Not very pretty but we sure know how to run things [Jorund]

It was late, Seva’s feet hit the ground gently as she plodded down the lamp lit cobble stoned street. She had dressed quickly that evening and had taken great care in picking out her outfit. Since it was still early in the fall yet, she had left her jacket at home and instead decided on rolling down her sleeves all the way to the middle of her hands. Her wand was stuck in the pocket of her vest, the hilt readily available should she need access. She was still a little jumpy and every now and then would look behind her, her eyes scanning under streetlights as if she expected someone to be watching her. She did her best to shrug off the paranoia, it was simply unshakeable however and she sometimes felt as if she couldn’t go back to being her normal self. Seva muttered to herself and kept walking to nowhere in particular. Perhaps to a pub or maybe even a night club, whatever she happened upon first.

Seva slipped inside the Wilted Rose and peered around the bar, taking stock of the clientele. Even though Seva had really just come out to have a good time, truthfully she was looking to have a good time with someone. Sometimes she felt a loneliness that no amount of forced cuddling from her cats or booze could fill; she craved social interaction and hadn't been out in quite some time. Funny how every time she ran into her "twin" she was afraid to leave the house for at least a week lest she happen upon her again. There was no Amaranth here, however and even though it was implausible, she felt herself relax considerably. Seva adjusted the hem of her dress and pulled out her compact from her bag, checking her eye make up and blotting her lip stain with her finger. She snapped her mirror shut and slid it back into her clutch before heading over to the bar and snagging a seat just as someone was leaving. Someone started to protest but she just looked over her shoulder and winked at them, shrugging her slight shoulders.

When the bar tender finally turned around, Seva ordered a double firewhiskey and set six sickles down on the bar in front of her. She put them in a neat stack and slid them across to him, never once letting their eye contact drop. He was good looking and fit, mostly Seva’s type and she didn’t see a ring. She as half contemplating asking for his name; maybe after she was a few drinks deep. It was too soon to say whether she’d be bold enough to do that. Here at the pub with already half her drink’s worth of alcohol in her, Seva felt her worry ebb away with each sip until she was ready for more. She asked how much she would owe for another and then slid six more sickles across the bar, plus two galleons as tip for the night; to start at least. Her eyes were already starting to water slightly, but she wasn’t nearly finished yet.

Hoping she wouldn’t get cut off after two doubles, Seva considered asking for a straw so she could suck the biting elixir down faster. It was only just turning one in the morning and Seva didn’t have to be home any time soon. Home tonight was her grandparent's house in Ennistymon where she’d been staying the past few nights. If she had to apparate far, or at all she was sure she’d be splinched. Luckily, she knew the family that lived down the street and had already made arrangements to use the fireplace later on that night. Seva was given a key long ago and patted it gently in the pocket of her vest. Sipping her drink slowly, she watched the bar tender as he tallied up someone’s tab and couldn’t help but lower her gaze to his ass. Her head cocked to the side and she had to resist the urge to let out a contented sigh.

George, the bartender, turned around only to find Seva’s eyes not so slyly flitting up and away from his perfectly rounded bum.  Her face flushed as he gave her a pointed glare but before she could move to apologize, he flashed Seva a winning smile and waved her off. She smiled too, her eyes crinkling in amusement, but she scratched nervously at the back of her neck regardless. Luckily she had a welcoming distraction in the form of the drink in her hand and as if just realizing this, she looked down at her glass for a moment before taking a big swig.

Seva and alcohol didn’t always get along; there were times that she could handle herself and could knock back as many as she wanted to. More often than not, she would end up flagged because her petite body couldn’t quite keep up with her party girl personality. There was that, and the fact that she sometimes got a little too frisky for her own good, evidenced by how she’d been leering at George. Seva took that as a warning that perhaps she may have had too much and took a peek at her glass to see how much was left. She hated to waste good alcohol.

She was just about to mourn over the quarter full glass when she saw someone approach her in her peripheral vision and noticing it was a male figure, feigned ignorance. It wasn't until the man started to speak that Seva pretended to be surprised by his presence and spun her bar stool toward the newcomer. She took in what he said with her head tilted slightly to the side and flashed him a toothy grin, especially when he said she was pretty. He was shamelessly flirting, but Seva was just drunk and lonely enough to not care. The fact that he was handsome and his apparent sense of humor helped his cause significantly; maybe he’d have a change even if she weren't so buzzed.

