Early Morning Interview (Stockmon)

[Karstiana]

It was suprisingly empty when Avis entered Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlor. The fact that is was barely six in the morning didn't really rate with him. He'd been up for two hours already. It wasn't his usual practice to wake up so early, but sometimes certain people liked to call him at four in the morning to talk. He loved his sister, but seriously.

He walked up to the counter and order an ice cream soda. He was in the mood for chocolate, so he asked for it extra chocolatey, and almost choked on the results. Oh, well. It could easily be worse. He ordered a second soda, plain vanilla with no syrup and mixed the two. By the end of some experimenting he had two decent chocolate sodas.

The reporter had asked to meet him at eight, so he had time to kill, lots of it. He had considered spending it elsewhere, but he wasn't on a case, so he didn't really have to be anywhere else, so he decided not to be anywhere else.

After he finished the original soda he took out a notebook and started writing in it. It wasn't an official case, just a puzzle Lark had asked him to figure out. She did that sometimes. After the third time he decided she was testing him to see if he was still any good at his job. Some had been as simple as a complex math problem. After he figured out what she was doing, she had decided that she didn't need to be quite so subtle. Appartently that she was testing him was part of the test.

Bored after solving Lark's latest problem, Avis went back to his second soda. It was getting close to eight by then. The manager had asked him if he needed anything, probably wondering why he was still there after over an hour and a half. Annoyed he had offered to by the entire staff an ice cream if they would just leave him be. A strange tactic to be sure, but it seemed to work, so he didn't care. Now he waited, wondering when this reporter would arive and why she thought his detective agency was report worthy. He had certainly tried to keep what he did quiet, but apparenly someone had squealed. Or else she had pointed a finger to an entry in the phone book. He couldn't decide which was less likely, though he suspected it was the phone book idea.

[Stockmon]

Jessie was not girly. She was not. She glared at the man standing across from her. Her arms were folded over a white t-shirt and beneath them she wore light yellow flannel pajama pants. Her bed was a mess as she had just rolled out of it. Her brown hair was falling over her eyes as she narrowed them more.

“I, am, not, girly.” Jessie seriously.

“You always dress up for everything, now-a-days, Jessa.” The man shrugged, walking over to the arm-chair and slowly picking up the clothes piled on there. “Let me see now, is this what you were planning on wearing today?” Jessie arched an eye brown, then sighed and nodded. “Here we have a crème blouse, a yellow skirt,” as he spoke he picked up, and then dropped the items he mentioned, “what do they call these? Naked?”

Jessie began to glare again, “Nude, Zach. They call them Nude.”

“Right,” Zach shrugged, smirking when his face was turned from that of his cousin, but going back to a serious face when he picked something up again and faced her, “Nude panty-hose.”

“Put my panty-hose down, now, Zacharias.” Jessie said, a complete lack of humor on her face as he instantly dropped them and they landed on his shoes. “Fix it, if you will.”

“Right.” Zach said again, bending over to pick up the panty-hose and put them back in the chair, “Remember, Jessa, I’m married, I don’t believe in cooties anymore. And what… are these?” Zach said with a bit of disdain. He held up a pair of yellow heels.

“Do you really want to know?” Jessie asked, smirking for the first time since her cousin had pushed her out of bed and her pleasant dream, ten minutes before she had planned to wake up. Zach nodded in mock sincerity. “Vintage 50’s yellow-tan suede lace up Oxford pump heels.”

Zach’s mouth opened a bit as he gawked at his cousin, “Are you… how do… what?!” After a moments pause Jessie laughed and walked over to her cousin, grabbing the heels.”

“You really must work on being harder to break, Zach. The mere fact that I could name my shoes stunned you.” She said, making a grab for her blouse, but to no avail as Zach grabbed them first and pulled them away. After a second’s hesitation he reached back and grabbed the skirt too, but Jessie got the panty-hose with no effort at all.

“That was not simple naming. Had you said ‘Heels’ I’d have accepted it. But Vintage, suede, lace up, something somethings… that’s too much information. Seriously. What am I wearing? We call them sneakers.” Zach said, stepped back as Jessie made another lunge for her clothing.

“Those are tennis shoes.” Jessie said, beginning to make her bed.

“There’s a difference?!” Zach asked.

