Put your circuits in the sea ~ [Leifr]

The night was relatively warm and Eva could almost make out stars in the smoggy sky above the city. It was kind of pretty, in that dirty city kind of way? She snorted. It probably wasn’t pragmatic for her to be wandering along with her head up to the sky as she was doing, but Eva was quite easily distracted by such things. She was heading to see a friend tonight. Her gaze fell back to the concrete pavement ahead of her and the Bulgarian girl made a special effort to only step once in each of the concrete slabs. She was tall and long-legged enough that her steps could just make it, if she took long steps. Her brightly-coloured hair fluttered behind her like ribbons or some kind of colourful veil.

It had been a long time since she’d seen this particular friend of hers. Ages. It had probably been months, she reflected, glancing up at the building. The rainbow-haired girl wasn’t sure when it was exactly that they’d last met up, but it felt like a long time ago. Eva was back in London after a half-assed move to Paris. She’d ended up sleeping on a friend’s couch for a few weeks and then deciding that she didn’t really want to be there any more. She’d only just gotten back tonight. Less than an hour ago, actually. The Bulgarian girl hadn’t even been to Elaine’s house yet and she still had her backpack on. Needless to say this was an impulsive visit. The girl pushed open the door to the bar.

It was busy. A playful smile tugged at her lips. The girl pushed her way to the bar, but there were so many people here tonight! Without hesitating, Eva pushed her way to the half door to the other side of the bar. She moved with confidence, and no one seemed to want to stop her. The tall girl dumped her backpack on the ground behind the bar and peeled off her long sleeved shirt, stuffing it in her bag quickly. Now dressed just in a tight-fitting singlet and leather shorts, Eva pulled out a glass. “Leif,” she called to the barman, as if she’d been there the whole time, “busy night tonight! Last call?” Eva grinned at the man and turned to take an order. For some reason she doubted Leifr would stop her, but if he did she’d probably just laugh. What could he do, throw her out? The idea was humorous to the girl.

It was an insane night, and the wizard couldn’t quite figure out why. Regardless of that fact, he was glad to have the business. Once upon a time a situation like this would have had him on his heels, reeling and trying to figure out what to do, but now it was all part of the job. His movements were fluid, unhurried and unconcerned, everyone would be getting what they needed in due time, and it would still be quicker than most of them were expecting, if they could still tell up from down at this point. It was busy, but it was an interesting mix of regulars and random faces the bartender had never seen before, and it always made for an interesting night. Though, there was one thing that Leifr could have never predicted was Eva showing up.

Yet, there she was, appearing behind the bar, and still very much Eva. Her hair was bright and vibrant, and had been what had caught his eye. He was half surprised and half not. It was something that the woman would do, he was only surprised in as much he wasn’t sure what to do with her. She was already gone into the crowd, off to take orders, he supposed. The question was, did he let her stay, or did he make her leave? She wasn’t an employee, and her history here with him, was one that told their story all too well. He’d decide when she came back, trying to go out into that crowd and find her would be too time consuming and difficult, and he had a job to do. He grinned back at her, regardless of the surprise, it was good to see her. He hollered at her back as he saw her disappear into the the crowd “Yeah, that time of night already! But its not over yet!” Honestly he wasn’t going to complain about that, it had been one hell of a shift, and he was ready to haul his sorry arse upstairs to get some sleep, but duty called for a little while longer.

It was all automatic, take an order, make the drink, send it down the bar, and get paid. He was thankful for that right now too, it made socializing that much easier, especially with so many people vying for his attention at the moment. He couldn’t help wonder, though, why Eva had come back. It had to have been several months since he’d seen her, and he had been fairly convinced that she wouldn’t be coming back for awhile. Either way, he still had to figure out what to do with her, which always seemed something he had to consider. 

