My Little Crime

Name: James Dawlish Team: Montrose Magpies Position: Beater Gender: Cis Male Age: 27 Face Claim: Taylor Lautner Relationship Status: Single? James was an ace student back in Hogwarts, but he became a victim of his career. Becoming a professional Quidditch player meant he picked up many bad habits, including recreational drugs, smoking, drinking, and sleeping around. He suffers from depression and apathy since he was in school, and he finds partying the only way he can make those terrible feelings go away. Unfortunately, it's gotten him into plenty of trouble before, and continues to do so. He is a recent transfer from the Kenmare Kestrels, after he decided he needed a change and there became an open beater position on the Magpies.

[montrosewilldavidson-blog]

James was certainly off as he climbed down, speaking somewhat slowly and admitting he was a mess. Curious; Will would never have admitted that himself, but it seemed James was less hesitant to do so than he was. Pursing his lips as he climbed down himself, he shook out his limbs, filing the admission away for later assessment when he spoke to Cris. Or perhaps… perhaps he shouldn’t bring this up to Cris after all. 

Snorting softly at James’s allowance that he could go on with his day and leave him be, Will shook his head slightly. “Nah, I’ve got no schedule today or anything. I’m free. We should probably start getting to know one another better anyway, honestly, and with how tired you seem to be, I’d feel better if I walked you home after. Let’s head to that diner down the street, yeah? I’ll cover us today.”

A rare moment of niceness; Will didn’t like being kind to near anyone, save those few that he let in really close to him. But James seemed to need it, and there was a small part of him that felt for him, seeing as he had just lost his team and best friend in one fell swoop. Will didn’t know why, but he did understand losing a partner, even one that could seem antagonistic at times. “How have you been feeling about practice?” he questioned lightly, leading James out of the gym and toward the diner. “Liking it well enough?”

[jamesdawlish]

“Oh, yeah,” James responded casually, hands in pockets, “It’s great. Feels like home already. And Em is amazing. She said, you know, she said we should get to know each other more. So it would help our game performance. But I guess I just haven’t had time to really reach out yet. Or maybe I was waiting for you, since, you know, I’ve heard so many gruff rumors about you.” He laughed at that, hoping that Will wasn’t too offended. It was true, though. There were plenty of rumors out there about Will, and they were all generally bad. 

“Hey, you’re marrying the team owner though, aren’t you? Pratt?” James attempted to change the subject, “He’s...uh, he’s something alright. A good looker though. What was...what was it like, admitting to the team that you were with him? Like...weren’t you afraid they were going to judge you or something? Especially as a beater, didn’t you think someone would think you weak for being gay? And like, the fans. What about them?” 

Said like a true stoner, each word was drug out far too long and his thoughts were jumbled together. He was genuinely curious, though, and had been curious for a long time, but couldn’t quite find the right person to ask. Now, he seemed to have a good opportunity in front of him, and he wasn’t going to miss it. 

[captain-em-blog1]

“If he kills you, I’ll kill him, and then Cris’ll kill me, and then Pyxis or Tas’ll kill Cris. And then it’s an everlasting cycle of murder, which we don’t want. So, I sure as hell hope not.”

“If you’re really that worried, I’ll come and chaperone you two.”

[jamesdawlish]

“I think a chaperone might make it a little more awkward.”

[barkeepamberfonesca-blog]

“Hey. Vance isn’t that bad. There are… methods, to keeping him quiet. You just have to get creative.”

“And I am nothing if not creative, especially with one of my two best customers.”

[jamesdawlish]

“Sleeping with him count as creative? Can’t talk if he’s moaning, right?”

[captain-em-blog1]

“So, you totally wouldn’t mind me calling in a Healer to check your vitals and blood content, right? Because I can do that in instants and I swear, if there’s anything off, I will make sure you’ll never set eyes on a broom again.”

“Merlin, Dawlish, I did not fight as hard as I did to get you and have you show up like this, alright? I’m on your side, but if you don’t show commitment, I will replace you, and we both know that Cris would do it without a second thought. Hundreds, thousands even, want your position, so show some damn respect to me and the team, and get your ass in line.”

[jamesdawlish]

“I have plenty of commitment, I work better like this, I swear it.”

“Besides, it’s a lot harder than just saying I’m not gonna do it again, Em. But I am pretty fucking scared of you. So I’ll try.” 

[holyheadharpy-allora-deactivate]

“So the press can catch me chasing invisible butterflies and pantsing myself?” She paused, “How strong is it? Will it be noticeable?”

[jamesdawlish]

“Depends on what you get. I’ve been high for the past, like, decade.”

[sofiathebarkeep-blog]

@jamesdawlish

“Thought I’d never see your face again, after yesterday’s disappearing act.”

[jamesdawlish]

“In all honestly, Sofia, I can’t remember a single thing I did yesterday.”

