bart roberts is cancelling the apocalypse (bbart) wrote in neeps, @ 2018-02-22 12:13:00
Who: Bart and Hamish What: Father and son talking When: Early Monday morning, 19 February 2000 Where: Bart's makeshift office Warnings: Probably not
Hamish was never an early riser, ever, but he'd just gotten back from Japan and had seriously messed up his sleep schedule. So here he'd woken up earlier than he knew what to do with and he couldn't fall back asleep.
Not wanting to waste the time, he checked the time and realised he could probably catch his father before practice, if there even was one. Regardless, he knew where to find Coach Bart Roberts on the day before a match.
With only a little difficulty he managed to find where his father had set up shop, and he'd avoided a hungover Maggie to boot. That conversation was still on hold. Instead, he stepped into the conference room and greeted his father. "Hey Da. I made it home alright."
It wasn't really something he did, check in after a trip. Hamish was just awake so he was here. "Ready for the match?"
Hamish's presence in the clubhouse was a pleasant surprise. "Come on in! I've got breakfast, or at least tea. Glad you're home." He stood up, carefully moving all his parchments somewhere without disrupting the match play set up on the conference table. It was, Hamish could tell, set up with some of the same figures his father had been using when he was coaching the Pride before the war.
"Thanks," Hamish replied, suddenly glad he'd decided to drop in. He hadn't been by the Pride offices since his dad returned to work, but he knew the setup even in a different office. He'd always been proud to be his parents' son, even if he hadn't followed in their footsteps like so many children of quidditch players did. And he looked up to his dad though that often went unspoken.
Pouring himself a cup of tea, he mentioned casually, "So I hear you might have a position open. Any chance you'll let me introduce myself to the team as the new Chaser?"
Bart thought about the glum way most of the team had reacted to the news Joy wasn't coming back and made an involuntary face. "Let's not," he suggested. "Some of them are taking it pretty hard." He didn't name names, but Meaghan and Scrimmy were first on his mind. They would not appreciate the joke. That right there was why Hamish didn't play quidditch. He so wasn't a team player and people needed to loosen up. It was just a sport. A glorious sport, but just a sport. Still, he nodded. "Probably would be a bad idea right before a match anyway."
He took a seat in one of the chairs, studying the set up his father had on display. "So, any idea how long you're gonna stick around this time? Think Mum has a chance?" Were they ever going to actually retire?
Bart, who was really too young to retire by about fifteen years or so, shrugged. "Have to ask your mum about that one. I have no idea and I'm not sure I want to know, because then I have to have an opinion on whether or not she takes it. Which I shouldn't because I broke off our retirement tour to come back for the Pride. So I'm calling it fifty-fifty: either it's going to happen or it's not." He poured himself another cuppa from the warmth-charmed pot and gestured to the plate of pastries, in case Hamish wanted one.
"You'd be a terrible bookmaker, Da," Hamish teased, reaching for one of the offered pastries. "There's rumours that I might have a big project coming up, or else I'd ask what you were doing with the boat in the meantime." Not that he'd expect his father to let him use it, but he could dream. That was definitely a good way to retire, whenever it finally happened.
When Hamish had taken the pastry, Bart set the plate down and moved back to his seat, gesturing to Hamish to do the same. "Oh really? What have you got?" While Bart knew there were plenty of secrets in DOMGAS, Broom Safety Testing wasn't a hotbed of them. Sometimes there were secrets about new models, but it was hard to get approval for quidditch-worthy brooms or good racing brooms without someone finding out in advance. If nothing else, somebody could always stake out the stadium where the tests were being held.
"Not entirely certain," Hamish admitted. "I'm due back in the office on Wednesday so I should know more then. Maybe." He knew it had been a while since they'd done random testing, so the big project could just be that though he certainly hoped not.
"Either way, I'm back here for a while."
Bart grinned. "That's good. Your mum will be happy to hear it, and I like to think your sister will too. How was Shikoku?"
He took a bite of the pastry, then sipped his tea before answering. "Brilliant, Da. I need to go back sometime. It felt like an entirely different world and everything was extremely relaxed. And there wasn't a bad view anywhere. Have you been? Or Japan in general?"
"Not yet. Takes a while to sail out that way and none of my Cup games were in Japan. Maybe your mum and I will go out that way after this season, assuming she hasn't decided to accept any offers from Kingsley Shacklebolt by then." Bart made a wry face. "We're still supposed to be sailing around Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean this summer but we'll see how that goes." Bart frowned, wondering if they could get a portkey for the sailboat and just sail back from Japan after staying there for a while.
"At least I know that my desire to travel as much as I can is inherited from the both of you," Hamish replied, finishing off the pastry and then leaning back in the chair. He didn't want to keep his father away from his work for long, so he planned to finish the tea and go. But until then…
"I might go to Ghana during the off-season," he mentioned, thinking of his conversation with Chidera the night before.
Bart grinned. "Hey, that would be great; I'm sure our family on that side would love to see you. Is there room for your old man on that trip?" If it was short enough, Bart could visit for a few days and then come back to work on the boat.
"I'd love for you to go with me," Hamish answered, beaming. "We'll have to plan for it then." He finished off his tea, and set the cup down. "Don't wanna keep you from strategising," he said. "But I'll be in the stands tomorrow."
Bart reached out for a high-five, or maybe a low-five given that he was sitting, on the way out. "Stay out of trouble, and we'll beat them into the stadium floor for you."
"I never stay out of trouble, Da. But beat them anyway."