It had been a few years since Eva had worked here, but really, nothing had changed. It was all coming back to her. She scooted off for a bit and returned to start pouring drinks. The prices list was right there… and the difference wasn’t drastic, so that was good… She’d come in here for drinks a few times since she’d worked here. She still knew how to work the till, and she was a fast learner anyway. Easy as pie. “Ogden’s?” she repeated, double-checking an order and leaning over the bar to hear him better over the bustle of the crowd. “We have two brands of firewhiskey,” she clarified with a grin. Like a walk in the park. The girl took money and gave change. Leifr hadn’t told her to piss off yet, so for Eva, that was a green light to keep doing what she was doing.

“How have you been, Leif?” she asked the older man, stepping away from the bar for a moment to tie her brightly coloured hair up in a messy ponytail. “What have you been up to?” The Bulgarian girl shot her old friend a bright smile, her mind drifting back to the last time she’d visited. It hadn’t been so eventful. The girl had dropped in for a drink and they’d chatted for a little while. It had been much earlier in the night, and things had been much less busy. “Breaking lots of hearts, I hope.” The Bulgarian returned to pouring a drink for one of the customers, her thoughts searching back even further through her memories.

There had been a definite attraction between them when she’d come in to this place the first time, for that interview. She’d been scared senseless. Eva didn’t know how bars worked. She’d been inside her family’s casino and had seen them, but she’d lived most of her life never expecting to have a job at all, let alone in a bar of all places. Elaine had helped her a lot with that. She’d put on a totally confident front. In a lot of ways, she’d been terribly naïve when she’d showed up here. The girl’s blue eyes flicked over to her old friend as she poured a man two shots of tequila. Okay, so not naïve in every way. He’d asked her how old she was and the words had come tumbling out of her mouth before she’d even had to consider the lie. Twenty-two, she’d told him. The girl had always looked older than she was, and he hadn’t questioned it.

Focussing back to the job at hand, Eva noted that the crowd was thinning a little. The young witch appreciated the fact. Leaving her backpack behind the bar, the girl skipped past the wooden barrier and around to the customer’s side. She snapped up a recently vacated seat. “So do I get a drink, or what?” she asked Leifr playfully.

It was always strange how things with Eva always seemed to start and stop. One minuet she was there, doing something, and the next she was gone, not to reappear for months, and the whole cycle would start up again. Not that it made any difference to Leifr, he’d fired her the day he’d found out that she had been underaged, and she had still come back a while after that, clearly it was just part of what the woman did. Not to mention he had his own life, full of interesting things and women, he had nothing to complain about in all honesty. Eva probably wouldn’t be able to pull a stunt like the one she had managed to pull now, but he’d deal with that later, now it was about making money and having a successful night, with or with out her.

Choosing to multitask, Leifr shot a cheeky grin in the girls direction, all the while laughing “Mm, it’s my profession you know, breaking hearts.” In reality it had become somewhat of a profession for the wizard, until as of lately that was, now days he just had a million questions on his mind more often than a handful of women. He flicked his gaze over to where Eva was standing and shot her a question of his own “How about you? Taking Europe by storm like always I suppose? What’s been your latest adventure?” He was sure the witch would have some interesting stories to tell, if she felt like telling them. He noted with a small sigh that the crowds were finally starting to thin out, thanks to Merlin, it meant he would be getting some decent sleep tonight. Sometimes he felt years older than he was, and tonight was one of those nights.

So she wanted to play now, did she? Two could certainly play that game. Laughing lightly, he raised his eyebrow in response to her question, doing his best to look serious “Of course you can, if you have the cash to pay for it.” While things had been awkward between the two of them, for while those few years ago, it was always nice to see that things didn’t have to stay that way now. Relenting, he gave her a nod “What do you want? I can let you have one on the house” he wouldn’t make her pay, particularly since she had helped him out, the drink would be a bit like her wages for the day. While he waited for her answer, he wondered how bizarre her answer might be. 

