we live our lives in the confines of fear

[Kyle Michalka]

Kyle eyed Douglas in a mixture of confusion and concern, “Yes, we are in Hogsmeade. We got here by the magic of Apparation… something which you will not be attempting to get home at the end of the night. I’m not calling in the Ministry because someone splinched himself. You and Aaron, crash on my sofa and floor respectively, for the love of Merlin,” he said in a pleading tone. He could see the scene unfolding when Aaron confidently assured Kyle he was fine and could apparate himself back to Doug’s London flat perfectly but… in fact… failed to take along half of their bodies with him. No way, kipping at Justin, Kyle, Juliet and Grace’s place it was.

He looked curious though as Doug talked about the date, “Ohhhh playing the long game, eh?” he nudged him conspiratorially, “I hope it works out well, mate, really I do,” before adding to Hannah, “Aaron might worry like that too. Please don’t let him get too caught up in the fact you work together or I’ll have to listen to monologues about every single response you give to something he asks you for months on end while he analyses the subtext or whatever,” he rolled his eyes. “Look can you do something for me? Just, tell him you’re not interested if you’re not interested, he’ll bemoan his life to me one night and then we’ll all move on with ours. Happiness all round,” Kyle suggested lightly.

“Wait, wait, what?! He was holding out on me! That… dick…” Kyle muttered, feigning indignation of the highest order as he shot a glance at his cousin who was now talking to Justin and Jules, “He actually did get arrested for that protest stunt, didn’t he? Oh fuck, this is brilliant,” he laughed, perhaps having a bit too much fun with learning his squeaky-clean cousin had, in fact, had a brush with the law. His gaze shot back to Hannah as Doug revealed she did ‘a mean Alanis’, “Really? Great! Right, that’s decided. Come on; let’s show some solidarity, we’ll all do a song. Doug, what’s your tune?”

[Douglas Pearson]

"Oooh, I call shotgun. I mean, I call sofa. Sofagun!" Doug seemed to find this disproportionately funny, giggling quietly to himself as he continued to doodle on his napkin. He was a fairly pliable drunk; he'd continue to happily go along with whatever was going on around him without argument until he managed to crash somewhere (anywhere).

Doug shook his head. "Weeeellll that doesn't sound nefarious at all. I'm not like, going in with a strategy or whatever, I'm just trying to have a good time and see where it goes?" As someone who suffered from stunted maturity, a short attention span and frequent changes of heart, it felt like a bad idea to go 'all in' relationship-wise unless he was absolutely 100% sure he was ready to be that guy. Finally cottoning on to what Kyle was implying about Aaron's feelings for Hannah, he grinned and made a loud "Ooooh" noise, poking her repeatedly on the shoulder. "Somebody liiiiikes yoooooou!"

Doug anxiously looked between Kyle, Hannah and Aaron at the bar before deciding to backtrack. "Yeah, dude, you know what? I'm probably thinking of something else. I've been arrested with many different people... in many countries... accompanied by many different props and costumes..." One of the few undeniable benefits to being Douglas Pearson was that it was entirely plausible that he had no idea what he was talking about. "I dunno. I'm good at yelling. Something AC/DC?"

[Justin Biermann]

"Oooft, I dunno if it's my 'calling'," Justin laughed. Even though it made him happier than pretty much anything else in his life, there was still a part of him that felt pressured to strive for the big impressive high-status career, the career everyone expected of him. He'd convinced himself that his current jobs were just a 'brief detour', even though there wasn't actually anything else he wanted to do. "Ah. A man after my own heart."

"No prob," Justin replied while getting Aaron another beer. "...this the Tropical Sunshine girl?" he asked knowingly, looking to Juliet for confirmation (also, admittedly, slightly disappointed that he was not, in fact, secretly gay). He shrugged, carefully considering Kyle's potential for evil. "Depends. What level of embarrassing are we talking? Calling a teacher 'Mum'? Wet the bed until you were sixteen? Secretly used to be a Man U fan?"

