Out for a drink

by **Richard Romain** Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:26 am

Richard yawned a little bit as he walked into the Leaky Cauldron. The ministry had been working him like a dog since the end of the school year and he was tired almost everyday now. Everyday it was a case of "do this" or "sniff over there" or even "does this guy look vaguely german?" and it was all rather insulting as well as tiring. Hence his need for a good drink. Sitting down at the bar, he gave the barman a weary look,

"Get me a firewhiskey would you?" he groan a little, "I want to earn the headache I feel coming along."

by Guest Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:36 am

Jake stumbled into the Leaky Cauldron with a groan. He felt like he was going to be sick. This hangover was killing him. He hadn't been sober enough to suffer a hangover in a long time, so this was a very uncomfortable feeling for him. Slowly making his way over to the bar, he adjusted his cheap Hawaiian shirt, Greg at his side, and leaned against the counter.

Hearing the man next to him speaking, Jake chuckled and looked to the barman. “Give me three shots of Ogden's. I have to get rid of this headache and earn another one. Brats to teach and all that,” he said as he sat down on the bar stool. “Bad day?” he asked the guy next to him, raising an eyebrow.

by **Richard Romain** Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:48 am

Richard looked up from his firewhiskey. He could smell dog. Not wet dog or anything. Just... dog. Glancing down he saw a german shepard dog sat obediently next to the guy that had just sat next to him. The man himself was dressed in a hawaiian t-shirt that hurt Richard's eyes a bit. He chuckled a bit and held up his glass,

"You could say that." he smirked a little bit, "How about a toast? To long suffering teachers everywhere... god it sucks to be one of them."

by Guest Mon Nov 28, 2011 3:59 am

Jake blinked once, then twice. “Hey, Professor Romain!” he said in sudden realization as the barman set down his glasses in front of him. “I didn't recognize you for a second there. You look very different outside school.” Maybe it wasn't such a good idea bringing Greg around the man doing the nasty with the Headmistress?

Nonetheless, Jake raised his glass, smiling. “To teachers, may they live long, happy lives, without having to give too many detentions.” Jake couldn't even count how many detentions he gave last year alone...

by **Richard Romain** Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:06 am

Richard chuckled when the man recognised him. He hadn't recognised Jake at the first either so it wasn't like he cold hold it against him. He chuckled,

"When we're out of school it's just Richard, Jake." he replied with a chuckle, "Different huh? I think the word you're looking for is tired. And I'm bloody knackered my friend. You look different as well actual... um... colourful is the word I think."

Reaching down, he scratched the dog behind the ears. He'd smelt the dog around school with his own enhanced sense of smell but it wasn't a problem to him. He chuckled,

"I'll drink to that." he agreed, downing the drink as he did so, "Ah... god damn kids seem to get more annoying every year I swear."

by Guest Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:16 am

“Richard, then,” Jake acknowledged with a smile, saluting his co-worker with a smile. He had to admit, Richard looked a lot more tired now than he did at school. Probably put up a brave face at school, so as to not look too much like a pushover. Jake chuckled at that. It wasn't like he was one to talk. He was, after all, as Richard said, a lot more colorful out of school.

“Hear hear,” he said, downing one of his shots. “It's not that they seem to get more annoying. They are getting more annoying. I mean, I'm building up a resistance to their annoyance, but it's like they actually do get more annoying. I had this one kid conjure a bunch of cockroaches in class, and when I asked why, he just shrugged and said, 'Why not?'”

Jake sighed and downed his second glass. “I swear, one day, I'm going to snap. We're supposed to be preparing these guys for war, not fight a war against them...”

by **Richard Romain** Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:22 am

To be honest Richard had never really had a lot of time to talk to any of his fellow professors outside of termtime other than Briony due to the ministry using him to hunt down German spies but this was actually quite enjoyable so far. He chuckled a little bit and scratched the dog's back so it's back leg started to kick,

"Well if they are getting more annoying it just means we have to be a little bit stricter." he told Jake with a chuckle, "Although how I can top my first lesson scare for the first years I'll never know... I threw knives at them and then transfigured them into sweets for a right answer and a water balloon for a wrong one. I guess I have to leave the wrong answers as knives or something."

At the mention of the war effort, Richard sighed and ordered the bartender to leave the bottle of firewhiskey. Pouring himself a new glass, he emptied it quickly with a sigh,

"You know Jake... I'm German." he told her fellow professor, as if it was news, "And I probably hate Germany than anyone in Britain. If often wonder if that makes me a bad person but I know it means I make a damned good war time teacher. How about you? What you got against Germany?"

by Guest Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:33 am

“You could always transfigure the knives into rocks,” Jake suggested with a shrug, watching Greg submit to Richard's ministrations. “Nice, pointy, hard rocks that are sure to bruise or cut...” Alright, so maybe he was enjoying the thought of harming students a bit too much, but damn it, they were annoying!

Jake downed his last glass and gestured for the barman to keep them coming when Richard told him about his German heritage. He honestly hadn't known, or even suspected that his fellow teacher was German, but then again, he was drunk most of the time when he wasn't teaching, so he didn't pay much attention to anything...

