brick by brick (frederick)

It was Sunday evening and Leythan had invited his new friend and colleague, Professor Renshaw, for a nightcap. Although it was a very unlikely friendship when you looked on the surface, Leythan couldn't help being fascinated with his well-travelled companion: his stories, his easy-going nature; even his receding hairline had a sort of charm to it now.

Nightcaps with Leythan usually meant copious amounts of wine, and he'd already made quite a dent into a bottle of red. Stretched over a chaise lounger in his quarters nearby the ballroom, he looked over at Frederick as he refilled his glass. He wasn't sure if Fred was actually drinking, or had been merely nursing his drink the entire time. Not that it mattered.

"That woman with the caramel skin, what was her name again?" he asked, grinning sloppily as he rose from taking a clumsy sip, "And, more importantly, seeing as it's just us two gentlemen here now..."

He put down his glass with a little less delicacy than he usually managed.

"What was she like between the sheets?"

@Frederick Renshaw

Although he and his class of upperclassmen had a rocky start to term, Frederick felt at home being back at Hogwarts, especially as he befriended a fellow professor who was just as new as he was. Leythan was unlike the more masculine, athletic men he helped train and heal over the past couple of decades all around the world, but he was a fellow man who he could count on, and that was the most important thing to him.

"Tasha. One of the sexiest women I have ever had the pleasure to encounter," he answered taking a small sip of his wine. Frederick could, of course, drink quicker and more of it, but it had become a habit to not drink as much being the traveling healer. He had to be sober, or at least a very functional tipsy, in his previous profession.

With a smirk, Frederick explained salaciously, "Do you remember what I said about her lips? She gave the best head in my entire life."

@Leythan Selwyn

"Tasha... Natasha... that's right."

He held out from making a single sound or movement, not wanting to miss what he had to say. Perhaps Frederick was deliberately teasing him by stretching out a pause, or perhaps it just felt stretched out as he was so eager to know.

When it was said, he threw back his head with a dramatic groan of triumph.

"Oh yes. Don't we all feel a sense of absolute victory when they start lowering their heads, or crawl under the sheets? When with men it's different: we all know that we want that, so it's easily given. Women cannot quite conceive how it feels for us, and they are only doing it for our pleasure. It's the ultimate conquest."

Biting down on his lip and shuddering, he took up his glass again and swirled it, smirking at its depths.

"I have no absolute perception of this woman and I'm already craving her. I haven't been with anyone nearly as exciting."

@Frederick Renshaw

"I used all my charm to catch her. The moment I saw her, I knew she was going to be my prize down in Mozambique. The players always get trophies, but healers and trainers don't receive anything. My prize was always going to be the women."

And with all of the plentiful women in the world, Frederick knew he had no problem finding one who was up for a fun, short-lived fling that had plenty of energy to catch up with him. He didn't know how some of the quidditch players could do it, but there was no way he could reasonably hold a long-term, serious relationship with all of the traveling he had done.

His arm slouched along the arm of his chair, the glass of wine in his hand receiving a slight swirl. "Merlin, she was the most exciting woman I've ever been with. It might've been the drugs, but we'd go at it for hours when I didn't have to work out with the team or examine them for any sprained muscles or tendons. Tasha kept blew me and my mind the few days we were together. I wish her charges would get dropped as I needed her down on me after dealing with the upperclassmen. They'll yell at me for being a hypocrite, but I'm responsible with using intimacy for exercise. I know they won't be which is why they have to take my class."

That got somewhat unsexy, but at least it was fitting for the subject he had been recruited for.

@Leythan Selwyn

"My, my, Professor..." he purred mockingly, hunching his shoulders and pretending to be all ablush, "I never wagered you could be so scandalous. I fear my life hasn't been lived compared to yours..."

Except for the numerous parties, soirées, alcohol-gushing gatherings...

Sitting upright all of a sudden, he took a quick sip of his drink thoughtfully as something occurred to him.

