[Gringotts] I could be somewhere worse than here (Erika)

No matter how many times she came to Diagon Alley, Seva still experienced it as she did the first time she ever visited as a young child, in tow behind her parents. The familiar but still grating noise of brick on brick after just the right one was prodded with a wand, the too bright flash of daylight that came through on a sunny day as the wall fell away and the long, ambling lane was revealed behind it. She was always filled with a sense of wonder and excitement; she was just that easily amused. That was, of course, when she didn’t have such a daunting task to complete. For once, the reason for her stomach turning wasn’t hunger; instead, it was out of sheer nerves and anxiety. She was trying hard not to think about what she’d decided to do that day, despite a voice in the back of her mind telling her it really wasn’t that big of a deal. There was just no reasoning with her.

So, today, Seva listlessly lifted her wand arm and tapped at the appropriate brick almost begrudgingly as if it were the last thing in the world that she would prefer to be doing in the present moment. When the bricks began to move and the Alley was revealed to her, she kept walking and fixed her eyes on the great marble dome of Gringotts wizarding bank that rose above the rows of buildings before her. A long, drawn out sigh escaped her as she walked forward, each step bringing her closer and closer to what she was dreading. It wasn’t so much Gringotts itself as it was who may or may not be inside that was bothering her. Without even being asked and most likely without anyone really knowing what she was planning on doing, Seva was going to try to introduce herself to Erika. Jorund talked about her so much and so often that she decided to take it upon herself to meet the woman.

“This is so a monumentally stupid idea,” she said allowed, drawing a stare from those patrons who were brave enough to eat Flourean’s ice cream outside of the warmer, more welcoming shop. Seva smirked at those whose attention she drew and kept walking toward her destination, quickening her pace. It was around five o’clock, the end of the normal work day and she was hoping that if Erika were actually in the building today, that she would catch her before she left for the day. It was a long shot, but it was one worth taking nonetheless. So, Seva strode on, her strides long and quick for someone her height. Finally, she reached the marble staircase, the golden doors on the landing above her. She took the stairs two at a time, ignoring any of the beautiful details of the building that she normally would admire, even the inscription that she always read no matter how many times she’d been to the bank. She was a woman on a mission.

Seva pushed open the heavy doors and made a beeline to the first goblin that looked as if it knew what it was doing. She could never tell their gender and frankly, didn’t really care much at the time. She cared so little about anything other than the task that she wanted to accomplish that she had just pulled on whatever she had on hand that was clean and pulled up her hair into a messy bun. She wasn’t confident she even had on the same shoes; so, it couldn’t matter less to her whether the goblin in front of her was a male or female. She needed an answer, it was as plain as that. What Seva didn’t want to admit to herself, what she was afraid to acknowledge was that she was actually afraid to meet someone. For once in her life she knew that she was going to be anxious around someone and that fact made her more uncomfortable than she’d felt in quite some time. It was for no other reason than she wanted to impress Erika; she wanted the woman to like her because of how much she liked, maybe even loved the girl’s uncle. The thought made her blush, a fact the goblin seemed to notice.

”Miss...” It said after clearing its throat. Seva blinked down at it and bent forward the slightest bit so that she could be at eye level. “Yes?” She froze for a moment. “Oh, yes…can you direct me to one Erika Trickett? Is she even here, I know she may often be out of the errr—bank.” Once again her exchange was drawing attention, but she didn’t really seem to mind. Without answering, the goblin pointed behind her and she turned slowly, a gulp rising in her throat.

Paperwork tended to ruin everything.

Fresh back from her latest trip to Egypt, it seemed she'd brought the weather back with her. It was a warm and bright day in the capital. In the depths of the bank, Erika dropped a small holdall to the floor with a dull clang! Her latest haul wasn't huge but it was interesting. Inside was a small tiara made from glittering gold, cast with various twinkling jewels. She'd tried it on. She  hadn't wanted to give it back at all. In fact, Ross, another curse breaker, had to prize it from her fingers.

As well as the tiara, there were a few brooches and various other things including a heavy, sold gold chain. "Not a lot there," one of the goblins said, causing Erika to blink. "I beg your pardon?" She asked, looking down at his elongated fingers as he rummaged through her bag. "Have you seen this?" She said, twisting and pointing to a red, deeply carved fresh scar that ran diagonally across her shoulder blades. "I nearly got squashed in a tomb for that!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide.

She'd tripped a ward and the walls had come crashing down but luckily for her, the bricks had caught on a jagged rock, leaving a small space between the two which Erika had managed to squish through but had cut open her back to do so. The goblin seemed unimpressed by her impassioned speech. He simply took the bag and handed her a form. Tutting darkly, she signed with a flourish and handed it back. "Always a pleasure, Ferdix," Erika said with a sunny smile to the displeased goblin who simply shooed her out, causing her to roll her eyes.

The Egyptian sun had been kind to her. Her skin had a healthy tan, her hair lightened to an almost platinum shade of blonde as she walked  back through, her hands in the pockets of her linen trousers. Her heavy bangles jangled cheerily as she walked. She'd been away for two weeks so her first stop was to try and grab a decent cup of tea. Not fruity teas that happened a lot in north Africa, no, a good cup of tea. In a mug, from a teabag with a load of sugar. She could also kill for a bacon buttie, too. She was starved.

Whistling cheerily under her breath, she blew at her fringe absently. It was almost closing time so it was fairly quiet, her bejewelled sandals click-clacking across the marble floor. On the way back, Erika needed to stop and get some wine for Lulu. She hadn't given her bestie a precise date of return, purely because she could run over rather easily. There was a small pair of beautifully ornate earrings that she'd pilfered as a souvenir for her friend. Erika had very little issue with stealing and it was becoming a bit of a problem.

