Moving On While Living Life

[Heath James]

Heath James was living his life. He was now a carpenter. He made tables, chairs, and other furniture for a living. He was definitely living the life. He worked in a small muggle town, Oaks Springs, which was nearby a small magical community. He had saved up some galleons, and he only went shopping in his nearby magical town when he needed to. He lived like a muggle. He lived as if he had never went to a magical boarding school. He had learned how to drive, and he rented an apartment now. Heath was disappointed to where he was now. He could have and ended up in the Ministry of Magic. He had been too busy pouting to realize that he was letting his future waste away. Heath parked in the parking lot, locked his car and headed to the warehouse. It was not his own warehouse, but it was where he spent most of his time. He could consider it his. He was an apprentice. His boss/mentor was very laid-back, and he did not ask a lot of questions. Heath came to him knowing nothing about carpentry, and Smith did not ask. He just taught him. They would stay late in the night and work on pieces. He would leave Heath out to fry when customers came in too. He hated that. Heath's attire was simple. He was a plaid shirt, jeans, and work boots. The shop was filled with models of cabinets, couches, swings, tables, and other wooden household items that would be taken for granted. Smith was not in yet, so Heath was on his own. He unlocked the doors and flipped on all the lights. The warehouse had a lot of natural lighting, so there was no need for him to turn on every single light. He walked around with a clipboard in hand and checked the inventory. Heath had learned enough to put some charms up to make sure no one would steal while the warehouse was closed. Of course, his boss did not know this. He tried to stay close to the door in case anyone came in. However, he doubted that someone would come in this early.
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[Aeon Summers]

The married life was relatively the same as regular life, it turned out. Aeon Summers had wed his boyfriend - now husband - over the course of the Hogwarts holidays, which was the only real free time the man had considering his position within the academy kept him there throughout the week. The ceremony itself had felt like a dream, one where he was both a spectator and a participant. It seemed so unreal, so unattainable, yet he had finally achieved such a high milestone in his life. Of course, it wasn't about the status of being married, he'd have been more than happy to simply spend the rest of his life with Brodie without the tradition and legalities. He loved the man more than he'd ever loved anything in his life. Even his own family, bar his twin perhaps, came second. A fact that was probably true for the both of them. Aeon had been discarded by his parents after graduating and left to fend for himself, and Brodie's family was just awful to begin with. It was strange to consider that Arisa and he were related.

Marrying a man like Brodie had a lot of benefits. He'd built them a house and was skilled with his hands in more ways than one. He had a knack for working wood. But, Aeon couldn't rely on him to do all the work. All of the hammering and nailing he did while Summers sat back and relaxed was bound to be tiring, as much as he enjoyed it. So, the animagus had decided to employ the talents of someone else and give his man a break. After asking friends and acquaintances for any other carpenters of wizarding descent, someone who'd be able to weave a bit of magic into their craft, Aeon was pointed in the direction of a warehouse in Oak Springs. A muggle community.

Swapping out his usual dragonskin jacket with muggle attire, the wizard soon apparated into a quiet corner of the small town wearing tight jeans, canvas shoes and a long charcoal coat, the closest thing he had to robes that suited muggle standards and wouldn't raise any looks. He used to wear muggle clothing all the time in his youth, but had a preference for wizarding dress as he entered adulthood, which gradually merged into a mixture of both. The medieval look was just so much more comfortable and he enjoyed the feel of a cloak billowing out behind him. The wizard buttoned up the front of his jacket, its thick fabric warming his torso and barring it from the cool morning air. Winter was behind them but the temperature would still drop on occasion, which made it difficult to plan for the day. Aeon took a step out of the alley he'd appeared directly into and began the walk toward the carpenter's warehouse, hoping it'd be open. It was quite early in the morning, he had no classes to teach for the day, with the students all out at Brightstone, but he did have the Menagerie to manage later that morning. This was the only real time he had to get out.

As Summers finally approached his destination he found himself wandering the plot of land for a few minutes, coming from the wrong end, but eventually managed to find the front. He entered the grounds, veering toward the only warehouse with its roller door open and lights buzzing overhead. There was a man inside, barely more than a boy, with hair like fire. Did the carpet match the drapes, he couldn't help but wonder? Pushing the thought aside, the wizard stopped at the building's entrance and rapped against the metal frame to grab the redheads attention. "Morning." He greeted, his Australian accent quite evident in his speech. "I'm looking for uh, James Heath? No, wait. Other way around, I think." Darn, he couldn't remember which of the two was correct. James Heath had a weird sound to it, but James was also the more common first name. He shrugged, surely the guy would know who he meant.
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[Heath James]

Heath was taking a bit longer to take the inventory than usual. His numbers weren't matching up, and he began to get frustrated. He had gone over the list several times, and he was still not getting the right sum. Before he gave up, the door opened. He turned his attention to the man that had just walked in. Heath gave a curt head nod to the man. His boss told him he should be more inviting, but it was hard for him to change how he liked to be. When the man asked for him specifically, Heath raised an eyebrow. That did not happen everyday. He leaned on the edge of a couch and folded his arms over his chest. "Heath James. That is me. What's up?" he asked. He wanted to get right to the point. He thought being professional in his area of business was weird. He was straight to the point. He wished he had bubblegum or something. He felt it would make him look more badass.
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[Aeon Summers]

