Quiet Dear, The Men Are Talking [Leifr]

Julian had a client free day ahead of him. It was bittersweet only because he wasn’t making any money but he had some free time on his hands. He took the time to get his flat organized, it had been a while since he got to clean it...more like actually felt up to cleaning it. After that he showered and dressed himself Julian sat down on his bed and looked around for something to do. He still had a huge stack of film he had to develop but he didn’t feel up for it. He looked over at his desk; he had drawings to tend to. No. That didn’t fancy him either.  He threw himself back on his bed looking up at the ceiling. He had slept enough, so he was well rested. He was bored and didn’t know what to do with himself. Only if he had some alcohol, he perked up remembering that he mentioned something about visiting Leifr in one of his recent letters.

That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, he thought. Not feeling like doing his hair, he grabbed a hat, placed it on his head, and gathered his necessities. He decided he was going to visit Leifr at work. Surely, he would grab a cigarette…or six- with him. Maybe even a few drinks. He smiled,to himself. Julian wasn’t really able to have much man time. He felt like he was always around women, unless he was tattooing then it was a mixture but still. Most of his close friends were women but he didn’t mind it of course.

As he traveled to Leifr’s pub, he wondered what he had been up to. Julian hadn’t seen him for a while and keeping in touch wasn’t always the greatest between the both of them. It was mostly seeing that each other was still alive and well, and about meeting up. He wondered how he really was because their letters weren’t really in detail; they were short and to the point. If he had to admit it; Julian was excited to see him. He laughed silently to himself knowing that if he ever uttered those words out loud that he would never live it down.

He parked his car and walked the rest of the way to the Stag & Hen cigarette in tow. He went into the pub and looked directly over at the bar where he saw Leifr, his back was to Julian and he was leaned over the counter talking to an attractive woman. Julian crossed the distance and took a seat at the bar directly behind Leifr, it was an unspoken rule, ‘man code’, if you will, to not interrupt a man talking to a woman, but he knew Leifr well, and knew he it wouldn’t be hard for him to pick up another girl, or even the same one really, “OY, get to work, mate. I need a beer.” He smiled hugely knowing that Leifr would know exactly who was talking, he winked at the girl Leifr was talking to so she would know he wasn’t being a complete dick.

It was a slow day at the bar, granted it was still fairly early, and a slow day every now and then wasn’t the end of the world. It made doing business that much easier, which meant pouring drinks and making change all while making conversation. It was never a hard job for Leifr to do, but to not have to deal with customer after customer was sometimes appreciated, and that was why the man enjoyed days like this one, he could actually socialize, rather than serve and run. At the moment he had only one patron, a pretty girl, and a regular. It was true, she was cute, and seemed intelligent, but the wizard wasn’t interested, even if she was. He was fairly sure she wasn’t, but even if she was, his thoughts were with another witch, whom he tried hard not to dwell on. He’d just been about to tell the regular about that same witch, when he heard a familiar voice.

Julian. Grinning widely the man turned around and addressed his friend “I am working, mate. Or did you forget that talking to pretty ladies is my job?” it was true, that was part of his job, whether he was playing along or actually interested was at one time another part of his job, one that he had to be more careful about. Grabbing a clean pint glass Leifr eyed the man now sitting at his bar “What’ll it be this time, hmm?” When Julian had given him his answer the ex Gryffindor poured, and let the pint settle before sliding it down in the other mans direction. All in all, he was glad to see Julian, it had been too long since their last visit with one another, and catching up was never a bad thing either. It usually meant a few beers, too many cigarettes and a good time overall. Leaning against the back of the bar, the wizard gave his long time friend a moment to sip his beer, and then he couldn’t help himself, he had to jump right in.

