Politics... How Bad Could It Be?

[Percival Adlard Jr]

Nov. 17, 1887 at Justin Ross's Parlor Game Campaign Event

This time it was neither Felicity nor Catherine that Percy could blame for being at a social event. This time it was simply having a social life, something that his sisters simply refused to acknowledge existed in Percy’s life. To them it was as if a wife were the only source of socializing that Percy could partake in, granted perhaps they meant the social life argument more in a way that it would disappear once he did take a wife. Not that that was likely to happen anytime soon. Regardless of his sisters’ thoughts on the matter it was not their fault this time that Percy was out this evening, and at a political event of all things. No, it was Quincey Honeyduke’s fault.

Quincey and Percy had been roommates back in their school days and was one of the few people who Percy choose to stay in touch with. Not that Quincey was likely to let Percy fall out of touch. Besides, it was Quincey who always had new treats to bribe Percy with. In their school days he had constantly been experimenting with sweets and treats - something that had served Quincey well since their school days, what with Quincey’s business and all. Quincey, however, had been the social one out of the three friends. Mason preferring his plants and Percy his observations. Quincey had been the one who constantly dragged the two other boys out of their common room to be social back in those days. Percy of course had been social in his own way, if that meant he was social in his interactions with Miss Margaret Wittmore as frequent as they had been. But Quincey had been the reason that Percy knew more people beyond the feisty Gryffindor beauty that Percy had had the good fortune of sharing a boat with on their way to their sorting.

This event was less elaborate than the ones that Percy’s sisters had dragged him too this fall. First, it was a smaller crowd, more middle class and business men than the others. Second, it had less lavish guises to it. It was simply a quiet evening out together to enjoy cards and conversations. Unlike the grand kickoff to Mr. Ross’s campaign which had boasted three elaborate exhibits at the London Museum of Magical Miscellany, this event was a milder affair. That alone was enough to quell Percy’s initial concerns. Although did little to quell his anxiety about a political viewpoint being forced out of him. He’d been to enough campaign events across the candidates because of Felicity’s desire to drag him wherever she thought he might meet a future wife at one of them or for whatever reason she veiled it as, that he didn’t dread the thought of a political event the way he had the night of Mr. Ross’s campaign kickoff. But he did have a career to think about and at the end of the day that was likely where his vote would go no matter how many events he ended up attending. Although, knowing Quincey was another person who was not truly interested in politics, Percy had agreed to come along, if only to suffer alongside his old friend.

Although, if Percy were being honest, he wasn’t sure they were really suffering. At least he wasn’t. He couldn’t speak for Quincey beside him at the table. They were halfway through a game of All Fours next to the table of the candidate (and therefore safely out of range of a political conversation), while Percy’s attention was only half focused on the game at hand. Across the room a ground participated in blind man’s bluff, something Percy was greatly enjoying casually observing from this distance. He was watching a gentleman stumble past the hands of the seeker when he missed whatever had been said at the table. “Sorry, what?”

Word Count: 643
@'ELSIE BEAUREGARD'
@'QUINCEY HONEYDUKE'

  

[Quincey Honeyduke]

Quin was in no way, shape or form, a person who paid any attention to politics. Frankly he'd voted in the last election but couldn't even recall who he'd voted for. All in all he couldn't complain too much, Urquart seemed to be doing a fine job, a few blips aside. Well, when Quin paid attention as it were. He was not a religious reader of the Prophet. Truthfully he heard most of his news from his employees or from overhearing discussions held in the shop. It wasn't the most informed way to live, but for the most part, it worked for him

If he'd been left up to his own devices, Quin would't have even known about tonight's event, however, apparently being a savvy, forward-thinking man (or maybe it was his wife!) Mr. Ross had directly invited Quincey to the evening's festivities. It was hard to ignore a direct invitation without being rude, plus Quin was curious. He could respect a man who was not all about fancy balls or formal speeches. No, a casual evening of cards was far more up Quin's alley; though he had the worst luck in games of chance.

