"There are questions I can't ask"

outfit

OPEN

    Adrian had decided that he was up for a short vacation. Free of the obligations of the Ministry, of the shop, of his parents. They were stretching him far too thin and if things continued in the same way, he would end up doing something regretful. Adrian always knew better than to get himself into trouble, than to do things he could not undo, but desperation made people do foolish things. It was better, therefore, to just take a break. He could go anywhere, really, because all he had to do was request a long distance portkey on time and go. The possible destinations were endless, everywhere in the world was an option, but he didn't feel up to some adventure in an exotic place. He could have gone to Germany, to the Black Forest where he could rent a small cabin and be at peace by himself for days on end. At first, he had considered that, but he always hated traveling by portkey. It was too quick, it was too sudden. It didn't make him feel like he traveled at all. Maybe it was a disgustingly muggle thought of him, but he really thought that he would rather take a train and experience the passage of time. Getting away from everything, feeling it physically. It was a relief.
    He wouldn't be going far. He still wanted to be able to apparate home in case something happened. There were the house elves that should be able to warn him. His mother could go crazy, his father could go crazy, there could be an emergency at the shop. He wouldn't be leaving the UK, therefore, but he would have the feeling of going somewhere far away by traveling for many hours at a time. He had packed his bags with clothing and books and interesting things, though he would probably get more in any little shop he found somewhere. As was his custom, however, he had arrived far too early. It was a magic-muggle mixed train and he had gotten his own compartment in a magical-only carriage, but the train would be departing from a muggle platform. Even if the carriage itself wasn't visible to the creatures' eyes, he preferred not having to wait amongst them. The obvious option would've been to arrive more on the dot, but that really went against his nature. Therefore, he had decided to wait somewhere the muggles could not invade. He'd hoped that platform 9 3/4 would be open still as he'd made his way over. It was far too crowded to go in, however, and he stopped before getting to the pillars. Instead, he took a seat some ways away with a sigh. Taking out a notebook and a fountain pen from his inner pocket, he started to oversee his latest research notes.

"Now at last, the worst is over"

► kaigra ◄

honey, we
should
run away

❧

Valentina had always loved writing on trains.

There were days when she would just take a loop because she needed the change of scenery. And — with the constant movement of a train — she was able to experience cityscapes and scenic routes alike within a few short hours. It did wonders for her creative juices. Today, she was on her way to an appointment a few hours away but instead of apparating, Val had decided to buy a ticket for the train. After all, that was where all her best ideas usually came to her. Sitting in a private compartment, she could spin the wildest tales. Some that even her readers wouldn’t believe. After she disembarked, she would hand over her ideas to her Gossips and they would make certain that the magazine came together. She was the visionary and they were the executioners.

Her appointment this evening was in response to an anonymous post she’d posted a few days ago. She’d told informants to meet her at the Royal Oak Pub. They would be the ones who would feed her information. Little things that they knew about local celebrities, run-ins they’d had with the larger famous faces. She was eager for all of it. Thus far, the flow of information had been adequate since she had set up shop in London. People were anxious to turn in their own gossip, or tidbits of information about their friends. That was why Vexed had become so popular in such a small amount of time. Everyone wanted to read about the celebrities — whether it was true or not — but they also wanted to have their hand in the pot. They wanted to feel like they had their own little slice of gossip. They wanted to feel important.

And they were. Without her little spiders — as she’d taken to calling them — there would be no Vexed. They were terribly important.

As she arrived at the station, Valentina paused, checking the time on the large clock that loomed overhead. There were still a few minutes more before the train was scheduled to arrive. Damn, she hated when she was early. Just as trains were so therapeutic for her writing, stations were so stifling. There were always too many people: children running after their parents as to not get lost, women saying goodbye to their husbands as they boarded trains, the elderly looking…lost. Val found herself rolling her eyes as she took a seat on one of the benches nearby, next to a man who was busy pouring over writing of his own. She wanted to know what was in his pages — what webs of his own he was spinning with that ink pen of his, but it would be rude to simply lean over and take a peek at what he was doing. “Afternoon,” she greeted with a thin smile.

@adrian | Outfit

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"There are questions I can't ask"

Same Outfit

@ valentina

    Anyone who ever called Adrian a social person was lying. His mother used to do that all the time, she was convinced that he was this friendly boy just because the few people that he did consider friends weren't what one would call 'useful'. Of course, coming from her, the word friendly wasn't a compliment or a praise, it was said with such disappointment that he found himself arguing with her every single time. No, he was not being friendly. No, Marcus and Alex weren't exactly suave or particularly charismatic but that wasn't why he kept them around anyway. She just didn't understand- Adrian now found it amusing, the lengths to which he'd gone to explain away the fact that he'd just grown fond of their ways. Even if they annoyed and exasperated him half the time, even if they made messes that he had to clean up for them over and over again, he felt responsible for their clumsy efforts. They were his friends and he didn't have many of those, so he figured he might as well keep them. After all, he'd known them since he was a boy and they may not be like him, but they were some of the few people that knew him. After all, he didn't like new people. It was rarely a pleasure to meet someone new, it was more often a hassle and an annoyance. That was why, the longer he sat there in the middle of the crowded train station, the more he started to doubt his decision to take the public transport. As much as he may like riding trains there were some things that just weren't worth socialising for.
    Someone sat beside him and he tried really hard not to let out a sound of annoyance. There was space on the bench, he really shouldn't be complaining about someone taking a seat on public property. He shouldn't. Then again, he could complain about a stranger talking to him when he was clearly busy and trying to concentrate. This was complicated stuff, he busied himself with ruinology and necromancy on the lightest of days and at the moment he was overseeing his notes on one of the latest dark artefacts he'd bought from Theo. Nott always did set him on edge, creepy shite that he was, but he had useful finds more often than not. They always did fetch a good price. Then again, it would be irresponsible to put it out on sale without knowing at least what it did or what its dangers were. There came his own expertise on the matter and the research he had to do. Admittedly, while he was perfectly capable of doing the research, he was no curse breaker. It happened rarely that he had to ask someone for their opinion or to step in, but it did sometimes. Perhaps he would need to talk to Draco about this one, he would see.
    The woman spoke and Adrian's eyes froze on the page. Capping his fountain pen and closing the notebook, he looked up at her. It wouldn't do to show any of his notes to a stranger. The object, so far, seemed to have some sort of possession spell. A very violent one. No, it would not do, so he put it away and looked at the woman with a politely blank expression. "Afternoon, madam."

