she said, settling back smugly with her beer. "It'll be entertainin'."
Dunbar had his bottle at his lips about to take a drink but groaned when he finally saw the cover of the book. Suddenly he was wishing he hadn't been so lazy and had actually chucked the thing out by now. It didn't help much that he'd honestly found the novel hilarious - after he'd gotten over being annoyed at Meaghan for leaving it behind. "It's not me flippin' favourite," he muttered.
He reluctantly switched his beer to his other hand and took the book from her. "Only doing this because I expect you to read your favourite bit too," he said, punctuating his point by pointing at her with the book.
And because these things, however ridiculous, had to be done right he got up from the sofa and walked a few steps before turning around to face Meaghan. "Okay, let's see..." he said, as he flipped through the novel for a second. Suddenly he let out a quiet snort at the passage he found. He cleared his throat, as if suggestion the occasion was far far more serious than it really was. "cave ws dahk rcks ws bihg ral BIHG me lik rcks rcks is gud sum roks not lik other rcks but stil guud rcks this rcks ws bihg rcks gud didnot c rcks in cave becs cave ws dahk ow," he recited, pretending as if he were reading some Shakespearean piece and keeping as straight a face as possible.
It honestly sounded as ridiculous as it looked on paper, and if possible just sounded stranger still when spoken by someone with a Scottish accent. Though as two fellow Scots, whether either of them noticed much of a difference there wasn't an issue - because it was going to be ridiculous and silly either way.
"Oh my god," Meaghan gasped into the side of the sofa. She'd spat out her beer within seconds of the recitation, and sat in rapt attention as he read, but completely lost her shit at the ow.
She'd read enough of the troll newsletter to know this was gonna be crap, but not how bad. Wanted ads and little short items couldn't give you the whole of it. "Was that s'posed to be like rocks or lick rocks?"
Dunbar made a motion of shushing Meaghan, and telling her that this was very serious stuff. Of course he didn't believe that for a second, and was having enough trouble maintaining his composure in finishing off his recital. But he couldn't keep it up any longer than Meaghan had been able to.
"Oh god, I don't know. Maybe it's s'posed to be both?" he said, looking down at the book. Dunbar wasn't entirely sure he wanted to give that any amount of serious thinking. He went and sat back down beside her on the sofa, and took a long drink. "Want to know what happens next?" he asked with a gleam in his eyes.
Meaghan took a goodly swig for herself now too, seeing as it was safe again. "Reckon I know what happens next. He's knocked himself out, and when he wakes up he likes the rocks so much he licks 'em, I reckon. What pashun!"
But fiiiine, it was clear enough he wasn't gonna go on without her taking a turn, and she didn't mind so much if it was really that funny. Meaghan snagged the book from Dunbar's hands and opens it. "Hell, where were you?" Oh well, it probably didn't really matter. Another drink to strengthen her, and she picked a spot at random.
"flwrs gud 4 -- heart? Good for the heart?? See it's a heart there, not a word -- poetry -- pottery…" Wait, that couldn't be right.
"pot trY TO PICK FLWS SMAL HANDS big flws crshed by pot??" She squinted at the paper. Small hands crushed the big flowers? Shit no, other way.
"hands flws gived → lump but flwrs stuck to pot hnds cant get off cant give to lump."
"Ahaha, tough luck mate."
"lump tells pot," Meaghan sat up straight and shook her finger at Dunbar, voice going stern as she started to get the hang of it, "no flwrs no ♥ -- oh, love -- pot go agn 4 flows pot step on oh no"
Dunbar let out a snort at that. It hadn't been what he meant by his question but it was just as funny as what was in the novel. He doesn't even complain when Meaghan snatches the book from him. Taking a swig from his beer, he settled in to listen to her performance. He snickered at each line before finally losing it at 'hnds cant get off cant give to lump' and was almost laughing so much he'd nearly fallen over on the sofa.
When Meaghan sat up, shaking her finger at him, he wasn't sure what part was coming next but he wasn't disappointed, and was barely managing to keep himself from laughing before letting out a snort at the 'oh no'."Does pot ever get the 'flwrs?" he asked once Meaghan had finished. "You s'pose pot's the bloke and lump's the girl? ....or is pot the girl and lump the bloke?"
