bejeweled [arlo]

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

28 January 2028

On a whim, Amy had decided to download Winder, the wizarding option for Tinder. She'd had relative success with the no-maj version of the app back in California, and she thought that maybe she'd try something new. All of the no-majs in northern Scotland were completely grim, so Amy had ended up downloading the wizarding version. And lo and behold, she'd found much more interesting men on the app. Amy had kept her profile relatively simple, with a few photos of herself and a short bio about how she was a soul-searching, classic film loving vegetarian looking for love.

Amy had matched with a cute boy called Arlo - something had seemed very familiar about him, but Amy couldn't place him. Maybe she'd caught a glimpse of him around LIFE - though he was studying something completely different from her. Magical sports physiology sounded really boring, but Amy figured that maybe Arlo had a bit more spark than that. He certainly had decent chat. But she didn't know what it would be like to meet him in real life. So the pair had agreed to meet at a pub in Inverness - much more variety than in Hogsmeade, and just a short jump away.

After dressing, Amy apparated to the city, finding the pub with ease. She looked around, and no one who could possibly be Arlo stuck out. She went to the bar and ordered a pint, bringing it back to an empty table. Amy flicked through her phone, frowning at a message from her Daddy as he reminded her to stop pulling money from her savings account and actually secure herself a job. Maybe she would ask Toby if there were any openings at the MWRC. But Amy loathed the idea of having to clear up animal shit. Maybe she could be a receptionist?

Arlo Bletchley

[Arlo Bletchley]

Life without Lulu had been a bit of a whirlwind so far. Getting used to being alone again had been far more difficult than Arlo thought it would be. From waking up in the morning and only having to make one coffee instead of two, to being able to sprawl out in the seemingly infinite space of his tiny double bed in the echoing of the apartment he had inherited from his father. Little did he know his father had spent the same languid months going through not dissimilar feelings over his own mother, but that was here nor there at the present time. Life had been different. The pair had been quite an obvious couple at L.I.F.E., one constantly showering the other in signs of public displays of affection that he once would have been so embarrassed over. Now he traversed it's halls in mostly silence, keeping to himself and just getting on with things. Of course bar a few nights out with the lads from his course that he had always had banter with, life had been fairly uneventful.

That was until he had decided to plunge into the world of online dating apps a few weeks ago. He'd mostly stayed away from the Muggle ones; after a few dates it became too difficult to keep lying about where he went to school and the rest, but he'd found welcome enough success on Winder, the wizarding version. It was easier to chat there, things were more open and honestly bar most of the girls that had been home schooled, or the foreign ones on the app, he had actually known most of them from Hogwarts; which narrowed down the pool of possibilities rather drastically.

It had been surprising when he had matched with Amy. She was quite pretty. Arlo wasn't an ugly guy, no. Even though his Mum had always called him handsome when he was growing up, he had been popular with girls in school. But he had had his hang ups all the same. The second thing he had inherited from his great Grandfather, other than his name, was his ears. Yes, he had grown into them somewhat, but he always felt they were bigger than they should be. While it wasn't his only insecurity, it was one of the biggest. His breakup with lulu anne blishwick had really knocked his self-confidence and in reality while he was a solid nine and a half at least, he had been settling for dates with sixes and sevens, feeling that was all he was worthy for. When he had actually received a notification from Winder saying he had matched with Amy Astor-Shaw, while pleased with himself, he was nervous. He had put his best effort into readying himself to come and meet her, but he was still fairly scared shitless that she would think him a catfish, or boring as fuck. Agreeing on a date in a pub on more neutral territory had eased his fears somewhat. He could easily make a getaway if he felt the date was going downhill or she hated him, without feeling too hard about it on himself.

It wasn't off to a great start exactly; Arlo was running a few minutes later because he had gone down a slight rabbit hole on the internet when he had googled her name while sitting on the toilet and lost track of time. She had quite a presence, it seemed, back in California. Here in the UK perhaps not so much, but it was intimidating all the same. For a moment he had thought about backing out of the date all together. Eventually he had steeled himself and rushed into the pub, feeling like a total idiot, but deciding to throw caution to the wind anyway. After a moment it was clear who she was as she sat at a table alone. There was a moment of hesitancy where he considered backing out again, but then she had looked up and clocked him and now it was decidedly too late. The tips of his ears reddened as he did when he was embarrassed and he crossed the pub to stand over her with his lanky frame.

"Er, hi, Amy?" raising an eyebrow, he gave her a lopsided grin. He knew it was her of course but he had to seem at least slightly unsure of himself and not look like a total psychopath from his toilet stalking.

AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

Amy was very absorbed in her phone, pondering what sort of job she would be suited for. Certainly nothing with manual labour. And probably nothing to do with plants. Even though to be fair, it would get her closer to Alora. And she needed every excuse in the book to get to know her sister better - she still had no idea how to broach the subject. She was afraid Toby would call her a weenie for being so hesitant, but he didn't really understand. How could Amy tell Alora that they'd had nearly two decades stolen from one another? What would her life have been like with a sister?

