InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's French...we're frenching."

Hell week had been a blast, and had gone a long way toward making Amir feel more comfortable as part of the team. Of course, there were still moments where things were less than ideal, like when he started digging his own grave by pissing Meaghan McCormack off. Not his finest moment.

But as Terry had pointed out, there wasn't anything untrue about his commentary on the current Pride team. There had been so much turnover this year, Amir thought he should consider himself lucky to still be with the team. At the rate they were going that might not be true in another month.

He already had a drink and a seat at the bar and a beer in his hand when Terry showed up. "Hey," Amir smiled, forgetting all the negative bits of the Pride at the moment. Getting a chance to work with his former housemate was a bright spot.

Truth be told, Terry had almost backed out of the pub rendezvous. It had been almost two years since the events at Hogwarts, but he was still a bit uncomfortable in public places, especially if there was a crowd. Thankfully, Amir wasn’t the type to pick overpopulated pubs and after some amount of self-coaxing, he managed to arrive only five minutes late.

“Hey,” he replied as he plopped himself on the bar stool. “Glad to see you’re not dead.”

"Me too," Amir agreed. "Though I've learned there are no longer any guarantees so I really am counting on you to come through with my properly labeled tombstone," he added. He took a long drink from the bottle and then shrugged. Perhaps he was starting to relax a bit after that exchange.

Terry nodded. “The sad part is -- “ Briefly, he was interrupted by the barkeep so he place his order for his own pint. “I was going to say the sad part about that statement is I’m not sure if you’re joking or not.”

"Either do I," Amir replied, offering a grin. "I've never contemplated what I'd want my epitaph to say before now. But that beats something overly sentimental or dull?" He gave Terry a shrug and drank more, contemplating another pint before his was even empty.

There was practice in the morning after all, and a certain teammate to apologise to, in person. That thought made him want to keep drinking.

Though he smiled, the younger man made no comment about contemplating epitaphs as the idea hit slightly too close to home. Neither of them exactly needed the night to turn into an official downer. Not today at least.

“Eh. You’ll be just fine,” Terry said as his pint appeared in front of him and he went to take a sip. “Sure they won’t let anything bad happen to you because then they would have to find yet another new player.”

Amir had to laugh at that, and maybe it was the stress of the situation or the beer that he had been limiting during the season but he laughed a little too hard. "You're bloody right about that. They can't afford to have that happen."

He shook his head. "It wasn't this mental before, you know." Not even during the war season. "I've lost track how how many people have even played for the Pride this year."

“Honestly? I never paid much attention to Quidditch before now.” He had attended his fair share of games while at Hogwarts, but that was about it. Unlike many members of the Portree team and staff, Terry wasn’t anywhere close to being a big fan. “So they could have gone through a thousand players before now and I would have never noticed.”

"How'd you end up working for the team then?" Amir asked curiously.

Terry shrugged before taking a long gulp of his beer. “The whole Auror thing didn’t exactly pan out like I thought it would. And it turns out when you’re an adult, you actually need a job.”

"Yeah…" Amir said, looking impressed that Terry had even attempted Auror training. "I interned with the Pride after school because I didn't make a team anywhere. I have no idea what I'd do otherwise. Probably live on my cousin's couch while trying to figure how to live like a Muggle. So good that I made it onto the Pride, finally."

He finished his drink, and nodded for a second when the opportunity arose. Just one more though or he'd regret it the next morning. "So as someone who isn't obsessed with the sport what's your take on how the team functions?" It wasn't just player turnover after all. The coaching situation was also … different.

“Portree is... a group of highly individualistic people,” Terry answered after pondering the question for a moment and decided what seemed most diplomatic. Still, it was a hard thing to come up with and another sip of his beer was in order. “Like a ragtag bunch of misfits that are somehow making it work despite all the weirdness and what not.”

"The Pride of Portree is hanging on a ragtag bunch of misfits," Amir echoed, amused. "That's an apt depiction." To some degree, he envied Terry. Amir was invested in the team, invested in making it as a player, and was trying his best not to let Cav down after the manager had spent so much time and energy helping him prepare to try out.

"Somehow it seems drama finds everyone here at some point, too." That seemed like a true statement, but he followed it up with a smirk. "No one's safe, so I think it's your turn next."

Terry shook his head before finishing off his pint. “I’m too low-key for drama. I’ll leave that to the players,” he answered as he motioned to the barkeep for another beer.

"That doesn't mean your safe. Look at Coach. MacFusty, that is." The fact that he had to specify was telling enough. "I rotate between thinking the drama seems non-stop and thinking that everyone makes it out to be more than it is, though," Amir added and then paused. "I might be adding to that."

All he really wanted to do was play. Fortunately he had Ainsley and Keke and Maddie there, who all seemed relatively sane. And Terry, who was quickly proving to be a voice of reason in all the chaos.

“Sometimes I think things are amplified when you’re in the midsts of them.” Being involved was definitely different than being on the outside looking in. “Of course, sometimes the situation just sucks either way. Not saying the team sucks in that respect or anything. Maybe it just thrives and needs drama to survive. I don’t know.”

"That would be the case," Amir replied. "We get to a place of no drama and the team starts losing every game." He found that oddly funny, and started laughing. Yeah, he was far too much of a lightweight for a man born in Scotland.

He managed to stop himself without too much trouble, but bloody hell, he was awkward.

As if on cue, his next pint appeared in front of him and he immediately grabbed it, thrusting it toward Amir. “To drama-induced winning,” Terry offered for a makeshift toast.

"To drama-induced winning!" Amir repeated, meeting Terry's glass with his own. He grinned, and took a drink. It would definitely be his last pint of the night, but at least he was no longer worried about his impending demise.