Old Wounds

[Hamish Kaster]

Hamish had not been able to catch a Quidditch game in years, but after an invitation from his cousin to watch a game, he couldn't say no. Phillip had been a coach for about half a year, as far as Hamish knew, and judging by how this game was going, he was keeping the team sharp. One player in particular, Lanithro Styx, was guarding the goals with exceptional accuracy and balance that it was hard to look away. Or, perhaps, it was how fitted his pants were. It was hard to decide. He looked to the older woman beside him, the wife of some wealthy person, likely, and tilted his bottle of bear to her. "Do you reckon the pants have to be that tight?" he asked, with a mischevious smile. "Or do you think it's to help the Daily Prophet sell more copies of their paper?"

She seemed scandalized, which was his main aim when engaging her. He shrugged as she shuffled away and spread out a little more, downing his beer and revelling in the fact that he now had an entire lounge to himself, along with its assortment of pastries, alcohol and cheeses - everything he needed to have a good day, indeed. He winked his fingers at his cousin as the coach looked into the box from outside, and continued watching the game unfold, though his interest was more on the player he knew, rather than the others. He and Lanithro had parted on awkward terms, and Lanithro came with so much baggage that Hamish could have backpacked Europe with it all, so it was nice to see the younger man doing somethung with himself.

After the game concluded, the brunette wizard stood up to go and meet back up with Phillip and chatted with him about the successful game until the players started settling and he had the opportunity to bump into Lanithro. Things between them had... soured, to put it gently. Hamish knew that Lanithro had been very hurt by his actions (not that he accepted total blame - they had not been exclusive, and Lanithro challenging him to a duel was complete overkill), but after so many years, that was probably behind them. Hamish hadn't spoken to Olivia in a while, though last he heard so was off living the lesbian dream, so the auror considered the matter closed.

"Lanithro," he greeted casually, smiling brightly at the taller man. He was functioning off of alcohol and bravado at this point. "F*ck, that was a good game. You looked great out there." In more ways than one, that was for sure.​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro Styx played the game rather well, and thought that his actions were likely better than the seeker's, but that was the arrogance that he normally carried with him as a Styx anyway. As he landed, the former Gryffindor went toward the stands to go find his boyfriend, Felix Urie. It wasn't long before he met with the former Hufflepuff, giving him a good ten second kiss. The rest would have to wait until they were back home and in his shower. After all, the Quidditch outfit was a little tighter than he was used to. Someone must have shrunk it slightly, especially in the pants area. Either that or he was gaining some fat, which was possible too. He hoped not though. He had to stay in perfect fit condition to continue his career. He smiled as Felix disappeared to go get them some food, before they would take their leave.

The keeper made his way through the crowd, before he saw a face that made his skin flush white. Just as he needed to talk to the coach, the one person he really didn't want to see had to be there. Lanithro looked around for a reason to leave, but Hamish Kaster already saw and greeted him. Lanithro was filled with mixed emotions, mainly negative. Shock, anger, confusion, cursing Merlin for this sort of reunion. And he yearned Felix was there so that he could show off his boyfriend, showing him that Lanithro was happier than ever. "What do you want, Kaster?" Lanithro's voice sounded a little colder than he meant it to be, but at this point, he didn't care.

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Well, either someone sh!t in Lanithro's fruit loops this morning, or he was still mightily pissed about their 'break up'. Hamish didn't consider it as such - they had not been dating, in his eyes - which meant that they couldn't have broken up, and it was long enough ago that he didn't even think about it all that much, these days. Hamish did wonder whether Lanithro may have still been embarrassed at how the duel ended, seeing as it was hysterical and still something Hamish looked back on with a chuckle. It wasn't every day a wand made from a basilisk and a wand made from an acromantula tried to fight it out. In the end, there had been very little duelling, but a great story for Hamish to tell.

Hamish, unflappable as ever, took Lanithro's cold greeting on the chin. He wasn't overly bothered by it, since there was very little chance of escalation given their situation, and it was also highly unlikely that Lanithro would win. He'd also be arrested for attacking an auror, and whilst throwing the book at the keeper would be fun, he wasn't planning on getting one of his cousin's best players arrested for assault. Phillip would definitely never invite him back to watch a game, and the nibbles and drinks on offer were far too good to pass on.

