Where Life Leads Me

[Aspara Tsvetkov]

It had been about 5 years since Aspara had left his community in New Zealand, and the socialist's life had led him down many paths, he'd been to a good many places, fought a good number of fights, and he had found himself currently relaxing after what had been a hard month, the fight was never ending, the man was mostly based in Auckland in New Zealand, directly involved with a magical group of likeminded people who worked with the muggle groups on muggle issues and along in magical issues. The man had been doing this kind of thing far longer than he had ever thought he might, to him activism had been something to do following leaving his community but the man had been left with an empty feeling and a deep desire to just continue following his believes he split his time between his activism, and his full time activism and with relaxing. Aspara had been working endlessly hard against the most recent onslaught of things they needed to fight and it just hadn't been going well enough, it was an endless fight he doubted they'd ever win, but he felt better, being proactive in his community, helping with the poor, helping in the soup kitchen and holding countless meetings on the socialist prospective on life.

But, all of that was forgotten as Aspara stood in a magical restaurant's balcony which over looked the Nile river and watching the sun slowly set over the beautiful country he was in. The man loved going to Egypt and he always came here when he needed a little bit of time off, and when he needed some fresh air and fresh scenery, just everything that was so different from his own little world, and it didn't hinder the rich history and social struggle of this beautiful country. He let out a long sigh, as he lit up his cigarette and let out a long puff of smoke as he kept his gaze on the sun, the dark green eyes looking through his cheap store own brand sunglasses at the warm Egpytian sun, the noise of the restaurant behind him, he could feel all his worries slip away and Aspara was glad that his life had led him here to this place, through his many struggles to here and all that it meant, the small smile finding it's way to his usual stoic expression.
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[Wren Louise]

It was rather windy on the terrace, and it was a hot wind that blew Wren's hair into tangles and threatened to extinguish his cigarette. It couldn't extinguish his mood, however, for he was utterly at peace with himself and well distracted by the beautiful view of the river. His gaze flicked to the side as he heard footsteps some five feet away from him, but it did not tear his eyes away for long, even with the introduction of a second stream of smoke joining his own and spiraling away into the approaching dusk. Wren dragged away contentedly until the wind blew out his cigarette entirely and made him grin ruefully. The Frenchman fumbled in the pocket of his baggy jeans to retrieve a zippo, and it said 'clink' as he flicked it open to light up again. He sighed and gave up after a minute of cupping the flame and having it flicker into non-existence. No smoking for him that evening, it seemed.

He cast a look askance at the stranger near to him and gave a half shrug and a smile. His wand might have done well enough for him to try lighting the cigarette again, but he'd never been the best at charms, and he'd rather not light up on a four-foot flame. Wren retrieved the pine wood wand, regardless, just to banish the ashy stub. He could at least be environmentally conscious, if not health-conscious. "Not my night," he sighed as he leaned on the balcony railing.​

 

[Aspara Tsvetkov]

Aspara let out a long breath, the smoke catching in the wind and being carried away, he was glad to have taken this time to spend in this beautiful country he loved, the man didn't mind being alone on such a holiday, not many people would end up joining him in such a place and he was just pleased to be taking the time out, he had even left behind the muggle phone, only looking at it at the end of every day, totally cutting himself off from the world that could just suck him back in and drag him away from his relaxing holiday. The man glanced at the person who came to stand beside him, someone who seemed to have far more trouble with the current weather than Aspara did, given the man's slightly longer hair, and apparently really the wrong kind of cigarettes for this sort of place, Aspara took a small drag of his cigarette watching the other man in a way that he was sure the other man wouldn't enjoy too much, but it wasn't like he was really doing any other than just watch.

