Just My Undivided Honesty (Cammie)

[Erich Griesser]

Erich had been a lazy man since the day he was born. His mother liked reminding him how he took his sweet time coming from the womb and when he had, he fell asleep on the scale as the Healer’s wrote down his weight for his birth certification. As a baby, he had also taken his sweet time with walking. His mother often told him, as well as anyone who would listen, that he refused to walk until he was nearly two. She was certain he had the ability but preferred for her to come and pick him up to take him wherever he wanted to go. He was too lazy even to crawl, only doing so when his father was home watching him and refused to give in to his wants. The man enjoyed reminding him of all the times his mother had come home to yell at him for Erich often remaining in the same spot that she had left him. This was certainly enough cause for the treatment his father had given him as he got older and was forced to mow the lawn twice a week during the summer or shovel the walk everyday during winter. After both chores, as his way of rebelling against the man who couldn’t let the past be the past, he would trudge back up to his room, and pass out for a few hours. Sometimes, the amount of work was so extensive that he actually fell asleep on the staircase before being awoken by his mother’s scolding at how lazy of a child he was. Erich couldn’t help it. It was a Merlin given talent that he knew no other could do as well as him.

Unfortunately, as he had gotten older, graduated and had been forced to take an adult job, his laziness had been ordered to take a back seat. Erich blamed it on himself. He had been the one to take an internship with the Daily Timestopper because he enjoyed writing. That and he knew he was damn good at it. His writing had always impressed the editor at the newspaper, frequently remarking how he had never seen such writing skill from even his own writers. That hadn’t surprised him. He read the Timestopper often, always commenting on how he couldn’t fathom how some of these idiots had even gotten a job. Sometimes he had been so insulting that his mother grabbed the paper from his hand, rolled it up and smacked him in the back of the head with it while demanding he respect the hard work they put into their articles. His father consistently got a good laugh out of his expense. Erich had admittedly been very excited when the editor had offered him a formal position on the Timestopper writing staff after only a month of internship. His parents had both been elated as his father had been convinced his son would live with them forever, mooching off their food and money. His mother had cried tears of joy, hugging him for thirty minutes straight while sobbing into his shoulder. As to be expected, the assignments had started off simple. There were times he had to write about the going-ons about Vienna and Ilfracombe and do interviews with featured Ministry officials. Though as his experienced increased, the assignments got more interesting and the deadlines shorter. By the end of his first year as a journalist, Erich had been trust enough to write about the then Minister of Magic, Merrick Raghnall.

All in all, it was a pretty easy gig. Erich was able to come up with article lengths long enough to suit the topic he had been asked to write about and usually within the day of the deadline itself. He was cocky enough to often not write his article until the day before, just because he was confident enough in his ability as a writer. The laziness and procrastination always irritated his boss, but the man never said anything too demeaning since the articles were always on time and well received. Erich had gone through a period in the middle of the year when he had complained constantly about the lack of interesting material he had been forced to write about (there was only so many times he could write about Merrick Raghnall being a shitty Minister of Magical after all). The easy assignments gave him more time to lounge about his parent’s house and catching up on the extra hour or two of sleep he had so horribly been deprived of from staying up that much later to finish research or organizing interviews for the lengthier articles. Summer for him was slowly winding down about as exciting as it had started, which would have normally been frustrating but the hot weather had made him so ridiculously sleepy that he yearned for his bed every single waking moment that he was away from it. Then Gringotts happened.

For a lazy man, the amount of work that would come his way after the battle was astonishing. Erich worked night and day on articles detailing the battle, recanting witness statements to include and researching names that had been brought to light, especially the Dark Lord himself, Darren Morgan. It had come as a shock to him to learn that the man who had formerly been Head of Slytherin house had caused such turmoil in Austria. As he learned more about the man, what he could from public and school records and people who had known him, his shock vanished rather quickly. His name and face had been on every front page of the Timestopper since August. The world was still reeling from a name finally being given to the terrifying man who threatened the stability of the wizarding world. Everyone wanted to know about him. Besides Darren Morgan, Erich had also been assigned to writing about the government. It was safe to say that the country’s distrust in their Ministry was at an all time high. People were beyond angry about yet another surprise attack taking place, especially on one that was supposed to be one of the safest places in the entire world. The Timestopper had received bags upon bags of livid hate mail towards the Ministry. Nearly every edition of the Editorials had posts from those angry citizens who wanted their voice heard. It was his job to keep the world up to date on the press releases from the Ministry, the current happenings in regards to the investigation on Darren Morgan and his DeathEaters and what the Ministry was doing to provide security to their country that so desperately needed it. Being busy was an understatement. Overwhelmed was more appropriate. There hadn’t been a single time Erich hadn’t been able to turn in an article on time, but there had been plenty of close calls.

So much for complaining about not having anything interesting to write about anymore. It had been over three months since the attack at Gringotts, but the workload had only decreased enough for quick cat naps at the office. Erich was exhausted, both physically and mentally. All he wanted was one day to catch up on sleep. One full twenty four hour day of sleeping and he’d be fine. The lack of sleep had put him in a grumpier and snippy mood then he usually was, making him the absolute least favorite in the office. This was fine with him. The less people bothered him, the happier he was. Today had been another one of those interesting days for him. He had arrived at the office to be greeted by his editor at the door. Apparently an anonymous call had come in requesting the presence of a Timestopper journalist at the Waterfront. All the stranger had said was that they wished to speak with Erich specifically. It had been strange, but not too terribly uncommon. His work often received the praise of the readers for being honest and blunt. Little did they know, that’s how he had always been. Making sure his wand was tucked securely in the pocket of his grey twill jacket for safety purposes, he had turned on his heel and back out of the newspaper’s offices to the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Keeping his head low, the officials weren’t very fond of him, he quickly made his way through the lobby to the outside of the building, stopping once he was fully out and closing his eyes to apparate to the Boardwalk area of the Waterfront.

