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Marissa MacFusty ([info]marridgeback) wrote in [info]valesco,
@ 2011-07-31 23:51:00


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Entry tags:darien dobbs, marissa macfusty

[Darien, lolololol]
Marissa wasn't sure exactly what had possessed her to accept an invitation from a complete stranger on the journals, really. She knew that she needed to get out more, sure, and she felt like she could finally be at peace with the fact that she and Sturgis had gone their separate ways, but she still rarely felt like leaving the house after getting home from work. The pressure and pain from seeing James Potter die, to see Alice and Frank Longbottom tortured to the point of no return -- to see her sister lose her hand just like she had, it was all too much for her to have faith in much of anything any longer.

She knew the rest of her friends were feeling it too, that pain, but she just hadn't been able to deal with it. Neither had Sturgis, at least not when they'd been trying to do as much. Now seeing him just reminded her of exactly how much they'd both lost; it was far too painful.

That was why, as she left the Experimental Charms department, she slipped into the lavatory to pull her hair down from its messy bun at the back of her head and wave it out, apply a little chapstick, and give her cheeks a quick pinch. She headed back out soon after and stepped into the main entrance of the Ministry, arms crossed as she leaned against a nearby pole.

She could just wait him out, look to see who else was trying to find another person in the flood of wizards and witches eager to rush home.


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[info]littled
2011-08-01 04:04 am UTC (link)
Sooooooo if he were honest, Darien Dobbs had no idea who the bird had been that he'd hit on just a few days before, and that was kind of a huge issue because he was supposed to be meeting her just then. Which was sort of hard to do when you didn't... know her name or what she looked like or anything at all about her.

Plopping down on the edge of the large fountain taking its residence in the Ministry's foyer, Darien idly tilted his head to watch his reflection in the calm pool. He'd changed out of his work attire when he'd gone off duty about fifteen minutes prior and had managed to throw on a slightly nicer shirt and pants, more appropriate to wooing a cute girl (Merlin, he hoped she was cute and not some ugly old hag) than the ugly puce of his hitwizard robes. Reaching a hand up, he brushed down his hair in a rather fickle manner more fit to a witch than the strong, masculine, burly wizard that he so clearly was--but what could he say? That hair took effort to keep so nice.

Once satisfied with his ever-gleaming physical appearance, Darien returned to his task of observing the large entrance hall, wondering if there was any way in Hades he was going to manage to find the one bird in the middle of all the people in their rush to get home. Might have been useless until at least some of the chaos cleared but---oh, hey.

A few meters away, his eyes caught on the sight of a fiery head of hair leaning against one of the columns and. Oh, yes. Yesssss. YES! She was hot.

Suddenly not caring whether or not this was the witch he had been looking for, Darien hopped up from his position eagerly and made his way over to the mystery girl, shoving his hands into his pockets. If she wasn't her, he was certainly going to be doing his damndest to pick this one up anyway.

"Oy, waitin' for someone?" he asked, flashing her a grin that couldn't quite hide its boyish excitement.

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-01 04:15 am UTC (link)
He looked vaguely familiar - she couldn't say exactly why, but she was sure he'd seen his face before. Marissa wrinkled her nose for a moment, pushing off the wall she'd been leaning on to glance up at him as casually as she could manage.

"You obviously are," she said with a half-smirk. She could definitely feel the excitement coming off of him, and if she was honest -- it was kind of nice. He probably had no idea who she was, no idea what her family had gone through or who her friends were. In other words, he had no reason to think that she had been a miserable old hermit for the last year or so. Marissa wasn't exactly open to 'wooing' at the moment, but it would be nice to at least relax and have a little fun.

Even if Otto was already making fun of her for presuming that he was a younger man. She raised an eyebrow in his direction.

"Do you normally pick up girls on the journals? Points for creativity, I guess." But if he was really doing this frequently, he ran the risk of running into handfuls of complete hags.

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[info]littled
2011-08-01 04:46 am UTC (link)
Fuck yes! So this was the girl! Darien could hardly believe his luck. Honestly, he'd been worrying himself for the majority of the day with thoughts of how badly this could go or how atrocious she could be or if she was some ugly old cat lady or if she had six arms or was missing an arm or was a burn victim or---anything that was decidedly un-hot. But no, she was definitely hot, she was more than hot... and he certainly knew what they said about redheads.