“Those poor girls,” Eva chided playfully. Leifr was an attractive man, and his working environment was the perfect place to pick up women, if that was what he wanted to be doing. She’d seen it in action. He was charming, flirty, fun. Their fling had been very casual, and Eva thought it was nice that they’d parted ways so amiably. The girl crossed one long leg over the other and leant an elbow on the wooden bar top as she considered his question. Taking Europe by storm? Was that what she was doing? “I’d like to get back out of Europe,” she answered honestly, “Maybe somewhere in the southern hemisphere. South America… New Zealand… Australia… Africa…” The girl counted these off with her fingers as she spoke. She’d heard a lot of great things about South America, and could already speak a decent chunk of Spanish.

She offered her friend a mischievous smile as she continued. “I just got back from Paris, actually. Just tonight. It’s probably my favourite European city.” The Bulgarian girl tilted her head to the side curiously. She’d wanted to move there, but things weren’t working out that way for her. Maybe she needed a bigger change. South-east Asia? There might be something golden in that idea. Perhaps she could get out of the cold for Christmas. The holiday had never really meant too much to the girl and she didn’t really enjoy thinking about it.

Leifr fixed the girl with a serious look and told her that she had to pay for her own drink. Eva smiled in response. “It depends,” she replied, wide-eyed as if the answer was obvious. The Bulgarian girl leant forward in her seat., “Are you drinking with me?”

Those poor girls

That made Leifr laugh, really laugh. Fixing his very temporary helper with a shit eating grin, the wizard let her know just how he felt about that “Yeah. I’m sure they feel terribly unlucky...” He wasn’t all that vain, but he knew that he was popular with the opposite sex. And the man took that with a bit more confidence than he probably should have, but Leifr didn’t mind, life was supposed to be fun, and he’d paid his due as it was.  Thats what made it easy for Leifr to pick up women like he did, when the mood struck him, along with a healthy dose of cynicism. So with that on his mind, the barkeep kept a steady flow of drinks going while he waited for Eva to answer his question.

When she finally spoke Leifr couldn’t stop himself from matching her smirk with his own. He nodded and looked at her as he sent a few pints down the bar, confident they’d reach their destination “Oh? Well welcome back, that must have been one hell of a trip. What was your favorite part?” He was genuinely curious, Paris was one of the few places Leifr had yet to visit for more than a few moments in passing. Admittedly, it wasn’t high on his list of places to visit, but he’d heard so many good things about the city, he couldn’t help but be a little curious.

He shouldn’t have been surprised with the women's response, but he was slightly taken by surprise. But that didn’t slow him down for long. Grinning again the wizard poured them a few drinks, and leaned forward, dramatically matching her pose “Is that a question that really needs asking?” He paused for a moment “Sure as shit I am” the man laughed and gently slid her a drink over the top of the bar. This was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

“They probably have no idea what hit them,” she added, shaking her head in mock sincerity and fixing her old friend with a wide-eyed gaze. The girl pressed her lips together, as if she was concerned. Poor girls? Eva wanted to snort at the thought. A slow smirk crept in as the false innocence faded. “Someone’s cocky tonight,” she teased light-heartedly. The Bulgarian narrowed her eyes playfully before dropping them to the bar, where she was tracing along the wood with an index finger. “Still chasing seventeen year olds?” she asked casually. After a moment, she raised her gaze to meet his, a dark kind of smirk playing across her lips.

When he asked what her favourite part was, Eva was at a bit of a loss. Did he mean favourite part of Paris or favourite part of that particular trip to Paris? The girl tucked some hair behind her ear quickly. “I like the language,” she said, nodding a little, “and the food is spectacular. And the women… Wow.” Pretending to fan herself with one hand, Eva smiled. She was definitely flirting with the man before her. “I stayed with an ex. And then I made new friends and stayed with them. Went to a lot of parties. Did the whole touristy thing, even though I’ve been there a ton of times… You should go there sometime,” she added, guessing that Leifr hadn’t been to see the Eiffel tower city just yet.

Eva caught her drink with a laugh, happy to find that the man who’d accidentally been her first adult fling still had his zest. She tipped her head back, swallowing deep mouthfuls of it before placing her glass back down on the bench in front of her without flinching. "So sleeping around... working... Anything else? I haven't seen you for ages. Surely you have some stories by now?" Eva twisted in her seat to get a good look at him. "No big loves or big adventures? Births, deaths, marriages?" She laughed again and took another sip of her drink. "What is this?" she asked teasingly, staring down at the bottom of her almost-empty glass. "Tastes like shit."

