Escaping the Past: A New Start

"Yeah, sure," Indigo said. He eyed Hayden a moment, then looked at his watch. "It's about time anyway. Go ahead and leave the computer and the screen on, just close all the windows." The wallpaper could have been beautiful, but instead it was functional. It said how to get help, recommended the day's special, and thanked whoever bothered to read it for visiting.

Indigo wrote down Hayden's hours and signed her out, clocked himself out, then opened up the back office to get his stuff. He ducked into the bathroom and when he came out, he felt more like a real human. He brought his work clothes with him so he wouldn't have to go home and come back, and he was wearing real clothes now. T-shirt, jeans, sneakers, and most importantly, a worn old hoodie with faded checks and stars. To think, he'd almost gotten rid of it.

He headed outside, laptop bag slung against his hip, head down. He didn't have to be professional anymore. Who cared, anyway?

Hayden came out in a tank that just met loose jeans slung low on her hips. Ragged hemlines draped over sneakers with the toes being the only thing that showed. Her bag strap crossed her chest, keeping the actual bag tucked tightly against her back. "Wonder if the elves ever get pissed off that people choose other food sometimes," she mused when she found Indigo again, squinting slightly in the bright evening sunlight.

Indigo's brows drew together as he tried to make sense of that. House elves. The answer came soon enough. School house elves. He always tried not to think too hard about them, unless he was writing a blog post about slavery and generations of brainwashing. He shook his head.

"Probably not," he said.

Hayden shrugged again, adjusted the strap of her bag, and then gestured toward the street. Apparating was risky when they were going into a muggle area, and the walk was only a few minutes, anyway. "Thanks for showing me the ropes. You'll probably get some notes the first few times we don't work together, though, fair warning." There were bound to be things happen that she couldn't fix.

"That's fine," Indigo said. "The last guy I trained took a whole week to figure out what I was talking about. Can't tell you who it is, but he gets a reminder every time he's been off for more than two days. He just can't wrap his mind around it. He's great with customers, but if a customer asks about the computers, he's basically a placeholder until a manager can get to it." Notes would be nothing. Especially when she already knew the basics.

"I'm going to end up you 2.0," Hayden said in mock-horror. She was confident she could handle anything the job threw at her, though, and hey, maybe if she ended up being the only other regular employee who could deal with the computer stuff she'd get more money. It was a nice thought, at least. "You like working there, though? It's hard to get a read on you."

Indigo glanced aside at Hayden, then turned his gaze to the sidewalk. "Yeah, I guess. It's my first job so I don't have anything to compare it to, but from what I've heard it's a good job. No micromanaging, no power-tripping, no slackers making more work for everyone else." Mostly because slackers didn't last long.

"I'm just... out of it. My... best friend kind of..." He pulled a breath. "He cheated on me and I dumped him." And it hurt. Jory hadn't been there when he'd gotten home. In one night Jory had been kissed by someone else, kissed him and done stuff, and then left. He'd gone to stay with the other guy. He'd just given up.

Hayden glanced over and her eyebrows came together over her nose. The expression lasted only a moment. "I'm sorry, mate," she said, though she didn't sound quite as genuine as she should have. "Love's bullsh~, anyway." All of her relationships had pretended to be great and wonderful and rainbows and roses. None of them had left her with any impression other than avoid whenever possible. "That the first time he did it?"

Indigo nodded. "I... I might've taken him back, we've been together like two years, I took my N.E.W.T.s early just to come here with him, but... He said he was sorry, he said he loved me, and when I got home he wasn't there. He came and got his stuff while I was in class and that's it." He didn't know if he'd go so far as Love's bullsh~ because it had been amazing while it was happening, but he hadn't realized it could end, and especially not so quickly. He still loved Jory, even though it killed him to think about it.

"In my experience, once leads to more," Hayden said. Take them back, and a couple months later they're doing the same bullsh~ all over again, if they even make it that long. "Maybe he did you a favor. Maybe he does love you and buggered off because you dumped him, who knows?" But really, if the guy'd done it once, he'd probably do it again, and getting strung along wasn't worth it. She hooked her thumbs into belt loops as she walked.

Indigo gave a humorless chuckle. If Jory loved him, he wouldn't have left after their fight to put himself back in the path of alleged irresistible temptation. Jai freaking Peacock was not that irresistible. Indigo sighed. "So now I've got this huge house and it's just me in it. It sucks." He liked his alone time, but it was just too much space to have all to himself.

Indigo glanced aside, then forward again. He'd just met this girl and it had just occurred to him that having a roommate would cut down on the rent. It would put some sounds into the house without him having to keep Pandora playing all the time. Still, she'd said something about wanting to move out next term, hadn't she?

"Put up a flyer or something," Hayden suggested. "I'd offer, but I don't know if I can get out of my dorm agreement sh~ mid-term." To be entirely honest, she wasn't even sure she could break it mid-year, but she hadn't actually gone to talk to anyone about it. Plans to leave the dorms were definitely in their infancy. "How big a house?"

"Three bedrooms," Indigo answered. It was a good thing he hadn't been stupid enough to ask her. He'd read the lease agreement and was pretty sure the only way you could get out was by paying for the rest of the semester. There might be another way, but he couldn't remember.

"One's my office, it's got my computer and stuff in it. One was going to be his office, and one's the bedroom. My bedroom. He has a dog too..." Having a whole room be his office had sounded amazing before. Now it just seemed ridiculous having to go downstairs for food, then back upstairs, and into another room entirely to sleep. "You're right, I'm not gonna find anyone now. I can pay for it, it's just... quiet." Lonely.

"Hell, I might have to spend time at your place just to get some damn peace and quiet," Hayden said. Three bedrooms for one guy, that was a ton of space. Maybe she should try to talk to her head of house to see if she had some options. She did miss having room and privacy. Living in a dorm, even when her room mate might as well have been a ghost sometimes, could be stifling.

Indigo gave a watery smile. He wouldn't hold her to that. If people could love you and be with someone else instead, they couldn't be held to little stupid things like hanging out. Not that she'd said she wanted to hang out with him, he realized. She'd said that maybe she'd come over for some quiet. Yeah, she'd definitely find quiet there.

"We're almost there," he said. He gestured ahead. "The Pizza Place is no-magic, but it's got good food. You can get a large pizza with all the toppings you want for less than two Galleons, so that's good."