[Aaron Clarke]

Aaron smiled and shrugged, “Well, Kyle just mentioned something about you making your own speciality brews here? That’s pretty cool, mate. And hey, if you enjoy it, go for it whole-heartedly, you know? Well. That’s what I’ve always thought. It’s just pretty convenient for my family’s expectations of me that what I really enjoy doing also sounds pretty good when they talk about me to their friends,” he joked easily. He grinned enthusiastically as Justin claimed he was a man after his own heart, “See. I had you down for a straight-up beer kind of guy too. I’m glad I have not been disappointed.”

He opened his mouth to deny it many times and then cringed visibly and looked down at the bar, “Maaaaybe. I don’t know. Look I just… I think Hannah’s really cool and yeah sure I enjoy her company but that doesn’t mean I like like someone, right? Kyle’s just jumping on this because I’m not exactly… prolific, dating-wise, and he finds it odd. It’s him making something of nothing,” he tried to argue practically before his brow furrowed, “This feels way too much like being a teenager all over again. Next someone will be prodding me in the shoulder and saying ‘oooooh you liiiiike her’,” Aaron imitated the high-pitched irritating tone and then glanced to Juliet as though daring her to even try doing that to him right then. She probably would though, he reflected.

“He knows… embarrassing things, things I’m ashamed of, you know the kind of thing that you parents take photos of to embarrass you with when you’re older? Oh no, yep, he is that evil, isn’t he?” he despaired, yes perhaps a tad dramatically. He fixed Justin with a serious look then, “We’re not talking anywhere near the level of shame as being a secret Man U fan. Don’t ever, ever, joke about that Biermann, it’s too horrific to think about,” he trailed off, wide-eyed, as though seriously disturbed by the idea of being a Manchester United fan. He looked down at his hands and then, as though admitting to something heinous, started tentatively, “I may have been something of a… flamboyant child, quite enthusiastic and hyperactive and… the ‘natural’ place for my despairing parents to shove me was in musicals and stage shows. Now, that’s quite cute when you’re 10 and hopping around a primary school stage to Hairspray. But when you’re 27, and these things are brought up in conversation, well that’s just… that becomes embarrassing, right?” he looked between the two of them for confirmation.

Chewing the inside of his mouth slightly in anxiety, he looked back at Kyle. He’d definitely shared that little anecdote with Hannah - nothing like potential 'ground swallowing' levels of embarrassment to partially sober one right up again. "I should get back over there before he has chance to reveal too much, shouldn't I?" he tried to laugh it off but it was a tad strangled.

[Justin Biermann]

"Honestly? I wouldn't mind opening a brewpub someday, down in Diagon Alley. Maybe talk Bradley into going in 50/50. Take the Lagerdude brand on the road," he said. It was a pipe dream, not something he'd put any real planning into. Just something fun to think about.

"Well, that's not too bad," Justin suggested in a measured tone, scooping money from the bar and depositing it in the till behind him. "Ladies like that, I think. Lots of hot guys do theatre. A couple of them are even straight, maybe. Like... Hugh Jackman. Is Hugh Jackman straight?" he asked, quickly glancing to Juliet, momentarily distracted from Aaron's predicament.

Justin shrugged. "Well, standing here talking to us isn't going to do anything, yeah? Go. Stay strong. Stay cool. You're a beer guy!" he shouted in a rough approximation of an 'inspirational coach'.

[Juliet Tancredi]

Jules raised an eyebrow simply as Aaron talked of Hannah just arriving, fixing him with a deeper knowing look as he was on the defensive. “Hannah? You? Hmm?” she suggested, not actually saying anything more than that, but she didn’t need to because Aaron did all the insinuation work for her anyway. “I didn’t actually say anything. But thanks for the confirmation, Clarky,” she enthused with a highly amused smirk as she patted him patronisingly on the cheek. “Not at all unattractive? Aaron, no one is going to strike you down for saying Hannah is physically appealing, you know? She’s my cousin and I can openly say she’s hot, you should just admit it to. With the other adjectives and, no offence, the general… way you are about things… no one is going to write you off as a shallow douche, you know?”

