Outstandingly caffeinated | Riley & Dusti

[Deleted]

September 2025

Riley’s whole life had changed over the summer. He was a married man now. He had a wife to come home to everything, and his wife was the woman he loved more than any other person in the world. Not an arranged, pureblood, perfect wife like his parents would have liked him to have and tried to force onto him. While being married did change his life in a lot of ways, his summer remained relatively the same. He spent most of his days at the hospital, working and studying, and trying to make the most of this time before he was turned out on his own and given his own patients. He planned to stay with St. Mungos for the next few years and then he’d attempt to branch off and start his own clinic like he wanted to. His goal was always to start a private psychiatric clinic for witches and wizards. A wizard Therapist who could use both standard and magical practices and see patients on a regular basis. But he needed to get a few formal years under his belt before he could make that transition.

Riley found himself with a rare break in between patients and decided to head down to the cafe to grab a tea before his busy afternoon. He usually stopped first thing and got a coffee in the mornings, but it wasn’t usual that he made it down here during the day as well. He stood waiting in line, books in his hands, and papers stroon about slightly haphazardly in his stack as he waited to order his green tea.

@dusti

[Deleted]

September 2025
@riley

Dusti covered a yawn as she headed to the cafe. She was working an 18 hour shift (a co-worker had fallen ill an she'd offered to take their shift for them). She still had a few hours left in her shift and needed coffee, desperately. It'd been a busy day, and Dusti had sworn a number of times already. All because someone with Hag's Fever decided to go to a party, giving it to literally everyone there. While Hag's Fever wasn't life threatening, it was a pain when people did stupid stuff like that and made Dusti's day harder.

Unfortunately there was a line at the cafe. Holding back the frustrated groan, she got in line, right behind a trainee (the books and papers he was carrying gave it away). Though, after a moment, she realized that the trainee was in fact one of the Fudge kids. Not that she cared much about them. His parents had associated with her parents. Purebloods, and their mentality of keeping the bloodline pure. "Didn't know you worked here," she said. While the words itself weren't rude or snarky, Dusti's tone of voice was (but hey, this was Dusti. When wasn't she snarky?).

[Deleted]

Riley hadn’t even noticed when someone else got in line behind him, let alone who it was. Until she spoke, and then when he turned around, the familiar head of blonde hair nearly took him back to a time of high society parties and false morals. While their parents associated, he didn’t want to hold any of that against anyone his age unless he knew for sure they felt the same way. And he couldn’t say he knew the Flints well enough to make any decisions. “Oh hi, yeah, uh, started in the summer.” he admitted. He wasn’t really sure what else to say. “I could say the same for you, I guess. What department are you in?” he asked, trying to sound casual instead of exhausted like he felt. He didn’t want to look like a scattered intern, even though today he very much felt that way.

@dusti

[Deleted]

September 2025
@riley

Despite still carrying the surname "Flint", Dusti wasn't one. Not by blood at least. Her family history was complicated and dramatic. But was anyone surprised? Her mother had been a very dramatic woman. Horrible, dramatic, spoiled, vile, and rarely sober. Yet somehow Pansy Flint had always convinced most of the Pureblood world that she was a saint, and that they should pity her for her four horrible children. Dusti didn't care. Her behavior was very much learned. She jsut didn't bother with the fake smiles her parents had.

She couldn't remember this boy's name. Just that he was a Fudge. And the same age as her younger sibling.... well... Siblings. But that was an entirely other mess that she didn't need to get into. "I see," she responded shortly. So he was one of the new trainees. That came with the graduating class. "I've been here over a year." Of course her parents would have been horrified by that knowledge. "I work in the lab." It suited her. The clinical, sterile environment, and very few people. She could keep to herself most her work days. Running tests. The only time she really interacted with others, and was out of the lab, was when one of the floors needed assistance getting samples for the tests. "Which floor are you studying on?"

[Deleted]

She admitted she had worked here for over a year now in the lab. He nodded his interest. He appreciated those who were able to work in the physical medicine part of the facility. He was never good with that sort of thing, not that he had really ever tried, but he had a feeling. He liked the academic side, the studying side, the observing and advising side. “That’s pretty cool, I bet it’s pretty fast paced up there.” he said. He liked the pace of his own floor, however, even that got fairly fast paced when he was expected to sit in on sessions back to back with various healers while they got a break to scribe in between their patients. He knew he just had to put this time in, finish his training, and then one day he’d be able to open his own, private practice and everything would be different. “I’m in the psychiatric ward.” he informed her with another nod of his head.

@dusti

[Deleted]

September 2025
@riley

Dusti was shit at reading people. Her general belief when it came to conversations was that people were faking, or hiding something. It was completely a defense mechanism though, and she just didn't trust that people could have good intentions. So his comment of "cool" almost fell on deaf ears, and she focused on the second half of the comment, about it being fast paced. It could at times, depending on what the healers and nurses were doing. "No busier then the floors. We get our work from them." she explained curtly. To her, it was an obvious answer. Because when the floors got busy, it meant more tests to run in the lab. Their work load almost always mirrored the healing floors.

Though the realization that he was in "psychiatrics" made her narrow her eyes. Clearly a sensitive subject for the Flint girl, considering her parents. No doubt he knew that Dusti's mother, Pansy, had murdered her husband before dying in Azkaban. Gossip like that spread like wildfire in Pureblood society. "Well, I hope it proves useful." was the most civil answer she managed. Though you could almost hear her unspoken feelings on the subject. It was as if the word had immediately put her on guard and on the defense... Though what didn't trigger her? Dusti Flint wasn't exactly known for being calm. She had a reputation for her temper, which typically had little warning.