After Work

Skeeter walked into the Leaky Cauldron after work, tired from a long day of work and ready for a pick me up. He ordered a soda (he was craving some) and some fries before looking around to find a table. He had told a few people from work that they should meet up with him. He spotted a clean table and walked over to it, carrying his things.

He put down his plate and drink and slipped off his messenger bag, hanging it on his chair. He unbuttoned his coat and draped it over the back of his chair. He slid into his spot, yawning to himself.

It was about time he made some friends at work. As one of the newer Aurors, he was still the odd man out. He was young too, so that made it different too. Skeeter was a pretty friendly guy, but he would admit that he had not made too much of an effort yet. He was too busy adjusting to career life.

Skeeter was not overly ambitious. His mother used to call him a lazy bum, though he just scoffed at it. Who needed to be uptight? Skeeter was pretty causal about most things so it was hard to adjust to the formality of the office.

Still, he knew he needed to make some friends, acquaintances, and general connections if he anted to continue working at the Ministry in peace, so he figured that if he could hang out with coworkers outside of work, than he would be more likely to build relationships.

He began eating his fries, swigging from his soda.

Robert always welcomed an opportunity for some firewhiskey and a bit of fun. He saw Skeeter there with a soda and some fries. Robert ordered a bottle of firewhiskey, several glasses, and an assortment of snacks for them all. He flipped a few sickles on the counter to pay for that and a couple other rounds of something or another.

He picked up the bottle of firewhiskey as the bartender sent several glasses floating over to Skeeter's table, and he made his way to the table. "Nice to see you again, Skeeter. Good idea you had coming over here to unwind." He sat down and poured himself a glass of the potent firewhiskey and took a sip. As he spoke, several dishes came over to the table--chips, popcorn, and a bowl of warm toasted mixed nuts with herbs and spices--Robert's favorite munchy with firewhiskey. He chose a few of the sweet and salty almonds and popped them into his mouth. "These are addicting," he laughed.

Brian was running late. He had stopped at St. Mungos to check on Khaat and be sure she was alright for him to be a bit later than usual. Finding all was well, he went off to The Leaky Cauldron and found Robert already there with another young auror. He went over to the table. "Hey, Robert, " he greeted him, sitting beside him. "Oh good. You ordered. Thanks. " He looked at the new young auror. "Hi. I"m Brian Quinn. You must be Skeeter. Good to have you on board. So, have you done this sort of work before?" Brian poured himself a glass of firewhiskey and took a small sip. "Not bad, Robert. Pretty smooth," Brian laughed.

Skeeter kept himself from swallowing as his boss, Robert Lupin, strode into the LEaky Cauldron, bringing in his wake Firewhiskys and snacks. Automatically, Skeeter felt a little foolish and childish for drinking a soda. He pushed it aside and nodded at Robert, flashing him a grin. "Nice to see you too," he replied. He was still unsure of how to address his boss. "And it was no problem, thank you for joining me."

He internally shuddered at his formal language. He hated it so much. Robert mentioned that the almonds were addicting and he raised an eyebrow, half-smiling. "Really?" He reached his hand in and scooped up a small handful, popping them into his mouth. "Mmm. You're right, those are good." He took another handful.

One of his coworkers, Brian something-or-other, walked in and veered for their table. Fortunately, the man introduced himself- Brian Quinn. Skeeter repeated the name in his head. "Hey," he said happily. "Thanks I'm glad to be apart of it. Actually, I haven't done much before this. This is my first official job really." He shrugged, the half smile looking almost apologetic that his resume wasn't any more impressive. "But I learn quickly. And I can't wait to be done with the desk work."

Robert noticed Skeeter's apparent jitters. "Relax," Robert smiled. "I like sodas as well as the next man," he said. "Enjoy it. It just was a long day today. I work at St. Mungo's too. My daughter is the director there, and we've been busier than normal there lately. I just felt like a shot of firewhiskey. Oh, and call me Robert. I'm not formal with my friends or my coworkers either one.

"Good idea, this," he said approvingly. "We have the makings for a good strong team, but we do need to get to know each other a bit. We won't all be able to depend on each other as partners and teammates otherwise. For example, I can tell you a bit about Brian here. Brian is a physical fitness nut. He trains harder than anyone I know. If you're a glutton for punishment, train under him for a bit." He looked over at Brian.

