What Ales You [OPEN]

"The Jug and Bottle," Lainey murmured aloud to herself. "Not the most original name, is it?'"

She sat in the corner of the pub, legs tucked beneath her on the chair. The twenty-year-old took a sip of her ale before going back to picking apart her dinner roll, occasionally putting bits of it in her mouth and chewing thoughtfully. Her stew was getting cold, but it wasn't going anywhere. At the moment, there was simply too much on her mind to focus much on food.

Lainey had moved to London the month before. She had found a job as a waitress and a place to stay for dirt cheap, but neither had been the true purpose for moving in the first place. There was a group of people, Exodus 22, they were called, and she had heard that their headquarters were in London. Lainey wanted to join their cause. The girl didn't have much she could offer, but she learned quickly and she was willing to work hard. She just wanted a part in putting wizards in their place. She wanted to be useful.

She sighed, then raised her pint in a toast to a nonexistent dinner guest. "Good for what ails you, I suppose." She took another sip.

Arael scrunched his nose up in slight distaste as he entered the Muggle pub. Really, why he had to go out and patrol Muggle London - when he was an Unspeakable - he didn't know. It wasn't as if the Ministry was lacking Aurors..

Ordering something called a beer, Arael sat down with his drink and stretched out his Grace, looking for anyone magical in the area. The war between the Muggles and Magicals was escalating to horrible measures. Magical children being beaten and bullied for having something they had control over. Merlin help them, if the Muggles didn't stop, they would all loose their magic! And the other Magicals, attacking Muggles for 'fun', it was absolutely disgusting.

Arael wanted to go back to his research, and not have to speak to anyone.. He sighed, taking a sip of his drink and stretched his Grace out slightly further until he pulled it back quickly until it stretched just over and a bit outside the pub he was in. Muggles had a strange name for things, just like the Magicals..

Lainey looked up as another patron entered the pub. Looking back down at her cold stew, she smiled a little to herself. He was a rather attractive bloke, in Lainey's estimation. He sat down a few tables away from her, but she was still able to see his face. Beautiful set of eyes on that man, she thought.

The girl sighed. She only shot him a few more glances before managing to quell the impulse. Let it not be said that she was one to stare. She picked another piece off her roll and popped it into her mouth. There was something about him - apart from his good looks. Perhaps in the way he carried himself? Lainey didn't know, but from last glance, he was paying acute attention to his surroundings.

Lainey took a bite of her stew - definitely cold - then a sip of her ale. At least the scenery was bit more interesting, now, even if she was still eating alone.

Arael carried on looking around the pub as he drank his beer. He so preferred Firewhiskey and Butterbeer, but Muggles did make some lovely drinks. Coffee was nice, too. Huffing and looking around, Arael felt like pulling his Grace in. Most Magicals were in hiding from the Muggles now, anyway. They wont go out, they're afraid for their children. The only time they do go out is to get to the Ministry or to beat on some Muggles, too.

His eyes landed on a very beautiful lady whilst he was looking. He blinked a few times when looking at her before he turned his head away and back to the door. Picking up his drink once more, he was really hoping he wasn't caught looking at a Muggle woman - one that could hate Magicals, no less.

Lainey raised her head just as the attractive bloke looked away. A small smile curved her lips. Dismissing her stew as a lost cause, she untucked one leg to push the chair across from her out a bit.

"Hey, blue eyes," she called. The redhead nodded towards the empty chair. "You can sit here, if you want. I won't bite." Her green eyes focused on him, waiting for his response. It would be embarrassing if he declined, of course, but she'd survive. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, after all.

Arael blinked a couple of times at being addressed as Blue eyes. He knows he has blue eyes, so why would someone call him that? Shrugging, he picked up his drink, stood up and walked over to the chair, a light smirk on his lips.

"Thanks," He said airily, putting his drink down on the table and sitting down on the proffered chair. Putting his hand over the table to the very lovely lady, a grin replaced his smirk. "Arael Caverly. Pleasure to meet you." That was a normal greeting, right?

Lainey grinned lightly as the man made his way over to her table. Then, she bit her lip a bit as he extended his hand towards her, her own hands curled loosely around her glass.

"Lainey Ladrón," she replied, she gazed at his hand for a moment, then back to his face. He really was pleasant to look at. "It's nice to meet you, Arael. I'm afraid I'm going to be very rude, however. Not much on shaking hands, see." She offered an apologetic smile, knowing that her refusal of a simple handshake was odd, to say the least.

