Closed New Place, New Faces

Caden Cavanaugh

British | Switching it up
 
Messages
18
Blood Status
Muggle
Relationship Status
Single
Age
04/2037 (24)
Caden had to admit his life had taken a drastic turn from how things were going when he had first gotten to New Zealand. He had dropped out, taken all of the money he had saved up and bagged it without telling anyone. He didn't tell his friends but then again he had never truly known which friends were real and which were just.. there. For one reason or another. Hadn't told his parents either. Specifically hadn't told his parents. He was sure his dad had been seeing red the moment he got the call and Caden had very much not wanted to be there for it. The text explosion that had followed after had been enough to tell him that he was not happy in the slightest. Which made sense since it had been his dad's money going towards his education. Offering the school a little extra donation just to get him enrolled in the first place. And there he had been, throwing it all away. The prodigal son. Where his dad lacked most parental feelings his mom was created with an abundance of them though, which was just his luck. Especially once he had started to run out of money. Because how could she possibly let her only son wander around on the other side of the globe without any money? No, that simply didn't do. So, Caden could just keep on living his life with whatever money his mom had send him. Which was more than most people earned in a month, he was sure of that. Things were good and he had been living his best, irresponsible life. Untill his mom started to realize that maybe he wasn't going to come back. That he wouldn't get tired of being in New Zealand. That perhaps sending him money was only encouraging him to stay exactly where he was. And so she had made the difficult decision to cut him off. Something he hadn't thought she would've been capable off. But she had been and now here he was: having to work to stay afloat.

Honestly though, things could still be worse. He had found himself a solid job as a bartender which meant being around two of the things he was particularly good at: partying and flirting with pretty people. And people love flirting with bartenders. Especially good looking ones. A category he would confidently place himself into. Caden had been at the job for a few months now and apparantly impressed the owner, because even if he had only been there for a little while he had been deemed experienced enough to help show one of the new hires the ropes. "So.. Harper, right?" He asked as he got himself to stand up straight rather than lean on the bar, switching his gaze from the empty room towards the girl next to him. It was early on the evening and business was still slow so he figured he might as well figure out if this girl was more fun than some of their other co-workers. "Why'd you get this job?"
 
Even though graduation had been a couple weeks ago, Harper still didn't feel like a graduate. She had moved back into her parent's house, where she had spent every school break, so this period in her life just felt like an extension of one of those breaks. There were some differences, of course. She was now working actual jobs, assisting her old football club during the day and bartending at night. She also traveled a little more freely these days, no longer encumbered by the rules her parents had held her to as a kid. But for the most part, everything felt remarkably normal. Harper still didn't feel like an actual adult, and she wondered when she ever would. Maybe her new reality would sink in once September rolled around and she stayed put instead of heading back to Hogwarts.

In the meantime, she was going to take things day by day. Harper had always been exceptionally good at living in the present, and right now her focus was on making sure she was ready for tonight. She would have Caden helping her, but she still wanted to be prepared and prove that she was a good employee. She was staring at the bottles of syrups and juices, wondering if there was a more efficient way to arrange them, when she heard her name. Harper glanced up and smiled. "Yup." She considered his question. While interviewing for the job, she'd given a very thoughtful answer, but she figured she could be more informal with Caden. "It seemed like it would be fun," she said easily. "You get to meet all kinds of people, and part of the job is just talking to them." Of course, serving them was her priority, but she figured there would be more opportunities to talk to patrons while bartending than, say, waitressing. The ultimate reason she'd taken this job, however, was the money. She had big travel plans for her gap year, and while magic cut down on the costs significantly, it would still be expensive. Her assistant coaching job was neither well paying nor full time. But Caden didn't need to know those details. "What about you?"
 
Caden had quite enjoyed being a bartender so far. He knew it wasn't the ideal job and he'd never make as much money as he was used to having but it was fine. It was cool. He could let loose a little without anyone judging him for it. Not that he would care much about that anyways. The only thing he did dislike was whenever business was slow at the start of the evening. There were usually a few early birds around but in general it took a few hours of them being open before the real night folk would start dripping in. For how little Caden sometimes paid attention to other people he was glad he at least gotten his new co-workers name right. It would've been in bad taste to start the night off by calling her a different name.

