September 30th, 1888 - The Augurey Beak Cafe

This letter nonsense really had everyone all over the place. Kieran, as someone who wrote stories and so did not appear in them, was finding this all very amusing. (He probably would find it significantly less amusing if Jude got one.) As someone who was not a social and gossip reporter, he found it even more amusing, because it meant that his workload was significantly lessened as they scrambled around trying to learn things in time for copy. Hilarious.

He was reading the day's Witch Weekly, which he had actually purchased that morning, and drinking whiskey while seated at the bar. This was all to say that Kieran was in his happy place. The other good thing was, given that it was a Sunday, the bar wasn't even crowded. He couldn't have made this better if he tried. A former candidate for Minister married a female auror, the head auror had married that girl he kept cavorting around with, and he could not wait to see who else had been made a fool of. This prankster was, possibly, Kieran's new favorite person. He probably would have felt actual sympathy if the prank had impacted anyone who felt real to him. While Key ran into aurors when he was on work assignments, that did not mean that reporter-auror interactions were ever anything that even approached human. And besides that, the concept of a debutante was so far removed from his existence that he could not even picture the new Mrs. Umbridge as a real person.

Apparently the universe was conspiring to make this better for him, because who spilled through the doors of the Augurey but Eileen's friend Tala. Kieran's face lit up with mischief as soon as he saw her come through the doors; he straightened in his seat. His eyebrows shot up. He couldn't help but grin. Because in addition to being Eileen's friend, Tala had deployed quite the display with Asha the other day, or so Kieran was told. (That he had missed this was a tragedy. He had nearly fallen off of his barstool when told about it.)

Tala looked rather harried, but Kieran decided not to put too much mind to that. They weren't close enough friends for him to be that concerned about it, and the opportunity to poke fun outweighed any arguments in favor of being concerned for a friendly acquaintance. Maybe one of her plants was ill. That seemed like something that would happen to a herbologist.

"Are you looking for Mr. Bilton?" he asked. Key did not even bother to keep the snark out of his tone. Tala had lost her ability to avoid snark with her public display of affection; if Asha had been with her, Kieran would have been even more obnoxious. "Or our dear Eileen?"

Either, Kieran figured, were equally likely. Unfortunately for Tala, Eileen was stuck at work, and Asha was nowhere to be found. And so she was stuck with Kieran. He did not anticipate that she would decide to stick around for very long.

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Her brain was fried, her whole body hurt, she was wearing two rings at the moment and Tala just wanted to go home and collapse in her own bed and pretend it all never happened. But she couldn't not after the letter that arrived from Gervaise earlier in the day. Her heart ached the most and she just needed a sympathetic ear to bend. Unfortunately Leeny would have to do. Her very un-romantic friend was going to have to find it in her to help Tala problem solve and that was that.

Without having even been home, Tal had tried to freshen up as best she could before heading to the Cauldron to find Eileen. No luck. Tala figured since she was in the Alley anyway, she may as well check the ABC, though she was loathe to do so, she was also not prepared to show up at Eileen's flat unannounced and probably in tears by then. At least she'd be able to keep herself together in public.

Or so she thought. Abernathy's jab was not what she was expecting as she sheepishly trekked into the bar to a small chorus of congratulations. Groaning she made a beeline straight for him and whipped out her wand, jinxing his tongue to the roof of his mouth. "I don't have time for you. Is Eileen here or at your place?" He could still nod, even though he couldn't talk.

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Well then, Kieran thought. He gave an experimental tug of his tongue against the roof of his mouth and found that, nope, it was just stuck. Tala was even crankier than he'd anticipated. And with his tongue stuck to the top of his mouth, it was impossible to have another sip of his drink in response to her comment, or at least very difficult. He was concerned enough about the choking risks to not want to try it either way. Kieran fixed Tala with his best exasperated look, complete with a dead-eyed expression. He would have been more inclined to help her if it weren't for the jinx, he thought, although to be entirely honest he was never going to be very likely to help her out when he was in this sort of mood.

If he wasn't going to help Tala, but he also couldn't say something snarky, then what could he do? Kieran looked into her eyes, his own flicking back and forth as he created the guise of being in deep thought - like he was really, really thinking of where he could find Eileen. He pulled his small reporter's notebook out of his trouser pocket and flipped through the pages of handwritten notes and quotes until he got to a blank page. He pulled a piece of artist's charcoal out of his other pocket after it - he'd been looking for a quill but, honestly, the charcoal would do nicely for at-mo-sphere. Never let it be said that Kieran wasn't dramatic when it suited him.

