standing and looking pretty (open)

Neither their Father or Mother could see off Hyacinth on the train today, so Indigo had gone with him, much to his brother's utter displeasure. He'd argued that he didn't need babysitting and could make his way onto the train by himself, but Indigo had insisted. He said that it wasn't proper to leave on the train without a family member seeing you off.

They had arrived to the platform rather early, and Hyacinth had since boarded. Indigo was now standing on the platform by himself, looking amongst the bustle of the station. There were a lot of boys - he supposed seventh years - who looked older than he was, and at least five inches taller than him. He'd wished he'd worn his heeled boots today, then he could have had a little extra height to him.

Wait, why was that important anyway? Indigo huffed, tapping his tassled loafers impatiently, wishing that he hadn't insisted on arriving so early.

As Pasithea had an early shift at St. Mungo's that morning, it was Harrison's sole responsibility to transport their children to King's Cross for the send-off to Hogwarts. He would miss them, as usual, but it was nice to have the house emptier during the school year; sometimes it pained him to hear Narks' and Nemmy's bickering. Overall, it was exhausting to paint an image to his children that everything was fine between him and Pasi. She's a beautiful woman and an excellent mother, but he didn't know how long he could go on like this. He shouldn't be focusing on those issues, but it was difficult not to when there was enough chaos in his surroundings to get away with it.

Harrison meandered around the platform after watching his children board the train. What else was there to do? He stopped his pacing once he ended up nearby a younger man. He worked at the Ministry, didn't he?

"The one thing that's never changed about this day is how frantic everyone is," mused Harrison as he crossed his arms in anticipation for the train's eventual departure.

@Indigo Macmillan

Indigo glanced to his right, then up a considerable amount, at a very tall, older man. He supposed he was around five years his senior, something like that, but something about him was familiar. He made sure to school his features into an expression that wasn't as critical as the one he wore for most others: this man definitely worked for the Ministry. He was an Auror, he believed. That meant he was by far a superior.

"Mr Jetson?" Of course. This was the famous Auror, Harrison Jetson. How could he be so slow at recognising him? Perhaps Indigo just hadn't expected to see someone like him at Platform 9 3/4. "Well, we seem to have the right idea about punctuality. Others aren't so diligent. I gather you aren't here on any official business?"

Yes - why was he here? A younger sibling? The child of an older one?

@Harrison Jetson

Harrison didn't let the accolades he's received since the Second Wizarding World get to his head; he attributed his years in the muggle world as a relative nobody as a major contribution to his, usually, humbled reactions.

He shook his head. "My children attend Hogwarts. My wife's been working since early in the morning, so I had to get my hours pushed back to accommodate this." Usually, they'd send them off together, but since the children were growing older and more independent, it was becoming less necessary.

"How about you?" Harrison could tell as much that he wasn't currently attending Hogwarts.

@Indigo Macmillan

"Children?" Of school age? Perhaps he was in his thirties then...

Or, didn't the name go back further than that? His history wasn't fantastic - war fighters and the like - but he knew that Jetson had been working at the Ministry for a number of years. Indigo looked completely puzzled as he shook his hand. It was as if he wanted to blurt right out and ask what ARE you?!

"I see. I'm much the same. Not my child, I mean, my younger brother. I saw him off today. He's in his final year at school. Merlin knows how much time he will actually devote to his studies..." Indigo huffed loudly. "But he's smart enough. How old are... your children?" It was a roundabout way of getting to know how old he actually was.

@Harrison Jetson

"Time flies quickly, doesn't it? My son's a prefect while my daughter is, uh, devoted to writing." It was a nicer way of putting that she's into gossip and tearing people down. It was horrific really. Where could she have gotten that from? Of course, he was a bit oblivious about his son's own tendency towards gossiping. "My son is 16 while my daughter is 14. It was just yesterday that they were both so young...."

Harrison got emotional when he thought about his children and how fleeting time is. It didn't feel all that long ago that he was their ages attending the same school. "How long ago did you attend?" It had to be within the past few years at most.

Glancing at him in the eyes, he figured out that the other was trying to figure out his age. It certainly wasn't the first time he dealt with such a thing. His fellow aurors learned quickly to not make it a discussion topic.

@Indigo Macmillan

Indigo didn’t know if he knew the feeling of time flying quickly in regards to seeing children grow up, but he smiled a little to be polite. When it came to speaking with such a well respected Ministry official, he knew not to layer on the attitude. Jetson deserved respect.

“They sound as though they could have some positive influence on Hyacinth...” Indigo sighed, although he doubted very much that his brother hung around with Prefects. “Both my Father and I were Prefects at Hogwarts, for Hufflepuff house. It’s been three years since I left, though.”

