Figuring you out [Alex]

Most other Mediwizards would have been annoyed that Nathan had volunteered them for this job right at the end of their shift but Reggie had just shrugged and come along.  Nathan had heard himself described as "overenthusiastic" (perhaps one of the kinder ways to describe it) and he knew he sometimes rubbed people the wrong way.  Nathan really didn't mean to be annoying, he was just passionate about his job.  Over the last year he'd been through a few different mentors but he'd been working well with Reggie for a while now.  Reginald Dexart was quite old for a Mediwizard and after a lifetime of doing this work, nothing surprised him.  The stern and quiet Wizard seemed happy enough to let Nathan run around and do most of the work which suited them both fine.  Reggie also seemed to have unlimited patience and when Nathan seemed to be get carried away, Reggie could reign him back with just a look.

Like now for instance.  Nathan was pacing up and down the street in front of a small town-house.  He was wearing his orange robes to indicate that he was a Mediwizard-in-Training.  It was not the most flattering colour on Nathan, in fact his father said it made him look like a giant Muggle traffic cone, but it didn’t much matter to him what he wore to work.  As usual his hair was an unruly mess.  Turning towards Reggie, Nathan opened his mouth to ask whether they could try knocking on the door again.  The look on Reggie's face gave him his answer.  No.  With a sigh Nathan leant back against the wall next to his mentor and tried to be patient. 

They were responding to a report that Mr Jonathan Lyons, the resident of the house behind them, had been the victim of an assault.  But when they arrived to provide Mr Lyons with medical assistance he had refused to let them inside.  The middle-aged man had even declined to open the door or come to the window so that they could see if he was alright.  He just shouted at them from behind the painted wood of his front door.  It seemed that Mr Lyons was distrustful of the two wizards, which Nathan thought was probably fair if he’d just been assaulted by someone, and was adamant that he would not let anyone in until he spoke with an Auror.  Nathan had tried to reassure the cynical man that an Auror would be with them shortly but that he should let them check on his injuries in the meantime.  Still the door had remained frustratingly barred to them. 

Fortunately an Auror was already on the way to investigate his report.  But the wait was killing Nathan.  It had only been like five minutes but he couldn’t stand being idle.  He hated to think that the man inside might be hurt and that his condition might be deteriorating while they stood around like fools outside.  However, it didn’t seem like they were going to be able to convince him to let them in and, short of breaking the door down, there wasn’t much they could do except wait. 

A part of Nathan would rather break in than wait but he had Reggie with him to check that instinct.  Besides Nathan had been reprimanded for rushing into situations recklessly before and knew that he should probably not push things too far.  Another sigh escaped the tall wizard and he unconsciously tapped his foot on the ground.  He hoped that the Auror, whoever they were, got here soon...

@Alex Regan

The Mediwizards in their flamboyant robes marked the proper house like balloons tied out front might indicate a party. Alex turned out of the nearby alley and hurried down the street. There had been some minor time-wasting back at the Ministry deciding who to send. The department had heard from Mr. Jonathan Lyons on more than one occasion, all of them false alarms. (Alex himself had been here once early after his training. The neighbor had not, in fact, been a Death Eater.) Plenty of Aurors were tired of it now. But it was part of their job: there were a number of English wizards dealing with some degree of paranoia, many of them survivors of one war or both. The job was more of a talking down than anything.

“G’morning, lads,” said Alex. Both of the Mediwizards were older than he was, by varying degrees, and both much taller. He stood stiff-backed and gave them a tight smile. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long. He told you anything?” He was informed of the situation and nodded, feeling a quick grimace might be inappropriate as he watched the worried look on the younger Mediwizard’s face. “Right, then, I’ll get to it.”

Alex rapped sharply on the front door with the knuckles of his wand hand. “Mr. Lyons,” he called. “My name’s Auror Regan. Do you remember me? I’m here to assist you.”

“Prove it!” came Lyons’s muffled reply.

With a small sigh, Alex produced his identification and stuffed it into the mail slot, where it was snatched from the other side. He then looked up and into the peephole. “That enough, sir?”

