RP: Moping? Me? Never!

[shh_alicia]

Date: December 28, 2004.
Characters: Alicia Spinnet, whoever else is around..
Location: Five Alarm.
Status: Public.
Summary: Alicia throws herself into work to forget about Seamus.
Completion: Incomplete.

Comments

[shh_romilda]

Romilda sat out the back in the kitchen, peeling potatoes. Her hands were still shaking after hearing the dreadful news from Rosmerta

[shh_alicia]

Alicia startled as she heard the clink of glasses, turning to see Romilda stacking glasses. The other woman looked quite solemn and she looked to Liam which in turn made her think of Sean once more.

Bugger.

"I- No," she said quietly, not really wanting to talk about it. She wanted to talk about anything but Seamus in all honesty. Smiling at Liam instead, she crouched down to his level, knowing.. or rather hoping that he wouldn't talk about Seamus. "So, I didn't say how much I liked your picture. I've pinned it up on my fridge and everything. Did you like the DVD?"

[shh_romilda]

Liam seemed to puff his chest out proudly and blush at the thought Alicia liked his picture.

"There were PIRATES!" Liam said loudly in answer to Alicia's question about the DVD. "But Woger gave me the movie about the SPACE PIRATES! And me and Daddy Mac watcheded it on Kwissmuss. I'm going to get a light sword and rescue the princess from the SPACE PIRATES! Daddy Mac is gonna get a blaster like Han Slow and we'll help Luke Piewalker!"

Romilda smiled at Liam's enthusiasm. "He did love the movie, but I think Roger's gift of all those Star Wars films have given him something new to think about. Thank you, Alicia, it was most thoughtful."

"You haven't thanked Alicia properly, Liam," she said to her son, not wanting to scold him too hard.

Liam looked bashful. "Fank you, Alicia!" His eyes suddenly lit up. "Hey! Did Peevesie get my present?" he asked, wondering about the gingerbread he left for the poltergeist.

[shh_alicia]

"Ah, the Princess Leia?" she asked, nodding knowledgably. Although she didn't like Star Wars at all, she could understand the fascination for young children. After all, light sabers were pretty cool. "Do you have a light saber yet?" she asked, wondering if Toys R Us still stocked them.

She smiled up at Romilda at her thanks, glad that the subject had been changed. "It's no problem. Star Wars for boys is like shoes to girls, it's understandable."

Alicia nodded in response to Liam's question. "Yes, he did. He was most impressed by Ickle Pickle's present!" she exclaimed, not mentioning that Peeves had cackled madly and tried to attack the chef with the gingerbread man before dropping it into the soup of the day.

[shh_roger]

Roger had actually not been to the Five Alarm for...at least a week or two, now he thought about it. Had to be a record. But he was glad he was having other places to go and things to do. He'd worked on his bike a bit more today; now it sounded normal, and he'd retouched and polished the paint a bit. It was shaping up to be pretty spectacular as far as he was concerned. He reckoned he'd start practicing soon, and he couldn't wait.

He entered the bar and found it empty, which seemed odd to him, this close to New Years, for whatever reason. Shrugging, he went up to the bar, where Alicia and Romilda stood. "Hey, Romilda," he nodded to her in greeting and smiled. He'd not seen her since depositing her into bed on Christmas Eve, of course, but she probably didn't even remember that.

Hearing other voices, Roger took the liberty of leaning across the bar and peering down. He found Alicia, in deep discussion with Liam. He waited for a lull in the conversation.

"Hey, down there, Liam. What's a bloke got to do to get a soda round here?"

[shh_romilda]

Liam was about to answer Alicia, but looked up when he heard his name called. "Woger!" he yelled, leaping over and crushing the man's legs in a great big hug.

"You gave me SPACE PIRATES! I want a light wand now, but Mummy says Saint Nick won't give me any more presents until next Kwissmuss. But he did get me a fishing rod!"

Romilda came over and laughed at Liam. "I have no idea why Saint Nick gave him that rod. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Hello Roger," she said, quite bashfully, not wanting to meet his eye. She remembered a little too much about the party on Christmas eve, and was deeply embarrassed.

[shh_alicia]

Alicia paled a little when Liam said he'd received a fishing rod, feeling scared that something dreadful would happen to the little boy whilst he was near the river edge.

She knew she was being stupid but she really didn't want to see Liam harmed. Or anywhere near water.

Remembering Roger's request and seeing that Romilda was more intent on talking to Roger than serving him, she picked up a glass and pulled out a bottle of coca cola from one of the fridges, pulling the cap off and pouring it into a glass. "There you go, Roger," she said softly, passing the drink to him. "I haven't seen you in a while."

[shh_roger]

Roger scooped the boy up when he jumped. "Yeah, those space pirates are pretty nice, huh? Well, actually most of them weren't, were they? But the light sabers were cool, anyway."

Romilda seemed embarrassed; perhaps she remembered more about that night than he thought. He only shifted the kid on his hip and smiled.

"Thanks," he said to Alicia when she handed him his Coke. "Yeah, long time." He had a ready smile, but it dimmed just a bit when he studied her face. There were shadows under her eyes and the vivacity he usually heard in her tone seemed missing.

"How are you?"

[shh_romilda]

Romilda was trying hard to distract herself and to look anywhere but at Roger, but he was holding Liam in his arms, and her maternal instincts made her want to look out for her son.

