put this one to rest (kaycee)

[Seth Wishart]

Seth wasn't sure when the last time he'd been in Hogsmeade had been. Possibly even while he was still at school, which was more than a year ago now. Of course, he'd come here frequently back then, but now he didn't have much reason to. His work and his family were all down in the south of England, which meant that he automatically went to Diagon Alley when he needed wizarding shops. And his job was almost entirely in the Muggle world. Sometimes, however, he felt the need to get away from both people and cities - usually when he was in a music-writing mood. On those occasions, he liked to just take off to somewhere quiet for a while by himself.

This was the first time he'd thought of Hogsmeade, though. To be sure, it wasn't always that quiet there, but there were plenty of quiet places round about it, and it was the summer holidays, so there was no risk of there being crowds of students hanging about. And it was kind of nice to be back, he thought, as he strolled down the main street. It was a dry day, and he'd been out for a bit of a walk up on the hillside just outside the village, and then thought he might have a drink at the Three Broomsticks, mostly for old times sake. 

Whistling under his breath - a fragment of a tune that was floating round inside his head - he pushed open the door into the familiar bar room. It wasn't all that busy - it was late afternoon, too late for people to be eating lunch, and too early for people our for a night of drinking. There were a few other patrons scattered around, although Seth didn't immediately recognise any of them, so without paying much attention, he made his way to the bar. The guy behind the bar was someone he thought he recognised vaguely from school, maybe a year or two ahead of him, but nobody Seth knew well. He ordered a butterbeer - he didn't really plan on drinking anything stronger alone, then glanced sideways at the guy sitting at the bar already. He did a slight double take as he recognised him. Well, this was awkward. Kaycee O'Malley had been his year - and was Rose's ex-boyfriend. Not knowing what to do, or whether O'Malley would even know who he was, or that he was going out with Rose (hopefully not, in fact), he gave the other guy a small smile and a nod, hoping the barman would hurry with his butterbeer, and then maybe he could move away and find a table...

[Kaycee O'Malley]

It wasn't a usual Kaycee O'Malley decision to pass by the Three Broomsticks after checking his inventory, despite what people might think, but he made an exception for today. He wanted to mull over having his best friend back while nursing a Firewhiskey, because he needed to have a proper think about this idea that'd been growing since he first owled Camden. He just needed some time to wind down a bit and have a drink, because it helped relaxed him and he could think about this in the proper perspective. He had to deal with this subject delicately because he knew Camden wouldn't take easily to hand-outs or pity. And it wasn't about hand-outs or pity. This was a business proposition, much like McLaggen staying at his flat was also a business proposition. Hey, meals and no cleaning, plus babysitting for him (because Matteo and Michel were supposed to be his responsibility)? That's worth more than money.

So it was that he found himself at the bar, a bottle of Firewhiskey sat in front of him while his fingers played a beat on the dewy glass. He hadn't drunk much, just a couple of sips. He'd sort of missed the burn that worked its way down his throat, but at the same time, he didn't. He wasn't so much of a rebellious teenager any more. He had slowly come to the realization that he had responsibilities and that thought scared him so far out of drinking, as opposed to into it, that he'd just had not had the inspiration to get drunk any more.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by some idiot coming closer to the bar whistling - honest to god whistling, like this person had absolutely nothing better to do than coming to a bar mid-afternoon to get a drink. (He was oblivious to the fact that he was also sitting at a bar mid-afternoon, drinking.) He turned to see who exactly this bastard could be - the voice ordering the Butterbeer sounded familiar - and his mind hurried to catch up with him when he finally placed exactly who it was before the other guy even turned to face him.

The nod Seth Wishart gave him was responded to with a similar nod, but the smile was not. How lucky for Kaycee to choose today of all days to have a drink, and for his past and regrets to come and sit right next to him to remind him that he could never escape. His day was going down the drain fast. Quickly drinking some Firewhiskey to help give him some of that liquid courage, he smiled back at Seth, although it was a tad more sarcastic than the one Seth had given him. "Wishart. How simply splendid to see you today."

[Seth Wishart]

Plans of a quick escape were quickly dashed as it was clear - very clear, in fact - that O'Malley knew exactly who he was, and apparently still held a grudge over it. Which Seth couldn't really blame him for - Rose was a pretty amazing person, and he was aware - without having ever said it aloud - of just how much it would hurt if she broke up with him. He actually knew very little about the circumstances of Kaycee and Rose's break-up, as it wasn't something he particularly wanted to talk with his girlfriend about, but still. Although, he thought to himself, it had been what, two years ago that they'd broken up? Well before Seth and Rose had got together, anyway. Maybe O'Malley was just the kind of guy who help onto grudges, which was going to make for an uncomfortable conversation. Seth wished he had jut gone home instead of coming for a drink.

Although fully aware of the sarcasm in O'Malley's voice as he spoke, Seth made up his mind not to let this turn into an argument if he could help it. He personally had nothing against O'Malley, and it wasn't very respectful to Rose for them to have some sort of fight over her.