“I don’t know. I just felt like it would upset you. Now give me my clothes, I have to get dressed. I have an interview today.”

“That’s what we’re going to have to work on, Jessa. You’re not wearing these. It’s an interview, right? Stop dressing up so much. You got a t-shirt you could wear?” Zach asked. Once Jessie explained she did, in fact, own quite a number of t-shirts, but was not going to wear one, Zach moved to plan B. “Alright, what else can you wear?”

Jessie listlessly yanked a short sleeved white button up blouse out of her closest, and after a few minutes Zach agreed she could wear it. With a roll of her eyes she then listened to a short speech about how Zach had full right to select the skirt, since Jessie would not compromise on the fact that she’d be wearing a skirt. Finally Jessie left the room to put on the blouse, and heard Zach mumble, “Girly,” as she walked out.

As Jessie was making her way, a bit later than she’d wanted to, she couldn’t help but laugh as she spun in circles, watching her skirt spin around with her. It went all the way down to her Vintage 50’s yellow-tan suede lace up Oxford pump heels, so no one was even able to see her naked nude panty-hose. The skirt got progressively darker from top to bottom, with brown beads sown throughout, which reminded Jessie of something Indian, though she wasn’t sure that was quite right.

Once Jessie reached Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlor she had spun enough that her cheeks were a bit more pink than usual, and she was giggling. She stepped inside and spotted her reason for not heading into the office that morning. He was drinking an ice cream soda, and he had a note pad. That was Jessie’s job. Notes. But she didn’t write, at least not at first, she had a highly sensitive tape-recorder in her purse at all times. It would turn on if she tapped a certain part of her purse, and it could pick up conversations while still inside her purse. She’d spend the afternoon enchanting it to be her best equipment in her career. Avis Vincent. An upperclassman, he’d graduated the year she met her old best friend. But she’d never met Avis. She stretched her hand out to Avis when she got close enough, “Avis Vincent, I’ll presume. I’m Jessie Twight. Nice to meet you, today.” She said, sounding almost as happy and hyper as her spinning had made her.

[Karstiana]

“Avis Vincent, I’ll presume.” Avis looked up at the sound of a young woman’s voice. He’d seen her picture in the paper, dark brown hair, immaculately dressed. Her clothes were far from trendy, old fashion, but perfect for her. “I’m Jessie Twight. Nice to meet you, today.”

Avis took the extended hand. “Hello, Miss Twight.” He dropped his hold on her hand and added, “As you surmised, I am Avis Vincent.” He indicated with his hand that she should sit. “It is nice to meet you.” He looked down at the notepad still on the table and slipped it into his shirt pocket. “My sister finds it amusing to test my mental skills.” And I love it. Afterall if she was testing his mental skills she was there to test them. That was the important thing, the very most important thing. It was the reason he had started his detective agency. He didn’t want anyone else to have to deal with the helplessness he had felt when Lark was gone.

He glanced over at the counter. “I’m afraid if you want anything to eat during this interview you are going to have to tell them. I got tired of them asking me if I wanted anything else, so I bribed them to stay away. I imagine there boss doesn’t care who the ice cream they sell goes to, so long as they sell it.” He grinned. “Do you want me to signal them over here?”

[Stockmon]

“Hello, Miss Twight.” Avis replied, Jessie blinked at him. She was still a bit hyper. Why on earth was blinking such a verb? No one else caught the action, except perhaps the person doing it. Rarely did anyone else notice. She remembered when she’d focused so much on her friend’s blinking. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Jessie was hyper, and Jessie was Jessie.

“Jessie, preferably.” She put in, sitting across from Avis.

“As you surmised,” Come again? Jessie didn’t know what surmise meant, except based on context clues, and she was too hyper to deal with new words. But that was going to wear off quickly. Just not quickly enough. “I am Avis Vincent.” Yep, he certainly was. A Ravenclaw to boot. Of course. Jessie had not been a Ravenclaw, not nearly. Those were all smart and fancy speaking, or quiet and book learned and such.

“It is nice to meet you. My sister finds it amusing to test my mental skills.” Avis said. His sister, she was relevant. Certainly relevant. That was, after all, why Jessie was here. She liked her work, it was her dream job, but somehow or another she’d been roped into this story. She did articles, current events, news, and not human interest. For as sweet and caring and whatever as she was, she did not like human interest stories. They were irrelevant.

