[montrose] The Comeback Zone {Ashley}

Urgh.

48 hours after her fall from her broom, Casey was not feeling the whole arm-in-a-sling thing. It was still bruised darkly, though the swelling was getting better near her shoulder, but her collarbone was still fairly angry looking. Though, the witch was thankful that her shoulder would be fine, and grateful she had a slew of potions sitting in her kitchen to help healing go that much quicker, but it didn’t make her frustration any less poignant. It seemed like anything she tried doing either used her injured arm under normal circumstances or needed both hands. The ex-Hufflepuff had practiced for a moment like this before, not wanting to be caught out, but it was much more annoying in reality than it was in practice. One thing that was in her favor was the weather, it meant that she could get by with a tank top and shorts and bare feet. The thought of having to wrestle with winter clothing in a sling made her shudder.

The witch had tried to remove the sling in favor of productivity but had been met with a very terse set of paper crane memos that had materialized out of thin air. The writing within was in her father’s neat cursive. They’d appeared only moments after she tried sliding the strap that held the sling in place off of her shoulder just an inch.They read:

No.
Stop it.
Padraigin.
Casey.
Regan.
Put it back.

As she read and crumpled the last crane, tossing it in the direction of her wastebin the blonde witch huffed and shoved the strap back into place. Her father must have charmed the sling so that he was alerted any time she tried to remove it, or he’d set it so that the notes would generate on their own. And she knew him well enough that trying to remove the charm would only make things worse. She couldn’t really blame him, he was her doctor, technically, and she was a notoriously bad patient.

The problem was, she’d been hoping to take the sling off in order to cast Riddikulus on the Boggart who had taken up residence in her bedroom closet. It was not the kind of surprise the witch wanted at 3 AM before she had to report to the pitch at 5 AM for a light workout while the rest of the team practiced. She’d opened her closet door only to have the box with the human heart in it from her 7th year pop out at her. There had been lots of cursing and a broom involved after that.

She’d broken down and owled for a pest control agent to come out and get rid of the damned thing. A neighbor had recommended the wizard and Casey was sold. Whoever could make the Boggart go away was fine with her.

Casey’s apartment was neither small nor large, but it helped that the windows it had let in a fair amount of sunlight. There was one bedroom, one bathroom, a small kitchen, and a living room and a closet or two. The space was decorated more or less as it had been when she rented it, neutral colors throughout though she had added some plants and some string lights, and had crossed out the nameplate on her door that read “Padraigin Regan” so that it read “Casey Regan” instead after people kept getting confused. It was otherwise a neat space, though not compulsively so. Though it was clear to anyone that a Quidditch player lived there.

One wall had various pictures of her at various ages and in quidditch robes of various colors. Pictures of the extensive Regan clan dotted another wall, while the far wall had a small muggle television set against it and held her Hufflepuff jersey folded so her name and number were on display in a frame just above it. Brooms were tucked into corners along with workout equipment, and an odd Quaffle or two sat on the floor. Her bedroom was much the same, save for the fact that the Quidditch items there were her current robes, and brooms.

Just as Casey was wondering if she should have organized more, she heard a knock at her door. Casey crossed the small living room and pulled open the door, shifting awkwardly as she stepped into view after using her opposite hand to open the door. She half expected it to be Tau, bugging her about talking to Harlan Bellamy, Captain of the Gravesend Griffins. But instead she found herself face to face with a wizard she didn’t recognize, although he looked familiar in that way she couldn’t place. She offered him a bright smile “Hi, you must be here for the Boggart?” She asked hopefully, not in the mood to make small talk with strangers just then, even if he was an attractive stranger.

When he’d confirmed in a deliciously American accent, or that’s at least where she thought it was from? That he was, she stepped aside and invited him in “Can I get you a glass of water or anything?” She offered, unsure what he’d want or need to know beyond the obvious. Then it dawned on her, she did know him from somewhere, but couldn’t remember where “Sorry, this is going to sound weird, but we’ve met before, I think?” Yeah, this week just kept getting better and better.