Hearing her name and seeing herself being pointed at, she stopped, her eyebrows arched in question. "Hello," she said brightly, her head tilted to the side as she looked over the girl in question. Something about her rung a bell but she was fairly certain she'd never clapped eyes on her before. "Can I help with something?"

Well, here goes nothin’

The smile that brimmed on Seva’s face was surprisingly not a forced one; now that she’d made it to Gringotts and Erika had spotted her, half the battle seemed to be over. Simultaneously, she felt the tension in her stomach relax. Even though Erika had only said “hello”, things seemed to be going over swimmingly so far. As for Erika’s next utterance, Seva almost found herself tensing again as she considered what to say. How would she go about explaining why she was there without coming off as a total creeper? Oh yes, I really had to meet you and I just happened to know where you work, fancy a spot of tea? Perhaps some ice cream?

Although a part of her was screaming inside, the better part of her knew she was overthinking the situation and was urging her to just breathe and be herself. That latter part was winning over. So after having wasted precious time, in which she must have been staring at Erika with an intense expression on her face, Seva cleared her throat.

“Hello!” She said, almost too excitedly. “Erika, I’m Seva. I’m err-“

While she was sure that Jorund had told Erika about her, Seva wasn’t quite sure exactly what had been mentioned to her boyfriend’s niece. Seva knew how she personally felt about Jorund and their relationship; he meant an awful lot to her and she knew that at least at present there was no one else she could ever be with. Then again, she remembered conversations or near arguments they’d had about his propensity to want to see other people, too. What if Erika knew something that Seva didn’t know? The fact that there was that possibility made another lump rise in her throat, but she was able to nip any other worry in the bud. She considered, for a moment, that she could always broach the subject regardless of whether Erika would tell her.

“I’m Jorund’s girlfriend.”

At that probably very obvious statement, Seva grinned. She didn’t get to say that very often and every time she did she got a bubbly feeling that she seemed to feel from head to toe. Now that introductions were out of the way, she suddenly became very excited and had to fight the urge to either grab Erika and drag her to a café for some girl talk or just envelop her in the strongest bear hug that her tiny body could muster. Either way, all of her worries of earlier had melted away with just that one, three word sentence. I’m Jorund’s girlfriend. She was positively beaming.

“Forgive my boldness and borderline creeper status,” she said, opening her arms. “I just felt I had to meet you. Do you have time to go out somewhere?”

Why did she feel like an exhibition in a zoo? Erika was used to being stared at. She had countless young cousins who tended to gawp for a number of reasons. One, she wore lots of jingly jewellery and two, she was absolutely crackers. It didn't tend to phase her and her pillowy lips stretched into a wide smile. The girls seemed a bit…jittery. They'd not met before, she was sure of it but the brunette did seem a little flustered.

Seva?

"Oh!" Erika  gasped, her bright blue eyes wide. "The Seva?" She asked with a grin, instantly relaxing as she laughed, high and tinkling. Oh goodness, Seva was very young. She looked younger than herself, that was for sure. Jorund had always gone for younger girls but seeing as how he'd not mentioned anyone but Seva, they were on to a good thing.

Girlfriend? "Does he know that?" She asked before she laughed. "Kidding!" She gushed, her hands stretched outwards. "Totally kidding." Honestly, it was about time that her dear old uncle settled down but he should have been the one to introduce them. This poor little wisp of a girl needn't have come all this way down here, just to say hello. She was very pretty, Erika noted. Jorund had worked his way through most of London but they must have been dating for a little while now so there had to be more to Seva than a great set of boobs.

Erika squealed, bouncing on the spot and clapping her hands before enveloping the other girl in an affectionate, jasmine-scented hug. "It's lovely to meet you," she said sunnily as she squeezed Seva's shoulders. "I'll kill him for not doing the introductions for you," she said with a sigh and an eye roll. "If he ever gets out from behind his desk and stops eating all that Chinese take out. I did warn him about his high cholesterol," Erika continued, happy to just witter on about her lovely but rather absent-minded uncle.

"Oh it's forgiven," the treasure hunter said as she waved a hand through the air, effectively pooh-poohing the younger girls unneeded apology. "You did?" She asked as her slender eyebrows came down in a rush to furrow, suddenly a little nervous. She hoped her reputation hadn't proceeded her.

Did she have time to go somewhere? "Sure," she said cheerfully. Her original plan was to visit St. Mungo's. The scar she'd received from the tomb in Egypt hadn't fully healed yet. It was only a week old and still a fresh, livid pink. It cut a line right down her shoulder blades and it still hurt to move and twist. She was just planning on popping in to see a healer quickly. Due to the position, she was unable to properly heal it herself. She wanted to wear strapless dresses now that it was summer and she couldn't do that with an ugly great white line marring her skin, could she? Nah.

Without asking for permission, she looped her arm through Seva's as thought they were old friends and she lead her down the steps and into the sultry summer's evening. The streets were still busy. Wizards dashing about, young children screeching, the smells of food and she heard music. As great as travelling was, there was always going to be a part of her that longed for a plate of bangers and mash. With peas. Ooh and gravy.

"So!" Erika said breezily as they walked, heading to a cute little tea shop she knew that stayed open until the late evening. "I hope he's been treating you properly," she said to Seva, looking over at her with an arched eyebrow, imploring her to say otherwise. She loved Jorund but like her, he was a bit of a ditz. He was an absent minded professor. He's forget his head if it wasn't screwed on.