── noise filtered into every open crevice of the tiny flat ariel had called home these last few months . the record player sat perched on the kitchen counter , blasting its third round through fleetwood mac’s rumours , sock-covered footsteps clattered across the hardwood floors as they ran from room to room , the occasional scream cutting through the music loud enough to be heard three streets away . ariel had always been a bit disorganised . ever since her days at hogwarts , her trunk had only ever been packed at the ultimate LAST MINUTE , stretched as far as time could go before panic set in . with classes set two start in two day’s and their dorms waiting for them to arrive tomorrow , ariel was beyond flustered trying to pretend she had her shit together ( it was blindingly obvious , by the way , that she did not ) .
sliding her feet across the floor so she was almost shuffling , ariel moved quickly from her bedroom to the living room , pulling at blankets and pillows on the couch as if suddenly the item she was looking for would appear . “ HARPER , ” she shouted , ensuring she was adequately heard over stevie nicks . “ have you seen my orange pants ? the ones with the flowers ? ” tossing a pillow furiously back on the couch , ariel reached for one of the many half-empty bottles that littered the apartment and took a large swig , wincing as the gigglewater reached her throat . “ and kit ! don’t forget to give my lighter back , it has to go in my trunk ! ”
as harper watched her friend scamper frantically around the apartment, she couldn’t help but laugh. for as long as she could remember, she had been the type of person who liked to be prepared, for any type of situation — which came in handy at times like this. her trunk had been packed and ready to go for nearly a week now. in hindsight, she realized that she probably should have tried to help ariel get her things together before the last possible moment. though, with all the thoughts of returning to school and of seeing rabastan and lachlan again, ariel and her inevitable procrastination were the least of her worries. not that she was necessarily worried about seeing her either of her boyfriends — in fact, she was excited to see them. it was the sneaking around that worried her, considering the state that the wizarding world was currently in.
“have you checked the laundry room?” harper asked as she pushed herself off of the couch, swaying a bit as she reached out to grab the bottle of gigglewater out of her friend’s hand. “you wore them the other day, didn’t you? maybe they’re still in the dryer.” she shrugged, shooting a dubious glance in ariel’s direction as she took a long swing from the bottle. “don’t worry, ariel. we’ll find them, i promise.” setting the bottle back down on the coffee table, harper looked around the room, searching for kitty. another drunken giggle escaped from her lips when she spotted her other best friend. “kitty, have you seen them? ariel’s having a bit of a crisis over her orange pants. we’ve gotta find them.” — @abbxtt
kitty smothered a delicate ‘ fuck! ‘ under her breath. she sat herself on the floor, scrabbling for the bag she’d flung down by the coffee table the second she’d got in from a shift at the fountain of fair fortune; she knew ariel’s lighter was in there somewhere, no doubt buried at the bottom of the patchwork bag she’d gotten from some witch at the bar for free when she’d bought a muggle cassette tape off of her — a fucking ripoff, in hindsight, since kitty didn’t actually have anything she could play cassettes on. whatever. the bag was a steal anyway, since she’d have sworn the witch spelled the bag with an illegal extension charm, because it seemed bottomless. she could dig in it for hours for a tin of lip tint and end up finding everything but what she was looking for. she glanced up at harper, when she came in, sparing the other witch a smile.
“ hey, the pants can be your mission —
I’ve gotta dump out my bag to find ariel’s lighter. “
like punctuation to that statement, kitty did upend her bag, the lighter not yet in-sight … but kitty could feel that it was nearly in reach. that done, she paused, took a moment to think; swiped the bottle off the coffee table where it’d just barely been in her reach as she did, took a quick little sip like a reward. “ actually, I do think I’ve seen them? the pants, anyway. “ she set the bottle back down and abandoned the scattered contents of her bag for a moment, cupping her hands around her mouth to shout at ariel. “ hey, mackay! I saw a scrap of something orange under your kitchen table earlier. care to share with the class how your trousers ended up in there? “ ——— @vvizardry
