Post by Lance Ulrich on Feb 5, 2012 11:57:05 GMT -8
[/b] he agreed. "Yes, it is."
NOTE: Markus's dialogue and basic actions taken from a YIM chat with Subuaru.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
6:50 p.m.
Two months, seven days. That was how long Lily had been stuck in this godforsaken hospital. That was how long Lance had been visiting this horrid place. He'd never liked hospitals, though he'd only been here for an emergency one other time when he was about five and his grandfather was on his death bed. The way he'd looked had stayed with the young man since. It hadn't been much better a scenario than Lily's own. The man had died as a result of a rather nasty duel.
Still, despite his dislike of the obnoxiously cold, somber, creepy department store building in muggle London, Lance had faithfully visited as any good boyfriend would do. Until the 31st of the past month, he had visited most of any given day, leaving only once visiting hours were over. Since his own birthday on the 31st, he had only visited over work. Today was the first day of the four so far he had felt absolutely terrible about that fact. All day, he had been fairly distracted during training, wishing he could be there. Today was Lily's eighteenth birthday, and while it wasn't the milestone seventeen was in the wizarding world, it was still the first birthday she'd had since they had been dating. Clearly, he was going to have to make up for missing most of her special day or risk the wrath of both an upset girlfriend and a guilty conscience.
Truthfully, Lance hadn't really thought about Lily's birthday until last week when some offhanded comment about birthdays had reminded him of both his own and Lily's. Naturally, he didn't have a gift ready. He'd thought and thought, but he wasn't certain what he could get her that was both affordable and something she would want to keep. He had the ring he had bought for her months ago, but somehow it didn't feel right to give that to her today while she was here in the hospital. Given the fact she was the first and only girl who had ever managed to rope him in for longer than a romp in the sack, he wanted to do this right, and somehow proposing to her while she was in a hospital bed didn't seem like the right way to go about it.
In reality, it practically hadn't felt right to give the ring to her since buying it. After all, she had suddenly found out she was engaged to Ian Langston, and they had shifted focus from them to getting the engagement tossed out. Unfortunately, the only thing that had worked was what had happened and Lily had had to pay the price. Knowing he had the ring, though, left him feeling anxious most days when he actually remembered he had it. What would she say? Did she even want the same thing as he did? Would she like the ring? or would it be too simple? Too gaudy? What if she simply wasn't at the same place yet and he made a fool of himself? He wanted so badly to ask, but today wasn't right.
During his lunch break, he had chosen to grab a sandwich and apparate to Diagon Alley where he had spent his time quickly scarfing down his sandwich and perusing shops. He had seen a few things worth taking a second look at, but he hadn't made any final decisions until after training, though the latter half had been spent trying to calculate what he could afford. Following end of practice, Lance had headed straight for Diagon Alley, his mind made up. It was as he arrived at the teller's desk that his plans began to derail. The goblin viewed his paperwork and then promptly his eye turned critical. "I'm afraid, Mr. Ulrich," the goblin stated, looking down his ugly, crooked nose at Lance, "that your vault has been emptied of its contents."
"I beg your pardon?" Lance replied, genuinely confused until it dawned on him what must have happened and it made him angry. He took his paperwork and marched away without so much as a word to the goblin. Goblins were rude creatures anyway. He doubted this one would be that bothered by his lack of politeness. Besides, why should he be polite to such a greedy, conniving little creature? And why on earth had his father done this? Did he want him to starve? Did he want him to die? What the fuck!
What was he supposed to do now? He didn't get paid for another week. And yes, his meals were provided for him at the training barracks, so he had no real need to spend money on a usual basis, but still, he wanted to get Lily something, something other than the ring he was going to hold onto until the right moment, which would be sometime after she was out of the hospital and healed enough to enjoy a small day out for a picnic or something. But that day obviously wasn't today. He wondered if he could get a double ration of his dinner today or something to at least give her that, but who was he kidding? Even the hospital food looked less like crap than the stuff they ate there.
Frustrated, Lance kicked the side of the oddly shaped, tall white building and had to hop on one foot a moment, regretting his choice of an object to kick. He defiantly eyed the people who looked at him until he could collect what was left of his pride and walk away without a limp. He wandered about Diagon Alley for a good fifteen minutes before he disapparated to the training barracks to look through his things and try to find something suitable enough to give her from his belongings. Finding nothing but a cigarette, he left, lighting the fag on the way out and taking a long drag.
He wandered about until he neared the officers quarters where it appeared some people were still filing paperwork for the day's training as lights were on. Instinct told him he should steer clear tonight, especially given his not-so-stellar performance today (as compared to the other three days so far), but he ignored it, subconsciously figuring perhaps some sort of confrontation would be an outlet for his frustration.
"Ulrich!" The voice was somewhat unfamiliar, but he heeded it regardless, looking over towards the source. "The Captain wants to talk to you."