She nodded, “Ohhhh yeah, it’s the Tropical Sunshine girl,” she confirmed in a knowing, almost laddish nudge to Aaron’s side, despite his warning look to her not to do that kind of thing. “ ‘Not exactly prolific dating-wise’ translates to, ‘I haven’t had a girlfriend in like five years because I’ve been too busy with my career’. Hannah’s exactly like that too. So bloody hell, Clarke, just man up and snog her. I am not having another Rory-and-Olivia situation on my hands!”

“I wouldn’t say he was evil, just a cousin that sees an opportunity to meddle,” she shrugged easily, looking away from him and finishing her drink in one gulp before she coughed and her head spun back round to look at him, “Wait, what?! You did theatre? Do you still sing?” she asked, suddenly seriously in tone as she fixed him with a hopeful look, “I really could do with someone to sing vocals with me on a track I’m putting together. Come round ours sometime to give it a go… please? I’ll tell Hannah how kind and considerate you are,” Juliet suggested with another nudge in his side as though to persuade him to do this favour for her. In her defence, she had been looking for a guy to casually sing on a track she was putting together for her YouTube musician account and trying to find one who didn’t irritate the ever-loving hell out of her had proved tricky.

Turning back to Justin, “Hmmm. Now… Hugh Jackman is a curious situation. Rumours flying around lately about him being gay, it turns out, I don’t know what to believe any more…” the blonde commented thoughtfully before turning back to the matter at hand. “Right Clarke. Here’s a deal. You go get back over there, suck it up and be a man, and I’ll start my set now so if it becomes super awkward, you’ll have my dulcet tones to serenade the awkwardness. Everyone wins,” she grinned between Aaron and Justin before hopping down from the barstool she’d been perched on and heading up to the stage area to tune up.

[Aaron Clarke]

((ooc: Ugh, sorry, this is long. He won't shut up it seems! And personally I'd like to fully continue on this roll I'm having writing as him for as long as it lasts haha.))

Aaron nodded along with Justin’s plan, smiling when he finished explaining since he could see it was something the guy really fancied making it a reality someday but had mostly just probably written it off as just a dream already. “Honestly, mate, I think that sounds pretty cool. It sounds like something new for Diagon Alley too. Besides, you can’t waste a title like ‘Lagerdude’, who came up with that? It’s pretty cool and you already have your brand name so…” he trailed off with an encouraging manner.

“No! That’s not what… that’s not what I’m saying,” Aaron shook his head quickly at Juliet’s insinuation, edging out the way of her nudging elbow to his side, “I don’t just want to ‘man up and snog her’, I don’t know what I want, let alone what she thinks, I mean for all I know she just tolerates me because she has to make nice with people she works with. I don’t know that she even finds me not wholly boring or whatever but… I just think she’s cool and would quite like to hang out with her one-on-one, outside of the office I mean because she’s already taken part in many ‘Aaron panics during exam revision and orders a shed load of Chinese food’ long nights at the law firm,” he shrugged, trying to explain but finding it very hard the more and more he tried to talk them, and himself, out of the idea of liking Hannah ‘in that way’.

He sighed somewhat, “It’s not… bad necessarily… I guess, I used to really enjoy being on stage and playing different roles. And I must admit, my shower still hears my dreams of musical stardom,” he broke off to shake his head with a dry laugh, “It’s just not something Kyle really needed to mention. He could have chosen any other conversation topic. Anything else. Do ‘ladies’ really like that, really?” he asked sceptically, looking to Juliet for a confirmation or denial either way but she was having none of it, it seemed. “I don’t know if Hugh Jackman is straight but it doesn’t matter at all, he’s a cool bloke, end of. Wait… why does Hugh Jackman’s sexuality make any difference? Would people… would people think I could be gay if they heard the musical thing?” he asked, looking between the two of them quickly for an answer. “Yes I did theatre, yes I still sing, and yes, fine, I can help you with a track you’re doing but… don’t expect me to be brilliant okay… I don’t sing professionally, I just… sing like all the time. I’m not sure quantity necessarily equals quality in this,” he pointed out lightly. He didn’t want her to get her hopes up.

