the trick is to keep breathing

[Deryn Morgan]

As part of the training, Deryn had been stationed in Hogsmeade village for today. There hadn't been much to do, of course, except for paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. It was one thing Deryn despised above all other duties she had. But it needed to be done and considering she was pretty much the last one there that night, she got stuck with it. Never would she ever really badmouth her superiors, but the delegation of paperwork onto the trainees was really unfair. Still, Deryn would just grin and bear it. As she finished up the last few sheets she had to go through, Deryn let her head fall onto the desk, her shoulder-length hair falling all over the place as she groaned loudly into the wood.
"I hate thiiiiiiiiis!" she mumbled to no one in particular, gathering herself up once again as she stood and reached for her jacket.

Taking one more quick look through everything, Deryn confirmed she'd finished all that had been given to her. She stacked it nicely on Corrion's desk, even though no one knew where in the name of Merlin he was. Not that Deryn really cared; she was definitely not fond of the man. As she made her way to the door, Deryn nodded to the man at the front desk who nodded back and then proceeded to check her out as she opened the door. Ignoring it, Deryn made a beeline down the street straight to the Three Broomsticks, parked herself on a stool and ordered a Firewhiskey. She could do with a couple of these tonight.

[closed]

[Guy Styles]

There were ups and downs to working at a joke shop. It was always funny and something was always going on, two things that Guy appreciated. On the downside, however, the funny things that tended to happen usually needed a lot of cleaning up. And another downfall was that since the joke items and toys were magical, they couldn't be cleaned up by a simple flick of the wand, they required physical labor, scrubbing, and some elbow grease. It was one part of the job that Guy hadn't been expecting, but then again he was starting to figure out that he shouldn't expect too much of anything out of anyone these days.

" 'Night, Bor. See you tomorrow. " He said with a wave as he exited the backway and walked down the alley that would take him down to the main road in Diagon. He pulled out a crumpled bit of paper from his pocket and discovered a shopping list of things his dad had sent him for. Ugh. Guy apparated to Hogsmeade, conveniently appearing in front of the Three Broomsticks pub. He shrugged his shoulders and entered the bar, figuring that a drink or two couldn't hurt him.

He immediately noticed that the pub was somewhat full, and that the only places open were at the bar. He shrugged again and sat down on a stool next to a young woman. " I'll take a butterbeer, thanks. " He said to the barkeep with a small smile as he set out the money for the drink, casting a sideways glance at the woman next to him. He realized that he did know her, so he cocked his head to the side slightly with a small grin and said, " Deryn, right? "

[Deryn Morgan]

Deryn paid little attention to those around her as she sipped her Firewhiskey and set the money down on the bar to pay for it. Out of the corner of her eye, the Auror-in-training noticed someone sit next to her and she groaned internally. Please don't talk to me, she silently pleaded but as she heard the boy say her name. The voice sounded somewhat familiar and she turned her head curiously to see who it was. She recognized the boy straight away; she didn't know many people with facial piercings like that.
"Yeah...Deryn," she answered him just as she swallowed a mouthful of whiskey, "You're...Guy? You were in Gryffindor." It wasn't unexpected to see fellow alumni wandering around Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, but it was always nice when it happened. Deryn certainly missed the castle, but on the other hand, she was more than happy to be out in the real world.

"You're done school now, right?" she asked him curiously. If she remember right, he was at least a year behind her, but she couldn't be certain.

[Guy Styles]

Soon enough there was a nice butterbeer in his hand, and Guy wasted no time in taking a couple swigs from the bottle, feeling refreshed from the long day. He was glad that he had at least gotten her name right, otherwise he would have been rightly embarrassed. He took a look at her glass and nodded slightly, recognizing the firewhiskey. He hadn't ever tried it himself, but to each his or her own he supposed. He looked back up to meet her eyes for a second. " Yeh, Guy Styles. " He nodded to confirm that he had been in Gryffindor. His face took on an almost dream like state as he reminisced for a short few seconds about the good old days at Hogwarts. He supposed that things were simpler back then. Who wouldn't miss it?