When Eva mentioned that the girls he’d often picked up at the bar never really knew what hit them Leifr couldn’t resist shaking his head dramatically “Nope, not one clue.” there was a sense of pride that he had knowing that that was what he could accomplish if he wanted to. He laughed again when she called him cocky, and the man shrugged and winked playfully “ Always..” That by itself was true, Leifr was always cocky, but it wasn’t always in earnest as much as it was a habit and a defense mechanism. But that never bothered the wizard any, he’d managed to get on well enough so far, so why should he change? He’d settled into sipping his drink and cleaning the bar top when the witch across from him broke the silence. The question had him raising his eyebrows in surprise till he saw the look on Eva’s face.

He returned her knowing gaze with one of his own while he sipped his drink “Mmh. No....I’ve changed my game. Have to stay fresh, you know?” Only with Eva would the wizard ever dream of having a conversation like they were having. She’d been seventeen when they’d slept together, but he hadn’t known. After that little incident, Leifr had gotten much more careful about who he picked up at bars. The older he got, the less he could afford to make that kind of mistake again. But Eva was Eva, and so it was of little surprise to him that she would bring up the subject again. The barkeep busied himself with continually keeping an eye on things around the joint, but he was pulled away from that mundane chore by another answer to one of his questions. Paris. The city of love, the city of romance, the one place that Leifr would be the least likely to go by himself. When the witch told him she liked the language and the food it was no real surprise to him, that seemed to be what everyone said, and it had to have reasoning behind it.

Women that had Leifr grinning a wolfish grin. If there was anything Leifr enjoyed most in life, it was women. Not simply for the pleasure they brought him, but women in general were something that the man treasured and valued, even if his relationships, which were more like flings, didn’t reflect that. Raising an eyebrow he decided to humor her “The women, huh? That good?” The man studied her while he waited for an answer,  she was an enigma, that was for sure. And Leifr knew he would have to watch himself around her, he was no fool when it came to how charming the lithe witch could be. At her last suggestion he half heartedly shrugged “ You think? Doesn’t really seem like my scene...” Love and romance weren’t things that were hight on his radar, but he guessed he’d make it there at some point or another before he died.

Stories? Of course he had stories, he was a bartender. Nodding to confirm the few things she already knew about him Leifr took a moment to think “I always have stories....just depends on what you find interesting or not.” That much was true, everyone liked different kinds of stories, but the one thing that came to mind was how much did he mention? He supposed it didn’t really matter as long as he didn’t spill his guts. Downing the rest of his drink and setting the glass behind the bar Leifr looked at the woman across from him “No births, marriages, deaths, or big adventures as of late. I did meet a girl, but we had a falling out recently, so I’m not really sure what’s going on with that.” Truthfully, it still stung, knowing that he’d been lied to, and in a way the wizard was craving his old freedoms that he’d lost upon meeting someone. It wasn’t something that Leifr wanted to discuss at length, and was glad for a distraction. Smirking he held up a fairly cheap bottle of tequila and looked at her glass indicating that that was what she’d had. Then he pulled out a bottle of Ogdens and refilled his glass “That was cheap Tequila, and I’m drinking Ogdens, as usual.” Some things never really changed, did they?

“Fresher than seventeen?” she asked, knowing full well that he didn’t mean what she was implying. Eva glanced up at her ex lover with her eyebrows raised. “Fathers, lock up your daughters.” The witch didn’t have much memory of the way that their short relationship had been, but she thought that it must have gone something like this. Lots of teasing and chiding and basically a bunch of messing around. It had taken place somewhere in her first few months away from home, so Eva had been playing adult at the time. “Like you weren’t sleeping around at seventeen,” she said with a smile. Seventeen was legal in England, so no harm done. Too bad she’d told him she was twenty-two.

