there's always a bigger fish (rai)

[Deleted]

It was rare that Uriah would venture very far from The Hog's Head, but on this fairly cloudy day the bartender found himself on the streets of Knockturn Alley. Someone needed something brought to the Hog's Head in order to be traded, and being that his unofficial title was a 'smuggler,' it was up to Uriah to fetch the item for his current employer and take it back to the bar to be picked up. He was on his way to Borgin and Burke's but when he came up on the shop, one glance in the windows told him it was currently far too busy in the store. With a disgruntled sigh, Uriah stood a few feet away from the front of the store; wondering what he could do instead to wait until the shop was a little less crowded. Uriah wasn't exactly a fan of entering stores with a lot of people in them, and he wasn't a fan of people in general. So the bartender decided to just stand up against the side wall of the store, his left foot kind of absentmindedly kicking in the dirt beneath his feet.

@railynn

[Deleted]

Rai had just finished a job, meeting an employer in the Knockturn pub in order to pass off the latest item she had stolen. She was wearing a black shirt, with a wide V-neck so her tattoo of the two doves on her collarbone was visible, along with a brown leather jacket and some form fitting brown pants. She wasn't really into all the wizard robe styles, very few people her age were these days. 

She was making her way toward the alley's exit, casually reading peoples minds a little as she walked by, as she always did. She could only focus on one person at a time, of course, and usually she had to stop walking if she wanted to dig any dipper. Her Occlumens was great, but her Legilimens was still fairly knew.

She stopped when she started to pass someone whose mind seemed blank. He must be very, very good at protecting himself. Maybe even to the point that he'd realize she was gently trying to intrude. She turned to him, trying to feign an innocent expression, "lost? Need directions?" her voice was a bit of a snap, just like that which would be expected in Knockturn. 

@uriah

[Deleted]

It felt as if quite a while had passed since Uriah had found himself up against the side of the busy shop. When he looked up to check if the store was still just as busy, he was met with the eyes of a woman with a sharp sounding voice who had addressed him. Uriah almost had to ask her to repeat herself, since he had not really been paying attention when she spoke at him. He glanced at the store, hoping it was less busy but seeing it still packed he stayed where he stood. He blinked at the woman, his eyes focusing in on her and if it weren't for his poker face, made unwavering by his habit to gamble, he probably would have looked a little confused when he saw that she, too, had a pretty unwavering stare.

Uriah took a brief second before responding to take a peek into her head; who was this girl? Why had she approached him? But her mind... was blank. It wasn't often that Uriah encountered another skilled Occlumens. The smuggler realized it was beginning to be too long since she had asked him the question and he finally answered. "I'm right where I need to be," Uriah responded with a bit of a snap to his voice as well.

@railynn

[Deleted]

He took several long moments to answer, and then said he was 'right where he needed to be' and her eyes narrowed, annoyed that she couldn't read what he was thinking. He must be hiding something, if he was so good at doing the hiding, after all. She raised an eyebrow at him, "but are you were you want to be?" she countered in a low tone, folding her arms over her chest. Okay, she would bite. She opened up her mind, just a little, just enough that he could get her name if he was listening in, and maybe her brothers name too - Hector. He was around Hectors age, so maybe that would give the guy some kind of context... plus, Rai wanted to see if he'd take the bait. If he'd reach into her mind. If he did, well, then they could play a little game of wills, couldn't they? But, alas, she had places to be. She shrugged her shoulders, "think about it, get back to me," she chuckled and turned on her heel to leave. Maybe the guy would be useful some day.

@uriah
(the end)