You gotta roll with it ¦ Open Thread

[Duke Daniel Jones]

Being back at school was weird for Duke. The last time hadn't exactly ended on good terms, but then that was Muggle school, and he had only been a kid. Being here was on different terms. He was grown, embarrassingly so, compared to the others doing their NEWTs this year. He hadn't needed to take any actual classes, officially for now he was just taking the exam prep sessions and waiting the end of the year out before he actually got to take his NEWTs with the rest of the students. His lessons with Winnie were still ongoing and that seemed to work out better for him.

Though he had no real reason to be on campus today, he found himself at a loose end and decided to get a feel for the campus he'd be spending most of his time on next year. Exam results pending of course.

Picking his way through the half-empty bar, he caught a few fellow students' eyes here and there. Wondering if he'd ever get to know any of them. Eventually, he sat on a stool at the main bar and glanced around again before waving down a bar staff "Pint please mate"

[Deleted]

“What?”

Oh, him and his big mouth. Jewel couldn’t help but flinch at the snappy, irritated tone the man sitting across him had suddenly taken with him almost out of nowhere. Their pleasant conversation had changed in tone in just a blink of an eye, all thanks to Jewel’s assumptions and tendency to speak before thinking. Well, Jewel wasn’t the sole guilty party for the sudden change in mood, as the man had gotten irrationally pissed off at Jewel’s words, his loudly growled question gaining him some weirded out looks from the other people around them.

When Jewel had one of his loyal customers knocking on his door earlier that day, Jewel couldn’t have predicted that this was where he would end up. Allie was a LIFE student who had been coming to get her fortune read every couple of months for the past couple of years. This time, however, Allie had insisted on doing a reading somewhere else than Jewel’s living room, and dragged Jewel into the on-campus pub. A little weird, but Jewel didn’t protest. He knew her well enough that he trusted her in her choice of location—not that Jewel was necessarily known for his ability to rationally decide who to trust. But as long as he was being paid, he could do his job wherever his customer wanted, he supposed. Luckily there were only a couple of people at the bar, the atmosphere calm and quiet.

So Jewel did a reading for Allie—she would have a great summer ahead of her, bringing her great opportunities she didn’t need to hesitate on taking—but as Jewel was done with the reading, Allie wouldn’t let him go just yet. A couple of her friends had appeared almost out of nowhere—a young woman and a mountain of a man, greeting Allie with hugs. Apparently they were taking every opportunity to hang out at the end of the semester, with all of them going back home to work during the summer. Jewel almost slinked off with a smile and a wish of good luck for their summer jobs, but Allie insisted that he should join them for a couple of drinks. Being invited to hang out with a customer admittedly felt strange, but Jewel had felt like he couldn’t say no. Allie was always so sweet and kind, he couldn’t disappoint her. Besides, he knew her, in a way, considering that she had shared quite a lot about her life to him over the years. He’d just get one drink with Allie and her friends, just to please her, and be out.

However, Jewel’s plans changed quickly as he figured that these people were actually good company. He didn’t mind hanging out with them for a while, it wasn’t like he had anything better to do anyways. Besides, getting to know new people was always interesting. However, at one point Allie and the other girl had something come up, leaving Jewel alone with the man. Initially Jewel thought that he would just finish his drink and leave, but he got caught up in conversation with the man instead. This man was just a few years younger than Jewel, pursuing further education because he wished to get a career in academics. So this guy had brains and brawn, both something Jewel himself lacked. Maybe people were right when they said that opposites attract, since Jewel couldn’t help but think that the man was flirting with him.

But apparently Jewel had been wrong, since the instant Jewel had said something a little more direct to the man, he had snapped.
“Oh, sorry”, Jewel desperately tried to patch the situation up. “I just thought…” But the man wasn’t having it, instead standing up from his seat.
“You thought?” His tall and muscular stature hovered over the table as he leaned in closer, looking at Jewel with brows furrowed in a frown. This man had some severe anger management issues. Jewel raised his hands in front of him, maybe to create a barrier between him and the man, or maybe as a way to try to calm him down.
“I didn’t mean anything by it—uh, take it as a compliment”, he tried, but the man didn’t seem convinced. Jewel didn’t have any idea how the situation had escalated to this. He hadn’t even said anything outrageous, but this man seemed to think he had. Jewel couldn’t have predicted that this man would go from a zero to a hundred in this fashion, but then again, you never could, not with a person you really didn’t know. If only someone would have warned Jewel that the man had a bit of a reputation around campus thanks to his volatility, and all it took was just a little misunderstanding for the man to start picking fights. Not the best kind of person to talk to if you had a tendency to speak before thinking.