”I’m afraid”Avis began saying, glancing over at the counter, “if you want anything to eat during this interview you are going to have to tell them.” That was fine. Jessie hated having to tell waiters no, so she wouldn’t have to bother. “I got tired of them asking me if I wanted anything else,” How long had he been there? “so I bribed them to stay away. I imagine their boss doesn’t care who the ice cream they sell goes to, so long as they sell it. Do you want me to signal them over here?”

It took a split second for that to stop mattering. In a split second Jessie felt annoyed, irritated that he felt she couldn’t take care of herself. But as quickly as it had come it was gone. She was over thinking it, perhaps because she didn’t know Avis. But this wasn’t pleasure, this was business. And she was a businesswoman; who was slightly obsessed with skirts as of late.

“No, I’m fine. I don’t need anything.” Jessie considered asking exactly how long Avis had been there, if he’d gone so far as to set a bribe for peace, but she reconsidered. It wasn’t the matter at hand. “So I’m curious if you realize what this interview is about then?” She asked, folding her hands in her lap, “I’m not really one for this sort of story,” Story being the key word, “but I am a journalist, so I’m willing to learn.” Slash my boss wanted me to.

[Karstiana]

"Jessie, preferably." Avis tucked the name away for future reference as she slid into the sit across from him. He wondered what it stood for. He hadn’t actually heard and he was pretty sure it wasn’t included in the information left on his answering machine. He played it back through his head and shrugged. No, it was definitely not there.

He studied the young woman in front of him. Only a few years younger than him, two or three younger than Lark if he was any judge, she seemed the consummate professional, from the nineteen thirties, but none the less, professional. There was the fact that she didn’t seem to be able to stay put, but that didn’t bother him, too much.

She didn’t say anything at first when he explained about the waiters and about bribing them to stay away.

“No, I’m fine. I don’t need anything,” she told him and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want them back over here.

“So I’m curious if you realize what this interview is about then?” She folded her hands in her lap, but didn’t wait for his answer. “I’m not really one for this sort of story,” she informed him, though in silent answer to her question, he really had no idea what she was talking about, “but I’m a journalist, so I’m willing to learn.”

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, then,” Avis admitted. “All I really know is that a Miss Twight,” he inclined his head toward her, “was to interview me at the place and time. I was told little more than that and it was a message left on my answering machine with only a partial number before the caller was cut off, so I couldn’t really call back for my more info.” He shrugged. “I guess technically, I could have, did try, but the planet seemed to be closed down for the day or else the number in the phone directory was an old one. At any rate, the begging of the number on the machine was different from the one in the book. I can only guess that perhaps this has something to do with my detective agency or one of my cases. I’m willing to speak about any of my old cases, I suppose, but I’m not allowed to talk about the de Rossum case,” he informed her reffering to a current high profile kidnapping case, just in case that was why she was here, “until the verdicts are in.” He looked her over thoughtfully before he shook his head, “But that’s not why you’re here, is it?”

[Stockmon]

Avis, the smart one, appeared happy that he wouldn’t be calling the waiters back over, Jessie made a slight mental note, since you can’t record facial expressions on her tape recorder, no matter how magical it was.

“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, then,” Avis began to say, so he had no clue then. Jessie waited, there was a reason she was sometimes vague at the beginning of interviews, but she couldn’t quite recall why. “All I really know is that a Miss Twight,” She mentally twitched, she hoped he wouldn’t keep that up, “was to interview me at the place and time. I was told little more than tat and it was a message left on my answering machine with only a partical number before the caller was cut off,” Well, that rulled out Chris, sometimes they made him do clerical work when he had nothing to do at the moment. He was succinct, he wouldn’t be cut off. “So I couldn’t really call back for more info.”

“If that happens you could always just go to the Daily prophet and ask.” Jessie shrugged, finally calming down. If he’d mentioned his name and that he’d gotten a call regarding Twight they’d have worked out the details.