He nodded when Harper answered his question, grabbing a class and throwing in some ice cubes before filling it with soda for himself to drink. Part of him wanted to fill it with something a little more fun than that but he knew he had to at least try and be a good employee if he wanted to keep the job. "Fair enough." Caden replied when Harper had finished answering the question. "You're also very much allowed to flirt with them rather than just talk." He added with a smug grin. At least the take away he got from it was that she liked to talk. Which was good. Better than some of their other co-workers which sometimes seriously made him doubt how they even managed to get the job in the first place. "Short answer? I needed money." He answered with a shrug. "The long answer's a bit more complicated. Something about dropping out of school, running off to the other side of the world, being cut off. Yada yada yada." He added carelessly, adding in a dismissive wave of his hand. "So are you fresh out of school then?"
 
Harper watched as Caden poured himself a drink, idly wondering if she should get one for herself. The place was pretty dead, and it seemed it would remain that way for some time if Caden had judged it a good time to get a drink. She laughed a little at his comment, already getting a better idea of what her new co-worker was like. "I take it that's what you'll be doing tonight?" she asked with a grin. Despite the encouragement, Harper was pretty sure she wouldn't be flirting with patrons anytime soon. She would probably just end up embarrassing herself.

She nodded in understanding at the short version of Caden's answer. Harper assumed that was why most of the bartenders here had gotten their jobs. The long version made her raise her eyebrows a little. "Sounds like an adventure," she commented mildly, her tone free of any judgement. She couldn't imagine doing the same. At Caden's next question, she nodded. "Yeah, I graduated back in June. My school had a weird academic calendar," she added automatically before realising the explanation might not even be needed. Caden sounded British, and Harper was pretty sure June graduations were normal there, unlike New Zealand, where most people graduated in November. "How long have you been in New Zealand?" It seemed like a safe enough question. His "complicated" backstory was intriguing, but Harper didn't want to pry even though Caden seemed like a fairly open person.
 
So far, Caden could appreciate Harper's company. He knew he was supposed to be showing her the ropes but he was certain she had been told how to do most of it really. It was mainly about showing her how to clean and close up at the end of the night. And he was sure she'd ask questions if she wanted to know something. She seemed like that type of person. "It's what I do every night." He replied with a bit of a cocky grin. "I mean how could people say no to this face?" He added, pointing to his face before leaning his elbows on the bar again. "Seriously though, you should try it sometime. I can really bring in some great tips."

Caden shrugged at Harper's reply to his very limited summary of why he had decided to take this job. At first, it had felt like the greatest adventure but now he wasn't so sure. Making money of his own, living in an appartment that seemed to be smaller than his bedroom back home. It wasn't what he had planned on and yet he was determined to stay. There was no way he would go back to England. Especially not when that likely meant having to beg his dad to let him back in. "Sounds normal to me but I guess it should be different here, huh? Other side of the world and all." He replied when Harper mentioned she had in fact graduated. "Congrats though. On graduating." Caden added before taking a second to think about her question. "About a year and a half ago." He answered after a minute. "Only started working like a couple of months ago though, after my birthday."
 
Harper snorted a little, wondering if she was going to see Caden's flirting in action tonight. "I don't know, seems like it'd be pretty easy to me," she teased, giving him a friendly grin to show she was joking. Even though they'd just met, she got the impression that he could handle some good-natured ribbing. He didn't seem to be lacking in confidence at all. "I'll keep that in mind." She could definitely use some large tips. At the same time, Harper still wasn't sure she would be able to successfully flirt with anyone even if she wanted to.

She just nodded and made a vague noise of affirmation at his question, eager to drop the subject. Harper had learned from experience that the best way to avoid questions about Hogwarts was to not talk about it at all. "Thanks," she said with a smile. "I'm looking forward to never taking another test again." Well, that wasn't exactly true. Assuming she ever managed to get into the Ministry's auror program, she would likely be given more tests as part of training. But that was different. "So you haven't been here too long either," she said after Caden mentioned he'd only been working here for a couple months. It made Harper feel a little better to know she wasn't the only new-ish person here (though clearly he'd managed to establish himself pretty well if the owner had asked him to show her the ropes tonight). "What were you doing before? Just traveling?"
 
Caden placed his hand over his heart in mock offense when Harper joked about his looks. Not that he needed any type of confirmation anyways, he liked how it looked. Knew plenty of the bar-goers did too. "Ouch." He laughed before dropping his hand again and taking another sip of his drink. "Yeah, well if you do decide to go for it and you need any tips you know where to find me." He offered with a wink. If anything, he had done his fair share of flirting both before and since working at the bar. Which meant he also gave up a little easier. Some people just turned out not to be exciting enough.