"Now at last, the worst is over"

► kaigra ◄

honey, we
should
run away

❧

Valentina had always been a curious person.

She liked to butt into other people’s business. In fact, it was this quality that made her very good at what she did. She craved knowledge, information about other people that lay just beneath the surface. And right now — at this moment — she craved to know what her handsome, dark stranger was hiding in that notebook of his. But, just as quickly as she had approached him, he had capped the pen and shut the notebook with such calm that Val wondered if it was anything at all. Perhaps he was just people watching, or journaling. She raised her eyebrows. Were all people in England so…strange? She had to admit, she rather liked it.

Her children, however, were a different story. Luna had taken to guilt-tripping both Val and Santiago at every turn. Moving to London hadn’t been exactly what she’d had in mind for her fifteenth birthday. Dario seemed to be adjusting, but Valentina rarely worried about her charismatic son. And Graciela…well, Graciela was never one for settling down somewhere, so Val rarely had to worry about her oldest daughter. The others…well, they were still in school. It made things more difficult. Come September 1, they would transfer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A Beauxbatons graduate herself, Valentina had very little frame of reference for her children’s new school.

Santi had assured her that everything would be fine. He had convinced her that they would love it. Though, her ex-husband was apter than most at adjusting to change. Val rolled her eyes when she thought about him. He’d always been naive. Santi probably also believed that Graciela was still a virgin.

The man offered her a smile and in returned, she exchanged one from herself. Glancing down at her watch, she couldn’t help but wonder when the train was due to arrive. As the minutes ticked onwards, her patience wore thin. Drumming her fingers against the hard leather of her handbag, she looked out over the crowd. “Are you waiting on the five o’clock train?” Her eyes barely moved from the horizon, only drifting for a moment to meet his. She was obviously probing about his travel plans and perhaps something more. Valentina smirked before she turned her full attention to him once again. “London’s transit system is a breeze compared to Barcelona’s,” she paused, extending her hand. “Valentina De la Vega, editor of Vexed magazine.”

@ adrian

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"There are questions I can't ask"

outfit

@ val

    Adrian always did like riding trains. He thought it must somehow be connected to going to Hogwarts, escaping from his mother and grandmother's house as a child. Of course, he loved them and had always been loyal to them, always looked after them as well as he could. The truth still was that his mother had always been somewhat depressed since his father's arrest and combining that with a full time job had resulted in Adrian seeing very little of her growing up. That left him alone with his grandmother and that was not really a kid-friendly environment. The woman was, for all intents and purposes, insane. She had never been violent or unkind, her mind was just not there and she often forgot where she was or where grandfather was and remembering that all over made her... volatile. Her way of dealing with the world was forgetting everything about it that she didn't like and for Adrian, as a young child, that had been rather stressful. He'd descended into silence and calm in order to deal with it all. Gran was sick, he had to support her and learn from her whenever she was lucid enough to remember his name. After her passing, he was left alone in that house, haunted by the state in which he'd found her and the silence echoing so strongly that it entered his soul and never came out. Hogwarts was an escape.
    The school itself had been fine, he wasn't a particularly sociable person and he wasn't interested in everything he was taught, but it was passable. What mattered was that he was away from that oppressive household. No matter how much he may love his mother, he didn't want to live with her. Maybe that was why he loved trains so much, he associated them with getting away from something. With fleeing and leaving things behind, if only for a while. Where before he'd been leaving his home behind, now he was leaving his boredom behind. Not for long, he had his work at the Ministry and his shop and both of his parents to take care of, but for a while, at least, he would be at peace. That was important, he would be able to recharge his energy and start again. Being able to breathe better and not thinking that burning everything and himself to the ground would be more entertaining than sitting in his office and teaching little pureblood brats how to be hit wizards. Entitled little shits that they were, wouldn't know war if it hit them in the face. This was why he didn't want children, though of course his parents insisted that he ought to marry and procreate soon. Whenever they were lucid, of course. Somehow, it seemed that mental illness ran in the family. That, of course, had only been accelerated by all of their trips to Azkaban. Thankfully, his stay there had been short. But a year, give or take a couple of months.
    "I suppose so." Strange women striking up conversation wasn't the worst thing that could ever happen to him, but it was up there somewhere. Conversation wasn't a fun thing for him and strange women... only occasionally. When they didn't talk much because he wasn't a talker. Same went for lads, no need to start thinking he was only criticising the women. He criticised everybody for talking too much. Truly, there was no need for it. Ever. "Things are calmer here, I guess." A conversation starter? Oh, you're from Barcelona? I've heard lots of good things about it, never been. What's it like? Perhaps that was what she was aiming for. To start a conversation or make herself seem interesting. Or perhaps Adrian was just bitter and didn't like interacting with the people he liked, let alone the people he didn't know. "Adrian Pucey." Anything else was really none of her business. Especially the writer of a... rag magazine. What a gross thing to waste one's life on.

Words: 667

"Now at last, the worst is over"

► kaigra ◄