Checking in [Macmillan]

Amaryllis felt like the absolute worst big sister! Her baby brother had moved to Black Rock right after he had graduated from Hogwarts and she was only just now able to actually make the trip there to check in on him. Sure, she knew that he could take care of himself and he was probably loving every moment of living on the island but she always felt so guilty for not being in her siblings’ lives enough. So she had sent a Crystal message to Macmillan and let him know that she would be coming for a visit that afternoon if he was free. If he wasn’t then maybe she would just enjoy the beach. How long had it been since she had done that? Just relaxed and enjoyed the day? She walked into the charming little restaurant and sat to wait for her brother to arrive after ordering some little umbrella drink.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

When Macmillan got the message that his sister Amy was coming to visit, he panicked. His flat was still not very presentable to guests. Boxes still needed unboxed, and he needed to acquire an actual bedframe. He hoped his sister wouldn't ask about seeing where he lived; it was embarrassing, especially as he prided himself on having a higher standard of organization than Lien, out of pure friendship of course.

He spent the morning trying to get his flat in decent order before his sister would arrive. As Macmillan didn't know what time in the afternoon, time quickly past by until he looked at the clock in the lobby of his flat and realized Amy had to have made it over. So, he set out to the Wiki Wiki Shack hoping that he wasn't wasting her time by taking too long to show up.

"Hey, Amy! I was cleaning..." he flopped down onto the seat beside her as if he had just finished an exhausting surf.

@Amaryllis Macmillan

Amaryllis looked nothing like she normally did. She had her long blonde hair that was usually so meticulously styled pulled back into a high ponytail. She also didn't wear one of the smart outfits that she might usually wear but instead just a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She felt a little out of her element but she didn't want to embarrass her brother by showing up to his new home and sticking out like a sore thumb. So, she had done some research on what people were wearing at Blackrock and she thought she fit in quite well.

She was nearly halfway through her second little umbrella drink when Hyacinth finally came up to her. A big smile came to her lips, the kind that could light up an entire room. "You were cleaning? I feared you might have forgotten I was coming." Sure, she could have sent him a message to let him know she was waiting but she hadn't wanted to disturb his new life. "It's so good to see you." She said as she placed her drink down on the table so she could stand and hug her baby brother.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

Wait, that was his sister, right? He wasn't used to her appearance being so toned down. Imagine what twat would think if he saw this... Ha.

Brushing the lone bead of sweat off his brow, he replied, "Amy, I'm so fucking relieved that you are you! For a second there, I was afraid I just sat by some random, unsuspecting blonde..." If he was lucky, at least a random blonde would look at him for a few seconds and maybe acknowledge him. It had to be better than when he was slipped drugs while out with Lien.

"Yeah, I was cleaning, my flat needed it..." He probably could've asked Atticus and James to help if they were both free; it was a missed opportunity to hang out. "It's good to see you too, sis. How was the wedding? i know Atti cried a bunch..."

@Amaryllis Macmillan

Amy laughed at his statement, profanity and all. "I wanted to blend in with the people here. I thought I might embarrass you if I stood out from the crowd." She said with a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. She would be so terribly upset if she were to embarrass her baby brother. Especially when she was so excited to see him again and to learn how he was enjoying life there on the island. She didn't want him to never invite her back or anything like that!

She sat back down after hugging her brother, a smile on her lips. "You know you didn't have to clean on my account! I wouldn't judge you, I know you've got a lot going on." Okay, maybe she knew very little about what he was getting up to since he had been here but she assumed he was living and that was more than she could say for herself. "Oh, it was so beautiful!" She gushed. "I think even I teared up a bit." Okay, she knew that she had... "I was so happy that Memphis insisted I be invited. I would have hated to miss it." She got this warm feeling upon thinking about Memphis.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

"Duu- Amy, my flat desperately needed it. It wasn't dusty or covered in sand or anything, but I kept wearing and washing the same set of clothes!"

And that wasn't very smart to do with how hot Blackrock got some days; he wouldn't trade it for the world. Macmillan was glad that he wouldn't have to worry about walking in snow or bundling up, at least on his upper body, every winter anymore. Resting his arms on the table, he began tapping the surface. "Rad! I'm glad you had a great time there, Amy. Did you say 'hi' to Atti for me?"

The fancy pureblood scene simply wasn't his thing; at least he only had to hear of it from others now instead of witnessing it outside of classes.

"Lakelyn's the new Head Girl, did you hear about that?"

