start of time [kate]

Ari had been too little and prone to be underfoot to go to these things when she had been little; the year she'd really become old enough, Eliza Laurier was no longer in the country. Rebuilding her work had taken time, even though her father had taken over for her to some degree, and then Ari had been in Paris the summer after her sixth year and at school the rest of the time. The former Hufflepuff was proud to finally be at a launch event for something her mother had worked on. Of course, even her mother wasn't really here in a public capacity. She liked to come to these events to see the fruit of her work, but only when she'd been influential and crucial enough that she earned a place in the acknowledgements, and according to Dad she outright refused any mention in the author's speech. Ari was just as casual, then, another face in the crowd for the night.

It was a nice place to be anonymous in--the publisher and the author had chosen a small bookstore-cafe she'd been to a few times, and since they'd gotten there early, she was getting to peruse the rest of the store as it slowly filled with people, leaving Edmund and her parents to chat with various people in the business or her father's work colleagues. Ari had already tucked two other books--on sale of course, the stipend they were getting during training wasn't that good--under her armpit and, sensing her window of opportunity closing, was waiting around for a cup of coffee to go with the scones she'd picked up. Normally she would have started thumbing through the books. One was a reflective memoir on a summer on the Pacific Northwest Trail in America, and one was a magic realist novel--it might be ironic for wizards, but while they did the magic the Muggles didn't notice around them Ari rather thought there was a limit to the supernatural in their lives. However, Ari was curious enough that her eyes were roving around the audience, trying to learn more about this event and the people who found it meaningful.

Most of them were a little older, but Ari's eyes fell on a girl around her own age a few feet away who was scanning the menu, looking like she'd never been there before. Ari shot her a little smile. "If you get a latte they do enchanted moving latte art in it, but the Chelsea buns are really good," she said helpfully.

@Kate Duenas

Catherine Duenas was still new to London. She had a very unique name for this area of the world and a very unique dialect -- two things which tended to offput some of the snobby English people she'd come into contact with thus far. That wasn't to say they were all like that, of course -- some of them were perfectly lovely (see, she was picking up on their isms, right?) and some of them were funny and everything else a person could be. Kate didn't like to make judgments about people, but a girl had to protect herself at one point. Kate was soft sometimes, sure, but that didn't mean she was a stranger to fending off rudeness or nosiness or whatever it happened to be. Having a famous boyfriend whom she also managed had built her up to being accustomed to that pretty quick.

Kate didn't go out without Charlie very often -- it wasn't that she absolutely couldn't, but most of the time, if she was being honest with herself, he was her best friend and she much preferred having him with her. It was relatively early in the day, though, and Kate hadn't been about to wake him from his seemingly peaceful slumber to come with her to a thing at the bookstore down the street for a novel he probably wouldn't want to read. She was thoughtful enough. He usually thought of her in his own way and she always noticed; she could afford him the same sort of courtesy.

She'd known she would be inside the coffeehouse-bookstore-thing for almost the entirety of the time she was out of the house, so Kate was dressed pretty casually in a white cropped sweater with a denim jacket and a pair of jeans with a big belt. Lowkey. Her hair was tied into a loose bun at the nape of her neck and she was standing in front of the coffee menu, leg idly bouncing as she perused the wide selection of drinks. It was a little overwhelming, and she knew there was a small line forming behind her, so she was chewing on her lip nervo--

A voice. A kind voice. Kate pivoted perhaps a little too obviously to face the girl and fully grinned at her, uncrossing her arms unconsciously to appear more inviting. "Wow, thank you. I was struggling a little for a sec. I'll get both." A second later, she turned to the barista and said in her very-obviously-Californian-accent, "Two of the lattes, one with white chocolate, and two of the Chelsea buns, please." Kate took her items as quickly as they'd been prepared and handed the latte sans-white chocolate and one of the buns to the brunette girl. "I take it you're here for the novel thing too?" It sounded so informal -- novel thing -- but she hadn't been sure what else to say. Kate was a little unfamiliar with some of Britain's novelists compared to America's, so she was only dipping her toe in the water.

Ari grinned back at the girl. Since her eyes had landed on her, she was wondering who she was. Ariana was decently friendly and knew or recognized most girls in her year and Finn's year, and even some in Reagan's year. Unless she was much older than she looked, it was pretty unusual for Ari to never have seen her before. As soon as her mouth opened, though, her eyes widened in realization and interest. "Oh, you're American!" Immediately wincing at how that had come out, she quickly amended, "I'm sorry, that was terribly impolite of me. I've just never met someone from the States before." Realizing a second too late that the girl must have ordered two intending to give her one of them, she started to say, "Oh, I already--" and cut off, not wanting to be rude to her, especially when the slightly harried-looking barista had already turned away. She could hand her own coffee off to Edmund, he practically breathed the stuff. It seemed to come with the whole being-a-writer thing.

