show me what a lie looks like (JAKE)

[Rupert Hewer]

((ooc: sorry the title was too tempting))
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Rupert was tired beyond belief, despite being used to such an exhausting job. When he'd first taken training in Romania, he'd been through rigorous work outs to make himself fit for training dragons. But even somebody who'd trained for a job like this, and had enough experience with it, would end up tiring himself out after hours of coaxing a female dragon into her dungeon. He had to admit, he hated working at Gringott's Bank. When he'd first joined a year ago, he'd vowed that it was only for a few months..just for the money, he'd told himself. But with the law preventing dragons in this part of the country, and his family preventing him from moving too far away, and his own interests preventing him from switching careers, this was all he had to do. As a trainer, he knew that his job was to tame a wild creature. But seeing them conditioned and tied up underground to protect people's money was something he hated to do. Still, he told himself, as always, that better him than anybody else who was ruthless. Dabbing some sweat off his brow, he sighed thankfully at the announcement that he could have the rest of the day off. 

He walked out of the bank, hoping to grab a drink or two before heading back to the apartment he shared with the people he thought of as his best friends. Not wanting to take the effort to go somewhere too far, he decided to go to the Leaky Cauldron. Imagine his surprise when he went up to the bar and recognized Jake almost right away. He didn't expect to see him here around this time, and briefly wondered if there was some sort of trouble that had led him here. But he didn't want to think ill of his friend; he felt guilty from the thought alone. Instead, smiling, he sat down beside the man and slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hello, roommate. Fancy seeing you here."

[Jake Gullane]

((OOC - Jake objects. Also I'm making it a few days after the meeting with Lissie because in that he mentioned picking Skye up later, so if it was the same day he'd have Skye with him. I don't know what's happening in that thread yet though, so apologies if it's a bit vague on that count!))

It was not exactly trouble that had led Jake to Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron in the middle of the day. All the same, it was not business he intended to broadcast to anyone. Not anything exactly illegal; there were no laws against meeting someone in Knockturn Alley and having a conversation. But private, nonetheless. There were certain things that Jake tended to keep to himself; he would answer questions (sometimes slightly guardedly) if his friends asked, but he didn't bring the topics up himself.

He'd met the person he'd arranged to meet, and they'd had their conversation, and then Jake had wandered back down Knockturn Alley, taking a look in the shop windows, but not going in. He was reasonably familiar with Knockturn Alley, and had been in most of the shops before, but he didn't intend to buy anything there today so there seemed little point. Instead, he made his way back into the broader, more crowded thoroughfare of Diagon Alley. Again, he wasn't shopping. Jake was accustomed to wandering down shopping streets with no money in his pocket and therefore no way of buying anything; he'd had to do it all his life. At least, no money was an exaggeration - he had a few coins in his pocket, enough to buy a pint at the Leaky before he went home, which was exactly what he intended to do.

He was lost in thought as he made his way to the bar, part of his mind on the meeting he'd just had (the man had made him an offer but he wasn't sure if he'd be taking it or not) and part of it - an increasing part - dwelling guiltily on the meeting he'd had just the other day with Lissie Hewer. He hadn't told Rupert he'd met his sister, and he didn't intend to. The thoughts Jake had started to have about Lissie definitely weren't the kind he wanted her brother suspecting.

For a moment, therefore, he thought it was his guilty imagination when he heard Rupert's voice speak from behind him, just after he'd ordered a butterbeer (he was working later and had regretfully decided he shouldn't go for anything stronger). But no, it really was Rupert, looking like he'd just come from work, which made sense since his work was only just across the street.

Not showing his momentary discomfort (having Lissie in his head at the same time as Rupert directly in front of him was an awkward experience), he merely grinned easily at his friend. "Oh, hey. What are you doing here? Just finished work?"

[Rupert Hewer]

"Well, yes," Rupert said, practically hauling himself onto the seat beside Jake and loosening the top button on his shirt. Merlin, was it hot everywhere he went. He knew it was just the effect of having spent so much time underground, and this dragons no less, but the cooler air on the surface of the earth was clearly not helping. Neither was the heavy crowd in the pub. Signaling to the waiter to get him a butterbeer as well, he turned to Jake. "What are you doing here?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. Those brief in between moments when he'd been walking over to him, Jake had looked like he was in very deep thought. Rupert couldn't help but wonder what was weighing down on his friend's mind. Had something happened with Skye? Was it his job? Had he been approached by some old skeleton from the past? Rupert didn't know, but he also didn't know how to really help Jake. So he didn't bother bringing it up.

Instead he said, "Anyway, I'm off for the rest of the day. I think I'm going to just go home and crash." This wasn't something that was unusual for Rupert, either. He had such odd hours of working that sometimes he was walking around the house, just getting in at 3 am; or he was up eating his dinner while everybody else was having lunch. Sometimes, he would run into Kieran at work, given how they both worked at the same place, but it was probably not even something that counted because he was too busy being absent minded or exhausted. He briefly wished that nobody other than the tenants of the flat would decide to drop by that day - he could use a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

"Where's Skye?" he asked, curiously.