“You’re plenty ‘pretty’,” she said, lifting her hands up to accentuate her words with air quotes, “I just don’t think you appeal to him.” Seva said, her face lighting up in a friendly smile to show him she was only fooling. “Seva,” she said, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. “I’m Seva.”

“You’re most certainly very welcome, Jorund.” She said and in her drunkenness, slurred his name adding many more syllables and perhaps far too many letters. Her being so tipsy was probably also responsible for the fact that didn’t notice that her hand had lingered in his larger one for quite some time. Suppressing a giggle, she slipped her tiny hand out of his and ran it idly through her mass of curly hair. At the same time, she snorted and blew her bangs out of her eyes. Something about this certain gentleman had her acting far ditzier than her normal self. It wasn’t an uncomfortable change, quite the opposite really. In the space of the several minutes since they met, she found herself becoming increasingly more at ease around him. This Jorund, despite his appearing to be several years her senior, had Seva very much intrigued.

“I was doing great up until just a few minutes ago…” here she paused and arched an eyebrow, purposely waiting a beat or two to try to instill some doubt in him as to what she might be insinuating. Might he think that he’d ruined her night? Seva found the prospect that this thought might run through his mind amusing. “…but now I have to say I just got a whole lot better.”

Seva was being bold and she knew it. Well, she had an inkling; the booze was really starting to sink in then and it was clouding her judgment all the more. She was almost disappointed at the interruption the presence of the bartender across the bar caused, but she found her interest piqued when Jorund ordered her another drink. She didn’t seem to remember the fact that she’d earlier sworn herself off another drink. She watched George walk away and turned her attention back to Jorund, her eyes alight with unprovoked mischief.

“Well,” she began, craning her neck to look up at him. He’s quite tall, I see this being slightly problematic. “My mom read it in a travel magazine somewhere; it was the name of the author, I believe. It’s Hindi for ‘the embodiment of service’ or some shite like that. I like the name Jorund, it has a Nordic vibe to it. You don’t strike me as very vikingy, though. You are very tall, though. Quite.”

Seva would have continued blathering on had George not come back with their drinks. He slid hers across to her and she snatched it up quickly, taking a quick swig before overzealously setting it back down on the bar. She didn’t speak for a moment or two because she was wracking her brain for any recollection of ever having met a Trickett. The surname was in fact familiar to her, but she couldn’t say that she had ever personally met one of the family’s members. Seva shrugged her slight shoulders and shook her head, causing her hair to bounce around her cheeks. She tucked it behind her ears and absentmindedly fussed with her bangs, her eyes fixed on him. When he sat down, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m glad you sat down, my neck was starting to hurt from looking up for so long.” She said teasingly, “So, what do you do, Jorund Trickett?”

In Seva’s mind there were no words necessary to respond to Jorund’s calling her tricky. Instead she merely looked over at him and gave him yet another quick wink and her best, winningest smile. Otherwise, she ignored the comment entirely. Describing Seva as tricky was an understatement even in her book. Granted, he’d only just met her. Nevertheless, Seva liked to think that she had an air of mischief about her. At least, that’s what she’d always been told by her family and the one or two close friends that she had. Wise ass, jokester, happy go lucky Seva. Yeah, tricky was a pretty good adjective to describe her. She liked that Jorund picked up on that about her. Oddly enough, she took pride in her mischievous impish nature, shelving it only when the situation called for a more serious attitude. Luckily, this wasn’t one of those situations.

“Right, misogyny at its best.” She said, nodding sagely. “I’m glad you picked up on that.” She knew that he was kidding, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t play along. “Ha! I knew it. I’m usually good about figuring that kind of thing out. I’m glad I’m not the only one with an odd name. I mean, not that Jorund is an odd name, I mean…nevermind.”

Seva lifted her glass to her lips and smiled at him over the rim before knocking back another good swig. She set her glass down softly this time and paused a moment before turning back toward him and listening intently to him. ’I’m not like a giant?’ Has he seen how short I am? This made Seva smile in spite of herself and she suddenly found her mind drifting to a vision of her straining to reach him as he bent down for a kiss. Her face flushed and she attempted to hide it by bring her glass to her lips once more and taking the smallest of sips, if only to conceal her blush. She shook her head and tried to shrug the thought off, not for any other reason than she didn’t want to put any ideas into her head. Changes were that if she thought about it too much, it might actually happen and it wouldn’t be him going in for a kiss. She’d hate to come across too forward. What in Merlin’s name am I doing. Breathe woman, breathe,and with that she did in fact take two deep breaths before addressing him again.