Pulling a cigarette out for himself, he wedged it between his lips firmly and kept talking “So, tell me, how have things been?” He wondered if Julian was going to have much to tell him, or if it would turn out that his companion was up to the same old things. Either way, he was just glad to see another familiar, male face that wasn’t his family, sometimes it was good to have friends that weren’t caught up in the madness of the Trickett clan, too. That wasn't to say he didn't love every single one of his family members to death, but sometimes getting an outside perspective on everything was a breath of fresh air, and because he'd known Julian for quite some time, it seemed to make sense that he'd be someone Leifr could talk to.   

Julian laughed a hearty laugh at his companion’s reaction. It was true in a sense that it was his job but it seemed Leifr was always surrounded by beautiful women, in school, his family, on the street, now at his job. “I would say more luck than a job, really,” Leifr eyed him as Julian grinned, “Heineken, if you don’t mind.” He watched at Leifr poured his lager and he caught the pint with long fingers once it slid down to him. He took a swig of his drink and placed it down on the bar in front of him. He relaxed in his chair and looked at Leifr, “Things have been good. Really good. I’ve got a job at the tattoo place down here recently. You’ll have to stop by, man, get a tattoo.” He didn’t want to bore him with the other details of his life; Julian himself didn’t want to hear it.

He took a long pull of his cigarette and held the smoke in his lungs as he talked, “But I’ve been going completely bonkers, I swear to Merlin, I’ve been surrounded by nothing but women,” He paused. This sounded a bit odd coming from a man’s mouth so he decided to elaborate, he exhaled his smoke while laughing at himself, “Not that there’s anythin’ wrong with that- but I’ve been trying to get in good with the girl, Elaine. You know? The short cute one with the dimples. Big eyes. Well, that’s been a lost cause since I’ve started, mate. I’ve fucked up my chances since the beginning." He shook his head in disbelief, "I've had relations with her and her best friend. I don’t think I’ll ever get out of the friend zone. You can be taken seriously after something like that. Oh, and I slept with her best friend another time after that pretty recently too.” He rolled his eyes at himself and he waved a hand impatiently as he added the last part. “These women will be the death of us, I’m telling you.” He shrugged and flicked the ashes of his cigarette in the ash tray next to him and took another swig of his beer.

Julian knew that his actions could be considered wrong, technically, if you have feelings for someone but it only counted when the other person knew about those said feelings, right? And Elaine had no idea, so why did he feel so shitty about it at times? He was a man after all, they tend to think with other members of the parts instead. Surely, Leifr could understand that perspective. He could talk about these issues with others but he didn’t want to come off as a prick, so he held his tongue at times to be respectful. He was always glad to be able to talk freely about these things when they got together. There might have been some judgement on Leifr's part but at least he was honest. There was no playing games and he could get a male perspective from this former Gryffinfor. What Julian didn’t know was that Leifr knew Elaine and knew that she had two best friends, Eva and Emily. It would only be natural for Leifr to be concerned with which best friend he was talking about.

Cigarette, inhale, exhale, He only paused but for a moment, “Leifr, man to man, you think it’s a lost cause?” Julian knew if Leifr told him it was, he’d have to let it go. He wanted to ask Leifr about himself, he didn’t want to be selfish, but Julian also wanted to know what he thought and figured they would get to that side of things soon enough. After all, they had all night. He took a moment to let his thoughts drift. He hadn't felt a certain way about a girl in years. It's not like he was in love with her but she was a good girl. Cute, nice, trustworthy, not too much to ask, was it? She was refreshing but he was almost positive there was no spark on her end from there recent encounters. Julian just need someone to confirm it for him so he could know he was right and move on.

He grinned at Julian as his long time friend tried for what seemed like the millionth time to get him to get himself a tattoo “You know you’d be the one I’d come to if I wanted one, mate” Truth was, he did want a tattoo every now and then, but he could never figure out where he’d put it, or what he wanted it to be and represent. Not to mention that once he got old it would fail to look good and look a little dodgy in his opinion. So it was always a battle between wanting one, and not being so sure it was the best idea. Ultimately though, if he thought of something he found appealing enough, he was sure between Julian and himself, they’d be able to come up with a convincing enough answer to satisfy them both. Taking another pull of his cigarette, the ex Gryffindor couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow at his friends next comment.