" Yeah, I graduated a couple months ago. You were... a year ahead of me, I think? " He couldn't quite remember if he had ever actually said more than two words to Deryn during his time at the castle, but he was thankful that he had recognized her easily enough.

[Deryn Morgan]

"Yeah, a year ahead," she confirmed, wincing slightly, "Way to make me feel old." She winked at Guy and chuckled softly, taking another swig of her drink. Merlin, that burned. Deryn had gotten so used to the taste of the whiskey since she'd started her training; it was one of the few things that got her through to the next day. That and a very large cup of coffee every morning and a couple smaller ones throughout the day. She had never imagined training to be so difficult, but her dad hadn't been joking when he told her she'd need to man up a little. He was such a charming man.

"What are you up to now, then?" she asked the younger boy. She hadn't heard much from her other friends about what they were doing now they were out of school except Beni. She saw Beni's husband almost every day, so she was always kept in the loop about those two.

[Guy Styles]

Guy laughed, and as he grinned jokingly he said, " You're not old. Just... older. " He hoped she didn't mind the joke, but then added, " And besides, you're only a year older than me. " He was eighteen now, making Deryn nineteen or somewhere around there. She didn't look old, either, maybe just a bit tired from work or whatever it was that brought her here to drink a firewhiskey alone.

" I am... still working on my music thing. And temporarily working at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. So if you ever need any joke books, fake candies, or puking pastilles, I'm your Guy. " He laughed a bit at his own little joke before taking another drink of his butterbeer and looking back to Deryn. " And you? What've you been up to for the past year? " His news wasn't that big, he had only been out of school for a couple of months, but Deryn had been out on her own for a while now and Guy was wondering if there was such a big difference. He quirked his head to the side, ever curious.

[Deryn Morgan]

Deryn couldn't help but laugh at him. He was actually kind of cute and she allowed herself to look him over once quickly before meeting his gaze again.
"I may very well take you up on that offer," Deryn answered somewhat seriously with a light shrug, "I definitely know a few people I wouldn't mind slipping a puking pastilles into their drink." Rolling her eyes at herself, she chuckled again and took another sip. She's nearly drained her glass already. Was it scary that she wasn't even slightly feeling the effects of the strong drink? It worried her.

"I'm actually in Auror training right now," Deryn told Guy somewhat proudly, not wanting to boast about it but feeling accomplished that she'd actually made it in and was still alive to tell the tale. She ran a hand through her loose curls, pushing her hair out of her face. Deryn hated it hanging in the way and she roughly tucked it behind her ears.
"It's what I've wanted to do forever, you know?" she told him, faltering slightly on her words. Every time she talked about the reason for her dream job, Deryn always got a little choked up. It had been years since her mom had died, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

"How's the music thing going?" she asked him, subtly steering the conversation back in Guy's direction. Hopefully he wasn't going to press for more reasoning.

[Guy Styles]

Guy played absently with the edge of the bar, tapping his fingers lightly against the solid wood as he listened to Deryn joke about feeding some puking pastilles to people. " No doubt coworkers... " He retorted with a smile. He didn't know much about working at the Ministry, only that his uncle worked somewhere in the place, but he guessed that some of the employees wouldn't be so keen on enjoying an afternoon of throwing up. He noted that Deryn's voice was filled with pride as she talked of being an Auror, and he couldn't see why it shouldn't be. Afterall, the only thing Guy had done with his life recently was work at a jokeshop which was mostly visited by teenagers and young kids looking for a laugh. He didn't mind it though, but felt a little juvenile in the company of someone who seemed so adult. He silently wondered how he compared.

" That's really awesome. You're actually the second person I've ran into this week that's in Auror training. I've heard it's no picnic... " Thornton had sounded downright depressed about the lack of action a trainee got, but the woman next to him didn't appear to be defeated by it. Guy didn't press her, merely took another drink from his butterbeer and set it back down.

