This world is inhabited by creatures that we call pokemon. People and pokemon live together by supporting each other, but now the scourge threatens the safety of the entire region. Kohaku has become a dangerous place, where children stay at home and only brave souls go adventuring.
Welcome to KOHAKU. Come for the nightmares. Stay for the tea and crumpets.
The season is SUMMER. It is easy for survivors to forage for food from the land, as there are entire abandoned farms ready for harvest. On the downside, you can smell the corpses.
swarms
GRAND OPENING !
Welcome to KOHAKU REGION's grand opening! If you're interested in joining, come check out our grand opening giveaway!
1-70 hogwarts (year as first digit) 71-80 1 year after graduation 81-90 2 years after graduation 91-100 3 years after graduation
<15 already killed her brother's murderer <30 getting close <40 even knows who it is
her days feel like a constant fog. she had thought that she would be closer to wrapping up family business (personal business) if she had all the resources of the auror's office at her disposal. technically she is, but not in a way that brings her much satisfaction - much hope in her current situation.
don't think like that. you have a job to do, an obligation to the office.
at the same time, she cannot imagine any contentment that would be quite as strong as the day that she sends that person to azkaban (or worse, a voice whispers in the back of her head - the one that she usually ignores).
the leaky cauldron is noisy as usual, but she doesn't mind. sophia would never have made it as an auror if it bothered her much. she catches bits and pieces of gossip here and there, but nothing that the prophet has not been writing about for the past week.
"vodka with pumpkin juice."
the barman obliges, leaving sophia to her thoughts. she laces her fingers together, not expecting company tonight.
Jones from Intelligence was drifting after her down the street, prattling on about something unimportant, which Thalia didn't hesitate to inform him of as she opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron. He stood outside in the snow, blinking like a bamboozled frog. She shut the door.
It was late enough for people to be trickling in from work, but still too early for anyone to actually want to be in the Leaky Cauldron. There was a relentless buzz of conversation from the semi-crowded tables, people bending their heads together over newspapers and scattered papers. Thalia waved to someone she knew she knew and couldn't place, but shrugged sheepishly at his invitation to sit down, pushing her way up to the bar.
Her boss had swept into her office and told her: "Pretend to be a normal person for once, de Luca. Leave work on time." Then he'd swept out again, with all her case reports stuffed in one ham-hock fist. She shuddered for a moment with grief at the creases she was going to have to magic out of the parchment when he finally deigned to return them tomorrow morning--and then re-centered herself. Being a normal person who wasn't a workaholic; she probably couldn't do that, but she could approximate a good facade.
The bartender caught her eye and nodded from his spot a few feet down the way, listening to an already drunk patron ramble on about his kneazle breeding program. Cool. Thalia propped her face on her fists and surveyed the territory: someone she didn't know, someone else she didn't know, someone she didn't know but had the decency of at least being astoundingly attractive, etc etc. Her gaze skipped to her right, and that was someone she did know. It was a Christmas miracle, minus the part where it wasn't Christmas.
this is one universe in which sophia trusts thalia enough to meet her eyes more than any of the other patrons in the bar. while she was never going to be quite as bad as mad-eye moody, sophia can't say that she will ever feel fully at ease with anyone who wasn't able to pass a few occulemency classes. not when the impervious curse is as popular as it's ever been among dark wizards.
or maybe she never feels fully at ease with any wizard. her classmates would have called her attitude 'medieval' if she had bothered to share her thoughts with them.
she accepts her drink from the bartender as thalia sits next to her. sophia takes a drink, more appreciative of the chill than the taste. spring has just set in, but the crowds in the leaky cauldron manage to bring what feels like summer to them.
"hello, de luca." she responds automatically before remembering that this isn't work anymore. they're two colleagues sitting at an ancient bar. "thalia." she amends readily. "i am surprised to see you here." and not volunteering for another triple shift.
"Got kicked out of the office," she said, stretching like a cat over the bar counter top, shaking the last post-work cricks out of her spine. If she leaned forward a little further she could almost, almost reach the vodka handle he'd left by the sink from making Sophia's drink--
The bartender reappeared in fairly magical (heh) flurry of robes and swatted her fingers. She grinned up at him, easy and bright as summer.
"I'd like a Red Devil," she said, and turned back to face Sophia. "So, yeah. Briggs was very adamant about my assignment for the weekend: get the fuck out and do something. Not that you were someone I expected to run into here either, you know."
"that's because i listen to my superiors when they tell me that my shift is up."
to be honest, sophia isn't much better. she's got half a dozen files stuffed in her bag, and the only difference between reading at home and reading at the office is that she's not being paid overtime for it. it beats being railed on by briggs, though.
they are still young witches. they can afford a few burnouts.
"i expect that nobody will never see you again after you are promoted." more deskwork and administrative business, she imagines. not as much running around as they do now. sophia still hasn't decided if that is a good thing or not. on one hand, she would have more clearance. on the other hand, less legroom for her ... personal project.
Jones from Intelligence was drifting after her down the street, prattling on about something unimportant, which Thalia didn't hesitate to inform him of as she opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron. He stood outside in the snow, blinking like a bamboozled frog. She shut the door.