Erich was relieved when he opened his eyes to see that he had successfully landed at his destination. He had only been to the Boardwalk once since it had opened this Summer. The location was now a shadow of its former self. Most of the shops and small restaurants were boarded up for the upcoming Winter. A few remained open, but only one ones that were encased with walls, windows and a door. Tugging his newsboy cap over his ears, he walked to the bench in front of the crappy seashell tourist shop and took a seat. He hadn’t been forced to wait long. A few minutes later, a heavily cloaked man approached him, asking if he was Erich Griesser. He stood up, responded that he was and listened as the man who sounded like he had a cold informed him that there was a possibility that a Ministry official was seeing the sister of the Dark Lord and that the woman was still in the country. Kaydence Morgan’s name had been a popular one on his desk lately. She had been arrested by the Ministry and sent to Azkaban last month, with whereabouts currently unknown. Erich did his job by asking thorough questions, not receiving much else from the man except that she was still here and living on the island. The man abruptly cut the meeting short several minutes later, excusing himself and then disappearing. Erich was left with more questions than answers. Kaydence Morgan had been a thorn in any non-Slytherin student’s life at Galaxia. She had often publicly teased him for his dislike of girls by asking, rather loudly, about his sexuality. He had every right to have ill-feelings towards the heinous wench, but he also knew how to do his job. He couldn’t be biased. A good reporter wasn’t. All he could do was follow-up on the little bit of information the man had given him and see what he could uncover.

He had been left with a feeling of uneasiness. The meeting with the mysterious man and the ominous grey sky above him only aided. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets Erich tucked his nose under his scarf and began walking down the strip. He needed to get back to the office to begin his research, but the strange feeling he had in his stomach wasn’t ready to permit him to do that just yet. It was freezing outside but he figured a walk would calm his raging thoughts.

[Cammie Wagner]

There were a lot of events over the duration of Cammie's life that she felt, shaped her as a person. Of course, in her infancy, all of the moments with her father secured her insecurities as an adult, yet with Marlon she learned about the proper way to be treated by a man. The value of friendship, and the easiest way to get a free drink while she was in school. Of course, how to stand for something that she believed in, and her lust for power and social standing by her years with Darren. Then of course, there were the more personal things, that she learned from individual people, or lack there of. After all, there were obviously certain things that weren't learned at an early age whenever one grows up without a mother. The fact that she felt like such a coward for hiding for all of those years was something that she never would have thought she was capable of. Yet, she had been doing it her whole life. While everything in her whole body was telling her to do just that once more, to hide, to have everything delivered and go back into the safety of a recluse, she was better than that. She had to be, or she was going to have nothing.

Since the battle, she had become more of a recluse than she would have liked, despite her best efforts. Of course she still had to go out and about every now and them, and whenever that was the case it was almost always to work and back. She got all of her socializing done there, and if she had just suddenly disappeared again, then people might start asking questions. While her gut was telling her to hole up inside of her apartment and not surface until she knew for a fact that everything was going to be safe for her again, but she knew that she couldn't. She knew that she was going to have to keep working, keep going out into danger every night. She didn't think that anybody besides Darren had really noticed her at the Battle, outside of the Morgan clan her hands were free of the incident. She had managed to leave with nothing more than some bad bruises and emotional scars. Yet, she knew that the only person that needed to see her was Darren. She hadn't seen him since he had set her up all those years ago. She knew that he wasn't foolish enough to think that she had been killed in that fire, but before now she hadn't been important enough to him to do anything about it. The man had eyes everywhere, but now that she was running about with his sister, openly defying him, that was something to take notice of. She hadn't heard anything from any of her old friends within the Dark Lord's followers, she just had to assume that since Darren knew about Kaydence, Cammie would be on the lower end of things that he needed to take care of. For now she was safe, but that didn't stop her from constantly looking over her shoulder.

It helped that her safety net was staying with her, always just a room away. Of course it was temporary, just until Kaydence could get her next move in order and find out what she was going to do in light of everything. Business was doing well enough, but she hated leaving Kaydence alone at night. That was always whenever it was worst for her, it hadn't been that long since the battle, and each night she could still see the cold eyes of Darren watching over her while she slept. No doubt it had to be much worse for Kaydence. At least they were there for each other, she was always there whenever Cammie got home, and their dogs got along surprisingly well considering the sudden change in their lives. It was all just so easy, like they were both pretending that nothing bad had ever happened and that they were just going to be able to move past it, and come out stronger. It was unspoken that they both knew the truth, their little rebellion effort was doomed, and for somebody who wasn't used to failing at anything like Kaydence, it had to be eating her up inside. At least Cammie had work to get away, Kaydence, well she didn't know what Kaydence had and she wasn't about to bring it up. Sometimes she saw her get letters, but she was very hush hush about it all, and Cammie wasn't the type to go snooping about her friend's mail. She didn't need to, the happy yet miserable expression on Kaydence' face whenever she got them said enough usually. She had gotten one of said letters earlier today, and had been in a state all day, so whenever she asked Cammie to go out and get a few things, she couldn't say no. Kaydence said that she had a special brand of imported, Russian dog treats that was due to be delivered to the front desk at her condo's, along with a few other things she had ordered, including an expensive bottle of rare scotch she was promising to Cammie in return for doing the favor of going there and getting them since Kaydence obviously couldn't do it herself.