Brian looked quizzically at Robert and laughed. "Oh, well, as long as we're telling tales then," Brian said. "Robert taught me everything I know. Except tea. I hate tea, and Robert loves the stuff. Makes all sorts of different flavored blends. You make me sound like an ogre, Robert. I'm not, really, Skeeter. And don't worry. You'll catch up to speed fast. You seem smart. That does help in this line of work. Here." He handed Skeeter a card. "This is a membership to the fitness center in the basement of St. Mungos. You'll find that it is the most sophisticated place to work out anywhere in wizarding England. Robert sent me to buy memberships for all of us. Check the place out whenever you have the time. Its open 24/7. It has everything from gym equipment, to a pool, to massage therapy. If you can think about it, they've got it. "

Skeeter smiled in relief at Robert's words. He had no aspiration to have a boss who was so caught up in formalities that he forgot to let his team be human. Luckily, it seemed that
Robert was not that sort of guy. "Thanks, Robert. Like I said I am still adjusting to this professional environment thing."

He began to talk a bit about Brian and Skeeter let out an amused laugh; he could tell the two were probably close and he was witnessing friendly teasing between friends. And then Brian jumped in, filling Skeeter in about Robert. To make himself feel more at ease, Skeeter wrinkled his nose when Brian said Robert liked tea, though he smiled. He did not like tea much either.

Brian handed him a card for a fitness center and Skeeter nodded. "Hey, thanks, I'll check it out pretty soon. I like to work out to, but I don't do it as much as I should anymore." Perhaps the one thing he had been regular about in Hogwarts was getting exercise. He would jog laps around the lake every day. He looked up at them. "This is reassuring. I was a little intimidated about this job, thinking it was all rules and regulations, but I'm glad to see there is some humanity to it." He cracked another smile.

"If you learn one thing, let it be that humanity always supercedes the rules," Robert told the young auror. "The only thing I've learned about rules is that there's an exception to every one of them. I'm a healer and a potionsmaster. And with that, my interest is primarily people. My family has always been far more people minded. "

He looked over at Brian, "You spent far too much time in America for your own good. Totally lost your appreciation for the finer things in life while you were there. You've become almost completely Americanized."

"Oh, don't give me that," Brian laughed heartily. "Your daughter grew up here, and she hates tea. She drinks French Roast like they were giving it away. Katherine just appeases you by drinking tea, but she always brews a pot of coffee too, or haven't you ever noticed?" Brian looked back at Skeeter, "Khaat is Robert's daughter. She and I grew up together. I'm sure you'll meet her. She is also the Chief Warlock. You're among friends here. In all truth, though, Robert makes a spiced Christmas tea that even I like. And Khaat doesn't really, truly hate tea. She just is a very serious coffee addict. It's hard to come between her and her coffee cup. So--tell us about you, Skeeter. Help us get to know you."

Skeeter nodded at Robert's words, aware that his boss was pretty wise and it would do Skeeter good to listen to him. He was pretty sure he could work with him well. Brian began talking a little more about Robert's tea habits and his daughter and Skeeter smiled. Brian seemed to be talkative, which suited Skeeter just fine.

Brian suddenly asked Skeeter to tell them about himself. He gulped his soda down a little too quickly and nearly choked. He swallowed carefully and sniffed, rubbing his forehead distractedly. He had not expected to face such a personal question, though vague, and he struggled to decide how to answer.

This is what happens when you act like a hermit, he chided to himself. For the past two years, he had not stayed in contact with many people, save one or two friends from Hogwarts and his family. He was not used to meeting new people, and though he was friendly enough, he had fallen out of practice.

He set down his soda and shrugged, "I dunno what there is to know. I'm 19, I am really friendly. I, uh, enjoy a good laugh and I like to pull little hijinks. I have a few friends, a nice family. I like to jog and I like to vacation. I became an Auror because I felt like my talents would be est used here and I really don't like people like the Death Eaters. Scum who like to cause pain." He shrugged again. "I'm a pretty normal guy."