milliways_bar | (no subject)

*He nods.*

He's a young wizard, yeah. It was a childish prank. He had no idea what it would do to us. I don't even know if he knew the Bar and I were connected, really.

We... avoided each other for a few months. And then I sat down to talk to him about it, and he seemed to take it as a matter of pride in his craft that the scars could be removed.

So he did. And it worked, mostly.

"A-- a caper. Against yer bar." She turns to look at the long wooden bar, almost instinctively, and then back to him.

"And both of ye are all right, then?"

*Bernard nods again, smiling.*

We're fine. Have been for months, really.

*The smile falters*

But the scars... bothered me. Especially at first. It used to hurt to be touched.

She doesn't pull away simply because he was the one to reach out, and so it's clear to her that there's no pain for him now in a touch.

"Oh, Bernard..." It's a breath, sighed out in horrified concern and sympathy as she looks at him with worried eyes.

*He laughs*

I'm fine now. Honest.

She smiles back at him then, and squeezes his hand briefly.

"Aye, and ye look it. I'm glad for ye, say true."

Me too.

*He flushes a little and grins.*

You know--

Nymphadora didn't even care either way, whether they were there or not.

"Why would she?" Susan sounds surprised at this.

"She loves ye, not how ye look."

*He shrugs, a little shy.*

Dunno.

I was covered in them. Tip to toe, you know?

*He grins a little, slyly.*

And she's always liked how I look well enough, I'd say.

"Aye, and I'd not disagree-- she seems fond enough of ye."

"The only thing that's troublesome about scars is the thought of the wounds that made them." A beat, and she sounds innocent when she continues, "At least, I've always thought so."

A practical point of view, and one that she shares, I believe.

*Perfectly innocent, yes.*

"Oh, and I knew I liked her for a reason." Susan is smiling now, and a hint of teasing is clear in her tone.

It's really the only reason I hang around her. Now that the scars are gone, I might as well wander afield.

She shakes her head and tells him seriously,

"Ye might want to reconsider that, sai. She might turn yer hair a color to match hers, do'ee ken?"

It speaks volumes that Susan's comfortable enough with Tonks -- and Tonks' magic -- to tease so, but she doesn't think of it.

And with my complexion, that would be a terrible crime.

*A labored sigh*

I'm stuck, it seems.

"Ye say true, sai."

And she cannot keep from it any longer, and is openly laughing now.

"But mayhap ka isn't always cruel, then."

Oh, it is, terribly cruel, Susan, to saddle me with such a woman.

"Aye, well then-- what sort of lady would ye have sought?"

She's clearly amused, but willing to go along with the teasing for the moment.

Oh, some hatchet-faced hausfrau with a cleft palate and a nasty disposition, of course.

"Of course," she manages to repeat, with a straight face. "With-- with a temper, I wot?"

Oh, a violent one.

Crockery will be pitched. Gauntlets thrown.

"As long as ye're not throwing the-- ye called it dynamite, sai?"

She's not positive of the term, but she thinks that's right.

I did.

Oh, no, I'd never blast my girl.

Well.

It might improve her face...

She shakes her head and tells him seriously,

"Nay, that'd be excessive, I wot. If it causes explosions, that is."

She wasn't there when the todash monsters attacked, but she sounds strangely certain despite that, for some reason.

Maybe.

We'll see.

If she breaks my best tureen, there's no telling what I'll do.