So, in spite of her better judgment and the weather telling her not to go outside, she had apparated herself down to the water front, since it was the only place in Ilfacrombe that she had been to before. She had to work later in the evening, so she had dressed up just enough to look nice whenever she did pop into her club later that night. Tucking her wand into her clutch and clasping her watch onto her wrist she grabbed her coat and allowed the familiar tug behind her navel to pull her away. Whenever she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by a miserable grey sky and depressing stands boarded up for the cold. She was alone, and just that thought made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Hugging her jacket closer around her torso she hated the way that the only sound she could hear other than her heels clicking on the cobbled path was the water hitting the shore. She didn't like being out alone, not at times like this anyway. It was a stagnant cold, which only made things worse. The cold just clung to the air, she felt like she was intruding on the silence. There was nobody else outside, sure there were a few welcoming lights coming from the odd shop window, but the doors were closed and no sounds were leaking out of the buildings. Cursing under her breath she was wishing that she was still curled up with her dog on her couch watching reruns of muggle television shows. Her pace was slow, out of instinct, she wanted to be able to hear whatever was going on around her, just in case. She knew that she fit in here well enough, she shouldn't look out of place if it came down to it. She just needed to convince herself that there weren't going to be a crew of Darren's newest recruits waiting for her inside of the lobby. She could get into and out of Kaydence's apartment with ease, she looked well off enough to be able to afford a place there, and if she didn't, at least they could assume she was seeing somebody in the building. As of now, her record was clean, and nobody was looking for her.

With that thought, she sped up only marginally until she saw what lay ahead of her. Stopping in her tracks, two men stood a few paces ahead of her, huddled together. Nothing about that was normal, perhaps they were doing some sort of drug deal. That was just what she needed. Yet, she blinked and the shorter man was gone. Just vanished, or more likely, apparated away. Bringing her clutch closer to her chest she promptly turned around and started to walk the opposite way from where she was headed. Kaydence would just have to wait for her damned dog treats, which meant that Cammie was just going to have to go without that wonderful bottle of Scotch Kaydence had tucked away for her. She was going to have to make it away from the strip to apparate without distractions, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She was becoming far too paranoid since the battle. Glancing back over her shoulder her heart skipped a beat, sure enough, news hat man was not too far away. “Calm down, it's just a coincidence” At least, she hoped it was. Certainly she couldn't be important enough to warrant a stalker. Inhaling deeply, she tried to walk faster without drawing attention to herself, just in case he was just walking that way for no reason. Perhaps it was her nerves, but she began to fidget with the clutch in her hands, only to realize how obvious that looked and lowered her hands to her sides, clutch in tow. What she didn't realize was that her watch, something she had grown the treasure fell right off of her wrist and onto the street behind her. She almost didn't hear it fall because of her heels clicking. “Damn” she muttered, noticing that it had fallen off. Her nerves were kicking up, for no reason at all. She was going to become a paranoid old bat is she didn't get a handle on herself, and soon. Spinning around she doubled back, her eyes trained on the pale pink watch. Naturally, by the time she reached it, News hat man already had it in hand.

This wasn't the first time that Cammie had run into Erich since the day that they had met, but it was the first that she hadn't been filled with a sense of dread at the sight of his face. The first time she had literally bumped into him, she had rebounded off of his body and turned around straight away and walked in the other direction. She wasn't sure which one of them had been more relieved to not have to talk to the other. No more than a week after that awkward run in, Marlon had informed her that she had a package waiting for her. Which, was to be expected since she didn't give Erich any sort of contact information of her own, all he had was their family home. Marlon had recognized the handwriting, but just hadn't been able to place it, which was fortunate because if he had figured out who it was, then she would have been forced to have a very awkward conversation with her brother. He had sent her a replacement watch, it was a slightly different color, but only in the fact that instead of hot pink, it was a pale pink but equally as beautiful as the original. No doubt he had been in a fowl mood at the check out stand while purchasing the watch. She knew very well how much it had cost the first time around. It turned out, that the pale watch went with a lot more than the original one, and Cammie had been forced to recognize that he did have some taste after all. She had thought about just keeping it in the box, and not wearing it since every time that she looked at it, it brought back uncomfortable memories, but it was just so pretty. She had taken to wearing it, and like the plague, Erich had shown up in her life again. At least he had the decency not to comment on the watch, or he just didn't see it. She had muttered a brief thanks and went about her business, since in her mind, their business together was as good as finished.

Then she had run into him again, there had been what must have been a strained conversation on his part. It was a stress reliever after all of this drama in the world to be able to tease somebody again. For her, it had just been a familiar face that had nothing to do with Darren, or the Death Eaters, or anything but an unrelated bad happenstance. Hate it as she might, men who bought her nice things tended to wear her down after a little while. They talked, had gotten coffee, and to her surprise, she had walked away not resenting him any longer. She wasn't fully certain as to why she hadn't told Marlon about her meeting his secret friend, but she never had. It couldn't just be that there wasn't an opportunity to, he must have asked her what had happened to get her so shook up a dozen times, but she hadn't been able to tell him that she thought his best mate was a monster. Then again, the more she played the events out in her head, she wasn't fully convinced that he was a monster, or just provoked. Either way she tried not to dwell on it, but it just kept coming up. Looking into Erich's eyes now, she felt nothing but relief that he wasn't a stalker, or worse here to teach her a lesson. “You know, sneaking up on people, and stealing from them is going to give somebody the wrong impression”

[Erich Griesser]

It was natural for people to think that Erich liked the cold because of how closely it matched his heart. The truth, actually, was that he didn’t. Growing up in Austria, he had gotten accustomed to it. The winters were cold just like the summers were hot. However, that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. No, normally he hated it like everything else in his life besides his parents and his writing. Days like this made him want to go home, wrap himself up tightly in his sheets and comforter and hibernate for the entire day. It made him want to call out for his mother whenever he awoke just so he didn’t have to get out of bed to get food. It made him want to hop out of bed and towards his window to laugh down at his father for having to shovel the walk while he was still wrapped up like a pig in a blanket. Erich’s bed was heaven on a miserable day like this. It provided everything he needed: comfort, warmth, affection and most importantly, pure bliss. To most, the thought of a bed being the most important thing in a person’s life was pathetic. To him though, it was logical and not silly whatsoever. When he was in his bed, he was at his best moodwise unless someone tried to do the unthinkable and pull him away from it. With his constant annoyance with the world, he could never fathom why people wouldn’t just leave him alone when he wanted a few hours to be unconscious and not bothering anyone with his well-timed and always right-on-the-money insults.