"Ouch, ice cold, Lanithro," Hamish replied, calling him out without heat. "It's been, what, seven years? I didn't really come here to see you, this was just an unmissable opportunity." He pointed his thumb behind him, gesturing at his cousin, Philip. "Primarily visiting my cousin. Us Kasters are everywhere, huh? What're you up to, these days?"​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro shrugged his shoulders when Hamish said that he was ice cold. Well, that was natural to someone with a bad past that they shared. So, Lanithro would certainly not apologize for it. He glanced over at the coach, and realized the relation. “Ah. Same could be said about my family as well. We are everywhere.” Lanithro wanted to keep this short. After all, he was in the mood for a shower for two. “I am here with my boyfriend, and playing Quidditch. That’s it.” Lanithro lied, skipping out on information about his kids.

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Hamish's smirk brightened as Lanithro mentioned his family. One would need to be living under a rock to have never heard of the Styx family, especially after seven years of Hogwarts New Zealand. They were, quite literally, everywhere. He wasn't often surprised, but Lanithro so calmly mentioning a boyfriend did shock him, simply because only seven years ago, he knew his own neck had been in the firing line should someone have found out that they had been together. He didn't think the keeper would openly discuss a boyfriend with anyone, including himself, unless something with his whacko family had changed.

"Wow, either your beau is a total badass, or someone has woken up and realised it's the 21st century," Hamish replied genially, definitely wanting to hear more about this guy, especially since he was rather positive he had seen Lanithro with someone before they bumped into each other, but he hadn't been paying enough attention. "So, what's his name? Is he from Hogwarts?"​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Right, around the time his father was taking over, things were different. Lanithro was relieved too, since Asparuh was extremely old school. Hamish's shock did not surprise him. Lanithro sighed and explained the best he could, "Dad took over the family and changed some rules around. I doubt that your head would wrap around that." Lanithro sort of insulted him, though not caring. Lanithro looked around to see if Felix was coming yet or not. Crap. He didn't have an excuse to leave. He wished he was as mean as he used to be back in school. Lanithro thought for a minute, wondering if Hamish would even remember Felix. "Yeah, he used to go to school with us. My year. Felix Urie."

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Hamish rolled his eyes. Lanithro was clearly trying to find a button to press, but unfortunately for him, Hamish was absurdly happy after a good game and a good beer. He'd have to suffer Hamish's pleasantries until the brunette was done with him. "Oh puh-lease," Hamish started, flapping his hand nonchalantly. He didn't know the intimate details of Lanithro's family, of course, but he had a pair of eyes and ears, and a brain that worked between them. It wasn't a difficult family to figure out after being stuck around various family members for a few months. "How hard is it to understand that a son is slightly less bigoted than his father? Merlin, just look at you. The idea of Styx being like you makes my skin crawl." Somehow, the man had children, but Hamish liked to think that each baby Styx was sprouted from a large, dark cauldron in the dungeons after an elaborate ritual involving wine. Lots of wine. Maybe a poison or too. When making Lanithro, a teddy bear must've fallen in, as well.​

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The name Felix Urie sort of wrung a bell, but Hamish hadn't been very observant of younger years when he was in school, and less so of people in other houses. Honestly, it was shocking that Lanithro had popped on his radar. "Hm... I might remember him. Hufflepuff? Loud kid?" Cute! He was going to have to meet him. "So he's here, then? Well, where is he?" Naturally, he invited himself to meet him, because Hamish had no boundaries and absolutely no f$cks to give.​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

If it was one thing that could get Lanithro from 1 to 100, it was someone insulting his father. Hamish likely still had that stupid wand, so Lanithro couldn’t curse him into next Tuesday, but he had other means. Lanithro narrowed his eyes, turning around for a second. The words repeated in his head and using all the force he had, Lanithro went in for a punch. He didn’t know where he would hit, but all he wanted to do was knock that bastard out. “No one speaks about my father in such a disgraceful manner. Have your opinions, but keep them to your damn self.” Lanithro cracked his knuckles, definitely ready for another hit or two hundred. He completely ignored the previous comments about Felix being the loud one, and Hamish inviting himself to meet him. Lanithro simply stared the Kaster down with his golden eyes.

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Given his frustrating mix of personality traits and habits, this wasn't Hamish's first time on the receiving end of a hit - and this wasn't the first time Lanithro had hit him. The parselmouth was well aware of the keeper's temper, and that was part of the fun of baiting him, though he didn't want to take it too far. His cousin was still around, likely doing whatever it was coaches did when they weren't pointing and yelling at players on the pitch, and should Lanithro turn into a great big bear, he'd cause far too much fuss and probably get himself kicked off the team, or at least benched - and then what? No keeper would look as good in their uniform as Lanithro. It'd be a crime against the sport.