Aeon breathed out a quiet, slightly disappointed sigh, inaudible to the redhead from the distance they stood. Or at least, he had hoped so. It was hard to judge the distance of sound when he shifted too often between his human and canine forms. He hadn't imagined Heath the way he saw him now. He'd been expecting someone more...mature, to say the least. A man with years of skill and experience in the department, not some young twink who thought he was top sh*t. His curt nod of the head, the way he folded his arms and just chilled so casually against the couch. Aeon was relatively casual for a professor, but he presented himself differently. More approachable. Still, he was already here, so he figured he might as well see what the kid had to offer.

"Well," The wizard started, eyes surveying the rest of the room, seeing if there was anything on display that might have caught his eye. "I'm looking for someone who can make furniture. Which I suppose is the obvious part. I need to furnish the house I'm moving in to with my, uh, husband." He faltered on the word, both not used to saying it and all too aware that while in the magical world, same-sex relationships were quite normal, it wasn't always the same case in a muggle environment. He didn't know what kind of background this guy was from. Those with muggle upbringings seemed to hold a different outlook more than others. "But not just any mundane furniture. I need something a little more..." He glanced around, making sure no one else was nearby. He wasn't going to come at all close to breaking the Statute of Secrecy, but he didn't want to risk someone asking questions. "Well, 'magical'."

 

[Heath James]

Heath was not in the least stuck up or overconfident. He lacked confidence, which had shown in his school. However, he ended up passing with passing grades. With the grades he got at Hogwarts, he could not doing anything sufficient in the magical community. So, he decided to just rid the community of the burden that was him. He did not make it look like he was listening well, but he was. However, the man was being too broad. He needed specifics so he could paint a picture. The man caught his eye when he mentioned a husband. So, he was gay? It was something Heath was struggling with himself. He was confused. He grew up believing he liked females. He even dated one, but there was a pat of him telling him it wasn't true. It was not who he really was, and he was not ready to accept anything new. "Good for you. That must be nice." he said gruffly, to make it seem as if he was not interested. He suppressed he desire to ask questions. Magical. The man wanted something magical. The little magic he used in order to get his job done made his work to seem above average. However, it was only by a small amount. Okay. I can do magical, but I'm going to need something more. What kind of feel do you want? Do you know what type of wood you want? I need a bit more to go off on." he told the man. He assumed he was a muggle and had no idea about magic, so he felt he was just playing along. Heath had no idea he was talking to a wizard. It was not like they wore a Star of David or anything so they could be easily spotted.
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[Aeon Summers]

Aeon restrained himself from rolling his eyes at this kids attitude. As a professor for older students, and those considered adults in the wizarding world, he was used to the kind of sarcastic response he'd received. Even though his students could be a handful, he still preferred the higher years he taught over the lower ones. Those who were fifteen or older were just a great deal easier than trying to teach say, an eleven year old. They were smarter, more experienced, and had at least some grasp of his subject. He couldn't have handled teaching kids from scratch. So, even though some of the older students could be arrogant a**holes, they were still more ideal. He wasn't going to let any kids attitude affect him.

Waving off the comment, he stepped further into the warehouse, closing the distance between them as he listened to Heath ask him for a little more information. That wouldn't be too hard. He had a fair idea already. "I'm not after anything to modern, I do prefer the traditional medieval feel, or something of both. I don't cook stew over a fire like some wizards and witches still prefer to do, I have electrical appliances where necessary, where magic won't interfere with it too much, but my house itself isn't of a muggle style. For the type of wood, I'm thinking.." He paused, his hand unconsciously reaching toward his coat pocket, where his wand lay snug. "Mahogany is probably best. I'm more familiar with it. Can you do self-repairing?" He questioned, not sure what this boys magical capability was. Transfiguration was Aeons forte, but when it came to imbuing objects with long-term charms, he wasn't as skilled. Especially with how little he knew of carpentry. Brodie was more knowledgeable in that department, how long things would last, their complexities, what wood conducted magic easier and the like.

 

[Heath James]

Heath did not have a problem being the way he was. He had not gotten around much during school, so he never had many chances to work on his personality. His heart heart from all the regret he felt. He regretted being such an ass. He regretted breaking up with Ai. He regretted wasting his time at Hogwarts. He regretted too many of the choices he had made, and it had begun to take a toll on his heart. He took a small step back as the man walked closer to him. Heath sighed after the man began to explain what he wanted. Stew over a fire? He knew what that sounded like. He placed his head in his hands. "Oh goodness. I didn't think you were serious." he complained and fell on the sofa. He wanted to avoid magic. It was not his strongest point. He took in a deep breath and spread his arms over the sofa. "Okay. I got all P's in school. The magic I use to make my stuff makes it above average for muggle use. I don't know if I can be up to your standards. Who gave my name to you anyways?" he asked seriously. He had tried to drop out of the magical scene without making much noise. It clearly hadn't worked.
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