like birds of a feather

Shylock supposed that was true. Technically he was employed as a columnist, but every now and then, The Prophet would ask him to do something "creative".

"Well, I'm not," he said. "Come on."

He turned back toward the stairs leading up to the box, expecting Cassabian to follow.

But he could be... There was no way Cassabian would know and if that was the case then he thought he shouldn't be bothering or anything. He kind of shrugged at that.

"S-swell!" Cass said and followed after.

The game was about to start. If they weren't already unleashing the bludgers and the snitch then they already had and were throwing the quaffle in the game.

Monroe was not watching the game. Quidditch was a ridiculous game with ridiculous rules that made even less sense if one had ever watched football. Not that he was at all interested in football - Monroe was not a sportsman except by necessity - but at least the actions of one player couldn't cancel out the efforts of the entire opposing team.

Instead, he was getting drinks for himself and his sister. Destrey was already engaged in ranking the players by level of fitness, and not the kind of fitness that helped them dodge a bludger. So he didn't notice Shylock and Cassabian's entry until he turned, whereupon he almost tripped.

Almost. The wine sloshed in the glasses, but he caught himself quickly. It wouldn't do to be seen stumbling in public.

"Shylock. Cassabian. How are you both?"

He knew how they both were. He had an arrangement with Selwyn, and he had some discreet wards set on Cassabian's apartment. But it never hurt to enquire.

Being a whatever-comes-his-way worker, Cassabian did distinguish himself from the others. Once again, a disappointment. Both Shylock and Monroe had their jobs all set up in the Ministry and surrounding. He mostly did errands so he wasn't at the level of any. But he didn't feel that much lower and useless till Monroe came to sight. What was he even doing here? He didn't even like Quidditch.

However, the former Hufflepuff put on the most sincere smile he was capable of doing.

"Brilliant! H-how are y-you?" he answered and asked back.

Brilliantly? Unlikely. Monroe had always considered Shylock the irresponsible one. He was the one who almost killed himself - or at least, almost died, if his protestations that it wasn't deliberate were true - on a regular basis, after all. But word reached him at the Ministry, via a string of informal informants, that Cassabian survived off of whatever fortune threw in his path.

Cass wasn't stupid, no matter what their parents liked to believe. Monroe put up a front of respecting their parents when his siblings were around to see, but if he was honest, they were the root of most of his problems. But no, Cass wasn't stupid. And he could have made a good living for himself if he only applied himself, and nurtured some confidence.

Nevertheless, he nodded in agreement, and smiled. Doubtless Cass would be able to see through that, and so he should. If he had a problem with it, he could take it up with him later.

"Well, thank you," he replied.

To be honest, he was just about bursting to tell Cassabian about his new position, but boasting was hardly seemly. He wished Shylock or Destrey would say something.

Cassabian knew Monroe would see through the façade that his statement had been as easily as he could see his. Yet, he didn't mention anything that way, wasn't he here simply to have a bit of fun for one day when his life was still as unsure as it had always been. He just smiled and nodded politely muttering what seemed to be a "Nice" before he turned his attention to something else. Or pretended he did.

Truth be told, when one was far from home for so long they lost any kind of ability to do small talk with any of the people in there. Having lost pretty much every contact to his siblings, he had no idea of how to talk to them or what to talk to them about anymore... Even though there would be a blizzard of news he would have loved to share with them... And there were. Or else, in his point of view there were. Cass had no idea if they would see them that way. Probably not as there were miles in between them now parting their own achievements as well as anything else.