On a normal day, Cage would frequent the Three Broomsticks for his liquor, most of his own jovial company stacking up there to talk and gossip as though they were old females. Men really did gossip, regardless of what they said. But they deemed it as talking of 'business'. Regardless, The Three Broomsticks was always the place to go to speak on such business. However, Cage, for once, felt no need to gossip and chat, and for that he went to the Hog's Head.
The shady establishment was one place where the upper class black sheep tended to sneak off to, and regardless of Cage's arrogance, he was one of those. His father and brother had made him so years ago, and that was that. The establishment itself was more of a man's paradise. There was rude gambling, occasionally boxing in the basement, and just a thorough rowdy sense of a good time. Cage soaked it up, enjoying it all.
Cage was dressed down for his excursion here, though still with his sense of upper class, but not so glaringly obvious. His bowler stuck on his head as he sauntered over to the barman, Thomas Rigby, a man that Cage had the acquaintance of since he came to Hogsmeade.
"Give me a stout, Tom," Cage called as he took his spot at the bar. Several patrons were crowded around a pair of arm wrestling Irishmen, the pair red in the face from their efforts. Cage twitched his lips in a smirk and turned to his stout and drank away, the liquor warming up his cold bones. He had been in a foul mood lately, and nothing had served to turn it around much, if it even could. His brother had a new child and was planning on migrating to Hogsmeade, Cage's personal sanctuary, and his father had taken to imposing on Cage the importance of marriage. Being a bachelor for life was much frowned upon.
Well tosh. Being a bachelor was much preferred to tying himself to the alter, ball and chain. And that was that. So Cage sipped his stout, willing himself not to care about it all. Which was was incredibly adept at doing, in general.
Sebastian Havisham was at that ripe young age, twenty-four to be exact, when one was supposed to decided what the hell they were to do with themselves, give up their lifestyles full of vice, and settle down. In other words, he was expected to become boring. That was the last thing that Sebastian had planned for himself. Sebastian realized his position at the Ministry would not progress much without a change in public appearance - he was just a lowly translator - but that didn't seem convincing enough to him. He had plenty of money and land, coming from an old wealth family, and Sebastian didn't like the idea of working without joy attached to it.
Sebastian enjoyed the Hog's Head. A hopeless optimistic and charmer, he made it a habit to make friends with everyone, and he was quite good at it. Nevertheless, he got himself into trouble sometimes. He was the first one to participate in the brawls under the Hog's Head. He was the last to leave the bar at night. Sebastian liked the feelings of being weightless. Society didn't give a man like him much leeway, so it was nice to remove ones self from propriety for at least a few hours.
Sebastian was quite popular in society, if only because he was exceedingly wealthy and had charm about him. Being twenty-four, he was an eligible bachelor and was much sought after, so his vices were overlooked as a good match for the women around him. Sebastian had yet to be very interested in any of those women that his father brought about. Seb loved his father dearly, but the man had terrible taste in women. Sebastian was looking for a woman who was deeper than the average society darling.
Sebastian was rather famous for his colorful wardrobe, dressing in ridiculously vibrant colors at times. He was rather vain, to be honest, and his clothing reflected that quite a bit. But, there was no place for the finest fabrics at the Hog's Head. Sebastian wore a simple grey suit, with a hat atop his head.
Walking into the Hog's Head was like leaving Hogsmeade and stepping into Hell. That was 'hell' in the most positive sense, of course. Sebastian had been imposed upon all week by his father entertaining a variety of Hogsmeade fathers with daughters who just happened to have graduated recently. Sebastian thought if he had to hear about the latest Coming Out Ball one more time he might explode. How many times could one feign interest listening about the ugly color of Elizabeth Sturridge's dress or the horrid table manners of Agatha Castille? Sebastian couldn't care about such trivial things, and doubted that those girls were really so interested.
Having an addiction to smiling, it was no surprise really that Sebastian walked towards the bar with a smile on his face. His sentiments, of course, were happy to see an old friend sitting there. Cage Wakefield was a few years Sebastian's senior (which Sebastian felt no problem reminding him of), but nevertheless a kindred spirit. They had there differences, of course, but on the whole Cage liked to get into trouble just as much as Sebastian did, and didn't that just make him the best sort of friend? "Why sir, I wonder if you've even moved since the last time I saw you at this fine establishment," he said, poking fun at the man in a bowler as he slid onto the barstool next to him. Sebastian was, of course, in a rather foul mood after a particularly grueling exercise in self restraint at dinner, but with Sebastian you would never see anything but a smile.
Sebastian waved at the bartender, "Good evening Tom. Scotch, please." There was something about alcohol that made Sebastian feel so much better. He smiled as the drink was placed in front of him. The first of many tonight.