It was rare for any man, particularly a man like Julian to complain about how there were too many women around. Normally that was something that was considered to be one of the best things to happen to a man, as long as they didn’t mind it. And Leifr knew for a fact that Julian was one of those men, and was curious to see what his reasoning behind his complaint was. Ah. It was a girl. The wizard could relate to that, he was having similar problems of his own, which he wasn’t about to elaborate on at the moment if he could help it. Nodding, and fiddling with his cigarette, the man flicked his gaze up to his friend across the bar “Name sounds familiar, did we go to school with her? Or do we know any of her friends?” It was always a little difficult to keep all the women outside of his family that he knew straight. It was kind of something the ex Gryffindor was rather ashamed to admit, but he couldn’t always remember everyone they’d gone to school with or met while there. While Julian told him the rest of his tale, Leifr found himself becoming more and more curious, things like the situation he was describing didn’t just tend to pop up over night. Frowning, he had another question for the man “Who’s the best friend?” He had a hunch, and he was hoping he wasn’t right.

Shaking off his hunch for the moment, Leifr focused on helping his friend rather than his own questions “No doubt about it, Julian, you’ve found yourself a heap of trouble to mess in. And you’re right, women might be the death of us, but we both know we wouldn’t have it any other way....hate to love them and love to hate them as they say” Women were unendingly frustrating, no matter how well he might have managed to hone his skills at getting and keeping their attention, it didn’t mean they couldn’t and didn’t drive him crazy from time to time, like a certain witch he refused to think of at the moment. It just wasn’t going to happen. Thankful for the distraction Leifr turned his attention back to what Julian had been saying. Did he think it was a lost cause? He really wasn’t sure, didn’t seem like it, but that always depended on the people involved, and that was what he was going to have to know more about before he could give his final verdict.

Shaking his head quickly the wizard went to put his friends fears to rest “Not a lost cause, no not necessarily. I mean, you’re going to have to tell me a bit more about the girl and her best friend and the like before I can tell you what I really think. But one thing I can tell you now Julian is that if it isn’t a lost cause and you end up having to talk it out with this Elaine of yours, you’re going to have to be very clear, and very honest, and hope like hell that she’ll forgive you. Mucking about with a girls best friend when you know they’re friends is a pretty big deal. Though, I think you’ll do just fine in those categories, you’re a good man.” That was the truth, and he’d tried to keep it from being too blunt, but he wasn’t sure he had succeeded. One thing was for sure though, he’d never lie to one of his closest friends just to make him feel better about himself. 

Julian smirked at Leifr as he denied another yet another opportunity for a tattoo. “Seriously, man, you have to get one.” The former Slytherin said these words more out of habit than convincing. As a tattoo artist he of course had to believe in his livelihood and sell himself but this was Leifr. If he didn’t want one, he wouldn’t get one, period, no matter how much Julian tried to persuade, “Nothing says ‘I’m a man’ more than a tattoo. It enhances muscle definition.” He tried not to laugh as he put the pint to his lips and drank, even Julian knew the look his companion would throw him after that comment.

He took a long drag of his cigarette, “You’re getting old, friend.” He grinned as he made fun of his forgetfulness but Julian was the same way, “Yeah, we did. I didn’t know her in school though, I met her after.” He tried to think of someone they would both know through Elaine. Julian put his index finger up as he thought of someone, “Maddox, maybe?” He wasn’t sure himself if they knew each other or not, and he rubbed his chin as he thought, “What about Emily Flemings? They’re best friends but they were younger than us.” Julian hadn’t been looking at Leifr as he said this, instead his mind drifted off as he tried to think of someone else and nothing came to mind.