@Amaryllis Macmillan

"I can't wait to see it!" She said as he mentioned his flat. She didn't care if it was a pig sty, she wanted to see where her baby brother was living. She was so proud of him for following his dreams. Even if Indy was often criticizing him and his life choices, Amaryllis knew what it was like to miss out because you're chasing your career and she didn't want that for her brother. She wanted him to live, she wanted him to be happy.

She unfolded and refolded the napkin that was in front of her on the table before grasping the umbrella handle in her drink and stirring the slushy liquid. "I didn't get to actually talk to him much. I think James and Alayna took up most of his time." She said with a bit of a shrug. That and she was busy watching or interacting with Memphis. Gosh, she was pitiful, wasn't she? She knew that she shouldn't be caught up in him since they had had their chance and it hadn't worked out but she couldn't even remember why they had broken up in the first place. Probably because she had been too focused on her career to facilitate an actual relationship...

"I hadn't heard. Good for her, I think she will make an amazing head girl." She said with a genuine smile. She had always liked Lakelyn, though she had also always thought that there was more going on between her and Hyacinth than just friendship, even if they both denied it. "I still can't believe the two of you never dated. I guess it's never too late." She said with a bit of a conspiratory smile. Of course, she didn't know about Lakelyn's fiance or anything like that.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

"James actually attended? I thought he wasn't invited because Alayna was being a bitch about Atti's love life?"

Most of the time, he tolerated Alayna. She was Atticus' twin; it would've gone against bro code and being a decent person in general to act like she didn't exist. But, man, she got on his nerves a lot when she was in more disagreeable moods. Actually getting together with Rowle just made it worse.

Macmillan waved for Aloha Bill and asked for water to start with; he needed to get adequately hydrated before he could even think of drinks or food to order. Quickly, he received a glass of iced water. That was still something he had to adjust to in Blackrock: how American some of the practices were.

His face drooped at the mention of a relationship. "Lakelyn's engaged..." Macmillan knew she was happy, but he was envious of Blake.

@Amaryllis Macmillan

Amaryllis nodded. "I think it might have been a last minute thing? Atticus seemed very surprised and they had to conjure up another chair for him at the end of one of the aisles." She explained. Maybe Alayna had felt bad about trying to come between their relationship or something. Amy had always thought the girl had a good heart deep down. Then again, she had never seen any of the less favorable sides of her. She just knew that Atticus had seemed incredibly happy when James had shown up.

She stopped stirring the slushy liquid in her glass, froze mid-motion and actually felt her jaw drop when Hyacinth dropped the bomb about Lakelyn. "Really? That is a shame. I always thought the two of you were perfect for one another." She frowned, she had really thought that they would one day just stop dancing around each other and just get together. "Are you okay? I mean, I know you always said the two of you were just friends but..."

@Hyacinth Macmillan

"Oh, that makes sense."

Not really. Why would James be in the same place as that prat Rowle? They hated each other! James went psycho, Lien went psycho, Rowle went psycho. It was like the past year had been spent with them going crazy in their own ways; Hogwarts seemed to have that kind of effect on a lot of his schoolmates.

As he tried to think of anything other than Lakelyn's engagement, Macmillan gulped down his ice-water. He was a coward. He was a coward because he was afraid of ruining the friendship. He was a coward because of the bro code. He was a coward because he was afraid of forgetting his longtime bros.

He was a coward.

The skin around his eyes flushed red as a tear formed, cracking his normally chill temperance. Macmillan was the one in his friend group who didn't get bothered too easily, who didn't let himself get upset over stuff that wouldn't matter. He was supposed to be the supportive, somewhat neutral bro. And here he was tearing up over his best friend, outside of the bros, getting married.

"Her fiance is an American transfer, and they started dating not long after he came to Hogwarts. I had all those years, but I never took my chance..."

@Amaryllis Macmillan

It was almost like a knife was stabbed straight into her heart when she saw her brother’s expression changed. When she saw the tears forming in his eyes. She had a feeling that Lakelyn’s engagement would mean more to him than he let on but she hadn’t expected for it to hit him this hard. He had always been the one who didn’t let things get to him, who rolled with the punches and just took things as they came. She hated seeing him so upset. The. He spoke and she felt even worse. ”You couldn’t have known that things would change with her so quickly. We all thought she was just as into you as you were her. I can’t believe it.”

