InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I see insane people"

zacharias is a particularly good finder (overlooked) wrote in pandorarpg,
@ 2011-12-13 00:22:00

Entry tags:

!status: complete, ^date: november 07 2003, character: justin finch-fletchley, character: zacharias smith

Characters: Zacharias Smith & Justin Finch-Fletchley
Setting: Sometime after 9:30 a.m., but before 10 a.m., in a cemetery around Peebles
Rating: worksafe
Summary: With his father's funeral fast approaching, Zacharias greets a guest he would rather not have to see today.

Yesterday was bad. He wasn't expecting today to be any better. Not when he was already over twelve hours into the an unwanted family reunion. It had been full of conversations he didn't want to have, all tainted by the image of Marietta Edgecombe throwing up yesterday morning. Merlin, that was the last thing he needed. Zacharias didn't need to become a father, he just needed to put his father into the ground and get on with his life. He would be glad when this was over, when life could return to something next to normal.

It was early still. The services weren't supposed to start until 10 am, which meant that he was going to stay away from it for as long as he could. So, he and Adelle were hanging out by the gate to the cemetery, not really talking about anything, but not entirely silent either. Zacharias knew they both needed the distraction. He couldn't imagine that she was taking this any better than he was - well, maybe a little bit better. But she had always been better than him.

The conversation shifted as Adelle started on the cliche of rain at funerals, only Zacharias wasn't really listening. He was fiddling with the umbrella that his mother insisted that he bring - she had even picked out his clothes for him as well. Not that he cared. He would give her that allowance, to dress him today, because it might win him something else later and he knew exactly what direction their conversations would lead to this afternoon. He was just about to say something to Adelle, to prove he was listening, when he saw him.

"Well, doesn't that just make my morning."

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-13 04:20 pm UTC (link)

After watching the explosion on his journal that morning, Justin had come to an important decision. While it was often difficult to see past the asshole attitude that Zacharias wore as a badge of honour, Justin knew that Zacharias must be going through hell right now, not because of knowing him well himself, but because Justin had lost his father too.

He'd contacted his brother Charles to say he'd meet him and the rest of the family at Westminster at noon, when the reservations were, and chose his clothes accordingly, choosing a black suit rather than white, blue or purple. He still wore a royal purple shirt and a white tie and waistcoat - he was still Justin after all - but the black was more in keeping with a funeral.

One last stop, to pick up a bouquet of white roses, and then a quick Apparition outside the cemetary. As he approached, he saw he wouldn't have to go far to find Zacharias. He didn't more to attempt a hug or any such thing - though he reserve the right to do so later if he felt Zach needed it. Instead, he didn't even smile, simply nodded and momentarily ignored the man to greet his sister.

"Adelle," he said with a tilt of his head, and moved to take her hand, gently raising it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "My deepest condolences."

That done, he released her hand and turned to face Zacharias. "I'm not late, am I?"

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overlooked
2011-12-13 05:03 pm UTC (link)

Zacharias was going through hell, but not for the obvious reason. Really, his dead father was the least of his concerns at the moment. It was everything else that bothered him more, made him more volatile than normal. Even the little things seemed to set him off, not that Justin's little comments earlier could be considered a little thing.

He looked over at Adelle with a pointed look and she seemed to get the message. Adelle turned to Justin with a polite smile on her face. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go help my neema. Thank you for being here." She turned back and squeezed her brother's arm in warning, reminding him that now was not the time for another fight or stand to be taken.

Zacharias waited until Adelle was well out of earshot before he addressed Justin. "I wasn't even aware you were invited." Not that it had been a private affair, but he hadn't expected Justin to show up. Hell, he didn't expect any of his former classmates to be here. He certainly didn't want them here, least of all Justin.

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-13 06:34 pm UTC (link)

Justin shrugged, watching as Adelle walked away and noticing how lovely she'd grown over the years. "Last I heard, you didn't need an engraved invitation to attend a funeral."

He knew better than to extend any wishes to Zacharias. They wouldn't be accepted, and would likely make things more volatile. That wasn't why he was there, which meant plan B.