At his words Aspara just shrugged at him and smiled, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a worn and mostly empty packet of cigarette and then offering one to him, the box was slightly different, written in arabic and with a picture that moved, "They're magical, they won't go out in the wind," he told him with a small shrug, a general sense of calm in the man's tone as he spoke, ignoring the fact that this man might not actually speak english like Aspara was, despite the fact that the other man had spoken first it made most sense to just speak in English, "Just don't smoke it in front of muggles, when it's windy like this," he told him waiting for the man to take one from him, if he was so inclined.
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[Wren Louise]

"Thanks, bud," said Wren with a lazy smile, uncoiling like a ragdoll cat to swipe up a cigarette. He frowned and added "Aw, don't let me put you down to your last one! Here," as he scooped out half of his own cigarettes and slotted them into Aspara's nearly empty box. At least the other man could use them when the weather wasn't trying to take them both off the balcony. From the way Wren's hair was whipping about, it seemed that he was in far more danger of being carried over the edge than he actually was. It didn't help that the Frenchman was waif-thin with near translucent skin. He looked as though a bird alighting on his shoulder would topple him to the floor.

Wren finally got his tab lit up and pursed his lips to blow out a thin, artful stream of smoke into the air to battle the dust.
"You on holiday, man? Figured 'cause the bistro's kind of touristy. You don't look like a tourist, but. Whatever that means," said Wren. He had a smooth, meandering way of talking that spoke of pure relaxation, a tendency which followed him whether or not he was actually relaxed or stressed beyond belief. The French in his accent was only just noticeable if you were looking for it, and had been bastardised by Australian, American, English and whatever else in between. "Wouldn't smoke in front of muggles, anyway," he added. "They're funny about their cancer-sticks, these days."​

 

[Aspara Tsvetkov]

The man just smiled at him as he thanked him giving a small shrug at the words, obviously not minding having to share, since to him it didn't mean anything more than just giving him something he could easily get more of. Despite the fact that Aspara was in no way a rich man, he had enough to get by and enough sense to know to wait if he needed to, but at the further words, the man looked at the box of ciagrettes noting that they were almost empty but shrugging again a little startled by the fact that a whole bunch were placed inside, "No need, but thanks brother," he thanked him warmly, taking in another long deep breath of the cigarette he had, letting out the stream of air into the sky and watching it disappear into the wind. He thought now they might just smoke in silence, but the other man seemed to have a different idea about that, since he began speaking again, looking between this man and the clothes he wore, a tourist?

"I'm here on holiday, needed a break, really love Egypt," he told him looking back out at the view they were looking towards, he had first come to Egypt years before, it hadn't been the sort of place he imagined he'd liked, he had reservations about it,but he'd simply fallen in love with it, things were so lively and amazing and he just loved spending any moments away from his work and the struggle in such a place. He always remembered his parents talking about Egypt when they had lived together, Aspara couldn't help but wonder what they might think of him now if they saw him here in Egypt, he shook his head at the thought taking in a long drag of the cigarette and letting out a long stream of air, "You?" the man returned letting his eyes settle on the man, "I shamelessly smoke in front of muggles," he chuckled lightly holding up the cigrette slightly to the light and then just shooting a smile at the man.
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[Wren Louise]

It was nice to see the stranger smile; he had an easy way about it that reflected the relaxation in his posture. It fed into Wren's, although it was hard not to find the Frenchman on easy street, and it made his smoke break just a little more companionable.
"Egypt's busy," Wren replied as he stubbed out the dwindling butt of his cigarette onto a nearby ashtray. "I like being in busy places and not being busy, just watching it all go by. London's the same, and Sydney, Dubai ... I've been around, but it never gets old."

He really ought to get an occupation. His sister liked to tease him in their infrequent letters, saying he was a mooch and a fiend for coasting off their parent's money, but Banafrit did exactly the same thing. He loved his sister, but they were entirely too much alike; too restless to stay in one place for more than a month at a time, and too much money in trust to finance it. He might never have to work a day in his life, although he enjoyed taking odd jobs in the countries he visited. There was just too much to see and do to settle down.

