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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 12:00:09 GMT -5
The air was crisp, though it couldn't break through Rhy's thin jacket. Dare had met him at the shop and they had caught a cab outside of the Leakey Cauldron for the trip to the shelter. It wasn't in the best part of town, but that just meant that it was in the best location to be visible to the homeless teens it targeted. Other shelters in the city would direct the teens to this one, but even the ones that couldn't make it to other parts of the city eventually found their way here, even if only for a night.
It was a standalone building three storeys high and Rhys had a vivid map of it in his head. The first floor had an entrance area with various offices and a check-in zone. It was always hectic with new shipments, angry letters, new people leaving and old ones going, bitter parents and parents that had somehow realized the mistakes they had made.
Behind a set of double doors was a common area with a makeshift half basketball court made from electrical tape and a goal bought from a local store, the base filled with sand and rocks. Most didn't have anything like this, but the owners had wanted somewhere the kids could feel somewhat at home and comfortable, but still the kids looked lost between the half smiles as they gathered with people they quickly called friends.
The next floor had the lunch room and a few quiet rooms filled with chairs collected from garage sales and thrift stores and saved from burn and scrap piles. They were rooms where the kids could talk to volunteers from all walks of life, from psychiatrists and school counselors to people that had once stayed at the shelter themselves.
The top floor was room upon room of cots and bunk beds and blow up mattresses gathered from the same places as the chairs belonging to the floor below. Rhys knew that there would be kids on all three floors, some on the second looking for peace and some on the third pouring over journals and the few scattered pieces of clothing they had, not just socializing on the first.
"Well, here it is," he said, pausing at the doors. "The thing looks like crap but they make the most of it." The whole place needed new paint and shutters and shingles. The windows let in the cold air in the winter. It was infinitely better than living on the streets.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 13:06:38 GMT -5
The closer they'd gotten to the building, the further Dare's heart had sunk in his chest. For everything he'd been through, he'd never seen poverty like this, and it was difficult to accept. Impossible to accept. He hadn't been so sheltered that he didn't know it existed, but actually seeing it, being surrounded by it, was completely different.
"Do people ever donate?" he asked Rhys. "I mean, how do they pay for all this?" It wasn't much, but he knew that Muggle ekeltricity took money, and so did food. He hadn't even thought to bring Muggle money with him, and he itched to pull out his wand and try to fix something.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 13:11:06 GMT -5
"People donate, yeah. They scavenge what they can. They try not to use power when possible, I think they really want to try solar power, because that would more or less eliminate the power bill. Last I heard the big man was sending out letters to companies to see if they would donate some panels," Rhys said. Only after the words were out of his mouth did he remember that Dare likely had no idea what solar power was. "Solar power...it uses these big panel things that point at the sun and it turns the sun's energy into energy that can be used, don't ask me how it works."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 13:46:56 GMT -5
Dare's blank look only eased a little at that, and he nodded. He didn't understand, not in the least, but since Rhys didn't appear to either, he didn't let that get to him. He looked at the building a moment, wishing there was something more he could do, then cleared his throat lightly. "Well, let's get to it," he said. "Point me, Rhys."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 13:53:37 GMT -5
Rhys nodded and led Dare into the building. He raised a hand in greeting to a woman with a frazzled looking bun sitting behind a desk covered in papers with an ancient computer. "He's with me," he said, jerking a thumb back toward Dare. "He might start coming with me on Saturdays." He bent to sign the register and gestured for Dare to do the same.