Lainey couldn't tell a magical just by looking at them and as any contact of her skin with theirs caused her to take their magic, however briefly, she'd learned to be a bit cautious. It had taken until the second magical whose memory she'd had to alter before she swore off shaking hands with any whose status was unknown to her, altogether.

Lainey propped her chin in one palm. "So, what brings you here?" she asked, hoping the change in topic would lessen her unintended insult. "You looked rather pensive when you came in." She spoke with a Welsh accent, though, it had been years since she'd actually lived in Wales.

Arael blinked before shrugging and dropping his hand onto his lap. He didn't mind not shaking hands with someone - he normally tried to steer away from it. "Well, again, nice to meet you." He said lightly, looking around the pub at all of the different Muggles wandering about. Laughing and joking with their friends without a care in the world.

Humming lightly, Arael shrugged again. "Just wandering about," He lied smoothly - it came with the job, apparently. "Had nothing to do, so I was looking to see if anyone I knew came in." Which was kind of the truth, so it wasn't exactly lying. Just, bending what he was actually doing slightly so it fit. "And you? All on your lonesome?" He asked, trying to steer the conversation away from him and hoping Lainey wouldn't notice.

Ah, she mused. Don't much like to talk about yourself, do ya? Well, none of my business, I suppose.

"Thinking, mostly," Lainey replied, she idly fingered the cross about her neck for a moment, before bringing her hand down to the table. "Been thinking about joining a social group. Give me something to do, apart from work. I don't really know anyone in the area - I just moved here, last month.

"You must be local, yourself, if you're looking for people you know," she assumed. "Been in the area long?"

Arael cocked his head to the side slightly. "Well, Welcome to the area, even if it is late," He muttered, taking a sip of his beer. He looked at the wall on the other side of the pub, as if looking at something only he could see - which he wasn't. It just made him seem slightly insane..

"Yeah, you could say that," He said quietly, furrowing his brows. Would he be counted as local? Oh well.. "Most, if not all, of my life. Where'd you live before?" He inquired innocently, a smile on the corner of his lips.

"Thank you," Lainey grinned, taking a sip of her own ale. Arael had an odd sort of charm about him and she found it rather appealing. It set him apart from most blokes.

"Here and there," she answered. "I grew up in Cardiff, though. Haven't been there in years." Her gaze grew wistful and she pressed her lips together momentarily.

Shaking off the memories, she smiled again. "So, blue eyes," she asked, "what do you do for living? Anything interesting?" As she spoke, she stretched out a bare foot (her sandals were on the floor below her) and rested it atop his knee. She nonchalantly took a drink of her ale, making no indication that she realized how very forward that simple act was.

Arael smiled at her lightly. He didn't think he had to say anything to the thank you, there was no reason to. Unless he was supposed to.. Oh dear..

"I've been to Cardiff before," He hummed, thinking about his trip there. "It's a lovely place." Humming lightly, he sat and remembered when he went there with Veles. She'd loved it there, and they had said they would go back there one day..

He blinked at being called blue eyes again before brushing it off. Blushing slightly when he felt her foot on his knee, he shrugged. "Not really. More of a researcher for the.. uh.. Government. It pays well." He shrugged again, lightly. That was the word they used, right? He'd almost slipped up in telling her the Ministry of Magic. It would of been bad if she hadn't liked Magicals. "And what about you?" He felt like he was in 20 Questions, or a Q&A to each other. Quid pro quo, that was it.

"Very lovely place," Lainey agreed fondly.

"Researcher, huh?" she said, settling her foot a bit more comfortably before taking a sip of her ale. "What kinda research do you do? You're not studying weird mutations or alien life, are you?" she teased.

"I'm afraid I'm not anything so interesting as a researcher. Just a waitress at a coffee shop. It pays the bill." Granted, her 'apartment' - if the grungy little room she lived in could be called that - was crap, but she got by comfortably enough, so Lainey wasn't about to complain.

"Tell me, blue eyes," she liked calling him 'blue eyes' - he got this mildly bemused expression on his face when she did. He must not have a lot of nick names. "Are you here alone," she gestured vaguely to indicate that she meant the area, London, "or are you just here alone?" She tapped the table to show that she meant the pub.

Arael smiled at the fondness in her voice. He could relate to that - he was fond of the place as well.

Scoffing slightly, he shook his head. "No, I just do odd jobs that they need me to.." He didn't know how to explain the Department of Mysteries to a Muggle. How could he tell her he looked at different forms of magic, the different dimensions and rooms in the DoM? He couldn't, really, not without revealing he was a Magical. "No aliens involved."