The door opened and Lyons, bleeding badly from the head, grumpily returned the papers. Alex guided him to a seat. “Would it be alright for a Mediwizard to see to that now?” he asked, blindly beckoning them from the street as he did so. “Are you still in danger, sir?”

“Not from the hatrack, no,” replied Lyons gruffly, indicating a pile of dust in the entry between a couple of displaced coats and an overturned end-table. “Took care of that one. But I’d like the rest of house searched. There’s no telling what else she might’ve gotten to.”

Over the next few minutes, Lyons related a tale of intrigue, revenge, and questionable leaps in logic that had caused his ex-mother-in-law to curse his hatrack to kill him. Alex listened dutifully. He glanced around between questions, looking for something, and before too long he found it. An empty vial near the sink drew Alex’s eye.

While Lyons was distracted getting his forehead healed, he lifted the bottle with his wand and sniffed the strongly sweet residue of potion. “Can you identify this?” he quietly asked the younger Mediwizard, drifting the vial over toward him. “I’d reckon he’s just blitzed on something, but of course it’d be irresponsible to assume.”

Nathan was relieved to finally spot a young man hurrying over.  There was something familiar about his face but, being keenly focused on the job at hand, Nathan didn’t give much thought to it.  He returned the Auror’s greeting briskly; concern for his patient overpowering his usual warmth.  The Mediwizard-in-Training waited quietly, his gaze flickering often to the door of the house, while his mentor gave a brusque summary of the situation.  Listening to Reggie and the Auror, it almost seemed that there was something begrudging in their attitudes towards Mr Lyons but Nathan chalked this up to the two of them being more professional than him.  In this situation, despite being 27-years-old, Nathan was the least experienced. 

As the Auror approached the front door of the house, Nathan went to follow but a soft cough behind him caused Nathan to glance back.  The reproachful look Reggie gave him then froze Nathan in place, half-way between the street and the door.  He stood there stiffly as the Auror knocked on the door and spoke to the reluctant Mr Lyons within.  Regan?  Puzzling over the Auror’s name distracted him for a moment.  He wouldn’t be related to Quinn Regan, would he?  As always when Nathan thought of the famous Quidditch player, he remembered her as the younger girl at Hogwarts who, through some misunderstanding, had seemed to dislike him.  Casting back through his memory, Nathan tried to recall whether Quinn had any siblings. 

Receiving the cue from Auror Regan to approach, Nathan looked back to Reggie for confirmation.  The old wizard waved him on, raising a hand in a gesture that indicated that he’d be along once he’d finished the cigarette he’d just started.  Finally free to do his job, Nathan hurried over; his long stride quickly bringing him to Mr Lyons’ side.  “Hello, Mr Lyons.  I’m Nathan and I’ll be seeing to your care today.”  Nathan slipped the pleasant greeting in quickly between Auror Regan’s interview.  The grouchy victim seemed to have no interest in Nathan though, not even acknowledging his presence with a glance.  Shrugging to himself, the Mediwizard-in-Training conjured some gloves onto his hands and then began to gently probe Lyons’ head wound.  Although it was bleeding a lot, in the usual manner of head injuries, the wound was fairly minor.  It appeared that the man’s head had struck, or been struck by, something hard.  Listening to the tale being recounted by the man, Nathan nodded to himself; it was plausible that the injury could have been caused by a wooden hatrack. 

Continuing his examination, Nathan noted with concern that Mr Lyons’ pupils were unusually dilated and did not retract appropriately when he shone light from his wand into them.  This could indicate a number of different things; the most serious of which could be a brain injury.  Based on the nature of the head wound, Nathan didn’t expect that Mr Lyons’ had suffered any trauma that significant but they shouldn’t rule it out.  Once his immediate injuries were attended too, Nathan would recommend that the man be admitted to St Mungos Hospital for further examination.  Reaching into one of the deep pockets of his robes, Nathan selected and removed a small potion vial.  The contents, when applied to Mr Lyons’ wound, would stop the bleeding and enable Nathan to begin the real healing. 

