February Catch-All

[constantprisoner]

[Hillingdon - closed to Annie]

While it wasn't really his intention, Sirius has become something of a familiar face at Hillingdon house. He can usually be seen around, though he doesn't interact with a whole lot of people, outside of those he already knows and is familiar with. Those that do remember him have thankfully kept their distance (no doubt due to his family's influence) and Sirius has to admit that he doesn't mind. He wasn't there to renew those old bonds, just develop something of a place of security. He hopes.

Mostly he can be seen at the task board, taking up various odd jobs, and that's where he is currently, considering what was available.

[Barnet - Shopping, early February]

If there was one thing on this world that he could do without, Sirius decided, it was shopping. Grocery shopping in particular. It was just an exhausting chore in his mind, not to mention dangerous given his present state. Wandering the aisles and trying to make sure he wasn't noticed was always and adventure, and not the fun sort. He left the store with a vast amount of relief and headed home. He'd eat out all the time if he could, but money was something he had to pay attention to and eating out also posed risks.

He missed the days when he could risk a little more in his life.

[Valentine's Day and Lupercalia]

The holidays, Sirius reflected, were doing an absolute terrible job at being holidays. He couldn't remember the last time he'd managed to enjoy himself over a holiday. Not that he'd had a lot of reason to do so, but it was the principle of the matter. 

Take Valentine's day for example. It used to be he could have a good time on Valentine's Day, could usually find a date of some sort. Now? Now he had to worry that someone would recognize him and the police would get involved and it would all just be a mess. So instead he was drinking alone in some seedy pub. Absolutely terrible job.

Lupercalia wasn't much better, not that Sirius had ever really celebrated it. It just brought up memories of his family and the few rituals he had attended, but never been comfortable with. Again, absolutely terrible. 

'What am I going to do with myself?" he muttered, staring at his half-empty glass.

[Choose your own adventure]

Whatever you'd liked

Comments

[anniesgonemad]

Annie herself never spent too much time at Hillingdon House. She had other places to be, spending time with Finnick, and her grandmother. But she still could be found at the house from time to time, mostly taking advantage of it's library, and it was easier to train there than explain to her grandmother about the fifth new hole in the dry-wall.

Usually, when she was there, she tried to check out the job board, see if there was anything relevant to her, a hint about the Fourth District, or maybe even something that had to do with Finnick.

"Oh, excuse me," Annie said as she moved in next to the man already at the board. "Sorry- I don't meant to bother you. Just, uhm, looking." She gestures at the board, because that's what you do. You look at it. You see jobs. You take them and you get paid.

[constantprisoner]

"Oh, of course," Sirius replied, taking a step to the side to allow her more room. After all, he was fairly certain he'd made a decision on which job to do next.

"Anything in particular?" He asked, just to make conversation. He might as well start to get to know other people properly if he was going to be around more often.

[anniesgonemad]

"Thank you," she said softly, moving into the space no longer occupied. "Sorry to be a bother."

Shifting her shoulders up near her ears, Annie started browsing the notices. "Me-? Oh, uhm. No. I'm not- not sure yet. I'm usually uhm- not really- ah- picky?" She looks up at him with a slight eyebrow raise, no confidence in her voice at all.

[constantprisoner]

"Don't worry about it, I was kind of hogging the area," Sirius replied, trying his best to keep things light, since she seemed nervous. Hopefully not because of him.

"What sort of stuff do you usually do?"

[anniesgonemad]

"You were alright," she assures him as best she can. It's not that he's a convicted felon on the run, though once she realizes that, all bets are off.

"Me? Oh, uhm- past few months I've been, uhm, mostly working with my boyfriend? A lot with Croydon." She hated witches, but she wanted to keep Croydon from Daybreak as much as any of the fae. So subsequently, she'd found herself helping Midnight, by way of helping the fae. "I don't really- go out-? That much?" She doesn't look at him as she moves a few of the notifications out of the way, hoping to find more info behind.

"I'm kinda hoping for more information about that. If anything's been posted. What- what about you?"

[constantprisoner]

Sirius nods. He's mostly been keeping his nose out of Croydon, largely due to the same dislike of witches, but at the same time dealing with some conflicting issues (money versus loyalty, who knew he'd find himself in such a quandary?).

