Chase the Dull (Open)

Norman sauntered into the small pub and took a seat at the bar. He likely looked horribly out of place in the dingy atmosphere wearing his tailored suit and carrying an umbrella. Not that he cared. Besides, he hardly had much else in his wardrobe aside from his sleep clothes, one pair of tattered jeans, and an old t-shirt with numerous stains. A suit and tie--pardon the pun--suited him well and he didn't see any reason to stray from that.

He ordered a firewhiskey and sat back to wait. Everything was so dull lately. The only bright spot seemed to be Ella and her daughter, but he couldn't exactly spend all his time with them. That would be unfair to them. When his drink arrived, he took a large gulp and grimaced as the liquor burned its way down his throat. It settled in a warm puddle in his stomach and he sighed in relief. Exactly what he needed after the week he had.

After dropping those papers off with Ella, he'd gone back to his office and endured several meetings with various foreign offices. Then there was that team-building exercise the Minister had come up with. The only remotely bearable thing about that was Ella and Emma. It was odd. Despite the fact that she seemed perfectly ordinary in both appearance and intelligence, he seemed to find her company endlessly fascinating. He tossed back another swig of firewhiskey and wondered when he'd fallen victim to such a thing as a crush. He was 29, for Merlin's sake! He hadn't even had a crush in all his time at school, but now, now he seemed to have fallen rather hard. Well, as long as he stayed a simple crush, he wasn't about to make a big deal of it. No point in worrying over what could possibly be nothing. After all, "Caring is not an advantage," he muttered as he took another swig.

Rhys had been living at the Leaky Cauldron ever since the divorce. Ella owned the house, therefore she was the one who kept it. He dared not set foot on her property or come near Emma. For a while, he was allowed supervised visits with Emma, however, he tried getting back with Ella and he hit her for refusing, so now, she held a restraining order against him. That woman could do some damage, especially now with being almost a full Auror and a protective mother.

After the ministry found out what had happened between them, Rhys got fired. He, who was higher than Ella and there longer, was the one they fired. In his opinion, if she got hit or raped, she deserved it. He didn't feel bad for her. He was angry at her, angry that he wasn't allowed to see his child, angry that she left him. Now, he had no one, which caused him to be sexually frustrated.

Irritated, he marched down the stairs, into the pub and took a seat near some guy in a suit. The guy seemed out of place there, just as Rhys was at one point. The guy was drinking the same thing Rhys needed. Tossing some wizard money into the direction of the waitress, he ordered a firewhiskey. One would suffice for now, but he'd end up with about seven by the end of the night. Getting trashed was now the only way his mind would rest.

He listened as the guy next to him mumbled something about caring. Caring got you places in the world. You could care about school, work, a family, those got you somewhere. However, not caring got you right where he was. "Why is caring not an advantage?" Rhys mumbled back.

Norman watched as a man no older than himself stomped down the stairs from the inn and plopped himself onto a stool. His clothes looked rumpled, likely from being kept in a trunk, and his face was vaguely familiar. Curious as to why the face of a man who was likely jobless and living in a dingy inn above an equally dingy pub looked familiar, Norman turned to face him full on. He chuckled darkly when asked why caring wasn't an advantage. "Because it leads to such pain," he replied.

His parents had drilled that belief into him and his sister from birth, further cementing it when his spaniel died shortly before his tenth birthday. They'd told his sister the same thing when each of her many pets died. He sighed a sigh of the long-suffering and sipped his drink. Finally, still curious as to why the man looked so familiar, "Have we met before?" he asked. "Or do have any relatives that work in the Ministry, by chance?" It was more likely he'd met one of the stranger's family. Especially since he rarely ever forgot a name and he didn't know this man's. All the same, it frustrated him when he couldn't place something.

.

The guy complained about caring leading to pain. Rhys scoffed. He understood that, he was in a tremendous amount of pain from Ella walking away from him. Then, he decided he recognised him. The funny thing, Rhys had never seen this joke in his life. He shook his head when the guy asked if they'd met before. "I used to work in the Ministry." he said, a frown growing on his face. He missed having a job and a house. He missed having a family and not having to sleep around with random women.

"My ex-wife is an Auror and tends to bring our daughter to work with her. You've probably seen her. Pretty little three year old. She's got my hair and nose and Ella's eyes and cheeks."It was the first time he'd said her name aloud since the divorce. Her name rolled off the tip of his tongue and formed what seemed to be an invisible cloud around his head, strangling him and pushing him deeper into his little world of hatred and solitude. He felt like he was describing a model while speaking of Emma. His daughter was pretty. His and Ella's looks combined created the most perfect child anyone could imagine. She'd be short like Ella, as well as she'd have stunning features like Ella, but she had the same blonde locks he had. While he like dark-haired women, there was something that drove men crazy about women with blue eyes and blonde hair. His only concern, was for Ella to make sure no boys messed with his girl once she began school.

Rhys downed his first glass of Firewhiskey and was on to his second before the man even finished half of his first. He mustn't be a heavy drinker. Then again, Rhys was never much of a drinker until recently. He had a stable job with an incredible pay and a home. He had nice clothes and his life was well rounded out, until love and anger walked in and took everything from him.