Eva rolled her shoulders back a couple of times, her body a little uncomfortable from the travel she’d been doing lately. Sleeping on random people’s couches, or floors and early mornings… that sort of thing. “Pretty good,” she affirmed with a nod, “Though I guess I’ve had more fun with ladies in Spain.” At his next response, the rainbow-haired girl laughed. “Doesn’t seem like your scene? Paris?” The Bulgarian slid her empty glass back to him across the wooden bar, an amused smile tugging at her lips. Paris was everyone’s scene. Eva thought it accommodated for all kinds of people, with all kinds of goals. “Maybe you should come with me,” she suggested cheekily. “I’ll show you all the best bits.”

The woman watched him, nodding in the appropriate parts as he spoke. “Was it serious?” she asked curiously. It had been a few months since she’d last had a boyfriend, but it hadn’t taken long to get over him. A bit of a binging and some partying in another country had helped with that. She hadn’t even really intended to come back to London. Especially not so soon.

“A cup of shitty tequila is all I get? Well, fuck.” Eva shook her head, feigning bewilderment. She grinned afterward. The girl was playing off of his energy. He was teasing her right back, and their environment was conducive for this kind of flirtatious banter. “Could I have something to wash it down? A vodka and juice or a cider or something?” even a crappy beer would have done the job. She’d just gulped down a cup of tequila. The girl wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

He could have gotten mad at what Eva was implying, but instead the wizard just gave her a look and rolled his eyes “ Oh very clever... Only if they’re a few years younger than me.” But he grinned, just to let her know he’d gotten the joke. It was easy to fall into this routine with Eva. Banter, fun, a little flirting. Leifr didn’t mean any harm by it, but  he couldn’t resist having a little fun with Eva. That’s how it had always been with her, just fun, simple, clear cut, and no strings attached.Those types of relationships were easiest for Leifr, and what he was used to, and Eva knew that, which only served to make her more dangerous. Not that Leifr would let that stop him from having a little harmless fun.

When the witch chided him for his habits at seventeen, the ex-Gryffindor gave her a wolfish grin “Question is, when wasn’t I sleeping around at that age?” He was joking, mostly. He’d been chasing girls and sleeping around at that age, but it wasn’t always a case of a new girl every night, he did manage to stay with girls for some amount of time, even if it was short, and they weren’t really relationships as much as they were friends with benefits types of situations. Sex and flings were supposed to be fun, and that was always something the man stuck by.

Eva stretching made a small voice in the back of the man’s head suggest that he offer her a massage. That was a voice he quickly shut out, he was working, and didn’t know where he stood with Emily. That was the dangerous part of Eva, but Leifr already knew that that was what it would be. He’d been to Spain, and he knew exactly what the witch was talking about and acknowledged it with a rueful grin and a nod of his head. When she raised her eyebrows at him, Leifr raised them right back “Yeah. The city of love, and all that junk, remember? I don’t do that kind of stuff” Except with Emily, a voice teased him, and he shut that one out too. He didn’t want to dwell on that whole situation right now. 

Go with her to Paris? He laughed and shrugged “Maybe..” But what she said next had him smirking. Did she mean what he thought she mean? Still smirking at her, the ex-Gryffindor tilted his head and silently looked at her as if to ask her if she meant it the way he was taking it. Right now, that sounded pretty ace to Leifr, Paris, and a gorgeous girl “The best bits, huh?” He grinned again, eyeing her playfully. He thought he might be able to live with that.

Was it serious? Leifr thought it might have been, but he didn’t really know what it was to be serious. So, he shrugged “I don’t know” He paused  “I don’t really know what a serious relationship is like.” It bothered him because he couldn’t tell if it had been or not, he just knew that the whole thing had gotten to him more than he would have liked. But going out and meeting women was helping with some of the irritation that had caused. He was going to do the best with what he had.