“Huh? Right, okay, cool… I’ll stay strong, stay cool, and… drink beer?” Aaron tried tentatively, looking to Justin amusedly, before nodding, “Thanks! Once more unto the breach-” he announced dramatically before carefully grouping the various glasses together to carry them back to the table between his hands. “Right, sorry for the delay I was just chatting to Jules and Biermann. So we have… beer, beer, beer, Tropical Sunshine thing… I have no idea but I’m reliably informed that it’s alcohol and it claims to have fruit in it somewhere,” he shook his head with a laugh as he handed out their drinks before resuming his seat, turns out the chair pulled up beside where Hannah was sitting, Doug on his other side and Kyle trying to suppress a grin from over the table. “What’s with the AC/DC thing?” he asked Doug in confusion, having heard the very tail-end of their conversation.

[Hannah Schwartz]

Hannah pushed Doug's hand away from her shoulder and huffed quietly. "Shush, both of you!" she demanded while pointing between Kyle and Doug, a warning glare shot each of their ways. She didn't know if she was interested. And she didn't see any reason to address it unless Aaron actually said something, which he most certainly had not.

She looked up when said newly-minted lawyer approached their table, reaching to take her drink off his hands. "Oh, perfect!" she said happily (alcohol and fruit were her only requirements). Hannah wanted to ask about Doug's arrest-maybe-not-arrest story, but held back, instead plopping her chin on her hand and watching Juliet start her set. "Doug thinks he can sing AC/DC. Probably about as well as I can sing Alanis Morissette."

[Kyle Michalka]

“You got it, damn you know Aaron should have been quicker off his feet there to claim the sofa,” Kyle joked sarcastically, shooting a look over to the bar where his cousin held his head in his hand, looking a tad despairing to say the least. Hmmm. His attention was caught again by Doug as he talked of his date, “Well, look, whatever the deal is, I hope you enjoy hanging out,” he assured him, clapping a hand on his shoulder in a friendly way. He couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head good-naturedly as Doug seemed to finally get what he had been implying about Aaron and Hannah. He side-eyed Hannah but then nodded as if to say ‘fine, I’ll drop it’ – he didn’t intend to make her feel uncomfortable in any way, he just liked to stir things in Aaron’s life, and since he hadn’t seen his cousin in years at this point, he just wanted to help him out a little bit, in his own twisted way.

“What? Noooo, but my head was so enjoying the mental picture of you and Aaron behind bars for… I don’t know… trying to sneak into Parliament or something,” he protested, making a sad frowny face, before he noticed said man heading back from the bar. “Heeeeey, no worries, I mean we still barely had time to get to know Hannah,” he pointed out to Aaron with a knowing glance before smiling and settling back in his seat. “Yeah, mate, we’re doing karaoke later, I trust you’re in, Mr Musicals?” Kyle asked, yes a tad teasingly in tone but he meant well, “And now let us listen to what a singer actually sounds like,” he suggested, taking a sip of his pint and turning to watch Jules start up her set.

[Juliet Tancredi]

((ooc: I was thinking if you like we could fastforward and Jules finishes her set, joins them etc. or maybe she could even gets Kyle and Doug out of the way for a minute (encourages karaoke or a game of snooker or darts or something?) so Hannah has a chance to talk to Aaron in a more relaxed setting? And if you like Hannah could panic and decide she needs an update with Jules so rushes her into the bathroom? Idk!))

“Well, Clarke, it sounds to me like you don’t know what you want,” Juliet scoffed slightly, crossing her arms over her chest challengingly and staring him down (which was quite easy given their equal heights) until he tried to explain ‘his intentions’ or whatever. “Wow. So. Here’s a just plain crazy thought, instead of umming and aaahing and talking to her cousin and just some guy… no offence Biermann-” she quickly broke off to add seriously before turning back to Aaron, “-why don’t you just go talk to Hannah? Maybe then you’ll figure out if she even likes you enough to consider you a friend rather than just a colleague? Maybe then you’ll figure out if she finds you boring or not?”

She rolled her eyes as he hesitated. “Look, all I need is someone who can put up with me long enough to work on a couple of covers I need male voices for. And you seem to have managed quite well, ever the epitome of politeness when you had a vodka-drunk Juliet on your hands prying into your personal life. Trust me, nothing could be more taxing than that, I’ll message you about it soon,” the blonde replied before making a shooing motion to him to go get back over to Kyle, Doug and Hannah with their round of drinks.

