February 2nd, 1891 - High Street

Due to the explosion, Breccan had been busy. He made frequent checks on both the store and the rest of High Street to see how things were going, picking up a few odd jobs at times on his way. He'd nearly forgotten about the Hogsmeade Market that occurred so often, and when he saw people standing around he was nearly confused before he recalled.

Hogsmeade was much different to London, but then again London was much different to his home in Ireland where he'd lived until he was ten. He perused some of the stalls, though he didn't much intend to purchase anything--with Ollivander's out for a week since the explosion, he doubted he was getting paid as normal, though he had a few knuts and sickles saved up for just the purpose of buying something nice, though he was hesitant to part with them.

He was thinking of something sweet as he browsed through the carts, though he wasn't too sure he was going to actually do anything about it. Perhaps he would be able to haggle with one of the owners of the carts or booths.

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Thanks, Elaine!

The Hogsmeade Market was perhaps one of the more boring places Benji was assigned to patrol, but at least he probably had the opportunity to buy sweets out of it. (Benji could be easily motivated by candy; this was, perhaps, one of his more significant flaws.)

He was thinking about these sweets as he walked, and that was why he didn't catch himself before walking directly into a tallish stranger's back.

"Oh, sorry mate," Benji said, stepping back. "Should have watched where I was going."

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"Ah, it's no problem," Breccan said, facing the stranger. He was just glad he hadn't knocked anything over accidentally. Without his job for the week, he would likely have had to tap into savings for anything major.

"You recommend any sweets around here?" Breccan asked. It seemed prudent to ask someone who might have a better idea than he did. He couldn't afford to sample too much because it was likely he would convince himself he liked a sub-par sweet because it was the first he'd tasted.

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Thanks, Elaine!

At least the blond man wasn't upset about Benji stepping into him. "Well, it's no Honeyduke's," Benji said, because it was good to set expectations. "But - are you looking for candy, or chocolate, or cake-like things?"

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"Aha," he laughed, both because he was glad to not be interrupting too much and because he agreed with what was said about Honeyduke's. Breccan was hoping that he could find something half as good, then he'd be in luck.

"Candy," Breccan said, quickly. Dragged around and tied up, he would've said he honestly preferred a little cake, but he always found it considerably more expensive, and though he wasn't a baker, he had come to one conclusion. Eggs, probably. Farming them would likely take time, and buying them would be expensive.

"Guess I've always had something of a sweet tooth," he admitted with a chuckle, "but I don't need anything too...well, expensive, if you understand me."

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Thanks, Elaine!

"Oh, I understand you perfectly," Benji agreed, because he wasn't willing to spend too much money at the Hogsmeade market, either. "And I have a sweet tooth, too. Let me think." The longer he hung around talking about candy, the less of his job he had to do - so Benji was perfectly happy to procrastinate getting back to his patrol.

"Any favorite kinds of candy?" he asked.

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"Hard candy's nice," Breccan said, "I actually prefer the sour kind, like lemon drops."

"But I'm willing to try other candies, too, if you've got recommendations" Breccan said, "Just nothing like Acid Pops. My tongue couldn't take those." he wrinkled his nose. He didn't get why anybody would want to purposely burn off their tongues.

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Thanks, Elaine!

"Yeah, acid pops are a no from me," Benji agreed. He thought through his own tastes in candy. "Peppermint toads can be good, though." Still, the man had mentioned lemon drops, so he tried to think about those.

"Three stalls down has good lemon drops," he said, "And - towards the end of the row -" he gestured "- the stall that's on the corner has the best sugar quills here."

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Knowing nothing about peppermint toads, Breccan raised an eyebrow, though from context he would've guessed they were similar to chocolate frogs.

"Lemon drops, sugar quills, peppermint toads," Breccan laughed, "My wallet's going to be hurting." His tone was good-natured though it was a truth. He would make a choice, though if he had to admit he would be worried he'd made the wrong one either way.

"Not to say that I won't enjoy myself, though," he added, to assuage any fears. Obediently, he started heading down the row to the mentioned stall, but halfway through his walk he turned back around.

"Perhaps you'd like to join me? Make sure I find the right one, of course." Breccan wasn't opposed to a bit of company, and besides it would take his mind off of thinking about Ollivander and his shop.

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Thanks, Elaine!

Benji had just about accepted that he was going to have to do his actual job, now, when the man turned around and asked to join him. "Sure," Benji said, taking a few large strides to catch up with the taller fellow. "I'm Benjamin Woodcroft, by the way." If they were going to spend a few more minutes around each other, then they ought to at least know one another's names.

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Quickly, Breccan nodded his head. Introductions had always felt a little awkward to him, though that was because as a child hardly anyone had even had to introduce themselves to him, so he had been tremendously out of the loop.

"Right, I'm Breccan. MacRae," he nodded his head. Surnames. Back when he was a kid he'd been around dozens of MacRaes, and even now, since he still lived with his family, it was more common for him to talk with a MacRae than anyone else. The introductions made, Breccan gestured to a cart, examining the sweets placed on it.

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Thanks, Elaine!

"Nice to meet you, do you live around here?" Benji asked. He leaned back on his heels at the sweet cart, investigating. "I think I'll get some lemon drops myself, while we're here," he said - there was no rule saying that he couldn't buy things while he was at work, after all.

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Usually, Breccan was a bit hesitant to answer those kinds of questions, as he was aware of some anti-Irish sentiments among Muggles, but in his years in the wizarding community he was aware that things were a little different, and he was thankfully pureblooded, so that was one thing wizarding society couldn't hold against him.

Vaguely, he shrugged and shook his head. "I work here, but live in London. It's quite nice. Lots of Muggles, though, so we've got to be careful with magic."

"What about you, are you from Hogsmeade?" He would've guessed that he was, mostly by his familiarity with the carts, but he wanted to be kind.Xenophobia had never been his thing, anyways, and he would gladly accept help from anyone.

He glanced at the and carts again. Lemon drops had always been his favorite. Yet he had never been the type to turn down something new. He nodded to the vendor offering tiny samples and accepted one. "Zesty," he said, his face screwing up into a pucker while he flashed a smile to his companion.

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Thanks, Elaine!

"I live in Hogsmeade and I work for the constabulary," Benji said. He grinned at the comment of zesty and the face that MacRae pulled. London did seem nice - far away from his father's mistakes, at least - but Benji had always lived in Hogsmeade and would, he thought, always live in Hogsmeade. It was too late to get out now.

"Where on High Street do you work?" Benji asked; he knew a lot of the shopworkers, so he was curious.

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Breccan frowned to think of the partially destroyed building. It was a shame what had happened to Ollivander's, and he had prayed that it would be alright. Not to mention Ollivander himself had been injured.

"Ollivander's," he said, shaking his head lightly. If things turned out okay, they'd be able to open soon, but Breccan was worried for a variety of reasons, the top one being that opening in a limited capacity might mean Ollivander's didn't need employees like him around.

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Thanks, Elaine!

Normally, Benji wouldn't have noted the answer at all - today, though, he did, because Ollivander's had an accident that week. "Oh," he said, "I'm glad the explosion didn't -" he made a loose gesture with one hand, meaning to encompass general bodily harm to Macrae.

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