Sun Is Dead [OPEN]

[Deleted]

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May 1, 2027

Trying out different jobs over the past year, Steve had come to the same realization with all of them: they all sucked. Working during the day, like a normal person, was possible only if his job kept him indoors. Having the sun sear him like a nice steak every time he stepped outside without a thick layer of sunblock slathered on any exposed skin or without long sleeves had finally reached its limit. School had been tolerable enough since accommodations could be made, and staying inside was easy enough as long as he didn't take classes out on the grounds. But normal people jobs weren't built for vampires, and that half of him still struggled with it. The solution to that, and quite a smart one in his opinion, was to finally accept the blood-sucking part of him and find a job that could be done at night. It was surprisingly easier than he initially thought.

The job? Conductor of an enchanted purple triple-decker called the Knight Bus. It was an easy enough job too. All he had to do was make sure passengers got to where they needed to be, and take toss their luggage onto the bus. The driver handled the rest of it, and often times wildly. Getting his bus legs was the first order of business, but after a week of falling on his face (and at least one confirmed broken nose), Steve could confidently stride up and down his two-floored office as it whizzed throughout the wizarding world. His skin was free from sunlight, he could easily get into Ripam de Sanguinem without strange looks from the donors, and he was finally on the same schedule as his mom. He finally understood her plight as a full vampire, forced to sleep during the day and function only at under the cover of darkness.

A month into the job and he felt he was doing alright. No problems aside from grumpy goblins when he asked for their fare, or the occasional ancient warlock that slipped into such a deep sleep he swore they were either dead or doped up on sleeping draught. Yelling into their ears from half an inch away always got them up though, and most of the bus's occupants continued to sleep through all manner of noises, vehicle and Steve alike. With the most recent witch (who surprisingly had her own pet duck with her in a cat carrying case) stepping off, the Knight Bus jolted forward to its next location, abruptly stopping directly aside the next passenger.

OPEN ● 425 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

May 1, 2027

Drinking and flying didn't mix well, and it was for that reason that former professional Quidditch player Claricia Freund found herself with her wand arm stuck out into the night to hail the purple monstrosity that was the Knight Bus. It wasn't a mode of transportation she enjoyed taking, but it was safe…ish. Truth be told, a triple-decker bus that zigged and zagged through Muggle streets like a bat out of hell probably wasn't terribly safe, but Claricia had never heard of its having a collision. The bus won points for efficiency, and—a few pints of beer in—that was what mattered, wasn't it? She just wanted to go home, relax, and then go to sleep.

As anticipated, the bus showed up not long after she had summoned it to her location outside the Hounds and Harriers, stopping with such a jolt that Claricia wasn't fully certain that she wasn't going to end up getting hit by it. Her reflexes weren't quite there for her to jump back out of its way, so she was glad that she hadn't had to.

If she were to have been hit, then at least she supposed that the Knight Bus could double as an ambulance service to St. Mungo's in a pinch. That was sort of amusing, thinking about it, or maybe her sense of humor was that far gone. Then again, she was drunk, and being inebriated and amused was better than being inebriated and miserable.

@steve

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It was almost funny that the next stop for the bus was outside the Hounds and Harriers, Steve chuckling to himself as the bus rocked dangerously back and forth on its suspensions in order to come to a complete stop. He felt like a madman sometimes on the triple-decker, and could only really chat with the frequent fliers and driver about how wild zooming around the country in the blink of an eye was. Whiplash simply didn’t exist anymore, and he knew that no-majs would be complaining about sore necks like the personal injury attorney ads he remembered back home on the TV. Seeing a few of the regular Saturday crowd standing outside of the pub, Steve had half the mind to wave and call them over for a quick chat, but his newest fare was already standing (swaying?) in front of him and ready to get on. The Knight Bus prided itself on its timeliness, and getting this passenger on and to where she needed to go was the current goal.

“Hello ma’am,” Steve shot a toothy grin down at her from his perch on the exterior railing. “Welcome to the Knight Bus, my name is Steve and I’ll be your conductor this fine evening.” A small bow followed, which he found worked well with anyone climbing on from the pub locations. His brief stint working at the Hounds and Harriers, and now on the bus, had taught him how to handle drunks. Getting them home safely could be a battle sometimes. Thankfully his cleaning charms had improved greatly between both jobs. “So will you be joining us tonight?” he added as he extended out a hand in case she needed assistance getting up onto the bus. It did have a pretty high first step after all.