”Hey!” Nathan cried out in surprise as his patient knocked the vial out of his hand.  “G’itoff!” The man grumbled as he pushed Nathan away.  “I don’ wan to be fixed by no trainee.”  No longer distracted by Auror Regan’s questioning, it seemed that Mr Lyons’ had finally noticed the colour of Nathan’s robes.  This certainly wasn’t the first time a patient had rejected Nathan’s help just because he wasn’t a fully-fledged Mediwizard, but the rejection never ceased to sting.  “Please sir…” He started in an attempt to reconcile with the patient.  But Lyons’ was having none of it.  “Bugger off!”  The words were then accompanied by a rude gesture.  Sighing, Nathan stepped aside.  Fortunately Reggie had since joined them and was standing in the doorway.  With a shrug, the Mediwizard came forward and took over treatment.

Frustrated at being thwarted in his attempts to help, Nathan looked around to see where the Auror had got to.  Spotting him over by a sink on the other side of the room, Nathan started to make his way over.  It appeared that Mr Lyons’ wasn’t the best housekeeper because Nathan had to step around piles of clothes, dirty dishes and stacks of old newspapers.  As he approached, Regan turned and queried him about a small vial he had found.  Pleased to be of use, Nathan diligently inspected the minute traces of potion that still clung to the bottle.  “A regular Sleeping Draught, I’d say but…” He paused and considered.  “When prepared incorrectly, it could cause a state of psychosis.”  Hesitating, the wizard tested the bottle with his wand suspiciously.  After a moment he nodded, a frown creasing his face.  “There does appear to be an anomaly in the ingredients…”  Finished with his assessment, Nathan let the bottle hang in the air.  “Accidental or intentional?”  Nathan posed the question to Auror Regan.  That consideration was more in the realm of an Auror’s skills and experience than his own.

“Could be either,” said Alex. “But St. Mungo’s ought to see to him either way.” He let the bottle float back down to its original spot on the counter. “Think your boss has that under control?” he asked, gesturing toward where Lyons was still grumbling at the old Mediwizard. “I can stun him if need be, but it’s always best to ask them to go in first.” Alex gave the trainee a resigned half-grimace.

He opened all the kitchen cupboards with a flick of his wand and glanced at their contents, eyes drifting over plates and teacups until he spotted a cluster of potion bottles in a bottom drawer. They were hidden behind some towels, but unlike everything else in the house, arranged properly upright in little rows. Alex bent down to look closer and sighed. “These look homemade,” he said. “Or he got them from someone who did, at least.” He levitated one to inspect the glass, where no brewer’s mark was engraved. “Definitely not from an accredited potioneer. There are laws about labeling.” Alex stood, floating the full bottle to the trainee again. “This the same stuff, you think?”

He didn’t see a cauldron in the room at first glance, but in most wizarding homes there was a lot that couldn’t be seen. The fact that he’d found the sleeping draughts so easily meant either that they were perfectly normal, or Lyons was too out of it to do better. “There’s always a chance he didn’t drug himself intentionally, even if he brewed the potion,” said Alex, flicking his wand again to close the rest of the cabinets with a clatter. “Bad ingredients, poor technique, accidental or no, of course, but dependence on sleeping draughts isn’t a good sign in itself. He probably should have been to St. Mungo’s years ago.”  Lyons had always been paranoid, but the potions were new—Alex couldn’t imagine it was something no other Auror would have noticed. But they hadn’t seen him for a few years. They hadn’t been called. Mental health checkups weren’t really the DMLE’s purview. “Shame we only catch up with ‘em when they vaporize their furniture,” he mused aloud, and cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’ll see what he has to say once he’s sobered up. I reckon any investigation can wait until we know if he’s just hallucinating.”

Alex looked up at the tall trainee, clearly older than he was but newer to the field. “Sorry he was rude,” he said quietly. “Some people are. I’m sure you can fix up a forehead gash with the best of ‘em, though.”

