little bits and pieces.

[Kairi Soto]

Kairi smiled down into the mug of beer clasped in her hands, one last hurrah before facing down Fred Weasley and either walking out with a job, a loan, or having sold Zonko's. Somehow, all of these prospects seemed bright; though the thought of turning over her shop to the Weasleys made her cringe, Fred was a good man and would more than likely keep her there to run it under the Wizard Wheezes banner. The woman cracked a wide, private smile at the thought of being back home in Hogsmeade, her mind traveling over the familiar landscape, the nights cosseted away in the Three Broomsticks, those hectic days when the Hogwarts students were set loose on the village...

Hogwarts. Her mind flickered back to the half-realized, slightly embarrassing and lustful idea of returning to the school; she was not quite sure of who had said or where she had been upon the news, but a rumor had reached her ears that Hogwarts had needed a flying teacher. The idea of being back on the Quidditch pitch made her heart soar into her ears with the sound of many bells and whistles, though there was something else that pulled her to the place... It would be nice to see Alex again. Their run-in had jolted the woman out of a stupor several years in the making, just enough to see the brighter side of things and score a good bit of luck. Enough of a reminder of her old self to sever the ties that bound her to the palms and bedrooms of the twisted, Dark men.

The woman shook her head, pulling herself out of a black reverie as angry goosebumps crept up her neck, rolling in a wave down her back, her arms, and her legs. Out of old habit, she glanced up and down the bar, pulling her worn anorak higher over her shoulders, trying not to look anxious, albeit rather unsuccessfully. Running a hand over her forehead, Kairi sighed, swearing to herself that if nothing else worked, she'd try out for the Hollyhead Harpies, and if that didn't work... well, hopefully Weasley was feeling extraordinarily genial today.

[Rainne Fall]

The heavy oak door thumped back into place behind her. It seemed she always ended up here after a run for the Department, slightly sweaty and disgruntled with the more physical aspects of her profession. Bullet wounds lent well to being a bookkeeper, but the occupational hazards of being an Unspeakable were plentiful in their own right. The latest mission had been another B&E, scheduled for daylight hours - the most dangerous kind, but often the most successful, with the right operative - and the Leaky was the best neutral drop point. No one had followed her anyway. They rarely manage to, these days.

It wasn't enough to bore her, but the call was close.

The Leaky was quiet for this time of day, everyone likely waiting for the mist to dissipate. The tiny drops clung to Rainne's hair, beading slightly at the ends that stuck out of her wide hood, slowly causing the strands to curl up toward her face in the warm pub. She cast a discreet spell to dry her clothes, bright eyes scanning the room for threats as she casually made her way to the bar. But a flash of hair and a shiver stopped her gaze.

It was always the old team she ran into, and always after she'd stolen something for the betterment of Wizarding society. Rainne felt her lips quirk up at the familiar face.

"Kairi," she spoke softly, sliding into the seat next to her, brushing her hair back over her shoulder. It had been a very, very long time since she'd set eyes on her old friend - perhaps even since before the bullet - and Rainne took her time soaking up the small changes on Kairi's face, her lengthened hair, the tightened set of her shoulders. She broke out into a friendly grin, unusual but brighter for it, to put her old friend at ease. "It's been quite some time."

[Kairi Soto]

Peremptorily she raised her mug, slowly filling her mouth with lager; her mind hummed rather blankly, any chance at intense thinking blocked by little waves of anxiety. Feeling wholly underwhelmed, she blew a bit of hair off of her forehead, slouching a bit more, very aware of how desperate her attempt to kill time had become.

Of course, something always happens.

A woman slid into the seat next to her, and if she was not absolutely sure that she had heard her own name she might have tried very hard to ignore the obvious breach of personal space along an empty bar. For a very long second Kairi stared at the woman next to her, wholeheartedly put off by the years it had been, the things that had happened in between, and how easily the neurons had received that Rainnealla Fall was talking to her.

Kairi slowly toasted to a bright smile as Rainne did, her body easily reacting to the link between the woman's voice and things that were good. How was it that it was the most raucous group of people she had ever known kept popping in and out of her life?

"Rainne..?" There was no question, really, though the likelihood of this event begged to differ. It was her old Captain, still angrily beautiful or beautifully angry, she could never decide. Wearier looking than she had seen before, her features smoothing out of their youth and into adulthood like finely wrought silver. Though her old impulses told her to fling her arms around the other woman, she found that she was content to just stare and absorb all the newness in Rainnealla Fall. "Quite some time is a dreadful understatement. What in the bloody hell have you been up to?"

[Rainne Fall]

At the sound of her name, Rainne indulged in a rarer, softer, and warmer smile. "Work, mostly. Haven't been able to be around much."

And that was the crux of it, really - she didn't have much of a life to come back to here, save Logan. There wasn't much opportunity to talk about the work she did, anyway, as any thought she had about telling people led to the tell-tale pinch at the base of her throat - the warning of the secrecy spell. Unspeakable was a demand, not a choice.

But soon. Soon soon soon it would be over for a while. Just around the corner sat peace.

"What have you been up to, love? I don't think I'm the only one who's been a ghost lately."