can i speak with the author? (jewel)

[Deleted]

May 6th, 2028

It wasn't uncommon for rain to suddenly appear in England, but it was still annoying when one was unprepared. On this Spring day, showers were to be expected. Still, Mac was overconfident and didn't bring an umbrella on his excursion into the muggle side of town. Sure, it was easy to dry off this magic or make an umbrella with his wand- but he was pretty deeply entrenched in the muggle shopping district, so he couldn't just whip any magic out when the rain suddenly plummeted on top of him.

Mac had worn his nice wool sweater too, so when the rain starting to fall he ran like hell to the nearest convenience store. "Damn," he muttered, looking down at his sleeves to check if they were wet. They weren't, phew.

He searched the store, not finding any umbrellas. The clerk shrugged, "all gone, kid." Mac's eyes narrowed at the 'kid' thing, but he just nodded and stepped outside to stand under the awning, as close to the wall as possible, so his sweater wouldn't get wet.

The sidewalk was incredibly crowded as he contemplated how to cast a protection charm over his sweater. Unfortunately, he was searching his brain for a waterproofing spell but was drawing a blank. He grumpily folded his arms, glaring out at the busy street in front of him.  

@jewel

[Deleted]

Rain usually didn’t bother Jewel—despite his below average skills when it came to casting spells, Jewel had put in extra effort to learn every spell that could potentially help him look his best, and that included spells that could help in a rainy weather. He wasn’t vain, at least if you asked him, but he preferred looking and smelling nice. Who wouldn’t? But now Jewel couldn’t use magic to keep the raindrops away from him, since he was in the middle of a muggle town. One of his best friends lived among muggles with her muggle wife, and of course it had to rain the day Jewel visited them. Well, at least he had met the baby they had adopted a few weeks ago. Such a sweet little one, it brought a smile on Jewel’s face when he was thinking about his friend’s family. He was so happy for his friend, thinking back on how she’d talk about her dreams of having a family one day. Now she had that, and Jewel couldn’t be more excited for her.

Despite the fact that Jewel could have spent the rest of the day with his friends and their new baby, they had something scheduled for later. That was why Jewel was making his way back home, but in order to get there he would have to walk through a busy muggle town first, and of course the dark clouds had been an omen for rain. Despite not being vain in his own words, Jewel had just enough vanity for him to stop by the nearest store the second he felt the first few droplets of water hitting his face. Jewel’s curls would probably be a frizzy mess from all the moisture now that he couldn’t dry himself off with a spell, but at least he could save his clothes from getting soaked.

Jewel couldn’t believe his luck when he grabbed the last umbrella from the display rack. Usually he was the one who came to the store right after the last umbrella was gone. Before Jewel headed to the register, he had to grab a couple of his favorite snacks—things he had grown up with. As he was leaving the store, he couldn’t help but overhear a man asking for umbrellas. Jewel glanced at the man who was told that they were sold out, feeling a little bad. But he needed one too, so he couldn’t dwell on that feeling for too long.

Stepping outside, Jewel stopped under the awning for a second. He had to get organized, stuffing the things he had bought into whatever pocket he could. Luckily the clothes he was wearing had a lot of deep pockets, and before long everything but the umbrella hanging from his wrist was put away. In the meanwhile the man from the store had stepped out, looking a little disgruntled while looking at the rain. It had picked up while Jewel had been inside the store.

Without a moment’s hesitation Jewel took a step towards the man huddled against the building, taking shelter from the rain. The long-haired man took the umbrella in his hand, starting to open it as he looked at the man.
“Where are you headed?” Jewel asked, his tone as cheerful as ever. At least Jewel had the self-awareness to realize that the question sounded extremely odd the instant the words had left his mouth. With a quick chuckle Jewel felt like he had to elaborate just a little.
“Sorry, I overheard that you were looking for an umbrella and, well, I just bought the last one”, Jewel explained the weird question he had suddenly thrust upon the man. “So I thought that maybe you’d want to share? Would be a shame if your jumper got soaked.” That was exactly the reason why Jewel had stepped into the store, so it was no wonder the man’s wool jumper was the thing he mentioned.

@mac

[Deleted]

Mac wasn't always grumpy, but it was a lot more common than other emotions lately. He always tried to stay positive because he knew what his temper could to - to himself and others. Still, it was hard not to lean into the deep, dark emotions inside of him when he was stuck with nothing but his thoughts-

Someone was talking to him.