The idea of bed wasn’t sounding too bad the longer Erich thought about it. The sudden gusts of wind every few seconds only pushed the thought to the forefront of his mind. He knew he should go back to the office. It was the smart thing to do with the assignment that had been asked of him. Then again, it was still normal business hours for the office. If he sat in his dinky little cubicle, he’d have to suffer through the obnoxious gossiping of the female reporters and secretaries as well as being hassled every so often by someone who needed his opinion on something, despite knowing all he was going to do was tell them to fuck off and find a new job if they were ill-equipped to have a good sense of self-judgment. Erich really wasn’t in the mood for it. Bringing his wrist up to his chest, he saw that it was only afternoon. He could apparate back home, catch a few hours of sleep before taking a late-night trip down to the office to get some serious researching done. He worked better alone and in quiet anyway. Dropping his hand back into his pocket, he decided that it was for the best. His mother would inevitably complain once seeing him come home so early and his father would probably tell him to stop being a bum and get a real job, but they weren’t comments he’d he unable to shake off. As long as he told himself that he was starting on the cloaked stranger’s assignment earlier than he usually would, then he didn’t need to listen to the negativity. Erich was the king of apathy and procrastination after all. Getting him to do something sooner than it needed to be done was like telling the Ministry to prepare for an attack the Dark Lord was preparing against the country, it just didn’t happen.

If he hadn’t started envisioning a kingly king-sized bed with fifteen pillows, half of which were goosefeather, Egyptian cotton sheets and a hotel-style comforter, Erich would have seen the figure he had been trailing. He would have seen the uncomfortable movements and sideway glances it kept giving him. He would have yelled out to them, informing them that a picture would last longer before belittling them for continuing to act strangely around them. But he didn’t. Instead, he continued to picture his little piece of heaven calling to him, pleading with him to snuggle deep within its grasp and let it carry him into a dream world destined for royalty. It was a clanking sound that rudely brought Erich back to reality. Scowling as the warmth drained from his body and was replaced by another gust of wind to his face, he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Opening them back up, he finally noticed the quickly retreating figure and felt his scowl root itself on his lips. He took a step forward only to feel the tip of his shoe graze across something on the boardwalk. Looking down, his scowl was replaced by confusion as he bent down to examine the object that he had hit. Lowering himself into a squat, the object was instantly recognizable. It wasn’t everyday that a pale pink watch mysteriously found itself on an abandoned Boardwalk. Raising an eyebrow, Erich looked turned his eyes forward and his gaze fell upon an even more recognizable ungodly shade of blonde hair he had been commonly bumping into.

Cammie. As her name came to his mind, she stopped and turned around to face him. Shaking his head, Erich picked up the watch and raised his body back to its upright position while she began coming back. He couldn’t say he was surprised. Every time the two met had been under random circumstances. They had a knack for running into each other when they least expected it. His legs began moving in her direction, quickening with speed the further she got. She was a fast little bugger when she wanted to be. Small people were abnormally fast like that though, probably because of the short distance their legs were from the ground. “You know, sneaking up on people, and stealing from them is going to give somebody the wrong impression.” Erich’s eyebrow raised again as he kept a strong hold on the watch he had bought for Cammie a few months ago. “You know, that’s not very nice after the trouble I went through to get you this damn thing.” He did his best not to think about the day he had purchased the stupidly large watch for her. The lady at the jewelry counter had praised him for having good taste and that the special lady in his life was lucky to have someone like him. How he had been able to leave the store with the watch after asking the woman if she got off on living out the fantasies of others she wished she could have was beyond him. He had never seen a woman’s face get so red in all of his life. Erich had been very proud of himself for that one. He threw the watch up in the air and caught it with one hand, hoping to elicit some sort of response from her. The relationship between the two was better, but that by no means meant he would stop teasing her.

“I wouldn’t consider it stealing either. Taking back what’s rightfully mine would be more appropriate.” Smirking, he waved the thing in front of her face before hugging the thing back to his chest. “What are you doing out here anyway? Isn’t this the sort of place a skiddish little thing like you would try to avoid? If I hadn’t been nearly blinded by the platinum mass surrounding your head your face definitely wouldn’t have been the first that came to mind.”

[Cammie Wagner]

How stupid that would have been, she wouldn't ever admit it but that watch had become one of her more favorite possessions. For reasons that she couldn't even fathom. Her eyes rose slowly from the watch in the man's hand to his face, back down to his strangely toned frame. Not that he was misshapen, but given how lazy the man was it became more and more strange to her how good looking he was every time she saw him. Which was also growing in strangeness due to it's frequency. It was strange, that seeing his smirking face sparked this desire, need to win. Winning what was open ended. She stood there, watching the watch that was twirling around his finger. She hated that he regarded it with such carelessness. Most of all since he knew that price tag that came with it from whenever he had torched her first one. She didn't want any harm to come to the second on, and she just knew that if he didn't stop twirling the damn thing, that it was going to go flying off of his finger out into the sand or worse, up against on of the few open buildings on the strip. His faux judgmental look was irritating, just like his snide comments about her looks. Her hand moved for the watch, but his grip on it was far too tight. “You know, that’s not very nice after the trouble I went through to get you this damn thing.” Trouble indeed. She was fairly certain that it was the only thing that he had ever bought for a woman that wasn't his mother. Whenever he tossed the thing up into the air, her hands moved to catch it, a gasp leaving her lips before she could even think twice about it in her momentary panic. Whenever he caught it, her small fist flew up to box him in the shoulder, but she couldn't reach to she hit his arm instead. He did that just to irritate her, she wasn't stupid. Her eyes narrowed, and she placed one hand on her hip, the other extended out toward him, waiting for him to hand the watch back or put it on her wrist.

