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Tweak says, "Gundam Wing is mecha love"

cassandra runcorn (forwarding) wrote in ultrarpg,
@ 2008-09-04 22:02:00

Who: Sebastian Harper and Cassandra Runcorn
What: Former house mates run into each other.
Where: Leaky Cauldron
When: September 4, 2002
Rating: TBD
Status: In Progress

Cassandra wasn't a huge drinker. She wasn't one to frequent bars, either. After the events of the day, however, she felt the need for a stiff drink, and that's how she found herself at the Leaky Cauldron, sitting at a small table in a corner, a tumbler of firewhiskey in front of her as she rubbed at her forehead.

It had all started with the Ministry's owl. Her step-mother had spent the morning alternately screaming like a mad woman and sobbing into whoever's shoulder was closest at the moment. When Alexia had cornered her, starting in about how she was a terrible daughter and what in Merlin's name was she doing back in her father's house, she hadn't cared, she was just there because he was dead and she wanted her inheritance, it was all Cassie could do to not pack up and leave again right then, her problems back in Greece be damned. When Alexia had suddenly started crying and apologizing, and she had seen Ethan giving her a pleading look from the door of the room, Cassandra had paused, taken a deep breath, summoned a house elf to bring tea, and went about trying to calm the hysterical woman down. She had finally convinced her to take a mild sleeping potion, and, seeing her step-mother to bed, she had bolted from the house with a promise to be back before too long.

That had been six hours ago, and Cassie was having second thoughts about going back to the manor at all. She was running out of energy, emotional and physical, and maybe it would be better to go back to her aunt's and deal with being the poor, jilted darling instead of someone who wasn't really welcomed. And yet...if she had to sit and accept one more pitying look she was going to hurt someone.

Letting that line of thought dwindle into nothing, she picked up the glass with a determined look on her face and bolted half of the liquor down in one gulp, only to end up choking at the strong, unfamiliar burn. No, Cassandra definitely wasn't a drinker. The scowl she had focused on the glass was transfered up as she noted someone hovering near her, and, still gagging slightly, she noted that it was a former house mate of hers, and one she only just remembered the name of. Fantastic.

"Can I help you?" she asked sharply, her voice slightly rough from coughing, though no less defensive for it.

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forwarding
2008-09-06 03:17 pm UTC (link)

This type of conversation Cassandra could handle right now: short sentences and nods. She mumbled something that was probably 'thank you;' if he was really offering to buy drinks she wasn't going to refuse. It would be rude for one thing. She was also upset, and bored, and it had been a while since she had had a good looking man (and, she noted, Sebastian was good looking) offer to buy her drinks. There was a disadvantage to being jilted in such a small community; all the guys worth seeing were too polite to try anything so soon.

Even if it had been nearly sixth months. Hum. She wondered if her aunt and grandmother had warned the local guys to stay away or else, and she didn't know anyone who would want to go against her aunt or grandmother's or else. Not that she was looking, really -- Cassandra was just about ready to swear off men, or at least avoid them for a good while. Unconsciously rubbing at her finger where the engagement ring used to be, she mentally shook herself and ceased thoughts in that direction. It wouldn't do to get...emotional or whatever around one of her former house mates. Besides, she was over it.

Mostly, anyway, was what she liked to tell herself, and Cassandra hadn't taken the time to examine that particular set of feelings closer. There was too much else going on for that. Her father always had had awful timing, and his death was no exception.

Pulled back to the moment as the shot glass hit the table, Cassie realized he had asked her a question. How was she going to go about answering that without sounding bitter, or as if she was just looking for an excuse to start whinging about what a bloody mess her life was currently?

"Oh. Ah, yes. I was gone, until my father decided it was time to drop dead in the middle of a meeting." Her mouth flattened into a thin line at that, and for lack of anything else to do, she downed the rest of her second firewhiskey, holding back her cough this time. It didn't burn as much. "I was still in the will; got called back. I'm really not sure why I'm still here, really." A blatant lie. She was still here because she didn't want to face her family and friends back in Greece at the moment. "That was...two months ago."