He held the notebook up towards him as he scrawled the note in his usual quick handwriting. Kieran then gave Tala the same annoyed, exasperated expression as beforehand, and turned the notebook around so that the page faced her. Written in big letters was his helpful note: FUCK OFF.

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   Prudence Browne

Tala watched him, eyes meeting his, narrowed and wondering if he would in fact be useful, but in true Abernathy form, he was infuriatingly annoying. His little note had her balling up her fists at her sides so that she didn't wrap them around his neck. "Charming," She nearly spat it at him, her breath a smooth hiss of annoyance and frustration. Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes, but she'd kill him before she let him see her cry.

With another flick of her wrist she undid the jinx, but kept her wand handy, in case she felt the need to do something worse. "Such a way with words for someone who considers himself a writer." She almost growled. Normally she found his entire persona amusing, right about now, when she was already down, she didn't appreciate being kicked too. "I already checked the Cauldron, I just would like to know if she's gone home. It wouldn't kill you to just nod or shake your head. I've had a shitty day, alright." Not that there was anything objectionable about Asha, but she was already engaged and more importantly in love, with somebody else and somehow, through no fault of her own, she'd ruined it.

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At least she undid the jinx rather than punch him. Both had been, Kieran thought, distinct possibilities.

Kieran flipped the notebook back shut and slipped it into his trouser pocket. The 'FUCK OFF' page would probably come in handy sooner or later. (Hell, it could come in handy the next time he had to train Nuffer.) He stretched his tongue around inside his mouth, just to make sure there was none of the jinx left in it, and took a sip of his whiskey. It wasn't worth rising to the bait about being a writer, not so soon after his jab with the notebook, and it did look like Tala Moreno was having a bad day. Fine, maybe he could act like not an asshole for at least a few seconds. He set his whiskey back down on the bar.

"I haven't seen her since she left for work this morning," Kieran said, quirking his eyebrows up at Tala. "But it didn't sound like she was going to go home straight away, so I don't think she's there, either." It was possible, but it was not necessarily likely. Eileen could be a wanderer when she wanted to be, when she needed to be. Kieran didn't pry. Eileen did him the same courtesy. And even though he was not sure, he did not want to send Tal to their slanted tenement building if there was no purpose to it. The building could be trial enough off its own.

"What's wrong with your day?" he asked, curious, no snark in his tone this time. He kicked the barstool next to him as some sort of offering. She could join him, or she could decide not to, and if she didn't join him then he was perfectly happy to go back to reading his trashy magazine.

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set by MJ!

Huffing out a dramatic sigh, maybe she should just give up and go home. Perhaps Grams and Auntie Cara would have some insight on the matter. Some ancient wisdom of women who knew better. A drink, a drink would definitely help with that, so as Kieran kicked out the stool, she climbed onto it and quickly ordered a double.

His inquiry as to what was making today a nightmare earned him what would have looked like she was flipping him off, except it was her ring finger, showing off the simple band that bonded her to Asha. Her engagement ring was still obstinately placed on her right hand and refused to take either off for the moment. "Eloped... by accident. Certainly not by choice." It had to have been that stupid pink letter. That was when she remembered the euphoria beginning. Ughhh.

She then lifted her other hand to show the pretty engagement given to her by Gervaise. "Problem was, I was already engaged." Her scotch arrived and she took a large swig of the healthy pour, the burn feeling incredibly relevant at the moment.

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Kieran shifted around his seat to face the bar once more, and leaned on his hand and looked at her. For a second, he did think she was flipping him off. Then his eyes focused on her finger and on the bands on it, and his mouth opened in a little 'o' of surprise. He had forgotten that she was engaged, or perhaps he had never known that she was engaged, but either way this all came with an unexpected jolt. Immediately Kieran felt some level of genuine sympathy for her, but he also was very deeply amused by this. In the name of not laughing at Tala, though, because she'd probably jinx him again, he took a sip of his whiskey. Mustering verbal sympathy was not a skill Kieran had ever mastered. Or tried to master, really.