"I'm just looking for whatever is available really," he admitted. He hadn't been too picky in the past, though lately he'd started actively avoiding anything to do with vampires. "Sort of a jack of all trades deal."

hope this is alright?

[anniesgonemad]

"Oh." Because that was completely reasonable, and honestly, Annie felt like an impostor. He took whatever he could get. Annie, on the other hand, was picky and stilted.

"That's, ah, got to be an adventure." She pushes a few more notices to the side, until she gets to the corner of something that looks interesting. Moving the push-pin, she pulls out what happens to be a wanted poster. Interesting, indeed.

The picture isn't that great, photocopied to hell and back, but there's something odd about this Sirius Black that's apparently wanted. She glances back up at the man she was standing next to, then back at the poster. Slowly, she starts to fold it, aiming to place it in the pocket of her cardigan. She needed to make a phone call.

Just fine

[constantprisoner]

"Usually how it ends up, for better or worse. Often worse."

Much to Sirius's chagrin. He was used to being a magnet for trouble, but recently that position had lost the sense of fun it once had. That bothered him more than he cared to admit.

He notices her folding the paper.

"Find something interesting?"

[anniesgonemad]

Annie laughed. "Oh- yeah. Yeah- I, ah, know how it is." She pushed her hair behind her ear again, but kept her hand there, her fingers wound into the long, red strands. "Never- ah, never gonna be normal around here!" Her voice had risen about an octave, and her accent, subsequently, became more Irish.

With her free hand, Annie's jamming the paper into her pocket, shrugging. "Oh- yeah. Yeah, just wanted to show- to show my boyfriend. Finnick. He's, ah- he's why I was dealing with Croydon. I'm not usually- I don't- I don't like witches." The paper securely in her pocket, she waved her other hand around airily, making vague half-realized gestures. Oh god.

[constantprisoner]

"Seems to be a popular opinion among a lot of people, and the witches themselves," Sirius mused, at least based on his observations. He did his best to stay out of it (despite some niggling sense of obligation and the fact that Norell paid pretty well).

"Is everything alright? You seem a bit nervous about something?" Which made him a tad concerned, though he didn't want to betray it.

[anniesgonemad]

"Isn't it?" She says in response, though as to what Sirius has actually said, she realizes too late that she had no bloody clue, because he's a wanted murderer, and she was alone in a room with him.

She glanced at her pocket and took a step back. He was catching on, he had to be. Why else would he ask? She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Oh! Yes- yes, I'm okay. Just- just need to- need to call." The police. She needed to call the police immediately. Her hand moves to her phone.

[constantprisoner]

He almost wants to ask who she's going to call, more out of curiosity than anything else, although he then considers that that would probably be rude. Especially if it was her boyfriend or something. And he didn't want to make her any more nervous than he apparently already had.

There are times when he forgets that those who haven't met him would assume he's a dangerous convict. It takes a little bit longer for him to clue in that now is likely one of those times.

Normally he deals with these kinds of situations by running, getting away as fast as he can and hiding somewhere until the danger has passed. It's not his favourite solution, but getting himself thrown back in jail is not going to help his efforts. And it's not going to help now either. He can't be chased from Hillingdon House again just because he's been recognized. It's a stretch, but it seems his only option is to try to talk his way out of it.

"Please don't."

[anniesgonemad]

Annie shakes her head, her movements short and tight. She has her hand on her back pocket, where she keeps her phone, the other firmly planted in her hair. "N-no." She took another step back. "I- it's-. No. No, no, no- I've got to. You're-" Annie's eyes flash towards the door, then back to Sirius, trying to weigh the distance, how quickly she could make it out the door. She assumed he was simply human, like her.

"-You're a- a criminal." And that was bad, and it was her job to fix it. She wouldn't consider herself a bounty hunter, but that was precisely what so much of Hillingdon's money came from. That was the very reason they had a board like this. He was probably here to try to take the poster, and she was lucky she'd been the one to find it.

"I'm sorry- have to." And just like that, the phone is in her hand and Annie's heading towards the door.

