[DDC] Can you hear me now? [Brian]

The Griffins had lost. To the Ballycastle Bats. To the hell with this day, Tara thought, arms crossed as she pouted at the back of the owner's box.

It had really been a great game. Hard-hitting action, controversial fouls, and some really excellent plays that led to goals. There had even been a few fights. César Cardozo had taken exception to something one of the Bats had said and done to his sister and linemate and there had been fisticuffs near the Bats goal hoops. He had been ejected from the game, but Tara had loved every minute of it, cheering on with the rest of the fans as he had punched the guy to the face. Even @Harlan Bellamy, the team captain, had been particularly on point today. He had sent a bludger at one of the Bats' chasers who never saw it coming and fell from his broom. Mediwizards had slowed the fall and taken him to receive medical care, but the Griffins fans couldn't have cared. They were too busy celebrating their captain for his hit.

But in the end, the Griffins had lost as the Ballycastle seeker had caught the snitch before the Griffins' seeker even saw it. Dammit. It was even worse because Tara had brought along her friend Brian McShane who just happened to be a Ballycastle fan. The bastard. She had allowed him into the owner's box with Ballycastle gear only because she had been so sure that the Griffins were going to win the game. The loss and the look on Brian's face needled her and she chomped petulantly on some potato crisps that were in the suite along with the other wide selection of food they had.

Nevertheless, she went over to Brian and nudged him with an elbow from where he was chatting with her younger sister Blair. "Want to go see the locker rooms now?" Tara offered with a grumble. She had offered him the opportunity before the game started and now even though she was unhappy about the loss and wanted to wipe the smile off Brian's face, she still offered to bring him down. She nodded a 'see you later' to her sister and some of her other family members lingering in the box and made her way out to the main concourse.

Arms crossed, she glanced over at Brian and said, "you know you're going to have to take that off if you have to see the Griffins lockerroom." She pointed a finger at his Ballycastle shirt and then smirked. As they walked, she was coming out of her mood. She wasn't really angry at Brian, but she also hated losing. And a Griffins loss was a Tara loss in her book.

"I think you're not allowed to come to the next Ballycastle game here. Maybe you jinxed us," she said with a bigger grin, joking with him.

@Brian McShane

Brian was thrilled. Today could accurately be described as a nearly-perfect day. When Tara had owled him a couple of weeks ago asking if he would want to be her guest at the upcoming Griffins/Bats Quidditch match, he had broken the tip of his quill in his haste to accept her invitation. It had been several months since he attended a match, and he would never in his right mind decline a chance to spend time with the spitfire witch who so inexplicably fascinated him. The fact that the match was between Ballycastle and Gravesend - respectively his favorite and second-favorite teams - was icing on the cake, really.

The match had not disappointed. Attending with the owner’s daughter and viewing from the owner’s box had heightened the experience for him. The privacy and luxury of the box were second to none. It helped shield him from angry Griffins fans when the Bats’ Seeker won the game for the Bats in a most spectacular fashion. After the game ended, he found his attention diverted in conversation with Tara’s (very pretty) younger sister Blair, who was about the same age as his own sister, Fiona. So absorbed was he in their conversation that when Tara elbowed him and interrupted it took him a moment to gather his wits.

“Sure,” he responded to her query as to whether he wanted to visit the locker rooms. Truth be told, he had half-forgotten about her earlier offer in all the excitement. He was surprised that the offer still stood, given that she didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, courtesy of her team’s loss. With a wink and a wave goodbye to Blair, he followed Tara out of the box. Glancing down at his shirt as she indicated he would need to lose it before entering the locker room, he quirked a brow as he shot back, “At least I’ll fit right in.” He wasn’t ashamed of cheering for the away team that day, but he certainly didn’t fancy a fight with the ticked-off members of the Griffins team, some of whom were his friends.

“I think you're not allowed to come to the next Ballycastle game here. Maybe you jinxed us,”

While they walked, the occasional random stragglers passed them, though Brian took no notice. All of this attention was on the woman walking next to him. An easy smile graced his lips and his hazel eyes twinkled as he regarded her. “Easy there, tiger,” he said, chuckling. “I can’t help it if your team was outshone and outplayed by a clearly superior team,” he gibed. Oh yes, victory was very sweet. The Bats’ win had been brilliant, although the Griffins had put on a good show and given the Bats a run for their money.