Drawing on his years of knowledge on how to come off as a proper attractive bloke, Darien leaned as casually as possible against the column and attempted to calm himself down just a little bit. Just a little, because he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to just not be excited at all about this fortunate turn of events. A mental image flashed past his mind of Derek shaking his head in disgrace at this whole situation, but he quickly dispelled it. Derek was lonely and girlfriendless and wrote sad poetry all day and he was taking out a right gorgeous bird for the night, so!

"Nope, I'd say you're a special case," he replied, just barely fighting off a wink as it tugged at his right eyelid. Gut reaction. Actually, something about this broad seemed the tiniest bit familiar--maybe he shouldn't put forth his normal, full-on man-charm in case she knew someone who could make fun of him later. "You ready to go? Hope you didn't wait too long."

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-01 04:58 am UTC (link)
At least he seemed to be making some attempt to pull in his overexcitedness. It was -- kind of cute, fortunately for him. Marissa shoved her right hand into her pocket out of habit. It wasn't necessarily that she was ashamed of it, she just didn't feel like scaring off one of her first actual normal interactions with other people by flashing him old goldie.

She couldn't help the soft laugh at his words. "I'm a special case, huh? I have a funny feeling that I was just conveniently there." But that was fine, really - she wasn't looking for anything serious. Younger men were good for that, right? Merlin, he looked younger, at least.

"I wasn't," she assured him, glancing to the slowly-emptying foyer. "And yes, I'm ready to go if you are. You'll have to lead the way, of course." Because she certainly didn't know any 'fun' clubs to go to nowadays. She'd never really been a club-goer even a few years ago; pubs had always been more her style.

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[info]littled
2011-08-01 05:30 am UTC (link)
"Of course," he echoed, taking every bit of will he had to not jump up from his relaxed position once again, now that he was in her presence. The majority of people didn't know it, but Darien knew he had a reputation as being 'Derek's stupid, immature little brother'. While true that he deserved it, and that he didn't exactly attempt reform people's opinions of him as a regular concern, sometimes he liked to be a little more laid back. He wasn't oblivious, after all, he was just... silly.

Yes, that was it. He was silly. Some part of him liked being ridiculous, being the comic relief. But he could tone it down if he had to, in such a vital situation as picking up a girl. It was like being out in the field; the level of seriousness to be exercised was basically on the same level, for him.

Well, kind of.

Extending an arm, he waited for his companion to take it before finding an empty Floo and making their exit of the Ministry building. As they came out on the London street and he decided the general direction in which he'd remembered the club being, he wasn't shy about peering down at the smaller redhead (well, she wasn't very small by normal standards, but he was sort of a giant--). Part of him was admiring the way she managed to look even more stunning on the backdrop of the city lights, but the other part was overcome with curiosity.

"Eh, so it's sort of belated, but you mind tellin' me a little about you?" he laughed. "Like, a name, for starters?"

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-01 06:15 am UTC (link)
She let him lead her, glad for the fact that he was a good bit taller than her. She'd been a bit concerned that he'd end up being fun-sized, which -- while apparently being fun -- was not at all something she wanted to take out on a date.

Marissa smiled lightly as he offered her an arm, considering declining it for just a moment before sliding her arm into his. She wasn't surprised that they'd come out on the streets of London, considering. She looked up at him as he peered down (she wasn't shy of looking either, thanks very much) and blinked when he asked about her. All right, she had to play this one very carefully.

"Marissa," she started, figuring that he was probably going to find out about her family eventually, "Macfusty. I'd better get a name in return -- I think you were in Hufflepuff too, right?" That was probably where he seemed familiar from -- most people around here had been in Hogwarts at some point. They'd managed to keep her sister's kidnapping very hush-hush between all the other big news stories that had been going around at that time, so she wasn't worried about him asking her about that tragedy. If anything, he was liable to ask her about the dragons that she helped raise, and that was something she could still talk about. In fact, the dragons were one of the few things that could still calm her down in the world.

When you had to focus on not letting a creature crush you to death, you didn't have much time to think about anything else.

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[info]littled
2011-08-01 11:58 pm UTC (link)
It was very difficult to not allow his eyebrows to shoot up at this new information. Having just started working in the hitwizard office at the time the MacFusty incident came up, it wasn't a name or case that was easily forgotten. But---well, there had to be more than one MacFusty family in Great Britain, right? It was more than possible that there was no correlation. And---annnnd it wasn't professional to draw attention to it, even if it was the same case, so... With much effort, Darien forced his expression into neutrality, biting the inside of his cheek for good measure.

