Evening Wind [Bobby]

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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October was definitely here, the chill of autumn already riding the steady breeze that had been floating down Horizon Alley all day. Jimbo had been lucky to spend most of the work day inside, only feeling the nip of the wind whenever someone opened the shop door. He would have preferred to have popped the ‘CLOSED’ sign up and relaxed in front of the store window with a cup of tea all day, but that didn’t exactly pay the bills. Plus the more intimate winter holidays were fast approaching. People in love always became more desperate the closer Christmas and New Year’s got, and he didn’t even want to start thinking about Valentine’s Day already. Months of panicked clients and last minute date ideas always drove him close to insanity, considering his power became absolutely useless around all those holidays. That made him look like a complete joke, so obviously to make up for it he worked double his normal hours.

So that was why he cherished the month of October. Despite its looming cold and darkness, he found it to be one of his favorite times to be working. Horizon and Diagon Alley always sported some sort of theme for Halloween (more so than normal), and people tended to be in good spirits with the heat of the summer long gone. To take advantage of this, Jimbo had started embarking on evening strolls through the shopping districts, chatting up his fellow shopkeepers that he was normally too busy to interact with, or getting his fill on the current atmosphere of his magical community. Sitting and listening to others had done well for his business in the last few years, and sending customers on blind dates had been influenced by kids and their dating applications on their phones.

Tonight was no different, and even with the cool breeze finding its way through his jacket, he still braved his nightly walk, happily swinging his cane back and forth the entire time. It wasn’t until he was halfway through Diagon when he realized he hadn’t spoken to his cousin Bobby in ages! Turning around abruptly in the middle of the street and almost causing a witch pushing a cart of lizards to fall over, Jimbo made his way back up the street and towards Mystery Ink Arts.

“Bobby, my boy!” Jimbo exclaimed as he stepped into the tattoo parlor, arms up in the air. He had only been in the shop a few times since it had opened, but was still intrigued at how well it seamlessly fit into the other stores of Diagon. Long gone were the years of taboo that tattoos seemed to have, where a parlour would have fit better in Horizon or Knockturn. The amount of foot traffic that Diagon Alley received surely helped with business too, and Jimbo often cursed the older Jimbos for staying put in Horizon for decades. While it was nice to watch the shopping district morph around Blishwick Matchmaking, there hadn’t been any increase in business because people were passing by. Everything relied solely on word of mouth and the advertisements he paid for in the Daily Prophet. Or at least that was what his exit surveys from successful clients seemed to indicate. “How’s the family doing on the other side of the big pond?”

@bobby ● 552 ● A Little Monster by Joe Hisaishi

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

It was late, almost time to close shop for the day even. He'd just said goodbye to his last customer of the day and most of the artists had already left earlier. He was mostly cleaning up the last pieces and supplies, along with some paperwork. He liked to keep the shop open in case anybody wanted to swing by for an appointment, although it wasn't quite that common. As long as he was around, he felt he might as well. He worked close to home so even if they stalled it wouldn't instantly mean he'd be home very late. He had no train to catch or busses to miss. No traffic jams of any kind to worry about. All he had to do was head upstairs to the appartment above the shop. It wasn't huge but it was big enough for him and quite cozy regardless. There was nothing he loved more than a nice cup of coffee after a hard days work and hearing the noise on the street die down as part of the day coming to an end always helped him feel more at home. He smiled slightly as he tossed the leftover ink out. This batch would be squirming like worms in the morning if he left it out. Part of the potion he used to keep it moving smoothy over the course of many years.

The rather loud and obvious entry didn't go quite unnoticed and while Bobby never really got used to it, it was very nice to see his cousin barge in like that. He grinned at the other man. "Jimbo." He said, far calmer than his cousin had ever been. When it came to appearance the two could not have been more different. Where Jimbo was usually dressed very put together and neatly, Bobby refused to wear sleeves and always had his shaggy hair pushed back, sometimes forced to blow it out of his face. He had a beard but Jimbo was cleanshaven. Not to mention that Bobby was covered int tattoo's in almost every visible place except for his face. People found those a little too intimidating he'd found. "Good to see you again." And that was just it, wasn't it. Where Jimbo dressed very approachable he was far more direct in his style of approaching people where Bobby was a far calmer type, opposite of what their respective appearances suggested.

