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Tweak says, "Llamas are cool"

Tristan Ellis Dunstan (elmlikedust) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-11-27 21:51:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 11, !incomplete, cho chang, tristan dunstan

Who: Tristan Dunstan & Cho Chang
What: Christmas shopping
Where: Zara, Regent St.
When: This evening
Warnings: None.

Sophie had said she wanted clothes. It was a particularly cruel thing to ask of Tristan even in normal circumstances - fashion wasn't his forte, and he knew it - but ever since he'd been written up in Witch Weekly as a makeover story, he'd been a mite touchy about it. It had been a well-intentioned request, however, and so he had decided that it wouldn't be too much to go to one of the larger shops and buy her some store credit. And so he found himself standing in a very long, very twisted queue under bright golden lighting, surrounded by innumerable satin jackets and spring coats and very, very tight jeans, and wondering whether he had counted the money out right.

He had; he managed to ask for credit - a gift card, it seemed - successfully; and he had it wrapped in glittering paper and a bit of ribbon and was stuffing it into his pocket when he finally escaped the shop. He stopped, ducking against the display window to keep out of the thick flow of foot traffic. He wasn't exactly sure where he was, and had a couple students he had wanted to shop for. Surely there would be somewhere around here where he could pick something up. He discreetly consulted his pocket map while trying not to elbow anyone.

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elmlikedust
2010-11-29 03:30 am UTC (link)

"Well - that's a very good way to think of it, yes." And if he were honest with himself, he would admit that he found being an Auror an infinitely more important thing to do, too. How could it not be? It was hard not to admire someone who worked at such a job, even if he couldn't imagine filling it himself. "But there's only so much one person can do, I'm sure. Considering." Considering all the people who were still free and who were bent on making trouble, he meant to say, but he didn't really want to talk or think about them. It was bad enough thinking about what they'd done the first time.

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chineseveggies
2010-11-29 04:41 am UTC (link)

She'd had to find a positive way to look at it, otherwise thoughts and guilt would have completely consumed her. Being an Auror wasn't easy by any definition, but, thinking on it, there weren't many other careers she could really see for herself. She nodded and made a non-committal sound to signify she'd been paying attention. This wasn't something she really wanted to talk about either.

"Well. So!" Cho said, quickly putting a happy grin on her face and clapping her hands together excitedly, "What year were you again? I finished in '97." It was only now that she actually got a better look at Tristan and realized he was a little older than she was. And that he had a nice face. But she kept that part to herself.

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elmlikedust
2010-11-30 05:18 am UTC (link)

"Ninety-three," Tristan said, jumping on the change of subject as nimbly as he could. He saw no problem at all with letting people sweep things under the rug every now and again, and was bad enough at conversation that he almost never risked derailing them by insisting on anything. "And then up and left the country for a while, I'm afraid. Nothing quite as productive as what you've been up to." That would have been difficult, though, by the sound of it. "It's good to be back - it's much warmer here - even if it's hard to believe it's been ten years." Well, it wasn't that hard to believe; parts of it had felt like an eternity. He found he appreciated her steering the conversation away from some of that. It was comforting to be around cheerful people. He rather liked talking to her.

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chineseveggies
2010-11-30 06:32 am UTC (link)

"Ah..." She got a faraway look on her face for a moment, though not at all an unpleasant one, as she imagined traveling all around Europe and South America and into rural China and the Australian outback. Sometimes Cho wished she could have just left the country and traveled, but she had her duties here, and that was more important. "I'm jealous you got to go around the world a bit. Where did you go to? I've not even been to France, and they're right across the Channel..."

Cho pulled her hand through her short hair, mussing up her bangs, although they still fell just as carelessly in front of her eyes as they had before. "It has been a very long while, I suppose... Strange, how time goes by so quickly when we're not fully paying attention." Although she had to admit, it was odd to think of England as being 'warmer' than anywhere else, especially with the bitter cold that was quickly approaching with December.

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elmlikedust
2010-12-17 04:06 am UTC (link)

"Oh, not really around the world - mostly Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, a bit of time in Russia." At least here he almost never had to shovel snow, and he had the luxury of splitting firewood with a wand rather than having to put on a show for Muggles. "Everyone should get out every now and then. It's really quite inexpensive, if you don't mind staying in frigid lodges and such." He smiled. "Too much time really can go by without noticing. I mean, I've not left England for years, and I'm sure I could carry on this way for just as long, if I didn't stop to think about it."

Perhaps he did need to get away. Too much had happened at home since he'd come back. It would be nice to leave everything behind for a while.

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chineseveggies
2010-12-17 04:57 am UTC (link)

"That's more places than I've been to," Cho smiled, playfully nudging him with her elbow. She was naturally an outgoing, friendly person and the action came as naturally as breathing. "I was in China some years ago for some political nonsense," she said with an easy smile, "but... clearly I returned home!" She shrugged, again shifting the things she was holding. She'd been here through everything and while sometimes it felt like she wanted to just get away, it was hard to think of what she would do with her life otherwise.

"We all probably could. It's so easy to get caught up in the daily to-do... If you don't take time to stop and notice things, we'd blink and ... poof."

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