“I guess technically, I could have, did try, but the planet seemed to be closed down for the day or else the number in the phone directory was an old one.” The planet? “At any rate, the beginning of the number on the machine was different from the one in the book.” I’m gunna guess that’s my extension. “I can only guess that perhaps this has something to do with my detective agency or one of my cases.” Come again? “I’m willing to speak about any of my old cases, I suppose, but I’m not allowed to talk about the de Rossum case, until the verdicts are in.” Oh yeah, that was why Jessie liked being vague. People randomly told her things assuming that she already knew, and half the time, if not more, they were wrong. She enjoyed that. She had the most amusing memory of when a man had clearly admitted to having an affair and desperately asked her to tell his wife otherwise, she had only been interviewing him about his position on a current Muggle campaign. Good times.

“But that’s not why you’re here, is it?” Not by a long shot. Jessie smiled sympathetically.

“No, that’s more in my field of expertise. I’m a columnist, not a human interest writer. I’m here to ask you about your sister, if that’s alright. If you’re uncomfortable talking about her, and her kidnapping and such, I will have to obtain my information elsewhere. But I would think you’d want the story straight.” Besides, Jessie wasn’t that keen on taking Chris up on his offer to bring his best friend into the whole ordeal, since he had at least some information.

[Karstiana]

Avis noticed that when he said “Miss Twight” she didn’t seem to like it. He wasn’t quite sure why, but something very subtle seemed to change. Not that it matter too much. He hadn’t planned on calling her that any more. He was just telling her what he’d been told and her first name hadn’t been part of it.

“If that happens you could always just go to the Daily prophet and ask.” Avis felt like slapping his forehead. No wonder he hadn’t gotten anything useful. He’d called the wrong place.

As Avis rambled on, he began to notice how very quite Jessie was. Clearly he was way off base. After he queried her about it, he got a response. She smiled at him as she replied.

“No, that’s more in my field of expertise. I’m a columnist, not a human interest writer. I’m here to ask you about your sister, if that’s alright. Avis’ eyebrows rose skyhigh. She wanted to talk about Lark? Well, that was new. No one who knew much about it, wanted to know about Lark. Lark didn’t care, so he supposed he didn’t either.
If you’re uncomfortable talking about her, and her kidnapping and such, I will have to obtain my information elsewhere. Uncomfortable? Why would he be uncomfortable? Some terrible things had happened and people had died, but Avis figured he’d be able to talk about most of it.
But I would think you’d want the story straight.” True enough. If they were going to do a story on Lark then he certainly would want it to be accurate.

Finally he nodded. “Yes, I would be willing to talk about what happened. Some human interest piece though. Exactly why is it human interest when two people die, one is institutionalized and the fourth has to deal with the guilt of being both alive and sane?”

[Stockmon]

Jessie was falling into her work. This was a place she felt comfortable. She had Lori and Chris at work, even if she knew very well she annoyed Chris some days. And she enjoyed people. So what she got here the could take back to work and make them proud. Well Chris never showed pride, but he did edit some of her pages, which meant he had to read them. She was in the mood to have a friendly interview.

The interview seemed like it was going to be easy, since Avis seemed to go off easily enough. He was surprised she was asking about Lark, but he didn’t seem to have a problem talking about her.

“Yes, I would be willing to talk about what happened.” Good place to start, Jessie liked to hear that. “b[]Some human interest piece though. Exactly why is it human interest when two people die, one is institutionalized and the fourth has to deal with the guilt of being both alive and sane?[/b]”

Jessie didn’t miss a beat, she leaned back a bit in her chair, calming speaking as if it were elementary, “Because the fourth is both alive and sane. It’s tragic. A tear jerker, if you will. The death of two, and the ruining of another’s life without ending it. Who could be capable of such a monstrosity? How horrible a creature must be responsible. Etcetera, etcetera, and so forth, and so on. Get it?” Jessie asked, having sounded quite like she was citing headlines and teasers.

“Look... it’s tragic,” she said more sincerely, “but that catches peoples interest. And then they want to hear how your sister is doing, they want to be happy for her. Because they’d glad she’d alright. It makes them more glad she’s alright, since she’s the only one. Make sense?” She asked, trying to be as friendly and clear as possible. While maintaining her personal detachment from the story and Avis himself.

[Karstiana]

“Because the fourth is both alive and sane.” For which Avis would always be glad. “It’s tragic. A tear jerker, if you will.” True enough. He’d never understood why people liked that kind of thing. Ironically, Lark would find that the perfect answer. Despite being the one it happened to, so liked reading about that sort of thing. “The death of two, and the ruining of another’s life without ending it. Who could be capable of such a monstrosity? How horrible a creature must be responsible. Etcetera, etcetera, and so forth, and so on. Get it?”

