[thd] fake empire [elias]

august 2001

Quinn Regan was not usually one to neglect about people she cared about. She had spent so long being mildly annoyed that Elias Dörfler had been the one to set her up with his roommate in the first place, always having been fairly confident that she would be able to find her own person. She might have taken it out too hard on him, so now all she could do was make it up to him. And what better way to make it up to him than be letting him spend the entire day with her?

Oliver was otherwise indisposed anyway and despite the German’s sudden lack of general lack of free time, they had finally found a Sunday in early August to grab some lunch, do a bit of shopping, do those things that their significant others didn’t really want to do. Diagon Alley was fairly uncrowded, which both worked for and against her. She wanted to maximize Elias’s time with her, but she also still coming down off the high that was winning that little League title.

They had found themselves in a robe shop; it was the perfect opportunity to find something new, but what was the point of that when she would just need to buy bigger ones in the very near future? The annual quidditch gala was coming up next month, but she was probably going to ask her cousin to make her something; never mind that she was still on the fence about whether or not she wanted to officially attend it with Oliver Wood. Shopping for robes should not have been this complicated.

But Elias had found some things, was trying them on, and Quinn had busied herself with a display of rather pointed hats. Some of them were so pointy she was wondering if they were actually meant to be worn as a serious accessory. Either way, she put one on, admiring herself in the mirror next to the display. She turned, finding Elias doing the same thing in front of the full length mirrors, and asked him jokingly, “Does this hat make me look taller?”

@Elias Dörfler

Elias looked good. It had been ages since he'd been shopping for a proper set of wizard's robes, and his nearly-four-month-old garments that hung in his closet were already beginning to look a bit out of style. The last few months had been rather hectic, what with the continued high work load at the Ministry, the drama that had occurred at Durmstrang, and now his preoccupation with @Edith Holthouse. His priorities had been elsewhere, and while it wasn't something he necessarily regretted, it was good to finally have a chance to go out with someone different, do something different. Despite the fact that Quinn was a good friend, and someone he had been seeing more and more of lately due to her increasingly-serious relationship with his roommate, the pair hadn't spent much time alone together in ages. It was a win-win.

Upon further examination in the long mirror before him, Elias concluded that the robes needed a little something more. The dark green fabric hung just right about his shoulders, light enough for the warm weather but still professional. The fit and fabric were perfect, but he wasn't pleased with the fastenings that were currently attached. He looked over, hoping to spot an employee who might be able to switch them out to something a bit more his taste, when his eyes landed on Quinn.

"I'm afraid it might have the opposite effect," Elias joked, pulling the hat off of her head to place it on his own. It was really an absurd thing, much taller than could be practical for anyone. "It dwarfs us both." He flicked his wand so that it would float back toward the rack from which Quinn must have pulled it, shaking his head somberly. "Those are rather ridiculous. The robes here are nice, though," he commented, lifting his arm so that she might appreciate the rich color. "You sure you don't want anything?"

She really didn’t think it was possible to appear any shorter, but she smirked, her hands flying up to her hair instinctively to smooth it all back into place as Elias stole the hat from her head. “Ugh,” she agreed as he put it on himself, “Yeah, that’s really bad.” The height of the hat, plus the height of her friend, plus the way the hat managed to sit on his head and draw attention to his ears, it really wasn’t working for either of them.

Nodding, Quinn checked her reflection one more time in the mirror by the hat display to ensure every hair was where it meant to be. “They are nice,” she said without looking up. “I always pass by this place and tell myself I’ll come back the next time and then I always forget.” She shrugged, straightening up and looking up at him. “That color looks really nice on you, though.” And she wasn’t just saying that. Many of her more formal robes were in the same color, the green family of colors being good fall backs for hue options, given both her nationality and her House preference. “But that’s probably the only good thing.” She shrugged, not really able to pinpoint why she wasn’t crazy about his choice.