"Hey," he said after a moment's pause. "I'm Wren. What'd you need a break from? Work, family, dragon-hunting?" Oooh, maybe he was a dangerous criminal hiding from aurors and having one last smoke before he flew to the Alps and disappeared into obscurity. Wren entertained himself with the image of the man in front of him doing just that.​

 

[Aspara Tsvetkov]

The man had been coming to Egypt for many years and he had to nod at the other man's statement, it was busy, it was loud and it was filled with so many different things, but it was perfect for him. He knew that it was never the most relaxing place to go with all the business of the centres of the main cities, but he liked it, it was a nice change to what he was used to, it made things easy for him to just move around the city with ease, with a cigarette between his lips. He looked to the man and just nodded, he'd been to London and he'd been to Sydney but never Dubai, "It is relaxing to watch others be busy while you aren't," he agreed with a small nod of his head, the man took a long inhale of the cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke, watching as it caught the wind and was hurried off into the atmosphere. It was such a strange night, so nicely warm, so homely and yet he couldn't help but feel pretty happy in this place, in this tourist situation with this strange man.

As another moment passed the man had settled to not having any more conversation with this man beside him, but the other man seemed to want more, and Aspara smiled at him, a small grin on his face as he became interesting in what was being said, "Wren," Aspara repeated with a small nod, "I'm Aspara," he told him, holding out his hand to him in politeness, he never gave his full name, or well, he avoided giving it out because of how horrible it was. Asparagus, he couldn't believe that was the name he'd been given, and now being out of the family, disowned the man was pretty happy to not go by it at all, "Nothing like that, no, dragon hunting is a horrible business," he told him with a small smirk opting to not get into the ins and outs of what he thought of it, "You don't want to hear about what I do," he told him with a small shrug, clearly thinking that this man would not indeed want to hear about Aspara's work, "What do you do?" he returned the question with a small smile, he reached into his own pocket and pulled out a small crumpled note, "Can I buy you a drink?" he asked with a small smile. Aspara didn't have much money, his line of work surprisingly didn't have much money in it, but he was on holiday and the man wasn't even thinking of financial things.
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[Wren Louise]

Wren made forlorn look tragic as he gave Aspara a hangdog look. "Why wouldn't I want to know what you do? It says a lot about a person, y'know, garbage-man or leader of the free world. It all makes the world go 'round," nodded the tangle-haired traveler. He paused to amend his statement. "Well, not me. Keeps spinnin' without me. I'm tramping at the moment, just going from place to place without a direction." He said this matter-of-factly, and was clearly quite comfortable admitting to such. The Frenchman knew his time would come to give back, and he'd be ready with open arms when it did.

The Aspara fellow was a genial kinda guy; Wren liked him. He was offered a drink, and he felt inclined to take the offer a certain way, but if he'd gotten it wrong it would make things rather awkward. Although, thought the Frenchman, What have I got to lose?. With that in mind, he let his smile become inviting and drew companionably closer.
"If you'll let me buy the next one, I'm down for the first," said Wren. "Downstairs?" It was heading towards dusk, and the quiet restaurant bar was starting to pick up a little with locals; just how he liked it. He wanted to lose himself in the crowd, lose himself in conversation, knock back a cocktail and just soak it all up.​

 

[Aspara Tsvetkov]

Aspara looked at him with a curious expression, the man seemed to really want to know what he did, and Aspara took a long drag of the cigrette, almost gearing himself for giving him the answer, "I work for activist group," he told him with a smile, an almost, you asked for it smile, "I'm a member of the group, but also employed by them, I organise events, coordinate with the police, set up meetings," he told Wren with a smile, "We're eco-socialist group promoting socialism and the protection of the environment," this was probably the most difficult thing to say to anyone, because he was met with one of three reactions either cluelessness, dislike if they didn't agree with him, and the third was surprise, "it's a lot of work, and doesn't really pay much," he told him with a small shrug before just smiling at him.

The offer of a drink had just made sense to him, he liked the look of this man in front of him, he seemed like a pretty good person, and Aspara thought this would be a lot of fun, he had nothing else to do with this night, and he was looking forward to spending some more time with him, "Done," he told him with a smile, before putting out the cigarette which had pretty much come to an end and then just smiling at the man, walking away from him and to the door, of course most holidays were filled with such amazing things, and Aspara was looking forward to doing something too, he wasn't picky about who, but Wren seemed like someone he could definitely see himself getting along with and relaxing was his first priority with this holiday, he held the door open to the man and then smiled, "Coming?"
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