Nathan nodded in agreement to the statement that Mr Lyons should be admitted to hospital but then his jaw actually dropped at the suggestion that they could stun him.  He eyed the auror sceptically, unsure if he was joking.  Nathan was completely taken aback by the idea of stunning his patient.  Technically it was true that they were allowed to stun or otherwise restrain a difficult patient if it was in the best interests of their health and safety, but Nathan couldn’t imagine ever doing that.  It seemed like a very ham-handed way to deal with things.  Though to be fair, he had himself been ready to blast down the man’s front door if he had continued to refuse them entry.  The trainee supposed that it was naïve of him to believe that none of his patients would ever need to be stunned.  In this instance, however, he was confident that Reggie could get Mr Lyons to cooperate without having to go to those lengths.  “I don’t think that will be necessary.”  He replied with a wry smile as he watched his mentor with their patient.  The old wizard didn’t take crap from anyone and could match Mr Lyons for grumpiness when he was in a mood.  Too bad for Mr Lyons really; he might have found Nathan to be a gentler treater.  He observed as Mr Lyons tried to flinch away from the potion Reggie was applying, only for Reggie to firmly grab him by the back of the neck to hold him still.  “He has that under control.”

As the Auror went about searching for clues, he shared his thoughts on what he found, which Nathan appreciated.  It was nice to feel included in the investigation since he’d been blocked from Mr Lyons treatment.  He was happy to assist in any way he could and took a few minutes to examine the new bottle that the Auror had found carefully.  He performed a quick charm which caused the contents to glow faintly for a second, confirming a match to the previous potion he’d sampled.  “Same potion.  From same batch even, I’d say.”  There were no identifying marks on the bottle that he could see either so he concurred with Auror Regan’s assessment that the potion was homemade.  He shook his head sadly at the thought.  Accidents with home potion brewing happened far too often.  At least this had been fairly minor on the scale of things and no one else had been hurt. 

Looking around the house it seemed clear that Mr Lyons lived alone.  “I don’t think he has anyone.”  He thought out loud.  The messiness of the place, the shuttered windows, the man’s reticence and clear reliance on sleeping draughts all suggested an unhealthy and reclusive lifestyle.  It wasn’t Nathan’s place to make the assessment but it seemed more likely to him that the ill made potion had been an accident rather than anything with malicious intent.  Who would want to harm a man like this when he was already clearly broken?  In a way it was probably lucky that this had happened to him.  It pained Nathan to think of what different kind of call-out they might have come to one day if Mr Lyons’ poor mental health had not come to their attention now.  At least the only thing seriously harmed in this incident had been the hatrack.  Nathan’s heart swelled with compassion for the man.  They would have to admit him to hospital for now but maybe Nathan could also check in on him from time to time in a non-professional capacity to make sure he was ok.

The Auror’s apology surprised him.  It was hardly his fault that Mr Lyons had been rude and he hadn’t expected that the Auror would care whether a trainee Mediwizard copped some abuse from a patient.  “Oh thank you.  That’s alright.”  Nathan shrugged it off.  “He’s not well.”  The matter had already been forgiven; besides which he felt that the man’s condition gave him plenty of excuses for lashing out.  “Don’t worry, we’ll get him the help he needs.”  Nathan smiled and tried to be upbeat about the matter but something had occurred to him and it was eating at him inside.  Since the Auror seemed far more experienced than him, he decided to broach the subject.  “Have you seen this sort of thing before?”  It worried Nathan to think of all the men and women out there who might be silently struggling.  He hoped that Mr Lyons situation wasn’t common, however, since the war, and even the previous war, there were probably a lot of people hurting inside.  Nathan would like nothing more than to take all of their pain away but he was just one man and woefully insignificant in the face of it all.

Alex set the vial back down on the counter where it had first stood and cast a barrier around it that shimmered for a moment in the air. Once they’d taken Lyons in he’d close up and ward the house just in case further investigation was needed, but the potion seemed to be the main piece of evidence at the moment.

The Mediwizard beside him responded to his comment with surprise. “It’s quite safe,” Alex assured him, taken a little aback by the man’s shocked expression. He considered that perhaps he had sounded a little flippant. Some things that sounded reasonable to him these days landed strangely on people unfamiliar with the business, and it always made Alex a little uncomfortable to notice. Was he really so far removed from the norm? The last thing he wanted to seem was heartless. “We do prefer to be nicer about it, don’t get me wrong,” he said, “but there is a lot of damage a scared man with a wand can do.” Lyons had a hell of a Reductor Curse in his arsenal, judging from the coatrack, and the skittish jumpiness of a junkie.