“And I’m sure,” she reiterated. “It’s too hot for robes.” Sure, it wasn’t the whole reason she didn’t want to be shopping for them, but it wasn’t a total lie either. She preferred the looser fit of sundresses, something flowy and short to show off the tanned and toned legs she worked so hard for (plus Oliver didn’t seem to totally mind the lack of fabric either). “These will just be out of style by the time I want to wear them,” she said, maybe a tad too loudly if the owner was listening and had easily hurt feelings.

“I do think, however, that once you’re done here we should get some ice cream.” They might have just eaten, but she had that athlete’s appetite that never stopped. “How much more do you have to try on?”

Elias squinted his eyes at her criticism, despite the fact that she was simply echoing his own. As the hat floated away, he gave himself another look in the mirror to make sure any damage caused by the ridiculous hat was gone. His attention was quickly reclaimed by her compliment, however, and he tested the fabric again, pulling lightly on the sleeve to check the elasticity of the fabric. It wasn't too bouncy at all, hanging loosely but with just tension to resist wrinkling.

“Hmm.” Elias saw her point. Deciding to leave her there to gaze in the mirror on her own for a while, Elias wandered over to where a shop worker was steaming some items with his wand. After a few minutes discussion, the fastenings on the robes began morphing every few seconds, showing the various options he could choose from. After narrowing it down to three options, Elias called Quinn over so that she could offer her opinion on the best combination.

“What do you think?” he asked, trying to stand naturally so that she might get the best idea of how they might look on him. “I rather like the third option, but they may be a bit flashy for the Ministry.” After settling on taking two different sets, in case he wanted to widen his wardrobe options, Elias moved to the counter. A small display of earrings was spinning idly over the counter, and a particular pair with red stones caught his eye.

“You never found that earring which you lost, or?” He asked, gently lifting the jewelry off the rack. He was sure they were no replacement, but they seemed her style to him, and he hadn’t yet properly congratulated her on her league title, having been a bit preoccupied with soothing Oliver’s hurt ego. “I will be becoming these for you,” he declared, allowing no argument and not really expecting one. “Consider it a belated congratulatory gift.”

Elias handed over the gold necessary for the robes he had selected and the last-minute gift. The moment the heavy coins left his hand, the unexpected happened: confetti exploded from the ceiling, showering over them along with magical kazoos tooting a happy melody. Was this normal for a purchase?

“There’s nothing wron[cstine]g[/cstine] with fl[cstine]a[/cstine]shy,” [cstine]Q[/cstine]uinn pointed out, settling on that option as her fa[cstine]v[/cstine]orite. She tended to overdo it in her everyday wear, mostly where [cstine]j[/cstine]ewelry was concerned, [cstine]b[/cstine]ut that [cstine]w[/cstine]as only because the pitch di[cstine]d[/cstine]n’t afford her many opportunities to be fashionable. The[cstine]y[/cstine] agreed on that set and one more and were finally headed towards leaving, then hopefully onwards to ice cream. She had been really loo[cstine]k[/cstine]ing forward to ice c[cstine]r[/cstine]eam since coming up with the idea two minutes ago.

S[cstine]h[/cstine]e arched an eyebrow as Elias plucked a pair of earrings from a display, catching her slightly off guard as he inquired about her missing earring, almost forgetting that she had ‘lost’ an earring a coup[cstine]l[/cstine]e months ago instead of admitting that she had misplaced a good luck charm. “Never,” she frowned, looking the proper amount of said about her loss. She ignored his slightly incorrect English, not wanting to [cstine]c[/cstine]orrect a man about to buy her a [cstine]p[/cstine]resent. She had earned them, after all. “That’s so thoughtful,” she cooed, even though he had clearly not thought about this particular congratulatory gi[cstine]f[/cstine]t before this [cstine]m[/cstine]oment.