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harpingly
2008-09-07 06:42 pm UTC (link)

"Two months? That's an awfully long time to be unsure of why you're some place." Sebastian nudged on of his shot glasses towards the space of bar in between himself and Cassandra, a silent invitation for her to keep drinking if she so chose. He wasn't trying to get her drunk; drunk women were often annoying and completely not worth the time or effort it took to placate them. He still wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to do, but since Cassandra wasn't annoying at all he didn't regret his decision to come over quite yet.

Huh. So her father had died. She didn't seem entirely upset, but then maybe that's why she was at a bar. On the other hand, he had presumably died two months ago, when she'd come back from Greece. How long did it take to get over the death of one's father? Sebastian couldn't be sure. His mother had died when he was five, something he barely remembered. His father was a different story. He wouldn't be missed, that was for sure. His father wasn't good for a damn thing, not unless you liked being smacked around or belittled. Sebastian was just glad that he had long since disassociated himself with the Harper Manor, thus making sure that any dark objects found in the upcoming raid wouldn't be connected to him. Let his father burn in his own fire, thanks.

Sebastian couldn't help but notice Cassandra's finger, rubbing almost of its own volition against a faint pale line on her left ring finger. He stared for a second, trying to figure out what it meant. Sipping his scotch, he came up with two theories. One, she was bar-hopping, trying to pick up a man for the night and thus had to remove her figurative chastity belt. Two, she'd been dumped. The former seemed incredibly unlikely. After all, they'd been sitting there for more then five minutes and he'd bought her a drink and she hadn't crawled into his lap. The latter, well, that would be a good reason for someone to drink, especially alone. He knew about that well enough. Charlotte had been more than a reason to drink.

He wondered if he should mention it. Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed the line white line, but Sebastian was not most people. He was trained to read body language, trained to pay attention to the most mundane details in people. It had made Charlotte nervous, had ultimately led to him discovering what she had done. He knew he was too intense sometimes. Too much staring and deep thinking, not enough casual conversation. Well. Sebastian wouldn't have wanted Cassandra to bring up his ex, but he also didn't want to get into a fight later on that week if someone's husband wanted to find the man who had bought his wife a couple of rounds.

"You married?" He tried not to sound judgmental, but it happened anyway.

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forwarding
2008-09-07 07:11 pm UTC (link)

"It is," Cassandra agreed, sounding a bit sour. She found it ridiculous that she had been moping about her former 'home' for a couple of months; it wasn't even as if she were upset over her father's death. It was hard, being torn between two places and not wanting to be at either one. At least in England she didn't have people still pitying her and treating her with kid gloves.

The shot glass that now sat between them seemed to call to her, and without really thinking she took it as the invitation that it was intended to be, and threw it back quickly, squeezing her eyes shut and shuddering as the liquor burned its way into her stomach. So much for trying not to get drunk; she was probably well on her way there by this point.

Sebastian's tone didn't go unnoticed, and Cassandra flushed angrily at what he seemed to be implying. He obviously thought she was out for a night of flirting with random men while her husband was off somewhere else. Scowling at the rush of emotion that brought -- anger at the thought that she would be cheating, sadness as she thought about the fact that her wedding would have fallen sometime soon had her fiance not run off on her, awkwardness at seeming like, well, she wasn't even really sure -- Cassie gave her former house mate a look through a wave of her hair before brushing it out of her face with a short, irritated motion. The anger didn't last long, however, and after a moment of just looking at him, unsure how to respond, she let her shoulders slump.

"I would be getting married about now if things had worked out. Let's leave it at that." Sebastian probably wasn't interested in the whole story, and Cassandra wasn't interested in sitting and talking at him. She wasn't sure if she would be able to keep herself from getting upset all over again if she went into any detail. The witch eyed the shots that were still on the bar and against her better judgment she reached over and took one, swallowing it down. Grimacing and scrunching her nose, she slammed the glass back down in much the same manner that Sebastian had done with another glass earlier. Well, her mind was certainly fuzzy now. Maybe there was something to this drinking thing.