Instead of facing that very daunting problem, Amy skirted around Alora's existence, sometimes staring too long, sometimes lingering when she shouldn't. But that didn't change the fact that Amy was terrified of denial. She'd never really been denied anything in her life! Except that one time when she was seven and she asked for a pair of stilletos from Christian Louboutin but Daddy had said no because she'd break her ankle. In her defense, Amy just wanted to be fashionable like the starlets. In her father's defense, Amy definitely would have broken an ankle.

Amy straightened abruptly, the feeling of eyes on her piquing her interest. The gaze belonged to a boy. Then she was greeted by a voice that sounded like it belonged in an officer's barrack. Or at least a Hugh Grant film. She rose suddenly, knocking the table with her leg and sloshing at least two sips worth of lager onto the already sticky table. Amy swore under her breath, cringing. "Yes. Amy. Hi," said Amy, flushing scarlet. "You're Arlo?" he did look familiar. "Do we hug? Or something? I don't know." Amy opened her arms awkwardly and gave him a half hug, patting him twice on the back. "Let me get some napkins. And... what do you want to drink?"

Arlo Bletchley

[Arlo Bletchley]

Arlo watched Amy fuss for a moment, still playing dumb to who she was. When she spoke he smiled a little more. The accent was so undeniably different and foreign he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. But then, he supposed, different was good for now. With a small nod, he confirmed who he was "Yeah that's me" His smile was more sheepish, then he shrugged "I'm not sure, what the formalities are anymore. Every date I've gone on has had a different set of rules so merlin knows anymore" trying to feel more at ease, he smiled down at her again. They'd had some chat. He'd told her he was just out of a long-ish term relationship and had had a few dates here and there. He hoped she didn't think badly of him for it, but he'd been open about testing waters here and there, even if he wasn't sowing his wild oats everywhere. He didn't push her away when she hugged him, even if it was a slightly awkward one, her small frame in contradiction to his wiry tall one was nice in a way.

"I'll get it, and some napkins don't worry" Glad for the breather for the moment he stepped away to the bar. He felt so in over his head. Amy seemed lovely, but his nerves were definitely getting the better of him now they had established she definitely was a ten and probably out of his league. Drumming his fingers on the bar top counter, he waited for his pint and tried to beat out some nervous energy. It hadn't worked all that much and when he returned a moment later he passed her the tissues and set his drink down in the seat across from her. All the better to watch her from, close enough, but enough to feel some sort of space between them and not make it weird. After sliding into the seat then he tried another small smile, he silently cursed as he felt the tips of his ears burn red again as he tried to downplay it.

"So...what's up?" it was lame, but taking a sip from his glass, he decided it was a decent enough opener and left the ball in her court to a degree. They had chatted the basics over text when establishing whether they had wanted a date; it had covered enough and Arlo wasn't sure what else to go with for now. Watching her over the rim of the glass, he studied the lines of her face. She definitely was pretty gorgeous even if it wasn't his usual type. Mind you he wasn't sure he even had a type anymore it would seem. All the same, the details of her face intrigued her and kept his attention.

AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

Amy eyed Arlo for a millisecond too long, before returning her flustered attention to the table before her. The one that she'd spilled like, half her drink on. "Right, we wing it then," she concluded, throwing him a grin as she pottered about the table. "Imagine going in with a handshake. What is it, nineteen seventy five?" she asked, more to herself than of him. Arlo had been up front with his situation - he was fresh out of a girlfriend. Amy wondered who had done the dumping - he was nice enough and very pretty but she hadn't quite cracked his shell. She didn't know if she'd strike gold on the inside.

Arlo sauntered off to get napkins and his own drink, for which Amy was silently grateful. Especially since her father seemed keen on stifling her stipend. She needed to buy things! But now, Amy supposed she'd have to cut corners where she could. And that included buying pretty boys drinks. "Thanks," said Amy as he placed the napkins on the table and Amy dutifully patted the spilt beer, but was watching Arlo out of the corner of her eye. He looked rather nervous, which she thought was silly because she was nothing to be afraid of.

"Have you ever heard of bismuth?" asked Amy suddenly, just as Arlo spoke at the same time. Amy deduced that her question was much more interesting than his, and deigned not to respond. What's up? Uh, the sky. But she should tuck away the sarcasm, the poor boy in front of her looked like he was about to wet himself with nerves. "Um. Anyways, bismuth is this cool element, a metal really. Did you take alchemy in school?" she went on, bulldozing her way into the conversation as she did so.

Arlo Bletchley

[Arlo Bletchley]

Even though he'd been on multiple dates recently, hell this wasn't even his first date this week; and yet still, his nerves were eating away at him. Sat across from the pretty girl, he cursed himself for the fact he could only come up with something so lame to start off with. He left Amy to try and clean up the mess, purely because if he wanted to help it usually only complicated matters. He watched in tense silence, grimacing just slightly. Silently he sipped from his pint and tried to recoup himself and come up with some better conversation fodder.