Cage heard a familiar voice calling through the dregs of concentration, his utter concentration on the rest of the room and what was going on. Cage enjoyed the Hog's Head for the pure reason that it was exciting. There were no dull manners, no women in petticoats. There was no censorship of true human nature. It was pure, raw, and attractive as anything in the world to Cage.
"Only to put the glass to my lips, Bas," Cage remarked with a smirk as he looked to his friend. Sebastian Havisham was a cad of the best kind. He was kind and friendly and completely careless with everything, but he did it for the fun of life. He did it to live, much like Cage himself. Cage had procured several slaps from females and several winding talks from his father and his brother (of which he choicely ignored) but ultimately Cage's behavior harmed no one. He looked for more than the stuffy societal duties of the upper class, looking for something more than the trivial nature of the way the world worked. And Bas was much the same.
Cage took another long drag from his stout and turned to Sebastian, his eyes holding that perpetually bored gaze they usually held. "It's been far too long since I've seen you, old chap. Hogsmeade has been let lie for far too long," Cage teased good-heartedly. His foul mood dissolved for the moment with the arrival of his friend, a reminder that not everything from the Ministry, or the upper class for that matter, was all bad. Bas was one of the few exceptions.
"Tell me what has gone on with you as of late? The Ministry still busting with poppycocks of the worst kind?" Cage finished his first glass and was quickly supplied with another, thankfully so. If he was allowed, he'd drink at the Hog's Head until the wee hours of morning, and it looked at though perhaps he would be doing so in the company of one of his closest friends. A top night it would be indeed.
Sebastian's mother, a truly unique woman, had been his best friend in life, until her untimely death two and a half years ago. Sebastian knew very well how important friendship was, and he looked for the best of souls to surround himself with. There was no doubting that Cage Wakefield was one of the best. Sebastian respected Cage immensely for he was a loyal and trusted friend, but also completely fun and on top of the world. It was rare that he met people as carefree as himself in this town. but Cage was the exception.
"You old dog," Sebastian laughed, "Pretty soon you'll grow cobwebs." Cage's father was on the Wizengamot with Sebastian's father, and so their social circles overlapped like one wouldn't believe. Sebastian's relationship with his dad used to be rather indifferent, but they had become closer since the death of his mother, and so his father-son relationship was rather different than Cage's in that respect. Still, they had much in common. Sebastian felt he could talk quite candidly with Cage, and they would understand each other. That was nice in a society so ridden with secrecy and ridiculousness.
Chuckling, Sebastian raised his glass to that before taking a swig of the Scotch, which burned his throat in the right kind of way. "Well I'm glad, then, that Hogsmeade's black spot has returned once again." They did get into all sorts of trouble together. Theirs was a friendship that undid the fabric that others tried hard to wind tightly.
Sebastian sighed, "Well, I am still trapped in the dullness of an entry-level job," he reported. Sebastian wanted more than anything to be the Department Head of the International Cooperation division, and it was the only reason he bothered at all with the Ministry. Being a translator, he was sure he could get the job, but both his youth and his reputation made him fear that he wouldn't be accepted into such a prestigious position. "Folks up there are still as dull as ever. And the only people more dull than they... are their daughters," he said wryly, pouring some more Scotch down his throat.
"Mind yourself old boy. You're not so far behind me. Soon enough you shall be pressing thirty as well." Not that it had slowed Cage down at all. He was still reckless and wreaked his havok, but less broadly and less flamboyantly than in the past. Regardless, he was still a menace to Hogsmeade, with or without Bas, and now...Hogsmeade had little chance.
"That sounds about right," Cage mused as he nursed his drink, grateful for the company. Though in the back of his mind, he wondered how his father had been doing. It didn't diminish the hate between them, as Cage could hardly suffer the old Wakefield, almost as little as he could suffer Cage. But in a distant place in his head, he still despised disappointing him, more for the fact of tainting his mother's memory than anything having to do with his father. But she was dead and that was neither here nor there.
"I'll certainly drink to that," Cage offered about the comment over the daughters, and he lifted his glass to clinking up to Sebastian's. He took a healthy drag of his liquor and leaned back, an amused and bored look upon his face. "Good old Daddy Havisham pushing the ladies on you, Bas? How dare he try to rob your freedom so mercilessly. I would opt for chains if given the choice." And Cage shuddered.
The pair had similar views on marriage, and neither were ready to settle down yet. Cage was older that Bas even, and he still had no desire for it. No want to put himself under the control of a single miserable lady, when all the skirts of Hogsmeade and London were ever changing and ever attractive to him. No, he doubted that monogamy would ever suit him.