He downed another glass, then repeated the question thoughtfully, “What do I have against Germany...?” He had to think about that for a moment. “Not a damn thing,” he said finally. “I guess a couple of Germans killed my parents, but what am I gonna do about it? Get revenge? Nah, I just do what I'm told when I'm told, and just try to keep my nose out of trouble.”

by **Richard Romain** Mon Nov 28, 2011 4:44 am

Richard thought about the idea for a few moments while he continued to pet the dog,

"That's a very good idea actually." he told his fellow professor with a grin, "I like it. Of course I'll be sure not to throw very hard. Child safety blah blah blah."

Richard frowned a little bit at hearing what his countrymen had done. There was a reason he'd defected to the British after all. He'd taken a look around him one day and he realised that the German people had changed when he'd been away training in alchemy and transfiguration. He wasn't sure when and he wasn't sure how but they had,

"Well... revenge doesn't solve anything I'll admit. Took me six corpses to figure that out." he agreed with his fellow professor, "Keep calm and carry on. That's the british saying right?"

by Guest Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:21 pm

Keep calm and carry on... Now that definitely sounded like something the British would say. Jake downed his drink with a smile. “I wouldn't really know. I'm Irish, after all,” he said, finally feeling the booze taking effect. His headache and nausea were fading away to be replaced by a pleasant buzz.

“So, six corpses, huh?” Jake asked calmly. “Care to share your 'history of war' (Jake used air quotes for that) so that we'll have more reason to drink?” Drinking, after all, needed a reason. If you drank only for the sake of drinking, then you ended up on the slippery slope of alcoholism, and Jake would never admit to being one.

by **Richard Romain** Tue Nov 29, 2011 4:23 am

Richard chuckled at that. Even in Germany they'd heard about how the Irish liked to be called Irish instead of British, even those from the northern parts, which were part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was amusing to a German. It was like admitting that you were Bavarian but not German,

"Ah Irish..." he smirked a little, "I have a friend who's Irish actually. Can't believe I never noticed your accent... I must be slipping."

At the mention of the six corpses, Richard blinked a few times as the memories flashed in front of his eyes. Every detail. Every cut, every puncture, every slash and every horrible thing. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them, smiling a hollow smile,

"Six corpses. My father, my mother, my three brothers and my first wife." he told his fellow professor, pouring himself another drink, "I was young. Much too young when I had my first wife forced upon me. I liked her as a friend but as a wife? Jesus it was the most awkward thing in the world. But my father wanted me to have children. I refused. He killed her."

Here, Richard paused for a few seconds, playing with his wedding ring, the one he had received the day he married Briony. There was no comparing the two. His first wife had been a friend, nothing more. Briony... well Briony was his reason to exist. He gulped down his drink,

"So I spent the next three weeks slowly killing my father and the rest of my family." he poured himself another drink, "And suddenly I feel like I need another bottle..."

by Guest Tue Nov 29, 2011 1:52 pm

“I can't believe it, either,” Jake said. He loved his accent, and so did the women. To think that someone didn't notice it was... well, it was unthinkable!

Wow, Richard had a very unlucky family, to have lost them all. Hopefully- Wait, did he just say that his father killed his wife? Jake stared in shock as Richard told his tale. When he was done, Jake patted him on the back and looked to the barman.

“Oi, barman! I'll take a pint of mead and a bottle of Ogden's. We're gonna need to get nice and drunk here today,” he said, and the barman nodded. Within moments, Jake had a tankard in front of him, and Richard had a bottle of Odgen's. “Now this is delicious,” Jake said and started chugging the mead.

“Aah,” he gave off a satisfied sigh as he set down the how half-empty tankard. Then, as they always did when he was buzzed, Jake blinked and realized something. “Wow, the funeral costs must have been a right pain for you.”

by **Richard Romain** Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:32 am

"Well it's like you not noticing my german accent." he smirked a little and drank a little, "Sure, it's slightly reduced but it's still damn sexy apparently."

Richard didn't like to accept pity for his life in most cases. He'd taken his shitty life and made something great out of it after all. However this dislike of being pitied did not include passing up free alcohol. While not an alcoholic by any means, Richard liked to drink,

"You're too kind my friend." he thanked Jake, pouring himself some ogden's before swallowing it down in one, grinning as the firey taste hit him, "That's the stuff... if it doesn't burn your throat then it isn't alcohol as far as I'm concerned."

At the mention of funeral costs, Richard laughed. He knew that he probably shouldn't but he did. He shook his head after he stopped laughing,

"Ah... not really, no." he wiped a small tear from his eye, "I'm an alchemist my friend... there is no waste material to me. My first wife I sent her to her gods on a funeral pyre. My so called family? I broke their bodies down into their component elements and put them into jars and boxes."

by Guest Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:31 pm

"Here's to accents," Jake said, raising his shot glass and downing it. He loved girls who loved accents. They were so easy to woo, in Jake's opinion. A few lines spoken with an Irish accent, and he had them eating out of the palm of his hand.

"Ah... not really, no. I'm an alchemist my friend... there is no waste material to me. My first wife I sent her to her gods on a funeral pyre. My so called family? I broke their bodies down into their component elements and put them into jars and boxes."

Jake blinked again, then gave a short laugh. "So it was a straight win for you, then? I wasn't so lucky. I had to bury my parents, and the funeral cost was more than I really wanted to imagine, let alone pay..." he muttered, emptying his tankard.