Quinn eyed the earr[cstine]i[/cstine]ngs for another momen[cstine]t[/cstine] as the clerk started folding and wrapping everything up, casually asking “Are you positive that I’m the woma[cstine]n[/cstine] you should be buying jewelry for?” But before sh[cstine]e[/cstine] could give him a significant amount of grief while [cstine]s[/cstine]till ensuring she would receive her present, her thoughts were drowned out by music and confetti and general celebration and a rather halfheartedly bemused shopworker. For a few fleeting seconds Q[cstine]u[/cstine]inn thought that this was all about her; how c[cstine]o[/cstine]uld it not be? Right after her win, it was really the only e[cstine]x[/cstine]planation.

But hey were paying much more attention to Elias, who looked just as da[cstine]z[/cstine]ed and confused as she did. ”You’re our ten thousandth customer!” Someone, presumably the owner, had appeared from the back of the store, waving their wand about about and shooting sparks from the tip. ”I’m as happy as a loon!” she continued, looking rather puzzled as to why they weren’t looking more excited.

[[cstine]alphabet letters[/cstine]]

"Is that your concern, really?" Elias retorted calmly, eyeing Quinn sideways as he handed over the pretty earrings to the worker, shining like little red suns in the bright afternoon light. As far as he could tell, he and Edith were doing just fine without Quinn's advice, and he saw no hypocrisy whatsoever in his desire to keep other people out of his relationship. Elias was saved any further discussion of the topic by the onset of the celebrations, both their attention completely distracted by the shopkeeper's thrilled announcements.

Elias cringed as a spark landed on his new set of robes, trying not to be a spoilsport but not entirely appreciating all the hullabaloo. The other customers were staring, clearly not all caught up on what exactly it was that Elias had managed to do. He didn't mind the spotlight, necessarily, but he generally preferred it to be for something substantial like a quidditch win over something as frivolous as a purchase at the right moment. "Congratulations," he told the owner as she swooped in to hug him, clearly over the moon about her shop's success. Elias had to wonder how long she had been waiting just inside the backroom door, counting down the customers so that she could start the party.

Before he knew what was happening, Elias had been refunded the entire cost of his purchase, presented with a certificate for a year's supply of hats, and had his photo taken with Quinn standing nearby. He finally managed to escape after shaking the employees hands twice each, posing for one last photograph for their memory album, and going on about their plans to meet someone else for ice cream shortly. They had to be getting on.

Out in the street again, Elias looked down at Quinn, not sure if he should laugh or roll his eyes. He couldn't deny anyone their happiness, he supposed, and that included Quinn. "Your earrings," he reminded her as he handed over the small package. "Hope they're worth it," he added with a smile, ready to get as far away from the rather-ridiculous shop as possible.

Normally Quinn would be fairly upset that she wasn’t getting all the attention, but she decided that she could graciously let Elias have this one. She was sure it was no different for him, that she would be less than thrilled to be doted over for something so inane, but it was absolutely enjoyable to watch. She watched with a grin, taking a step back from everything as the shopowner pulled Elias into a hug.

She was genuinely curious what he would do with a year supply of hats. What did that even mean? One for every day? Hopefully some of the ridiculously tall and pointed hats would be included. She wouldn’t be pleased if she received one in lieu of an actual present, but she sincerely hoped Elias would try to incorporate them into his every day look. Quinn was still in the photo, of course, unable to pass up any opportunity to have her photo taken even if she wasn’t the primary subject, and they were soon finally out of there. She managed not to laugh until they were outside.

“Absolutely.” She plucked the earrings from their packaging as they walked and traded them for the ones in her ears. Thankfully, they matched what she was already wearing and she wouldn’t have to make herself look bad just to make her friend feel appreciated. She caught her reflection in a window as she passed and she smirked. “Very worth it. And the look on Oliver’s face when I tell him about it will make it even more so.” He had been in a consistently bad mood lately but she was pretty sure this would lift his spirits just the tiniest bit.

She nodded, pointing down the street. “Ice cream.”