“I wouldn’t consider it stealing either. Taking back what’s rightfully mine would be more appropriate.” Her expression was appalled. Some nerve that he had. Shaking her head she let a bitter smile grace her face. “Of course you wouldn't. I would say it's rightfully mine in that you ruined the first one, that was right color and that this one was a gift” Her smile turned brighter “What sort of man takes back a gift?” She watched as he waved it in front of her like she was a child. “What are you doing out here anyway? Isn’t this the sort of place a skiddish little thing like you would try to avoid? If I hadn’t been nearly blinded by the platinum mass surrounding your head your face definitely wouldn’t have been the first that came to mind.” She didn't like the implication that she was skiddish. The event that had transpired between the two of them was a very rare thing indeed. She was a far stronger woman than she appeared. She had to be with the history that she had had. It set her jaw to think that he thought she was weak. If he didn't, then why would he say such a thing? Unless he was saying that he found her dainty, then it was insulting, but also endearing in a way. That, and the 'blondie' jokes were really getting old. She had no choice in her hair color, it had been that way since birth. She wasn't going to color it just because his highness Griesser didn't like it. He had a point, she didn't like being out here in the dead of winter whenever there wasn't anybody else out here. Before the Battle, whenever things were a little more stable she wouldn't have been able to leave this place. The sun on her skin, the sea in her hair. Salt water always produced the most wonderful waves. She couldn't exactly tell him why she was really here, because she had no idea where Erich stood on the whole thing, their very limited conversations rarely turned toward anything personal. She had just assumed given his lack of compassion for anything substantial beside himself that he was fairly neutral on the subject. “I could ask you the same thing” She replied honestly, though her tone was a little more hushed than normal. Checking over behind his shoulder she still couldn't see any hint of the man that Erich had been conspiring with earlier, Diverting her attention once more to the watch in his hands her eyes narrowed. Her hand reached out to it “You don't honestly expect me to jump for it, do you? I mean, look at these heels” she pointed down to her shoes. There would be no way possible for that to end well, most of all not on this uneven path.

She hadn't told her brother, Marlon about Erich or the things that had happened the very first time that she had met the man. She felt that she owed it to her brother to not go mucking about in his personal life or his choice of friends. She felt like if she had asked Marlon what had happened between him and the man who claimed to have once been his best friend, that she would seem ungrateful. He had been so wonderful to her for so many years, her entire life really. She couldn't try to tell him how to live his whenever she was just now starting to learn how to live her own. Not to mention a very small part of her was starting to see what Marlon had been in Erich all those many years ago, and she didn't fancy Marlon beating the man's face in. She didn't know if it would ever recover from that sort of rage. Erich had no idea how Marlon felt about his family members, or the lengths that he was willing to go to protect the one family member that he had left. Erich hadn't even known that Marlon had a sister, and they had been best mates. It was the one thing that she and Erich didn't talk about in their random conversations. They both tended to avoid the topic like it was a sickness, which wasn't fair because they had such different opinions of her brother. Shifting from one foot to another, she stuck her bottom lip out, pouting in a way far more dramatic than necessary. “Come on, please?”

[Erich Griesser]

The situation they currently found themselves in was one that Erich had found himself in plenty of times before. However, fortunately for Cammie, she would be getting her item back after a few minutes of teasing. She didn’t know how lucky she was really. If he were the cold-hearted man he so often was to her, he could have pocketed the watch or chucked it into the sand of the waterfront. Merlin knew the bullies that had attempted to torment him during his years at Galaxia would have done just that. He couldn’t even begin to count the number of items he had lost, or seen destroyed in front of his eyes, at the cruel hands of others. After awhile though, Erich learned to purchase two of everything he had a strong attachment too or keep items of value in his dormitory. On occasion, he even duplicated homework just in case some prat came around and stole one of them from him. The first two years he had gotten upset about it, but once third year had came he had become immune to the insecurities of others. Instead, he had adapted the headstrong, opinionated and blunt nature that had made him infamous today. He had always done his best not to hang on from grudges of his school years. They didn’t consume his life, forcing him to dedicate his time to avenge himself from his former tormentors. Yet he’d be lying if he said he didn’t send them back nasty posts when they tried to commend him for well written articles or try to stop and say hello in the streets. Erich was a firm believer that if people didn’t like him then, they definitely wouldn’t like him now.

