So Much for Smooth Operating

[Benjamin Perry]

It was as though he were always preparing himself for a war when he prepared for society parties. There was the armament stage, which consisted of adorning himself in one of his best suits. In this case, he wore a royal blue vest beneath his charcoal coat, and freshly shined shoes, akin to a uniform, combat boots. His smile was his equivalent to a protective helmet; his words, a rifle. These weapons were all he had in the face of a world that was a hungry, malicious beast--a beast he was very eager to put down, but a beast that would tremble and pounce at the first sign of attack.



So, it was with blue vests and freshly signed shoes that he would lull that beast into submission. A false sense of security, if you will.

Although, he found the term "false sense of security" to be redundant. There was never any assurance of safety in life. No one ever offered some lifetime guarantee that nothing bad would ever, ever happen to you because you're one of the chosen children. The most you could hope for was to surviveàor maybe death was what you would hope for. After all, if your life was so crappy that even you didn't consider living to be a priority why would you even make the effort to survive? And for that matter---



God. This was getting old, real fast.



It was astonishing, but after moving from London and into the wizarding world of Hogsmeade, Benjamin still could not shake the feeling that he just did not belong. (As if that two minute long mini-rant inside his head wasn't indication enough.)

Speaking of shaking, his depressing inner monologue had brought about a nasty case of trembling. His hand shook as they moved over the impressive array of spellotapes Dervish and Banges boasted. The nerves in the tips of his fingers felt as though they were on fire, and each movement brought about an unprecedented wave of pain.



Retracting the offending extremity with some effort, he stepped back from the spellotapes and his gaze shifted slooowly to the young woman manning the cash register. Once he caught her glimpsing up at him, she immediately turned away, suddenly very bashful. Well, good. It was best that way. He hoped that any other wary bystanders would assume hypoglycemia was the reason for his shakes. Or something of that sort. He couldn't really remember what it was called. Maybe it was hyperglycemia. Well, whatever it was, it didn't really matter. Right now, he just needed to concentrate on getting home alive in this downpour.



But things never work out as planned.



Usually, Benjamin worked as smooth as silk. There was nothing that impeded his progress; he has never met an obstacle that has stood in his way for long without being stricken down with either cunning or brute force. And yet, as he turned around in the sparsely populated Honeydukes that day, he managed to trip over his own two feet and nearly stumble head first into the Spectrespecs display behind him.



Fortunately, Benjamin righted himself before he fell and came out unscathed (save for his pride). His toffee, however, was not so fortunate. The toffees tumbled out of his hands and rolled away on the tiled ground, earning a scorching look from the woman behind the register.

  

[Elias Grimstone]

With the money from his latest broomstick sell weighting down his pockets, Elias had seen fit to spend the day running errands and buying more equipment for his workshop. He had found himself some new work clothes - though why anyone would waste new, perfectly clean and pressed clothes on making a broom, he did not know - but his last letter from his sister had reminded him not to wear his best in the workshop or they'd kill him before he got a chance to wear those clothes out socialising.

After that, he'd made his way absent-mindedly into another shop, needing some items for his broomstick making. Of course, his mind wasn't at all fixed on this mundane task - his efforts were pointed on trying to recreate the perfect handle-shape... that was what a one-track-mind did for you; always making you frustrate over a single detail, blind to everything else.

Or perhaps not. Looking up from the magical tools display, Elias first saw the other customer, a distinctly upper class gentleman. Being quite an expert at observation - quite enjoying the past-time in such dull circumstances - he noticed the man slowly turn to glance at the young woman at the cash register. Elias' gaze dropped to one of his cuffs, and his left hand began to fiddle with the end of the right sleeve of his jacket.