Valentine's Day - let me know if you'd like any changes

[facethewolves]

The wanted poster couldn't have come at a better time. Alex had one, maybe two months left before she ran out of money, and catching a wanted criminal was something she could actually do to earn more. With a little hard work, skill, and her fair share of luck, she'd tracked down Sirius Black, and had very carefully followed him to the pub.

Grabbing him here seemed like a good idea - people probably wouldn't ask too many questions in a seedy place like this. Alex quickly fixed her hair and tugged her shirt down, doing her best to look like the kind of girl who would be trying to pick up an older man on Valentine's Day. She also made sure that her gun was completely hidden, tucked into the back of her pants under her shirt and jacket. Then she took a deep breath, opened the front door, and spent a moment looking around the pub as though picking a target. She walked over to Sirius just in time to hear him mutter to himself.

"You could start by buying me a vodka neat," she said, direct and to the point. Apart from the few slight changes to her look, she wasn't interested in being coy or flirtatious.

[constantprisoner]

This was unexpected.

And coincidental, given his previous train of thought. Almost too coincidental, but he wasn't about to complain. Perhaps it was the alcohol or the day, but he wasn't really interested in being alone consequences (notably being recognized) be damned.

"Aren't you a little young?" he asked, although he'd probably cave later.

[facethewolves]

Alex shrugged and sat down next to him, close but not too close. She planned to keep it relatively casual for the moment. She didn't want to come on too strong too fast and spook him. "I'm old enough."

[constantprisoner]

"If you say so," Sirius shrugged. If he had his doubts he wasn't going to voice them and instead flagged down a waitress. "Just the one though."

After all, he had limited funds at the moment. But then, he would have to see how things went.

[facethewolves]

"One is plenty." Especially since Alex was a teetotaler. Asking for a drink was simply the easiest and least suspicious way to get a man's attention in a bar.

She leaned forward as she ordered from the waitress, then settled in comfortably and gave him a small, curious smile. "How'd you end up here alone on Valentine's Day?"

[constantprisoner]

"Same way most people do. Don't have a date, so I figured I'd drown my sorrows instead."

Although in this case his sorrows included the whole escaped convict thing. And the sad reality that shedding that reputation probably wouldn't help. Though he would feel better about it.

"Really though, that question should be directed towards you. There's far better locations than this one."

[facethewolves]

"I live nearby," Alex lied easily, shrugging. "I've walked by this place a few times, and I figured tonight was as good a night as any to check it out."

The waitress set Alex's drink in front of her, and Alex thanked her before picking it up and raising it towards Sirius. "Here's to not being alone on Valentine's Day."

[constantprisoner]

"Works for me, cheers." He replies, clinking his glass against hers before downing it. Maybe the holidays hadn't given up on him after all.

"So you live around here?"

[facethewolves]

Alex clinked her glass against his and then set it down. She wasn't even going to pretend to drink it - she'd probably just end up choking on the alcohol, and that would be more awkward than simply admitting the truth. "I don't drink," she said matter-of-factly. "I only asked for that because it was the easiest way of getting your attention."

She turned fully towards him and leaned in slightly. "My apartment's a couple blocks that way." She moved her head, indicating where her apartment would be if it existed. "You wanna get out of here?"

[constantprisoner]

He shouldn't.

He really shouldn't. He should just stick to his original plan of having his drinking and leaving and continuing to curse the holidays. A guy like doesn't get lucky like this. Luck needs to go elsewhere.

"Yeah, alright," he said with a shrug, reaching out to grab his coat.

[facethewolves]

Alex smiled. That was easier than she had thought it would be. She'd been sure that she would have to share some personal story, bond with him, get him to let his guard down. But it was Valentine's Day, and maybe for this one day, everybody really was that lonely and desperate. Or maybe she was just lucky.

"Great." She hadn't taken her coat off, so she had nothing to grab. She just stuck her hands in her pockets, headed for the door, and trusted that he would follow her.

[constantprisoner]

Sirius nods, downing the glass of vodka before following her, figuring there was no point in wasting the alcohol. Not that it was the smartest idea, but the part of his brain in charge of making rational decisions was clearly not in charge tonight. He pulled his hood up as if to protect against the chill of the evening, but more so to hide his face. It would out a damper on the evening to be recognized and have to bolt.

"Shall we?"