"Discoviering an interesting society woman is like making magic from a toothpick," Cage grumbled out. "Impossible. Dear old Merry has married, as I'm sure you're pirvvy to. And has a great new son. Father is pleased as punch, and even more certain of my utter disappointment to the family. I should hate to please him now by acquiring a marriage partner. It may just give the old man a heartattack and I certainly couldn't have that on my conscience."
The tone was jovial and teasing, but the words were bitter. Cage, on a deep level, hated being second to his miserable older brother. Regardless of how he hated his father, his approval was still a distant ideal to be sought.
"Perish the thought," he countered with a laugh. "I have six good years in me till then, I'll remind you." Sebastian already felt the pressure to grow up, though, and already felt as if he were turning into an old man. He chose to eradicate such feelings to coming to a place like this, or spending some good time with Cage Wakefield, who always seemed to find such unique ways of running into havoc head on.
Sebastian laughed, "Like it is his occupation, Cage, like it is his bloody job." Looking down at the yellow-amber drink in his glass, which he gently spun around idly. "I wouldn't mind it so terribly if they had something interesting to say. How many times can one hear about the state of Miss Amber Grisham's china?" It seemed that etiquette had turned into an excuse for women to shed any intelligence they may or may not have had at Hogwarts in favor of being completely filled with air.
Sebastian thought that he might like the idea of marriage better if there were a girl who captivated him. So far, he hadn't fallen for anyone though, and he had grown cynical about it. Whose to say his soulmate even was in Hogsmeade? Sebastian knew that Cage had his bit of fun, and so did Sebastian, but the concept of monogamy did make sense to him if the skirt in question was a lady with interest. Sebastian didn't think he'd ever find someone who would hold that kind of appeal for him. Part of the problem, of course, that it wold involve some severe courtship for Sebastian to fall for anyone. And, being Sebastian Havisham, he was quite cynical about courtship.
"Ah yes, I heard that a while ago," Sebastian said. "I am so very pleased for him," everything in Sebastian's tone made it clear that he couldn't care less about Merry's happiness. He raised a brow at his dear friend. "Well you certainly wouldn't want to put such a vice on your list of accomplishments, Cage, for I fear it wouldn't look very nice next to owning the hearts of most Hogsmeade women. It might appear a bit threatening, in fact," he was teasing him to lighten his friend's spirits. Sebastian knew that Cage felt pressures just as he did, and also knew it wasn't good to let such things get the better of ones self.
"Technically it is their job to, Bas. Not that we'd ever deign to make it easy on them. It's practically our job to act as generally irresponsible as we can. Cage lifted the glass to his lips again before shrugging at Sebastian's words. "I'm not so sure. The smart ones are either too good for marriage, or too opinionated to sway with affections. The smart women want love, and who am I to stop them? I'm good and wealthy and such, but I'd hardly claim to be something I'm not. And a husband and father I most certainly am not."
Cage shuddered at the thought. Another deep-seated fear was that he'd turn into his father once wed and given responsibility. That once he was stripped of his carefree lifestyle, he would find little joy in anything and take that out on his wife and children. But that fear was so buried that Cage himself barely acknowledged it. Instead he drank again to fill the silence until he spoke once more.
"I suppose I should stick to being a heart stealer," Cage drawled out playfully with his normal, unaffected grin. "Whatever would Hogsmeade do if I was turned an honest man? The married women would be safe and the young debutantes would hardly have a man to love passionately against the will of their parents. It's obviously my civic duty to remain the typical cad. Since you're hardly up to the job yourself. You haven't quite reached your potential, Bas. I'm disappointed." Cage chuckled at that and took to his drink again, feeling thoughtful.
If he ever married, he would have said goodbye to his philandering days. Of all the things he hated his father for, his father's affairs on his mother made him despise him the most. He may never have loved the gentile lady and the marriage might have been arranged to connect the two pureblood families, but the old Wakefield could have at least honored Arabella Wakefield with fidelity.
Sebastian frowned, "Well then, is it wrong for me to say that my father is bloody terrible at his job? You would think that he'd have at least an idea of what I might like in a woman." Sebastian looked up at him with grin before taking a swig of scotch and placing is empty glass on the bar for a refill. "You don't think you could be? I think I could be," he admitted, rubbing his hair from his eyes. "Just not yet."
Sebastian had not plans to join the Wizengamot like his father. He was not interested in such things. He had his own aspirations, and he doubted his father liked them but he didn't bring them up enough for his dad to really think the worst of him. Sebastian kept talk light with his dad. The only thing that really mattered that they ever spoke about was women, and even then it was all simple light talk. Substance was not something they shared in their relationship, and they were better for it.