As they neared the entrance to the locker rooms, two obviously drunken, agitated Griffins fans approached them. One was a few inches shorter than Brian and burly, while the other was tall and thin. “Look at this wanker, Jim, prancing around our stadium wearing Bats gear. Thinks he’s better than us,” sneered the tall one. The burly one (apparently named Jim) was holding a half-full cup of beer that he tossed in Brian’s face before giving him a violent shove. “What the fuck?” he exclaimed, too surprised at first to do anything other than swear. It only took a moment for a fist to connect with his chin, snapping his head back. Reeling from the blow, he stepped backward, instinctively pushing @Tara Kingsley out of the way behind him. He couldn’t simultaneously protect her and fight the two pieces of dragon crap in front of him.

Recovering slightly, rage took over as he charged at the burly one who had emptied his drink on Brian’s face. All rational thought had fled from his mind as he pummeled his opponent, barely registering the blow to his mouth that caused his teeth to clamp down on the inside of his lip and blood to fill his mouth.

Tara's brows rose slowly on her forehead and she turned her head slowly to look at him with narrowed eyes. "I didn't know you had the balls to say that while you're in Griffins territory," she told him impassively, but there was still a hint of that twinkle in her eye. "And besides, the Bats have lost two out of the last three games against us. Don't get ahead of yourself, mate." She sent a playful elbow into his side as she nudged him to the side. The stats were on her side, true. But that didn't mean the loss or his ribbing rubbed against her any less.

One moment Tara was nodding ahead at the Reggie, the event staffer who manned the corridor to the locker rooms at every game, and in the next, there were two pissed Griffins fans in their face. Tara glared at them, hands on her hips, and opened her mouth to shoo them away and instead got the second hand splash for the cup of beer that the guy threw in Brian's face. Her day went from optimistic to terrible to fucking awful. "What the hell!" she muttered as she swiped away the sticky alcohol from her eyes, the hair hanging around her face now hanging in wet, limp clumps. Dammit.

And then she was suddenly shoved to the side, Brian's arm like a mental band around her waist as he stepped in front of her and pushed her back. "Brian-what the f-" and that's when she realized the drunk Griffins fans were intent on a scuffle with Brian. Everything was a blur of motion to her then. She pushed Brian's arm away from her, protection that she didn't need and didn't want. Tara locked eyes with the other drunk fan, getting his measure. He was weaving on his feet but apparently had the idea of helping out his friend - who Brian was pummeling. Tara would have watched in awe for a moment, but she made herself focus.

Grabbing her wand from her pocket, she pointed it at the guy and shook her head slowly. "Wouldn't want to do that if I were you," she told him, her voice firm and calm and edged with steel. He flicked his eyes to her, disregarded both her and her wand, and then took steps to close the distance between where his friend and Brian were grappling and himself. "You asked for it," Tara whispered under her breath. "Confundo!" she cast with two quick jabs of her wand in his direction, watching as he slowed and a glazed expression came into his eyes. She then followed it up with a hasty binding charm that tied rope around his hands and around his ankles. She whistled to get Reggie's attention and seeing the situation, the event staffer who knew Tara well, spoke into his wand to radio additional security.

With that in hand, Tara turned her green eyes back to Brian, noticing so many details at once. Blood running from Brian's mouth, his fists slamming into the drunk fan's face, and a rage that she had never seen before from him. "Brian," Tara called as she took a step closer. "Brian!" she repeated, her voice louder to get through to him. And because she wasn't sure if he was going to stop or when, she risked stepping into the situation when caution told her it would be better to stay out of range of fists. She set her hands on his biceps and tugged at him, hoping to break through his rage. "Give it up, McShane. He's down."

Brian didn’t know what came over him. One minute, he was cheerfully teasing his friend. The next, he was laying into some random idiot who insulted him. It certainly wasn’t Brian’s first fight and it surely would not be his last. There was something oddly cathartic about physical violence, even if it was clearly not the best way to handle one’s problems. He could have simply walked away or pulled out his wand in response to the drunk man’s provocation. It would have been so much easier. But this was a matter of pride, and even after living so long as a wizard, his first instinct was to fight with his fists like a Muggle. It was an old childhood habit that refused to die.

“Give it up, McShane. He's down.”

