Susan & Hannah
Susan supposed that really, the fact that she could quite possibly have a job at the Ministry again, all thanks to Hannah's aunt, helped to make her a bit more enthusiastic about the task when the owl arrived. Which she still found odd, considering the fact that she really hadn't enjoyed the last task too much, what with losing her necklace her Aunt Amelia had given her even if only for a bit and having to be Tracey Davis for a day.
But she wanted to be a Tulip. She suspected all the other women in her family were already. And that only added to her determination. She didn't like to fail.
Dutifully, she put on the robe she was given and went to the Inner Brew, not having to worry too much about the task affecting work or relationships; her closest friends were being initiated right along with her, there was no work, and there definitely wasn't anyone to worry about the other type of relationship possible.
She put her knuts into the meter, and pulled the lever, getting that instant feeling of being transported. Before she could rightly understand just what was happening, she felt a sprinkling of something falling on her, on them. She caught some of it in her hands and stared wide eyed as she recognised it for what it was. Dirt.
She opened her mouth widely, nearly screaming as her heart hammered in her chest. What kind of task is this, being buried alive? she thought to herself, more than slightly panicked as the dirt fell with more intensity.
Breathing. Breathing's becoming an issue, she thought what she surely would have said if breathing wasn't such an issue.
And then, just as suddenly as she'd been scared, she was at ease. From the dirt, from the soothing voice. But how could dirt be this soothing, and whose voice was it? She couldn't at all hear what was being said, but it just felt okay, and that was all that mattered, right? That this wouldn't actually kill her?
Her eyelids felt heavy with each passing moments, and slowly they started to drift shut.
"And how exactly does this follow your plans?"
Just as soon as she'd felt her eyes close, Susan's eyes flew open. She was sitting across from her mother in the Bones sitting room. Susan resisted the urge to roll her eyes and shrugged.
"It doesn't."
"That's not good enough, Sue."
Susan sighed. Same old, same old with her mother. Do nothing but nag and tell her what she ought to be doing. Slightly hypocritical, that. Her mother hadn't had any plans but to marry someone she knew had plans of success. That's not right, though. There's love. She loves him, he loves her. She thought.
"What was I supposed to do? Stay somewhere that wasn't doing right by me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "It was a dead end."
"And this interview you have with the department Head?" Julia Bones raised an eyebrow.
"I might go." Susan almost mumbled the words, already anticipating the reply of her mother, already not liking it or wanting to hear it.
"Might?" Was echoed right on cue. "This is a wonderful opportunity, and you might?"
"Fine. I will. I'll go. Is that good enough for you?"
"What about you?"
At the sound of a new voice, Susan spun around - only half noticing that she was no longer sitting - to face her father. She rolled her eyes at that, not dignifying it with an answer, and then noticed their surroundings. "What are we doing here?" She asked, as she took in where they were.
"You haven't answered my question yet, Susie. What about you?"
Susan tensed, and shrugged. "I don't know. I need to work. That's important, concrete."
"Except when it isn't." Andrew retorted. "What about friends? ...Relationships?"
"Who needs -" Susan stopped, a frown forming on her face. Impossibly, she felt like she heard someone calling her name. She looked around, but there was no one looking at her, not a soul paid her any mind. "Did you hear that? Someone was calling my name." She asked her father, anyway, hoping she wasn't going crazy.
He only raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head. "Forget it."