Grinning mischievously Leifr handed her one of the dozen ciders they had behind the bar, it wasn’t too expensive and would probably work just fine as a chaser “Just wanted to see how long it’d take you to notice.” That much was true...he was feeling a bit childish, and just wanted to see what Eva would do. Smirking at her, he finished his second drink and eyed her “I gave you your cider...what more could you need?”

“How many is a few?” she asked teasingly, “You’re what… twenty-five? Twenty-six?” The girl let him answer before adding, “I just turned twenty.” Eva wasn’t even recognised internationally as an adult yet, how depressing. Leifr really wasn’t much older than her, though. Torr was a year older than him, and Evander was a little older than that again. She’d been with men twice her age. Ages were generally pretty arbitrary, at least according to Eva. The girl tended to be attracted to men who were a few (or more) years older than her, but that wasn’t an absolute requirement at all. With women, things were even more blurry when it came to preferred ages.

Her imagination conjured a seventeen year old Leifr and Eva couldn’t help but chuckle. The girl was very curious about how he’d been at seventeen. It wasn’t that long ago, but in her mind, seventeen year old boys were still boys. Leifr was very much a man. She wondered vaguely what he’d think of her much younger self. Hmm. City of love. “I suppose,” she said, her tone showing him that she obviously wasn’t convinced. “From my experience, loving in Paris isn’t exactly the kind of love you’re talking about though.” Eva smiled. Yes, there was a very romantic air about the city, but either way… it was still a big city. Things still moved quickly and the place attracted all kinds of people.

“The absolute best bits,” she affirmed with a theatrical nod and a subsequent grin. Eva swept her hair over one shoulder and started playing with the ends absentmindedly, leaning forward against the bar as they talked. She shrugged at his talk of serious relationships. Eva tended to gloss over all of that sort of stuff. Had she had serious relationships? Sure, depending on one’s definition of serious. From her experience, serious didn’t necessarily equate to exclusive and exclusive relationships weren’t necessarily serious. “Serious” was an ambiguous term… Eva loved whoever she was with. For her, though, the term covered relationships that felt more serious. It made sense to her.

Eva opened her screw top and sipped slowly on the drink, enjoying the appley flavour and the way it felt like it washed the other taste away. With a satisfied sigh, the girl placed her bottle on the counter. “Are you going to close this bar yet, or what? Last call was ages ago.” The girl eyed a group of shifty looking people in one of the corners with a mixture of curiosity and fake disapproval. She wasn’t sure whether she’d turned up hoping for a friendly chat or something more, but either way… it would probably be better if everyone else left. Eva didn’t think she’d shown up for more. Leifr hadn’t been more that a mate she saw every few months for three years. She didn’t like setting limitations on things, though. Who knew?

“You’re right,” she said, her tone slightly exaggerated, like he'd just given her completely new information. “Maybe I should… just go then?” Eva made to stand up, making it obvious that she was joking.

Leifr couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little at the witches next question, acting mollified as he answered “I’m twenty five, thank you very much...and a few is as long as they’re not young enough to know my cousins” He wasn’t worried about Eva thinking he was ancient yet. He knew he was getting older, but he still looked his age, if not younger, and kept himself in shape. She was only twenty? He hated to admit it, but that little nugget of information did make him feel a little older than he felt “Twenty? Congratulations....You haven’t aged a bit.” He finished teasingly. Two could play that game, that was for sure.  Besides, this banter generally summed up their relationship, it was what they did. There was no harm in that.

So Paris wasn’t so romantic after all? Grinning and shaking his head lightly he raised an eyebrow “Mm thank you for helping me get over my misconception....I suppose it is a pretty big city.” Whether Eva agreed with him or not, the wizard was unconcerned. That was one of the things that was a plus to their friendship, they could get along and not have to agree with each other on all points at all times. Even though the witch had made a good point, Leifr wasn’t convinced that Paris would be his next top destination vacation.

He smirked at her, if there was someone who knew the best bits of a city, it was Eva. He doubted he’d ever go to Paris with the woman, but it was something to think about, at least in this moment “I might be convinced..”. He liked travel, but he also liked staying close to home, and working. He wasn’t fickle with his money, but having grown up with less than enough, he liked knowing that he was working to bring in some cash, rather than not working and letting cash go out the door. But like many things in life, it was each to their own. 