“Don’t doubt he can take care of himself, though,” said Alex, inclining his head toward the older Mediwizard. “Looks tough enough.” More like an Auror than he himself did, to be sure. The man reminded him a bit of gruff, forceful Mad-Eye Moody—or at least of the imposter he’d known.

Alex chose not to acknowledge the deeply sad look on the other man’s face, just because he didn’t know how. They were both in the right profession for them, it seemed: the business of safety, and the heart of it.  “It’s not uncommon,” he replied, still watching Lyons. “I started going out pretty soon after the war, and everyone was sure there were Death Eaters stalking them for months afterward. Can’t blame ‘em, of course. The sort of awful stuff we uncovered, it wouldn’t have sounded too far-fetched.” Voldemort had drawn not only supporters who believed in the blood purity cause, but also the worst of society just seeking an excuse to explore their darkness. “And of course, there’s a lot of trade in potions to take the edge off it,” he added. “It’s more of that, nowadays.” Talking about problems was far more troubling for many wizards than taking a calming draught or Dreamless Sleep. Alex knew that well enough himself. He’d been made to see those kind of healers after the dome—Aurors were permitted magical mental quick-fixes only as emergency measures under medical supervision.

He paused, then asked, “You new to it, then?” The compassionate idealism rolled off this man in waves. He was either very unused to misery, or too pure to be jaded by it. Alex suspected the latter. “Sorry,” he added, extending his non-wand hand. “I’m Alex Regan, by the way. Pleasure.”

Nathan decided that this Auror was nice; perhaps a funny sort of quality for an Auror to have but a good one all the same.  He had a practical approach to things but was not unkind and there was none of the arrogance or disdain in his attitude that Nathan had encountered with other Auror’s before.  It would have been easy for the man to blow off Nathan’s question but he hadn’t, instead providing a thoughtful answer.  Unfortunately, the other man’s words confirmed what the Mediwizard was worried about – Mr Lyons was not an exception.  It really should not have surprised him but unwarranted optimism was kind of his thing. 

“A lot of messed up stuff happened to people.”  Nathan thought out loud, remembering his own experiences from the war.  Really, when considering some of the horrors that people went through, he believed he had nothing to complain about.  Still, he could not forget the faces of his neighbours who had never come home nor the cold dark room he’d been interrogated in regarding his Muggleborn father.  The interrogation that he couldn’t fully remember but the thought of which inexplicably filled him with terror and sometimes caused him to wake in the middle of the night, covered in a cold sweat.  Rubbing his arms now to warm himself, the Mediwizard agreed with the Auror’s statement, “Can’t blame ‘em.”

“New?”  He smiled in amusement at the enquiry.  A simple question and not unjustified given Nathan’s demonstrated naivety in this situation.  However, the answer to that question was not so straight-forward.  While he mulled it over, he was pleased to hear the Auror’s introduction.  “I’m Nathan Butler.  It’s very nice to meet you Alex.”  Nathan took the extended hand and shook it firmly.  “Circumstances aside.”  He added sheepishly with a glance to where Reggie was finishing up with their patient. 

Finally getting around to responding to Alex’s question, he shrugged.  “My career has been a little… complicated.  So I guess I’m new in some ways and but also not in other ways.”  It was a little hard to explain in passing the difficulties he had gone through to become a Healer only to quit on the final exam, wallow in self-pity for a while and restart as a Mediwizard.  Nathan didn’t mean to sound evasive – ’complicated’ was really just the best way to sum things up.  “I think it has worked out though.  I seem to have a knack for running towards trouble, rather than away from it.”  He gave a low chuckle and shook his head at himself.  “So I may as well make myself useful.”  Nathan did generally feel pretty good about how he was doing as a Mediwizard.  According to the insight of his dad, he was never really happy unless he was sacrificing himself for other people.

“How about yourself, Alex?  Do you like what you do?”  Nathan figured that being an Auror must be hard work.  They were never really needed unless something was wrong or had gone badly and as such they had to deal with the worst of that people had to offer on a daily basis.  It was an essential and honourable role, but not one that seemed to bring the Auror’s themselves a lot of personal happiness.  Nathan found it very admirable of them to choose a life in service to others.  He knew why he himself had chosen a demanding and dangerous profession but wondered what would motivate someone like this impressive young man to do so.