“Eva’s the other best friend. I’m not sure if you know her but that’s the one I slept with. She’s got like crazy rainbow hair, blue eyes. All legs.” He smirked, even talking about her was alluring, The ex Slytherin took another drag of his cigarette, “Eva and I are mates; it didn’t really mean anything... It was just drunken casual sex.” He shrugged. It was always drunk casual sex but Julian thought for a moment. Even if he was to tell Elaine of his feelings and something would come out of it…could he stop himself from thinking about the electrifying rainbow haired woman that was her best friend? He would have to consult with himself on this topic another time. It was obvious that Julian was dealing with some internal struggle with the pair, Eva and Elaine.

A heap of mess, yes this was true words coming from his friend’s lips to Julian’s ears. “I’ll drink to that mate.” He took a swig of his beer as Leifr finished talking. Julian admired this about his friend. He could always count on Leifr to be straight with him, no matter if his words pissed him off or not. “It’s sort of fowl, what I did. You know I’m not that kind of guy. But then again I never told Elaine how I felt so…it’s not really something I have to talk about with her…I just feel shitty about it.” He laughed at himself. And he took another drag of his cigarette. “I dunno, man. It just seems stupid to me to put myself out there when I crossed that line already, D’you know what I mean? I slept with the both of them at the same time and then with Eva a few times after. I feel like I’d have better luck with getting with you than with Elaine at this point.” He laughed wholeheartedly at his comment. Julian felt as though his actions ruined whatever chance he did or didn’t have with Elaine, not to mention the total lack of feelings on her part. He grimaced.

“How the hell would that conversation go about, I wonder?” He started to act like he was telling Elaine. “Listen, Elaine, I have…feelings for you- Oh and by the way I slept with Eva another times recently. I hope you can still take me seriously.’” He shook his head as he finished. “I don’t think I even want to know the outcome.” He started to feel like a school girl with a crush and Julian rolled his eyes at himself. “It doesn’t even matter, mate. I’ll sort it out. I dunno why I’ve came to you with all that.” He chugged the rest of his beer and placed the empty pint on the counter. He put a fist over his mouth as he let out a long stifled burp.

“Now tell me friend, how’ve you been? I see you have no problems in the lady department.” He threw a glance over where the woman was sitting and grinned at his friend. Julian had noticed the woman gawking at Leifr but Leifr hadn’t noticed. “You should get yourself a drink, man. You look tense.” Leifr didn’t seem to be tense to him but Julian was trying to get him to drink on the job. He wasn’t sure if Leifr was up to the kind of thing now because Leifr was a different person now then he was in Hogwarts. “It’s on me, yeah?” Julian was egging him on and he placed his money on the table for the both of them.

Ever the salesman, that was Julian. Shaking his head lightly, Leifr couldn’t help but reply to his friends last remark “Yeah, enhances muscle tone. Until we’re actually old, and everything is all flabby and disgusting. What do we do then? Hmm?” Leifr laughed and set about wiping down glasses and generally organizing the back of the bar. It wasn’t like the bar needed it all that badly, but it was something to do while they talked, and allowed him to look busy while they talked. Glancing up at Julian while he absently kept cleaning he listened as his friend tried to think of people he and Elaine might have in common. Laughing Leifr wasn’t about to let the other man give him that kind of crap “Uh huh, you’re right behind me mate..” As he listened, and the wizard named a Maddox, Leifr shook his head, but waited till he had trailed off with the last name to speak up.

He didn’t know a Maddox, but he was sure if he saw whoever this man was, he might at least recognize him. The last name Julian spoke, had the ex Gryffindor freezing on the spot. Emily He knew her alright, couldn’t get her out of his head half the time, and he had been ready to stop Julian there, to make sure they were talking about the same girl, but the snake’s next words had Leifr nearly choking on his own cigarette. Coughing somewhat violently, the wizard took the opportunity to interject “Hold up mate. You know Eva? And you slept with her?” Leifr started laughing then, a rich, full laugh “Hate to break it to you mate, but I slept with her first” More laugher cut off his words “Small world huh? And, yeah....she’s something alright. Worked here for awhile way back.” Julian’s mention of Eva had nearly distracted him from asking about Emily, but he figured that could wait, clearly there was more on his companions chest.