@Ashley Morigan

Ashley loved getting little jobs like this. He liked traveling. He’d ridden there on his bike, parked it out front, and came up to the door with a smile. He knew it was a boggart, and boggarts were hard to deal with, emotionally, but he was looking forward to getting a little cash. He was running low and hated having to hustle pool and darts to pay for a place to sleep. Yes, he’d been staying over with Mihwa more than he hadn’t been, but he hadn’t made anything official in that regard yet and was a little afraid of it. Every time he got into a serious relationship, something happened that made it go bad. It had been that way with Nadia, with Gwen. He hated heartbreak, and he was afraid of letting anyone get so close again.

An attractive girl opened the door, and Ashley was pleasantly surprised. He met a lot of hot girls this way, he realized. He liked to daydream he was the pizza man from an adult film and the girls wanted to pay him back in ways other than money. Nah, usually they paid cash. Then later did the other stuff for free. This girl looked familiar, though. Hadn’t he met her at a bar? He vaguely remembered buying her a drink, though he bought lots of drinks for lots of pretty girls—so this wasn’t new.

“You’re quidditch girl!” He announced. “I remember you. We got into a shouting match over a quidditch match and I kept buying you drinks. You got louder with each one.” He teased. “I remember.” He left out the part where he’d tried to pick her up at the end of the night, after she had gotten more friendly, and she told him he could see her in his dreams. What a great rejection line. He hadn’t seen her again since then, but he hadn’t been back to that bar in awhile.

“So, uh, where’s the boggart and when did you notice it?” He asked.

Quidditch girl? Casey laughed as the memory came back to her and nodded in admission “And you’re the American.” She said with a small smile “I ended up being right, too. From what I remember.” she teased back. She was always loud, at least when it came to Quidditch things, so that part made sense.

They’d been arguing over international team play, and it had been a fun exchange. At first Casey had only said something because the token American had said something that just didn’t make sense, not when it came to the Irish national team, and it had taken on a life of it’s own from there. Casey was opinionated and passionate, and wasn’t one to keep her thoughts to herself, especially with Quidditch and a team she’d play for one day.

The witch had vague memories of turning him down, too, though she couldn’t quite remember what had been said, and wasn’t about to dwell on it now that he was here, standing in her apartment of all places. Casey was mostly glad that she hadn’t been completely off base in recognizing him, otherwise it would have been slightly awkward. Though, she wasn’t complaining that he was in her apartment either, honestly.

At his question, Casey nodded towards the bedroom “In the bedroom closet “ she said it and couldn’t help but frown slightly. To Casey Boggarts were worse than spiders, even if the latter was more common than the former. Then she added with a wry smile “At 3 AM this morning.” She added after a moment “I was getting ready to go to work.” She used to specify that work was Quidditch, but then after all the questions and everything that people would ask, she’d eventually stopped. Combined with the fact that he could clearly see what she did, Casey didn’t feel the need to elaborate. She shrugged with her good shoulder “It wasn’t there yesterday, so it appeared some time while I was out and this morning.” It would figure that while she’d been stuck at the hospital with Harvey, a Boggart would think her closet was a great place to hang. She tried to think of any other useful information, but she realized she wasn’t home all that often, except to eat, sleep, and occasionally have friends over, no that she minded, really.

Ashley knew without Casey saying anything that she definitely remembered how the night ended, but he let it roll off him. While rejection was not typical for Ash, it was a part of life. Some girls didn’t know something good when they saw it, he assured himself. When she started talking business, he thought to himself a little carefully. That was abnormal for a boggart. They liked old, untouched places. They didn’t typically hang out in closets regularly used. That said, it was far from impossible for them. After all, he’d been tracking a lethifold in Chelsea not the other day, and that was very unusual.

“Alright, one sec.” He rolled up his long sleeves and prepared himself for a fight. Boggarts were not usually his favorite. “I’ll be right back. Stay in here unless I call for you, okay?” He urged. He didn’t want her getting attacked while he was poking the bear.

