(1939-11-17) Ask for Justice
Details for Ask for Justice
Summary: Galen meets Graham at the Leaky Cauldron and they have a simple game of cards. The conversation gets a little grim with questions about wizarding law enforcement before Gaius arrives and the two sit down for a game of poker.
Date: November 17, 1939
Location: Leaky Cauldron
Related:
Characters
GalenGraham

Galen has been spending an awful lot of time in the wizarding world. It might make him a little nervous, but it is a place to hide from the law out in the mundane world. The young man is sitting at one of the tables in the Leaky Cauldron, eyeing the occupants warily and curiously as he eats. A bowl of stew sits in front of him on the table, next to a glass of whiskey. He eats by tearing off a piece of bread and dipping it into the bowl, eating almost hastily and with hardly any manners.

The door opens from the way of Muggle London and in walks a regular to the Leaky Cauldron. Graham takes a bit of a look around but not finding anyone he knows he'll move to accept his usual drink and chips order before finding a table to sit which happens to be near Galen. He sets the items down and plops into a seat. "Afternoon." he greets after a moment not wanting to be rude.

The arrival from the mundane side has Galen abruptly bringing up his head, sliding his green eyes towards the door. It’s no one he knows, and the man certainly doesn’t look like law enforcement. So the lad returns to his stew, dumping another piece of bread into the tasty, beefy stew and stuffing it into his mouth. When Graham greets him, Gale has a full mouth, so he bobs his head in his own greeting. A fist is lifted to his mouth as he clears his throat, and once at least most of his food is swallowed, he grunts out, “Hello,” in response. Another mouthful is stuffed into his mouth, but his eyes trail back to Graham to eye the man curiously.

Graham takes a drink from his cider and a bite of chip before he catches the curious look and remembers he sort of skipped a step. "Sorry, I’m Graham Cohen." he offers a hand across to be shaken if he wishes "I'm not sure I’ve seen you here before." he mentions after it seems he can’t place a face or name to the other from school or otherwise.

Galen dips another piece of bread into his stew, stirring it around as it absorbed the flavour and stuffing it into his mouth. His green eyes regard Graham as he speaks, but the lad takes his time to reply. His fist comes up to his mouth again - at least there’s a bit of manners to cover his mouth - as he clears his throat. A snort escapes from him. It’s better to not be recognised sometimes. As Gale swallows his food, he bobs his head. “Quite possible,” he says in a low tone, not very enthusiastically. “Gale,” he supplies with a careless roll of his shoulders. He shifts slightly in his seat, easing back in his seat as he regards the offered hand. Stalling for a moment, Galen then leans forward and stretches out his hand to Graham’s. His handshake is quick, but firm, before he breaks off a piece of bread and dumps it into his bowl again. His eyes linger on Graham, and Gale smirks before he asks bluntly, “What are you?” He pauses only briefly before he decides to clarify. “A wizard?”

The young man will wait for the return though as time drags on he'll take a drink with his free hand. Graham will watch the other though he does shake his head "Good to meet your acquaintance Mr. Gale." This is finally able to be said though he watches the man who looks a tad uncomfortable though question is asked and he arches an eyebrow but the clarification gets a nod "Ah, yes I’m a wizard." he has to mind a friend of his as he says this. "If I can ask the same? Just not a usual question I get." he says friendly.

“Gale,” Galen repeats himself with a sharp tone. His fingers give a haphazard wave, as if to dismiss the ‘Mister’ bit. The soggy, stew flavoured bread is stuffed into his mouth and he chews, eyeing Graham as he eats. Another snort escapes him at the returned question. “A wizard at cards,” he intones lowly. A confident smile flicks briefly against his lips. “I can do magic,” he says simply. There’s no point in saying he wasn’t a wizard; it saves him from mentioning his family. “Do you play cards? Dice?” Gale picks up his fork and stabs a piece of beef, stuffing it into his mouth.

Graham will listen to the words about magic at cards and the like. He takes another drink from his mug before he'll answer the question "I'm not sure about dice, but a friend of mine was teaching me to play a few card games the other day. I probably still don’t count as being good at them or anything." he answers truthfully. "So besides cards and dice what sort of work do you do?" he asks just making polite conversation.

A wordless sound escapes Galen as he looks down into his bowl. He gives a mild shrug as he stabs a potato from the stew, stuffing his mouth full with the unfinished chewing of beef. As he chews, occasionally forgetting to keep his mouth closed, he breaks off another piece of bread to dunk it into the dish. He doesn’t respond, mulling over the idea of asking Graham for a game. If there was no other, perhaps? It wouldn’t be much of a challenge if he wasn’t very good. He swallows heavily, and waves his hand forward through the air. “If you’re up for a game you might learn a few things by playing against me.” Galen snorts at the question about work. “I do ‘whatever I can find at the time’ kind of work.”

"I'm not sure I’d be much fun to play against, I’m not really a challenge. If you'd like to teach me a game though I’m all for learning something new." Graham explains taking another drink from his cider, he'll nod about the work though it’s vaguely put. "I work at the Ministry myself." he'll say though leaving department and all that off for the moment. He will take another chip up and eat it while waiting.