@claricia ● 298 ● Take This Hand by Rosemary & Garlic

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

May 1, 2027

Claricia looked up at the purple triple-decker bus to see a different conductor than the one she recognized. That wasn't just the alcohol, though; he was definitely a different person. He also called her "ma'am", which made Claricia feel as though she had aged about three decades in an instant. It was way too formal for her liking, anyway.

The conductor didn't even sound British. (It didn't really matter; Claricia was German, but it stood out to her that he sounded American… or something.) Still, he was nice enough to welcome her aboard the Knight Bus, which Claricia supposed was part of his job. The conductor's name, as it turned out, was Steve. Claricia wondered if that happened to be a placeholder name of some sort, like he'd lost his name badge and had to go with "Steve" for the night. Wouldn't that have been something?

Steve asked if she would be joining him on the bus that evening, and Claricia nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to my flat," she slurred. As she stepped up to board the bus, it became very apparent—although not to Claricia herself, unfortunately—that she would probably need a hand.

@steve

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Dealing with drunk passengers was always interesting, unless they passed out the second they landed in their seat or bed. At least until he had to wake them up and drag them off the bus. Then it had the possibility of getting interesting. Legally he wasn’t allowed to cast a levitation charm on them to take them off quickly, but the driver told him on his first night that his lips were sealed if that had to happen. They were there to be quick and provide a service to the stranded witch or wizard, not be babysitters for drunks. So if everyone on board was asleep and he needed to expedite an exit, he would. A little leviosa never hurt anyone anyways, or at least not any more than trying to stand on the bus could.

Watching the woman start to get onto the bus as she said she wanted to go to her flat, Steve started to run his receipt machine. It was unfortunate that the boss hadn’t gotten on board with the no-maj way of paying by phone. Hooking a Gringotts account up to a mobile device would probably drive the goblins mad, so it sort of made sense… “That would be twelve sickles. We had to raise our price due to high demand recently,” Steve explained as he handed the little piece of paper over to the woman as it looked like she was sort of steady. He wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but the driver had been lamenting about how the one sickle price jump was absolutely going to turn away the stingier long time riders. They would feel it one way or another. “And what would be the address for your flat?” he added as he tried to gauge whether she was going to need help getting to a seat or not.

@claricia ● 310 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

TW/CW: Alcohol use

May 1, 2027

"That would be twelve sickles. We had to raise our price due to high demand recently," Steve the conductor informed her.

High demand didn't really matter to Claricia. She would pay whatever he told her to pay, especially in her drunken state, and she hurriedly fished out the required payment from her purse. Naturally, she fumbled with the silver coins more than she would have while sober, but she was pretty confident that she had pulled out exactly a dozen of them and put them in her palm for Steve to take. "Here." Maybe she had grabbed thirteen of them, Claricia thought. She had lost count, but it didn't matter if she overpaid. She could afford the extra.

"And what would be the address for your flat?"

"Yeah, er, it's…" Claricia actually did have to think about what her address was, just to make sure that she didn't have anything backwards. She relayed it to Steve, giving it twice for confirmation.

@steve

[Deleted]

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Steve carefully took the sickles from the new passenger and counted them individually in his free hand. Drunks were always a bit off when they handed money over, but Steve respected his job enough to make sure that they got their change back always. Usually it was more of a fight to get the extra two or three coins from them, especially if they looked away while he was counting. Time moved differently for the inebriated, an event he saw day in and day out while working at the pub. Especially for the groups of fans following a Quidditch match. They were always loaded when they got there, and it only got worse as the hours ticked by. Thank Merlin for quick cleaning spells because otherwise the pub would've been the mess. Same for the bus, really. "Looks like you're all set," he said cheerfully but not too loudly that it would shock her. Sometimes he was a little too energetic for the riders.

He listened intently to her address, writing it down on a scrap of paper before popping open the slide window that separated the seating area from the driver. A quick confirmation from him told Steve that he knew where it was, and he indicated how many stops away until they'd get there. "We have five stops before we get to yours, so you're welcome to take a seat and I'll get you once we reach it." Steve relayed to the woman, waving with his arm to show the area he meant. "You have the pick of the place tonight," he added. There wasn't anyone else on the bus currently, though by the time they made their rounds and got back to the Hounds & Harriers, they'd be full up for the rest of the night. The late late crowd was the one that always got fun.

@claricia ● 310 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0