Distract me from my thoughts, once more.

[nymphadorauror]

Date: Thursday May 18, 2000
Time: 6ish pm
Place: London, Charlie’s shack
Characters Involved: Charlie and Tonks
Rating: PG-13?
Complete

Comments

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks didn’t try to hide her shock when Charlie pretended to have company. Her jaw loosened and her eyes grew wide, not knowing what to say or do in response to her ‘interruption’. He had caught her completely off guard, and his expression, as he spoke, was not helping.

What a minute….

“You bastard.” Tonks muttered breathlessly as she realized Charlie had teased. His expression had lightened, and soon she heard him laughing, which made her reach over and playfully hit him on the arm. “That was awful!” she commented, with more volume then last she had used.

When he reopened his door and offered a drink, she blew past him quickly and welcomed herself into his house, especially since there was no ‘company’ and his teasing was solely for his own enjoyment. That selfish pig!

“Yes….. that would be nice, since you are obviously starting the night early!” She stepped passed the front entrance and moved into his flat without looking back at him, but instead surveying the house in its current condition. She noticed there was plenty to drink, and that made her think back on their conversation in journal.

“So you are a liar….” Tonks mumbled as she walked up to his kitchen table.

[charlie_weasel]

Charlie laughed still at Tonks' expression when he'd said he had company. So maybe there was something there. Granted, her look was one of shock- it was still excellent. She brushed past him with indignation and airs. He followed her in, closing the door behind him.

Once over the boxes and after settling back into his seat, Charlie's gaze turned onto the girl. She looked like a wreck. "Well. Not completely a liar. I wasn't going to drink all of it tonight. I was planning on splitting it into two parts. Half tonight, half tomorrow- Oh yes, your drink."

He got back to his feet and grabbed a scuffed mug from the crate next to what used to be a sink. He picked up the bottle of Firewhiskey. "What do you want? I have almost everything they do at the Leaky."

[nymphadorauror]

With a huff and puff, Tonks removed her cloak and draped it over a chair at the table. “Sure, you say that now.”

She had every reason to believe he would attempt to drink his stock in one night; after all he was an aspiring drunk. Ok, well Tonks truly didn’t believe that, but what else could she conclude when looking at what he had in his house. Nothing inside was of furnishings worthy to call furniture, but crates full of liquor that could quite possibly amount to the same price as decent household things. It was a bit perplexing, and highly suspicious.

“Well, I suppose I should just come here now, instead of the Leaky… But the service is probably better there anyway.” She turned to look at Charlie who was holding a bottle of Firewhiskey. She assumed that is what he was drinking.

“Whatever you are having, I can handle.”

But she was still very curious and couldn’t just blow it off any longer, regardless of previous journal entries and assumptions.

“Splitting it up into two nights still seems a bit…. extreme…even if you admit to being that way by birth, or whatever. What’s so important to drink so…much for?” She tried to not sound like his mother, or show signs of disturbance, as she inquired about his many bottles. It did bother her to see someone drink as much as Charlie could, for what fun was it to get obliterated on a daily basis?

[charlie_weasel]

"No, there's better service here." Charlie began pouring Tonks' beverage when she told him she could handle it. He grinned and nodded. "Right," he mumbled, then looked up with raised eyebrows. Was she inquiring about his drinking habits again? Didn't she have her own problems to attend to-- oh right, that was probably why she was here.

His expressions softened as he brought Tonks her ordered drink (which was smoking in a lovely way, Charlie noted). "It's important to forget certain things." Charlie picked up his own drink and held it up as in 'Cheers!'

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks smirked at his retort to service, wondering just what exactly would make his service better than the Leaky's, and then thought she might not want to even know that answer.

When he handed her the drink, she took it with a smile, even if she had noticed his expression prior to bringing her drink over to her. Was it wrong to question a drunk for being a drunk? But he seemed to blow off the issue, so she figured she could do the same- for now.

“But they never stay forgotten.” She replied faintly, even though she lifted her glass to mimic Charlie’s action. “Things just don’t ever go away as easily as all that….” She rambled on, and then cut herself off by taking a sip of firewhiskey. It made her face cringe and coughs roll in her throat.

[charlie_weasel]

Charlie downed his shot of Firewhiskey quickly and smiled, smoke issuing from his teeth. He started pouring himself a second, looking over at Tonks as she spoke quietly. (He wasn't afraid of spilling. He did this often enough.)

"As easily as drinking it away, you mean?" Asked Charlie, clearing his throat slightly. "It's really not that easy. I mean- well, haven't we been over this?"

Inwardly he wondered if he should be asking why she was here. Should he be all sensitive-like? Tonks didn't seem like she was falling apart (yet), but she wasn't exactly in order. Maybe it would be best to get her drunk before prying.

[nymphadorauror]

She decided to find a seat somewhere, if one could be taken, so her feet wandered around casually, and so did her eyes. Would it be a crate, a dinning set chair, a beat up cushiony chair, or the floor? Decisions, decisions. Tonks’ attention was stolen from such decisions as Charlie asked her about her words.

“I suppose we have…I am just trying to understand you as much as I can, is that so bad? Or Wrong? Or should I drop the issue forever and ‘forget’?” She titled her head at him as an eyebrow arched curiously. While she spoke she subconsciously took up a spot on one of the chairs that looked to have been in a fire, and a dump, at one time in it’s life.

“I’m just…well…. Can’t I worry about your health without feeling guilty about it?”

[charlie_weasel]

Charlie stared at Tonks as she sank into what was actually his favourite chair (he'd taken it from some old bloke's rubbish after the man's apartment set fire). Before answering Charlie quickly drank up his second helping and began filling himself another glass.