“It’s pretty convenient should I ever need to reach anything from a high shelf,” she said with a grin, tossing her hair back, “Hmm, is that too cliché?” She shrugged, not really caring. She didn’t mind being corny once in a while.

She paused for a moment, quitting while she was ahead and choosing not to blather on. Instead, she glanced down at her still half full glass and pushed it away from her. Looking up around the room, she noticed that there was a bright halo around each and every light; that was generally a bad sign. Hopefully, Jorund wasn’t feeling overly generous and wouldn’t buy her another drink since she couldn’t bring herself to finish that one. Suddenly, she felt the briefest tightness in her chest followed quickly by a bubbling and before she could react she let out a small, although still audible belch. Her eyes widened ever so slightly and she hoped against hope that he either wouldn’t notice or have the decency to not say anything to her about it. Choosing not to call attention to it herself, she crossed her legs as daintily as she could and leaned closer to him.

“I’m a healer in training at Dilys Derwent. I guess I’m being cliché again when I say this, but I have always wanted to help people since I was little. I used to play doctor with my stuffed animals and pets.” She blushed again and nervously curled a strand of hair around her finger. “I know it’s silly, I just felt like I had a calling. I write, too. I mean, if you consider journaling writing. I just find that I forget what happens in the space of a day if I don’t record it. It’s so interesting that you’re a journalist, though. Good for you…how long have you been writing? Where could I find something of yours?”

“I’ve always been very adept at turning things to my advantage.” She grinned devilishly and made a sweeping gesture around her face. “See this? Meal. Ticket.”

Seva was positively beaming at this point, the fact that he hadn’t been disgusted by her burp bolstering her good mood and confidence. Hardly impressive? I’m up for the challenge. Seva was true to her own word. She looked him square in the eye, straightened up haughtily in the stool and balled her hand into a fist. Then, after giving him the umpteenth wink of the night, gave herself two swift bumps on her chest and as if on cue let out a much louder burp than before. So loud, in fact, that it made the next patron over turn on his stool and give her a pointed stare. Seva waggled her fingers at him before reaching for the seat of the stool and pushing it ever so gently, but just hard enough to turn the man back around. She heaved a mock-weary sigh and turned her attention back to Jorund, feigning ignorance of her having blatantly showed off such an unladylike feat.

“The absolute nerve of some people, am I right?”

It was not time to take things more seriously, she soon learned as Jorund began to impart wisdom on her. Seva sat in rapt attention as he spoke to her about having passion about her profession and found herself glad that he understood what it was like to truly, truly love what you do. Seva was only slightly disappointed that he didn’t have more to say on the matter, if only because she liked listening to him and was genuinely interested in what he had to say. What she appreciated more though was that he seemed just as interested in finding out about her. She was just about to answer when he delved deeper into his own story and she listened intently, truly curious about him.

“So you have wanderlust too, huh? I hate that I’m tied to London until I’m done with my studies. I mean, I could go on short trips but it just isn’t the same as being able to stay in one place for a while and just absorb the culture…I read a lot of travel books and magazines if you hadn’t noticed.” She smiled. “But, I digress…I have a little over two years left. Next year I’ll have a preceptor and then it’s the exam to end all exams and I am so looking forward to that, you have no idea!” She grinned unconvincingly and her tone was dripping with sarcasm. “And yeah, I went to Hogwarts, Gryffindor.”

His next comment made Seva pause. She looked at him, quirked one eyebrow, lowered it and then quirked another. She was feigning complete ignorance this time. Her facial expression suggested that he may well have been speaking a foreign language. Then, surprising even herself she let out a peal of laughter that rang out across the whole pub and slowly devolved into a giggle fit. She regained her composure in the space of two minutes and straightened herself out once more. Unable to control herself, she reached over and laid her hand on his knee, splaying out her fingers. Her eyes were twinkling in her abating laughter and every few seconds she’d let out a little giggle-snort.

“I – umm – me too.” She pointed up above her with her free hand to the nearest light and jabbed her finger toward the ceiling. “They’ve had rings around them for the past five minutes. But see, at least I had the self control to flag myself!” She squeezed his knee and released it, reaching over instead to pat him lightly on the cheek. “I guarantee you that whatever crazy ideas you think you might have are no match for mine. Don’t even attempt to challenge me.”