Lanithro's punch wasn't sneaky, though Hamish wasn't sure if he had been trying to be - the turning around was pretty weird, but he didn't have time to judge Lanithro's fighting style when he was busy reflexively flinching to avoid a hit right to the nose. He had managed to protect his nose from breaking for twenty four years, and Lanithro wasn't going to be the one who broke it. He coped the hit on the far side of his cheek, moving with the momentum to lessen the blow, and ducking back in case there was a follow up. Arms fluid and in front of him, waiting for the need to get into a protective stance.

"You alright?" he said, after a moment of adjusting his jaw. There was no serious damage, but he suspected that entire side of his face was going to hurt once adrenaline died down.​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro raised an eyebrow when Hamish asked if he was all right. Really? Lanithro was just confused as his anger melted away. It all went into that one punch. He asked, “Why did you ask that? Were you trying to provoke me?” Lanithro wouldn’t believe that someone would do that on purpose, or if they had an alternate reason. The former Gryffindor looked around to see the coach, and made his own conclusion. He couldn’t do too much or else he would be benched or fired. That was the last thing Lanithro wanted to do. “Look, I don’t know your reason for even going out of your way to speak to me. I would have preferred if things stayed the way they are, pretending that you don’t exist.”

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Seeing as Hamish knew about Lanithro's temper, he also knew that answering anything along the lines of the truth would just make him angry again. No one liked being told 'Yes, I greatly enjoy p!ssing people off, and you were the most convenient', least of all Lanithro. Of course, there were other reasons why he came waltzing over - it had been nearly seven years, after all. Why wouldn't he say hello to an old flame that was looking incredible? He would be an idiot not to at the very least give himself an excuse to come close.​

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"I mean, I don't think I've been sneaky here, mate," Hamish replied with a shrug. "You look great, you played great, why wouldn't I say hello? Especially after all these years." Seeing people from school was always either going to be awesome, or a sh!tshow, and so far, this meeting could still fall into either of those categories - Hamish had no intentions of helping it along by being self-conscious and silly about their history. Many, many people hooked up in high school, and Hamish had never intended on taking it seriously, anyway. Seeing Lanithro again was much like seeing a friend again, except he was infinitely more interesting to look at than the average friend.​

 

[Felix Styx]

Felix had not meant to take nearly as long as he had to get the bloody food. Lines were long and people were hungry and he supposed you couldn't know when things were going to happen. It was like being at a footy game back home all over again. He remembered those long lines for food back when he was a kind with his dad, not that they went to them often - Felix only partially remembered one game specifically - but it had been a fun memory. He was a bit surprised when he returned to the exact spot he'd left Lanithro only to realise his boyfriend wasn't there. He frowned, Coach Kaster was nearby, but Lanithro seemed to have turned invisible. He eventually spotted his boyfriend though, surprised to see he was talking to someone... a very hot someone. Jealousy turned to 100, Felix forgot all about the food he was carrying, dropping it, and making his way over. He promptly tucked himself under Lanithro's arm and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He seemed to have come in at the tail end of the conversation though, because it sounded like the pair knew each other and whilst the other, older man, did look familiar, Felix couldn't place him. "You know each other then?" He asked, looking between them. Lanithro looked more than a little annoyed and this other bloke looked... pleased with himself? It was hard to tell. "Sorry mate, Felix, how ya going?" His accent had dulled over time, but was still easily recognisable as Aussie.​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro shifted a bit on his feet, wondering if he had held a grudge for too long. The Gryffindor needed to let it go. Lanithro was about to retort back when he felt someone glide under his arm and peck him on the cheek. He glanced down and saw it was none other than Felix. Lanithro recognized what happened, and felt the warmth just grow on his chest. He felt that it might be possible that Felix got a little jealous but there was nothing that Lanithro had to worry about. After all, he did not have any feelings what so ever. Felix asked if they knew each other. Lanithro gave a curt nod, "Meet Hamish Kaster, my ex-boyfriend, fling, whatever." Lanithro only tightened his hold on Felix a little more, almost being possessive. If anything, it showed that Lanithro was committed. He did notice that Felix came empty handed. He turned his amber eyes toward Felix, and asked, "Um, did you forget the food, or was the line a bit too long?"