"But don't worry, mate, I'm not here for you. I missed my own Dad's funeral, so I figured I'd come to yours."

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overlooked
2011-12-13 07:03 pm UTC (link)

Zacharias rolled his eyes. "Is that supposed to mean something?" Was he meant to feel sorry for Justin for the way in which he lost his father? But then again it did fit the theme for the day in which Justin was the golden boy who could do no wrong. It was his birthday, so why not let him seek pity at another man's funeral?

"There isn't some dead father's club that makes all this the same." As far as Zacharias knew the only thing similar about their fathers besides the fact they were dead, as that they were in politics. Isaiah Smith would probably be hard placed to assign specific meaning to the name Finch-Fletchley.

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-13 07:20 pm UTC (link)

Justin was almost confused by this last statement - he did have a habit of naively taking statements literally - but then simply shook his head. "Of course there isn't, silly."

He looked down the path toward where people were gathering. He spotted Adelle and an older woman, Mrs. Smith, speaking quietly. "You know, I think your mum could use a hug." He looked back at Zacharias. "I'll meet you over there, then."

He began jauntily strolling down the path toward the gatherers.

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overlooked
2011-12-13 07:33 pm UTC (link)

Zacharias chuckled at that. His mother need a hug? What the woman needed was for her son to be married and have a child so she wouldn't have to losing all the work she had put into further building the family name. Except she might be getting that and the thought only made him sick. He leaned back on the stone wall, not trusting himself on his feet.

Merlin. If Marietta was pregnant it was certainly one of the worst things that could happen. And if she wasn't, then he was probably going kill her for lying to him. There was twisted and then there was cruel.

Scrubbing his face he looked back over to see Justin joining the growing group of people. Part of him really hoped that Justin did try to hug his mother if only to see the reaction on her face both now and later when she realized who that was.

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-13 07:51 pm UTC (link)

Despite his words to Zacharias, Justin did not immediately go over and give Mrs. Smith a hug - though in all honesty, she looked like she could use it. Years of attending functions of various sorts with his family had taught him much about decorum and the proper behaviour with persons of a certain class. He knew the Smiths were well-regarded in the wizarding world, and thus he approached her as he would a Lady or a Duchess. A polite bow, a hanful of soft words of condolence, and a question regarding where Zacharias would be sitting. He nodded and moved away to where a growing pile of floral arrangements were sitting not far from the casket.

Justin paused there. It was true that he had missed his own father's funeral, and he felt a pang as he saw the casket. For a moment, his mind imagined it was his own father there and his breath caught in his throat. He quickly lay the roses he had brought next to the other flowers, and quickly turned away to take a seat - right next to where Zacharias was expected to sit.

He looked through the crowd to where Zach was standing, and looked at him until their eyes met. I'm not going anywhere, his eyes seemed to say. You can't get rid of me that easily.

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overlooked
2011-12-15 01:52 am UTC (link)

Zacharias would have liked nothing more than to remaining sitting there, wallowing in his own shit. It seemed better than going over to join everyone else. Or at least he did until he saw the Edgecombes coming up the path. While he didn't want to deal with either Justin or Marietta, Justin did seem the lesser of two evils.

With a long-suffering sigh, Zacharias pushed back to his feet to head up to where everyone was gathering. As he approached he avoided Justin's gaze as best as he could. It felt wrong to have Justin here. And for as much as he complained about Justin, he was a man who honestly cared for his father and lost him presumably without finding any sort of closure. Zacharias on the other hand had more than once considered the implications of killing his father and had a tenuous relationship at best. It was almost better his father was gone, except that it was also a giant unknown. And it was just weird to start to miss something you never particularly liked to begin with.

"You're unbelievable," he said as he stood behind his seat. "And I don't mean that in a good way."

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-15 01:59 am UTC (link)

"Of course I am, and I know you'd mean it in a good way if you'd ever shagged me. Now sit down before you start making people nervous."

He crossed his legs and settled his folded hands on his knee. His eyes took in the various people mingling about, trying to find seats, yet his attention remained on Zacharias.