" It's going, I guess. Slow, it's a bit hard to get a band together, or find a band that needs a drummer. I don't really know many people other than my mates in California, and a couple of people here outside from Hogwarts. It'll happen, though. I hope. " He grinned sheepishly, his smile letting on his optimism on the topic.

[Deryn Morgan]

"No, 'picnic' is definitely not the word I would use," Deryn retorted with a chuckle. She had never expected it to be easy, but it was more work than she'd expected. But still, Deryn loved almost every minute of it. The memory of tonight's paperwork came creeping back and she shuddered. Hateful, hateful paperwork.

Deryn was about to ask who it was that Guy had run into, but her attention was captured more by his response about the music.
"Well, if you ever need a guitarist to start a band, I know a pretty good one," she told him truthfully, biting her lip and unsure whether or not she should volunteer herself as well. Deryn was a pretty good singer, although she hated doing it in front of people so she really only had the opinions of a couple other people.
"Or..." she began slowly, "If you needed a singer, I might...be able to help...kinda." She grinned slightly, taking a sip quickly. Maybe she was feeling the effects of her drink a little.

[Guy Styles]

He nodded sympathetically, thinking he would be a bit more put out if his job wasn't what he expected it to be. Luckily, though, it was good to be a bit immature and work at a joke shop. He didn't mind it too much. It wasn't the most respectable job out there, but he made money and enjoyed what he did. Plus working where he did allowed him to have enough time to work on his music. " At least it's something though. Better than staying at home, that's for sure. "

" A guitarist eh? Well seeing as how I currently only have... me... that would be awesome. Do I know him? Or her? " He asked, his excitement getting the best of him for the moment. He had a band a couple summers back, but one kid went to study abroad for the semester and Guy left for Hogwarts. They hadn't been much of a band in the first place, but starting something up again sounded awesome to Guy. ' If you needed a singer, I might...be able to help...kinda. Guy nodded his head appreciatively, as he expected for Deryn to suggest someone else she knew that might be interested in joining a band. It took him a few seconds to realize that she meant herself.

" You sing? Wow. Really? " He was a bit surprised and didn't do a very good job of hiding it. He grinned sheepishly.

[Deryn Morgan]

"I'm not sure if you do, he went to Hogwarts with us," Deryn continued, happy to talk about Finn as long as it kept the conversation away from her hidden talent, "He's been my best friend since forever and he was in Ravenclaw. His name is Finn, Finn Kendrick. He's in training with me now too." She smiled, thinking of her best friend. Even thought they trained together, she rarely got a chance to just sit and talk with him like they used to. He was just as busy with petty things as she was, although he handled it slightly differently than herself. Finn wasn't so quick to get so frustrated with it and it was beyond Deryn how he managed.

"Ugh," Deryn answered, chugging down the rest of her drink and setting the empty bottle in front of her, "Yeah, sorta. I really don't ever sing for anyone...I'm more like one of those 'in the shower' kind of acts." The trainee laughed to herself, feeling her cheeks go slightly pink and wishing she hadn't said anything. Picking up her empty bottle, she flagged down the bartender to get another one.
"I'm gonna need another one of these before I share my talent with you," she joked. Well...maybe there was a little truth to it...

[Guy Styles]

" Hm.. " Guy was curious to see who she was actually talking about and was a little bit surprised to hear whom her suggestion was. Again, for some reason he was surprised to hear that Finn had hidden musical talent. Maybe it wasn't so hidden seeing as how Guy didn't really know the older former Ravenclaw. He knew of him, sure, but he didn't remember ever being buddy-buddy with him. " Think he'd be willing to randomly join a band with some kid he doesn't know? " There was also the matter of whether or not Kendrick had any talent, but oddly enough that wasn't what was on Guy's mind. He was more curious if Finn would want to jam.

Already he began forming plans... they would more than likely fall through, but hey, he could hope.

Guy snickered in the nicest way he could manage as Deryn mentioned her ' shower ' bit. " Well, as long as your shower head is a very nice audience, I suppose it's alright. " He finished the rest of his butterbeer and asked for a new one. He nursed it quietly for a moment before asking, " So, would you want to... show me? "