The Mediwizard didn’t seem eager to respond to his question, but Alex did learn his name instead. Nathan Butler. Sounded sort of familiar, but so did many names in the magical world, so Alex didn’t dwell on it. He’d known the names of most of his schoolmates at Hogwarts even if they’d never spoken. Faces had been more difficult to remember. Words always stuck with him longer than images.

Eventually, Nathan gave him a noncommittal answer. Complicated. Alex would let him leave it at that. He’d gotten enough to realize it was something he shouldn’t have asked about. He acknowledged the admission with a half-smile and little tip of the head. Their fields were full of compulsive problem-fixers with who-knows-what behind it. I may as well make myself useful. It sounded like something Potter might have said.

Then, though, Nathan returned the question. “Yeah, of course,” said Alex automatically. He wasn’t sure that he’d ever been asked that before, or even if he’d ever thought about it. The answer felt more obvious than the query was suggesting. Alex did like being an Auror, in terms of being skilled enough to be accepted by the department, and in terms of being helpful to society.  He was proud of both and he’d never dream of saying otherwise. But he could tell Nathan was expecting it to have taken an emotional toll on him. He guessed it must have—unless he had always been the sort of person who talked of trauma like he might the weather and stunned whatever was difficult to deal with. Alex couldn’t rightly remember.

“I guess that’s been complicated too,” he said, with a little laugh mirroring Nathan’s as he’d said the same. “If nothing else I’ve had my fair share of Mediwizards fuss over me, that can be a pain.”

There was a muffled thump on the other side of the room as he said it: Nathan’s partner had cleared the sofa of dirty clothes and guided Mr. Lyons to lie down on it. “Does he have to rest before he’s moved?” Alex asked. He knew some blood replenishing potions needed time to work. “Think he still wants me around? I don’t know that he trusts me any more than you.” He recalled Lyons having a preference for the older, more experienced Aurors—but they sent him the twenty-three-year-olds now whose time was far more wastable.

Alex folded back the sleeve of his robe to glance at his watch. He’d have a couple more hours of far more supervised work if he returned now, or he could hang around here under the guise of being useful.

Did their patient need to rest?  It was a fair question.  Nathan cast an assessing eye over the scene and nodded thoughtfully.  Given how hostile Mr Lyons had been, he agreed with Reggie’s decision to treat the man on-site, in the dubious comfort of his own home.  “We can treat him here.”  Nathan advised the Auror with a smile, “Mr Lyons condition doesn’t need a Healers immediate attention so there’s no need to rush him.  We'll take him to the hospital in a bit for a check-up.”  After a moments pause he then added, “And a psych evaluation.”  The last would be Nathan’s personal recommendation.  Aside from the incident that had brought them all here, after seeing how this man lived Nathan couldn’t help but worry about his mental state.  Convincing Mr Lyons to get help would be a challenge in itself but they'd tackle that when the time came.

“You don't need to stay.  Reg seems to have him under control.”  Nathan was sure that Alex had more important things to do with his time than to babysit them.  Plus it seemed like any danger had passed.  Mr Lyons had calmed down significantly.  “I can send you a message later? Let you know what ward he'll be in, if you need to check in / follow up with him?”  Nathan offered helpfully.

“Maybe I'll see you around sometime?  Although, I probably shouldn't wish that.”  Nathan chuckled lightly.  There weren’t exactly any ‘good’ circumstances in which he had to work alongside an Auror.  Still, he found Alex to have been a lot more pleasant than the usual sort.  Fishing around in his pocket for a few seconds Nathan pulled out a contact card.  However, he didn’t hand it over right away, hesitating as he looked down at it.  Someone – some small person – had doodled all over it in crayon so that Nathan’s name and contact details were surrounded by a border of crudely drawn trees and flowers.  He shook his head but laughed, before passing the card to Alex.  “Kids.”  He shrugged nonchalantly.  Nathan wasn’t really bothered; straight and severe professionalism wasn’t really his style anyway.