Nodding, Leifr watched Julian as he continued to work through his own mess. He could sympathize, that was for sure, Eva had been fun, but she had a way of mucking things up both intentionally, and not, while she was around. Taking a drag of his own cigarette, the wizard thought for a moment before speaking “I see what you mean mate, and I’d feel bad about it too, but if it really was drunken casual sex. Then tell her that. Like you said, you haven’t told Eliane how you feel, and its not like you’re together, and she slept with you and Eva at the same time, I think if you explain it like you just told me, she’ll be able to work with that. Especially because you like her, and aren’t just yanking her chain to sleep with her.” Leifr paused again wanting to make sure Julian had been able to follow him “You got it? Have a little faith, Julian. But I hate to break it to you, yet again, your luck would still be hard pressed with me. But I don’t mind listening to it all, either. It’s what friends do, yeah?” Grinning, Leifr gestured to Julians now empty glass, silently asking him if he wanted another. While already pouring the drink for his friend.

And finally, the other shoe had dropped, now it was his turn. Emily. Yeah, there was that bit of news, and he was going to have to talk to Julian about it, Ken had had insightful things to say, but he was also married, which changed things a bit. He was quite happy for his best friend, but it made relating a little more difficult. Not needing his friends suggestion, Leifr had already poured himself a beer, and a shot of Ogdens. He had also poured the lone patron another of whatever it was she was already drinking, and gave Julian his second beer. He was being polite, and that was it. Knocking back the shot, Leifr eyed Julian and laughed softly before running his hands through his hair and sighing. He ha no idea how wrong he’d been “Actually, I’ve got my hands full at the moment. But I’m not sharing that with everyone, so you better keep your gob shut. And thanks for the drink...” He hated being in this position, but he knew he had to talk about it, Ken had gotten that much through. Taking a long pull from his beer, Leifr looked right into Julian’s face before continuing “ I’ve got myself a problem similar to yours, but you’ll never guess with who. And I’ll be damned if I’ll spit it out for you.” He might want to talk about it, but he wasn’t just going to spill to Julian, he was going to have to work for it. 

“Do you hear yourself? Do you know what I’m going to look like when I get old? Like a bad ass mother fucker.” He laughed lightly continuing, “Seriously, if you saw your grandfather with a bunch of tattoos you would be like, ‘my grandpa was the coolest man I ever had the pleasure of knowing.” He nodded taking a drag of his cigarette. Leifr made the comment about Julian being right behind him, he laughed softly, “Indeed. In fucking deed.”

He listed his names off until Julian got a reaction from Leifr, his reaction was indeed full of recognition, obviously caught off guard since he was coughing fiercely. Julian was half amused and half curious, “You alright?” It was more out of politeness than concern. He knew Leifr would be okay after a few seconds, cigarette smoke catching in the back of your throat was just something that occurred time to time. You know Eva, oh, this was what got him to choke. You slept with her…Julian raised an eyebrow, his heart speeding up just a beat, wondering what caused this reaction, “...Yeah?” Leifr’s next words sent Julian into a laughing frenzy. "No fucking way..." Once Julian partially regained his composure, he started, “I should have known!” He chuckled lightly, “Whew, small world indeed, mate. But Eva’s got every poor bastard on the block lined up for her, eh?” He shook his head, to him the situation was uncanny but not entirely unheard of, “You sick, sick bastard, we’re mates, alright, but I don’t want to be sharing women with you. That’s bloody disgusting.” He shook his head and continued to laugh not really being too serious at the moment. “She worked here and you slept with her? That was probably wonderful.” His sarcasm was seen miles away.