"Well, Cage, I hate to say it but I'm not sure I'll ever quite live up to your image. You are quite the role model, though," he laughed. It wasn't as if Sebastian Havisham was an honest man in the least. He had his way with women, and he certainly drank too much, and he had been quite the trouble maker. But, he did think quite heavily about marriage, and he presumed in that way he was quite different from Cage. "I hate to disappoint you. How about I make it up to you by making a complete fool of myself tonight?" He took a swig of the new glass of scotch in front of him.
The elder Havisham's marriage had been wonderful, and maybe that was the difference. His parents had been completely in love and committed. Sebastian had the best example of what a loving couple should be. They had been lucky, of course. It wasn't often that people found their soulmates - especially in a place like Hogsmeade.
"They don't care what we like!" Cage offered rowdily. "Only what will make us look good. And make them look good in turn. A nice, pretty little pureblood with hips for making children. Doesn't matter what's in her head. Or what isn't. Cage listened to Sebastian muse about marriage and he shook his head, thinking that was the drink talking.
"Bas, my friend, you're young still. You haven't seen as much as I to know that there is no such thing as a good marriage. It's all chains and image from the moment you say 'I do'. I'm perfectly content with having the occupation as a cad and perpetual lover, mind you. It doesn't bother me in the least." And that was true. If anything, Cage enjoyed feeling needed all of the time. For whatever reason the lady needed him, he enjoyed the feeling. In marriage, it was a business transaction. He wouldn't be needed in quite the same way, not a way that he wanted to be. To be needed for money and title was a despicable thing to him, and he didn't want to suffer it in any manner.
"If anything I feel I must take up the guantlet of saving damsels from loveless marriages. There are so many to save, you see," Cage spoke, grinning crookedly. He loved women in general. Tall, short, medium, thin, curvy, brunette, blonde, redhead. He loved them all. And for a little while, they could love him back. Just long enough for him to realize he didn't want to be tied down, no more than he wanted to give up his magic and become a helpless muggle.
Cage grinned however at Bas, who was already talking through the liquor, and Cage nodded and grinned. "I would hardly expect any less," he slurred out as another stout made its way to him. "What shall we endeavor on tonight? Seeking skirts or fights?" He laughed again however. The upstairs to the Hog's Head was a secretly run brothel, and the women were warm and nice. Two things Cage enjoyed in a woman. And down stairs, the men were gamblers and crude. Two things Cage enjoyed in men.
Sebastian scowled. "Well isn't that just bloody altruistic of them," he said sarcastically, taking some more of his scotch. That was one area of speak that he and his father would never be friends about. There was nothing quite as painful as having to listen to a vapid little thing rail on about god knows what. He was sure they were all rather beautiful, but what was beauty if you were stuck with all the shortcomings that also came with it for all of eternity?
Removing his hat on the bar and running a hand through hair that always managed to get in his face, Sebastian sighed, "I hope for the sake of many that you are wrong, old man." Sebastian knew, though, that Cage had a valid point. Most marriages these days were all wrong. There was nothing of love in them. The only proof that the contrary might exist was in his parents, and they were of the previous generation. Sebastian liked to cling to his hopes, though, that he might meet a lovely intelligent woman who would captivate him. He was sure that there had to be his ideal out there somewhere, though he was quite particular.
Sebastian laughed, "You are quite the cad indeed! If I do ever find a wife amongst all these miserable sorts of women remind me not to introduce her to the likes of you." Sebastian, knew, of course, that Cage was too good a friend to break that sort of code. He was teasing. Sebastian was less good at seducing married women. It made him feel the shame of guilt. Sebastian felt himself attached to women who didn't care of their own social reputations, mostly of lower class than himself. Sebastian didn't believe in class as a defining factor, anyhow.
Letting more scotch flow down his throat, Sebastian grinned. "Well why both sir, first a good fight and then the warm touch of a lady to heal our wounds," his voice was throaty. Sebastian quite loved the fights. He found himself often joining in on them, and feeling the pain of such practice later on. Sebastian had always been something of a reckless, finding delight in behaving like a fool. As a child he had fallen off of roofs, and as an adult he now found himself at the fist of strangers. Sebastian held his own, of course.
"Bastian, should you ever con a woman into marrying you, you sorry old sod, I would make it my duty to soothe her from having to bed with you every night!" Cage exclaimed, grinning as he clapped him on the back. They were getting louder and rowdier as the bar began to crowd with more and more people with the arrival of the evening. Cage laughed as he took another deep swig of the stout, leaning back and almost falling off from his lack of balance, but then he leaned forward again, leaning on the bar and deciding that was much safer.