However, given that this was not his thing and that he had minimal friends to call upon, he'd asked Percy to accompany him. If Quin was going to be social, so was his friend. Out of his time spent at school and spending time with his roommates, he'd learned that he was the most social of them all- and that was saying something. Perhaps he'd been a bit more socially motivated in his youth, and that was why he'd been the one dragging his friends around, but now, with the shop occupying most of his time, he wasn't quite the social butterfly he'd once been. Percy was still very much the same though, he needed a push to get out of the house. Plus this had earned brownie points with Percy's sisters.

So far the evening had been rather enjoyable, though Quin felt a little out of his depth as it was his manager that handled most of the business-y side of his shop, Quin was a people person, it wasn't often he was stumped in a conversation. Cards however, oftea eluded him. "What am I supposed to do again?" He clearly wasn't going to win, but as long as he didn't lose too much money, it was all in good fun. His question to his mate went unanswered for a moment as Percy's attention was apparently focused elsewhere and Quin gave him a nudge to help him focus. "What am I supposed to do?" He laughed.

  

[Percival Adlard Jr]

After years of exploding snaps and other games of the sort Percy was well aware of his friend’s luck - or perhaps habits was a better way to put it. Percy wasn’t entirely sure that Quincey had bad luck, simply that he had no clue what he was doing. While cards weren’t entirely Percy’s thing and he didn’t particularly enjoy investing his money in games instead of worthwhile investments that were more stable, he had been suckered into joining a gentleman’s club years ago by his mother and Catherine, granted it had more than likely been an issue pushed because his father could not accept that his son wanted nothing more than to spend his life as a hermit - especially in those days. But one thing that his rare evenings at the club, because while he hated paying the dues to even be in a club he would rather see the money actually used for something and made a point of attending evenings at the club at least once a month to make the pointless membership worth something if only to provide his family with an activity of the social variety, had taught him was cards and in this case the game All Fours. A game which Quincey claimed little to no aptitude for. A fact which his friend confirmed with his question.

With a small head shake Percy gave his friend a small chuckle, sometimes Qiun was truly helpless. Although Percy would admit that he too remembered learning this game. It wasn’t one he was entirely comfortable with either as his sisters preferred whist and several other games during their evenings spent together. All fours was something Percy had picked up from Merlin’s although he tended to lose more money than earn any from it and was prone to avoiding the table. This evening it had seemed the best option, what with it being that of Blind Man’s bluff. He had heard a group speaking charades and had determined he would stay as far away from that particular parlor game as possible. No cards seemed much safer.

“The goal is to get the jack.” Percy reminded Qincey, the other two members of their table watching with something between disbelief and bemusement, reminding Percy not to make a smart aleck response at his friend’s expense. Had it been him and Mason Percy would have made a friendly quip but they were in polite society and at a business event at that. He supposed he should remain on his best behavior. “Since he is the dealer,” Percy nodded to the dealer on Quincey’s right, “You are the eldest hand. So you beg the cards to get a new set and hopefully the jack.” He thought the explanation made sense, there was also something about losing points but honestly the entire point system of this game confused him - likely the cause of him losing money at the Merlin’s whenever he attempted All Fours .

Word Count: 494
@'Elsie beauregard'
@'Quincey Honeyduke'

  

[Quincey Honeyduke]

Honestly, Quin knew he was going to lose this, but since he and Percy were on a team, he couldn't exactly quit now. He definitely wouldn't want to play for long after this. For one, he had no idea what he was doing, and two, he didn't sit for long very well. Quin was a man of action and movement, it was probably why he wasn't as wide as he was tall! "Right, the jack." Or something about a six or and ace? Right? He could do this, get through a few more hands.

Considering he was not the dealer, which was a good thing in and of itself, Quin looked at his cards and decided to test his luck. "I beg." In order to get some new ones. His cards were not great, he thought, he only had one six, which was good somehow, but honestly, he hadn't a clue. He eyed Percy warily as the new cards were dealt and found himself with a Jack! "Well fancy that!" He said with a triumphant grin. He really didn't know how well they were doing, numbers were not his thing, he was not particularly lucky, but perhaps tonight would be his night? Quin had no strategy in the game other than to let Percy tell him what to do in order to at least escape the game with his dignity in tact.