He waited for her to say something. All the while still keeping the smug smirk on his face. Though they were on much better terms now, Erich still liked riling Cammie up. It’d be out of his nature not to. Just because he could tolerate her longer than five minutes didn’t mean that he was going to change his personality for her. He had never been and never would be that kind of individual. That was what was wrong with the world nowadays anyway. Nobody could stand their ground and not succumb to the wants of others when pressure was placed on them. “Of course you wouldn't. I would say it's rightfully mine in that you ruined the first one, that was right color and that this one was a gift.” He dramatically rolled his eyes at her color comment. “A watch is a watch,” he responded, shaking the thing. “Who cares if it’s purple or gold or neon? All you should care about is whether or not it serves its purpose. You know, it’s your gender that keeps stores in business. They know that they can up the price of anything they want just because women find it pretty.” At this, Erich shook his head. “I can guarantee that you have wasted a ridiculous amount of money unnecessarily.” He threw up his hands. “But what do I know? It’s not like I’ve studied price gauging or anything.” But he had. Actually, the first few months of his full-time reporting had been dedicated to writing an article on how shops got away with charging large sums for items that weren’t by any means worth it. It was also what had gotten him his first cubicle instead of an open desk with the interns. “What sort of man takes back a gift?” Chuckling, he cocked his head to the right. “One who believes his investment isn’t properly being taken care of,” he said, matter-of-factly. Cammie could say nothing to argue with him as Erich had picked up the watch from the boardwalk.

When she had responded to his question, Erich smirked again. She was the type of person who one could always tell what they were thinking. He doubted Cammie could conceal her emotions if she wanted to. He got a kick out of seeing how annoyed she was with him. She still hadn’t confessed to her intentions for being out and about, which was fine. He’d be able to get it out of her one way or another. His curiosity wouldn’t not let him. He figured she should have been home underneath a hundred galleon fleece blanket on a five hundred galleon couch or something, not out here looking anxious. “Business,” he finally replied. “Though that information is classified until a few Timestoppers from now. Keep an eye out.” Erich wasn’t lying. All reporters were supposed to have the integrity to keep subject matters and sources private until, and if, the time was right for them to be revealed. He wondered what Cammie would say if she knew that the subject was a former house mate of hers. At least, he assumed that she would have known Kaydence Morgan. The woman had made it a priority to stick her rich nose in the business of others whether it was wanted or not. Anyone who had not known who she was during her years at Galaxia must have ventured out of their dormitories for classes and food only. Even then, they probably brought their food back with them. She, unfortunately, had never been a female that could be ignored because of how damn irritating she was. Morgan had been a main reason for Erich’s hatred towards women since she embodied everything that he hated about them. Everything.

“Come on, please?” Erich rolled his eyes again. So damn dramatic they were. It was always like the world was ending. “I haven’t finished examining it yet.” He then pretended to act like he gave a damn about the thing, carefully studying every detail as if estimating its value. “There’s a scratch on the back,” he concluded, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “What kind of treatment is that to something so valuable?” He crossed his arms, concealing the watch in his covered hand. “That’s enough for me to repossess it. Better luck next time princess.”

[Cammie Wagner]

She loved that stupid watch. Mostly because of who gave it to her, something she wasn't willing to admit to herself. Even if it was the wrong color, and only just an inanimate object that could be replaced after a month or so of working she wanted that one. If it were possible to box and wrap a watch sarcastically, that was exactly how Erich had sent her the replacement. He just didn't strike her as the sort to pay to have anything wrapped, or to pay for anything that he doesn't absolutely have to. The pristine white box atop of that silver box sat just a little too straight, she could almost imagine the smug look of satisfaction on his face. Her first assumption had been that his mother must have packaged it for him, yet she just didn't see that happening. Her thoughts on his mother had never been confirmed nor denied, all she knew was that every time she mentioned his mother, he turned into the bitter man that his reputation made him out to be. The sheer idea that watch being trampled or lost, or thrown out to see forced a sharp pang in her gut. The look that she imagined him making while he wrapped this thing, droplets of anger over the cost of the thing falling from his face as he perfected that little bow and attached it to the owl to deliver it to her. That same smug look was on his face at this very moment while he held her time piece hostage. With his eye roll, she wanted to stomp on his foot, to grind the heel into his toes to make the expression go away, yet something stayed her legs. Her eyes darted from his eyes back to the watch as she jangled it in front of her face. “A watch is a watch,” To him maybe. To her, things was all that she had. Her money, her club, her apartment. Those were all that she had, they were her everything. She no longer had anybody to follow, she wasn't a leader and had no other prospects in the real life. Be it emotional or business. “Who cares if it’s purple or gold or neon?They know that they can up the price of anything they want just because women find it pretty.” To him, they were from such vastly different worlds. “Good thing that they don't sell you in stores right?” she chided, she personally found him to be very attractive, even if she could never admit that fact since he would lord it over her head.

“I can guarantee that you have wasted a ridiculous amount of money unnecessarily. But what do I know? It’s not like I’ve studied price gauging or anything.” “Do you enjoy talking to yourself?” She waved her hand in his direction “Because if you do I'll take my watch and go stand over there where there will be a better vantage point” she gestured to one of the side stands that was all closed up. She knew very well how much money she spent. If he really wanted to go there she could say the exact same thing to him. She was confidant that at least one of the things that he was wearing was name brand even if it had been bargain prices. He could find the same thing for sickles on the galleon at a used or consignment store but he didn't, why? Because wearing other peoples dejected clothing is disgusting. She could feel the need to argue bubbling within her chest, the same desire had gotten her in trouble her entire life. “One who believes his investment isn’t properly being taken care of,” scoffing she shook her head, curls bouncing around her face. The teasing light left her eyes, replaced by something a little more serious “Then you obvious don't have any judge of taken care of. I take good care of everything that's mine” except her own body, that had been abused by a lot over the years. Even the man in front of her had on the lesser end of the scale considering he hadn't meant to harm her whenever he had. She knew that Erich wasn't the kindest of men, a fact that a large part of her admired. He was honest, and she respected that even whenever his blunt words hurt her feelings. Aside from her brother, he was just about the one one who had always told her the truth to the best of her knowledge. Of course, the difference between the two was that Marlon always said kind, uplifting things, and Erich usually poked fun at how much her shoes cost, or that she was short enough to be an ankle biter without her sky high heels.

