try though the potters had to raise a truly traditional boy, truly, the traditions james liked best were those of his own creation, like this one; the first i’m already sick of your shit and you haven’t said anything yet eyebrow raise from lily when he hadn’t seen in her in a while. james loved that. the energy? and the thinly veiled aggression behind it? oh, it was so fun. so, where lily pulled on her best attempt at getting through this quickly, james settled in for the long haul, ignoring the question entirely with a bright smile and a finger aimed upwards. “you put this on? this is a great song, you’ve got taste.” shaking his head, the smile lingered for a moment before before james, ever in motion was drumming his fingers on the countertop as he settled on a stool and then folding them over politely in front of himself. “i’ll take a pint, please. don’t kick me out, I came for a very good reason. a mission of peace. goodwill, if you will, and if you will, of course, forgive the repetition.” the grin grew again, he couldn’t help himself, but he had the grace to look sheepish for half a beat as well at his own joke. “I was hoping you’d look at it like this – if we get all of the surprises out of the way before the term starts then everything is already on track to be uphill from there, because you will have had time to adjust, right? kind.” he leaned forward, resting his chin on his folded hands for a moment, ridiculously, then tilted his head to smile one last time with charm he knew she wouldn’t enjoy. “I also just brought a random stack of bills and i’m willing to let you keep the entire thing when I leave and rob me blind.”
" i've been told . " the even , deadpan tone of voice was often reserved just for him , and while usually lily wouldn't stick around to chat with one james potter , at the moment she found herself without options — she let him talk , just moving to get the man his pint and accidentally ( well , at least it was her excuse ) spill some over his sleeve when the glass was pushed his way . " first off , i can't kick you out — unfortunately for both of us — and second of all i truly do appreciate your . . . concern , but i'm quite sure you can't surprise me anymore . your stupidity reached its peak a while back , now it's just sad , y'know ? " a raised brow punctuated her words and the wix settled against the counter , moving to grab her discarded cigarette and taking a deep drag , nearly choking at the mention of money . of course , out of all people in the world , he would be the one who would waltz in here and offer her what she could only imagine was an idiotic amount of money to put up with him . it made her gaze turn to james' face again , just a hint of fire behind her eyes that she attempted to quiet with a long exhale , the urge to put her cigarette out on him a little too overwhelming for comfort . " don't you have someone else to torture with your presence , potter ? or maybe someone else to throw money at — instead of coming over to remind me just how much of an overinflated chucklefuck you are ? "