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"What do I do, Markus?" Lance asked, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms with a sigh. "I can't even buy a nice meal to take to her."
"Hmm...," Markus mused. "I suppose your training pay won't have come through yet since you've just started...." Markus paused for a moment, seemingly in thought. "How much do you need?"
Lance thought for a moment, completely undecided. He'd taken Lily on dates before, so he had a rough idea of what food cost, but at the same time, the situation felt a little awkward. He had the distinct impression the captain was offering a hand out, and he really didn't know that he felt comfortable with that. After all, he was used to making his own way, even if that meant using an allowance until he'd been kicked out. "I don't know," he decided to reply, figuring playing dumb might be a little better. If the man still insisted on it, at least he wasn't naming a price. "I just wanted to get her something nicer than barracks or hospital food."
The older man seemed to listen and then contemplate for a moment, getting more comfortable while doing so. "Well," he began, "You could do one of two things since you seem to be truly stuck. I could loan you what you might need and you can pay me back once you get your check or we can talk to payroll and possibly get you an advance, though that usually isn't done unless there is extenuating circumstances"
"I couldn't possibly ask for that, sir...," Lance replied. It was the truth. This man had given him far too much already. After all, he'd set him up in the barracks early, judging by the fact there had been so few non-ranking people around aside from him. He was pretty certain that was probably bending a few rules. He was pretty sure the payroll thing would be bending more rules, and he was certain a commanding officer giving a recruit a personal loan was probably still bending (or at least ignoring) some. And then there was the issue of pride. It had been awkward enough even admitting his situation to begin with.
Markus raised a brow before issuing his reply. "And if I told you I was giving it to you on condition that it was paid back eventually..."
The man was persistent. Lance would give him that, and as tempting as it was, he wasn't going to simply take it. If the man really wanted to extend the loan, he would be alright with it, but still, it seemed like society dictated some sort of hesitance no matter how eager one's desperateness was making him. "Still, I wouldn't want to put you out. You have a family."
Markus waved off his comment. "It's not a problem," he assured Lance. "I'm sure I could spare a few galleons for a good cause."
There was no point to fighting this anymore. "Well, if you're sure..."
"Positive," the captain replied before assuming a more casual stance. A grin spread across his face as he asked his question. "Where did you plan on taking this lovely lady of yours?"
This was awkward. What was he supposed to do here? He hadn't exactly told Markus his girlfriend was in the Guard herself before, even if she was a training class ahead of him. He wondered if it really even mattered. Still, he seemed hesitant as he replied. "Well, I can't really take her anywhere," he told him. "She's...she's Lily Blake, sir. You know her, I'm sure. and you know what happened...."
"Lily Blake?" the man replied, seeming somewhat surprised. Maybe he shouldn't have brought her name into it and just mentioned she couldn't go anywhere because of some reason or another. He hadn't thought of the repercussions toward her reputation until the second Markus had spoken her name. Still, there was no going back now. Maybe he could explain it without making it seem overly defensive. "Rather unfortunate series of events, yes. She has a promising career ahead of her if she can get back into it. Nice to see she has someone to care for her"
"I'm glad I can be there," Lance replied. "I mean, it must look awful to outsiders who don't know we were together before her crazy uncle arranged that sham of an engagement."
A frown crossed over Markus' face. "Sometimes it's better to be thought of as crazy, so long as you're both happy. It's better than looking all proper and regretting every minute of it"
Lance smiled slightly. The man had a point, and at least he wasn't judging them. "Yeah,"
Markus chuckled before changing gears. "At any rate, if I'm to help you out we are going to need to make a trip to Gringrott's. I've made it a habit to not carry much coin on me these days."
Lance nodded. "Sensible," he replied.
The trip to Gringott's went by relatively quickly. The only thing was that he wasn't sure when visiting hours officially ended. It was 7:55, and he couldn't recall if visiting hours were 'til 8:00 or 9:00. Either way, she had already been fed, so the most he could get her right now was some dessert. He'd have to do the meal tomorrow.
After a quick trip to the grocery, Lance headed to St. Mungo's. Once inside, his blue eyes strayed to the sign. 9:00. Thank goodness. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was something, and that's what counted. It was her birthday and he at least he would get to see her for a few minutes.
Only moments later he was before Lily's door. He looked in a moment, admiring her a moment, before knocking softly. She'd come so far since nine weeks ago. "Happy birthday," he greeted with a smile before walking over to the small table to set down the flowers he had bought, yellow roses mixed with babies breath, and the brownie with raspberries and a little vanilla ice cream, a spell used to keep the brownie warm and the ice cream cold enough it wasn't going to melt too far. Once everything was set down, he leaned down to give her a hug and a kiss. "Hope your day wasn't too boring," he said as he pulled up the chair to sit down.
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