“Don’t hesitate to contact me if you ever need anything or maybe just want a Mediwizard who won't fuss over you...  Actually, I can’t make any promises there.”  Nathan laughed again.  Indifferent and apathetic wasn’t really his style.  If anything, Nathan could be accused of caring a little too much about his patients.  Still, he could try to tone that down if needed.  With a glance across the room towards where Mr Lyons was lying on the sofa, Nathan saw that the man was glaring at him.  Evidently he was none too impressed with Nathan’s laughter.  Ooops.  Nathan ducked his head sheepishly and when he spoke again it was in a much quieter, more sombre tone.  “Thanks for your help here, Mr Regan.  It was a pleasure to meet you.”

OOC: A million years late.  My shame.  But I never forget.

“Right, then,” said Alex, stuffing his hands in his pockets and stretching his neck to either side. He supposed all danger had passed, if there had been any to start with, and that was his job. It felt cold to leave. Lyons was clearly unwell, whether attacked by curses or coatracks or unhealthy compulsions. But only the first two were Alex’s jurisdiction. He was there to be clever, Nathan and Reg were there to be kind.

Nathan, though, offered to keep him in the loop. Alex paused on his way out. “Thank you,” he said genuinely with a small wave. “Means a lot.” As Nathan followed it up with an admission that meeting him again would surely come from nothing good, Alex laughed cheerfully in reply—a tad too cheerfully for the situation, he realized, as Reg and Lyons looked over toward them in surprise. Alex cleared his throat in faint embarrassment. “Well, I’m willing to be found in better times, if you’re willing to try,” he said more quietly. He fished out a slip of paper from his trouser pocket and tossed it up in the air, a flick of his wand inscribing it with his address. He guided it over to Nathan like he’d floated the potion vial around the kitchen. “If you’ve ever got a moment free from saving lives, feel free to write.” 

Rosier would have some thoughts on that behavior, but she wasn’t here to nanny him. After a last tip of the head to Nathan and another to Lyons on his way back through the sitting room, Alex stepped outside to find his disapparation point.

[out]

no need to worry about it i take forever too

Nathan was a pleasantly surprised to notice that the Auror had a nice laugh.  It looked good on him too, brightening his features for a moment.  Nathan grinned widely, very pleased to have prompted that brief expression of merriment.  Never mind that it might be slightly inappropriate for them to be laughing in the context; he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. 

“Better times?”  Nathan repeated with some bemusement, still grinning.  Surely Alex was just being polite?  It seemed doubtful to Nathan that he had really made any kind of good impression on the other man.  Nathan saw himself as a very underwhelming person.  Yet Alex was evidently genuine in what he said, providing his own contact details on piece of paper with some flourish.  Suddenly nervous, Nathan’s lips twitched, his smile faltering almost imperceptibly.  He was always generous in offering his services and company but rarely saw the gesture reciprocated.  It made him feel like he must have misrepresented himself with Alex somehow.

After a moment of hesitation, he plucked the paper out of the air and pocketed it.  Despite Nathan’s self-doubt, the invitation to get to know Alex outside of a professional context was quite tempting.  He seemed like a nice guy; smart, a decent sense of humour, handsome – definitely way out of Nathan’s league.  “I… Ah, yeah.  Umm, I’d like that.”  Nathan fumbled a reply and offered a ‘thumbs up’ to confirm his approval.  Oh jeez.  He then shuffled his feet awkwardly as he reflected on dumb he must look and sound to someone as cool as Alex.  Thankfully the Auror was soon gone and there was no further opportunity for Nathan to make a fool of himself. 

Trying to shrug off the embarrassment, he turned to see how Reggie was doing with their patient.  The older Mediwizard immediately caught his eye with a questioning gaze, one eyebrow raised.  “What?”  Nathan blurted defensively as he felt his face flush warm.  Based on his mentor's expression it seemed pointless to hope that Reg hadn't noticed how he'd been enjoying the chat with Alex.  Well, what of it?  There was no law against socialising.  “Hey, I’m allowed to make friends.  You should try it some time...”  Nathan followed up his comment with a playful nudge of his elbow.  As Reg replied something about how that would be the day that four-legged Muggle farm animals sprouted wings and flew, Nathan chuckled and surreptitiously checked to make sure that a certain slip of paper was still in his pocket.  There was no forgetting the troubles of the patient before them, but still, this would have to rank as one of the better call-outs he had ever attended.

/end