Julian finished what he had to say about Elaine, taking in his friends words, “Yeah, man, I got it. I’ll muck up some courage one day, perhaps.” He winked jokingly, “Oh come off it, Leifr. This tall glass of water won’t be available forever.” He gestured to his own slim body, obviously pulling the leg of his old friend. He held up his now full glass of beer again, It’s what friends do, “Cheers, mate.” Julian drank to Leifr, as to say thank you for listening and placed his cup back down on the bar. Julian fished out another cigarette putting it to his lips as he glanced over at his friend with a surprised expression. Leifr got his hands full, whaaaat? Julian waved a dismissive hand and rolled his eyes as Leifr directed him to keep his mouth shut and thanked him for the drink, it was obvious to Julian that that was needed, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll take it to my grave. Go on.” Julian didn’t have a lot of people he was close to, so the few people he did keep in his circle knew that whatever was told to him stood between the two of them. He lit the cigarette that was positioned securely between his lips as his friend continued. Julian let out a gust of smoke sideways, so as not to blow it in Leifr’s face, he had woman problems?! “What?!” Julian laughed disbelievingly, this was certainly unheard of, “Fuck you, now I have to play guessing games?” He laughed at his friend; Leifr wasn’t always the sharing type so Julian having to work for information wasn’t uncommon.

The problem was Leifr was right; Julian had no bloody clue where to start, “Is it Eva?” He laughed lightly already knowing he would be wrong, “That chick that was just there when I walked in?” He rolled his eyes as he tried to rack his brain for clues, “I don’t bloody know... is it someone I know? Someone we went to school with? Younger, older?” He bit his lip thinking, then let himself sink into the stool, “As many girls you’ve slept with...it can be any girl in Britain, for all I know.” He laughed at his friends’ expense but it had to be true, working at a bar should have its benefits. “Just fucking tell me. I give.” He blew out another draft of smoke, defeated. He was completely bewildered to who it could be.

Leifr Grinned, raising his eyebrows as Julian continued to try and win him over on the subject of tattoos “Have you met my granddad? He is the coolest man I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Scares me half to death though, nobody disobeys Alby Trickett....Love him to death though, too. And that's without the tattoos, too. ” He had a feeling that their playful debate would never quite end, but the ex-Gryffindor was okay with that. It gave the both of them something to give each other trouble about, all in the name of good fun, of course.

Chuckling again, the wizard shook his head lightly “That’s Eva for you. And hey, I don’t want to be sharing women with you, either, mate or not....” That was the truth, and Leifr was glad to see that they were on the same page, although he figured they would be, it was another thing to laugh at. Finding these sorts of things out tended to make Leifr feel like an idiot, but he also knew that neither he or Julian could have known about it until now, and so all they could do was live with it.

He gave his friend another grin and told him the whole story, matching his friends sarcasm “It was yeah. She told me she was of age, so I hired her, and one thing led to another. But I found out that she’d lied, she was only 16 or so, and so I told her I had to fire her. Not my best moment, but such is life, I suppose.” He knew he couldn’t avoid the question he’d planted in Julian’s mind now, he’d have to get back to the subject sooner or later.   

He’d take it to his grave? Good. Leifr wouldn’t never hurt Julian, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get mad at the man sitting across from him. Fixing his friend with a semi serious stare, Leifr reiterated his request “Yeah? You better..and yes...this god among men has problems” He finished joking lightly. Sighing Leifr ran his hands through his hair again before starting in on helping his friend figure things out for himself “No, not Eva. She’s fun, but I haven’t seen her in a long ,long time.” Pausing Leifr rolled his eyes “Her? No, she’s just a regular, nice girl, but I don’t actually know much about her.” Pausing again, Leifr tried to think of whether or not Julian might have known Emily somehow.

Taking a long drink the bartender bought himself some time “I don’t know if you know her or not, but she was a few years behind me, and one or two behind you. Ravenclaw, works in a bookshop. Name’s Emily Fleming.” Finishing Leifr shrugged lightly, and watched his friend out of the corner of his eye as he took another deep drink. He scowled playfully as his friend had a bit of fun at his expense.