Thankfully, Alicia distracted Roger with some pleasantries, but Alicia seemed just as upset by Seamus' news as she was.

After Alicia headed back to the kitchen, Romilda was alone with Roger at the bar. She wanted nothing better than to crawl away, but Liam was there, and she knew it would be rude to just grab him and run.

"Your present made quite the impression," she said quietly. "It seems now he has a new obsession for spaceships and light wands," she tried a slight smile as she leaned over to brush some chocolate from Liam's face.

Romilda took a deep breath. If she didn't apologise now for her behaviour at the Christmas party, she never would.

"Look, about the other night. I made a monumental embarrassment of myself, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I don't normally... well, what I mean is that..." This is harder

[shh_roger]

So, she clearly remembered most of what had happened, if her sudden discomfort was an indication. He smiled. "Yeah, didn't I tell you that was the next phase?"

"You didn't spoil my evening," he pointed out. "I'm not the one who tossed my cookies all over my living room floor. I'd say I came out on top, yeah?"

He grinned then. "Look, it's not a big deal. You got drunk, you passed out. Yes, I'd be embarrassed, but it's over, and it could've been worse. I'm not angry, even if I was a bit annoyed that night."

[shh_romilda]

"Yes you did mention aliens were up next. It seems it also made an impression on Cormac - I honestly don't know which of them was the bigger kid." Christmas day had been lovely, once her hangover went away.

"Oh Merlin, I did barf, didn't I?" she suddenly remembered. "Well, guess I can't humiliate myself any further, can I?" she said with a tiny hint of a smile.

"Thanks again, anyway, for seeing us home. I can't imagine what might have happened to Liam if I tried..." her words were choked off in a near sob as she thought about Seamus.

All the times she heard about the mischief the little kid would get into, and she thought she was capable of seeing her own son home when she was too drunk to walk.

It was Liam who broke the silence. "Mummy's sad," he said to Roger, noticing that she looked about to cry. "Everyone is sad today, and Peevesie won't come out to play!"

[shh_roger]

Roger frowned when Romilda broke off. First Alicia, and now her? What the hell was going on? He didn't know what to say.

He turned to Liam when he spoke. "Hey," he spoke softly. "I'm sorry that Peeves won't come out, and that your Mum's sad. Hey, can you go see if there are any space pirates under the tables?" he asked Liam, turning to make sure the pub was still empty. "I worry about your mum in here sometimes."

He turned back to Romilda, concern on his face. "Look, I noticed Alicia was down about something too. What's happened?" Roger thought it must be something to do with Seamus. Whatever it was he didn't know if Liam knew or should know about it.

[shh_alicia]

Alicia could hear snippets of Romilda and Roger's conversation through the open kitchen door even though they were trying to be quiet for Liam's sake. Hearing Romilda cry, she felt a little angry. She knew the other woman was scared for her own child but right now she just felt sorry for Seamus. It was him with the dead cousin, after all, not Romilda.

Biting her lip to keep herself from saying something - she quite liked this truce thing she had going with Romilda - she walked back into the bar and went down to the far end, away from Roger and Romilda.

Busying herself with cleaning and checking they had enough glasses, she wished that somebody she didn't know would come in. Or somebody who didn't know about Seamus.

[shh_angelina]

Angelina's leg had finally healed. It was still a little stiff, but she could walk on it with no problem now and had no need for a crutch. She headed down to the pub just to get out of the house. She assumed Ali would be working and Angie wanted to catch up with her. It had been a few days since Christmas and she knew that her friend would be missing Seamus, even if she wouldn't admit to it.

As she pushed through the door at the pub, she realized there wasn't too much business, which was surprising this time of year. She'd expected a lot of people trying to escape their families briefly.

She headed up to the bar and sat down at one end, which was empty, save for the very exceptional witch behind the bar. "Hey, girl. Get me something good to eat and a pint, would you?"

She noticed her friend looked a bit upset, but didn't want to embarrass her by asking about Seamus since she knew it was a touchy subject already, regardless.

[shh_alicia]

Alicia looked up at Angelina, a genuine smile on her face. Although Angelina was bossy and far too nosy, she knew when not to pry. And right now wasn't the greatest time to.

"Hey, Angie.. Will lasagna and chips do?" she asked, pulling out her notepad and jotting the order down. Charming it to fly into the kitchen, she picked a pint glass up from under the bar, holding it under the tap and pulling a pretty much perfect pint.

"How've you been? Shaken off the hangover from Christmas?" she asked, passing the pint to her friend. "Your leg looks much better."

[shh_angelina]

"Sounds fine to me. Anything warm will do," she replied.

"What hangover?" she laughed. "I spent all Christmas with you and in bed."

Angelina surveyed her leg as she sat on the bar stool. "Yeah, I think Parvati knew just what to do. It's pretty much healed. A bit stiff, but I should be back to work tomorrow, though I think I've taken on too much and got a bit over-excited about owning a shop. I have a feeling it will be all I can handle to have the brooms and Quidditch supply without the rest. Besides, everyone's probably shopping at the market and in Exeter for other things, anyway."

Angelina shrugged. She was both a little disappointed at not being able to carry out all of her illusions of grandeur, but also a little relieved to have less responsibility to handle. But she wasn't one to talk about it.

"Heard any more about getting Quidditch started or have we all decided to hold off on discussion til the next town meeting?" she asked brightly, sensing Ali needed something fun to talk about.