1994-07-01: Fish n' Chips

Participants:

Siobhan_icon.gif Jack_icon.gif

Scene Title Fish n' Chips
Synopsis Jack and Sio have a 'catch-up' lunch after Jack returns from his latest assignment.
Date 01 July, 1994
Watch For Sibling interactions and a few mentions of a 'mystery man'.
Chronology N/A
Logger Siobhan

The Leaky Cauldron

It is very dary and shabby inside this tiny pub, the air full of the smell of pipe smoke. A few old women sit in a shadowy corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. A little man in a top hat is talking to the old bartender, who is quite bald and looks like a toothless walnut. A low buzz of chatter fills the room continuously, sometimes augmented by the sounds of laughter or a scraping chair as somebody rises. Down past the end of the bar, a door leads into the small back storeroom. In the opposite direction, a small parlor branches off from the common room, and from there a handsome wooden staircase leads upwards to a hallway of rooms for rent, each bearing a brass number.


"Who? Grey?" It's an old argument, and Jack ignores it for the most part. "Chips, right. Gotcha." He winks saucily at his little sister. "Good hunting, Professor." Jack waves and turns back to Siobhan. "Sure thing, I'm payin'. Just got off a job!" He grins widely. "Let's go!" He snakes his arm through his sister's, guiding her toward a restaurant.

"Yes, /Liam/." Siobhan rolls her eyes and walks alongside Jack until they pass the courtyard to the Leaky Cauldron. There she tugs him inwards. "C'mon, Jack, they've got /great/ chips." Just /how/ she knows this when their usual shop is a bit down the way, she doesn't say. Leading him into the darkened pub, she snags a butterbeer for herself and a Firewhiskey for Jackall from a smiling Tompicks out a table with a good view of the room and sits. "Tell me all about this last job. Did you find what they sent you for?"

Jack nods, and grabs the firewhiskey, sitting down in a seat easily. "Yeah. It was in one of the smaller boxes, and there was a huge dark curse on it, of course. But we found it, and the guy was so glad to have it back that he gave me a bonus." He waggles his eyebrows and takes a long sip. "Your nattering on about the chips's got me wanting some too. Fish and chips, then?" He tilts his chair up onto the back legs. "Ready for your last year?" He shakes his head. "Can't believe it. Little Rosie's almost done with Hogwarts." He sets the whiskey down. "Got ideas on what you want to do? If you need me to …" Pull some strings, talk to people… "Just let me know. Alright?" His expression turns serious.

Siobhan stifles a giggle at her brother's ridiculous eyebrow-waggling. "Merlin, Jack, does that expression /ever/ work? It's a wonder you pull as often as you do." It's a lie, of course. She knows just how charming he can be; but what's a sister for if not to take the piss out of you once in a while? "Yeah, fish 'n chips sound /gorgeous/." She rolls her eyes again. "I'm not /little/ Jack. Haven't been for like, six years now." When Tom ambles by, she gives him their orders and turns back to Jack. "I'm ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." His offer of 'help' is ignored. Favors never felt right to her—even from family. Once Tom's back to his counter and kitchen, she leans in close and locks her brown eyes onto his blue. "Alright now, Captain Flash," she returns to the nickname she had for him as a kid. "Tell me what's got you so antsy you're practically twitchin' in the middle of Diagon Alley?" Just as he always calls her 'Rose' or 'Rosie', she only uses his nickname when she's deadly serious.

"Can't put my finger on it, Rosie." Jack sighs, his ever-perceptive sister catching him out again. "Somethin's goin' on. Whispers, rumors, stuff…" He twirls his glass around in an idle movement. "I mean, I was in South America for a while, breaking a curse from some old family heirlooms for a client, and I kept hearing rumors… Nothing substantial, just…" He frowns. Something /must/ be going on if he's letting her take the mickey without much of a response. "Just worried, I guess." There's probably a lot more to it, but it's what he can prove at the moment. He tips the drink back, draining most of it. "You haven't heard anything from the snakes, have you?" He looks up at her.

Siobhan notices the lack of response to her teasing and her serious demeanor cranks up a notch. If it's bad enought to worry Jack, it's not something she's about to brush off. She takes a long draw from her butterbeer and uses the time to think. She's just about to open her mouth when Jack beats her to the punch, touching on a wound that's not altogether healed, despite the kind words from a new friend. Her usually soft brown eyesso often full of gentle warmth and tender affectionspark with the flame of hurt and indignation. "Stop it Jack. That's not fair and you know it." She sets her bottle on the table between them and leans back, arms folding over her chest. "Not all of Slytherin is bad and not everything bad comes back to us. Not even /most/ bad things come back to us, so, no, I /haven't/ heard anything."

Jack holds up his hands. "Geez, Rosie. Calm down! I wasn't suggesting they'd be the cause. I just wondered if you who are more skilled at stealth had been aware of it. We lions have a tendency to the brash and bold, as you know…" Living with several of them. "Just wondered if they'd /heard/ anything." He sighs, sitting the chair down. "I'm sorry, Rosie-girl. I've just been thinking about this. Might be nothing at all, or it might…" His lips purse, and his blue eyes look up to hers. "Might be something going on. I just want to be careful." A woman walks past, and Jack winks at her, smile flashing brightly then disappearing again as she moves from his field of view. "Just keep your ear to the ground, okay?"