"I do believe you may be alone in that fight, Bas," Cage slurred out with a grin. "You're much younger than me and much more...at the ready...." Cage laughed and grinned deviously. "Though you can expect me to be at the mercy of one of those warm lasses. Perhaps I'll fib and say I have an ache where I haven't got one. Though I've got a few aches of my own."
The bawdy talk was not like the normal, well pieced together Cage, though it was in good humor just the same. Cage was hardly a mean person to anyone, and he was a charitable soul. He loved children and he loved being around all sorts of people, no matter the class. He winked boldly at the blonde barmaid, grinning as he leaned over to talk to Bas.
"See her? She's had her eye on me all night. Don't you try and steal her or I'll have to fightcha' for 'er." Cage laughed again, enjoying the drunken splendor.
"Oh you are wretched," Sebastian laughed, "I can assure you that any woman I'd bother to marry would be so in love with me that she would even be numb even to the likes of you, as fantastic as that might seem," he told his friend. Sebastian quite loved the idea of love. He simply would not marry without it. Sebastian was quite a romantic. Many a night Sebastian had sat at this bar lamenting over his latest obsession to Cage, and was only to be rewarded with the news that she was, time and time again, rather stupid and dull. Sebastian had not the patience for such patterns anymore.
Laughing, Sebastian took a drink from his glass and put it down on the bar. Tom, of course, knew that he was then to fill it up again. Sebastian came here often enough, and gave generous enough tips, that he was assumed just to want more when he was done. "Oh, but what a fight it will be, Cage, I can just feel it," Sebastian said, enthusiasm dripping from his voice. "And what a way to get the energy out." They were being far too loud, but the regulars of the Hog's Head all knew them to be good fun. "Cage I think that you've got quite the ache," Sebastian said, laughing, "Not to worry."
Sebastian was generally more put together, though he mostly said what he felt at any given time, he was not quite so course as this generally. He, too, was a people person, and he tried his best to make all feel welcome. Still, the nice thing about such outings with Cage is that they could act like children and it wouldn't matter the next morning.
Grinning, Sebastian patted his friend on the shoulder, "I wouldn't dream of it, Mister Wakefield," he said. "For there is a raven haired beauty on the other side of the room that I've had my eye on and once I win a fight in her name, she will certainly have me."
"Oh how naive the young must be!" Cage called to Bastian, chuckling at him. Love. It didn't exist, not really. There was platonic love, and then love for the moment. Love of the act. Love of a person. But there was never a true love like so many talked about. Cage scoffed before he drank again. "Besides, you would have to find a blind woman for you, mate. As who could love a lug like that?"
Cage grinned and reached over, playfully slapping Bastian's face. Cage turned on the stool to look at all the people, the gamblers clouded by smoke and the rowdy young men arm wrestling by the window, the older men talking of their rowdy days by the fire. Cage soaked it all in, watching as the barmaids passed by.
"I've had worst aches, trust me," Cage remarked with a grin. But the oh familiar ache of needing a warm body, needing to make a woman's night. He cockily thought that he was the man for the job, for anyone. Cage laughed and clinked his glass sloppily with Bastian's.
"You'll forgive me if I excuse myself, old boy," Cage crooned out, standing with surprising even balance, for the most part. He leaned onto the bar and slapped Bas on the back, laughing again. "I'm after that blonde with determination my fellow. Do call on the house sometime...it's been too long." The slurred words broke off with a laugh as Cage followed after the woman who looked as though she was dress up in can-can garb, making eyes with her mascara-excentuated lashes. Cage was a goner.
Sebastian furrowed his brow, "Oh you're one to talk old man, I can see your wrinkles like they were caverns," he countered. Sebastian wouldn't let Cage dissuade him from his hopes. Sebastian knew that love existed, and wanted to find it. It might not happen right away, but one day something would happen that would change his expectations. One day he'd find someone. Until then, he was letting himself have a bit of fun.
Sebastian laughed. "Godspeed, Cage Wakefield," he replied, raising his glass to his friend as the man got up and went towards his doom. The girl was clearly up to no good, more so than Cage which was saying quite a bit. Cage had the right idea. Sebastian wished he could be happy and content with such a lifestyle. It would certainly make his life easier.
Downing the last of his scotch, Sebastian looked back the black haired woman across the room. He tossed her a grin and a wink before sliding out of his stool and heading towards the staircase downstairs. Sebastian could feel his blood pumping. Tonight would be a fight worth remembering, and he was sure that the raven haired beauty would agree once he heard her light footsteps behind him on the stairs.
The End.
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