His eyes were locked on the bottle. "Really, Tonks." He sounded exasperated, but he was really more embarrassed. "I'm fine. I mean, worry if you wish. But I haven't had a drink in a week and I don't intend to waste what I have tonight."

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks let loose a deep sigh, letting the ‘worry’ of his obsessive drinking habits slip off her shoulders and become something of the past. She didn’t understand herself sometimes. One moment she was worried about herself, and the next she transferred that emotion onto someone else, someone who didn’t really need Tonks to fret, and could take care of himself just fine. She had some serious issues she needed to put in check if she wanted to survive the entire night at his place. OH, that was an entire issue of itself. Would he let her stay until sunrise?

“I’ll stop… promise.” Was all she could say in response to his aggravated tone. And to make sure she would quit being a nag, she down a large gulp of her drink without another word, except coughing soon followed. Thankfully she was sitting down, else she might have toppled over from coughing.

When she was able to recuperate from her powerful drink, she twisted in her seat and then bent down toward her feet.

“Would you mind if this worry-wart stayed for awhile?” If he agreed, she had every intention to take off her shoes and plant herself into the chair as long as was possible.

[charlie_weasel]

Not feeling anything from the whiskey, Charlie moved on to his fourth drink. He held the cup up to his lips, watching Tonks choke over the rim. When she stopped he allowed himself to drink. At least she'd promised to stop badgering him.

His eyebrows then shot up again at her question. "Stay 'a while'? How long is 'a while'?" Charlie grinned mischievously, trying not to be too suggestive. He let out a small laugh. "No, I don't mind."

Where was she going with this?

[nymphadorauror]

Her fingers fiddled with laces, as best they could, while one hand had hold of her mug.

“Well…. --Oh don’t give me that look!” She had glanced up to try and answer the best she could, without revealing all of her problems, when she saw his grin and knew, one hundred percent, that he was thinking something she would not be happy about.

“A while, Charlie… you know.. a lengthy bit of time to where I could relax and spend hours without a care.” She teased sternly, wishing to correct whatever indecent thought had corrupted her innocent question. But then her thoughts broke past her irritation, and Tonks worried that perhaps he didn’t remember their previous arrangements, or would rather cancel them out completely. Please tell me you haven’t forgotten that, amongst everything else you are trying to forget.

“I had thought you wouldn't mind if I needed to do that, from time to time? Visit and all that. If not, I can understand, but I’d ask that you’d tell me now… before….” Before it got dark

She wouldn’t say it, even if it made her point. No, she refused to talk about any of it, and she hoped Charlie had enough sense to not ask her… not yet. Her fear made her indulge in another harsh sip.

[charlie_weasel]

"Ohhh. That's what a while means. Thank you.-- And I don't mind. Which is why I said so when you asked. You're always welcome here. I don't forget everything I say." He took a small sip from his cup, blew a smoke ring, and watched it wander closer to the short ceiling before disappearing.

Charlie smiled and looked back at Tonks. "Spend hours here without care. S'all the same to me. It's what I do.-- Did I tell you?" So, maybe his tongue was loosening up a bit. "I got fired from Gringotts. The fuckers."

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks studied Charlie for a moment, not totally sure his words were serious, but after a moment she realized they were and dropped that issue too. Merlin, things seemed to keep getting troublesome between them, and she felt like she was causing it. Maybe it was better to be a recluse, and not worry about screwing up perceptions with assumptions and miscommunication. But that wouldn’t help Tonks tonight, to be alone; she knew it deep down and was forcing herself to not retreat or do anything else that would risk either her person or her mind.

“Alright… I get it.” She said with a roll of her eyes, and then proceeded to try again at untying her shoes. It was proving to be unsuccessful with one hand. Though, Charlie interrupted her task again by what he now revealed to her.

“Fired?! Why for?” She shot up from her bent posture, nearly spilling Firewhiskey all over her nice work blouse.

[charlie_weasel]

Charlie absently wondered if Tonks needed help undoing her laces, but his attention was called back to his lack of employment.

He shrugged in a sullen manner, finishing off his drink at the same time. "I suppose I had it coming, but nonetheless. They could have told me before I got up and went in at fucking 6am." Charlie muttered for a moment, then spoke up. "Something about being lazy, skiving work, and not giving them notice about leaving for another country. Which I think is shite, because well. I didn't tell anybody, did I?"

[nymphadorauror]

Tonks couldn’t help but to laugh. It wasn’t the sort of laugh one did when highly excited or energetic, as if a joke had been told. Its tone was light, and its length was shorter, to make a person assume that Tonks didn’t mean to laugh, and was trying to hold back, but part of her amusement had slipped out of her surprised expression.

“Charlie, you see…when someone has a job… like you did, there are certain rules and regulations you are supposed to follow, or else you get the boot.” She lifted up a shoe and acted out a kicking of an invisible something, with a chuckle.

“You should have really left a notice before you left, at least, so they were not inclined to kick you out on your rear. I suppose laziness would also be a strike against you. What are you going to do now?”

This was, perhaps the reason for the excessive drinking. Charlie was unemployed. And obviously not thinking straight to have wasted his money on liquor when he would do well by saving that which was left in case his unemployment lasted longer than he had liked. But from the looks of it, he didn’t like it that much already.

[charlie_weasel]

Charlie gave Tonks a look: one of amusement and resentment mixed together. (He had always been able to create very interesting expressions.) He made a face at her and offered her the bottle of Firewhiskey.

"I know, I know. But I didn't have a chance to tell them. I mean, I didn't even tell my own mother for Merlin's sake.-- And I wasn't lazy at work. I did what I supposed to. It may surprise you, but sometimes I am motivated." Charlie's chair, hard and wooden, creaked lightly as he sat back and sighed.