Jared McCall

“Oh my god, you’re like, my saviour.” Thea said once she turned around and saw one of her books on the ground. “Thanks.” 

“Hm.” He made a confused noise, wondering how he was a saviour for calling out to her. He picked up the book and rose from the ground, handing it over to the girl. “Don’t mention it.”

“Dios mio, thank you, sir. Can’t lose my list of today’s meetings, I kind of need that.”

“Yeah, no problem. Here you are.” He says as he hands over the man’s list.

“No, but I’ll take it if you’re offering it. What is it? This cannot be a bad pick-up line, right?”

“’m afraid you’re not really my type.” He shrugs, then looks down at the envelope in his hand. “Just an envelope, it seems, not sure what’s inside.”

“I prefer not to categorize and dwell. It ages you.”

“Time ages you. Categorizing is just a way of rationalizing an event.”

“They aren’t mistakes when I make them.”

He raised an eyebrow, “what would you call them, then?”

“Is someone feeling a bit of responsibility for the pretty stranger, Jared?” 

“Not really.” He replied honestly and shrugged, “I just prefer not to be blamed for others’ mistakes.”

“No offense taken. Not my party,” he shrugged easily, his own smile turning a hair more smug after what he interpreted as Jared’s eyes purposefully roaming him over. “What is your scene?”

“I’ve been told ‘anything that’s the opposite of fun’,” he admitted with a shrug.

The party had coalesced, growing organically like a living organism as a few celebratory drinks over settled contract negotiations snaked into something larger and larger as invitation and ambition of what constituted celebrating spread instead of being planned in advance. It was the type of thing Noah usually found beautiful to watch even when the crowd wasn’t his type, mostly the robes over suits stiffs from the studio who’d wound themselves so tightly they tended to explode embarrassingly when they cut loose–and felt they were given license to do so because they’d come here with him, though it wasn’t their “out of control” star that was influencing the situation. They were amusing and he wished the party well, with the air of an indulgent parent watching their young charge trying some project on their own for the first time. He’d humor the situation awhile longer, meet a few more connections of connections of friends of people from the studio he hardly knew to begin with and be seen by them, granting some prestige to their party, and then get out of there, and save his “wild nights” for better company.

He was negotiating the exit when he saw a figure he knew as tenuously vaguely as he knew a lot of the crowd but in a way that made him wonder what connection he had to anyone else there. He flashed a wide smile with shades of the genuine, easily falling into the pleasant surprise. “Hey, it’s Hot For Teacher,” not a nickname that made sense since the other man was the teacher, but it showed Noah did know who he was and the man should be flattered, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, uh, hi.” The corners of his lips turned upwards as his gaze fell down and travelled along upwards until his eyes landed on the man’s face again. “Hm, a friend of mine thought it’d be funny to trick me here, I guess.” The left corner of his lip turned further upward as he shook his head and gestured to the party scene with an open palm before letting it fall back to his side and continued, “no offence, parties aren’t exactly my scene.”

❝ fine. um, where should i take it? ❞

“Can you bring it by Astrid’s? I’ll try to get it done in a day, but I’ll let you know if it ends up taking longer.”

@mccallofthewand

To talk to Jared McCall from time to time was one thing, but to actually see him right in front of her was completely different. They had been friends since school, a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin that paired just fine during hours in the library, and he was what Claire wouldn’t think before describing as an enjoyable company. Claire missed seeing him with the same frequency they used to a decade before, but it was good that they hadn’t lost all touch - at least letters and an occasionally chat helped not to make things weird between the two of them. 

But now that it was holidays and she had gone to the Hogsmead simply to relax (here meaning: reading something light before going back to Scarlet’s disappearance investigation + work + duties), she wasn’t expecting to see him sitting at a normal table in a dinner’s balcony.

Ok, not only sitting, but also seeming extremely focused in a paper - probably work.

That’s why Claire smiled to herself and decided to act a little more mischievous than the usual. No, she wasn’t one to think like that, after all she should act as an example for society and did it without complaining, but that was an old friend, right? So she could approach him without using a formal tone, even in a casual space like that one. Well, she knew the surprise would be a good one. 

And with that, one and a half minute later she had made her mind and sat in the same table, trying not to make a sound or call his attention - she simply sat there and besides resting both hands on it, Claire also rested her head above her hands, looking up and waiting for him to notice.

After much consideration, Jared had come to the conclusion that he needed a change of scenery from his usual ‘stay at astrid’s with a cup of tea’ setup he’d come to get used to since he’d been back in town. He’d been directed to a corner table at the diner closest to Astrid’s just as the place was being cleared out from the large lunch crowd, and found himself getting comfortable as he drank his tea and took occasional bites of his sandwich as he took pen to paper and marked certain places.

He’d been there for a good thirty minutes, switching papers when he was done with one, moving a regular pace until, as he was about to pull another paper out from his pile and slip the one he had back in, he saw something --or rather, someone-- in his peripheral. His gaze turned suddenly, but instead of a frown his lips turned upwards as he recognized the woman. “Claire, hi. When did you get here?” 

“Now you’ve made me more determined to find a way. Don’t underestimate my aptitude for the impossible.”

“I can’t underestimate something I don’t know.” He replied, his lips barely turning upwards. “Just don’t get yourself killed, I suppose.” He wouldn’t want to be responsible for something he’d barely, but accidentally, encouraged. 

leia mimicked the sound of a snake. ❝ kind of like that. ❞

“Hm.” He paused, “I can try to fix it up for you, but I’d have to bring it with me to work since I don’t have any tools on me.”

Jared had planned a(nother) nice night with a cup of tea and a pile of papers meant to be graded for next week and had had just the time to make the tea and settle it on the table he would work on when an old friend had come knocking and had managed to drag him away from the apartment. As the two made their way down the streets, the two found themselves in pleasant conversation, which followed them into a strange building where the reclusive man found himself standing at the forefront of a party without even having realized it. His friend shouted something and disappeared into the crowd, and as Jared tried to keep them close he found he’d lost himself in the crowd as well. He pushed himself through the throng of people, wondering how he’d managed to get himself here until he finally moved to the outskirts of the crowd and walked over to an unpopulated corner, observing the situation so that he could find an exit to the misery he’d been dragged into.

“You sound cynical.”

“If it wasn’t secure when I went to Hogwarts, it definitely is now. Assuming you’re neither alumni or staff, I don’t think I’ll be seeing you on the grounds any time soon.”