A Roman Holiday

“I did, once. As a kid. Means strength, or battle, or something like that. Total bull, if you ask me.” Mafalda shrugged. “French? Goes along with the accent, I’m assuming, but I could be wrong.” Mafalda allowed. “Not really a big traveler. Don’t have the time or the funds, unfortunately.”

She chucked. “You know how to hold your liquor, I like that.” Mafalda liked it when she could go toe-to-toe with people when it came to drinking. Made her feel a little less guilty about her own level of consumption. “And most other evenings, unless someone interesting decides to join me. Like tonight.”

Juliette was intrigued. Perhaps the woman didn’t attribute those traits to her, or maybe someone made her think that she didn’t resemble her name’s meaning. “Why would you say that?” she asked, cocking her head to the side, her expression bewildered. “Ah... you are tres magnifique,” she smiled, laughing softly. “C’est francais.” Her comment begged an answer to a question Juliette then had to know. Leaning a bit closer to the woman, she rested her chin in her hands, meeting her gaze. “Where would you go, if you did?”

Bailey noticed the woman; or, she noticed the man come up with seemingly no prompting, and then get thoroughly rebuffed. It was an example of the kind of interaction she’d seen frequently during her observational excursions, and that she still didn’t understand. Everyone in these kinds of environments seemed to be acting on mostly nonverbal “signals”, except this man had either misread or imagined then because the woman he bothered wanted nothing to do with him. Except she’d also seen interactions like this where the bothered party in question simply melted into the seemingly random touch. It was so confusing. What made the incidents different? What made people so confident, only to turn out to be so wrong? Had everyone who told her there was logic to it, “feeling”, simply been taking the piss?

“I’m having a good time,” she said, although the answer was a bit delayed because she’d honestly been too distracted watching the woman to register that she was being spoken to. “Just not for typical reasons. I’m observing. Hey- that man who touched you, do you know him? Can you tell me why he did that? Why you shoved him off? I’m trying to understand ‘signals’.” She waved her pen a bit in the air above her notebook, leaning forward. 

Originally posted by actorseokjin

Juliette’s brows shot upward, not necessarily believing the other woman at first. That was, at least, until the addendum that it wasn’t typically how fun was perceived was spoken. In other words, the girl wasn’t there to drink, which only made it more confusing to Juliette, considering they were at a bar. “Observing?” she asked, unsure of what the other could possibly be hoping to find. “Comme c'est intéressant...” she mumbled under her breath with a small smirk. When asked if she knew the man, Juliette laughed, shaking her head. “Not enough for him to touch me like that.”

“I’ve seen him around, perhaps. Don’t know much more than that.” Taking a long sip of her drink, her eyes glanced back over to the man who was now trying the same trick on another unfortunate girl. Her attention was then caught by the woman beside her, a chuckle escaping her lips the questions, assuming she was joking. When neither said anything, Juliette’s eyes widened a bit. “Merde... you were seriously asking? Erm... well, my best guess as to why he did it, is that he thought he could get away with it. Some boys just think that. I shoved him away because he didn’t respect my boundaries. You don’t just let anyone come up and start touching you, do you?” Then again, maybe she did. Juliette, furrowing her brows, turned her body and leaned closer, trying to understand the girl. “You really don’t know much about this stuff?”

Juliette’s laughter and calm demeanor made Nic nervous. She’d always put him on edge, just a little, because he knew she dabbled in divination. It was the same reason that he was always a little bit wary around Sofiya, too. Divination was tricky magic; when it worked, it had the power to see through people, to see into the future. To catch hidden things. Nic didn’t need that kind of scrutiny, especially if it was angled at him. 

“Time changes people,” he snapped back. “Shit happens. People react to it. You’re an only child now, aren’t you? Don’t tell me you haven’t become a little ‘sensitive’ yourself.” It was a low blow. A cruel one. But Nic had been called cruel before and he was willing to do anything to turn her questions away from him, to flip the conversation. 

The minute she mentioned his aura, and asked what was wrong, Nic stopped regretting mentioning her sisters. He didn’t regret it even a little anymore. His “aura” was his own fucking business. As were his troubles. What had gotten into people, lately? He flashed back unpleasantly to most of his interactions with Luka, where the other man seemed patiently and immovable when it came to his seemingly-earnest interest in Nic’s wellbeing. He knew that Juliette’s question came from a place of simple curiosity, not care, but he still bristled at it. 

“Right now? You’re troubling me,” he growled. 

