Some People Never Change (20-year Flashforward, Tag: Brianna)

Mr. Edrins sat in the back of the pub, in a dark corner, the Daily Prohpet sitting on the table next to a mug of coffee that, thus far, had gone untouched. Dein, at 37 years old, was still but a mystery, just like he'd been in school, but probably ten times worse. Not many knew of him, nor what he did, and frankly, he wouldn't share it anytime soon. Instead, he bemused himself by observing the occupants of the room. He had a much stronger build than he had as a teenager, and his gaze did not have the same arrogance it once did. At the moment, his expression was blank, as he watched a young witch and wizard talk amongst themselves at the bar.

The door opened with a faint tinkle as a newcomer came in, hesitating at the entrance. His or her's hood was pulled over her face; not unusual, in a place like this. The figure from under turned, seeming to be looking for someone. Ah- there he was... staring at someone. Most likely another woman. As usual.
Go figure.
Brianna made her way over, tossing her bag onto his table and nearly spilling his coffee during the process. Chucking a pin at the man, she pulled off her hood and shook out her hair, the scowl evidently screaming 'PISSED OFF' all over her face.
"Are you still stalking people? It's going to be a habit, you know, if it isn't one already." She hovered over him, one hand on her hip and the other tapping its fingers along the edge of the table.
"Care to be a gentleman and buy me a drink?" Without waiting for a response, the blonde sat down. She was still as impatient as ever, just like her school days. Admittedly, not as quick to flaunt her 'skills', but near haughty nonetheless. Not much, apparently, had changed. After finding her real parents, Brianna continued to stay as self-centered as ever.

He'd easily caught the coffee before any accidents could take place, having obviously a lot of experience for Brianna's.... tendencies. "I'm sorry, I was under the impression I was here to meet you. Not for work." He said smoothly, then without so much as a second's thought he called out to the lady at the bar, "Miss! One firewhiskey over here, please." He straightened up in his seat, moving his coffee out of harm's way as the bartender hobbled over with the firewhiskey and set it down, only to hurry back to her work. He then turned his attention back to Brianna, knowing she had enough energy to carry on a conversation for both of them, so he waited patiently for her to start up again.

(Rofl xD)

(Mehhh.)
"With me, there's always going to be work," she replied absentmindedly, crossing her legs on the chair. "You, of all people, should know that by now. I mean, come on, its been how long? You've known me longer than my own parents have, for Christ's sake, and that's saying a lot." She knew her situation was different, of course, but well... what was a woman to do?
"You'd think that you could catch up on those details, seeing as you spend SO much time...'manipulating' others. Manipulating, my eye. Seducing is more like. How many of your 'victims' female?" She picked up the firewhiskey with a half acknowledgment of thanks and opened it, taking a sip. Talking to him made her thorsty.

('Thorsty' xD)

"I wouldn't call them victims. And most of them are Ministry officials actually." He said casually, paying no attention to anyone else in the Leaky Cauldron aside from Brianna, just as no one else paid him any mind. A dark smirk crossed his lips, "So if I'm not on visiting hours, what am I here for?" He leaned forward, resting an elbow on the table as he took his coffee and took a sip.

(Shhh, on my phone xD)
"Well, work... and that too, I guess." She waved a hand dismissively and mimicked his actions... except with, well, alcohol. "Are you trying to get me drunk or something?" Like that was likely to happen. Her alcohol tolerance was sky high... sometimes
"Ministry officials, Order members, Healers, nuns... its not like there an entirely different species. It's no wonder you," she jabbed a manicured nail his way, "haven't settled yet. Any woman -or man- would accuse you of cheating because they don't realize you're just stalking them for snoopy matters." Okay, perhaps the tolerance wasnt that high today - the insult seemed a bit far, she thought ruefully. Ah, well. He knew she didn't mean it... all that much.

"Ah, so is that the reason?" He said intuitively, scratching his prickly chin hair thoughtfully, "Perhaps I'm just not keen on settling down." He chuckled. She had quite an interest in his love life when they spoke, and even more so when Brianna had a drink in her hand. Usually it was just to poke fun and start a conversation, but sometimes Brianna drug it a little far. Not that Dein minded, it was all quite amusing. Much less stale than what usually kept him busy.

(rofl xD I know what that's like)

"Oh, I really doubt that. From the bottom of my most sincere heart, I do-" she paused, eyes narrowing at the man before her. Was he playing with her? It was to tell, with that expressionless mask he often wore... Asshole.
"Anyway," she coughed, taking another sip. Enough about that... Mmhm." Tracing lines in the ancient, wooden old table, Brianna fell silent. He really amazed her, sometimes.. truly one of a kind.
'In a bad way, of course,' she reminded herself. Dein Edrins was ALWAYS bad news. If he hung near you for more than a day, it was most likely that he wanted something from you.
It made her wonder, sometimes, he still kept up with HER.