"Money would be what it takes, no doubt. Money from a willing benefactor. I could be willing..." he murmured mysteriously, lip curling slightly, "After all of Granger's influence, and our Ministry is back to money being the loudest words." He tut-tut-tutted disappointedly, although it was clear he wasn't in the slightest. "But you would have to share her, you know."

He laughed loudly, falling back to his original slouched position.

"I doubt I could spare nearly enough for her pardon."

Perhaps it was cruel of him, but he was starting to feel drunk.

"There's always Riddle's daughter."

@Frederick Renshaw

Listening to his friend, Frederick could feel some of the wine slither down his throat. He typically would've stuck to beer like when he did some drinking with whatever team he was with, but this was a damn good glass.

Money to get her charges dropped?

"Whatever gets her drug trafficking swept under the rug... She can tell my class about the dangers of illicit substances so some parents don't complain that we're only learning about sex, and then we can have fun when I don't have class."

He rose an eyebrow upon the mention of sharing.

"Although I've heard that Matilda is very open, I don't think our boss would like it. Class would be more strained than it already is since I teach her siblings."

Though he can't help but ask...

"Did you sleep with her?"

@Leythan Selwyn

"I may have..."

His brow waggled.

"A lot of candle wax was involved. When it dried, she ripped it off mercilessly - my chest hair along with it. It's never quite grown the same way, so I don't know what that bloody candle comprised of. Perhaps it was some kind of corrosive poison, as it kept tingling long afterwards..."

He sipped thoughtfully.

"She was good, though. Adaptable. What you would expect from a harlot."

He shrugged non-committally, seeking the bottle again for another refill.

"Also the soul of discretion, so you needn't worry about our dear employer knowing of it."

Pushing his locks back, he peered at his company as he lowered his hand slowly to his side once more.

"So what if I did actually have enough money to buy her pardon? What would you say?"

@Frederick Renshaw

"Candle wax..."

So, his new friend was into that sort of stuff. "I know a few of the quidditch players I worked with slept with her," Frederick contributed, stroking the glass with his thumb. "It was an internal nightmare, so a lot of hush money was paid so some of the players could keep their squeaky clean athlete image."

It was refreshing to not have to worry about that kind of mess now that he was at Hogwarts. Instead, he was in the position to potentially hear about it like any other quidditch fan.

"So he doesn't pay much attention nor does she say names. Got it."

He'd have to keep that in mind if he couldn't find a new woman in the event Tasha couldn't return to Britain...

With widened eyes, Frederick set his glass of wine on the nearby side table.

"You're saying we have the means to prevent her arrest?"

@Leythan Selwyn

It hardly surprised him that Matilda Riddle left a string of complications in her wake, but he could envision her pressing her fingertip to her lip and saying oopsie doopsie to all the tireless hours and galleons others were putting into silencing her misadventures. Still, it seemed Frederick was filing her name for a rainy day. Perhaps he should warn him not to respond with surprise me when she asked what he wanted, but he didn't.

He just carried on sipping his drink, and only abandoned it when he felt the pre-warning of acid reflux from ceaseless ingestion.

"It's likely," he began loftily, "But this would be a loan, not a donation. I'm not a charity for these sorts of cases, and I don't want to be credited as such."

"Unless..." Somehow he swung around the table that separated them in one, graceful movement and settled on the arm of his chair, leering over him. "You have something else you can offer up." Leythan slid his palm underneath Frederick's bristly chin, gently levering his head to tilt and meet his eyes.

@Frederick Renshaw

"A loan..."

He did have a decently-filled savings vault he could pull from to pay off however much it would cost, even if it was in installments. If it would allow him to reunite with Tasha and prevent her arrest, he'd pay his entire savings. He missed those sweet lips and arse of hers so much...

Then he felt a hand under his palm and he glanced up at his friend. What exactly..?

"Are you asking if I'd be gay for pay?"

@Leythan Selwyn