He took nearly thirty minutes in that room, fighting the boggart. It had been rough, as always. Indiana always made an appearance, sometimes Cheyenne did, less often Nadia, now. He thought that was a good sign. Even so, its finale had been Nadia as a wolf, trying to attack him again. It was such a painful memory h felt a bit like crying.  He stuck together, though, and remembered it like a bad dream. When he was done, he moved back into the main room, looking a bit worse for wear.

“Shouldn’t be a problem again, ma’am.” He promised, a little weary sigh coming out of his lips. “Actually, I’m so impolite, quidditch girl.” He teased lightly. “I’m Ashley.” He offered. “Ash is fine. What’s your name sweetheart, and you uh, got anything stronger than water in that fridge?”

Casey usually preferred to be in on the action, or better yet, to do things herself when it came to having people fixing things. But, between the fact that her wand arm was in a sling and that it was a Boggart, Casey was all too happy to let the American handle things. She nodded at his instruction and spent the next half hour patiently waiting for him to finish the job. By the time he was done, her apartment looked a little more organized and Casey was doing kick-ups with one of the million quaffles she had laying around. She was never great at sitting still, and waiting for something made it worse.

The blonde witch caught the quaffle and tossed it back into a corner, not wanting to take the time to put it back. She offered him a grin, here he was calling her ma’am and himself impolite in the same sentence. In response Casey shook her head slightly “Terribly impolite..” she teased him as she continued “You can call me Casey” She told him, her tone warm and amused. She didn’t even bother mentioning her first name, since she went by Casey everywhere it was possible. She might’ve been more upset that he’d called her sweetheart too but decided the novelty of his accent was enough to excuse it.

“I think I like Ashley or Ash better than the American” Casey said as she paused for a moment to think and then nodded “I do, actually. It’s your lucky day.” She said with a smirk. She normally didn’t keep a lot of alcohol in her flat just because her training regimen called for some pretty clean eating habits. Even so, she always had a bottle of whiskey and some beer in the fridge, but some of the Regan cousins had been over the weekend before and had left some cider and vodka in the fridge. She gesture for him to follow her into the kitchen and then opened the fridge and grabbed a cider for herself before leaving it open for Ashley to choose what he wanted. “Must be a perk of freelancing?” She said with a laugh. Had she not remembered that he was freelance, she might have worried that he was drinking on the job. It was a surprising request, but he was cute and being cooped up the last few days had made her a bit more rebellious than she was used to being.

Hopping up so she was sitting on the counter, Casey leaned back against the cabinets and looked at her guest just for the sake of doing so, but also out of curiosity “So, Ash…” She said, testing the feel of his actual name on her lips before sipping her drink and continuing “How does a Yank like yourself end up over on this side of the pond?” It was funny how many Americans seemed to end up working in Britain, when America seemed far more interesting to her.

“Yeah, I like it better than The American too. I’m so much more than my nationality, U.K. girl.” He teased, as he looked into the fridge for what she had and took out one of the ciders sheepishly. He almost didn’t realize he wasn’t supposed to drink on the job. Well, this was just pest control—not official ministry business, yeah? Yeah. He used the bottle opener on his keyring to get it open, and then took a long sip, still looking a bit tired and emotionally drained.

He looked at her sitting on the counter and smiled. She was in such a good position for him, his eyes directly in line with her assets, but he looked up at her face regardless. He grinned at her. “I travel all over.” He admitted. “I used to be mostly in the states, but my mom does the same thing there so they’re starting to dry up. I come all around Europe and Asia, a little in South America sometimes, or Africa. I’ve never been to Australia, but hey there’s a first time for everything?” He teased. “I mean, I’ve been thinking of getting a transfer over here. I really like it, and it’s hard to convince America to pay me to be over here all the time.” He admitted.