[Jake Gullane]

Jake glanced at his friend with raised eyebrows. Rupert looked exhausted - which wasn't that uncommon after a long shift at work, almost no matter what your job was. Jake tended to be pretty tired himself when he came in, and as for David, he appeared to be half dead a lot of the time. But Rupert looked somewhat worse than usual. "Everything okay?" he asked lightly. "You look like shit. No offence or anything." He was aware that there were elements of Rupert's job that he didn't like much, and it certainly wasn't one Jake would have fancied himself. He wasn't as big on the creatures as his friend, but he generally thought that wild animals were a lot better off in the wild, and felt a vague disgust with the wealthy people who kept so much gold in their bank vaults that they considered dragons a necessary guard. Although that could have been Jake's general resentment of rich people showing.

"Shame I'm working later," he remarked with a grin. "Or I'd suggest several crates of beer and pizza would be a good plan for the evening. We should do it some time though. Kieran too. And David, if we can get him out of bed for long enough. It gets a bit weird when we only communicate via written notes." And getting very drunk, he thought, might be exactly what he needed to take his mind off things. He hadn't had a decent night of drinking for ages.

"With Emma," he replied to Rupert's question, as the barman arrived with two butterbeers. He placed the money for his on the bar, and thanked the man briefly. "Not my turn today. Emma's got the afternoon off; I think they've gone to her parents'."

[Rupert Hewer]

"Yeah, thanks," Rupert replied in a dry tone. He knew he looked like absolute shit. "Like I said, I'm planning on going home and sleeping. It's too bloody hot underground, especially with the fire. This summer air actually feels like air conditioning," he said, loosely grabbing the front of his shirt and flapping it around to air his body out. He probably smelled like shit too but he didn't really care at the moment - not in front of his best friend who'd not only known him forever but was used to living with him. He felt a little jealous of Jake. His job seemed so damn easy in comparison. If Rupert didn't love dragons, he'd have given up a long time ago. Unfortunately, returning to Romania was not an option. Not when he was reconnected with his friends, and not when his family was finally somewhat a whole again. He owed it to his mom and dad, and to his siblings to not run off again.

"We can do that tomorrow. I have a short shift again, so I'll be home by four or five," he pointed out, looking forward to this proposal. He was starting to feel like they all were just roommates and nothing more, with how less they all hung out together. There were so many times when he'd heard of Lissie coming over and him not even being around, or him being around when Karina or Vera came over and David or Kieran not being there. It was all a mess. "We could invite Brigid too, yeah?"

"Is it weird how the kid's grown on me? I miss her already," he grumbled and then threw Jake a sly look. "You should've introduced us to her sooner." Rupert felt comfortable joking about it because he'd made it very clear to Jake that he held no resentment against him for not telling them sooner. He understood why Jake did what he did. He'd been shocked, yes, but he hadn't held any ill feelings. If anything, he expected it - but he knew if he told Jake that, then he'd take it the wrong way. Rupert always felt Jake was fit to be a good dad, if he got his act together, regardless of what age he had his kid at. And now, with all of them knowing, between the four boys, their friends and their families, Skye was probably on her way to being the most adorable, spoilt girl ever.

[Jake Gullane]

((OOC - Oh maaaan, I made this thread a few days after the one with Lissie and he has so much more to hide now sobs))

"Yeah, you look like you need it," Jake agreed cheerfully. "You also look like you need something stronger than a butterbeer. And a shower, but I'm assuming you'll be taking one of those anyway." Sometimes he wanted to suggest to Rupert that if his job was that bad, he should find something else, but it was a pointless suggestion. Jake knew why Rupert stayed at his job, and anyway, it wasn't as if decent jobs were growing on trees just waiting to be picked. Jake was happy with his own job, but he knew not everyone would consider full time bar work the pinnacle of success.

"Okay, I'm off tomorrow, so good plan!" he agreed, nodding. "Now we just need to try and pin the other two down. Kieran should hopefully be in in the evening - any idea what David's shifts are like?" The trouble with healers was that they never had regular hours, of course. "And yeah, Brigid's welcome if she's around," he added. "And anyone else who happens to be floating about, I guess."

He grinned, though his eyes had lit up without him really being aware of it, the way they always did when Skye was the topic of conversation. "Yeah, well, me too," he commented lightly. "I miss her all the time I don't have her, but what can you do?" It was the life of a single dad and he knew it, and it wasn't like he resented that Emma got more time with Skye. She was her mum, and Skye was still so little - she needed Emma more. He rolled his eyes at Rupert's dig. "You try dropping that kind of thing into a conversation, man. Plus, I was only just getting to know her myself, after I hadn't seen her for a year. I just needed a bit of time, you know?" He shrugged, knowing that Rupert did know, really. He couldn't have hoped for a better set of friends really, the way they'd all responded, which only made him feel more guilty about the secrets he was still keeping, from Rupert in particular.