Boo, he hated this part of his job. It would have been so much more fun to ask, even if it was likely nothing.

Still, he wondered if it was more than a coincidence. Maybe he'd look it up when he got back to the office--the names of the missing girl's family had to be recorded there somewhere, right?

Clearing his throat, Darien seemed suddenly more interested in what was in front of them than the girl at his side. "It's Darien," he answered her. "Dobbs. And yeah, I was in Hufflepuff, but you might be mistaking me with my brother, Derek. We look a lot alike."

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-02 12:48 am UTC (link)
It was Marissa's turn to raise an eyebrow. Okay, so maybe that was where he looked familiar from. "I think I remember seeing him at the hitwizard office a time or two." She paused, realizing that probably required some sort of explanation.

"Sturgis Podmore and I used to go together for a while. Not all that long ago." Long enough that she was over it by now, but perhaps not long enough that people in the office had forgotten her bright shock of red hair and the fact that she sometimes dragged Sturgis off in quite the hurry.

Was it her fault he'd saved her from bleeding to death? That had been the tipping point in their relationship, but then with everything that had gone on with the Order, they'd drifted apart.

It was a good thing that Darien hadn't asked about her sister's kidnapping, really. She'd probably have punched him in the nose and left him in the middle of the street, and that would've been downright unsatisfying for the both of them.

"So -- where are we going, exactly?" Because she knew it wasn't good form to talk too much about your ex-lovers on what may or may not have been some sort of first date.

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[info]littled
2011-08-02 02:08 am UTC (link)
Okay, that did make him raise his eyebrows, and not just because it wasn't a duty of his job not to do so. More in surprised mixed with slight terror, as he spun his head back around to look down at her. She. had. dated. Sturgis? First of all, shit, because she not only knew but had dated someone that he could be made fun of by later for anything dumb he did, but second of all because she somehow thought it was appropriate to bring up former flames when on a date.

Well, unless she thought it wasn't a date.

But that would be stupid. He was a gorgeous specimen of man and any girl would want to be on a date with him. So she was just being weird.

Yes, that was it.

Rude.

Imagining that ignoring the entire incident would be the best course of action, he distracted himself with her other question. After all, they were coming up on the place quite quickly. Pointing with his free arm, he directed her eyes to a building just down the street. "Storm," he said. "It's a Muggle place, hope that's okay--" Because if it wasn't, then he was bailing, no matter how hot she was.

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-02 02:23 am UTC (link)
She'd just brought up the first thing that came to her head, that was all. Marissa hadn't exactly gone on a conventional date in a while -- probably since before she'd started seeing Sturgis, considering. Most of their 'dates' had involved staying home, worrying about their friends, that sort of thing.

So yes, she was probably just being weird.

Marissa blinked, looking over to where Darien was pointing and then smiling. "Sounds fine to me. I don't have anything against Muggles, just so we're clear. Just because the Macfustys are purebloods doesn't mean we're close-minded." Taking care of dragons had made her realize early on that no matter what family of the breed the whelps came from, they were still dragons and they were capable of the same things.

"As long as the drinks aren't overpriced," she amended, hoping he'd realize she was making some attempt at humour.

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[info]littled
2011-08-02 03:06 am UTC (link)
Well, at least she hadn't chosen to revisit the topic of Sturgis. Now that Darien was rightfully terrified of making an arse of himself with this bird, he didn't really need any reminders as to why he should at least try to be less like... him than he normally was.

See, he knew how to control himself if he had to. Take that! Darien Dobbs was indeed mature and not entirely an idiot!

Sometimes. Occasionally.

Once in a while.

"Definitely overpriced," he said with a laugh, although not entirely sure she'd been joking. He hoped she had been, or else she was going to absolutely hate the place. "But I've got ya covered, no worries." No exaggeration--he was fully enjoying that hitwizard check coming bi-weekly to his Gringotts account. It seemed that risking your life day-by-day actually paid pretty well as a career, strangely enough.

Coming up on the entrance, he pulled her inside with a wave to the doorman--a friend, considering his frequent party schedule--and into the vibrating den of music and lights. "Not too shabby, eh?"

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-02 03:30 am UTC (link)
Okay, good. So she wasn't completely inept at these things because she'd had to take a little break from them.

She grinned and let him tug her easily enough, wondering just how often he came here if he was that familiar with the staff. Ah, well -- she didn't suppose it really mattered, all things considered. She wasn't here to decide on a bloke to marry, she was just here to have fun -- no matter how often she had to remind herself of that much.