His turn was over now, right? Right. The guy sitting next to him, whose name Quin neglected to pay attention to at the beginning of the game, started his turn and though Quin should have paid attention, his attention wandered. As far as politically-geared events went, this one really wasn't that bad. It wasn't a stuffy ball, though Quin supposed he could work on his dancing skills like he'd promised Miss Dippet, he could really only handle so much of that idle chit chat and formal introductions and nonsense.

Though his conversation with Miss Dippet at her Halloween event was not forgotten and Quin had told himself he should put some more serious thought into his marital status, he just couldn't bring himself to worry about it too much. Things would happen when they were supposed to, he firmly believed that. If he were to over think it, he would most likely end up making a poor decision that could potentially  make both himself and someone else miserable. It was a huge undertaking and not one he wanted to take lightly, despite his reluctance to pursue it.

Apparently since he couldn't physically get up and wander, he had to settle for his mind doing so, and apparently all the way right up to Percy's turn.

  

[Percival Adlard Jr]

It appeared that Percy’s advice was heeded and paid off by his friend as the dealer dealt another round of cards and Quin declared he had a jack. The statement made Percy shake his head in amusement. He was quite sure that Quin was not suppose to declare what was in his hand during the game, but it was such a Quin thing to do that it left a small smile on Percy’s lips. The next gentleman took his turn and Percy found his own new hand to be rather lackluster. Thankfully with the other team sporting five points already they were nearing the end of this game or his pocketbook wouldn’t be very happy about his further intentions of the game. The gentleman after Quin had the dealer run the cards resulting in a second jack making its appearance on the table and earning the other team an additional point. Six, good. Percy had never truly been a competitive person and often found himself when playing cards wishing that the other team would win quickly so he could admit his defeat and walk away with minimum damage to his coin and in good nature. It didn’t even make it to his turn as the gentleman declared the final point with a four of clubs that perfectly matched the jack. The man grinned at his good luck and Percy found himself smiling. Yes, the game was over. “Good game gentleman.” Percy congratulated them before looking at Quin, yes, it was time to cut their loses, he determined as he took in Quin’s face as lost in thought as it was. “If you will excuse us?” He added, standing from his chair. His joints and muscles popping and protesting, reminding him of the years he had put on since his and Quin’s school days.

Back in their younger years Percy had thought himself indestructible, his body full of energy and nimbleness. Now the simple act of stretching after remaining sitting in an all day left him remembering with fondness the energy of his youth. Quin had always been the most energetic of the trio, always bubbling with energy. One look at his friend as he stood up and Percy knew it had remained the same. No, cards would be a dull idea to pursue with Quin right now. Percy wasn’t put out by that realization at all. He surveyed the gathering, watching blind man’s bluff across from them. He had no intent of pursuing that sort of activity. If it wouldn’t be cards and it wouldn’t be blinds man bluff then he was not entirely sure what other options they might have. They’d already suffered through a round of cards and another two gentleman had sat down at the table to pursue another game, which eliminated that option even if either of them had been interested in it.

Percy’s eyes fell on a table of hors d’oeuvre and his stomach grumbled. He’d met Quin right after work and hadn’t yet had a chance to eat supper yet. Percy inclined his head toward the food, “Shall we?” He asked, not really waiting for a response from his friend before he set off. Hopefully this would also give them the chance to catch up for a bit, it felt like it had been months since Percy had seen Quin. Had it really been months? Percy thought about it, almost all of his social engagements, much to his chagrin, had been campaign events his sisters had dragged him to. Balls, dinners, exhibits, even nights at the casino. Especially events for Mrs. Brownhill, his sisters hadn’t let him escape even one of those. Well except for the ladies’ lunch they had attended in which Catherine had acted the chaperon - a good thing seeing as Percy had been neither a lady nor available due to his work hours. But despite the amount of events and the one quiet dinner he had had with Mason back in September he had not seen Quiney Honeyduke since this summer. A thought that made him frown. If it hadn’t been for the sheer number of events his sisters had forced his hand into attended Percy might have started to believe he was becoming as much of a hermit as Mason professed himself to be.

Word Count: 715
@'ELSIE BEAUREGARD'
@'QUINCEY HONEYDUKE'

ooc: Hope you don't mind that I moved them, I was struggling with the card rules and thought I'd just keep us moving forward.