But then, a thump-thump-thump, the clatter of objects tumbling to the floor, Elias reacted automatically, not too hastily, but all the same, helpfully, by marching around the corner of the display shelf and staring down at the mess of toffees now scattered on the floor. Being the genuine, nice guy that he was, he bent down with only raised eyebrows and a smirk-grimace at the other man, and began to scrape together the mass of objects littering the floor.
"Not your lucky day..." Elias murmured with a small shake of his head, only barely audible and only speaking his thoughts aloud.

  

[Benjamin Perry]

Holy shit holy shit holy SHIT.



Was that unusually well-dressed bastard trying to take his toffee? Aw hell no.



Benjamin, still in war-flashback-mode, was quite ready to jump on that young man's back and slit his throat with the switchblade tucked away in his vest, but after the boy murmured something about how it was not his "lucky day," he paused. With a bemused smirk spreading across his lips, he replied sardonically, "I have yet to happen upon a day that has proven lucky, my good man."

He knew he ought to bend down and help the poor boy scoop up the toffees--toffees that were not even his to clean up--but he couldn't muster the strength to do so. He was secretly bracing himself upon the sneakoscope display for support, one hand grasping the table with unnecessary force to ward off another case of the shakes.



"You are very kind, sir." Benjamin was relieved to find that he was no longer beneath the scrutiny of the shopkeeper's hawk-like gaze, and his nerves settled a tad. Still, he did not find the resolve in him to stop taking sweeping glances around the shop. He was only making sure that no one was going to dare sneak up behind the younger man and take advantage of his vulnerable position.

Of course, Benjamin was still unwittingly under the impression that they were in a war-zone. The flashbacks often had that effect on him, and now, by picking up Benny's toffee, that young man had made himself an ally.



Well, at the least, Benjamin took comfort in the fact that he was no longer alone in the figurative war taking place in his head.



When the other man finally stood and offered up the toffee, which I am assuming he most likely, eventually, did, Benjamin offered him a sheepish, apologetic smile. "I don't suppose you like toffee, hm?"

  

[Elias Grimstone]

Elias continued collecting up the toffees from the floor - unafraid as always to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in... even if it was just to provide less work for this gentleman he'd never met and the shop-workers later who'd no doubt have to scrub the floors. It would be a waste of perfectly good toffees, anyway, if they found themselves glued to some unsuspecting shopper's shoe. Elias grinned and looked up from the mess on the floor to the stranger standing before him.

At the man's comment on his lack of luck, Elias made a sympathetic yet amused face and replied, "Well, if luck could be dished out precisely, I'd certainly share whatever good fortune I encounter with the less-blessed," ... not that I'm any more blessed than the next guy, he finished in thought.

The man seemed to be taking a time to recover from the stumble - Elias noticed his grip on the display and hoped that would prevent another trip - it could lead to an injury next time, or something much more valuable and breakable falling to the floor.
"Not at all," he dismissed the man's next words, merely offering a simple "You're welcome, of course" in return.

Once he'd straightened up, transferring his cupped hands filled with toffee to their rightful owner's, he chuckled at the question but said, "I like it just as much as anything, I suppose - though I try to avoid having to chew it in public - I make rather an embarrassment of myself, getting my teeth glued together and whatnot." He gave a half-grimace, half-snicker as he thought about it, his jaw imagining that very distinctive texture to the sweet.

"I'm Elias, by the way, Elias Grimstone," He said easily, after a pause in which he'd remembered the required formalities, even after a toffee incident like this. He refrained from shaking the man's hand as they were quite obviously brimming with the toffees. He glanced interestedly at the other man, having not seen his face before and already haphazarding a guess at the type of person he was; his job and whatnot - not because Elias ever assumed these things correctly, but because he was generally inquisitive about these matters and it was always fun to find out how far from the truth his own ideas were.

  

[Benjamin Perry]

"Oh, I know the feeling." He flinched at the image of the boy gnawing on a gummy piece of tacky, but a sheepish, somewhat tentative, smile followed. "However, you'll find that, with age, you'll learn how to enjoy a fine piece of toffee without appearing as though you are kin to a cow." As demonstrated by the nonchalant manner in which he popped a piece into his mouth. "Though...that might not be experience talking. Moreover, it is probably a developed disregard for public opinion that comes with maturity."