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Aw, this was quite cute. Had Lanithro been slightly less p!ssed at him, Hamish would've verbalised the thought. It was still surprising that Lanithro was with a guy, seeing as his family was from the Stone Age, but clearly things had progressed enough that he was comfortable enough to look a bit possessive over him (or they were both insane - honestly, both equally likely). He managed to not snort at his introduction, seeing as it probably wouldn't be a good look, but it wasn't a good introduction either (though, it were a fairly honest one).​

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At the question of food, Hamish gestured behind him, having seen the mishap when it first happened, but not thinking much of it. "Dropped it back there, mate," he replied, throwing his accent on seeing as there was a fellow Australian nearby. Lanithro worked in the country, so Hamish didn't really think twice about whether he'd understand his more natural, thicker accent or not. It was tiring watering it down. "So, how long 'ave you pair been together, then?" he asked Felix, all smiles at the chance of meeting someone new (and low-key still annoying Lanithro a little. He was a child at heart). "We were together, like, six months, seven years ago. No competition here, mate," he added, seeing as Lanithro had neglected to point out the fact that Hamish wasn't here for a second round. He didn't need the pair of them having ruffled feathers; he couldn't be bothered dodging all of that testosterone.​

 

[Felix Styx]

An Aussie! Despite everything, Felix couldn’t deny hearing his accent felt good. It was a bit different of course, seeing as Felix was from South Australia and this guy obviously wasn’t, but it was still good to hear words he grew up around. He did the thing all Aussies did when faced with a kinsman and three on his accent more, he could tell Hamish had done the same too. He looked over his shoulder to see the dropped remains of his food, “right, yeah nah, accidental droppage there.” He said, snuggling closer to Lanithro so he knew he was there. You know, in case he forgot in the midst of conversation and what not. Felix couldn’t deny that this ******* was hot, annoyingly. He’d rather been imagining that he would be ugly, but he supposed that was never actually going to be the case since Lanithro would have been too vain back then to date someone who wasn’t hot. “Couple months actually,” he said when asked about the amount of time they’d been together, he wasn’t sure exactly how much he was counting, the one night stand? The official amount? There were a couple of angles to look at here. When they first moved in together? Hard to say. “Ahh, you’re the famous Hamish Kaster then,” though he’d figured it out some during the conversation. Hamish had said there was no competition, but wasn’t there always? He had stayed back to see Lanithro after all. What did that say? “Good to know, can’t have people f*cking sh!t up more than I already do, ey?” Felix’s natural inclination was to flirt with Hamish, but he didn’t think it was a good idea, Lanithro had clearly been wound up if the rigidness of his body was any indication. He didn’t want to kill Lanithro.​

 

[Lanithro Styx]

Lanithro looked behind Hamish to see the food was indeed dropped on the ground. Lanithro looked to Felix and had a confused look on his face. "Eh, I'll just make us something when we go home." Lanithro did not mean to put the emphasis on the 'we' part, but he did. Lanithro narrowed his golden eyes when Hamish asked how long have they been together, and how there was no competition. 'As if I would ever leave Felix for a snake, as if,' thought Lanithro. Hamish is an attractive man, but Lanithro could see past that. Though, truth be told, Lanithro didn't even know how long they had been together. Or rather, when they became exclusive. He knew it was around the time that Lyra disappeared. He let Felix answer it for him. "Look, we need to head home," Lanithro sighed before shifting a bit, to write down their address. "Here. Have dinner with us sometime, only if or when you are dating someone. Can't do a double date when you are single."

 

[Hamish Kaster]

Hamish got a sick sense of satisfaction watching the boys dance, and whilst he should really be more mature about it, he couldn't be bothered. Lanithro looked like he was being force-fed a frog, and Felix looked as if Hamish had just come off from bench pressing an erumpent right in front of him. There really wasn't much to worry about, seeing as Lanithro looked far more interested in knocking his teeth out than anything else, but if the pair of them were going to stand around acting like he were a bigger threat than he actually was, why not indulge? It was funny.​

​

"Oh, that's cute," he commented at Lanithro cooking. Everyone loved someone that casually dropped their cooking prowess in a conversation. His tongue clicked as he was handed an address, however, not expecting that. Lanithro's stipulations were hysterical. As if Hamish dating someone would stop him. Ha. It was like Lanithro didn't know him at all. "Oh, you can definitely do a double date when you're single," Hamish assured him flirtatiously, pocketing the address and making moves to leave. "We just call it something different where I come from. Later, boys!"​

 

[Felix Styx]

Admittedly, there was a part of Felix that felt drawn to Hamish in ways he could never admit to Lanithro, but it definitely made things interesting. He found he could no longer hold his tongue though ad Hamish spoke and he buckled under the weight of understanding at what Hamish had just suggested, finding it had turned him on more than he wanted to admit. He had to hold onto Lanithro to keep himself steady as he watched Hamish leave, covering his mouth with his hand to keep from saying something really suggestive in front of his boyfriend. His boyfriend. Calm down Felix you're in a loving relationship! "Come on, Lan, we better go before he tries to make good on what he just said," because honestly, Felix wasn't sure he'd be able to say no to an outright offer like that.​

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END​