[barkeepamberfonesca-blog]

“Just as I thought, of course. Give me a couple minutes to get it together. I’ll toss in a vial of Phoenix Tears, since I don’t have the Dragon for you. Altogether it’ll be… 200 galleons.”

“You’re ridiculous. Here, take one of these. It’s just an aspirin, nothing fun. And then come around the counter, let me straighten you up before Sofia comes down.” A pause. “Make sure you tell her I let you in to see her. Not that you were here for a purchase. You know she can’t know.”

[jamesdawlish]

“It’s not like I want her to know about my problems, Amber. I’m not going to just tell her like that. Who do you take me for? Vance Pratt?”

[captain-em-blog1]

“He’s not a bad guy. Maybe try and get to know him outside of the pitch? It’ll make the in pitch stuff easier.”

“There’s this excellent cafe just around the corner. You should try it. Get some lunch with him or something.”

[jamesdawlish]

“I will have to do that. If you think he’s not going to try to kill me or something.”

[captain-em-blog1]

“So… what if you came to my practice not completely drugged up?”

[jamesdawlish]

“Uh...”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” 

[holyheadharpy-allora-deactivate]

“Yeah- when my agent said ‘charity auction’ I thought I would just auction off one of my old brooms- this… This isn’t my area of expertise, I’m no good with dates.” 

[jamesdawlish]

“Same. Same.”

“I know a gal that can get you pretty high for a good price, though, if you want to hit some before you have to do this. I wouldn’t blame you.”

[montrosewilldavidson-blog]

James seemed to be more and more sluggish as the workout started, and Will watched him quietly for a couple of minutes as he spoke before offering an answer in return. “It’s eight. We don’t have practice again until ten tomorrow morning,” he offered, slowly straightening himself up to let his muscles relax again. “You look like you could use something to eat now. Did you even get any sleep last night?”

There was a hint of what might have been concern in his voice, under the usual gruffness that was always in it, as Morgan’s request to keep an eye on James for him came back to mind again, and Will shook his head slightly at himself. James was his teammate, not his child; he shouldn’t be worrying about him like he was some greenie, should he? But with the tiredness on the other man’s face and that nagging thought in the back of his mind that he should do something to make him rest, at least, he found himself sighing and slowing himself down to a near stop.

“How about we go eat before I work out, and I’ll walk you home after to make sure you know the way. If you can tell me where your flat is, at least. You look like you could use the sleep, and you definitely don’t want to sleep on an empty stomach and then have to go to practice right off tomorrow morning,” he offered, leaning his elbows forward on the bike and looking James over as subtly as he could manage. “I can always push this back to later, no big. Maybe next day off, we can run through a workout together later in the day.”

[jamesdawlish]

It was like Will knew exactly what James was thinking. It gave him the momentary panic of wondering if Will could read minds, before remembering just how ridiculous that would be, even for a witch. So instead he just slowly nodded his head and climbed off the bike. “I need...I need food. And sleep.” he admitted, “I don’t know what I was up to last night, but I’m a mess.” 

He remembered a vast assortment of drugs. He had tried something new, he thought, or maybe he had mixed some things that just shouldn’t have been mixed. Either way, he was a mess this morning. 

“So...we eat, and then I go sleep. And maybe a couple days from now we can do...this.” He gestured around the room. “Or, you know, I can just...leave. You don’t have to take me anywhere or walk me home or something. I’m not a child. I can get my own food and find my way home. You can just keep going with your day. Wouldn’t want to throw you off, if you have a schedule or something.” 

[rorywebster-blog]

“If you’re actually gonna try that, then I need to brush up on treating burns.”

“And bites.”

[jamesdawlish]

“You’d better get to work, because I’m about to go find a dragon.”

[bevinjonesy-blog]

“I actually think it would be the complete opposite of cool.”

[jamesdawlish]

“What? Why?”

[tasia-montague-blog]

“We always have choices.”

[jamesdawlish]

“I lost my choice a long time ago.”

[barkeepamberfonesca-blog]

“Volume, please. Sofia’s just upstairs securing everything for tonight.” Amber took a quick look up to the top level of the bar before gesturing James inside and over to the bar. “Sit. I’m low on Dragonweed this week, growth wasn’t great. I can give you double of Gillyweed in its stead. I’ve got your usual of Angel Dust, though. Sleep… Hm. I’ve got an experimental bit, I’m calling it Wolfsbane Essence. Should put you right out, but you’ve got to inject it.”

[jamesdawlish]

“No, no, that’s fine. I’ll take all of it. Not like I can’t afford it.”

“I- Sofia’s here? I want to see her. But not like this. I’m a mess right now. Wow.” 

[bevinjonesy-blog]

“If you want to give that a try, Dawlish, be my guest.”

[jamesdawlish]

“Hell yeah I do. That would be so cool.”

[captain-zigo-blog]

“Why be a sore puppy, James? I’m just saying, luck has very little to do with winning.”

[jamesdawlish]

“Yeah? And I have plenty of skill to back it up.”