Then, Juliet moved towards the stage area where she’d dumped her stuff a little earlier in the night, quickly checking the tuning on her guitar and then moving to in front of the mic there. “Hi everyone, I hope you’re all having a good night!” she enthused as the background music was cut off from behind the bar by Bradley after she’d gave him a nod to say she was ready. “So, my name’s Jules Tancredi, and I’ll be doing a few songs for you tonight. Thanks for listening,” she said, taking a moment to locate Hannah in the crowd and smile over at her cousin before launching into her cover of KT Tunstall’s ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’, “One, two, three, four, woo hoo, woo hoo,” the blonde began, strumming the chords with a practiced hand as she settled into the performance.

[Kyle Michalka]

((ooc: Ok so I thought I'd just skip ahead because I fancied writing as Kyle and trying to take this scene... well, somewhere further at least haha. Hope that's cool. Might throw Bradley and/or Jason in later, just for the hell of it. Also, any requests of people for Biermann to interact with? I'll oblige if so, I just love Justin, okay?! :P ))

Kyle grinned at Jules and let out a wolf whistle, knowing she’d hate it, as she finished her set for the night and thanked everyone for coming and listening to her play. “Encore, encore!” he shouted, not even fazed in the slightest as the woman in question shot him a death glare as she assumed he was being sarcastic and hopped off the stage. “My only crime is supporting a housemate, why am I being subjected to that look, the one she usually reserves for Cullen?” he jokingly asked the table, looking to Hannah as though she could provide an explanation for her cousin – if only it were that simple.

Clapping his hands together he smiled regardless, “Right, well, I think more drinks are in order, yes? And I’m definitely getting shots this time,” he suggested quickly, rising from his seat and glancing down between his cousin and Hannah for a second. Prime opportunity. Thank goodness Pearson was a happy, suggestible kind of drunk. “Heeeey, Doug, come help me carry everything?” he requested as he saw Aaron was about to rise too, thinking he’d jump to his cousin’s aid at the bar but nu-uh, that wouldn’t work in terms of the masterplan to force Aaron to confront what the hell he was feeling with Hannah, or to be told that she just wasn’t interested in him like that... whichever.

[Douglas Pearson]

(ooc: I can see Juliet being friends with Doug in the same way Sarah is friends with Doug -- minus the dead boyfriend, obviously, more like... he's her weird little brother who gets into scrapes? Aaand Bradley & Justin, maybe?)

"Whoooooo!" Doug shouted as Juliet finished her set, waving his arms around like a windsock. He then peeled off his sleeveless argyle jumper, leaving his static-y hair sticking up in all directions, and attempted to toss it onstage as a show of appreciation (it ended up landing on some lady's head at the table next to theirs). He ducked his head apologetically and smoothed down the half-untucked, very purple, short-sleeved checkered shirt that was thankfully still on his body.

"Will do," he agreed with a cheery thumbs-up, immediately scrambling up and around the table when Kyle asked him to come to the bar. He ignored Hannah imploring Kyle to 'Make Doug drink water, pleeease,' as he shuffled his way through the crowd. "Shit, I lost my wallet! No, wait, false alarm," he said while pulling it out of his back pocket, dropping coins everywhere. "Jules! Play snooker with us," Doug yelled while waving her over. On the one hand, he didn't quite have the coordination to handle a cue, but on the other, it would distract him from the bar for awhile and if everyone kept handing him glasses of water, he actually might not feel like death tomorrow morning.

[Juliet Tancredi]

((ooc: Yeah, I totally see that! Sarah and Jules are pretty alike after all… not intentional when I created them, I assure you haha. Will throw Bradley into the mix soon then. ;) ))

Juliet strummed the last chords of Alanis Morrisette’s ‘Ironic’ before smiling and thanking everyone for listening, casting a glance over to the table of Hannah, Aaron, Kyle and Douglas, the latter two of whom she glared at as they enthusiastically cheered her. Her withering look softened, however, as Doug’s thrown jumper landed a little short of the stage and on a woman sat at the next table instead. She smiled and stopped by said table, “Hey, sorry about that, he gets a little enthusiastic. Just be thankful he didn’t go for the shirt-off too. Can I…? Thanks,” the blonde said as she retrieved Doug’s jumper from the unimpressed woman and then moved over to the bar as she saw Kyle and Doug heading there.