“Why thank you!” She bowed with a flourish. She contemplated attempting a seated curtsy but decided that would most likely end with her splayed out on the lap of either of the two men she was seated between and that could go one of two ways either of which she wasn’t entirely in the right state for. “I’m here practically every night,” she said with a grin.

Seva pointed at the back of the offending man’s head and mouthed the word “git”, before making a rather lewd gesture and turning her attention back to Jorund once more. She didn’t know what drove him to travel but for her it was in her blood. Her grandfather had been a tinker and while his travels had confined him to his home country of Ireland, his stories of his life on the road were what had inspired her as a little girl and now into her early adulthood to keep journals, list and scrapbooks about where she wanted to go when she’d saved up the money and had the time. It was honestly refreshing to her to have someone who shared the same tendencies and interests, even if she’d only just met him.

“Listen, don’t make me even more jealous than I already am. One day I’ll have to show you my scrapbooks,” she didn’t seem to notice that she’d just implied that they’d see each other again; had she noticed, she probably wouldn’t even have cared. “Two years is an absolute eternity to wait for a long trip. I don’t mean to whine, but it is!” She paused for a moment and considered his little jab at her former house. “You know, I’m sure if a lion and a badger got into a fight, the lion would win…”

Seva said this pointedly, giving him the briefest and gentlest poke in the chest. She was looking up at him very pleased with herself as if one, this were evenly remotely insulting and two as if it made any sense whatsoever. Seva grinned and for the second time, reached for her glass only to pull her hand away when she realized what she was doing. Her mouth turned into the biggest pout and she waved at George to get his attention then pointed at her drink and made a cutting motion beneath her chin as if to say ‘no more, take it away’. Shaking his head at her, he came over and took it away, making Seva pout again. Just as George was turning away, she came back to reality in enough time to hear Jorund mention cutting her off. Seva puffed out her chest and let out the loudest “harrumph”, gesticulating widely toward George who had just put her glass in the bin among the other dirty ones.

“Look at you trying to tell me what to do - again with the misogyny. Merlin!” She blurted, doing her best to pretend to be insulted. She failed, miserably. Two things happened then to make Seva perk up considerably and had her very, very excited. As for craziness, you really don’t know who you’re talking to. Seva heard this and her heart skipped a beat, slowing to what felt like a complete stop and then pounding hard with had to be adrenaline. She was about to speak when he said, do you want to cut out of here with me? Seva looked up at him with wide, glistening eyes and suddenly, without warning and surprising even herself, she leapt forward and flung her arms around his waist.

“Yes please!” She chirped as she untangled herself from him, not even bothering to hide her scarlet face. With that she jumped down from her stool, not caring if she was doing so even remotely ladylike and started for the door. She hadn’t gone two feet before she stopped, turned around and traipsed back to stand next to him. Looking up at him, now standing well beneath him, she threaded her fingers in his and tugged. “You’re the one who suggested this and here I am leaving before you! Come on now!”

“I’d really love to exchange experiences and wishful-thinking-destinations with you. That would be great!”

Seva let go of Jorund’s hand when they got to the door and let him lead the way outside into the cold night, listening to him make some futile attempt at refuting her comment about Puffs being the weaker of the two houses. She didn’t seem to notice that while she was on her way toward the door, dragging Jorund all the while, that he was leaning down toward her because of how much taller he was. If she’d noticed, she probably would have purposely tugged him so that he fell over. Now, though, she herself was on the verge of falling over and if she did so, it probably would be into Jorund.  She also hadn’t seemed to notice that his eyes were on her bum for most of the way to the door. Or, maybe, she chose not to acknowledge that fact.

Once outside, even though she was dressed in a fairly thick sweater dress, she was still freezing considering she’d neglected to wear any kind of coat. She immediately folded her arms around her chest and stomped her feet once, then twice to try to keep warm as the two of them stood outside and took in their surroundings. They weren’t the only two people emerging drunk and silly from pubs. In fact, they were surrounded by all manner of merrymakers, all in various states of inebriation. Not one of them seemed to be having as much fun as Seva was; at least, she’d like to think that. With that in mind, she looked up at her companion and gave him a huge grin, choosing not to continue to berate him for being a former Puff. That would just be a dead end, after all.