"I'm sorry. I'm not in a good mood, and I get the feeling you're not the type of guy who suffers upset women gladly. If you want to take off I won't blame you." She wasn't telling him to leave; she actually kind of liked having him there, sitting quietly. It wasn't comforting, exactly, but it was nicer than getting smashed by herself. Cassie just didn't want him sitting there out of some strange sense of chivalry. Not that she remember him being that type of guy. Actually, her half-drunken mind was telling her that he was actually a bit of a bastard even if he wasn't acting like one right at this moment.

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harpingly
2008-09-07 07:43 pm UTC (link)

Four drinks now. She'd had one when he came over, he'd bought her another, and she had just taken two down within the same minute. He might have been annoyed at the fact that she was drinking all his whiskey, but she sort of looked like she needed it more than him at the moment. He pushed his last remaining shot towards Cassandra, content with his glass of scotch for the moment. He wondered if she would fall over drunk soon, or if it wouldn't hit her until she tried to do something crazy like stand up. Firewhiskey was substantially stronger than Muggle whiskey, though he was unsure if she'd had much of either.

He was thinking about this when Cassandra gave him a nasty look. He almost laughed; it had been a while since he'd gotten that look from a female, though he certainly remembered it well. He wasn't sure what the look meant this time, so he simply waited quietly, shaking the ice cubes in his glass gently. He'd always liked the sound of ice clinking.

It seemed to happen instantly. The anger seeped out of Cassie's body like a vapor through her nose. She visibly slumped before answering his question. Ah. So she'd been engaged once. Sebastian was torn between his normal manner of staying quiet and his strange desire to know what had happened. She had been engaged, and now she wasn't. He knew he wasn't the only person in the world to have been so close to forever just to watch it slip through his fingers, but it made him intensely curious to see it happen to other people. Maybe by listening to all the stories of failed relationships he would be able to figure out where he'd screwed up his. Ha. It hardly mattered now. He hadn't even realized he was scowling.

"Me too." He didn't want to elaborate, didn't want to talk about Charlotte any more than she wanted to talk about ... whatever his name was, he was sure. But it was nice enough, in its own miserable way, to let her know that she wasn't alone in that feeling. He still had the ring sitting at home in a locked desk drawer. Thank Merlin he'd never actually given it to her. It was one thing to break up the way they did, but it would have been far worse if he'd actually asked the question. If announcements had been sent out. To this day he wasn't entirely sure if Charlotte knew that he had been planning to ask her to marry him. He was almost positive that she knew, but despite his most careful observations, there were some things about her he could never pin down. Maybe it was voluntary blindness. He had certainly known that she had cheated on him long before he dared to admit it to himself. He'd let the lie go on for almost a month before he finally brought it up.

No. Sebastian was not the type to suffer upset women gladly. Charlotte knew about that as well, knew from the day she'd come to his flat kicking, screaming, crying, begging. Oh, take me back Sebastian, it was just that one time, just one night, didn't mean anything, I swear it's only you I love... He hadn't suffered her that night, not at all. As far as he knew he was the only one who suffered, when he made the decision to kick her out completely. Could he have forgiven her? Could they have patched things up? Maybe, but that wasn't what he had chosen.

"I'll be here for a while," Sebastian said dully. It should have been clear by now that he was not in a good mood either. He was rarely in a good mood.

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forwarding
2008-09-07 08:37 pm UTC (link)

Cassandra shook her head at the shot, instantly regretting the quick movement. It was tempting. It really was. But she wasn't quite completely gone yet, and the last thing she wanted was to have to floo home drunk. Flooing was bad enough to her when sober.