“I like the environment here, the work is steady, and I meet the most interesting people.” He eyed her up a bit flirty. “America is boring when you’re from America, I think. It’s more interesting here. I’m sure you’d feel the opposite. Are you from Scotland? Your accent seems…” He considered. “Irish?” He asked. “Not that I’m really good at placing accents… but I mean, I can understand you and that’s a good step in the right direction, eh?”

“I’m from Tennessee. It’s barely in the South, but we still got the drawl. And Country music. We own that. My little brother loves the hell out of it, but I’m more a classic rock guy, myself.”

Casey laughed and sipped at her cider as she nodded, acquiescing that he was technically right about being more than just an American. “You’re right” she told him smirking “You have my apologies” though it was clear she probably wasn’t the least bit sorry at all. She pushed away the stray thought that wondered why she was drinking in her kitchen with the pest control guy, deciding that it had to do with the fact that she’d been cooped up for the last few days and Gareth had been busy. She stopped giving it any further thought after that.  She was an adult, and so was he, that’s all there was to it.

The witch held her tongue when he mentioned the U.K. not wanting to hop up on that particular ‘I’m not British, I’m Irish’ soapbox just now, plus she was more amused than offended. She nodded instead when he mentioned travel, having been to more than a few countries herself thanks to Quidditch. She spun the bottle in her good hand idly as she listened and asked “Have you been to all 50 of the states?” Casey had been in America visiting some distant cousins briefly a few years ago with her family but had only been in New York, and making it to all the states seemed like a dauting task, considering how big the country was in comparison to Ireland. She’d been to all of the Irish counties by the time she was in her teens.

Africa always sounded interesting, with all of the different animals and creatures to see. But as Ashley brought up Australia, Casey realized she’d never been there either. She nodded again letting him know she was listening since she was mid-drink. The witch quickly ran her tongue over her bottom lip to catch a stray drop of cider before she spoke in turn “Must be, considering I’ve never been there either – though I think the team might be doing something there later this year?” She offered with a gentle shrug as she was careful to not upset her shoulder. If they did get to go to Australia, Casey really wanted to see a few Kangaroos or Koala bears if she got the chance.

Casey arched an eyebrow and laughed softly as she realized he was almost flirting with her. Not that she minded, really. They were sitting in her kitchen drinking, so at least things were interesting? The ex-Puff shifted then so that her legs were crossed, and so she could get a better look at the wizard across from her. Her tone was warm and full of humor when she next spoke “Mm. I’m sure you do” She told him, not able to contain a small chuckle as she continued, a small smirk playing at the edges of her lips “Luckily, I know what you mean, being a Quidditch player and all.” she joked, gently lifting her injured arm as she went on “Especially now.” She wasn’t normally quite as bold when it came to flirting with men, or at least men she didn’t know. 

“I’m not sure about that” she countered with a slight shake of her head “And, I am not.” She said grinning, chuffed by the fact that nobody outside of Ireland could quite place her Cork based accent. Any Irishperson would know where to pin her after two words, especially if one of those words happened to be boy. When he guessed Irish she nodded once and tilted her drink back before she answered “Aye” she said, with a gentle roll of her eyes in self-depreciation “Born and raised in Co. Cork” She confirmed before she explained “It’s in the southeast of Ireland. And, you can understand me now, sure, but I’ve been told it gets worse the minute I’m home.” She told him with a grin.

Thanks to quidditch, Casey was exposed to all kinds of music as of late and was pleased to find that there was little that she disliked. She was fond of rap and rock music, though would listen to anything if it had a good beat “Muggle or Wrock?” She asked, “I’ll listen to just about anything as long as it’s got a good beat or rhythm.” While he answered, Casey finished her cider and set the empty bottle on the counter before she hopped down and nudged the door of the fridge open with her foot. She reached in and grabbed another cider. As she moved about, she told him “I’ve never been to Tennessee, but I like your drawl. It suits you.” She leveraged the bottle against the counter and with a small grunt popped the top off and pushed herself back up onto her perch “Help yourself, by the way.” She wasn’t going to have more than two drinks, but if they were going to be talking, they might as well have drinks while they were at it.