She couldn’t help the tears forming in her own eyes as she reached out and wrapped Hyacinth’s larger hand in hers. ”maybe something will happen and it won’t work out between them. Stranger things have happened.” she didn’t know what had gotten into her. She had never thought that way about another couple in her life. She was always rooting for love and for relationships to last. But she hated seeing her brother upset and hoped that maybe things could change. They could be different. And maybe this time he would take his chance when he had it. She could only hope. ”I know everyone else would tell you there’s more fish in the sea or whatever but I think that’s a stupid saying. The heart knows what it wants…” she was beginning to see that even more in her own life. She took her hand back, wiping at a tear that had begun to roll down her cheek on his behalf.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

"I didn't want to ruin the friendship, Amy. If it was totally unrequited, everyone at Hogwarts would've made fun of me! You've heard how vicious the people there are!" Macmillan didn't have many insecurities outside of the knowledge that everyone wondered who his father really was, but it would've stung the ego he had if Lakelyn didn't like him back in that way. At that point, the rejection alone would've decimated their platonic relationship. It was easier to keep things predictable for his friends and everybody else by having his extremely obvious interest remain ambiguous.

He was struggling to think of what he'd want to eat; maybe he'd indulge as his sister did come by to visit, and he needed lots of sustenance after spending much of the day cleaning. Macmillan scratched his head as the echoes of the calls of tropical birds rang through his ears from the magical speakers. "I don't get it, Amy. I don't get the appeal of him, I don't know what she sees in him. It's cruel that by chance, he also happened to be into surfing. How common of an interest is that? You know how the magical world is. Most people don't like anything other than quidditch. It feels like one cruel joke!"

@Amaryllis Macmillan

Amy really felt for her baby brother. It was always so hard to tell if someone really liked you like you liked them. Even if everyone else said they thought so, it was sometimes hard to believe. ”I know, you guys had been friends for so long. I can understand why you would be apprehensive. Even if we all were sure you two both liked each other that way… she always seemed very… naive? Where relationships are concerned. That’s one of the reasons I’m so surprised to hear she is engaged unless she has changed a lot since I last saw her.” of course, she heard all the things that Indigo said about the girl, how she was just using their brother or stringing him along or something but Amy had always been pretty sure that she was just clueless on how to make her feelings known or maybe she was just like Hyacinth and didn’t want to ruin things.

She continued to stir the little umbrella around in her now nearly empty drink before asking a passing waitress if she could get another. It did seem like it was very odd for some other boy to just show up with the same interests and just sweep her off her feet. That didn’t happen every day… she just wanted to hug her brother and tell him that everything would be alright… but she knew how bad it could hurt to want someone and know that you probably never have a chance. Or in her case that you had squandered that chance. Of course, the source of her interests wasn’t getting married anytime soon that she knew of and maybe they had kind of rekindled something before the wedding? She didn’t want to think about that right now though! She had to be there for her little brother. ”It is very surprising. I remember when the two of you were trying to talk everyone into letting you teach them just so that more people could get interested. Then he shows up and has the same interests…” she paused to sigh sadly. ”I wish I had some advice to give you. I know that most people would just tell you that there’s more fish in the sea or something like that but that never helped anyone. She was the one you wanted to catch and now it’s like she’s slipped right through your fingers. All I can say is I hate this for you.” what more could she say? The fact that she probably looked as miserable as he did probably was telling enough that she truly did feel for him, she wasn’t just putting on some good sister act.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

"She's still the same Lakelyn I've always known," Macmillan replied with a shrug. "It's not like she suddenly became a Matilda Riddle or another one of those types."

Why couldn't more chicks be like Lakelyn instead of Matilda? It seemed like he mainly got attention from Matilda types, no matter how hot they were. He just wanted a chick who'd unconditionally support his passion for surfing and vice versa that he could live an active lifestyle with. Was that too much to ask for? Macmillan glanced down at the table despondently; maybe he and Lien needed to talk bro-to-bro about the single life...

"Trying to get people more interested fell to the wayside after that. It was fucking hard to keep that going when Blake and I tolerate each other at most. I tolerate him because I care for Lakelyn, and I want her to be happy."

One of his tears plopped straight onto the surface, the dread of the lost chance sinking in.

"Do you think there's more people like Lakelyn out there, Amy?"

@Amaryllis Macmillan

Amaryllis nodded, of course, she could never see the sweet blonde being anything like Matilda Riddle but indeed some things had changed, they had to have even if her brother didn't see it... She frowned as he mentioned the strained relationships between himself and Lakelyn's now fiance. "Is he that bad?" Probably not... It was probably just Hyacinth's jealousy since he wanted to be the one with Lakelyn instead but she couldn't know unless she asked.