She was surprised at Sebastian's 'me too.' Cassie had honestly not expected for him to have had a fiance, or even a girlfriend. It was strange to suddenly have something in common with him besides having been in the same house at school. It wasn't an enjoyable thing to have in common, however, and she managed a short, small, sympathetic smile before her eyes went down to focus on the table. She was thinking of her former fiance now, from how they met to the rather awkward and extremely painful breakup. Silly her, she had actually thought that Thomas was going to be a forever thing. Her parents may not have worked out -- they hadn't even tried -- but she had seen enough of the rest of her family in normal, loving relationships that it wasn't like she was jaded towards the whole marriage thing.

Maybe she should have been.

Maybe she should have been more careful, should have decided to date him a little longer before agreeing to marry him. Then she would have just been through a bad regular breakup, and not have been dumped by a man she was supposed to marry in a few months' time. She leaned forward, her chin cradled on the back of her hand, her thoughts drifting further. Thomas had been so charming; almost alarmingly so. She had had doubts about him in the beginning, though after a few dates she had gotten to see past his joking, less-serious side and into the calmer person that he often hid. Cassie had always thought that despite their differences in personality (he loved the spotlight; she didn't) that they had a connection. Turns out that in the end, he had some reason to leave her behind.

Someone, maybe. He was flirty. Always had been. Maybe she shouldn't be so surprised that it fell apart in the end. Maybe it was a case of her not trusting her instincts and wanting to be believe something about someone that she refused to see the truth. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Why was she thinking of all of this now, anyway? It seemed that drinking hadn't been the best idea after all. She was feeling fuzzy and warm, and was being way more introspective than she felt was decent at the moment. Though introspection seemed to be working for Sebastian, too; he was being just as quiet, and had an intense, thoughtful air about him.

"Nowhere else to go," she said absently, mostly to herself. It would probably be smart for her to get home, but she didn't feel like standing at the moment, much less moving. She wasn't even sure she could stand or walk if she wanted to. But the thought of going home and dealing with Alexia and her melodrama made her head hurt more than she figured it would in the morning when she felt the full effects of drinking so much in such a short span of time.

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harpingly
2008-09-07 09:33 pm UTC (link)

"There really isn't." Sebastian wasn't feeling so great. He wasn't depressed, not really sad, but he hadn't quite gotten to numb yet. Numb was his favorite feeling, where he wasn't angry or upset or mourning the loss of the one thing in his life that had made him smile on a regular basis. Just nothing. That's why he drank. Sebastian wasn't an angry drunk, or a happy drunk. He was just a nothing drunk. The hangovers weren't even bad; he'd concocted his own brand of potion a few years ago that worked like a charm, no pun intended. He noticed the sway of Cassandra's head and made a mental note to owl her some later that night, after he'd made it home. She was going to need it.

Home. That was really the only place to go. He didn't have a ton of friends to visit. Well, he didn't really have any, but he liked it that way and despised when people acted like they should feel sorry for him because of it. Elise made that mistake occasionally, though she ought to known him better by now. It was a sad sort of reality that his best friend was his little sister, and even she was much too busy with her own life and her own relationships to worry about Sebastian and his. He didn't have much to do these days besides sit at home or go to a bar. He was alone both places, except for tonight. Occasionally he'd go to the meadow with his broom and a couple of bludgers. It always helped him take out some of his frustrations with life by beating a few around.

Sebastian watched Cassandra carefully, feeling slightly guilty that he'd given her so much to drink. He'd thought she needed it, and it only later occurred to him that not everyone needed alcohol the way he did. He pulled the last shot away from her and downed it himself, pushing all the empty glasses towards the end of the bar for the tender to collect. He shook his head when he was asked if he wanted any more. He was fine for now and his company certainly didn't need anything except maybe a glass of water, but she could get that herself if necessary.

"Where are you staying?" Sebastian hoped that it hadn't come out wrong the minute he'd spoken. He just meant, well, if she didn't live here anymore, was she renting? If she was renting, she certainly had a plan to stay longer than she let on. It didn't matter, not really. Maybe the reason she was here was because the whole engagement thing had recently fallen through. He had no way of knowing how long it had been since she'd split with her fiance, or whatever had happened. In fact, he had no way of knowing that it hadn't been her fault entirely, or her decision.