Bobby picked up a rag and wiped his hands on it, trying to rub off some of the ink that had gotten on them while cleaning. "They're quite well actually. Dad is considering a christmas tour and mom has another opening in an art gallery booked. They'll probably visit for Christmas if you wanted to consider a big family dinner." Bobby said, instantly giving an open invitation to his cousin. He was certain that his parents wouldn't mind seeing Jimbo again either. It had been a while since the two sides of the family had a larger reunion but why not this christmas? If anything all the quarantine stuff had made it painfully clear how important it was to keep in touch with loved ones. While the families were not quite estranged the distance between them was obvious enough most days. Still, it would offer a good case for a little more catching up of the families. "I could make us some coffee if you want any. I just bought a new blend a while back if you want to come up for a cup?" He offered as he picked up his wand, waving it casually so that everything started straightening itself out. Just the details, things that otherwise might have looked messy. Bobby was a bit of a perfectionist, especially when it came to keeping his work space clean and tidy.

jimbo brian blishwick vi

[jimbo brian blishwick vi]

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Despite the distance between the two sides of the family, it had been fairly obvious over the years that the entirety of the Blishwick family was business oriented. Maybe it had to do with the obscene amount of money that the first couple of Jimbos used to pull in from matchmaking, but he thought it was more than that. Each and every one of them had a drive that allowed them to excel in whatever they wanted to. In Bobby’s case, he ran a successful tattoo parlor, while his parents were equally talented in the music and art industry. While money certainly helped with kick starting virtually anything, there still had to be the actual ability to perform and produce products that people wanted, and then adapting when necessary. In Jimbo’s case, it was stepping into the internet age, and he had been watching closely as the Ministry started allowing magicked phones and computers to be used. He was awful with creating anything on them, but that didn’t matter because he knew how to sell himself. It was merely the next step in Blishwick Matchmaking Services.

His eyes widened when Bobby stated that his father was due to do a Christmas tour soon. He had never attended one of the shows, mostly because country music hadn’t really taken hold in London, but he had a few CDs laying around the house. As for Christmas dinner, that piqued Jimbo’s attention a lot more. Hosting get togethers was basically his second job at this point, and when it wasn’t work related (engagement parties, wedding planning, etc.), he had managed a number of personal events over the last few years that had gone splendidly. He enjoyed being able to magically expand on the flat so that he could invite as many people as he wanted, mostly to his daughter’s chagrin. How Jameson hadn’t gotten used to it by now was beyond him. She was always going on and on about getting in other people’s business with her writing, and somehow snooping during parties wasn’t on her list. Though, in her defense, most of the people invited to these things were old and stuffy witches and wizards. Even he found them dreadfully boring at times.

“That’s an excellent idea! I’m supposed to host this year anyways, so adding a few more chairs won’t be an issue at all.” It was usually only his parents and brother’s family, though Jimbo IV was on the list this year as well. Apparently the other cousins were busy with their own things, redeeming holidays that had gone unused during the summertime due to the lockdown. He couldn’t even remember the last time all three living Jimbos had been together outside of his grandfather’s birthday, which he didn’t even celebrate anymore now that he was over one-hundred. In his own words, what was the point? Jimbo had to hand it to him, it was an impressive feat and he didn’t look like he was going to slow down any time soon.

Bobby then offered a cup of coffee, and Jimbo immediately accepted, “Absolutely. Seems the weather has finally started to take a turn. Took it long enough.” He shook his head in disbelief as he slid his jacket off and slung it over a hook near the door, leaning the cane against the wall. It was strange leaving his wand so far away from him, with it embedded into the handle of the cane now, but it wasn’t like he actively used it anymore aside from doing mundane tasks. “Does business pick up this time of year? I’m typically dead until after the New Year,” Jimbo sighed dramatically, though that was mostly due to his own fault. His ability liked to be finicky and not work around major holidays. He always joked that it was because there was already too much love in the air, but he was starting to believe that with each passing year. “Though I suppose that’s because most people are already with their loved ones. Now tattoos, there’s never really a bad time for those, is there?”

@bobby ● 682 ● Pull Me From The Void by Trivium

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0