Galen reaches for his glass, taking a swig of whiskey before setting the glass back down with a thick sound. “It gives me something to do,” says the lad in his low tone. “It’ll be entertaining, no need to go betting on the game.” He shovels more stew into his mouth, and swipes the last of the bread to clean off the sauce. Chewing around a mouthful, Galen twists around to the coat sprawled out on the back of his chair and pulls out a deck of cards, which he automatically begins to shuffle with an experienced hand. His green eyes regard Graham. Transferring the cards to one hand, he nudges the bowl to the side. As he swallows and takes another drink of his whiskey, Gale goes on to inform, “Solitaire.” He starts laying out cards, face down. “It’s like your exploding snaps game,” he explains, “only the cards don’t explode.” Yea, of course he knows about exploding snaps. “You can go first. Pick two cards, if they match, take them. If they don’t, return them face down.”

Once he’s finished laying out the cards, Gale takes another swig from his glass. As he sets it back down, he eyes Graham curiously. “The Ministry,” he echoes. A grunt escapes him, rolling his shoulders carelessly. “Sounds important. What do you do?”

Graham listens to the rules of the game and nods in understanding "Sounds pretty good." He will say so to the card game turning in his chair so he can watch the cards be laid out, but he will eat another chip while he waits. The second question gets a nod first. "Well there are many departments at the ministry. I work at the MLE Auror's office." the truth given as well no real need to lie here.

Galen eyes Graham as he answers about what he does. “An Auror,” he mutters, “for the M.L.E.” He muses, clearly uncertain as he wonders. “What does an Auror do?” he asks plainly. He gestures over the cards laid out over the table, and grins up at the waitress passes by to clear the bowl from the table.

The young man does reach over and flips one card over, and then another but they don’t match so he flips them back over. Graham will answer the question though. "MLE is Magical Law Enforcement, but aurors are specialized to only go after dark witches and wizards. The worst of our kind." he answers in the simplest way he knows how not because he doesn’t think the other will understand because well it’s complicated.

It’s a simple game, one which probably won’t hold Gale’s interest for long, especially with the lack of money. But again, it is a bit of entertainment. His green eyes watch the cards flipped over, focusing on remembering the location. He reaches out to flip two of his own, one of which is the pair to one of Graham’s cards. Flipping over one of the previous cards, he sets the pair of cards before him. “My turn again,” he grunts out. But the two upturned cards don’t match and he flips them over again, gesturing for Graham to take up his turn. “Dark witches and wizards. Is that like… magicians who’d kill someone?” he asks grimly.

Graham will watch the cards closely as he flips one over and gets a set he nods the other one not a match but he flips one over and just happens to be a match reaching out to the other before he'll take these pair and set them in front of him though his next set are not a match. "Well that is unfortunately a common reason, but there are other dark spells and three which are unforgiveable, any use is a one way trip to wizard jail."

Galen keeps his eyes focused on the cards spread out. He doesn’t glance up at Graham, but his expression darkens as he listens to the man. It’s a worrisome world when someone can cast dark magic and kill you, but it’s at least a bit reassuring at the mention of a wizard jail. He flips over cards when it is his turn to do so, taking another turn whenever he finds a match letting Graham take his turn whenever he fails to find a match. While they stay relatively even with their pairs, Gale slowly pulls a bit ahead in the number of pairs.

“What happens to a wizard that kills another?” Gale asks grimly.

The auror will pay attention and get a few more matches but the other does have more if he's keeping close track. He misses a match making it the other guys turn when the question is asked he ponders how to explain. "Well my office would find them, and bring them in for a trial, if convicted they would be sent to Azkaban, the Wizard Jail I mentioned which well is NOT a nice place." he won’t elaborate more unless asked.

Galen might be watching the cards, but his focus isn’t all on the game. He indeed miss remembers a few previous turned cards when its match shows up, cursing himself for it, too. But as the cards begin to thin in numbers, it’s looking as though the pile of cards across from one another might be quite even. When the pair is snagged, he smirks, not bothering on counting the amount of cards he has. “Not bad playing,” he comments. His expression drops into a scowl as he listens to Graham’s explanation. “What happens in Azkaban?” he asks further. “Do they die?” He’s rather curious about the magical law, isn’t he? He reaches out for Graham’s cards so he can begin shuffling them together.

Graham takes a drink from his cider and does even things out with a few more matches though it’s the others turn soon after. The young man frowns at the next question, but he speaks soon after "Not exactly pleasant conversation for a first meeting Gale, but yes many of them do.. they stop eating or just lose the will to live." he says though he must explain. "The jail isn’t wardened by witches and wizards, but by dark creatures called Dementor's" he shivers here likely remembering his own visit to the jail.