“Business, Though that information is classified until a few Timestoppers from now. Keep an eye out.” If she hadn't already been irritated she would have attempted to use her feminine wiles on him to get the information out early. Even if the tactic hadn't ever worked for her on him before, it would have to work eventually. She wasn't exactly a nosy person, but If information was pushed in her face she couldn't help her natural curiosity. His articles were always eloquently written and one of the few articles that she had always made a point to read before she had met Erich. Now that she knew him, she could barely read a single paragraph without bursting out into laughter. Even though his prose tended to reflect his own personal voice like all of the good reporters did, she couldn't ever look at his articles the same way. “I haven’t finished examining it yet.” now it was her turn to roll her eyes at him. She allowed her hands to fall down next to her sides. Clearly exasperated, she was ready for this little interaction to be over with. He just liked to push her buttons. Over time, the amount that they kept running into each other made it abundantly clear to her how he got along so well with her brother. He tried just a little too hard to seem like he didn't care, but if that was true he wouldn't have bought the gift in the first place. “There’s a scratch on the back,” Her eyes must have looked like silver dollars, the way that her neck darted her head forward to examine the spot that he was referencing. It hadn't fallen that hard had it? It certainly hadn't been there whenever she had put it on this morning. Her fingers moved to his wrist to pull the watch closer to her visage. She knew that reaching for the watch was just going to cause him to jerk his arms back but this prevented him from doing that. Her grip wasn't painful, she doubted that she could hurt him anyway, just curious and pulled the watch closer to see it. “What kind of treatment is that to something so valuable?” Yet, he still countered, taking a step backward and hiding the watch and the nick in question out of sight. A protesting mumble left her lips as she was forced to let go of his hand and resign to defeat.

“That’s enough for me to repossess it. Better luck next time princess.” Her eyes narrowed, her hands busying themselves with fixing her outfit, smoothing down her shirt and refastening the strap on her jacket. She didn't want him to see how flustered that she was over something so trivial as a watch but she was. He had better not be serious about this. It was hers. Unless he wanted heel marks all up and down his back he would do the smart thing and return it, if it was indeed scratched, then she would have it fixed. The use of the pet name was even more irritating, she was nobodies princess and the fact that he used that word for her, even in passing innocently proved that he knew little to nothing about her as a woman. Merlin he was infuriating. “Give it back” she commanded, holding out a hand. Her tone was final, clearly disapproving of his choice in words. Why was it that they couldn't ever have a plain conversation? He seemed to get off on irritating her.

[Erich Griesser]

At Cammie’s relief about him not being a piece of merchandise for sale, Erich grinned. “Indeed,” he agreed. “No one would know what to do with me.” Anyone who wasn’t his mother or father didn’t know how to. Not that he made it easy of course. He was more than fine being shrouded in mystery to outsiders. No one needed to know about his personal life anymore than he needed to know about theirs. Even though his days were more than often uneventful and his past held no damaging secrets, he just didn’t believe himself to be interesting enough for the world to take notice. Erich wanted to be known for his writing, not for the fact that he was a twenty three year old still living with his parents. The latter wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about. He knew it was smart to leech off of his parents, well, his mother’s kindness for as long as he possibly could. Then, when he had saved up enough money for his liking, he could move out and pursue his life as an investigative reporter in a fortress of solitude that completely suited him. But that would all come in good time. He was in no rush to leave his family home nor was his mother to see him leave. His father, on the other hand, would have likely had his bags packed and waiting for him on the front porch whenever the time came. He knew his father loved him but was more ready for him to get a life of his own. Probably because he was old and wanted some peace and quiet finally. Erich wasn’t loud whenever he was home. He just liked to complain a lot.

“Do you enjoy talking to yourself?” Turning his eyes back to the watch, Erich nodded. “I do. And you want to know why?” Cammie probably didn’t, but she was going to listen anyway. It was her fault that this can of worms had been opened. “Because I am the only one in this world who can truly appreciate the wisdom that comes from these lips. Everyone may laugh or roll their eyes when I say something their brain can’t fully process, but I am the one laughing hardest when my words become visually proven facts.” He didn’t care how arrogant it sounded. He didn’t consider it arrogant, just the truth. Cammie instead chose to shift the focus back to the stupid watch still in his hands. “Then you obvious don't have any judge of taken care of. I take good care of everything that's mine.” Erich arched an eyebrow at her, exposing the back of the watch to her. “Which is clearly indicated by this noticeable scratch.” He briefly wondered if the scratch was caused by the long fingernails on her hand. The same ones that could potentially claw his face to shreds if given the chance. A low hiss left his mouth as the nails in question scratched the surface of his skin as she sought to examine the watch for herself. “Hey!” he protested. “You can cut an artery with those things!” To which he added, “And that would make you no closer to getting this thing back sooner.” After bearing her extremely uncomfortable nails for a few seconds, Erich finally freed his hand from hers and once again hid her timepiece. “Now this is punishment. Had you just been a nice little girl and laughed or nodded or even apologized along with what I had to say, you would have had your watch back five minutes ago. However, you insisted on not standing down and now the price must be paid.” Erich was still teasing though his tone didn’t show it. He was a bit miffed at the irritation on the back of his right hand.

