Mishap happening

[Guy Styles]

There was one thing guy could say for his new job at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes - there was never a dull moment. The first occasion hadn't been too bad, though, just a large amount of biting teacups eating their way through the box and turning themselves loose in the shop on a busy afternoon. That was easily taken care of though, and with minor injuries at that. In less than ten minutes Guy had charmed the little buggers back into new bite-proof boxes. At first he had panicked, being a new employee and all, but things like that seemed to happen somewhat often at the shop. He even got used to it after a while, the random mishaps that were bound to happen when you had hundreds upon hundreds of joke toys, sweets and contraptions.

So it wasn't too much of a big shock when several of the fogging potions fell to the ground and were soon followed by a sleeping potion. The separate brews mixed and formed a sickly pink fog that enveloped the store in less than thirty seconds. Luckily for Guy and the only other employee there, Borris, there weren't any customers and they were able to get out of the shop fast enough. The eighteen year old felt a bit groggy from the fumes, but other than that he was fine. Borris, being the senior employee, and older of the two, decided that it was quite possibly best that they not bring magic into the cleaning up process, but allow the fumes to evaporate on their own.

Guy didn't question the decision, only told the man that he would be around Diagon and would be back in an hour or so to check up on the shop. The young man slung his apron over his shoulder and turned to walk away from the shop, as he could feel the fumes still having a slight affect on him. He shook his long hair out of his face and caught sight of a person directly in front of him. Guy stopped just short of the person, barely avoiding a collision.

( Astrid )

[Astrid Stoll]

The dolor of work was only rivaled by the silence of home. Having finished her paperwork and relieved of all Obliviation duty for the evening Astrid was heading home early. Much too early for her own liking. She would have preferred to stay at work and tackle some assignments for tomorrow, but it was only her dignity that stopped her. The problem, it turned out, with looking like she was twelve was the fact that all of her coworkers insisted on treating her like she was twelve as well. Oh, look at little Astrid tackling on all of those projects, isn't that cute? Aw, Astrid, look how well you erased that Muggle's memory. God job. Oh, darling Astrid, don't you fret your pretty little head over all these incidents, let me take those off your hands. It made her sick. Astrid hated being treated as a child. Having spent nineteen years as a completely independent person Astrid was not used to suddenly being doubted.

She was a damn good Obliviator, didn't they know this?! Didn't they see her track record, mistake free, her entire three months. So few Obliviators didn't screw up when they first started. Astrid had been so careful, so precise. How could no one focus on anything other than the fact that she was the new kid, fresh out of school and still smelling like their childhood? It infuriated her. She had been out of Hogwarts for over a year now!

Apparating home would only give Astrid more of an excuse to sulk, huffing on her couch with her dinner, wishing she could be doing something useful instead of lounging around. That was the catch with living by oneself, you see. There was an undeniable sense of loneliness.

She had inherited the flat from the room mate she had originally been sharing it with. She had lived with the girl for a full week before the barmaid had decided to run off and get married to some hotshot rockstar she had met at work one evening. Astrid had not bothered to find a new flatmate, though she was pretty sure there was still an ad in the Daily Prophet classifieds. She had not gotten a single owl and the empty bedroom still sat next to her own, echoing her footsteps.

She had, instead, settled on walking halfway home, apparating to a certain point in Diagon Alley and then walking to her flat, maybe finding some food that didn't involve dissolving anything in hot water. Her plan was going according to plan, aimless wandering and all, before she nearly died. She had seen guy coming toward her, watched him make no move to get out of her way or even acknowledge her and considered moving over to let him pass. But he was clearly an idiot and was going to get himself killed if he didn't notice the world in front of him at some point soon. Skidding to a halt before murdering him with her tiny frame Astrid felt her face flush with irritation.

"Are you entirely daft?" Astrid hufffed. This was not a part of her master plan. "You could have killed yourself. Or me! Consider watching where you're going instead of playing with your hair next time!"

She, Astrid decided, would have never been so dense. Of course not. She always wore her hair in a nice and neat fashion.

[Guy Styles]

Guy had to refrain from coughing as he was berated by a small young woman. Unfortunately for him the fog was still in his throat, causing him to want to fall over and go to sleep while coughing all the while. He cleared his throat, half missing what the girl was saying to him.

Anger. That was the first thing he perceived about the person he had nearly knocked over in his haste to get away from Weasleys'. His hectic brain began to wonder if the fog would have an affect on customers, and possibly this lady. Maybe it would shut her up. He shook his head, still unable to talk due to to the scratchy feeling in his throat. He was tempted to grin, not because there was anything really funny going on, but because of the woman's size. At least, he thought she was a woman. She stood a good foot or so below him and it wasn't all that easy to identify whether or not the person before him was in fact a woman or just a girl with an attitude. She had a sense of superiority about her, in the way she carried herself. She was small, but fierce looking. And apparently not frightened to take on someone who obviously had about eighty or more pounds on her.

There was something to say about that, he had to admit. Finally the feeling that he was going to cough all over the girl subsided and he managed to sputter out some words at her.

