prompt for January 28th - Harry Potter/Sneakers
Once again, the prompt's coming out slightly sideways.
Prompt for January 28:
Childhood dreams.
Whistler's not about to chance wandering very far from the main hall by himself, not with the reports of self-mobile staircases and God knows what else around the place. But the acoustics of the hall itself combined with the chaos of post-battle cleanup would give him a headache if he actually stayed in there, so he's seeking out a smaller room, the better to at least get a thick wall between himself and the noise.
He finds one, and after his ears recover a little, he realizes he's not the first one there - someone's crying, and attempting to be very quiet about it. They probably would have fooled anyone else, given the decibel level they'd be leaving behind to come through here.
He'd rather be facing the proper direction before asking if he's unwelcome, but whoever it is, they're not loud enough for him to get a good idea of that, at the moment. So he stops moving, and says, "Who's there?"
"That is the question, isn't it," a girl's voice answers from his left.
"If I'm interrupting, I can go find somewhere else. Don't want to get in your way, I just had to get out of the noise for a while."
"Oh, it's all right, I'm probably due to lay off the brooding for now anyway. It's just..." The girl sighs. "It's been a long few years."
"So I'd gathered. There room for another person to sit down over there?"
"...Might be a bit of a squeeze, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. If it's that bad, I'll stand for a bit."
They negotiate the seating arrangements well enough, and finally get so far as trading names. Whistler can't help a little curiosity at the one she offers, and when she explains, he's almost sorry he asked. He's found 'Erwin' plenty impossible - there's a reason he doesn't use it, after all - but this poor girl's parents saddled her with 'Nymphadora.' He can see why she's going by her last name, and he says so.
"Maiden, actually," Tonks replies. "But it's hard to do away with a name you use on such a regular basis, and I'm not sure how much the ceremony counts after... after he's died." She chokes up again, a little, on the last part.
"Probably only as much as you want it to count. I'm sorry about your loss - was he involved in the battle?"
"Yeah. So was I. Maybe not my brightest move, but I was feeling useless, sitting at home, and Mum's always been able to take care of herself."
"If you knew it might be better to stay home, why didn't you?" He's careful to keep any sign of judgment out of his tone; he's really just curious. Tonks can't be more than Carl's age.
"I felt useless."
"...I think I'm gonna need a little more to work with than that, if it's not too much to ask."
Tonks sighs again. "When I'm... not pouring all my energy into being horribly depressed, I can change my appearance at will. It's been useful, but mostly as a quick and easy way to cheer people up. Making people happy - helping them - sort of turned into a thing. If I can't do it, somehow, I feel like I got something wrong. I went into law enforcement after school partly because of that."
"And then the war came back to haunt everyone?"
"More or less. It got harder and harder to be effective on the job, the resistance effort wasn't exactly resisting terribly well, nobody was in a good mood. I picked up a relationship on the way, but that wasn't exactly a bed of roses, and then I was off work for five months - enforced bed rest and then maternity leave - while my world was going to hell. Not the sort of situation that makes one feel all that helpful.
"I'm not even sure I really helped Remus. I wanted to - he deserved better than what life gave him. But... he wanted to leave, or at least, he said he'd had his doubts about the whole thing before Teddy was born. If he would've said leaving would make him happier, I would've let him." She's not sobbing, or making any other such dramatic noises, but Whistler knows flat despair when he hears it.
After a while, he says, "You've got bigger issues than I can help you with. Sounds like you have for a while - but that might come of changing to try to please people. I do know there's a point where everybody has to fix themselves."
"Yeah. That's the bit I tend to forget."
"There are people out there who make a living from getting people through that sort of thing. Between your loss and the generally high stress level, you might look into that... though it's also possible a real vacation will help, if you can swing it. Ever been to San Francisco?"
There's the sort of pause that Whistler's come to associate with incredulous staring. "...You're joking."
"Not about this. I wouldn't be a very good tour guide, for obvious reasons, but I could ask the guys what they'd think of having another person or two around the office for a while."
"...It wouldn't do to get my hopes up. There's a lot going on here at the moment, and I've got a two-month-old son to take into consideration. But... thanks for offering. I might have to see if I can make it work, eventually. There are plenty of odd stories about American wizards - maybe I could call it job research."
Whistler grins. "That's the spirit. Couldn't tell you anything about the wizards, but you do meet all kinds of people in the city."
"Oh? Do tell."
Whistler launches into a series of stories from various jobs the guys have done. By the time someone comes to collect them for dinner, Tonks doesn't sound better so much as like she's not completely focused on the bad points of recent events.