A feminine voice cut through the haze of rage clouding his vision. Tara. Tara? Jesus. The dark-haired wizard had completely forgotten who was with him. He blinked, feeling her hands on his arms. Lowering his hands to his side, he glared at the man who had assaulted him, who now lay limp on the ground, his face almost unrecognizable. Brian shrugged his shoulders, as if to move away from her touch. His chest was heaving as he struggled to slow his racing heart.

Reality was slowly returning, and his next thought was of the incredible pain emanating from his face and hands. “I’m sorry,” he muttered as he stood, not able to meet her eyes. The whole world felt shaky. Turning his head away from her, he spat out a mouthful of blood and saliva onto the ground next to him. It took him every ounce of self-control he currently possessed to not spit the whole glob into his assailant’s face. It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway, since the man was temporarily unconscious. Two security wizards were hurrying towards them, wands raised. ”Took them long enough,” he thought, unjustly blaming them for not being around to deter the attack.

Hesitantly, Brian moved to a nearby bench and gratefully sank down on it, his knees no longer supporting him. Now that it was over and the adrenaline rush was ebbing away, he felt drained. “I’m sorry,” he repeated with a sigh. “I don’t know what got into me,” he said simply. Looking down at his hands, he saw that they were still balled into fists. He gently uncurled his fingers and stretched them out straight in front of him so he could survey the damage. The knuckles of his right hand were bloody, though whether it was his blood or the goon’s, he couldn’t quite tell. “But what’s a Quidditch match without a few fights?” he joked feebly, attempting to smile as he finally looked her in the eyes. He quickly abandoned the endeavor, his split lip causing too much pain for movement.

Tara watched Brian, engrossed. She'd never seen this side of him. It was raw and fierce and stirring. Part of her didn't want him to stop, but the more sensible part of her knew it was a good thing when he finally dropped his fists. She didn't want him to give security any reason to take issue with him. This could be chalked up to self-defense, right? That plus her name would get them by, Tara was confident in that at least.

Shoving her damp hair away from her face, Tara watched Brian with caution, her eyes flashing when he shrugged away from her. She brushed away his apology with a wave of her hand. It wasn't needed, she didn't want it. She was glad he had flattened this asshole. Her eyes were still on the fallen drunkard as Brian moved up and away from her and as the security wizards finally arrived. Tara turned away from the sight of it all and addressed the security wizards before they could say anything. "I'm Tara Kingsley." In this arena, her name spoke for itself. "This man assaulted my friend and I. I don't want him in the building again. Or his friend," he added, glaring a look at the man that was still struggling against the ropes she had bound around his hands and ankles, confusion still weaving through his mind. "We'll file the report after I get him to the mediwizards. I'll speak with Boyle."

And with that, she left the security wizards behind and turned back to Brian who had moved to a nearby bench. She quickly scanned him over. He looked paler and she wasn't sure if it was from the fight or from his injuries. Tara approached him slowly, hands at her hips before she realized he was purposely avoiding her gaze. She sank down onto her haunches as she gazed up at him and set her hands gently on his that were still balled in fists, being careful not to touch his knuckles that were still bleeding. After a long pause, Tara said lightly, "told you you shouldn't have worn a Bats tshirt" with a growing grin on her face. She wasn't concerned about his apology as she didn't need one so instead she added, "that fucking asshole deserved it."

With narrowed eyes, she noticed his wince and she stood swiftly, clapping her hands on her thighs. "Let's go, McShane. It's the Mediwizards for you." She sent him a look to let him know that she wasn't putting up with any resistance. Putting her arm through his, she walked him to Reggie who was watching Brian with wide eyes. Tara ignored the look and asked, "Have you see Rock? I want to have him take a look at our brawler here."

Reggie just nodded mutely and Tara waited a moment as the event staffer told her the team mediwizard was in his usual room. Leading Brian through the doorway, Tara glanced back at him with a sly smile and a teasing glint in her eyes. "I'd say you didn't deserve this, but you were kind of tempting fate when you came into our house and rooted for another team."

Brian was relieved that Tara wasn’t angry with him for his earlier display. It wasn’t that he expected her to be angry, but he knew his behavior was somewhat shocking and out-of-character for him, at least as far as she knew. He couldn’t recall a time that he had actually gotten into a fight in front of her. If he had, it would have been back in Hogwarts and probably wasn’t anywhere close to being as violent as this spectacle had turned out to be. It all happened so quickly that his mind was still several paces behind, working to catch up.