"Shit, who knows with trolls," Meaghan said, squinting at the mess of a page, without a single "he" or "she" in sight. Maybe they were both blokes. Maybe they were both girls. Maybe you could tell when you got to the sex bits, if you were brave enough.
He shook his head. "This is such ridiculous shite, but it's fucking hilarious," he commented. "Want to read more? I'll even go next."
Meaghan tossed him the book. "You're doing better reading this shite anyways, only I guess you would, having read it before." It was easier to follow when he was reading, anyway,and a helluva lot funnier.
"Pick a good bit then, I'm gonna need another beer for this," she said, standing. When she returned a minute later, she plopped down a new bottle for each, then jumped back onto the sofa, pulling up her legs to sit criss-cross facing him, like a kid at storytime.
"That's what makes it more funny - reading it all serious like," he says, nodding sagely. At least that was his theory, and it seemed to be a pretty correct one. Dunbar flips through the book, pauses, and seemingly flips back and forth through the same pages for a bit. "There's a whole bloody section that's just blank pages," he announces, flipping the book around to show Meaghan. "I mean, they're numbered, but there's nothing on them..."
"Okay, let's see," he mumbles to himself, flipping through the book. "Oh gods, here's a good one!" He lightly clears his throat. "Pasun is gud pasun is when t rol go n find mate mate say n o but tro l ok trol find new mate mate say on no mate say no trol go place find rcks," he recites. He wouldn't be a good actor but he figured he had dramatic flair enough to read a troll romance novel aloud. "Guess the troll really likes its rocks... and then it just continues kind of repetitively," he comments. "It literally goes on for nearly a whole page just saying lift drop lift drop." He turned the book so Meaghan could see what he meant, because the part directly after what he recited really did go on for nearly an entire page, and pointed at the section where in clear print it said:
liftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdroplift zzzz dropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdrop ow liftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdropliftdrop And as he was showing her he said, "And then it ends with just: go back mate c say o have mate now pasun. Y'know I'm not sure there's a single troll in this that has any bloody clue what pasun is, except they clearly love their rocks way too much."
It was a good thing Dunbar showed her the pages, because no way would she have believed him without seeing it. As it was, she still had to snatch the book back and give it a closer look. "Good Godric," she said, leaning back and holding it over her head to goggle from a different angle. "This's gotta be a joke. Maybe if you look at it right way or in the dark it all turns to different words or a picture of a hand flickin' a V. How the hell's this piece of shit so long?"
"Merlin, I don't know! I mean, some of the pages are completely blank, so that helps? I still can't even tell which is the guy and which is the girl," he said. Dunbar wasn't entirely sure that it actually mattered though with the book still be ridiculously hilarious without knowing.
It went on like that for a while, passing the novel back and forth, taking turns to read and to get more beers, taking breaks to catch their breath from laughing or to use the toilet (which always prompted more laughter from Meaghan as she remembered the toilet light she'd installed), or to talk about the book. After an unexpectedly complex discussion of the passage, "lump lik rok same pot BUT lump rck bad bad rong rck," she slapped the book back against Dunbar's chest, which she'd taken to doing because she kept laughing too hard to say your turn. She was already grinning, alight with good beer and anticipation.
A few times Dunbar had to bury his head in the back of the sofa to keep himself from laughing so hard - well, that was what he'd started doing after the one time he'd fallen off the sofa; which had caused Meaghan to laugh even more. When he book had been slapped against his chest again he knew what was up. Although his ability to do a serious reading had slowly been diminishing as the drinks continued, and he'd had to pause at times to get his laughter under control.
After clearing his throat he tried to keep a straight face - not easy when he was reading the passage on the page in front of him. "pasun giv feel chest feel to feet all it make fel gud hole-" The line had them both sniggering as if they were all of twelve years old and had just heard something particularly naughty that wasn't really naughty at all. It took him a moment to get himself back under control to be able to continue. "Sorry! Uh, right where was I?" His eyes scanned the page and found where he'd been up to "-pasun mak t ro l whol..."
"Oh... the troll meant 'whole' as in one whole thing, not er 'hole' as in... well, y'know...," he says, trailing off at the end because it didn't really need explaining. "Anyway then it goes... to fell pasun mus rain tro l no duck s find rain mak rain n face show wrld po t can rain becs pasun i has pasun 4 rcks n 4 lmp same."