"O'Malley," he greeted the other young man, his voice friendly enough, if a little tense. "Good to see you too. Haven't seen you around for a while." Or at all, in fact, since they had left school. But then, they'd never exactly moved in the same circles. "How are you doing?" Oh yeah, great start, Seth. How are you doing - good question, when he clearly hates your guts...

[Kaycee O'Malley]

Kaycee's eyes noted the increasing discomfort in Seth Wishart's face, as though he was regretting coming into the bar, and for some reason, Kaycee felt a pang of bitter happiness at this development. Misery loved company, after all, and if the rest of his day was going to go to shit, then at least he wouldn't be the only one. Still, he was not in the greatest mood to be talking about her, especially to Seth Wishart, because while Kaycee may possibly still be sort of slightly maybe hung up on Rose Weasley, he did not like playing jealous ex-lover. He would cool, calm, and aloof.

Kaycee also strongly disliked that Seth seemed to make the decision to be calm, too. He wanted the other guy to be distracted, or throw some insults or something, so he could have an excuse to quickly descend into the immature little boy that he was. Because no matter how much Kaycee wanted to hide the truth, it was fact that he was a jealous ex-lover of Seth Wishart's current girlfriend, and Kaycee was additionally bitter about this fact. Kaycee was supposed to be the one who lusted and left, not the one who'd loved and been left.

A dull ache somewhere in his chest started up again, and before he knew it, Kaycee was back to his old defense mechanism, the one most convenient and currently available to him in that moment: alcohol. He tipped his head back and sculled it, enjoying the distracting burn down his throat and the warming of his belly. He let out a bitter laugh at Wishart's chosen words of conversation. "Are you sure it's good to see me? I, unfortunately, cannot afford the same hospitality and would really rather stick to the truth of the matter, which is: I didn't think I'd see you here today." And he was regretting sitting in this bar, too, but eh. Still, two could play at this game. He would not be seen as the ex-boyfriend who ran from confrontation with his tail tucked between his legs. "I'm doing absolutely smashingly; and yourself?"

[Seth Wishart]

Seth wasn't a huge fan of confrontations. He tended to roll through life in an easygoing way, making more friends than enemies. If forced to take part in one, he did have a temper, and was also capable of standing his ground in an argument. This particular argument was one he really really didn't want to have, though. Weren't they meant to be adults now? Surely they could manage to have a civil conversation. It wasn't as if he'd 'won' in some way - it hadn't been a competition, because Rose wasn't a prize.

Kaycee's tone was enough to irritate him, although at the same time, he felt slightly guilty for being irritated. It was easy for him to think they should just have a polite conversation - he wasn't the one with any reason for feeling bitter. His drink arrived and he paid for it, but it now seemed a bit late simply to beat a retreat. Seth was Gryffindor enough not to like the idea of running away. Steeling himself for an unpleasant conversation, he turned towards Kaycee.

"Well, no, I wasn't expecting to see you either," he said, no longer smiling. "But come on, dude, there's no need for this." He watched Kaycee take a drink - it was quite early for spirits, surely? - and wondered how much the other guy had had already. "Yeah, I'm good," he said slowly, more genuinely than Kaycee had spoken - he was indeed doing good, on the whole. Not at this precise moment, maybe, but in general.

[Kaycee O'Malley]

Kaycee only lent half an ear to what Seth Wishart was saying because all he could see was that the idiot bartender had arrived with Wishart's drink and that would mean it would be polite to sit down and catch up and have a civil conversation, of which Kaycee was obviously very capable of at his current state. Inside, he wanted to rage and hiss and throw a punch or two and just basically be a prick. But he never wanted this to get back to that one girl he avoided at all costs, because it stung like hell if she ever found out he still had feelings for her.

"There's no need for what, again?" he asked dully, fingers playing with the dew on the bottle. The alcohol had unleashed his repressed memories and he was once again back to being a depressing drunk. He desperately needed to let go of his past. Where in the blazes was Jethro? He needed someone to wittily spar with and use sarcasm against and just horse around with. He was lonely and that one realization brought the Firewhiskey bottle to his lips again.

He paused in his lip-to-lip with the glass briefly to smirk sardonically at his companion at the bar. "Good to hear you're good," Kaycee answered, not as sarcastic as before. He'd come up with a whole new plan: get completely smashed and hopefully hook up with some random girl who he wouldn't remember in the morning. "Makes one of us." He would be on his way to 'good', though, Kaycee promised himself. Better yet, he'd be on his way to 'brilliant' and even 'smashing'. He signalled to the bartender for another bottle although he hadn't finished his first one yet.

[Seth Wishart]

Seth took a mouthful of butterbeer, but didn't sit down. There was a stool beside him, but he was still half hoping to make this a brief exchange and move away - there were plenty of other seats he could take. Maybe it would look more friendly to sit down, but Kaycee didn't seem to be taking attempts to be friendly very well. And Seth wasn't really sure how friendly he wanted to be.