“Oh, you guys are really going all the way to Australia?” His eyes lit up a bit, thinking about it. He had heard Australia had the wildest beasts, muggle or magical alike. He was dying to get his hand on a few of the stray acromantuluas he had seen on the muggle news—giant spiders that threatened muggles. Though usually from Borneo, they ended up all over the place. Maybe he’d get Indy a baby one to keep as a pet—just kidding. He wasn’t that mean, besides, even though they could talk they liked to eat everyone and everything they came into contact with and thereby could not be reasoned with.

He was daydreaming a bit about Australia, seeing the people, the beaches, the summer-during-winter. It all seemed so cool. He wanted to go and sooner than later. He supposed there was nothing stopping him, but would Indy even go? If not, Chey? If not—well… he didn’t want to go alone. It was sad and felt a little pathetic that his only traveling buddies were his siblings.

He took another sip of his cider watching her. He didn’t know where Cork was in comparison to the rest of Ireland, but he nodded along with her. Then the topic changed to music and he smiled. “I mean, both? My ma’s a magbob—what you guys call muggleborn, I guess—and she always listened to muggle stuff. My grandparents, too, since they’re both muggles. But I like both. Probably got more experience with the likes of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, though.” He admitted. “You have a favorite?” He asked.

He finished his drink and decided one was enough, but he was enjoying the conversation too much to just ask for money and leave.

Casey offered Ashley a one shouldered shrug “So the rumor mills say, anyway.” She picked up a stray bottle cap and spun it on the countertop as she continued “I certainly wouldn’t complain though” she offered him a smile and wrinkled her nose “I’m keen on seeing some koalas, maybe a kangaroo personally.” Casey wasn’t the girlyest girl out there, but she had a penchant for cute fluffy things. The witch took a drink and thought as she swallowed “And I wouldn’t mind a little time at the beach. Maybe see if I can learn to surf.” She told him “It can’t be any harder than riding a broom, right?” as Casey spoke, she raised her eyebrows, clearly not believing her own words. Even so, even if she turned out to be god awful, Casey was just wanted to try it. She was not, and could not be good at everything, as much as she might like to be.

The witch watched as Ashley lit up a little more than he had before as the topic shifted to music and wondered silently if that’s how she looked when she was talking about Quidditch. It was endearing in its own way, she supposed. People talking about what they liked or loved had always interested her. Magbob was such an interesting word. She’d heard it a few times, but hadn’t ever heard it used in a one on one conversation before “Magbob” she tried the word out, rolling it in her mouth. She squinted then, trying to decide if she liked the word better than muggleborn and after another beat she’d decided that it was a much more interesting word. But before she could tell him so, her train of thought was derailed by his next question.

This was when being a pureblood always got a little weird. She’d taken a trip to the states, and wasn’t completely sheltered from muggle culture, and the names he rattled off sounded more than a little familiar from her Muggle studies classes in school, but she knew odds were better at her knowing a few wrock bands was more likely. Just as Casey was going to tell him as much, she stopped and frowned, thinking hard “Do muggles wear shirts with those bands on them?” If he said yes, she though she’d seen a number of them on their last trip. The ex-puff sipped her drink and spoke, feeling a little sheepish “So, I haven’t actually heard any of the bands?” She admitted but was quick to add “I know who they are from school, but I don’t think our professor ever actually played us any of their music? If you were going to recommend one song, and one song only as an example, what would it be?” She felt silly for admitting that she didn’t know who they were, but there was nothing else she could say and wanted to know what is answer was.