He grinned when Harper mentioned never taking a test again, remembering all too well how much he had despised those himself. The only thing they tested was how much knowledge he could stuff into his brain, most of which he was sure he had forgotten soon after. Terrible way to see if someone had been paying attention, registering the information. "I get that, I was too. But I just quit while I was ahead." Caden joked, referring to the fact that he had dropped out of school. It wasn't a decision he regretted though, even if he now needed to put in a little more effort to make a living. Who knows what his life would be like if he had stayed. Surely, his dad would now be preparing him to work for his boring company. "Nah, just a little while. I just think the boss wanted a night off so the next best thing was leaving me in charge of you." He replied lightheartedly. "Travelling. Partying. Meeting new people. Spending my parents' money. The whole shebang." He answered Harper's question. "What about you, huh? You plan on staying here long? Or is this more of an inbetween thing."
 
Thankfully Caden didn't take offense at her joke. The last thing Harper wanted was to accidentally piss off one of her coworkers during her first real shift. She laughed a little at his offer. "Hold on, how do I know you're actually any good?" Harper asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't want to end up taking advice from the wrong person," she teased. Based on all his bragging, she had no doubt that Caden really did spend most of his shifts flirting (and he certainly had the attitude to do it successfully), but she couldn't resist poking at his ego a bit.

"See, I wasn't smart enough to think of that," Harper joked. Of course, there was no way she would have dropped out even if she had been given the chance. Harper had always liked school, even if it could be stressful at times. She genuinely enjoyed learning, and she'd made a lot of close friends. Plus, there was the whole magic aspect. "Ah, so you got stuck on this shift because he didn't want to have to train the newbie," Harper said with a sage nod. She didn't mind; Caden was pretty good company. She listened with interest as he described his life before this job, starting to get a better idea of what might have led to him being cut off. At his question, she hesitated, not sure if it was a great idea to announce on day one of a job that she already had plans to leave. But Caden had been pretty candid with her, and she figured she could do the same. "More of an inbetween thing," she admitted. "I want to do a lot of traveling next year, and I need to save up. Figured this would pay better and be more fun than, like, retail." She'd heard plenty of horror stories from her friends who had done the latter. "So if you have any suggestions of cool places to visit, let me know. My itinerary's wide open."
 
Caden raised his eyebrows at Harper's question, glad at least she seemed like someone he could joke around with. He couldn't say the same for all of their coworkers, especially not the grumpy one who had been at the bar longer than anyone else. Sometimes he even wondered whether that dude had never left. "I guess you'd just have to trust me." He responded with a grin. "I mean take it or leave it," He continued jokingly. "If you don't get your flirt on that'll just mean more tips for me."

He laughed when Harper indirectly considered she had never actually thought of dropping out. Which he guessed was good for her. At least that meant she was smart enough to have a solid future. His own had just turned into this ever-growing questionmark since he left home. "Yup." Caden replied casually, holding his hand up in greeting when some regulars entered the bar. They were pretty much the only people coming in this early in the night. Them and a stray tourist every now and then. "I'm not complaining though, at least you don't seem boring." In reality, it wasn't as if he liked the job much anyways. It got repetitive quickly, no matter how fun all of the flirting he did was. So being able to hold a regular conversation with someone was a nice change of pace. "Fair enough." He nodded. Money was exactly the reason he was there too. Caden took a second to think about her next question, listing the places he had been over the years in his head. "I mean Italy's always fun. The Maldives as well if you're planning on just relaxing." He answered. "Depends on what you want to do while travelling I guess."
 
Harper pretended to debate whether or not to trust him. "Okay, but you haven't actually given me any advice yet," she pointed out. "So what's your best tip for flirting for tips?" she asked, enjoying the wordplay. She did have to wonder if Caden had any concrete advice that she could use or if he mostly just coasted by on confidence and good looks. At least she had plenty of the former.

A couple people entered the bar, and Harper straightened, ready to serve them. She glanced sideways at Caden, who seemed to know these people, and decided she'd follow his lead. He wasn't rushing to greet them, so she didn't either, though she did shoot them a friendly smile — not that they noticed her. Harper figured that meant it was safe to continue chatting with Caden. "Did you think I'd be boring?" she asked with a laugh. She listened with interest as he listed off a couple places he'd visited. "I'll definitely add Italy to my list," she said with a nod. "Does the Maldives have anything besides beaches?" In her mind, the Maldives was a place for honeymooners and old rich people who liked resorts. Harper considered his last comment. "I guess I just want to see something different? Sorry, I know that's not specific at all," she said with a small laugh. "It's just that I've never left the country." That was not true, but it was easier than trying to come up with a muggle-friendly explanation for all the short, hours-long international fieldtrips that Hogwarts had hosted. "So I want to do stuff that I'd never get to do here, like explore some famous ruins or go volcano surfing." It was very stereotypically Gryffindor of Harper, but she wanted an adventure.
 

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