Ruffled feathers mostly re-smoothed, Siobhan relaxes her stance and runs a hand through her hair before tossing a semi-sheepish smile at her older brother. "Sorry, Jack. Old habits…" She doesn't have to say anymore. They both remember the initial reactions to her House. As their food arrives, she wastes no time in drizzling vinegar over her chips and sinking her teeth into a particularly fat one. "Mmm, that's /gorgeous/." Finishing that bite and sucking a bit of grease from her fingertip, Siobhan hazards a glance up at her brother. "You know I hear most of what circles the school eventually, Jack. I can field a couple of subtle questions too if you'd like." She smiles a bit wider, reaching out to touch his arm and putting out a general air of reassurance. "If I do hear something, you'll be the first to know."

When his food arrives, Jack douses his chips with salt, and grabs one, munching on it in a fashion that makes a witch at another table giggle. But he's not even doing it intentionally. "Thanks. It means a lot." He grins. "So, other than coming up to the Alley to get away from Mum, what else have you been up to this summer?" He's not really fishing, just making small talk. "I haven't been home for…" Well, it's pretty obvious. It's been awhile.

Her smile softening, Siobhan retracts her arm and sips from her bottle. "You should come for a visit before you take off again. I know Mum misses you. We all do, really." As to his question about her summer activities, she shrugs and takes a healthy bite from her deep-fried fish. A moment's contemplation - bought by the fact that she's chewing - the young Slytherin decides to have a bit of fun with her Jack. "Came out to Florean's for ice cream and saw a building blow up." He may have heard of the incident with the Aurors and the runaway hag and the one Auror in particular who seems to have a reputation for explosions—especially since he was in the Alley that very day. This, of course, is said quite casually. If she times it juuuust right…

"Bloody Hell, Rosie!" Jack hops up from his chair. "You saw a /building/ explode?" He leans over her, seeming to be examining her, making sure she's okay. All thoughts of visiting Mum and Dad are gone. "What the hell were you doing that close to a…" He frowns. "I think I've heard of that guy." He spends enough of his free time chatting with folks at the ministry that he's heard stories. "You were around /him/?" He's dangerous. He narrows his eyes. "Careful. Grown up or not, Rosie…" He purses his lips, moving back to his seat to eat his lunch.

"Sweet Circe, calm /down/ Jack!" Sio hisses. "I'm perfectly all right, see?" She holds up her arms for inspection. "Not a scratch on me, you great girl's blouse. Now sit down and eat your lunch." As if to set an example, she takes another large bite of her fish and chews slowly to savor the flavor. "What guy?" Her voice is carefully innocent; too innocent. "And there wasn't anything to be careful /about/, Jack! Didn't even get dust on my ice-cream. Perfectly safe!"

"There's this Auror who's getting a rep as a real…explosive personality." He grins as he makes the pun. "Like he'll walk into a place, and it'll blow up around 'im." Now that he's a little more relaxed, his familal tones show. "You see him?" He motions Tom over for a refil. "That's good, Rosie." The last comment is thrown idly out, as though he was preoccupied. He grabs a piece of fish, and starts eating it. After deftly wiping his face with a napkin, he continues. "Bet it was a sight."
"Him?" Siobhan fights a sunny smile. "Yeah, I saw him." And chatted, had ice cream, hid under a table and finally lunched with him, but Jack didn't ask about /those/ things, so technically she isn't lying. When Tom returns, she requests a refill as well. "Oh it /was/, Jack! The colors were beautiful and the sound was magnificent!" Her grin grows again, until it seems almost too big to fit her face. "And nobody got hurt! Not even that hag he was after. Now that's skill."

Jack laughs outright, hand hitting the table, openfaced and gentle. "That /is/ somethin'" He draws his whiskey up for another sip, and sighs. His grin widens, and he shakes his head. "We do get into the most interesting situations, don't we?" He rolls a shoulder nonchalantly, and grabs some more chips from his plate, popping them into his mouth one by one.

Fully relaxed now, Siobhan grins at her brother, her tongue poking out from between her teeth as her eyes take on a wicked glint. "At least my situations end with everyone's clothes still on!" Apparently his reputation is legendary. She too attacks her chips, stifling a few appreciative moans at the sheer amount of flavor packed into each small wedge.

"I should surely hope so." Jack's eyebrows lift as he continues to be the master of the phrase, 'Do as I say, not as I do.' "S'not my fault people find me …" He flexes an arm in a mock-pose. "So intriguing." He grabs another piece of fish, looking at it for a moment. "So, do you get on well with your Head of House?" Another attempt at small talk, as he caught her strolling with the said professor earlier.

Another eyeroll and Sio takes a swig of her butterbeer, obviously used to this sort of thing. "You're full of it you are." She throws him a wink and doesn't say anything to reassure him about the nature of her adventures. Make him squirm a little. The next question throws her off a bit and she can only shrug. "About as well as anyone does, really. Dunno whether or not we get on, but he puts up with me." Considering that's more than most, she'll take it as a positive sign. "I like him well enough. Wicked intelligent, he is, and a fantastic sense of humor too, once you get past the…" There's really no better word for it. "The snark."

"Full of what? Raw sex appeal? Why thank you." Jack grins cheekily and takes a big bite of his fish, and leans back again. "Yeah, sounds about the size of it. He was fourth year when I arrived." He shrugs. "So, I saw 'im around. But he was always one of the 'big kids'. You know how firsties get." He chuckles, tapping a foot contentedly. "You're right, though, I probably should stop in to see Mum before I head out again. That won't be for another coupla weeks, though, so …" He wrinkles his nose in thought, then sets his fish down and claps his hands. "I could go surprise 'em this weekend." A wide smile crosses his face. "That'd do."


This RP continued directly off of Boomslang Fever


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