"You eloped with Asha, then?" Kieran said, after the whiskey burned its way down. That would explain the public display of affection, then. (He was not going to stop making fun of Asha about that anytime soon, never mind the circumstances involved.) "Because of this?" he poked his index finger into the Witch Weekly headline; it read 'MATCHMAKING MAYHEM' in big letters under the photos of the more-notable elopees the magazine had picked out. Key had never anticipated the incident hitting so close to home, but he seriously doubted that there was anything else going on that would make people elope for no good reason.

He wished that he could remember the name of Tala's fiance, but if he couldn't remember that she was engaged, he was certainly never going to master that. But. Sucked to be that guy; second ring, fancier ring, so he probably had more money than Asha did. (Almost everyone had more money than Asha did.) And now his fiancee was just gone - unless there was something Tala planned on doing about this.

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Letting Kieran process in silence, Tal wasn't sure if she'd actually stunned him into sympathy or if he was formulating his next sarcastic quip, but at least his next comment was more of a statement of the obvious. She'd been about to reply in kind when she noticed what he held up.

That Merlin-forsaken gossip rag.

Tala snatched it out of his hands to look at it more closely. The people on the front cover were people who society actually knew of and apparently cared about. Tal flipped to the main article and skimmed it despite the fact that every word made her blood boil. She was a nobody, why on Earth had she been included? The only time she'd even been mentioned in print had been a short feature in the Prophet on her work with wand quality trees. Years ago at this point.

Sighing in a defeated manner, Tal tossed it back on the bar top. "Wonderful, just fucking wonderful. Is nothing sacred around here?" So it had been that stupid pink letter that she'd lost and therefore had no proof. She wondered if Gervaise would believe her anyway. She had the sinking feeling, based on his letters, that the answer would be a resounding no. Looking at the engagement ring sadly, she blinked back a few tears and tried to hide them behind her scotch.

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Kieran wasn't very interested in hearing Tala smacktalk Witch Weekly, but also wasn't very interested in defending them. So. He sipped his whiskey, watched her out of the corner of his eye, and hoped that she wouldn't start crying. Kieran didn't typically do well with crying, in that he was too Irish to handle the expression of emotions other than anger.

"So," Kieran said, "Do you know what you're going to do about the - er, other fellow?"

Probably she didn't. Definitely she didn't, if she was looking for Eileen and Eileen's advice. That probably meant that either she or Asha didn't qualify for an elopement - which was, he supposed, partially their own fault. If they had just gone to bed or jumped over a broomstick like other members of the working class, there would be no legal arrangement at all, and it probably would have cost less money. (Kieran didn't think it was a good time to point this out.)

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Well wasn't that the question of her life. She'd already written to Gervaise begging for a chance to explain, but he hadn't replied yet. It wouldn't stop her from going to see him, but gauging by his reaction so far, to the other letter, the heartbreaking, embarrassing, uncharacteristic letter she'd sent under the influence, she was fighting an uphill battle.

"Don't know," They first had to find a way to annul the elopement, then everything could may, hopefully start sliding back into place. At least she knew why and what exactly happened now. If only she had that stupid letter still in her possession as some kind of proof. Ugh. Tal took another long sip of her whiskey and sighed. "This is so fucked up, where do people get off on screwing with other people's lives like that." She muttered over her glass, a scowl pulling down the corners of her mouth. Granted eloping was perhaps a dramatic slant on the whole thing, but Merlin's beard she would rather be accidentally married than a whore who just jumped into bed with somebody. At least marriage held some level of affection.

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Kieran shrugged. He bit back a comment with some effort: I don't know, they probably get off on it. Tala was an asshole, but she was also a lady, or at least more of a lady than Eileen was, so he probably ought to refrain from making sexually explicit comments in her earshot. Also, he wasn't convinced that she wouldn't punch him.

Instead he said, "If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't have to have a day job."

Privately he supposed that Tala's engagement was doomed, but he wasn't going to say that, either. She could come to that conclusion by herself, or with someone else's gentler prodding.

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Shooting back the rest of her whiskey, Tal tossed a couple of coins onto the counter, enough to cover both her drink and Kieran's, and slid from her bar stool. This little endeavor had done little to sooth her nerves, more like rattle them enough to take it out on Kieran. She best be on her way.

"And what a day job it is. Alright, if Eileen isn't around here I may as well go home." Leeny probably wasn't ready to deal with this meltdown without sufficient warning anyway. "If you see her just have her shoot me an owl?" He had no reason to, but Tala supposed it was a harmless enough request in the end. If he didn't or didn't remember it wasn't the end of the world either.

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