A small smile that she hoped would be reassuring came to her lips as she reached out and took his hand gently. "I know there is." She said, hoping it was true. "You know what? There's this new girl at work, she does some secretarial work and such for us. She is about your age, I think. You might like her?" She offered... She didn't know the girl real well but she seemed nice enough even if she was maybe a little closed off but Hyacinth could at least meet her, right?

@Hyacinth Macmillan

Shrugging, Macmillan responded, "I don't know, but I'm guessing Blake isn't as apprehensive about our friendship since he popped the question around her birthday..." And now that Macmillan was living in Blackrock and refused to return to mainland Britain unless he had no real other choice, Blake got Lakelyn all to himself. That lucky bastard who swept her like a knight in shining armor while he was the poor pauper who never took the opportunity to woo, when her eyes were on him.

"It won't hurt, it'd give me something to do other than surf," Macmillan responded with a small chuckle; at least that generated the usual relaxed smile he had on his face. "What's her name?"

His stomach began to rumble loudly. He couldn't ignore his unintentional lack of sustenance for much longer. "Let's get some teriyaki skewers."

@Amaryllis Macmillan

Amaryllis didn’t think that Lakelyn was the type who you wouldn’t trust anyway. She had always seemed to be a very trustworthy sort as far as Amy could tell so she doubted that this Blake would be very nervous about their friendship anyway unless he was one of those insecure types who just always worried that someone was going to try to pull one over on them or something. ”He had to know that neither of you were the type to sneak around behind his back anyway.” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Neither one of them were like that. At least, Amy was pretty sure that they weren’t.

A smile appeared on her lips when her baby brother seemed to like her idea of trying to hook him up. She thought it would be perfect! He needed to find someone who he could spend time with and have fun with and she needed to loosen up a little bit since she always seemed to be looking over her shoulder. Amy still hadn’t figured out what that was about but she seemed nice enough and definitely looked like the active type. ”Her name is Bijou, she moved here from somewhere in France a little while before starting at the Ministry. I definitely think she’s your type.” since her baby brother seemed to have a thing for athletic, pretty blondes. ”I don’t think she’s made too many friends since she’s been here, at least she never talks about any so I think it would be good for both of you!” even if her matchmaking skills didn’t work out then they could at least hopefully be friends?

She finally released the little umbrella she had been stirring her drink with before sipping through the straw. ”That sounds delicious. Maybe some veggie skewers too? My treat.” she said with a smile. It wasn’t like she had anything else to spend money on aside from living expenses. And she had always loved modestly.

@Hyacinth Macmillan

"A French woman? At least I don't have to worry about my bros having a past with her!"

With how small wizarding Britain was, that was a pretty big deal. Macmillan was fortunate that Atticus was gay and with James, so he only had Lien to compete with and compare dating histories. And with how Lien was likely going to remain in the single life for a while...

He didn't have to worry about his bro asking about interest.

Hell. Fucking. Yes.

Although it was too easy to get sad over Lakelyn, he had to move on. The sooner, the better so he could remain the stable one in the friend group.

His hand was tightly pressed against the edge of the table as his smile turned even wider.

"Yeah, rad. Thanks, Amy!" he exclaimed. "How was it dealing with the posh elite of the purebloods?"

Just so it wasn't about him; Macmillan didn't see his sister nearly enough, and it was always good to catch up on the topics she could actually talk about!

@Amaryllis Macmillan

"No, I should think not." She said with a little laugh. She didn't think Bijou had dated anyone since being here either. Again, not that she knew for sure since she hadn't heard the girl talk about any past relationships at all. She was happy to see that she had been able to cheer her brother up some. Maybe it was only an act for her benefit or maybe it was just temporary but she knew that it was at least something. And the mention of food only seemed to cheer him up even more. She was glad that she had made the offer to buy their lunches now. She would pay any amount of money to see him in a better mood than he had been in if that was all it took.

"It wasn't so bad. And I got to spend some time with Memphis, so that made things a little better." She knew that some of the purebloods still looked at her as some sort of traitor because she didn't believe that purebloods were better than anyone else but she tended to get off without too much hassle from them somehow. She wasn't sure how she did it when so many others were called blood traitors or whatever else but she was happy she was able to somehow fit into just about any crowd with ease. "You would have hated it, of course." She teased, knowing that it was true that he would hate it.

@Hyacinth Macmillan