Benjamin was being uncharacteristically jovial and relaxed, even with one hand still braced on the sneakoscope display, and that may have been because he was under the impression that he had just made a war buddy.



Because a man willing to pick up your toffee is most definitely willing to take a bullet for you. Obviously.



Benjamin did prove to be an expert at graceful toffee chewing (or, rather, he proved to be as graceful as one can be while gnawing on a hunk of toffee) and it was with an almost paternal wink that he said, "Making an embarrassment of yourself in public is part of the aging process, my friend."

He seemed to be addressing the other man as though he were the man's elder, but an onlooker would not have spaced them more than five or six years apart in appearance. In reality, they were just over ten years apart. Benny gauged as much; compared to his own drained demeanor, Elias was the equivalent of the Victorian Energizer Bunny.




As the young man continued, Benjamin was almost astonished by the youth's apparent optimism and willing to please. The serial killer mused that his new companion was akin to a puppy and was surprised to find that the boy's demeanor was not as grating as Ben would have anticipated.

Benjamin was quite relieved--and not to mention even more impressed--when the youth didn't make a move to shake his hand. One of Bens' hands was technically free, but it was currently gripping the sneakoscope stand for dear life. The other hand was full of his precious toffee, which he had yet to tuck away. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Grimstone. I'm Benjamin Perry. Say..." His gaze shifted slowly down to the younger man's attire, and with a bemused, quirked brow, Ben asked, "You're quite well-dressed for a shopping trip in Hogsmeade, Mr. Grimstone. You must be on quite prestigious business."

  

[Elias Grimstone]

Elias smiled easily, listening to the man's lighthearted speech about the technicalities of toffee-eating. He even gave a chuckle at the words, 'developed disregard for public opinion' and watched as the elder man chewed a toffee surprisingly elegantly. Elias shook his head slightly with amusement, and looked up again as the guy shared his next piece of jovial advice and wisdom.

"Making an embarrassment of yourself in public is part of the aging process, my friend."
"I'm sure that's true; I make a fool of myself far too often already while with company," He admitted, only just realising he was probably embarrassing himself in front of this new acquaintance just by being honest. Elias almost cursed himself mentally for sounding quite so stupid and naive-sounding, but he understood himself well enough to understand he never thought before he spoke; so he moved on and added with a half-smile, "Just as long as I learn from my mistakes..."

Benjamin Perry, as he'd just introduced himself, seemed affable enough; Elias quite admired his good-natured demeanor but felt that even with this conversation, nothing gave much away about Mr. Perry himself. Elias had a hunch that there was more than met the eye with this man, but he didn't usually delve into people's deeper natures - he was usually satisfied with their facades and he usually took acquaintances at face value, so he saw no reason against continuing to converse genuinely good-naturedly. Elias was always pleased to socialise, his outgoing character drew plenty of energy from any such exchange.

At Benjamin Perry's quizzical expression and question, Elias had to drop his gaze to remind himself of what he had on. Ah, it was this... situation ... with attire again. He pushed a hand through his hair to tidy the mess it had inevitably become. He remembered the reason for trying to sort out his clothes: his fussy younger sister.
"Yes... - I mean, no, not at all, just running some errands. I did have to buy various new garments though: I tend to wear everything new in my workshop and end up ruining them." He explained, openly. He didn't want to bore anyone, but the man had asked so he felt obliged. "So, I've been instructed to wear my best clothes out and save the tatty ones for when I'm not in public..." Elias laughed nonchalantly, as he was not very much concerned with what he chose to wear. He wasn't even sure why the state of his clothes concerned some people.

"And what of you, Sir? Could I inquire as to what you have been shopping for?" He only asked out of curiosity, as he glanced around the shop they were still in and tried to guess what Mr. Perry had wanted to buy.