Duke Daniel Jones

[Duke Daniel Jones]

Duke had been quietly surveying the bar as he sipped his pint. It was quiet but there was still pockets of activity here and there. He was minding his own business but still, it wasn’t unlike him to still try and be on lookout for any potential trouble. From years of hanging out with his cousin he knew that no matter how hard you tried, sometimes it was impossible to stay out of trouble; but at least being on guard and vigilant meant you could react in the best way.

Like now; from where he sat observing a pair of guys. One was clearly more into the other. There had been a bigger group of people a little while ago, but it had dwindled for the majority and now it was two solitary lads. One uptight and serious, one more free thinking and loose. Must be nice, he thought to have friends to hang out with. But the thought had barely crossed his mind before the bigger guy seemed to take umbrage at something that was said. Now he was squaring up to the other guy, ready to start a fight. For a second, Duke hovered his hands on the table, deciding whether to involve himself or not. It seemed like some work, and yet, the guy seemed harmless enough. Not deserving to have his head boxed off him altogether.

Swiftly enough he moved to cross the bar, working out what he was going to do as he moved through. As he reached Jewel, he decided to slap a hearty hand on his shoulder.

”Hey man! Long-time no see. How you doin’?” With a slight grin that didn’t reach his eyes, he stared down Jewel, hoping he’d be smart enough to pick up his prompt at help. ”Wanna come join me?” his head tilted to his own pint on his table at the other side of the bar hoping he’d cop the hint and follow him back.

@jewel

[Deleted]

Getting snuck up on by someone when your attention was on trying to clear up a situation with an irrationally outraged man proved to be just as heart-attack-inducing as it sounded. Jewel nearly jumped when he felt a hand slapped on his shoulder. His body skipping fight or flight, and settling for freeze, Jewel felt his frame tense up as cold, stinging panic hit him, his breath catching in his throat. It took Jewel a solid few seconds to register the stranger’s friendly tone, realizing that the man didn’t mean any harm—the opposite, in fact. Recognizing the escape route the man was offering in the form of inviting Jewel to his table, some of the tension Jewel held melted away. As Jewel looked at the man, he was met with a friendly face.
“O–oh”, he breathed in relief, taking just a moment to find his voice, though it still came out as strained. “Hey, so good to see you.” Despite never meeting this man in his life, Jewel wasn’t lying. What an angel this stranger was. Now all Jewel could hope for was that his initial confusion could pass off as just him being surprised to the weird man standing across the table. Jewel couldn’t even begin describing the amount of relief he felt when he had an excuse to stand up from his seat, the chair letting out an awkward screech as its legs slid on the floor thanks to Jewel wanting to hurry away from the situation.

The man across the table still looked pissed, his hands clenched and brows furrowed, but the arrival of a third party seemed to have snapped him out of his unjustified anger just a little. The man was no longer leaning over the table, having retreated a little. Jewel couldn’t help but turn his attention back to the man, even if it would have probably been wiser just to take advantage of the moment of clarity the angered man had reached, and just slink off away from him with the kind stranger.
“So sorry, I, uh, I’ll just…” Jewel tried to excuse his sudden exit, which ended up coming off as weird. The man had nearly threatened him not even a minute ago, he didn’t deserve any apologies or explanations. Though Jewel, always trying to be as polite as he could, realized that too late, leaving his awkward explanation incomplete. Well, maybe running away without saying anything would have just irked the man further.

With that Jewel turned his attention back to the stranger that had come to his rescue. Jewel was so grateful to the man, who knows where the situation would have escalated if he hadn’t stepped in. Jewel probably would have just made the situation worse if he was left to fend for himself, especially considering that the man was someone who couldn’t really be reasoned with. Not that Jewel knew that, which was exactly why he would have tried to talk himself out of the situation. Luckily he didn’t have to try, since this good samaritan had decided to come to the rescue.

Duke Daniel Jones