11th August, 1888 — Minister's Post-Fog Reception

"The drinks are free, right?" Tybalt said, only half joking, as he cheerfully toasted the person at his side by the refreshment table, particularly refreshing after a long ceremony (that was, in truth, as dull as the Irvingly adventure had been thrilling). "Be a shame to start eating into my reward-money tonight!"

The expression on his face was equally as cheerful as his tone, pleased to have been given something for his troubles, even if his group had not been among those to precisely... solve anything. The six galleons were certainly something, and it was no sum to laugh at, or rather: Tybalt would have been laughing - it was a week's pay! - if the fog had not gone and put him out an apparent month's wage in the first place. As it was, his pockets were as light as ever. (Now that he had pockets again, and not fur.)

It was yet another sign to give up quidditch, it seemed, Tyb mused with a sigh. Perhaps he should be using the evening to schmooze his way into a Ministry job. Maybe he would... after one more celebratory drink.

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"Cheers to that!" Asha toasted to Mr. Kirke, delighted to run into the gentleman again. Being the only two to have remained from their group appeared to have created a friendly bond that Asha had only been too happy to participate in at this event. He was wildly out of place in what he had thought his finest suit - it didn't even stand against what anyone was wearing and even having brought his camera to the event (yes, the new one that his fine six galleons had actually managed to get him) he still felt entirely awkward despite being here for a duel purpose as work and well.... being invited. But he was use to such feelings and glad for a friendly face in the crowd.

"I have to admit Mr. Kirke, it's quite good to see you in a less feline state." Asha hadn't seen his group mate since they'd been taken in for questioning when the casino's maze finally disappeared.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

Tyb was particularly pleased to have found Bilton again at this event. Although he didn't know the man, and the mere nights of the expedition - it had felt nothing at all like a month - had not afforded them much time to small-talk, apparently all it took was a boulder or two to make the man feel like an old friend.

Or maybe it was a bit more than the boulders - Tybalt couldn't exactly imagine things would have turned out quite as cheerfully if it had gotten down to him and, say, Skeeter. As it was, it didn't much matter to him whether Mr. Bilton was being sincere or teasing him about the, er, minor catastrophe in the pyramid-casino; Tyb grinned broadly either way. "I won't lie, it's quite good to be in a less feline state," he admitted, waving a hand about as if to revel in the fact he could stand on two legs again.

"Wasn't entirely convinced I'd make it back to myself," he said, laughing aloud (a little in relief), "although -" he hadn't seen himself, so this may not be true, and he may have been the mangiest mog to ever touch the face of the earth, but - "I expect I would have made a purrfectly fine cat in the long-term, with a little more practice."

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   Prudence Browne

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“Yes, I rather suppose you would.” Asha agreed with a chuckle. “With the reflexes you had. What with quidditch and all that.” Asha had learned a bit more about Mr. Kirke than when they had first started out. “I do imagine boulders are bit rougher than buldgers though.” He continued conversationally, taking a large gulp of his pint at that statement. “Can’t say there’ll be a day where I ever look at a rock as an innocent being again.” He shook his head with another chuckle and lighthearted shrug of his shoulders.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

Tybalt grinned at the comments - compliment of his reflexes, and whatnot. Although if it hadn’t been for Bilton’s quick moving, Tyb wasn’t sure he’d have survived being made a boulder pancake back in the pyramid-casino!

He laughed uproariously at the last sentence, too, though there was a nugget of truth in that; Tyb suspected the only reason he had been sleeping so soundly was that he had been too exhausted for paranoia, else he’d be waking up in cold sweats and images of twisting pathways and boils and ominous animal jars. “I’m with you there,” he agreed, still chuckling. “I expect once I get back on the pitch, the bludgers will look downright cuddly after that boulder.”

Once he got back on the pitch, though, his time facing bludgers at all would already be dwindling. ‘Til season’s end, and that was all he had. No doubt he would be appreciating the bludgers more than ever. “And what about you, Mr. Bilton?” Tybalt said cheerily, instead. “What’s your day job that you’ll be back to?” He grinned, joking as an afterthought, “Time did fly so with you, I never got a real chance to ask.”

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“Don’t get to cuddly with them.” Asha advised with a snort of laughter. “ ‘Spect they won’t like that too much.”

Fly was one way to put it. The venture itself had hardly seemed more than three days (although Asha rather had lost count of time in the casino pyramid thing) but they’d been told it had been a month. He was still trying to wrap his head around that one. “You could say that. I work for the Prophet. Photographer.” He explained. It was still a shame that his camera had broken for the Prophet would have paid a handsome sum for photos of the venturers. Granted if his camera hadn’t broken would he still have gone? He liked to think he might have simply to get the photos, but he honestly wasn’t real sure. Perhaps if he hadn’t gotten stuck in Hogsmeade in the first place he might not have, but, well knowing what he did now he certainly felt he might avoid such ventures going forward.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

Tybalt fell into chuckling at Bilton's advice. "You'll just have to watch me try," he joked, as though he didn't know perfectly well what bludgers were like. No doubt he'd get a few bruised ribs out of the endeavour. Mind you - if he was quitting anyway, what was there to fear from injuries? If he got himself roughed up enough, he might be forced to retire, and that'd save him from chickening out, would make sure he wouldn't want to go back.  

The thought of maiming himself as a means to an end was not, funnily enough, a particularly pleasant one, so Tyb soon shook the notion away and grinned at Bilton again. "Ah," he declared, looking over the man again, and what had perhaps been a telling clue nearby. "I s'pose that explains the camera!" (Well, he wouldn't have known for sure; he could've been a keen amateur, perhaps.)