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forwarding
2008-09-11 01:18 pm UTC (link)

Cassie wondered if she should ask for some water or very strong black coffee or something, but the bartender had already moved away and she didn't much feel like talking too loudly at the moment. The last time she had gotten this drunk she -- well, she didn't really remember much, besides waking up on the beach with a couple of her cousins and a terrible headache.

"I'm staying with my stepmother. Its..." She frowned, groping for the right word. What was it, exactly, to be back in her old room at the house she had spent a dozen or so fairly unhappy years at? "Its a bit odd to be back. To stay. I mean," a shake of her head; words seemed to escape her when the was drunk. "I'm only still here, I suppose, so I don't have to deal with being that poor dear who got left by her bastard of a fiance. At least here it is quiet."

Cassandra fell quiet herself before she could get started with the rambling. She was afraid that if she started talking in any detail everything would just rush out, all her frustration and anger that had built up over the past six months. Really, if was because of all of that that she had ended up in a bar, drunk, next to a man she had barely ever acknowledged at school, letting him buy her too much whiskey and probably wouldn't take kindly to her babbling. Her step-brother had offered to talk to her; hell, even her step-sister had seemed sympathetic and was willing to listen. Why did it seem like it would be easier to tell everything to a stranger than it would be to people she kind of knew and who seemed to care?

"I should just leave," she said suddenly, thinking of other places she could go. France. Germany. Netherlands. Even America. Surely anywhere could be better. Sliding out of the chair and onto her feet, Cassie found that standing perhaps wasn't the best idea; she had been right when she had figured that earlier. Gripping the back of Sebastian's chair, she swayed for a moment, closing her eyes and waiting for the room to settle down.

"...Maybe I should just leave later."

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harpingly
2008-09-11 06:24 pm UTC (link)

Sebastian didn't hate women. He knew a lot of guys would have turned to hatred after something like Charlotte happened, but he wasn't one of them. He was bitter, sure, but he didn't blame every single woman out there for what she had done to him. Hard for him to trust women, really, but he'd been that way before Charlotte. Women were definitely the fairer sex, with their long hair and batting eyelashes and their pretty smells. Maybe it was just part of some deep-rooted masculinity, but Sebastian couldn't help but want to protect them, all of them. Maybe that was why it hurt so bad to leave Charlotte. It had clearly hurt her to see him go. He fought a battle inside himself that day. How many times had he put himself in harm's way, had taken some fall or some kind of pain just so that she wouldn't have to? But he couldn't, just couldn't let the two of them keep going on that way. He still loved her, but he didn't trust her anymore.

It was that part of Sebastian that turned sideways in his chair and slid an arm securely around Cassandra's waist so she'd stop swaying. He hated seeing sad women, especially when they were toppling over. He found himself feeling guilty once again for letting her drink so much. He hoped she'd be able to get home alright. Sebastian would have liked to pretend that he was only helping Cassandra ease back into her chair because he was chivalrous, but that wasn't it. Even as he flagged down the bartender and got a cup of black coffee and an ice water placed in front of her, he knew it was more than he would have done for any other girl. He felt as if the two shared something in common. Though it was true that he still didn't know what had happened to break off Cassie's engagement, he could tell that it hadn't been her fault. She still looked crushed by the entire thing, he could see it in her face.

"Leave England?" He questioned, trying not to make it a big deal that he'd all but lifted her back into her chair like a toddler. "Or leave the bar?"

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forwarding
2008-09-11 07:30 pm UTC (link)

Sebastian's arm sliding around her waist brought Cassandra back to reality; she found it strangely grounding, actually. Her hand came up to rest on his shoulder while she found her balance again, and then were feet weren't on the ground, that couldn't be good, but -- he was helping her back into her chair. Alright. Chairs were good. Sitting was definitely good. Her balance didn't feel so off when she was sitting. Once she was sure everything wasn't going to tilt to an angle when she opened her eyes, she glanced up to see water and coffee being placed in front of her by an amused looking bartender. Cassie wished she could get angry at the older man, but she couldn't. It was her fault for drinking so much in the first place.