"Oh it's always good to have someone new. Son, I'm sure the kids will love you," said the woman, glancing pointedly at Dare's hair.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 14:17:54 GMT -5
"Thanks." Dare gave a sheepish smile, and though he'd done an admirable job not staring at the computer, when he was handed the pen, he was stopped short. The last time he'd been around the Muggle writing implements, his mother had been alive. She'd loved quills, but kept pens around all the same. It felt awkward in his hand, but he managed to write his name legibly somehow and looked at Rhys proudly when he'd finished.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 14:31:26 GMT -5
Rhys barely kept a straight face long enough to leave the desk. Then he grinned broadly as he headed toward the pair of double doors. "Congratulations on using a pen," he teased. "Now, they know what I do here, and I've been coming for like three years so they kind of give me the freedom to do what I feel needs to be done, and they'll let me be in charge of you." He pushed open the doors and they were met with the sound of bouncing balls, squeaking shoes, and chatter that rose and ebbed for seemingly no reason.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 14:46:45 GMT -5
"Kinky," Dare teased back. He shrugged out of his jacket to expose the clothing he loved so much, that he didn't wear nearly to the same extent now that he was a professor. It seemed like overkill at home to put on eyeliner or his heavy belts, but he'd done so today. He tugged up striped arm warmers with thumb holes and decided on looking around that he was severely overdressed. He'd meant to be cool and approachable, but he felt pretentious.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 14:52:56 GMT -5
Rhys glanced over at Dare, "These kids will love you." There wasn't a large portion of teenagers in this section of the building that were dressed like Dare. Rhys knew they tended to keep more to themselves or take over one of the meeting rooms on the second floor instead. "Besides, you're with me, and I'm a celebrity." He grinned and glanced around, where two or three boys had broken away from the larger group of people and were making their way over.
"Hey, Rhys, that's totally not what you said your boyfriend looked like," the taller of the three teased while the other two looked curiously at Dare.
"Probably because he's not my boyfriend. This is Dare, he's married. I don't think his husband would be too happy if I were his boyfriend." The boys' eyes widened as they looked from Rhys to Dare at that revelation. They had met couples before, but never someone that was in a civil union.
"Like, married married?" the middle boy asked.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 21:02:49 GMT -5
Dare gave a crooked smile, and shifted his weight to one foot at the attention. "Yeah," he said, reaching back to rub at his neck. "But only in Spain, and that's our secret, right?" That got a couple shared looks between the boys, and admiring nods for Dare. "Out here it's a civil partnership, and it'll be three years at the end of June." Which somehow didn't sound like long out loud. Still, it was hard to imagine that there had really been a time without Michael.
"Yeah, I've got a picture," Dare said in response to a question, but before he could reach for it, he thought better of doing so. "Uh, better not let you see it, though."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 21:18:00 GMT -5
The boys groaned and Rhys grinned. If it was anything like a few pictures of Matthew he had on his computer at home, it probably was best that Dare didn't show the kids. "Just so you guys know, the man's hot, got red hair and he's a bit shorter than Dare," Rhys said. The short barebones description sent the boys' minds working, though to their credit they tried hard to hide it.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 21:25:04 GMT -5
"Natural, too," Dare added, a teasing bob of an eyebrow only rubbing it in. "I'll bring something you can see next time." He'd have to ask Rhys later where he could get a Muggle camera, because none of his pictures were appropriate, though not for the reason they thought. Well, some weren't for the reason they thought.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 21:50:35 GMT -5
The boys looked excited at the prospect of a next time, and one spoke up, "You'd better come again, we're getting tired of seeing Rhys all the time."
"Come on, guys, be nice," Rhys said in response to the grins the statement had brought. "I'm going to go show Dare the rest of the place, we'll be back down soon."
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 25, 2012 22:00:43 GMT -5
"Names," Dare said, gesturing to the boys in turn. He committed them to memory, then said his goodbyes and turned away with Rhys. "Have you ever seen a wizards' photo before?" he asked under his breath. He'd get in trouble he wanted nothing to do with if the Ministry found out, and he was thinking maybe it would be altogether safer to have Michael put a couple charms on his wallet just in case.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 25, 2012 22:03:09 GMT -5
"Oh, that's why you didn't want them to see?" Rhys asked as he led Dare to the door to the stairs. "Yeah, Matthew's shown me some of his family and stuff. I keep forgetting, you know? I guess that's a good thing though, since he said there's some kind of law about telling people like me."
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