He's willing to call that a victory.
Prompt for January 28:
Childhood dreams.
Whistler's not about to chance wandering very far from the main hall by himself, not with the reports of self-mobile staircases and God knows what else around the place. But the acoustics of the hall itself combined with the chaos of post-battle cleanup would give him a headache if he actually stayed in there, so he's seeking out a smaller room, the better to at least get a thick wall between himself and the noise.
He finds one, and after his ears recover a little, he realizes he's not the first one there - someone's crying, and attempting to be very quiet about it. They probably would have fooled anyone else, given the decibel level they'd be leaving behind to come through here.
He'd rather be facing the proper direction before asking if he's unwelcome, but whoever it is, they're not loud enough for him to get a good idea of that, at the moment. So he stops moving, and says, "Who's there?"
"That is the question, isn't it," a girl's voice answers from his left.
"If I'm interrupting, I can go find somewhere else. Don't want to get in your way, I just had to get out of the noise for a while."
"Oh, it's all right, I'm probably due to lay off the brooding for now anyway. It's just..." The girl sighs. "It's been a long few years."
"So I'd gathered. There room for another person to sit down over there?"
"...Might be a bit of a squeeze, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. If it's that bad, I'll stand for a bit."
They negotiate the seating arrangements well enough, and finally get so far as trading names. Whistler can't help a little curiosity at the one she offers, and when she explains, he's almost sorry he asked. He's found 'Erwin' plenty impossible - there's a reason he doesn't use it, after all - but this poor girl's parents saddled her with 'Nymphadora.' He can see why she's going by her last name, and he says so.
"Maiden, actually," Tonks replies. "But it's hard to do away with a name you use on such a regular basis, and I'm not sure how much the ceremony counts after... after he's died." She chokes up again, a little, on the last part.
"Probably only as much as you want it to count. I'm sorry about your loss - was he involved in the battle?"
"Yeah. So was I. Maybe not my brightest move, but I was feeling useless, sitting at home, and Mum's always been able to take care of herself."
"If you knew it might be better to stay home, why didn't you?" He's careful to keep any sign of judgment out of his tone; he's really just curious. Tonks can't be more than Carl's age.
"I felt useless."
"...I think I'm gonna need a little more to work with than that, if it's not too much to ask."
Tonks sighs again. "When I'm... not pouring all my energy into being horribly depressed, I can change my appearance at will. It's been useful, but mostly as a quick and easy way to cheer people up. Making people happy - helping them - sort of turned into a thing. If I can't do it, somehow, I feel like I got something wrong. I went into law enforcement after school partly because of that."
"And then the war came back to haunt everyone?"
"More or less. It got harder and harder to be effective on the job, the resistance effort wasn't exactly resisting terribly well, nobody was in a good mood. I picked up a relationship on the way, but that wasn't exactly a bed of roses, and then I was off work for five months - enforced bed rest and then maternity leave - while my world was going to hell. Not the sort of situation that makes one feel all that helpful.
"I'm not even sure I really helped Remus. I wanted to - he deserved better than what life gave him. But... he wanted to leave, or at least, he said he'd had his doubts about the whole thing before Teddy was born. If he would've said leaving would make him happier, I would've let him." She's not sobbing, or making any other such dramatic noises, but Whistler knows flat despair when he hears it.
After a while, he says, "You've got bigger issues than I can help you with. Sounds like you have for a while - but that might come of changing to try to please people. I do know there's a point where everybody has to fix themselves."
"Yeah. That's the bit I tend to forget."
"There are people out there who make a living from getting people through that sort of thing. Between your loss and the generally high stress level, you might look into that... though it's also possible a real vacation will help, if you can swing it. Ever been to San Francisco?"
There's the sort of pause that Whistler's come to associate with incredulous staring. "...You're joking."
"Not about this. I wouldn't be a very good tour guide, for obvious reasons, but I could ask the guys what they'd think of having another person or two around the office for a while."
"...It wouldn't do to get my hopes up. There's a lot going on here at the moment, and I've got a two-month-old son to take into consideration. But... thanks for offering. I might have to see if I can make it work, eventually. There are plenty of odd stories about American wizards - maybe I could call it job research."
Whistler grins. "That's the spirit. Couldn't tell you anything about the wizards, but you do meet all kinds of people in the city."
"Oh? Do tell."
Whistler launches into a series of stories from various jobs the guys have done. By the time someone comes to collect them for dinner, Tonks doesn't sound better so much as like she's not completely focused on the bad points of recent events.
He's willing to call that a victory.