At her insistence that he needed to see a mediwizard, he nodded, grudgingly standing and allowing her to slip her arm through his. He followed her lead, taking care not to get too close. He told himself it was to keep the bloody bits of him away from her clothing. Yes, that was exactly the reason. He raised his left hand to his face to gingerly assess the damage, glad that he couldn’t see himself in that moment. The beer mixed with beads of sweat on his forehead was not a pleasant sensation, and the hair resting on his forehead was soaked through and sticking to his skin. In an impatient gesture, he pushed the curls from his forehead as they walked into the mediwizard’s office.

“I’d say you didn't deserve this, but you were kind of tempting fate when you came into our house and rooted for another team.”

Easing himself gently into the chair offered by the mediwizard, he made a face at Tara. A wild urge to stick his tongue out at her took hold of him, which he ignored. That would definitely not be very fitting behavior for a grown wizard. “Think you’re clever, do you?” he asked, a note of challenge in his voice. “Griffins fans are a bunch of babies,” he teased, flinching as Rock began to poke and prod him, checking for hidden injuries. At Rock’s prompting, Brian’s eyes followed Rock’s finger as it moved from side to side, and Brian tried not to blink as the mediwizard shone his lighted wand tip into his eyes.

“You don’t have a concussion,” Rock said briskly, lowering his wand. “Rinse your mouth with this.” The mediwizard handed Brian a greenish colored potion, which he dutifully sipped, swishing it around his mouth. It tasted faintly of mint. It served to simultaneously disinfect the cuts inside his mouth and knit together the broken skin. He spat the remains of the potion, saliva, and the last of the blood from his mouth into the basin provided by Rock while Rock worked to heal the remaining injuries Brian had sustained.

“Here’s a potion for the pain. You’ll be tender for another day or two, but otherwise you’re good as new,” said the mediwizard, handing Brian another potion, which he promptly drank. He could feel the worst of the pain begin to recede, leaving a dull ache in its place. He wiped his face with the damp cloth Rock provided, removing the last traces of beer and blood from his face. Ugh. Even though he had been cleaned up, Brian felt the need for a shower and maybe a nap. If he couldn’t have that, a few beers would suffice. Looking up at Tara, hazel eyes met green as he grinned at her for the first time since the whole thing started. Turning his head from side to side, as if presenting himself for inspection, he asked, “Do I pass inspection?” He wasn’t quite ready to get up from his seated position, content to spend another minute resting in the mediwizard’s office.

Tara, completely at home in Griffins territory of the locker room, pulled herself up onto the counter across from where Brian was sitting and greeted Rock with a wide smile as she pounded knuckles with him. "Alright Rock?" she said in greeting as the salt-and-pepper haired mediwizard came into the room, his eyes gazing questioningly at Brian and then back to Tara. She only perked her brows and shrugged in answer to his silent question and Rock just sighed and set to work. It wasn't like he hadn't seen something like this before in the Griffins arena.

She grinned at her friend at his question and nodded in easy agreement. "Sure do," she answered and then shook her head. "You'll never learn," she told him, laughing quietly as he flinched from Rock's prodding. "Karma," she said in a sing-song voice. She half hoped Rock would prod him a little bit more if he kept up with his 'Griffins are babies' talk.. but not really. Quite honestly, she was still trying to figure him out. She hadn't known he had had that in him. Had that sort of temper or that short of a fuse. Sure, she was f*cking angry too, but that - he - had been a fury of fists and she hadn't expected that at all. Her gaze turned speculative.

Tara hopped down from the counter and went to the wall, snapping a white, terry cloth towel from a rack and wetting it with a simple aqua spell from the tip of her wand. The beer was drying on her skin and in her hair and the film of it bothered her. She dabbed at her face and ran the towel over the strands of her long brown hair as she watched Rock with Brian from the corner of her eye.

Seeing the blood in the basin had her sliding her gaze to her friend once more and making a study of him. She folded her arms in front of her as Rock finished up and she patted the mediwizard on the arm in thanks as he walked back. Then she turned back to Brian and found herself grinning back at him when he smiled at her. The guy had guts and maybe she admired him a little bit more now that she had discovered this new part to him. And after all these years.

