Future AU -- Naia and Nico, Order Recruitment

[naiaflowing]

Naia Bergren, who had only returned from the States a month ago, had regained full use of her British accent but still occassionally used American Muggle words that confounded her coworkers in a similar effect to the charm. This was the end of the first full, stressful week as her starting job as an administrate assistant to the Minister of Magical

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[craftynicodemus]

Another informant who had decided that it was too 'dangerous' to continue feeding the Order information. Nico had trekked out all the way out here just to be turned away, wasn't that just brilliant? Nico was growing ever-closer to a point of frustration which, when he reached it, would result in some unpredictable thing that even he couldn't forecast.

Why not take advantage of the locality for the meeting while he was here? He turned to the walk towards the bar and saw colour, actual colour. The clothing was dull, lifeless, likely the result of some business place or another. Hair was an entirely different matter, and this woman's was vibrant. So many had stopped wearing noticable colours because of the war, and those naturally red (or those who dyed their hair flurescent colours) had adopted earth tones, camoflage, armour. Anything that the human eye was drawn to was something that a wand could be pointed at

[naiaflowing]

Not aware of what had drawn the man who not sat beside her (indeed, she was not aware she had drawn a man!) Naia took her thumb and pinkie and used the digits to push her bangs out of her eyes. She looked at the ceiling and shook her head, looking to get it out of her eyes. Damn! All the old women at the Ministry kept their hair short, coiffed, or otherwise tamed and masculinised. She promised herself that she would keep her hair free, as some sort of radical statement... but it was proving quite frustrating at the moment.

"An Ale," said a male voice. Naia looked up, and then away, embarrassed. She shouldn't snoop, but at the same time she always liked to watch people. As she looked away she frowned, and looked back. He looked familiar. She moved so that she could see him better, and studied him. She almost had it, she... could almost remember.

[craftynicodemus]

Nico wished now that he had sat down in one of the other spare seats, but today had been a long day. Regardless, there was still no excuse for him invading the personal space of someone he was curious about. She might soon leave, or move, or become suspicious of him. She was shifting now, but it didn't seem to be her readying herself to leave.

It did however, allow him to get a slight glance of her face out of the corner of his eye as he stared directly at the bartender. She seemed innoent enough, and perhaps had a face for forgetting if it wasn't for her hair, or perhaps it was that her hair overshadowed her facial features. Either way, Nico tried to play the amicable stranger. "Sorry, is this seat taken?" he asked. "I could move if you're waiting for someone." He turned to smile at her, and was surprised to find that she looked familiar.

[naiaflowing]

Naia didn't exactly announce her intentions to leave the British Wizarding world when she left, and she didn't announce her return, either. She showed up to appropriate events -- weddings, mostly, in these war years, she didn't bother with the funerals -- but she didn't appear much else. She lost contact with practically everyone but Lia, Colin, Max, and Amorisa, and they seemed to be the only ones who cared about her return anyway. And here she was staring into a familiar face. "Nico?" she asked.

Couldn't be. The thought of Nico made her grin lopsidedly. She didn't get to know him until his seventh year, and then only as in a mentor/mentee relationship... but he complimented her, told her she was pretty, and trusted her. Perhaps it was the trust that was the most worthy of her fond memory. He was a pretty good leader, at least from the 14-year-old view point -- and he taught her a lot.

[craftynicodemus]

Well now, didn't she just look the picture of the cat who caught the mouse? Nico nodded at the fact that he had explainations to give, and hopefully they wouldn't last the entire night. Or maybe he hoped that they would. It was pretty easy to say 'I'm a spy' but not right here. Not when questionable people were coming to and from the bar.

"Apparation," Nico responded. Something that wasn't traceable. "I don't think that we need to be going on about how I'm going to travel, it's you who just downed fire whiskey. I don't think you'd be able to even stay on a broom for longer than a minute," he smiled affectionately. "Kings Cross, is that alright?"

[naiaflowing]

"Kings Cross it is. Am I siding along, or do you expect me to Apparate myself?" Naia asked, grinning slyly. She stepped very close to him, doing her best to see into his eyes. "I think you better do it."

Damn it. She shouldn't have pounded back that drink, but her body was buzzing pleasantly, and she was standing very close to an attractive older man who had been very nice to her when she was a mousy young thing. What was the harm in flirting? It had been a hard first week, after all.

[craftynicodemus]

Nico had picked Kings Cross because he knew it would be a location that Naia knew, and so she'd be able to apparate there, right? Apparently she didn't think so. "Side along then, and we'll go to my place. Safest place that I have access to right now- you don't mind, right?"

She was awfully close to him, but she needed to be for side along apparation. At least, that's what Nico told himself as he gently gripped her hand. "You really shouldn't drink so much in a seedy bar, not without friends around," he said matter of factly. The thought of Naia being intoxicated and far away from home was a bit disgruntling.

Not that Nico even knew where she lived. She could have a flat across the street for all he knew.

[naiaflowing]

"You're a friend," said Naia with a certainty she didn't think she would have possessed. "Besides, I was planning on making that my one, slow drink. I didn't expect a friend to come along." She liked the feeling of his hand on hers, but that was the alcohol talking. And perhaps the fact that she'd been a bit lonely the last month since moving back home.

Naia saw Nico pull his wand out from the corner of her eye, and she squeezed her eyes shut to the familiar feeling of being turned inside out.