Grabbing a holder and putting the two cups in one side and balancing the baked goods on the other, stacking it on top of the books she had tucked under her arm, Ari stepped away from the counter and turned back to the American girl. "Thank you," she said, a genuine smile brightening her features. Ari wasn't always vocal around strangers, but the other girl seemed genuine and open, and something about her felt familiar to her, as if she was a long-lost friend. Ari's snap judgments might be hasty, but she usually thought they served her well, and right now they were telling her that she seemed like a person she could be open around. "Yeah, I'm here to support my mum. She was the editor, and apparently likes to come to these things incognito," she laughed. "What about you, what brings you to the launch? Are you new to the area?" She had looked a little out of water, so it seemed a fair enough assumption to make. Balancing her tray carefully, she stuck out her hand. "I'm Ariana, by the way. Ari's good too."

A shaky, awkward smile curved the brunette's lips. It wasn't the first time that somebody in this area had commented on her apparent birthplace, but it certainly wasn't the most horrible thing that she could have said. "Oh, no, don't worry about it. I've uh, heard much more malicious things come out of people's mouths than simple statements of fact." She was, after all, from the United States. It would be an understatement to say she often stuck out like a sore thumb in this... different cultural climate. Even moving from the picturesque West Coast to the rather objectively dreary by comparison state of Massachusetts had been something of an adjustment. This had been... a different animal entirely. And that was alright. Kate liked to consider herself a fairly adaptable person. Builds character, her father's strong, masculine voice echoed in her head. She missed them terribly.

"Hey, you're welcome, Ari. I'm Kate. It was the least I could do. I don't really know anyone here," Kate admitted while she returned the other girl's handshake. She was only slightly embarrassed to be giving out that vulnerable tidbit of information which more than likely highlighted that she felt like a fish out of water even more. Especially without Charlie. "That's really cool, though, that your mom's the editor. I bet you grew up pretty cultured and well-read with an editor for a mom?" Kate smiled again. She liked smiling. Charlie was one of those people who... didn't always look the friendliest or the most inviting to strangers. She liked to tell him that he'd end up with less wrinkles, but he also had no skincare regime to speak of and thanks to her mother's teaching, Kate had an extensive one that she religiously stuck to each and every single day. So. That one was up in the air.

Unsure how to fully answer her question, Kate proceeded cautiously and tried to select each word she said carefully, but she had a distinct feeling there was nothing to really be worried about around this girl. Her intuitions weren't usually far off and so Kate decided to trust them. "I'm... well. I just graduated from Ilvermorny, so aside from my work, I've not got a ton of connections, and I like novels, so I figured it couldn't hurt. I haven't really made much of an acquaintance with the area other than musical venues and stuff. I got a job here as a band manager right after school, and my boyfriend lives here in London, so when I was done with my last term I moved in with him." Kate neglected to connect the two thoughts. If Ariana had any more questions, she could ask and she'd be honest, but minute details about who her boyfriend was were things she preferred to keep under wraps unless they were directly addressed. She'd found, even in her short time living in London, that if anybody she spoke to knew who her boyfriend was they got exceedingly weirder.

"Should we, um, go sit down? Also, I can carry some of that stuff for you if you want. Getting like a second-degree burn would put a little bit of a damper on the whole thing."

Ari winced sympathetically. "I bet. Still sorry, I'm sure you get that stuff a lot around here." Lighting up when she heard the other girl's name, she exclaimed, "My little sister's name is Kate! Good name. And well, now you know me. One's much better than zero, I reckon." Glancing back to the main area where the launch was being set up, Ari tilted her head in a sort of shrug. "Yes and no, I mean...I learned to read when I was really little, and I've always liked stories, but I'm afraid I never liked to stay still. Running around and flying was much more fun," she laughed. "My brother's the one who really absorbed it all, he's a Ravenclaw--you know about the Hogwarts houses?--like she is."

The former Hufflepuff nodded, taking her words at face value. "I bet it's hard to move somewhere new." In many ways, Ariana was rather sheltered. She had only really ever lived in Exeter and at Hogwarts, and while she was in London now, a good deal of her school connections had transplanted with her. Living with Camm, going through training with Alex, it was all very familiar, despite the new surroundings. "It's neat that you do music, though. I'm pretty--how to put it--I'm out of the loop when it comes to that kind of thing? So maybe you'll have to tell me about what your job is like." If their Hogwarts years had been more normal, Ari expected that around fourth year they would have all gotten much more interested in bands. As it was, fourth year had been...well. She'd skipped over that step in teenage development.

Ari nodded and set off in the direction of the chairs. They'd hear a little bit of introduction and then a little bit from the author, and then it would all be mingling and signing. "Don't worry about it, let me just--" she quickly scanned for her brother and sidled over to tap him on the shoulder. "Here, Ed, got you some coffee and some scones. Okay if I sit over there instead of with you guys? I made a friend." Her brother jumped a little at the unexpected contact, like he'd seen a ghost--he'd never really liked surprises or being touched, but he had to put up with it from his sisters--and relieved her of the worst of it. "There, all better," she said, moving back to Kate's side. "How about those seats?" She pointed to an empty pair close to the center aisle. "Seems like a good view of the author. I heard he's kind of short," she grinned. Neither Ari nor Kate were very tall, so she was mostly jesting--she was in no position to criticize.