Except then he didn't have to. Bismuth. He furrowed his brow for a minute as he watched her. Ok this was slightly more interesting than he thought it would be. "Is that...a place?" raising an eyebrow in ignorance he thought it over before she then gave him the actual answer. "Oh. No, I've never heard of it." a quiet chuckle played on his lips as he let his head fall to the side in confusion. "No, it wasn't something I was ever drawn to. It seemed to only be extracurricular. I didn't have time. I was always busy with Quidditch. with a small shrug he gave her another sparkling smile.

"I'm assuming you did though. That's what you're studying right?" scratching the back of his head he pursed his lips trying to remember what her Winder page had said. It hadn't come up in any conversation that he could remember anyway. Watching her shrewdly, he wondered how much more was less superficial than she first seemed.

AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

Amy effectively steamrolled over Arlo's ill attempts at starting a conversation. Elements were much more interesting anyways. She smiled serenely at Arlo's ignorance before explaining what Bismuth was. She asked if he'd taken it in school, though Amy didn't recall seeing him in any classes. He didn't seem quite as interested in the element as she was - first off the structure of the crystals was so cool and second, it was iridescent. Like, she couldn't imagine anything better to turn into gold. "Oh, that's a shame. It's really very interesting. Who knows, maybe someone else will create the elixir of life again," said Amy. "Are you still doing Quidditch now then... only, I didn't realise players went to LIFE," said Amy, her lips turning down in confusion.

Amy thought that she had answered Arlo's inquiries well enough, and took a sip of her pint. She looked up, scrutinising him. There was a whole host of things that she wanted to say. Why was he at LIFE when he didn't look like he needed to work a day in his life? Surely he didn't have some ulterior motive like herself - to meet Alora.

"I never thought I'd continue school after just scraping by for seven years," Amy revealed after a comfortable silence. "But Alchemy is so much more hands on. Less textbooks, more magic," she added. "And magic feels so much less forbidden here than in America. Have you been?" she asked.

Arlo Bletchley

[Arlo Bletchley]

Arlo was slow to nod in response. He wouldn't agree so much that it was all that interesting, but he wasn't going to sink Amy's boat so soon in their date. Instead, he gave an almost blank smile as he nodded again. "Sure, sounds it." He reached for his glass and supped at his pint for a moment, just for something to do with his hands. However, he realised as Amy continued speaking, this was probably a mistake. What she was saying, while not untrue, did nothing to boost his ego or confidence. With a half frown and a shrug he nodded in a slightly tighter way now.

"Uhhh....I mean some do. I don't play like professionally like some people went on to." with a pause, he reached up to brush at some of his curls and lick his lips; his two nervous ticks. "I mean I could have, my Dad coaches the English national team. I did get drafted, and he wanted me to go for it but I just...." with his frown deepening, his brow furrowed "It's not what I wanted I guess.." he lapsed into an awkward silence, unsure of what else to say on that topic. It always made him uncomfortable, the idea of not following his father's dream for him. He was still unpacking a lot and had been working through it with Lulu, up until, well they weren't anymore. That was still difficult to try and navigate. Amy went on talking, and for that he was grateful for something to fill the silence.

Listening to her was easy, her foreign accent almost melodic on his ears. The inflections here and there lilting and drawing him in. Raising an eyebrow, he gave a lopsided smile "Yeah practical stuff is awesome. It's the same with Sports Science I guess." Her question threw him some, he had been too busy watching her face moved as she spoke to think of an answer straight away. With a beat of semi-awkward silence, he nodded as something to fill it. "I've been to the east coast for some Quodpot stuff with my Dad. That was fun. Where are you from?" with a slight nibble on his lip he watched her again before reaching for his fast disappearing pint.

AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW

[AMY ESMA ASTOR-SHAW]

Amy, though she was completely unaware of it herself, was definitely bottling this situation. She didn't notice the tightening of Arlo's lips, or the discomfort that was evident in his eyes. Arlo explained more about his situation, how he was drafted but it wasn't what he wanted. It started to click into place for Amy then. This was similar to Toby's situation with his parents. "When will parents learn that it is not their job to control their kids lives?" asked Amy, more to herself than anything. "Well, it's good of you to do your own thing. I'm glad," said Amy. Arlo seemed to come from as much a privileged background as she, though his was more deeply steeped in the wizarding world than hers. At least Amy had a modicum of distance.

To lighten the conversation topic, Amy found herself drifting back towards alchemy. Sure, there was lots of reading and researching to be done - that stuff Amy hated. But more often than not, it was very hands on. "I can imagine it's similar. Though I suppose you have to do a lot of research into body parts," said Amy, taking a sip of her drink. "You know what I just clocked? Usually science and magic are complete opposites. Didn't someone once say that science is the way the muggles explain away magic?" said Amy, more thinking out loud than anything. "And yet now they're offering a sports science class at Hogwarts. How futuristic," she said with a laugh.

"I'm from California. But my parents are from Britain," she explained. "My dad does film stuff, so we moved to California before I was born. I've not spent lots of time in New York but..." Amy trailed off. She was about to mention Alora, but somehow she didn't want to bring that into conversation. "I went to Boston once. It was cold," she said with a shrug.

Arlo Bletchley