"Not so bad," she said, moving in closer so that he could hear her over the din of the music and hopefully still see her despite the strobing lights. She didn't want to say that it was a bit loud, because that really did make her sound like she was some sort of old fogey. She'd adjust to it, she was sure.

They probably wouldn't be doing much talking at this rate, but that was likely for the best considering that so far she'd brought up one of her exes.

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[info]littled
2011-08-03 01:36 am UTC (link)
Despite that her answer itself hadn't been thrilled or anything, Darien was going to take what he could get. She hadn't been out in a while, that's what she said, and he'd offered to show her a good time. He could do that, even if it took a little bit more direction than usual on his part.

Taking advantage of her close proximity due to the loudness of the music, he moved to take her hand--ooh he hoped he didn't get smacked--and lead her towards the bar to order a couple of drinks.

Strong drinks.

Seemed like Marissa was going to take a little bit of breaking in before she started loosening up and having fun, and what better way was there to do than then start a good buzz going? They could start dancing after they'd downed a couple. It was always better that way.

As the drinks slid over the countertop towards them, Darien tossed a couple galleons at the bartender, and offered her one of the glasses. "Hope you don't mind I ordered for you, but you said you don't go out much--and this is a good one to start with."

Merlin, he hoped she wasn't entirely a lightweight, though.

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-03 02:33 am UTC (link)
Just because she didn't go out much didn't mean that she didn't do her share of drinking -- and besides, she'd gone out frequently once. She accepted the drink without question, though, because she was sure that it would help her loosen up. Marissa took a sip -- a long sip, but not one that would drain the glass entirely. No reason to rush herself and then get ill instead of getting a good buzz going.

"I said I didn't go out much lately," she pointed out with a small laugh, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I'm not going to overexert myself and then vomit on your shoes later." Marissa didn't want him to think that she was completely incapable of having fun, she was just -- a little rusty.

She took another sip of her drink. "So -- what do you do, anyway? I mean, when you're not here."

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[info]littled
2011-08-04 12:40 am UTC (link)
Darien grinned, more than relieved that she didn't seem to be entirely out-of-it as far as having fun went, and allowed his own drink to slide hot down his throat. It burned a little now, sure, but it was worth it--and after a couple more, he probably wouldn't even notice anymore.

"Oh, I'm a hitwizard," he answered, not without a hint of pride.

Darien was still about as thrilled now as the day he'd gotten his letter about joining the workforce in the job he'd dreamed of having for years. Admittedly, watching Derek kick arse all day every day was a big part of it, but part of him too had been determined to prove that he could do it at all. It took fairly high academic achievement to get a job as a hitwizard, and while he'd never done badly in school, he knew there was more than one person out there who thought he was incapable of actually being smart. "What about yourself? You do work in the Ministry, right?"

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[info]marridgeback
2011-08-04 03:31 am UTC (link)
She took another few sips of her drink as he spoke, nodding. She couldn't help but raise her eyebrow when he said that he was a hitwizard. It wasn't because she thought he was incapable of it (who was she to judge him after they'd only just met?) but because it was interesting that not only did his brother work as a hitwizard, he did as well. That was interesting; she wondered how they got on at work, all things considered. She was fairly certain that if she had to work with either of her siblings, she'd probably strangle them within the first few hours.

"I work in the experimental charms division. It's not very big or very famous." They hadn't had a major break-through that people were really excited about since she'd joined; she had a few ideas that were coming close, but she'd taken six months' leave after she'd lost her hand because she just hadn't been able to pick her wand up without feeling intense anxiety.

"It's an exciting job, though, trying to modify existing charms and make them more efficient." They did create new charms occasionally, but that was dangerous work.

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[info]littled
2011-08-11 05:30 am UTC (link)
The truth was, the Dobbs brothers didn't really get on at all at work to begin with. When he had started in the office, Darien had made it a point to be the best little brother ever and follow Derek around like a very loud but lost puppy. That was, of course, until he had begun to get assignments and the like, until he had to buckle down and start to get serious about the job. Most days since then, they only saw each other a few times a day; both were consumed either in paperwork or field calls, which was probably better since sometimes Darien got the hint that Derek was more annoyed than flattered by his presence.

Huh.

"Ah, so you do work in the Ministry," he commented. He should have guessed, considering that's where they met but... you never knew. "I've never been over to that department, but they don't usually have hitwizards running all over the building either. Maybe I'll have to make an excuse now to get up there more often."

He was so very smooth.

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