Then, perhaps because he was slightly more inebriated now, Dunbar lost it when he realised pot was crying but thought it was actually raining, and ended up dropping the book because he was laughing too much to hold onto it any longer.
Meaghan laughed with him, until her stomach ached, until tears rolled down her face. She shook so hard she couldn't stay upright on the sofa but fell over and curled up in near-foetal position, gulping for air and trying vainly to wipe her face. "Look," she gasped, waving a damp and shaking hand in the air. "I'm raining from pashun!"
That set Dunbar off again, and he was laughing so hard that he fell off the sofa again - which only caused him to laugh even more. "Oh, Salazar, that's-" he gasped, trying to get the words out and utterly failing. Dunbar did manage to finally sit himself upright though after a moment. "Do you... s'pose there's... more of this ridic...ulous shite?" he asked, still breathless from all the laughing.
Meaghan cackled, but propped herself up on her elbow to put them roughly eye level, the better to grin over at Dunbar. "I knew it was your favourite! Or izzit for the tips after all?" Her smile widened. "All that lift-drop shite seemed to work all right for Pot, eh?"
"Oi! I did admit it was hilarious, s'not my favourite, and sure ain't liking it for the tips," he muttered. Dunbar didn't need any tips at all thankyouverymuch. "How do y'know it was Pot? Maybe it was Lump? Lack of punctuation was no help."
Dunbar reached over for his last bottle, that he'd set down on the nearby coffee table earlier, and shook it, frowning disappointedly when he realised it was completely empty except a few mere drops. He wasn't sure he actually had any left in the fridge now. "Whataya want to do now?" he asked, as he rocked back slightly.
"Hmmmmmm," Meaghan mused, watching him investigate the remains of what she was pretty sure was the last beer in the house. Which was for the best, because she had a few ideas and he was no good to her drunk. "I dunno," she drawled, leaning down over the edge of the sofa to Dunbar. "What d'you wanna do?"
The effect was ruined just slightly by her losing her balance and falling over on him.
"Hmm? I-" Dunbar didn't get to finish his reply as he let out an 'oof' the moment Meaghan fell onto him. He blinked as he stared up at her. There was a tiny annoying logic-sounding voice telling him that what he was thinking was probably a bad idea, but where Meaghan was concerned he usually didn't listen to said voice much at all - if he actually ever listened to it at all.
"Reckon you actually already thought of something," he said, poking her playfully in the shoulder. It may have been a bad move, but he wasn't exactly known for 'great ideas' when she was involved and he'd probably find out if it was in a moment, but he couldn't help stealing a quick kiss. "Dunno that the floor is quite so comfy though..."
It hadn't been the smoothest,but it'd done the trick anyway. Meaghan ignored her offended limbs, kissing him back before he could go on. She didn't think he'd say no -- they rarely did, and Dunbar especially -- but there were other things he could say to screw it up and he'd shot them in the foot before. And this time she didn't have a backup plan.
So she sank into him, beer and curry and scruff and familiar and warm, and hoped it would be enough, because God she wanted this, for more reasons than one, but she also didn't want to go home. She didn't want to be alone.
Pausing for some much-needed breath, she licked her lips, eyes closed, forehead against his. "Upstairs then?" she suggested. Please don't fuck this up, she thought. Please don't make me hafta leave.
God, this was easy and all too familiar. Far too familiar, and...
Well, while it hadn't been at all what had initially drawn him to Meaghan years ago, it was something that had started being a thing between them - and it was really kind of hard to say no to. Although his ability to somehow say the wrong thing had seen plans being derailed before.
Disappointment briefly flickered in him, before disappearing just as quickly, that however familiar and warm it felt it wasn't constant in the way he often wished it was - because a brief moment of familiar and warm was clearly better than nothing. "Yeah," he murmured. "Besides don't reckon we need to fall off the sofa again."
Dunbar sat up, helping her to a more upright position as he did so, before getting to his feet and then holding a hand out to Meaghan before pulling her up to her feet as well. "C'mon then," he said, smiling. "Tho' no racing up the stairs yeah? After what happened last time..." Soon he was leading them both up the stairs to his room, and... however brief a moment it was it was all better than nothing, right?