Dein leaned forward after taking another sip of coffee, watching her trace her fingers against the wooden surface of the table. "Something eatin' at you?" Honestly, after all this time, Dein still was cautious around her, but he wasn't quite as harsh as he used to be. He'd gotten so used to her, sometimes he wasn't sure if she was charming him or not. It was a dangerous game, but these days nothing interesting ever happened, so Mr. Edrins was much more willing to take risks. He was always uncovering embarrassing secrets from within the Ministry for the Death Eater cause, but only to get paid of course. But it was always the same; scandalous offairs, fake identities, hidden criminal records. Never anything really good, like murders or Ministry propaganda. No, those sorts of secrets had a pretty price staked to them, and not many were willing to pay him that much, not even the Death Eaters.

But no moment was dull with Miss Kyler around. He was always on edge around her, and yet... he took a bigger gulp of his coffee as he studied her face.

(Morgernstern, now. She threw away her adoptive parents' last namr [and probably killed them while at it, too -.-]
She looked up, shaking her head defiantly.
"Nope~" letting the 'p' pop on her lips, Brianna stared at her drink glumly."I really shouldn't be drinking this, though. Messed up my sleeping hours." Barely managing to cover her yawn, she set the bottle aside and shruggrd. "Life bores me. Not much to do after your goals are pretty much accomplished. Hangijg with you doesn't help any, either. Thanks."

"Set a new goal then." He stated good-naturedly, unaffected by that last bit that slipped from her mouth. He actually found it amusing, that they happened to be in the same situation. Course, he actually had something to keep him busy. It just didn't mean as much to him as he thought it would.

"Been there, done that. Tried it, didn't work." She shrugged. "What can you say? Only life-long goals seem worth it - it's not lifelong if you start it... halfway into your life. It just doesn't work that way." Picking up the firewhiskey again, she took a sip and leaned back onto two legs. "Getting old is tiring." As if to emphasis that statement, she stifled another yawn. "It's not like you're doing much though? Besides your creepy stalking jobs, I can't imagine you doing anything else. Am I wrong?"

"I talk to you, don't I?" He said as he slowly turned his coffee cup in a circle, looking at her with a dull expression. She had been right of course, but the only admittance Dein would offer was subtle. But he was starting to grow tired of the conversation, as he tapped his fingers against the table impatiently.

"Is that necessarily a hard thing to do?" she asked, eyebrow raised. Holding up a finger, Brianna frowned and considered the question. "Actually, don't answer that. I can probably guess the answer already, and it's not something I want to hear." She set her chair down and hummed a low note under her breath. What she had said had been true: she couldn't imagine him doing anything else. Spying and snooping was what defined that irritating man; imagining him as, say, a Healer? Didn't seem possible. An undercover teacher however... the corner of her mouth twitched. She would have wanted to be in his class. Although... Dein probably would have blown something up by the first week.
"What's with the mopey face?" Brianna pulled her mind back to the present, raising the other eyebrow now. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked innocently.

"Course not, my dear." He replied, leaning back in his seat and providing his usual sly smirk, "So if you're so unsatisfied, would it happen to be because of a lack of social life? What, am I like the only man you can talk to who'll keep up in a conversation?" He chuckled. Now it was his turn to pester her.

"What?" Brianna's jaw dropped open in disbelief, but she quickly snapped it shut, grinding her teeth together. "Of course not." The usual glare was back on her face - and it hadn't been there for so long... Shame. And he just sat there, laughing at her...
That was completely untrue, she told herself. She had plenty of friends; friends that didn't do every beck and call she commanded.
"You're just more fun to annoy," she snapped, crossing her arms in an almost child-like manner.

He rolled his eyes, stifling a laugh, though the mockery was clear in his eyes, "Ah, so what you're saying is, you can't get enough of me?" He gave a smug expression, acting like he had as an arrogant teenager. It wasn't his fault, when Brianna lowered herself to a childish standard so often. He rested his chin in his palm, still wearing that irritating smirk.

"Why-" She was speechless; that was the only word to explain it. Still acting so rudely, at such an age! Unaware of the irony in her thoughts, Brianna stood up with a huff, the chair grating alongside the marble floor behind her. The nerve off man was... well, unnerving.
"I can't say it's been a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Edrins," she nearly hissed, holding out her hand, "but nonetheless, I hope it will be a very long time before we meet again, don't you agree?"

"Aw come on Brianna, you know I didn't mean it." He said as he stood up right after her, "Why don't I make it up to you?" He didn't want the distraction from work to end just yet, "Dinner? Shopping? Anything?" For once, he seemed sincere. She seemed to like looking nice, and Dein certainly had the money to blow off. He wouldn't bid his farewell just yet.

... She paused, hand half-stretched towards her bag on the table.
"Really?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. The woman was slightly taken aback that he had called her 'Brianna'. It was usually 'you', or 'hey', or something along those lines... what had it been during school? Kitten? Ugh.
She pursed her lips, considering the pros and cons. Really... the answer was quite obvious. Brianna wondered when it had become so as she managed a nonchalant shrug.
"Hmm. I suppose... I could stay a while longer." It wasn't like she could jump in joy at his obvious sincerity - her pride wouldn't let her. Nonetheless, a small smile managed to appear on her face as she shrugged again. "Anything."

A victorious grin spread across his face as he answered, "Excellent. Shopping it is." And he lead the way out.

(The. End. XD)