Galen picks up his glass and drinks back the rest of his whiskey. He snorts in response to Graham’s explanation about the unpleasantness of the conversation. “Yea,” he utters out lowly, “I just want to know if my brother’s murderer was caught.” He decides to share a little bit, for the reason of his curiosity. “My other brother was rather cryptic about it.”

The expression from the auror turns a bit more somber "I'm sorry to hear of your loss, though I don’t know without going through the records back at work." he will take a bite of chip and finish it before he continues speaking. "We're very good at what we do, but I cannot claim we catch everyone always as that would be a lie." he says a bit ruefully he is one who wishes it were different of course catching all those guilty.

Galen lets out a snort, looking down at the cards in his hand as he shuffles. “I don’t want any pity,” he mutters. “Just to know that he got avenged.” His fingers pause around the cards as he lifts his green eyes to stare at Graham. When the waitress comes by, Gale lifts his empty glass with a little shake, silently asking for more. He sets down his glass again when he’s sure the waitress noticed and shifts in his chair, pulling out a couple coins from his pocket, which appear to be knuts.

Graham shakes his head "Not pity, just given my job I always hate to see those affected by such things." He takes a drink from his cider setting it back down. "If the person in question was indeed sent to Azkaban after being caught, I can assure you that he paid for his crimes severely." he says this assuredly.

Does he really want to know what happens in a wizard’s jail? Galen shifts in his seat, trying to hide the unnerved feeling at the thought the passes through his head. “If you have a record of it, I want to know,” he states lowly. “I haven’t seen nothing in your paper about it.” He rolls his shoulders with a cool attitude despite not quite being so relaxed. He lifts his eyes to scan the taproom.

In from the cool night air walks a man with a somewhat bemused look on his face. His unremarkable brown eyes peer about the place before he removes his coat and hangs in on the back of a chair, one which is thunks down into after only a moments delay before putting his feet up on the opposite chair and settling in. As a waitress walks by with the new drink for Galen, she is waved down and Gaius orders a cheap whiskey.

With a nod she moves on and his eyeline follows her for a moment, long enough to see the other man in conversation. Primarily he notices the cards in the one man’s hand and grins, nodding in appreciation if Galen happens to look in his direction.

As Galen’s gaze casts around he notices the new arrival, eyeing Gaius for a second as his eyes flick towards the way he came in. He can only assume he’s another wizard, coming from that direction. He glances down to the cards in his hands, considering on asking Graham for another game when his drink arrives and he grins. He glances up at the waitress, but instead of actually saying any thanks, he lowers his head in a nod as his lips quirk, holding up the glass slightly to her before he drinks.

Gale catches the other fellow’s eye and he smirks, nodding his head in turn and lifting a hand in a lazy flick. “You play?” he utters out, speaking just loud enough so that he can hear.

"Depends on the stakes." Gaius replies toward the man with a shrug if his shoulder, and aloof sort of look on his face. His eyes peer toward the deck once more before he adds, "And the game does make a difference too I suppose. Honestly, I tend to lean toward poker. However few wizards actually know of the game these days." When his drink also arrive Gaius leans back, shifting a bit in his chair before taking a short sip and smiling in a wry sort of manner back at Galen. "You asking?"

A grin pulls across Galen’s face at the question. He nods once in silence, gauging the other man. He can finish asking the Auror questions afterwards. “Now poker’s an exciting game,” he states, his voice low but with a hint of enthusiasm buried underneath the dull utter. He remains seated, making a gesture for Gaius to come over to his table - and sets down the stack of cards in the middle of the table. “Come. Name the stakes.”

With a slight grunt the man stands and makes his way to the table and takes a seat across from the other. "The name's Gaius." His baritone voice is low and smooth as he greets the man with a nod. "As for the stakes, let’s start with drinks and see where the night takes us, yea?" Gaius chuckles mildly as he takes another sip of his whiskey and leans back in the chair. "You can deal if you want. Hold'em will do just fine unless you had something else in mind."

Galen shifts, leaning closer to the table. He nods in agreement to the drinks, and waves a lazy hand in front of him at the game. “Sounds good,” he mutters, a flicker of confidence slipping across his face. He leaves the deck in the middle, simply making a gesture at it for the cut. His glass is picked up with his eyes on the deck, which lift to the man’s face as he offers out lowly, “Gale,” he supplies. He takes a swig of whiskey, the glass clicking against the surface of the table as he sets it back down. He’ll take the cards once they’ve been cut, dealing out the setup.

The man nods and reaches out to cut the deck, his eyes looking over the cards with a short glance… as if to check to see if anything is awry. However, seemingly happy with what he sees, Gaius cuts the deck and leans back once again. "Not too often I find someone in the wizarding world who plays poker. Let alone who invites others to play seemingly at random."

Galen still wears a confident expression, which doesn’t really shift all that much when he peeks at his cards. Laying them back down, his eyes lift to Gaius and he smirks. “I assume with the games wizards have, poker might seem boring to them,” utters the lad with an offhanded roll of his shoulders. “I don’t know if I’d want to keep buying cards after every game of exploding snaps.” He nods his head at Gaius. “I’ve got your interest.”

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