He nodded slightly, showing understanding. "Which coffee shop do you work at?" He asked innocently, smiling at her and tilting his head to the side slightly. He was always a kid at heart - he felt like one sometimes too - but then again, he had to grow up quickly when he was younger. Though, he wasn't naive in any way.

Blinking a couple of times, he shrugged. "Alone," generally alone. He hadn't wanted to be with anyone since Veles, and he didn't think he would for a long time. Maybe things could change, who knew. "And you?"

Lainey laughed. "What fun is that?" she asked rhetorically.

"I work at Corner Brews," Lainey replied, gesturing in the general direction of the shop. "It's the one that is, quite predictably, on a corner a couple streets over. It's hard to miss. We've got a pretty good clientele because the location is good and so's the coffee." She took another drink of her ale. It was nearly gone, but she didn't order another.

"Alone," Lainey responded. Then, a flirty grin spread easily across her face as she shrugged one shoulder. "Most of the time." She studied him seriously for a moment, then, remarked lightly, "You know, blue eyes, it's not good for a bloke like yourself to be alone. You never know what sort of woman might snatch you up."

"You would be surprised," Arael answered simply, even if the question was rhetorical.

"I'll have to visit sometime," He said lightly, remembering walking past the shop a lot of the time. "If the coffee is that good," He added onto the end, as if it was an afterthought. Which it probably was. He smiled at Lainey from the other side of his beer bottle before taking another drink from it.

"Mmm," He hummed lightly, chuckling slightly at the look on her face. "I'm not the most social of people. What would you suggest I do?" He leaned an elbow on the table and put his chin in his palm, smiling faux-innocently at her. "I don't want to go off with the wrong woman now. That would be tragic."

"Oh, it is," confirmed Lainey. "And we also serve these scones that are positively to die for. Or at least, that's what I've heard. I avoid eating at places where I work - less temptation that way."

Lainey mirrored his pose, green eyes sparkling. "Quite," she agreed with a tone of conviction. "We simply cannot let that happen." The redhead tilted her head, as though pondering carefully.

"I suppose," she drew out, "I could compile a list of respectable dames for you. Or I could take you into my own capable hands, but we've only just met. For all you know, I could very well be the woman who would utterly corrupt such a nice man like yourself." She smirked playfully, rather enjoying their little game.

Arael hummed in affirmative. "I'll come by then," He said to her, smiling. "And buy you a scone, even if you do try to avoid it."

He grinned at her mirroring his pose, but carried on all the same. "No, we can't," He said to her, playing with the beer bottle in his hands. He started picking off the paper wrapped around it, announcing it was 'Guinness'.

"Or it could be corruption, but the other way around," He said lightly, looking away from her. He smiled brightly at nothing, but carried on talking. "I don't know - the dames you set me up with could always corrupt me in a far worse way than you could," He raised an eyebrow and turned back to her. "And I know you more than I do then, even though it hasn't been long."

Lainey's grin broadened.

"True," she conceded with a tilt of her head. The redhead took a moment to admire his profile. "I've found corruption is far more enjoyable when it goes both ways."

Lainey withdrew her foot so that she sat, once more, with both feet tucked beneath her. Folding her arms on the table in front of her, she gazed steadily back at him.

"I wouldn't mind getting to know you better," she said, her tone practically caressing the words as she spoke, "Arael."

Arael couldn't help his grin widening when he saw Laineys. She had a very pretty smile.

"Especially since you learn how to corrupt others even further," He pointed out idly, smirking slightly. He looked to her and winked slightly. Corruption was a good thing to talk about, obviously.

He raised an eyebrow slightly when he felt her foot move again, but decided to ignore it. It was probably an uncomfortable way to sit.

"I'm sure you wouldn't, Lainey," He replied in the same tone of voice as Lainey had just used.

An honestly-to-goodness blush spread over Lainey's face as Arael copied her tone. She laughed softly.

"I like you, blue eyes," she decided. The redhead raised her glass and finished off her ale. Rising gracefully from her seat, she walked around his side. She placed a hand on his shoulder, careful to touch only his clothing as she leaned forward to whisper, "See you around."

With one last smile she took her leave, pausing to wave back at him from the door.

Arael chuckled as Lainey left, turning in his seat to wave back at her. "See you later!" He called to her, thinking about when he would go and visit her at the small café she worked at.