"Not at all," she replied , shaking her head and snatching the towel from his hand, stepping closer. With cool fingertips, Tara touched two fingers below his chin and tilted his head upwards so she could see him clearly from where she stood in front of him. With gentle strokes, she ran the towel over his forehead, his temples, along his hairline, across the cut of his cheeks. Her eyes followed her path, but she couldn't help meeting his hazel gaze. "I never knew you were such a brawler," she finally said, her tone quiet with wonder between them but with a smile on her voice. "You would do well at Grimli," she mused in assessment, her fingers already itching to bet in his favor. "You should come sometime."

Brian didn’t have ready access to a mirror and couldn’t see himself, but he thought he had done a good job of wiping the muck from his face. Clearly, Tara was the better judge of that as she deftly took the towel from his hands and began to thoroughly clean his face. Her fingers felt cool against his chin as he sat very still, not moving an inch. The shock of her touch caught him off-guard. In that moment, he was deeply grateful that Rock’s neutral presence was there with them. Otherwise, he would have felt much more uncomfortable than he already was. Part of him was thrilled, yet part of him was indignant. He wasn’t a child, incapable of cleaning up the messes he made…!

"I never knew you were such a brawler,”

A ball of tension settled in his stomach as he felt her run the towel all along his face. It took a lot of effort for him not to clench his jaw or turn his face away from her. When her green eyes met his, he smiled again, trying not to betray his inner turmoil. “I’m a man of mystery,” he joked, falling back on humor, which was what came naturally to him when all else failed. He was acutely aware of her hands and her proximity. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment as she brushed the towel down the bridge of his nose and across his eyelids.

At her suggestion that he should fight at the Grimlin Fights, opened his eyes, eyebrows arching in surprise. Brian never considered himself a fighter, and he certainly didn’t find pleasure in physical altercations. Still, he could not deny that he felt a strange sense of calm washing over him, likely a consequence of being able to vent some of his anger on another person. Her idea was something to consider. He had heard of the fights, but had never been to one, finding himself altogether too busy to make time for it. Having a real job that sometimes required early mornings tended to get in the way of late-night activities. He wasn’t twenty anymore, able to party all night and work all day and not feel the aftereffects. He still enjoyed going out, just on a slightly more subdued level.

“Grimlin Fights, eh?” he pondered aloud. “Really? I think I’d prefer to be the spectator, not the fighter. I’d love to come to a fight sometime, though.” Tara had finished her ministrations, so he lifted a hand to his face, brushing his fingers across his cheekbone. The stickiness was gone, and aside from the residual moisture from the towel, his face felt clean. “Thanks,” he said as he stood, stretching. He nodded to Rock, letting the Mediwizard know that he was included in Brian’s sentiment.

Relieving Tara of the towel, he looked down at it, then back at her. The opportunity was too good to pass up. “Here, I think you missed a spot,” he said, grinning wickedly as he found a clean spot on the towel and began to rub her nose in it.

Tara rolled her eyes at his 'man of mystery' comment and shook her head at him. "Yeah, a man of mystery and addled brains apparently. Told you not to wear that Bats shirt," she teased as she continued her ministrations. The surprise she saw in his eyes when she mentioned the fights told her that fighting wasn't a passion but more of an instinct. And she thought that might work in his favor. Still, she couldn't quite get past the fact that she had been friends with him since their Hogwarts years and had never known this about him.

"What else don't I know about you?" she asked with a smile, wonder and curiosity in her voice. "You should come with me sometime. I think there's a fight week after next. Pick a fighter, place some bets. It's pretty good money if you can pick the right fighter." Finishing, she took a step away from him and crossed her arms in front of him, but released the towel into his hands when he tugged on it. She looked at him with brows perked, thinking that he saw some of the beer that had spilled onto her, but managed to catch a glimpse of his grin at the last second.

That still didn't help her as she got a snoot full of terry cloth towel before she could bring up her hands and push him away with a laugh. She took another step back out of his range and glared at him, but she couldn't keep the expression for long. "Next time you can clean yourself up, you git," she teased as she shook her head. "Come on, let's get out of here," she said as she headed toward the door. Glancing over her shoulder at him, she perked her brows and said, "Are you calm now though? Wouldn't want you to go into brawler mode if you see a granny in a Griffins jersey." She grinned before she slipped out the door, her laugh echoing behind her.