"Aw, really? Well, then. Suppose you won't forget my name. I have a sister, too, but she's older. Her name's Francesca but sometimes it's just.. shortened to Fran." Kate babbled on and on, the verbiage seeming to just spill out of the cavity of her mouth without explicit permission from her brain, and she understood that Ariana probably didn't want to hear all about her family or her sister's nickname that, classmates had idly commented, sounded like it might've belonged to a sixties housewife. There was nobody better to have defied that stereotype than her sister, so she thought it was actually pretty lucky it was one of her nicknames. As Ariana described her lifestyle, Kate nodded along. She understood liking activity, being outside, all of that. She enjoyed that too, but if she was being totally honest, thought it was much more pleasant in California where it was always sunny. London could be a little bit... grey and drippy for her tastes. The city itself had a different vibe, too. Everything was different. "That's cool, Ari. Did you play Quidditch in school?" She paused to let her answer, and then, "it wasn't really popular at Ilvermorny. And yeah! I know about the Hogwarts houses a little. My boyfriend's a Slytherin and he likes to tell me I would have been a Hufflepuff."

Ariana seemed very insightful, a trait which Kate very much appreciated. It was nice to feel understood and like someone earnestly cared about the things she had to say. She had trouble asserting herself and inserting herself into social situations, so naturally preferred one-on-one contact until she was comfortable with a specific group of people. It was even more evident in her workplace at times that things could be a little biased toward the more... masculine personalities. That wasn't to say masculine personalities were bad, they just... tended to be a preference of producers and managers in the music business. Dog eat dog and all of that. "It's... yeah," Kate made a face and took a drink of her latte while she pondered how to elaborate. "I think it would've been even more difficult if I hadn't had Charlie to show me around and help me get accustomed. Not like.. cold-turkey continent relocation." She grinned brightly. "But it definitely has been an adjustment. The culture is much different here."

She asked her another question, this time pertaining to her job, and Kate's eyes lit up. First, though, sitting down was in order -- it looked like everybody was bustling to gather in and sit down for whatever the presentation was going to be. She wasn't sure if it would be more of a panel or just a little speech on the book, but she followed Ari obediently and settled down into the chair. "Sounds good to me. I can tell you about my job later if you wanna come over or whatever. I'm not doing anything after this, I don't think, but please don't let me keep you if you have other plans."

"I do my best to remember names," Ari grinned. It was true--as a prefect she had taken it upon herself to memorize the names of the first years, and by the end of her years she knew virtually all the Hufflepuffs who had attended Hogwarts in 1998 and 1999. "Yeah, I played Chaser," she smiled, remembering her days on the team fondly. "I heard you guys have some other broom sport over there?" She had read Quidditch Through the Ages, of course, but she'd kind of forgotten the contents of that chapter.

Ari rolled the new information about the American girl around in her head briefly. She still didn't like Slytherins, but someone who was dating someone like Kate was probably not the worst person in the world. If he was good to her, that was. "Looks like you've run into the right person, then, I'm a Hufflepuff," she said, with pride. The reputation their house had sometimes irked her, but she liked to think they made up for it by being who they were. "What are yours like?" The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students had seemed to have houses so she could only imagine that the Ilvermorny students did as well.

She nodded, listening more than she wanted to talk. "Makes sense. Hopefully you can meet more people around here, too. I promise we're not all as depressing as the weather can be," she laughed. "I can let you know the next time my classmates are doing something, if you'd like? I only go to a handful of the parties myself, but they're pretty frequent, you kind of expect to see different people all the time, and as long as it's not at Patrick's or Julia's, they're not too bad." Ari had once made the mistake of going to an event hosted by the latter. She had seen things she hoped time would scrub away but feared might remain forever.

Ari stuck her elbow on her thigh and propped her chin up as the introduction started before she had time to respond properly. "Common Ground is the latest masterpiece of H. R. Leighton..." She didn't actually know if she wanted to read it, but the thirty-year-old woman to her left looked awestruck to be here. She nibbled on her giant bun, picking off a few of the currants even though the rest of the bun would be a little too bready the more of them she ate early. The author got up--he really was short, with an amazingly thick mustache--probably what Jere was trying to go for, and might achieve by the time he got to be that age. He cracked some jokes, some of which were funny but several of which fell flat and were greeted with laughter anyway. Finally, the organizer came back to explain how the signing process would work, and they were all let go.

Turning to Kate, she asked, "Were you planning on getting one signed? I didn't have plans for today either, so I can stand in line with, or we could get out of here. I just have to remember to get these before I go," she tapped the books under her tray.