He looked over at the person with the umbrella, his long hair taking in the moisture around them. "Oh, um, fifth and Lex," he explained, a street corner close enough to his place. A short twenty minute walk - on a nice day. "Thanks," he noted, looking down at his jacket as the man commented on the shame it would be for it to get soaked. "That's exactly why I'm still standing under here," he smiled, genuinely happy that someone understood how he felt about the suede. "I was cocky and didn't bring an umbrella, so-" he admitted, but there was not guilt or shame in his voice, just a slight amusement, as if he was telling a joke he had told hundreds of times before.

"I'm Maclan," he introduced. "I'd love the company. And the... umbrella, if that's not too much trouble," he explained. He could try to cut through some side streets or find a dark spot to apparate once they reached 5th and Lex.

@jewel

[Deleted]

Jewel’s odd suggestion about sharing his umbrella with a complete stranger was luckily met with appreciation, as the man’s sour mood seemed to melt away quickly, being replaced with a smile. The directions the man gave Jewel didn’t ring any bells, though that wasn’t a surprise. He had a terrible sense of direction, much less in a town he didn’t know—he only ever visited his friends here, so anywhere that wasn’t on the way there, Jewel didn’t know.
“I’m not too familiar with the town, so why don’t you take the lead? I’ll follow”, Jewel suggested, prepared to follow the man to his destination while shielding him from the rain.

When Maclan introduced himself, Jewel wasn’t sure if he’d remember the man’s name in a couple of minutes. He tried his hardest to retain the information in his mind, even though they would probably part ways and never meet again once they reached Maclan’s destination, but truthfully Jewel could never trust his brain to hold on to anyone’s name. He didn’t want to be rude or seem like he didn’t care about other people enough to even remember their name, but that wasn’t really something Jewel could help.
“I’m Jewel.” Perhaps Maclan was better at remembering names than Jewel. Not that he ever took any offense if someone didn’t remember—after all, he was probably even worse in that regard. Besides, he couldn’t even begin to count all the times someone accidentally called him Joel or Jules instead—maybe some people found it confusing to register such a feminine name with Jewel’s face, but he liked his name. It suited him. No matter how many times people had teased him about it, saying that his mother must have hated him. Well, that had mostly been when he was a child, it was all in the past now. Still, somehow Jewel remembered those memories, the faces who had given poor, sweet little Jewel a hard time all those years ago.

Schoolyard bullies were banished back to the realm of seemingly forgotten memories as Mac expressed his contentment with the company, and of course, the umbrella Jewel was offering.
“Oh, not at all! I’m always happy to help”, Jewel responded as Mac commented on the detour he would have to do. He didn’t have any plans, so it really was no trouble, on the contrary. Jewel would always take advantage of a possibility to pass on some positivity in the form of a good deed.
“I don’t usually carry an umbrella either, because—” Jewel caught himself just in time as he realized that maybe blurting out something about magic wasn’t exactly wise in a town full of muggles. “Well, maybe you could call me an optimist. So I get it. Wouldn’t want to be caught in the rain either.” Jewel couldn’t deny that he was a little excited about finding someone who seemed to be happy to have some company, even if it was a literal stranger. How fun, nothing was more interesting than talking to new people and hearing what they had to say—even if it was something mundane like talking about the weather or how boring their job was.

@mac

[Deleted]

The person said they weren't familiar with the town, suggesting that Mac take the lead. "Oh, yeah that's fine. Where are you from?" he asked, leaning closer to him in order to get under the Umbrella.

The man introduced himself as Jewel, and Mac smiled. "Nice to meet you. That's a lovely name." he complimented. Mac wasn't one to lie unless it was in jest of some kind, so his genuine nature still shown through as he complimented the name. The guy was tall, too, which helped with the whole umbrella sharing business. Jewel said he was happy to help, saying that he didn't usually carry and umbrella... then he stopped.

An optimist. Wow. Mac was... not an optimist.

"Well, maybe we'll both be better prepared. This is London, after all. Rain and gloom is common," he explained. he started to walk, "I'll lead the way," he reminded.

He stepped out of the awning and looked up at the umbrella, which seemed to be doing the trick. "I don't really care for sunny days, so this weather actually is nice... aside from the suede," he shook his head, rolling his eyes at himself.

@jewel