“Michalka! You gonna buy me a drink then, since you so enthusiastically enjoyed the set?” she piped up as she strode over to Kyle, adding in a serious undertone, “I know your game, by the way. Don’t worry, I’m fully behind it,” Jules assured him with a sly wink before clapping him on the shoulder in a friendly manner before appeasing Doug. Spinning on her heel, she turned to him, “Are you sure you wanna challenge me to a game of snooker? I’m pretty good, I’ll have you know,” she warned the guy with a dark look. She was lying, of course, she sucked at snooker, pool, any other variation of those pub games, but she figured it kept Doug and Kyle away from Hannah and Aaron’s table for a while so she’d join in for that reason alone. She paused to shove Doug’s jumper back into his hands, “Here. I appreciated the gesture though. And was immensely relieved that you wear so many layers,” she admitted with a teasing grin, pausing to pat him ‘affectionately’ on the cheek before she stepped away and helped herself to a snooker cue from atop the table.

“Alright, Pearson, you rack ‘em up and Kyle, drinks now, sweetie, go do what you do best,” Jules suggested as she bent over to take the break shot, succeeding in hitting the cue ball into the pack of snooker balls but not exactly potting any of them, or putting them in particularly good places from which to shoot. “As you have just seen, I am going to destroy you at this-” she trailed off sarcastically as she stepped back to let Doug take his shot.

[Aaron Clarke]

Aaron clapped enthusiastically with the rest of the bar as Juliet finished her set, laughing as Doug and Kyle’s responses earned merely a glare from the woman in question. “Hey, she’s really good!” he exclaimed to Hannah, adding quickly in case that sounded mean, “Not that I’m surprised that she’s good that is! I mean it’s just she always seems so self-deprecating about her music and she was saying to me before about the trouble she’s had with producers wanting her to change her sound but that was great,” he concluded with a slightly baffled look as to why this would be the case when someone clearly had talent and definitely worked the slightly angry, raw emotion vibe which seemed to work for so many successful musicians in the industry.

“Shots? Not for me, ta, I haven’t even finished-” he trailed off as Kyle stood up, “I’ll come with,” he moved his hands onto the seat where he was sitting, about to push himself upright to follow his cousin before Doug was summoned for this purpose. He shuffled slightly in his seat, placing his hands in his lap instead and shooting a quick glance at Kyle in confusion. Oh, that’s how it was going to be, was it? Subtle. He curled his hand round his pint glass but didn’t drink from it, instead softly drumming on the side of it with his fingers as they were left alone at the table that had been so loud and more occupied only a second before. Now it seemed ominous somehow. “So. Uh. Juliet’s clearly musical… do you play at all?” Aaron asked Hannah as he raised his gaze from his drink to meet hers instead, all the while internally cringing at his brain’s frantic attempt to come up with a conversational topic that was cool and casual. He wasn’t good at this, he decided, whatever ‘this’ was.

[Hannah Schwartz]

"Go Jules!" Hannah yelled, clapping enthusiastically at the end of her cousin's performance. "I know, right?! You should watch her videos on Youtube, they're amazing." She watched Kyle and Doug get up to go to the bar, Doug patently ignoring her pleas to drink water, and turned back to Aaron. Of course they'd all somehow conspire to leave the two of them alone. Of course. "Good old Doug, taking the 'most embarrassing drunk' bullet on behalf of all of us..." she trailed off, sipping a drink that mostly consisted of melted ice by now.

"Violin!" she answered him before he even had a chance to finish, glad to have a topic to latch onto. "My insane mother worships at the altar of the Suzuki method and started me on it as soon as I could hold an instrument. I think my concert skills peaked somewhere around age twelve, which is depressing, and my old teacher would probably have a fit if she saw how I play now. But I still do it. I can't sing at all, though. My voice isn't suited to hitting the high notes... or the low notes... any notes. You?" Hannah asked innocently, hoping to glean some insight into the musical past Kyle had so kindly decided to discuss with her.