Last call? That was rarely something the wizard bothered to adhere to, with most of the pub’s patrons being good, well mannered regulars. Shrugging Leifr watched her as she took a drink “You mean you’re thinking about following the rules?” He laughed good naturedly and took a drink of water before continuing “ I suppose I could enforce our business hours, but what fun would that be? Then everyone leaves.” He was pulling her leg, of course. He’d be shagging that last group of customers, whom Eva had been giving the stink eye to out in a few minuets. He had things to clean up and inventory to take before he was really and truly free from work for the night.

Smirking at the witch, Leifr watched as she feigned leaving “See? I close the bar and even you’ll leave.” He’d be happy if she stayed to keep him company, she was fun, that was for sure. He didn’t see a little harm in any company while he finished things up, it had been a handful of months since either one of them had seen one another. It would be good to keep catching up. Pretending not to care that she was fake leaving, he shrugged at the gesture “Besides, if you leave, you’ll miss me.” Leifr knew he was probably pushing the boundaries a little bit, but it was so easy with Eva, it was almost unintentional.

“Well how old are your cousins?” she asked. It seemed like a strange way to pass judgement on ages, she thought. Either way, Eva didn’t really care. Age was just a number, after all. At his next mention of Paris, Eva shook her head. Any place could be interesting if one tried hard enough. If that wasn’t the case, then why the hell would she keep visiting London? A part of her knew that Elaine’s presence was just about the only thing keeping her coming back. The city was too grey for Eva.

Eva gave Leifr a pointed look. The girl locked her eyes with his and leaned in, like she was telling him a secret. “I live for rules,” she told him seriously. She laced her fingers in front of her, straightening her back and tilting her chin up a little like some kind of monarch. It was terribly immature, the way they were teasing and playing, but Eva enjoyed it. They weren’t hurting anyone. She grinned, shaking her head, and reached for her drink again. The cider was doing its job. Eva sipped it slowly, savouring the taste.

“Besides, there’s not much happening here anyway.” Eva’s eyes flicked to the group in the corner and back again. Absentmindedly, Eva removed all of the rings from her fingers and replaced them while she spoke. “Maybe I should go home,” she commented vaguely, like she’d just realised how slow things were now that most of the people had left the bar. Like she even had a home. Ha ha. Hopping out of her stool, the girl stretched her arms up above her head, wiggling her fingers a little and working out the kinks in her spine. She tilted her head to the side slowly, working her neck, before letting her arms drop back to her sides. “Dodgy sleep,” she explained shortly.

The girl leant against the bar with her elbow, her cheek resting in one palm. She played with the lid of her bottle in her opposite hand. “I could always just stay if you closed the bar,” she said, flicking her blue eyes up to meet his. Eva blew a strand of pinkish hair out of her eyes. She was only half teasing here. A vague memory of another time they’d shut the bar early drifted into her mind and she smiled at the memory, almost surprised that she’d forgotten it. Eva didn’t really hold onto things after the fact. She didn’t dwell. It was just in her nature to move straight forward and avoid looking back.

Shrugging the wizard answered Eva’s question “All ages, but my point is, they have to have been out of school for a few years.” It was true that Leifr wasn’t too picky when it came to the women he shared his bed with, but age was something he’d never bend the rules for, not knowingly, as Eva’s own case had been evidence of. But in a way Eva had been a lesson to him, as in how not to make the same mistake twice. It wasn’t even that he regretted the act as much as her age. There was very little that Leifr ever let himself feel bad about outside of family issues.

Snorting when Eva told him how much she loved and lived for rules, Leifr shook his wryly. That was about as true as if he had said he wasn’t a fan of sex. But he knew she was teasing and playing with him, and had no problem returning the favor. Smiling slowly at her the wizard gave her a look that plainly told her he knew the exact opposite was true. Throwing his hands up in mock surrender he chuckled “Oh. Right, of course. Totally by the book, you are. How could I have forgotten?” He winked at her as he finished. It wasn’t usually for Leifr to wink, but he was feeling relaxed and was having a good time, so why shouldn’t he if he felt like it? Particularly when he knew Eva probably wouldn’t think anything of it.