The following 1 user Likes Percival Adlard Jr's post:1 user Likes Percival Adlard Jr's post
   Elsie Beauregard

[Quincey Honeyduke]

The next thing Quin knew, they had  lost and he hadn't even known how! He really was terrible at these kind of things if he couldn't even pay attention long enough to know what had happened! Percy clearly knew they were finished though and Quin mimicked his friend's movements, shaking hands with their opponents, "Excellent match gentlemen, sorry I am not a more skilled opponent." He laughed, and skittered off toward the food with Percy.

"Sorry mate, I'm rubbish at those things. Requires too much focus." Quin laughed heartily at his own shortcomings; if he couldn't then who could? It wasn't as if he needed to be good at cards anyway. In the long run it was best if he didn't play at all and if he was terrible, that would not be a problem! No, his talents were best suited elsewhere and that was for the better.

As they approached the snacks, Quin eyed the table, trying to think back to when he last ate something substantial. He was not the best at remembering to eat a proper meal, though Emery didn't usually let him out the door without some kind of real food. Thank goodness for their housekeeper, that woman was a saint. She kept an eye on Em for Quin and she was an amazing cook. If it weren't for her, they'd probably starve somehow. People couldn't live off sweets, that wouldn't do. "I'm famished." He chuckled, finding a plate to start loading with morsels from every stretch of the table. Though it could be said he worked in the food industry, Quin was not the best at actual cooking. Baking yes, but if it didn't involve flour or copious amounts of sugar, he was kind of sunk. He loaded up his plate, trying not to look too ravenous as he took a bite here and there, though he wished he could just stuff his face. There was no sense in making any bigger of a fool out of himself than he already had during cards.

"And how are you sisters doing?" Quin asked of his friend once he had finally satisfactorily piled as much on his plate as he could. Cat and Lissy, as Quin had adopted calling them thanks to Percy, were like surrogate little sisters, considering he and Emery had been so estranged for so long. It had been hard on Quin to know his sister resented and had probably hated him for a long time. Being the only one in the family to have magic had put a damper on their once-close relationship. Still, he was working on fixing it as best he could. However, during that time of separation, it hadn't been hard to take his friend's sisters under his wing while at school either. Or Cat at least, since Lissy hadn't been at school with them, but she had gotten the same treatment by extension.

"Keeping you busy I suppose? They must have been thrilled when I dragged you along." Though Quin suffered from the same social afflictions that Percy did, he did not have pushy sisters making him actually be social and thank goodness for that!

  

[Percival Adlard Jr]

The spread in front of the two men was a wide variety of appetizing decisions. Percy had to refrain from taking too much to seem as if he had only come to the event for food. The tougher action proved to be not diving into his food like a starving man. He could already hear his sister’s condemnation of such uncouth manners. Instead he took polite bites ignoring his stomach’s grumblings.

“They are doing well. Certainly keeping me busy, Felicity seems to have made it her sole purpose in life to have me accompany her to every social engagement she can muster out of the groundwork. I think Cat’s encouraging her, although lately Cat’s hand her hands full with the children. She did surprise me by attending several of Mrs. Brownhill’s events though.” Quin had always been close to Percy and looked fondly on his sisters and well knew their circumstances. Once Percy had even entertained the idea of Quin growing close enough to one of his sisters to marry into the family. Oh, his father would hate it, but Percy had been sure Quin would take good care of the two girls. However, they had quickly arranged their own marriages and Quin had assured Percy over the years of only his brotherly feelings for the Adlard girls. It didn’t stop the small part of Percy’s mind that reminded him that once again about Catherine’s own circumstances in life. It would be a good and easy pairing, but if he thought that way then he was just as bad as his sisters. No Quin had his own life to live, Percy would be damned if he tried to push the two together with how much he hated the attempts of matchmaking on him. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be happy if Cat and Quin were to find a mutual interest in each other. That aside, Quin knew Cat well enough to know that a social outing since her husband’s death several years was a fairly big deal to her older brother who worried over how much she had once gotten out and how much she hadn’t since Timothy’s death.

