March 5th, 1891 - The Irvingly Arms

The Irvingly Arms was an odd place for him to decide to go. He liked the bars in Hogsmeade better, and the last time he'd been here he ran into Melody Crouch, who he was indifferent to at best - (he hated her but was newly trying to build up a skin of indifference) - and he might run into Ben, who might ask why he was still in Irvingly on a day their practice ended hours ago. The truth was that Arthur was still in Irvingly because he wanted to go to the casino, but he hadn't yet built up the willpower to do it - or to decide not to. So: it was time to drink heavily in the Irvingly Arms.

He was halfway through his fourth pint, which was good, except the drinking alone wasn't doing it for him. He needed to find someone to talk to, and he did not recognize any of the people in the Irvingly Arms, which meant that he was going to have to talk to someone new. He also needed them to be interesting, or they wouldn't serve to occupy enough of his attention span to keep him from ending up at a billiard's table.

It was easy enough to pick someone out: she was the only woman in here wearing something pants-adjacent, and therefor likely to be contrary or interesting or otherwise better than silent. Art plucked his pint off the bar and strode over to the right, dropping into the barstool next to her like he knew her.

"You look like a girl who picks a fight," he said, cheerily.

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Angie Swan @"Elsie Beauregard"

  

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set by MJ <3

Irvingly was not typically a place Angie had frequented, but she'd been directed by her supervisor to pick up an remnant of the ridiculous fog from a few years back. Some artifact some idiot decided to keep that was causing people in his home to hallucinate and he finally just connected the pieces. Who better than to go pick up some potentially dangerous item than Angie?

Ugh, men,

She was waiting for the man at the Irvingly Arms, as indicated, an ale in front of her as she sat at the bar, feeling a little surly and hoping like hell (Cash permitting) that she would be off on assignment sooner rather than later. She felt bad, because she did enjoy the few people she knew around this part of the world, but she was gone longer and longer each time she left. The world called to her and there was so little to tie her here that she felt the few strings that connected her to Hogsmeade fraying.

She wasn't expecting her thoughts to be interrupted by an unfamiliar voice, with what could be considered an inflammatory approach. "I can end them too, got a particular need?" She eyed he man carefully and realized he wasn't entirely new to her, but couldn't put a finger on how either.

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Arthur grinned at the woman, a little cheeky. "Not presently," he said, "But I'll keep you in mind for the next time I do." Art took a sip of his pint. She hadn't reacted to his greeting with hostility, which meant that he could probably get away with continuing to talk to her, and if he was talking to her then he wasn't going to the casino, which was some level of success for the day.

"Art Pettigrew," he introduced.

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set by MJ <3

Pettigrew, the name was familiar... She knew of him through somebody else. Ben maybe? It was funny how Crouch kept popping up in her life lately. Well that was probably an overestimate, but she'd seen him recently and now one of his friends was accosting her in a pub in Irvingly of all places.

"Please do, I could use the excitement. Angie Swan." She wondered if she should mention Ben now that he was married and everything. Considering the nature of their... friendship, she rather thought unless for some reason Pettigrew recognized her, she would let it go. She wasn't completely sure that was why she recognized the name either. She'd had a fair few friends over the years at the very least.  "What brings you my way, Mr. Pettigrew?" She quirked an eyebrow at him curiously as she took a sip of her beer.

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Angie Swan seemed like an appropriate name for a pretty woman wearing almost-trousers, and Art noted it before moving onto her question. "Bored," he said, with a flash of a sheepish grin; it was the truth, but maybe it was better if he pretended he was being a little flippant about it. "You seem a little more — " he made a vague gesture meant to encompass her vibe "— than most of Irvingly's clientele, so I thought I would come say hello."

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set by MJ <3

Angie's hmm of a reply was accompanied by a chuckle and a quirked eyebrow. She had to wonder if Mr. Pettigrew was already three sheets to the wind, or something close to that. He was brazen, she could give him that.

"I don't come here often, so that could be it." Angie couldn't remember the last time she'd been here and what would it have even been for? She'd been away for the whole fog fiasco, though that was oddly what brought her here today. "I guess I don't really visit Scotland in general all that much these days." No, she preferred to be out and about the world.

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"Oh, do you travel?" Art said, perhaps a little wistful — he liked to travel when he could (not often, although he did know a portkey guy) but had in the past few months very much been craving a way out. People who traveled regularly had a way out. Or, rather, they had nothing tying them to Scotland. He could not actually leave when he had Desdemona and Gwenog relying on him, as much as he privately wanted to.

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set by MJ <3

Angie eyed Mr. Pettigrew carefully, but decided he was mostly harmless. "For work, I'm a cursebreaker with the bank." It was why she was here in Irvingly at this very moment, though this was not necessarily what she would consider travel. Ang had seen quite a bit of the world at this point in her life, the sleepy little town of Irvingly was a just a tiny map dot compared to the places she had been and the sights she'd seen. "Been with them for a few years now, so I travel quite frequently."

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   Arthur Pettigrew

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"Oh, that's exciting," Art said, because it was. He generally had a lot of respect for cursebreakers — Ben had been one, and Ben was really good with a wand, although sometimes Art wasn't sure people expected that — and if she was a cursebreaker for Gringotts then Miss Angie Swan really could end a fight if she needed to. "Do you get to look at people's bank accounts or whatever, too?"

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set by MJ <3

Angie cast a curious glance at Mr. Pettigrew. "Have you ever met a goblin, perchance?" If he had, that should certainly answer his question. They were often horrible to deal with, but Angie knew how to appease them if necessary. However the safest thing was just to never cross them in the first place. Gringotts paid well and it was steady work. Freelancing didn't always pan out. She had in the past, when Misha had asked for her specifically, but other than that, she preferred to know where her next paycheck was coming from. It was handy in times like this, between major jobs, to have that reliable income.

"It's not advisable," She ended with, draining the last of her pint and checked her pocket watch. The man she was meeting was late, cute.

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"Oh, I've met goblins," Art said, as if the circumstances of that meeting were something that did not matter to him at all. Lots of people met goblins. Plenty of people met goblins. Most of those people had not lost their house to goblins, and so it was a relatively innocuous thing to say if she did not already know that about him — he hoped. "So I guess I see your point." He grinned at her.

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set by MJ <3

Angie nodded with a little shrug. She liked to think she could read people pretty well and he certainly looked like someone who had met a goblin before, and probably not for anything good.

Sighing softly, she passed Mr. Pettigrew a wry smile. "My appointment is late and I'm on a tight schedule this afternoon," Mostly because now she had to go hunt the idiot down. She caught the barkeep's eye quickly. "Add his next round so I can settle up." He had at least kept her amused with his straightforward conversation while she waited.

"Enjoy your afternoon, Mr. Pettigrew." She chuckled as the barkeeper set down another glass for him and took her money.

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