He kept his attention on her as she quietly smoothed out the wrinkles in her outfit while keeping the nasty glare on her face that Erich was used to seeing by now. Honestly, if she kept a smile on her face for longer than a second he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. So he returned her narrowed eyes with even more narrowed ones. He could barely see but wanting to outdo her, he kept the look firmly on his face. When her hand extended outwards, a flicker of worry crossed his mind at the image of those painted nails completely piercing his arm, sinking into the muscle and tearing their way through the tendons. Merlin would he hate to have to go to the hospital to explain that one. “Give it back.” The seriousness in Cammie’s voice was like a challenge. He was very much aware of how angry she was and how she was tired of his little game. Yet his nature wouldn’t allow that. No way could he let her off so easily. Though at the risk of losing her company so early on, another side of him, a very small side, wanted to give it back. The stress of his job was starting to get to Erich, even if he was unwilling to admit it. Giving himself a little downtime was necessary in order to remain sane and not lose his job over snapping at everyone that looked at him. He had no one to vent to. His mother would sympathetically look at him and give him hugs. His father would shake his head and tell him to stop crying. Autumn was too busy to meet him for lunch nowadays. And Marlon, well that prat had made it very clear he couldn’t have given two shits about him. That left Cammie. Heaving a heavy sigh, he pulled his arm from behind him and dropped the watch in her outstretched hand. “You have a poor sense of humor,” Erich concluded, crossing his arms in defeat.

Turning his head to the left, Erich wished not to see the happiness that was surely oozing from every pore on her skin. “Food? Or would you prefer I wrap a string around your body and fly you like a kite since the wind is bound to do so itself any minute?” In the midst of their banter, the wind had picked up to the point of making him feel even miserable than before when he had first ventured out here. Regardless of what she said, the idea of food was fixated on his mind. He was going to get some with or without her.

[Cammie Wagner]

“I do. And you want to know why?” Cammie could feel her eyes rolling in her head, her weight shifting awkwardly on the cobbled path. Whether or not she wanted to know, he was going to tell her anyway, and while she could stalk off and find something better to do, he still had her watch. She was trapped. “Because I am the only one in this world who can truly appreciate the wisdom that comes from these lips. Everyone may laugh or roll their eyes when I say something their brain can’t fully process, but I am the one laughing hardest when my words become visually proven facts.” He could feel his eyes widening at the arrogant slop that was pouring out of his mouth. For somebody so sour, he sure did feel entitled. She could feel herself scoffing before she had a chance to contain herself, if this was going to go on much longer, the watch wasn't going to be worth it. There was bound to be some sort of psychological reasoning behind his behavior. Of course, she shouldn't be surprised, a man couldn't be that attached to his mother and not have some sort of mental disorder. Cammie wasn't supposed to give a hoot about what was wrong with him, much less have any interest in his personal life whatsoever. So far he had been nothing more than a handsome thorn in her side since they had met. A fact that seemed to delight him. Perhaps she was just projecting, since she had no idea what it was like to have a mother in the first place. She could only imagine the smug and hurtful things that the lithe man in front of her would say if he could hear what was going on in her head. More things about the Wagner family that she was certain he knew nothing about.

She supposed at some point in her life there would be a turning point that would result in her wedding somebody for some sort of financial gain. The only man that she had ever devoted herself to, well, he had tried to get her killed and upon their last meeting had tried again. She knew that he wasn't a kind man, but he hadn't expected him to be quite so cold, she had eluded herself into thinking that she had meant something to him. After that, she had just assumed she would be a businesswoman, since she was good at it and it kept her busy. If she were to pick somebody else for her future, he would have to be kind and respectful, the kind that just adored her. The exact opposite of the man in front of her. Other than the occasional annoying encounter, he served no purpose to her whatsoever. And yet the fates kept shoving them together. Always at the worst moments, as she was supposed to be on a mission for the friend in her apartment. Oh, she could throw that little gem at the reporter, no doubt he would have a field day with that information, but he also might start stalking her more than he already did.

“Hey! You can cut an artery with those things! And that would make you no closer to getting this thing back sooner. However, you insisted on not standing down and now the price must be paid.” There he went again, calling her a little girl, the inflection in his words had nothing at all to do with her size either. Her eyes narrowed, the smug smile still plastered on his face. If he was going to make her out to be that immature, then she could be. She highly doubted that he actually would spend time around the sort of woman that would just smile and bat her eyelashes at his comments, even the most vapid of women shouldn't like to be in his company for any matter of time. Yet, he caved. Perhaps he sensed the theatrics that she was about to start with, either way the watch was back in her hand. She wanted to search for the scratch, if in fact there was one to begin with, but she couldn't give him the satisfaction. “You have a poor sense of humor,” Instead, she slipped it onto her wrist and fastened the clasp carefully, making sure that this time it didn't fall again. Putting on the most sickeningly sweet and feminine smile that she could muster she faux-curtsied to him. Adjusting her bag under her arm a little more she turned her lashes up at him “Why, thank you sir” her tone was sarcastic, and overly kind. He should find it insulting to be certain. Moving around him, nudging his shoulder on her way past him until she heard him speak again, luckily she had only gotten perhaps half a foot past him. “Food? Or would you prefer I wrap a string around your body and fly you like a kite since the wind is bound to do so itself any minute?” Thank Merlin that her back was turned lest he see the look of shock on her face. He was inviting her to spend some more time with him? Like he actually wanted her to stick around. Pulling her bag from under her arm and holding it in front of her clasped in both of her hands, oddly feeling unsure of herself for reasons that she couldn't place.

Turning around to look at his back, waiting for some hint that this was a trap, but he wasn't even looking at her, it had to be a sign of something. Considering for just a moment she glanced to the warm, wind free shops and cafes along the boardwalk next to them and she nodded, more to herself than anything. Glancing once more in the direction of Kay's condo she shrugged. It wasn't going anywhere, and her curiosity was going to overwhelm her. “Alright” the bravado gone out of her voice. Moving back to stand in front of him she shrugged “What are you in the mood for?” she was going to regret that one, asking about moods of his was bound to be a bad idea in more than one way. Nevertheless she nodded her head toward a cafe not far down the path “I've heard good things about that one”