Juliette always got pleasure from teasing Nicholas. Maybe it was because she liked having an edge over him that others didn’t, or maybe it was for other reasons. She had never decided on one in particular, though right now, she had just been looking for a laugh. When he brought up her sisters, Juliette went quiet for a moment. Rather than respond with the anger she knew he was looking to raise from her, she simply stared blankly at him, tipping her head to the side. “Not really, Nicky. In fact, I’m as tough as ever.” she replied, her face expressionless. Besides, she dealt with divination along with a slew of other magical abilities, such as talking with those who have passed. In many ways. she still had her sisters with her, nix the physical aspect. 

“In all honesty, I’m surprised you haven’t become one by dissociation,” she added, as casually as possible as she shrugged her shoulders. Nate was a dear friend of hers, but Juliette knew that saying it would get under his skin. 

And there it was. The infamous snarl that Nic was known for once provoked. Honestly she was surprised at how quickly it came out, seeing as how he was normally much more cool and collected. “What a fantastic twist of events. Isn’t that what you’re known for doing, Nicky? Don’t lie, now... I’d be able to tell.” As much as Nic probably didn’t think she was there to be helpful, it didn’t mean that Juliette had wanted him to go crazy, or get hurt. She did actually like the male, for what it was worth, and considering her close friendship with Nate, it only seemed right that she make sure Nic wasn’t spiraling. “You probably wouldn’t believe that I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.” 

Nate’s smirk of a smile fell off his face as soon as he was backstage, his hand almost reflexively going to his hair trying almost to get out the glitter there as his other hand swirled the money bag twisting it closed. He’d count it later and exchange the paper slips then. Right now he was more focused on getting out. He didn’t really see her for sure but he had a feeling that it was someone he’d rather not see at a strip club. 

It wasn’t that he was ashamed of his work, but he didn’t really want everyone in his life just showing up for fun either. Especially old friends he didn’t know where in London. 

Still he wasn’t shocked hearing a familiar voice, although it took a lot more not to mutter expletives in French. He also couldn’t stop but stop in place for a moment. He would have asked how she got in, but he was pretty sure how that happened. 

“Juliette, I didn’t know you went to strip clubs.” Nate said back going to his locker to grab his sweats. “You know if you wanted to hang out, you could have just owled.” 

It was obvious that he hadn’t expected to see her. Excellent she thought to herself. This was sure to be a rather interesting conversation. “I didn’t know you worked at them,” Juliette shot back once more, with quirked brows and a small smirk. “Times have changed, people get bored...”  

Leaning up against some of the other lockers, Juliette tipped her head to the side and frowned. “And miss out on this wonderful discovery? Besides, I hadn’t known you would be here. This is but a happy coincidence,” she added, perking back up and flashing him a grin. 

Twisting her hair around her finger with one arm tucked under the other across her chest, Juliette studied him a moment before continuing. “Now that I do know, though, —and don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone— I have to know... how long has this been occurring?” Many thoughts swarmed her head, the most persistent one being whether Nate actually did this for a living and how far it was taken, though the latter was a bit more personal. “You certainly look as though you know what you’re doing.”

          Felicity wished she had given divination a chance in school. A part of her just didn’t want to take a subject that she’d fail. And she knew that she had no gift for sight. It wasn’t in her nature to think about the future or the meanings behind tea leafs. It was a mystery to her why some people did and others didn’t. Felicity almost wondered if it was a belief or something. But no, lots of people wanted sight and didn’t have it. “I did back in school, for my friends who took divination.” But that had been a long time ago. “But not by someone who knows the art more.” 

          She smiled slightly at the pun and looked around. “I do like tea though.” Maybe a tea reading would do her good. Get her to relax a little and think about how she actually felt. Everything seemed too muddled. “Oh, well…” What was going through her mind? A lot. “I guess I’ve just lost my way… so it just… feels like a lot’s going on in my mind.” 

Juliette nodded as the woman explained she had gotten readings from —friends, perhaps? It was cute that she had let them try out their abilities, though she wondered how accurate the girl’s friends were in the art. Divination was more than just making predictions, after all, and not everyone knew or understood that. “Ah, well, you are surely in for a treat if you’d like to get one.” There were many ways to do a reading that she could introduce the other into. Perhaps today could be rather interesting after all, Juliette thought to herself. 

“Would you like a cup? I can put a pot on.” Without waiting for a definite answer, Juliette waved her wand and in the back, a pot flew from the shelf onto a burner, starting to heat on it’s own. Even if the young woman decided she didn’t want a reading, it was clear a cup of tea might help calm her down a bit. Her aura was more tense than anyone Juliette had seen lately. “I can tell... well, use me to your advantage. Tell me about it. I won’t tell anyone else, I promise. I take confidentiality very serious,” she assured her, leaning closer to the other, almost whispering.