" Completely daft, I dunno if I'd say that. " He muttered to her, stepping back so he wasn't standing so close to her. " I didn't see you there, I apologize. The store over there, we had a bit of an explosion, I was trying to get out of the way. " He could practically feel his own eyes glaze over as he tried and failed to explain why he had damn near knocked her over. More than likely, of course, she didn't want to hear it. What an odd woman, Guy had decided that she must had been a woman, because he didn't know any girls who would talk to him like that. Though he was nice on most occasions, a lot of people wouldn't want to mix with him merely because of how he looked. He had underestimated her.

[Astrid Stoll]

Astrid watched Daft boy study her, seeming tongue tied. She crossed her arms in annoyance. Maybe her truly was as stupid as she had initially assumed. This was the only obvious answer as to why in the hell he had nearly killed her just now and then proceeded to just stand there. Concluding this happily Astrid was a bit surprised when he actually spoke.

Oh. Explosion. Lovely. She had decided to walk home and there were explosions. Swell. Really. Astrid's annoyance grew.

"Ah. So you blew up the joke shop? I'm a bit pleased, actually. Was a bit sick of super-stick Spellotape being attached to the back of my chair. Good job. Maybe you aren't as daft as you look."

Astrid flashed him half a smile before adjusting her hair with a swift tuck behind her ear. Her stomach growled loudly and she suddenly grew filled with concern.

"Er..wait. Is it..not safe to walk by there, you don't think? Because if you killed me I'd be pretty unhappy." Because dead people could be unhappy and all. Astrid didn't want to have to apparate home. She hated apparition almost as much as portkeys. The downside of a Ministry job, you see, was that it pretty much required she do so numerous times a day. It made walking luxurious.

[Guy Styles]

He made another attempt at clearing his throat and decided that it might be beneficial to not come back to the store in an hour or so. He felt a nice little headache now from refraining from coughing, and his throat hurt as well. He would just let Borris take care of this one.

' Good job. Maybe you aren't as daft as you look. ' Guy wanted to laugh at the somewhat compliment, ( he supposed it could be taken as a compliment ), but instead he felt the need to defend himself a bit. " I didn't explode it. " He paused, realizing how silly his excuse might sound. Oh, well. " Sleeping potions and fogging potions apparently create a thick pink sleep inducing fog. Who knew? " He shrugged his shoulders, knowing there wasn't much more he could do about the problem. It would clear out soon, hopefully.

He cast a sidelong glance down the street, wondering if this little run in would turn out to be a relationship of sorts. He didn't expect to be friends with the woman, she didn't seem interested, but perhaps she wouldn't mind keeping him company for a while. " Ah, yes. Dead people tend to be pretty unhappy. But unless you'd like to be sleep walking, I would suggest stay away from that particular part of Diagon. Can I interest you in a drink, though? "

[Astrid Stoll]

Astrid grimaced. She really didn't feel like apparating. This was annoying. Her entire body was annoying. The stress she carried in her back knew it, her sweaty palms knew it, her growling stomach knew it. She pushed some hair out of her face in anxiety.

When Astrid was uncomfortable, she burrowed. She was the type of girl that kept her hands in her pockets, that fiddled with cloaks, wrapping them tighter than possible around her body, that shoved her feet under the couch cushions as she curled up into small balls. Tiny as she was, Astrid felt most at ease when she was at her smallest. She was never sure if it was because she was scared to give off too much room or to take up too much space. Either way, being closed in made her feel more compact and neat, and in a way safer and calmer.

Now, in the middle of this street, Astrid felt that sense of anxiety and pulled her robes closer to her body, covering up the black silk blouse she was wearing pretty much completely. She was not used to invitations like this. Not from strangers in the street. Not right after she just yelled at them. Not at all, actually. She looked at Guy, glanced at the street behind him, glanced back at him again, looking thoroughly agitated.

"Uhm. Well, if you weren't the one that blew anything up I guess a drink would be safe." Astrid concluded, ever so logically. Clearly he wasn't too dangerous to be around. And where there were drinks there was often food. "Though I'm more interested in nutrition right now. The Ministry break room food is a bit pathetic when it comes to keeping people alive. And I am trying to sustain a living streak here."

[Guy Styles]

He cocked his head to the side as she mentioned a drink would be safe. That was a step, he supposed. At least she didn't think he was some store exploding menace. Although really, he could have been. He wondered if he was putting her off completely by his friendliness despite the fact that she had been scolding him just a moment or two beforehand.

" Food and drinks, that we can do. I'm Guy, by the way. Guy Styles. Did you go to Hogwarts a few years back? I seem to remember you. " The realization was slow coming for Guy, but as he thought about it he did recall the girl's face. She was a couple years older than him, although it was hard to tell from her height. What she lacked in height though she made up for in stature. She was a curious person, he knew that much. Guy stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans, leaving his work apron slung over his shoulder for now. A slow breeze rustled the street and Guy took a few steps in the direction of the local pub.

" How does the Leaky Cauldron sound? No explosions, and the food is almost guaranteed to be better than that of the Ministry. " He was quite the frequent visitor of the Leaky Cauldron as of late.