She sighed softly, thinking about her favorites “Quidditch makes your music tastes really random, believe it or not – with all the languages and different playlists.” She took another pull from the drink in her hand, wondering how it could seem so much bigger than the previous bottle “But I’m not picky – I like wrock/rock better than anything else – I tend to like loud music in general.” Casey told him laughing “It must be some weird quidditch thing.” Just as she was about to give up on knowing any popular muggle bands, she realized she did know at least one and sat up excitedly “Wait...I don’t think they’re the same as your bands? But I listened to Blink 182 for awhile a few years ago?” They were a muggle band right?

Merlin, this girl was cute. Blink 182? Not even a similar genre, but he liked the enthusiasm. “Oooh, they’re classics. Maybe…. Uh… Ramble on?” He suggested. “By Led Zeppelin, they reference Lord of the Rings, which is one of my favorite muggle fantasy series.” He smiled. “Have you ever read it? Or… well, heard of it? It’s fantastic. Wizards and elves and dwarves and these cool people called hobbits. It’s an incredible series.” He was gushing. “Immigrant song is a good one too. As far as AC/DC goes, I think maybe…. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap or TNT or… well, they have a ton of hits.” He laughed.

“Actually, if you wanted, I could probably take you to a muggle pub and play some on a jukebox. You hungry?” He asked. “We could drink more, eat some bar food, listen to music and hang out a bit, if you’re interested.” He shrugged a bit, but he certainly was interested in spending more time with her. She was gorgeous, funny, and cute. He almost didn’t mind that he probably wouldn’t take her money.

“I got a motorcycle that flies, if you wanna take a ride.” He admitted. “As a quidditch girl, I bet you love flying. The bike is obviously different than a broom, but it’s pretty fantastic.” He grinned wider.

“if you’re not chicken, that is.” He challenged playfully.

Casey felt a smile pulling at the edge of her lips as she listened to Ashley describe how a muggle rock song and some muggle book series were related. She’d give him his passion for rock music alright. The book he was talking about now seemed to ring a bell in her distant memory, but not with any real clarity. She shook her head ‘no’ in response to his question, but spoke a moment later “I haven’t read it – but I’ve probably heard of it somewhere at some point? It sounds kind of familiar” she shrugged then and added with a laugh “Or I’m completely wrong and I’ve never heard of it before.”

The thought of muggles writing about wizards intrigued her though “How close are the muggle version of wizards to the truth?” She wondered if there were witches in the book too or if it was some weird world where there were only wizards. She didn’t know how she’d feel if the books didn’t have witches in them, but she had to admit that even though she didn’t read all that often she’d probably consider this ‘Lord of the Rings’ book maybe. Just to see if she agreed that they were as good as Ashley said they were.

The blonde witch gently arched a well-kept eyebrow at his suggestion as he’d caught her mid sip. And as she lowered the bottle, Casey couldn’t stop herself from smirking just a little, pleased with the offer. That was awfully convenient, but the witch couldn’t deny that it wasn’t actually a bad idea, and it sounded like a good way to burn part of a day. She considered it for a moment longer and then flashed him a genuine smile “I could eat, I suppose. But I’ll have to change.” it wasn’t technically a cheat day but Casey knew some tough reconditioning work outs were probably in her future and a little extra food and drink today wasn’t going to make a difference.

Not to mention that as much as she didn’t make a habit of picking men up in her own kitchen, he was handsome, and seemed genuinely interesting, despite the way they’d met awhile back, and Casey figured blowing off a little steam hadn’t hurt anyone. She hopped down off the counter and stretched “I suppose going to a muggle pub is better anyway, we can’t get into shouting matches over Quidditch as easily” She told him, obviously kidding.

She figured he would know where the best and nearest muggle pub was and was about to ask him where they were going when Ashley mentioned his flying motorcycle. It really flew? That sounded cool, even she couldn’t deny it as someone who had been flying for the majority of her life. Curiosity got the best of her and she had to know “Did you build it and magic it yourself? How long have you had it?” Casey found herself laughing at his teasing next “I think chicken might be one of the last ways people describe me” she shot back, teasing in turn “but I’d be happy to hop on your bike and prove it to you, since you seem to have forgotten” she told him, a grin already forming.