“Well, poo.” Seva snapped her finger in an ‘aw shucks’ kind of way and shook her head. “You say that like it’s a bad thing!” She said, again pretending to be offended. “I, on the other hand, know how drunk you are. So there!”

Seva’s eyes wandered over to where the two men were fighting outside of a pub down the street and for a moment thought of the strange juxtaposition there would be if Seva were to pull Jorund down and kiss him right there. There would be two people brawling and two people in a seemingly tender moment. Needless to say, the action would be more so sensual than tender given Seva’s current state. That didn’t stop her from having the thought and as she stood there, with him towering over her, drunk as she was, it became more difficult to resist that temptation. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Seva took a couple steps over until she was standing toe to toe with him. In one swift yet smooth motion, Seva stood up on her tiptoes and snaked her arm around his neck, pulling him down low enough so that she could plant a long kiss on his lips.

“Would I do that if I were so drunk?” She said in a sultry slurred tone, her eyes locked onto his as she tried to keep a smirk from playing on her face. “I’m up for anything. Let’s just go, okay?” And with that she turned away from him and started down the street, making sure to go in the opposite direction of the fight. After a few steps, she looked over her shoulder and nodded her head in the direction of the street corner, winking cheekily at him.

“Sure,” Seva said over her shoulder to him as she wandered off, the taste of him still lingering on her lips. “I said I’d go wherever you go…at least, I think I did.”

Seva could sense that he was behind her and began to turn around, only to find that he had reached for her hand. They moved under a tree, its shade concealing them from the streetlights above them. When he asked if she was ready, she nodded eagerly and gripped his hand tight, closing her eyes to prepare for the normally unpleasant feeling that came with apparating. Before long the feeling of tightness around her chest started and she had the wind knocked out of her momentarily. She could feel a tugging on her arm as she was pulled after him and soon enough it was over and her feet hit the ground beside him. Her stomach lurched from the combination of her inebriation and the usual stomach upset that apparating could cause. Her free hand went over her stomach for a moment as if to quiet it and she looked around at her surroundings.

“Woah,” she breathed, looking around her as he led her through the building. “I feel like such an outlaw, ‘Seva the thief!’ Hmmm, nah, doesn’t fit.”

She babbled like this until he led her down a hallway past several locked rooms to the room at the end of the hall, which he opened. Inside was the largest pool she’d ever seen, its water glistening from the only light that was streaming in through the windows. Next to her on the wall was a series of light switches which she reached over and turned one or two on, to give them just enough light to swim by. She walked further into the room, this time leading him behind her as she went to scope out the area around the pool. There were a few life guard stands, a couple of sheds that she assumed might carry equipment and the pool itself was flanked by bleachers for swim meets. It was in front of one of the rows of bleachers that she finally let go of his hand and only did so to bend and remove one of her shoes. To do this she had to lean heavily and unlady-like on his arm.

“Pardon me for a sec…” She mumbled, pulling off the other shoe as she balanced on her now bare foot. “My dogs are barking.”
Now completely barefoot, Seva released his arm and stood in front of him now a good four inches shorter than him. She was still very much intoxicated and was feeling as bold and confident as ever. Inspired by that confidence and channeling that boldness, she fixed her light amber eyes on his blue-grey ones and only broke eye contact briefly when she turned her back on him to face the pool. She peered over her shoulder at him demurely, reaching down to grasp the hem of her dress. Slowly, inch by inch she pulled it up until she it was off and over her head, revealing a matching bra and thong underneath. She let the marbled gray fabric fall to the ground at her side and turned around taking a step closer to him.

“I guess I am feeling a little daring…”

Seva murmured, reaching for his hand and clutching it gently. There was a wicked glint in her eye as she looked up at him and suddenly, without warning she spun on her heel and took a mad dash for the pool, dragging him after her as she ran. She made a beeline for the deep end and in just a few moments she was at the edge. He stumbled a bit as she dragged him along, but she made sure he didn’t fall – yet. At the edge, she yanked her arm in a whipping motion so he was catapulted in first and only cannonballed in when he had hit the water. It was surprisingly warm and was probably heated during the winter, but she doubted if it was at its warmest when the rec center was cold. Either way she was freezing and she gasped for breath as she came to the surface and churned water.

“And I guess you are, too.” She said to no one in particular, as she was facing away from him and he hadn’t resurfaced as far as she could tell. 

God-moding Jorund approved by Jo. Lemme know if you want me to change anything. <33