As she took a sip of the coffee (it was wonderfully strong and perfect) she glanced over at Sebastian. The part of her that wasn't managing to be both extremely grateful and extremely embarrassed was shocked that he was being so...gentlemanly, and, for the life of her, she couldn't find any reason for him to do so. She wondered briefly if she should be suspicious, and studied him, using the last bit of clarity in her to decide that, no, she could trust him -- for the moment. She wasn't so sure about other times, or if it would have been wise in any other situation. She wondered if even between Slytherins, being a fellow broken heart counted for something.

It seemed to be in this case.

"England," Cassie said. "Though it would probably be wise to leave the bar as well. Eventually. I'm not sure going home in this state would be the smartest thing to do." She sipped slowly at the coffee, enjoying it in the way she supposed she should have enjoyed the firewhiskey. She was feeling a bit like a silly teenage girl with no sense getting drunk by herself for the first time, and then she realized that though she wasn't a teenager anymore, and she didn't count herself as being particularly silly, she was still out getting drunk by herself. It wasn't the first time, but it still happened so infrequently that she never remembered what a bad idea it was until it was happening again.

"You...could have walked off and left." Cassandra wasn't sure why she said it, but she managed to stop feeling like an idiot and met Sebastian's eyes. "You didn't. Thank you." She even managed a small, but sincere, smile.

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harpingly
2008-09-11 08:45 pm UTC (link)

Sebastian took the final sip of his scotch and looked over Cassandra with appraising eyes. She was a good-looking woman, he had to admit, so it really said something about him that he got a woman good and bloody pissed and then he .. did nothing. He really hadn't been trying to get her drunk for any purpose of his own; he'd just wanted someone to comiserate with. It seemed that they had done just that, while barely speaking. He liked comfortable silences.

Then he turned his eyes to the bar, running a finger over a gouge in the wood. "Do you think if you get far enough away, it will stop hurting?" He barely heard her expression of thanks, too lost in his own thoughts. He often wondered if moving would have helped him feel any better, but he'd never gone anywhere.

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forwarding
2008-09-11 09:04 pm UTC (link)

Cassandra sighed. Was getting far away from Greece helping? Maybe a little bit. She wondered if things would be better if she had gone to France, and not home for her father's funeral. She wasn't sure if she had a response for him, as much as she wanted to be able to give him some sort of definite answer.

"I..." she started, glancing down at his hand as it ran over the bar. He had nice hands, she noted, then wondered why the thought had even popped into her mind as she went back to her coffee. Sebastian looked -- maybe a little sad? She wasn't sure. She wondered if he was alright, though she wasn't sure how to go about asking him. Cassandra wasn't sure it would be entirely welcomed.

"It hasn't helped so far. I'm not sure if running ever does." Cassie looked down at her coffee as if perhaps it would hold all the answers they both needed that night. It didn't, of course. "I'm not sure if there's anything that helps when you're so -- hurt, so betrayed like that. Maybe things get better with time. Maybe they don't. I can't say, not yet."

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harpingly
2008-09-12 09:39 pm UTC (link)

"I .. don't know if time ever makes it better either." Sebastian had time. It had been just over a year since Charlotte had left. An entire year and he still thought about her constantly, still thought about how she had hurt him, betrayed him. He thought Cassandra's use of the word was quite fitting. It was unnerving, how this woman still had power over him, still had the power to keep him from selling that stupid ring or at the very least throwing it away. A ghost of a smirk crossed Sebastian's face as he thought that Charlotte probably didn't even think of him at all anymore. He was sure she had been able to move on easily.

It was disappointing answer that Cassie had given. Sebastian, in the moment he'd asked the question, had one fleeting thought that maybe, if he left the country, things would be better. He should have known the answer. Cassandra wouldn't be sitting next to him now, drowning her sorrows, if distance made things better.

They weren't the only two broken-hearted people in the world. He knew that. In that moment, though, it certainly felt like it.

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