Pouring himself another finger of whiskey, Leifr drank while he watched her eye the shady group in the back corner. And couldn’t say he didn’t disagree with her. It was quiet and they were the last group in the pub besides he and Eva. It was only about ten to fifteen minuets till the pub closed on regular hours, and the group didn’t look like they were doing a whole lot more than just sitting. At the rainbow haired women’s next comment Leifr raised a shoulder in indifference. Not because he didn’t want her to stay, but mostly because he knew that no matter what he wanted, there was no telling Eva what to do. It was all on her terms, plain and simple. Leifr admired her for that. It wasn’t a common trait he saw all the time.

When she stood to stretch, the wizard let himself appraise her figure. It wasn’t as if he stared, he could appreciate without being gawkish, along with the fact that he barely gave the act much thought. Eva was attractive. It would be hard to find any man, or woman, who would really be able to argue with that. Nodding casually Leifr acknowledged her reasoning behind being stiff. He knew what late nights, and dodgy sleeping arrangements could do to the body. It generally was unescapable.

Throwing back his drink, the ex Gryffindor smirked at her. Letting his blue eyes meet her own. His mind automatically flicking to their past relationship and the few times they’d closed the pub just a little early in favor of other ideas. He knew that she wasn’t entirely suggesting what her words were telling him, but a small part of him wouldn’t object if she did decide to stay. He wouldn’t be upset no matter what she chose. It had been fun, as it always was, one way or another.

Without another thought Leifr called over to the group and old them to start moving, and pay their tabs. He didn’t have any particular ending to the night, but it was going to be closing time soon regardless. Waving his wand, the wizard had the empty glasses flying his way, and landing on the bartop with a soft clink. And with another wave he had the tables cleaned and the doors locked. Gently setting the glasses into the sink, and beginning to wipe down the bar the man eyed his companion out of the corner of his eye “ Are we having fun yet?” He grinned softly as he went about his work, always keeping an eye on the woman on the other side of the bar. Just a few more small things before the bar was set for the night, and he was free to give her all of his attention.

How could I forget? The girl glanced down at her hands as she played with her numerous rings. “I don’t know, Leifr, did you forget about me?” she asked curiously, teasing him with a coy smile, keeping her eyes down. “…And after only a few months,” she added with mock-hurt. Her timeframe was off – it had been about six months since she’d visited this place for a drink. That night, Eva had been with friends anyway. It wasn’t exactly a social visit being paid to the man in front of her. The rainbow haired girl wasn’t very good at keeping track of things like that though. She wasn’t very good at remembering dates or appointments and she had a selective memory at the best of times.

He winked at her and she smiled in response. The man was obviously thinking about something as he held her gaze. Eva wondered what it was. Her smile turned into a mischievous grin as she leant forward on the bar. Eva ran her fingertips across its surface. “What’s that look for?” she asked conspiratorially. The tip of her tongue touched the corner of her lip for a moment before she continued. “What’re you thinking of, hmm?”

“All this time and you’re still here,” she said thoughtfully, toning down the tease in her tone as she spoke. “Same you, same place.” Eva gestured lazily to their environment. What would make him leave, she wondered? She knew that she would hate to run a place like this. It was too much responsibility, too much consistency. Working in bars paid rent, but Eva seriously doubted she could do it long term, in once place. “What would draw you away?” she asked, her eyes bright with interest. There was some conflict there, she felt. He didn’t seem like a constant kind of man, but then again she didn’t really know him that well.

“Fun?” she asked, raising her eyebrows, “Well my glass is empty so…” Smiling impishly, Eva slid her glass forward on the bar, watching him expectantly. “Do you have music? Radio?” she asked, shifting out of her seat to skip around the other side of the bar again.