It wasn't any help the he used to work in the ministry, seeing as Norman only started just recently. The following frown was likely from the realization of his rather depressing situation, Norman thought. But then he mentioned an ex-wife who brought 'round their daughter. Ella. Norman blinked in shock, then downed the rest of his drink and sighed wearily. Well, shit. Men got possessive when the learned their women--whether the women was actually theirs or not hardly mattered--caught the attention of other men--or women, in some cases. "Ah, yes. Ella. I've met her on a few occasions for paperwork and the Minister's 'team-building exercises'," he replied, his tone neutral. No need to mention that he'd also been on a rather lovely date with her just recently. One that just might happen again if he could get the courage to pen that letter.

Best to employ his well crafted charm, he supposed. Might be able to gauge the man's penchant for possessive behavior. He motioned for another drink when the bartender passed and let his shoulders slump to emphasize his exhaustion. Loosen his tie, rumple the suit a little more and run a hand through his hair to create the appearance of a properly overworked office man. Of course, after all that he was itching to straighten the creases, fix his tie, and comb his hair back into its proper formation. "She's a lovely lady, your ex," he commented when his drink arrived. "The child, too," he added, almost as an afterthought.

The moment the man started to act a bit different was the moment Rhys knew that he knew Ella, and not just as a coworker. The guy tried to cover it up by saying he'd seen her around every once in awhile while dropping off papers or the "team-building" meeting the Minister had called, but Rhys knew that was bullshit. His tone changed to a dull neutral one, the same one that Rhys' voice now possessed. "The Minister always calls shit meetings." Rhys cocked off, not giving two shits about this man.

Rhys watched as he downed his drink and ordered another, all the while, running his fingers through his hair and rumpling up his clothes. Was he trying to imitate his state of looks now? Rhys began growing angry and before long, he'd drunk another two glasses of Firewhiskey. He was near the cutoff point and that pissed him off even more. The worst part, was this guy was telling him how lovely his ex-wife and child were. "I'm aware. I had a child with her, I know how lovely she is." His voice was becoming arrogant and he knew he needed to calm down or risk having no shelter. In an angry whisper, he added, "Keep your hands off my daughter and don't ever look at her mother again." He was ready to punch this guy, knock him unconscious and kidnap Ella and Emma. The thought of anyone else becoming his daughter's daddy hurt just as bad as the thought of any other man getting to marry Ella and become intimate with her.

Aannnd, he was getting pissy. He raised a brow when the man demanded he not even look at Ella. Well, short fuse, then. At least after a few drinks. Norman sighed heavily and tossed back his second drink. Best to placate the man for the time being. "Relax," he stated. "I work with her. Bad form to date a colleague, and all that. Besides, her department's on the other side of the Ministry. No need to get your panties in a twist." It was all true, really. "But I can hardly never look at her again. We do work together occasionally and I've always considered it polite to look at the people I'm conversing with." Oops. He hadn't meant for that to come out quite like that. Those two drinks were starting to get to him.

He ordered a glass of red wine next, something simple that he could sip at without getting too drunk before he should. A hangover wouldn't be smart, considering he still had to work the next morning. All the same, he came here to drink and escape the dull existence of his life. An altercation with his possible-girlfriend's ex certainly wasn't dull. Still, he doubted she'd appreciate that he purposefully egged the man on out of some misplaced desire to prove his worth like some medieval knight fighting for his lady's honor. But, how good would it feel to take this man down? Norman smiled darkly. It would feel exceptionally good. "She did ask me out, recently. It was a lovely date."

Rhys heard nothing the man said. He saw his lips flabbering, but then he saw a smile and he heard the whole date part. It was like the man seemed to be rubbing it in to him. "The little bitch will only leave you. All she is is a slut, and a good one at that." He smiled smugly, "I bet you slept with her on that first date didn't you? She sleeps with everyone on the first date." Ella was his property. In a ll truth and honesty, Ella had been pure until she met him, and chances are, before this guy showed up, she hadn't slept with anyone since him. It was shocking however, that Ella had asked him out instead of vice versa.

Whatever, Rhys loved seeing what this man would do when he downgraded Ella. He knew she wasn't like that, but she was a bitch was leaving him and taking Emma. Rhys thought about how nice it would be to punch this guy right in the jaw, not the nose, because that could kill him, but the jaw would hurt. Ella would even see it and demand what happened, then maybe, she'd see how much he loved her and come back to him. It was a hopeful wish, he knew, but it was something to keep most of the anger away. However, he did happen to let the best get of him and he swung his arm and clocked the man in the jaw, a thud sounded as his hand connected to the man's face.

Norman frowned. The man sounded rather resentful of his ex-wife and Norman got the impression that he was trying to dissuade him from agreeing to a second date. He sipped at his wine and considered his options, as they were. But before he could come up with any kind of rebuttal, the man's fist connected with his jaw. Hard. Shocked more than hurt, at least for the moment; Norman blinked and rubbed his jaw, wincing when he tried to move it. Damn. This was really going to make negotiations very difficult, and Merlin, what would Ella say?

Norman considered throwing his own punch back, but that would only escalate things and Norman rather liked this suit. So instead; he stood, straightened his suit and tie, flattened his hair as best he could, and grabbed his umbrella. "Well, this has been most informative," he stated primly, his words slurring a bit as he tried not to move his jaw too much. "I'll be sure to tell Ella we ran into each other should I come across her at work. I'm sure she's just dying to hear from you, no?" He winked and began walking away, then turned abruptly and threw his own punch to the man's eye. "I'll be sure to give your regards to your daughter, as well," he added.