"I'm sorry about the others. On the journals, I mean. I guess there was probably more said than just what I saw in public, but whatever it was, you didn't deserve it. Not today."

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overlooked
2011-12-15 03:11 am UTC (link)

"What the fuck." He rolled his eyes and looked away. Even knowing him since they were both eleven, sometimes it was really difficult for him to understand Justin. Zacharias loved sex as much as the next person and was somewhat secure in his sexuality, but the extremes he took it too at times and so carelessly.

"But it doesn't matter because St. Justin can do no wrong." He was still stuck on that and really nothing had proven otherwise. Zacharias shook his head, biting the inside of his mouth to stop himself from say or thinking anything more on the matter.

The pain was good, the pain gave him something to focus on instead of all the mean things that were written this morning. Many of which he admittedly penned, because that was how he knew how to deal with things, but still lines had been crossed that he didn't even know he cared about.

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-15 04:49 am UTC (link)

That last statement of Zach's had Justin laughing aloud, which he immediately tried to temper in the face of dark looks being thrown his way. God forbid he laugh at a funeral, after all.

"What have you been drinking? And where can I get some?" He shook his head, still flabbergasted by the words. "St. Justin? Patron saint of oversexed cowards, maybe." He smiled. "And who in God's name ever told you I do no wrong? I believe a significant portion of the wizarding population can attest otherwise."

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overlooked
2011-12-15 05:51 am UTC (link)

With the unwanted attention Justin's little outburst caused, Zacharias had no choice but to sit down in his chair. Although just because he sat didn't mean that he would stay there. He just didn't need people staring.

"Yeah, well, tell that to Ernie Macmillan." Zacharias shook his head. "It's like he's in love with you or something the way he goes on." Of course the other side of it was the fact that Zacharias Smith brought a lot of it on himself, but he couldn't deny there was a bias there. He wasn't a part of the club, so he didn't get treated the same.

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-15 04:38 pm UTC (link)

Justin rolled his eyes to himself. Of course, Ernie. The one person he could always depend upon to stand up for him, no matter what, was his best friend.

"Ernie's Ernie," Justin explained with a shrug. "He and I've been through hell and back, more or less, so I'm not surprised. But he's just one bloke out of a million. That doesn't exactly make a general consensus, you know? And as for being in love with me-" He snorted, looking down at his hands. "I can guarantee that's not the case."

In fact, it was the reverse that was true.

"But that's not what you're upset about, mate. It's just the nearest thing to be pissed at, because if you're pissed at me, or Ernie, or anyone else... then it's easier than being pissed at your dad, right?"

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overlooked
2011-12-15 06:08 pm UTC (link)

He wasn't going to have some deep, moving heart to heart with Justin. Hell, he wasn't going to have that with anyone, not here this morning, not ever. There were things he didn't care to talk about, not even with Adelle who understood it all too well, and this was one of them.

"Please. I can be pissed at a whole bunch of people, my father included, and still sleep well at night." Because maybe Isaiah got what he deserved and maybe Zacharias was a complete bastard for thinking that. Honestly, he just didn't want to have to go through the show, to sit here and be something more like the perfect son he would never be.

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basilisk_srvivr
2011-12-16 12:12 am UTC (link)

"All right, be pissed. Not like that's any different from you any other day."

He made a face when he saw a woman sit down at the other end of the aisle. What disturbed him was her hat, some sort of black and white concoction that looked like a bag of dominos had exploded all over her head.

"What is it with women and hats, anyway? No matter how many I've talked to, I still don't understand it."

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overlooked
2011-12-19 05:05 am UTC (link)

Zacharias steeled himself. The services would be starting soon and at least then he wouldn't have to work so hard to ignore Justin. He still didn't know why the other man was here other than to somehow make this worse for him by rubbing salt in his proverbial wounds. At the very least he would have imagined that Justin would be gone to find the Macmillans and just leave him alone.

It wasn't exactly welcome or wanted, but he couldn't really do anything about it, not without making a scene. So, instead he simply had to endure. His sister would be over soon, too take her seat next to him, their mother on her other side. They would all settle and finally Isaiah Smith could be put in the ground and life could start to go on again.

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