"Gotten any good shots yet today?" The camera hadn't come along with Bilton on the expedition, which was - well, probably a good thing - but Tybalt could hardly imagine even a group shot of the winning team would be quite as thrilling as the interior of the casino-cum-pyramid. He almost wished they'd gotten photographic proof of all that: there was already little enough to tell that it hadn't all been a strange, vivid dream.

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Asha had almost forgotten the camera by his side and laugh. “Yes, you’re looking at my winnings there.” He explained with a shrug. The nice part of the new camera was that it did not have a stand or cover. In fact it was likely the most modern thing that Asha had ever owned. “The last met its unfortunate demise in the fog.” Perhaps a good thing for this one was much lighter to carry around.

“A few.” He shrugged. “To be honest, one picture of the crowd will be good enough. Not like it’s the inside of a Casino turned Pyramid. Most readers will likely just glimpse at whose here and whatnot.” Event pictures were okay, but he knew there were a million of things that were fun to take pictures of rather than speeches and dinner. Carnivals, fog, spells and duels, he could go on, but really he supposed the reason he didn’t like event pictures such as these was simply because of how out of place he was.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

Tyb winced sympathetically at the fate of the last camera, but did peer in interest at the new one. Looked fancy. And - well, at least someone else had spent their winnings faster than him. That almost made him feel better about not feeling better at all about the problem of money.

"Yeah, not quite," he agreed, making a face as he idly scanned the room which was, by all accounts, much less awe-inspiring than any casino or any pyramid, never mind a magically-melded combination of the two. "Eh, who cares about the crowd at all," Tybalt declared, mouth spreading into a mischievous grin. "Just take one of me, that'll be enough to satisfy the public." He made a show of taking a pose for a split-second, before descending into laughter.

"Or - you might have just taken a self-portrait and been done with it," Tybalt added, with a less obnoxious grin, "and that way you'd have saved yourself from that bore of a ceremony." Of course Bilton had been invited as a guest, and not to work, like the rest of them, but - well, he wouldn't have blamed anyone for skipping it. At least this part of the reception had always been destined to be better than the earlier formalities, whether or not this gathering could be classed as lively. "Shame we didn't end the curse," Tybalt added thoughtfully. Not that he had the faintest idea of what the winning team had done to bring things back to normality.

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Watching Kirke strike a pose Asha chuckled. Likely viewers wouldn't mind seeing the popular quidditch player, but the man didn't hold his pose long enough. "I suppose I could have. But they'll be looking for more than just an unlucky bloke who went on the venture. Winners and politicians grab attention." Asha shrugged lightly.

"Shame." Asha agreed. He could have done quite a bit with those earnings. But he'd make do as he always did. "I thought we might have been getting close. But... I suppose with the next one we might have a bit more luck." He joked with a wink. Not that there would be a next one. He hoped.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

"The next one, huh?" Tyb replied, cocking his head inquisitively. "Do you know something I don't, Bilton?" The wink had given it away that the man was only teasing - but still! It wasn't too far-fetched to think those affiliated with the Prophet might be first to know something the rest of the public didn't, and not impossible that the wizarding world might be wracked with a second disaster mere moments after the first.

Not that Tybalt would entirely mind, replaying the experience. Pity wild death-defying adventuring was no more a more sensible career than quidditch, else he might've considered it as his new professional path. If Bilton came along too, at any rate, they'd have no trouble!

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With an easy chuckle Asha shook his head. "Nah, I just have the unfortunate habit of finding myself in situations that are less than lucky." He told Kirke breezily. "So I suppose between that and how often Hogsmeade seems to suffer the same fate it's only a matter of time before something else happens." He shrugged.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

Tybalt laughed riotously, both at the fact of Bilton's words and the casual manner in which he said them. Less than lucky, eh? The expedition in the fog was plenty proof of that, perhaps, but now Tybalt was entirely intrigued, and he had an uncanny feeling this Mr. Bilton had probably had a good story or two to tell in his life. And of his life. He seemed an all round interesting fellow.

"Stick with me, Bilton," Tybalt teased, although privately he still felt himself particularly fortunate to have had the other man on hand to pull him out of that boulder's path, "and my good luck'll balance yours out, to be sure. We'll do all right." All joking aside: he did like Mr. Bilton. (And, he supposed - if he was not going to be a quidditch player forever... or for much longer... well, he could use a friend or two outside the sport.)

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Asha couldn’t help but laugh with Kirke. Really it was easy to see the humor in the situations he often found himself in. But he knew that things got better. For any variety of reasons. Sticking with Kirke may just be a rather enjoyable one. “We may just have to test that theory Kirke.”

The speeches were wrapping up and their drinks were nearly finished. It appeared that this event might very well be coming to a close. “Look me up next time you’re in London. We’ll have to get a pint - to test the theory and all.” And because Asha genuinely enjoyed Kirke’s company. Surviving a cursed pyramid might just have something to do with the friendship be felt toward the gentleman.

  

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Amazing Elaine set!

Tybalt grinned broadly, both at the prospect of stopping by to see Bilton for a pint sometime and to the idea of tempting fate with him, seeing where their fortunes fell. The galleons they'd gained off the back of the expedition weren't all that wondrous to his future life plans, but he certainly couldn't complain if the side-effect of the fog adventure had been stumbling into a new friendship.

"Oh, I will," Tyb told him, with a bright laugh. "Sounds worth the risk to me."

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