          For as long as Felicity had worked in Diagon Alley, she had never ventured into Knockturn Alley. Once, when she was younger, she’d been drawn there, but her parents had quickly ushered her away. They had said it wasn’t for people her age. Felicity had left it at that. For the most part, she tended to have too much to do after work to actually go and see what was there. But today was different. She was avoiding home as much as possible these days, so she figured lingering longer wasn’t a bad idea. 

          The Divination shop stood out to her as one of the few places that she felt comfortable going. At school, she never took Divination. It wasn’t her thing. She didn’t feel a connection to being able to tell the future, though she was in awe of people who could. When she walked in, she immediately noted the smell. “Oh, well…” Felicity looked around before turning to the shop keeper. “I’ve never been in Knockturn Alley before and this shop looked curious to me.” She didn’t entirely know what she wanted or what she was doing here. “

It was no surprise to hear that the young woman was drawn to this particular shop. Divination often had that affect on people. even for those who never understood how to properly practice it. Many wanted to believe in its wonders, but not everyone had the true ability to accurately utilize it. “Well that’s to be expected,” Juliette chuckled, straightening up and pushing herself up to sit on the counter. “Tell me... have you ever considered getting a reading session done?”

Juliette gestured to the woman’s palms, giving her a mischievous grin whilst raising her eyebrows. “Or maybe that isn’t your cup of tea, as they say... There’s a lot of other things here that might interest you.” Swinging her legs over the counter, the blonde slid down and motioned for the woman to follow, weaving through the aisles. “I sense a lot of tension built up around you... what’s been going through your mind?”

Mafalda had been at the pub for a while now, and frankly, she showed no signs of slowing down. It hadn’t been a particularly interesting night, however, but, she noted, as a pretty young woman sat down beside her, that looked set to change.

“Mafalda. S’posed to be Italian or something. I’ve never met anyone else with, guess that’s unique?” She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. “What about yours? Lovely as your accent?” Mafalda grinned back. Why not? It had been a while since she had just cheerfully flirted with someone. “Want a drink? My shout.”

“Italian, hm? Duly noted,” Juliette laughed, tucking her hair behind her ears. It was refreshing and pleasantly surprising that the woman seemed to indeed be flirting back. Oh, this could get interesting, she thought to herself. “Juliette,” the blonde answered, her accent fully slurring the letter sounds together for added charm. “People also call me Jules, but you can choose either, so long as you call,” she added with a smirk. 

“I don’t believe we’ve seen each other before, and I would remember a face like yours,” she cooed, in her French accent. “What’s your name? Surely it must be rather unique, to match your beautiful exteriror.”

Nic stepped back from the shop, but just so that he was leaning against the opposite alley wall, and watched as the magic flames spread across the stone hungrily, reaching for wood, for paper signs, for anything it could consume. It soothed some of the jagged edges in his soul, but the minute he started to relax he heard a pointed voice, and glanced over to see someone startlingly familiar. 

“You might be the only one,” he said, snorting a little when she said she didn’t take him as an arsonist. Even the incidents at school that had been accidents, he’d been blamed for. He remembered Juliette only because she’d occasionally stirred up as much of a fuss as he did, though for entirely different reasons. Plus, she’d been one of Nate’s friends, but never in a way that made him nervous. 

“I refuse to speak English if I don’t have to,” he said, scowling slightly when she switched back. “Did you wind up here to become a bad poet? Because that’s what you sound like. I’m not actually hurting anything.”

Juliette snickered along with him. Her head shook and as it did so her hair fell to one side as she combed it over her shoulder entirely, twisting it and pinning it up to alleviate some of the excess heat. “Maybe so... would your brother?” she asked, smirking as she looked over at him. It had been a while since they’d spoken to one another, but she always knew that Nicholas had a rather electrifying personality. People whispered about him, which made it all the more interesting. 

Touchy. Juliette’s brows shot upward, her smirk growing a bit. “When did you become so sensitive, Nicholas?” Stepping closer, she leaned up against the wall with him, perhaps two or three feet away as to slowly approach. If he wanted to speak French and only French, she could accept that. It often became difficult to translate back and forth if one person was using each language, so eliminating the hassle was beneficial all around. “Maybe not... maybe you’re just finishing what someone else started. But I wasn’t talking about destruction of property... your aura is entirely out of place.”

Not that she assumed Nic would know or care what that meant, but it revealed to Juliette that he had a self destructive desire in himself, and perhaps that was why he had sought to burn a building instead. “What’s troubling you?”

Juliette placed her hands on either side of her feet and wrapped her legs around the branch, hanging upside down as she allowed herself to free fall just as the stranger was passing under her tree. “Beautiful day, is it not?”