Jetson had a strong presence about him that Indigo couldn’t help but admire. He had a strong, angular jaw and was tall, lean and handsome. Indigo liked looking at him, believing it was because of how fascinating he was. He was straight forward, but there was an air of mystery and intrigue surrounding him. He thought there were probably a lot of people who wanted to impress him, and Indigo knew he was one of them.

@Harrison Jetson

How bad was his brother? In retrospect, Harrison realized his parents weren't as bad as he thought. He just loathed being born as a half-vampire. He wanted to be normal which is why he ventured out to the muggle world back in '84.

"My son was shocked when he found out I never held a position of authority until my thirties," he replied with a small chuckle. Ah, he had his devious moments. It made more sense to spend his youth being reckless than to always be so serious. What's the point of rebelling if you aren't having fun? "Ah, I graduated back in 1984. The world's changed a lot since then. I heard the new thing nowadays are crystals?"

He was diverting his eyes elsewhere to avoid peering into the other man's mind.

@Indigo Macmillan

“That... comes as a surprise, yes.”

Indigo’s critical stare travelled up and down against him, but it stopped as soon as he said his graduation year. First of all, he thought he’d misheard. That would make him a lot older than his Father. Momentarily bewildered, Indigo tossed his head back a little in surprise. Fifty... something...?!

He cleared his throat a little. “Oh - er - crystals. Yes. Ha-have you not got one of your own yet?” He hurriedly extracted his own from his pocket, and showed it to Mr Jetson. “I believe it will only be a matter of time before the Ministry invests in these for encrypted communication. Would you like me to show you how it works?” He was smiling away at him, revelling in the opportunity to be showing him something so advanced.

@Harrison Jetson

"Not yet. I got both of my children one over the summer as I figured they'd like it to be able to talk to their friends without dealing with owls."

It was interesting to witness his son activating a crystal for the first time; from what he's seen in recent muggle world ventures, it's not too dissimilar to what they call a smartphone. Harrison was still trying to figure out why they were named that. Harrison looked at the other man's crystal with interest. "Do ya really think the Ministry would adopt them? Who'd manage the lines?"

Was there magical phonelines involved?

He lightly brushed his finger against the crystal. "How do you turn it on?"

@Indigo Macmillan

"The lines?"

He felt silly. Mr Jetson clearly knew what he was saying, but Indigo didn't understand. Momentarily flustered by that, he relaxed a little when he touched the crystal. His hand was very close to his own when that happened, and he wondered why that even crossed his mind.

"Turn it on? Oh, I see what you mean," he said hurriedly, feeling a mess today with his words, "You don't have to do anything to get it to work, it just does everything at your convenience. See, I'll give my brother a call..."

It was a bit short sighted of him to call Hyacinth with Mr Jetson around, but that's who popped into his head...

"Call Hyacinth Macmillan." He demonstrated the procedure, and waited quietly to see if his brother would respond.

@Harrison Jetson

"Phone lines. They're about this big?" Harrison splayed his arms widely trying to recall their appearance. "It's a muggle thing..." He should've expected that he had to explain such a thing. Then again, it had only been close to a quarter-century since he last lived on that side of Britain. It just came with time.

Don't have to do anything? Wow...

"Just like that?" There was a lot he would have to learn about these crystal-things on his own time. It seemed a lot more convenient than waiting for correspondence via owl.

@Indigo Macmillan

Macmillan had barely been on the train when he was already receiving a call from Indigo. What was with that twat?

He denied the call and sent a message:

At least wait for the train to leave twat

Hyacinth refused his call. Indigo tried again, determined to get something out of him.

"Yes... so as you can see, it's all magical. Nothing muggle about it."

That came out a little pompously, but most of what he said had that effect.

When nothing was happening, suddenly words popped up mid-air above the crystal. Indigo furrowed his brow.

"It can also write and receive messages, sort of like our inter-office memos but instant. Ignore the crude things being said, but you can see here..." he showed him Hyacinth's message quickly.

@Harrison Jetson

Nodding, Harrison found himself fascinated by this piece of equipment. He began to wonder about the magical makeup of the crystals. How many spells were involved? Were new spells invented just for it? What made the inventors decide on crystals? If he was lucky, maybe a newsstand will have an article about it.

"Fascinating! When I was in the muggle world, we mainly use phone booths when on the go as you couldn't just transport a whole telephone with you wherever you went," Harrison began thinking back to his youth. "The really rich muggles had these huge brick-like phones they could take anywhere. They had these big antennas that stood up to collect signals. I've been to the muggle world on occasion to buy gifts for my family, and they've changed so much since then! They can fit in your pockets now, and you can TOUCH the screens!"

@Indigo Macmillan

Macmillan continued to deny the calls. What's his deal?