He chuckled at Qun’s comment about dragging him out, “Oh, you have no idea.” He agreed with a shake of his head. “They were ecstatic.”

@'ELSIE BEAUREGARD'
@'QUINCEY HONEYDUKE'

  

[Quincey Honeyduke]

Relieved to hear that Percy's sisters were doing well, Quin smiled to himself. After Cat had lost her husband, he'd worried, of course, as one would do, but she seemed to have bounced back, all things considered. He certainly couldn't imagine what she had gone through, his own personal losses aside, to lose the man you married must have been far different than losing parents.

"Interesting." It seemed that most everyone, even Percy's sister, was more into politics than he was. Quin could see why ladies would flock to Mrs. Brownhill, a female minister, though not the first, would be something refreshing. As long as she wasn't like Mrs. Flint. Though Quin had not been alive at all during her reign of terror, he'd heard stories. Somehow he doubted another Flint would be Minister again, even if there was one currently running. He liked to think that the time of stuffy old purebloods running their society was over. "She's clearly more interested than I am." Not that it was a bad thing, mostly a joke at his own expense.

Pausing to stuff his face with some snack or another, Quin took another look around the room. Though there were several games still going on and the evening itself certainly wasn't over, he found himself thinking of an exit strategy. He had however dragged Percy with him and was going to make it worth their while yet! "Did you actually tell them it was a night of cards and drinking? I highly doubt that really counts as being all the social. It's not as if were at some ball forced to dance and converse with the ladies." Quin teased, knowing that neither one of them was ever all that eager to spend an evening like that. Though now he supposed he had more of them in his future, thanks to his promise to Miss Dippet! Quin wasn't sure if he was going to be thankful or regret that agreement, but he supposed it couldn't hurt!

In the long run he could stand to start thinking about settling down, even if he had no idea who, when, or how he was going to do so. Perhaps it was his age talking. Thirty wasn't old per ce but he wasn't getting any younger either. He'd spent most of his adult life living, eating (ha!) and breathing the sweet shop, maybe it was time to focus on something else? Or at least start splitting his attention between the two. It was all up in the air really. If there was one thing he did know, he wasn't going to spend all of his time putting himself out there; he firmly believed that things would happen when they were supposed to and that was all he could hope for!

  

[Percival Adlard Jr]

Percy chuckled, “Clearly.” He agreed flatly before adding, “I’ve discovered that both of them are much more interested in the subject than their older brother.” Something that should surprise Percy but he had simply accepted as the way it would be. While neither sister could vote, Cat had always held strong opinions and so it was no exception that the election would be something she found interest in. Felicity, for her part, seemed mildly interested - more so than her brother - but mainly for the sake of the social events and conversations involved with the election. Seeing as the season had ended it meant that the season of events had continued on well into a fall, a treat for his very social youngest sister.

“I think at this point they consider it being social if I simply leave the home and have a conversation with another human being outside of my relations.” Percy’s lips quirked up as he poked fun at himself with a half shrug. It was close to the truth though. He had fallen into the habit of enjoying his time at home with his dog or at Cat’s home with the children, then he did in polite company. If it hadn’t been for the string of social events his sisters had drug him along to Percy would have been content to travel to work and back and hardly see a soul beyond his co-workers (in a very small department at that).

@'ELSIE BEAUREGARD'
@'QUINCEY HONEYDUKE'

  

[Quincey Honeyduke]

"Ah, see, I have nobody quite so invested in that myself." That was both a blessing and a curse. While Quin didn't feel like he needed anyone watching over him, as he functioned mostly like an adult most of the time, he supposed he could use a nudge to be more social outside of the shop sometimes. He and Emery were not in the right place to be able to do that, so he did envy Percy just a little bit in that respect. It probably annoyed Percy to death, but at least it showed that his sisters cared somehow.

Quin chuckled. He had plenty of conversations with people every day, but none of them really extended beyond pleasantries and sweets, such was the life of a confectioner. "Well, then this counts!" He laughed again. "I'd ask them to put me on their list, but I fear that I would regret that after a little while." As mush as he liked Percy's sisters, he wasn't so sure he would be able to say the same if they showed up constantly trying to force him out of the shop.

omg I am so sorry! @'Sisse Thompsett'