"No need for there to be any... problem between us," he replied, more firmly than he felt. As far as Seth was concerned, this was true. Whatever Kaycee O'Malley felt about Rose and their break-up and the fact that she was now with Seth, it had all happened quite a long time ago. Kaycee and Rose had been broken up for ages before she and Seth had really started dating, so that had had nothing to do with him. He'd assumed it was water under the bridge. He felt wrong-footed and unsure what to say, though.

His eyes scanned over Kaycee, realising that the other guy really didn't look - or sound - too good. Maybe he was wrong - maybe this wasn't really anything to do with Rose at all, and Kaycee had some other issue bothering him. He was drunk, of course - but that clearly wasn't the only thing wrong. For one thing, you didn't usually sit in a bar drinking your way through several bottles of firewhisky if your life was otherwise fine. What was he supposed to do about it though? It wasn't as if they'd been friends particularly, even before any of the complications.

"Are you sure another bottle's a good idea, mate?" he asked cautiously, and immediately mentally kicked himself for saying it. It was none of his business, and he'd only end up annoying the other guy even more. "I mean... never mind," he added. "Nothing to do with me. Sorry."

[Kaycee O'Malley]

A rather grim sort of satisfaction crept through Kaycee as he noticed that Seth didn't take a seat, although his drink had arrived and he'd taken a swig. Kaycee was currently torn between trying to make as much hell as he possibly could, or getting away from hell as far as he possibly could. He knew that either way, if Seth chose to take a seat, there would be words exchanged, and Kaycee had a very nagging suspicion that he'd come to regret those words, should they come out of his traitorous and increasingly loose-hinged mouth.

Another rather sarcastic grin smirked his face as he glanced at Seth over the rim of his glass bottle. "That's brilliant," he agreed. "Let's just have ourselves a perfectly civil conversation, shall we?" Kaycee gestured broadly at the closest bar stool. "Should it please your arse to sit, Wishart, let's have a heart to heart regarding the most inane topic on the planet - say, what's your opinion on the weather outside? It's rather hot, isn't it? Although it is to be expected with this season, but still. I dare say if it gets any hotter, even the ice creams at Fortescue's will melt before anyone can take a good lick."

Kaycee O'Malley was getting drunk and he loved every minute of it. Well, he didn't really, but he liked taking a back seat and watch his body do the actions. For example, he knew he was rambling about a completely useless topic and Wishart was probably thinking of dumping his pathetic arse for being so damn weird when he was drunk. Not that Kaycee minded, of course. But still, there was the rather big possibility that should Wishart walk away, Kaycee was going to call him back - or worse, follow him. Which would be rather disastrous because if Kaycee tried to Apparate, he might actually splinch himself. He'd never been splinched before, but as they say, there was a first time for everything.

Just like that face he was making at Seth at that precise moment. Kaycee wasn't sure he'd ever been so undignified in company to make that face before. It was the face he usually showed only to his mother's back whenever she'd turned away after telling him no more chocolate or no sweets before dinner. "No, it really isn't," he agreed at Seth's last words. He ignored the other man's warning, draining the last drops of Firewhiskey from the first bottle before reaching for the second. It didn't even faze him when the bartender reached for his empty bottle and it disappeared from between the bartender's hands. His eyes were on his newest acquisition. He was tempted to whisper 'alohomora' to it just to freak Seth Wishart out. If, you know, he got freaked out about random things like that. Which he probably didn't, but Kaycee just wasn't quite caring enough about his thoughts or actions just then.

[Seth Wishart]

Was O'Malley always like this, or was it just the alcohol talking? Seth wondered. Or did he just really hate Seth? It didn't really matter - in Seth's book, none of those things actually made it okay to act like a dick. He couldn't help but feel that people who became very obnoxious when drunk were in fact just obnoxious people.

"Well, a civil conversation sounds fine to me," he said mildly, with a shrug. He ignored O'Malley's invitation to sit down, and remained standing at the bar. O'Malley was drunk and unpredictable, and Seth wasn't about to relax and get comfortable. He gave a polite smile at the comments about the weather, which might have been more genuine if he had thought that the other guy was actually trying to be funny. "Yeah, I guess it is hot," he agreed, not remotely fooled into thinking that Kaycee really wanted to talk about the weather. "I don't get out in it much though. Work and stuff," he added vaguely. His work tended to take place in darkened rooms with no windows.

He took another mouthful of his drink, and wondered how best to get away from this. He had no real objection to talking to Kaycee, but he didn't plan on taking part in some drunken passive-aggressive (or actually aggressive, though he hoped not) face-off, which there was no reason for. The whole thing was ridiculous and kind of gross, he thought, watching Kaycee start his next bottle. The guy was going to drink himself under the table at this rate, but Seth said no more - let him do that if he wanted. Seth certainly wasn't going to antagonise him by making any more suggestions. In fact, he didn't really feel like saying much else at all - if O'Malley had something to sat, let him say it. Seth had come in here for a quiet drink, that was all.

Deciding he'd had enough, Seth picked up his glass. "Well, I'll leave you to it - enjoy your firewhisky," he told Kaycee, beginning to move away, as casually as he could.