Avis raised an eyebrow. He had the insane urge to laugh. Who would have thought he would have found something funny in that. Sad thing was, he didn’t even know what made him want to laugh, maybe at the way she said it.

“Look... it’s tragic,” she told him, her voice changing from a moment ago, “but that catches peoples interest. And then they want to hear how your sister is doing, they want to be happy for her.” He’d be willing to bet if she wanted Lark would be more than willing not only to have Avis tell her how his sister was doing, but also to have Avis bring this reporter, Jessie, to meet her. “Because they’d glad she’d alright. It makes them more glad she’s alright, since she’s the only one. Make sense?”

Avis was silent for a moment, his face blank as he thought of how to respond. Finally, he said, “I think Lark would love you.” He offered her a smile. “I do reserve the right to not answer questions, but chances are there won’t be any I refuse to answer. What do you want to know first?” That said he looked her in the eye and waited for her questions, wondering what she would want to know.

[Stockmon]

Contrary to other men, Avis was among the normal. Few men were not normal. Family wasn’t normal. That included Jessie’s uncles, all three, her cousin, and her father. Lucas wasn’t normal either. But she hadn’t seen him in quite some time, so she supposed he was normal again now. It didn’t matter. Avis was normal. She could treat him normally, like any man on the street. Because, to her, he sort of was. Not that she disrespected any of those men, that wasn’t it.

“I think Lark would love you.” He said, smiling. Jessie laughed softly, smiling. That was extremely random sounding. But she liked to be loved.

“Well, thank you.”

“I do reserve the right to not answer questions, but chances are there won’t be any I refuse to answer. What do you want to know first?” He asked. Jessie nodded. She had a sort of broad topic. But it all had to tie back to Lark.

“Of course. I don’t know where I plan to direct this whole article, so just start with… When did Lark disappear, and how did that all happen?” she asked, sounding professional, even with a large question. She asked large questions all the time.

[Karstiana]

Jessie laughed in response to what he had just said. But it was true. Lark would love this girl. His little sister would enjoy talking to her. And she would probably be more sure what to say than he was.

“Well, thank you.” He smiled back at her.

“Of course. I don’t know where I plan to direct this whole article, so just start with… When did Lark disappear, and how did that all happen?”

“When did she disappear? Wow, that’s been such a long time ago. Fourteen years to be exact. It was summer between my sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts. She was two years behind me, having just finished her fourth year.

He chuckled. “She’d gone out with some friends, muggle friends. It had never been a big deal before. No magic around muggles, no big deal. Except they didn’t come back, except none of them came back, not that summer, not alive anyway.”

[Stockmon]

“When did she disappear?” Avis asked Jessie, redirecting her question back at her. She would simply never understand why people did that. If you didn’t understand it, that was fine, if you didn’t hear it, also fine. But to repeat it just to hear it in your own voice? She simply did not see the point in doing that. Even if it was just to stall for time while the person was thinking. Why not just sit in silence? Jessie was a grown woman who had a profession, not just a job, she could deal with some silence. She dealt with lots of things.

“Well, that’s been such a long time ago. Fourteen years to be exact.” He said. Jessie let it go. When she heard the word “exact” she was citing a date. To the day, not to the broad year. But she knew better than to think most people were as precise as she preferred being.

“It was summer between my sixth and seventh year at Hogwarts. She was two years behind me, having just finished her fourth year.” Jessie let her mind trail for just a moment hearing that. So Lark was deprived of starting her fifth year at Hogwarts. Jessie found that to be a tragedy. The fifth year. That was her most important year. A year she would not have wanted to repeat, but would never wish hadn’t happened.

“She’d gone out with some friends, Muggle friends. It had never been a big deal before. No magic around Muggles, no big deal. Except they didn’t come back, except none of them came back, not that summer, not alive anyway.”

He sounded sort of like a narrator, trying to dramatize a story. But since the story was already dramatic it seemed overdone, but also because it was so dramatic Jessie didn’t say anything, about that at least.

“So what was the initial stasis when you realized Lark was gone?” She asked simply, looking deep in thought.

[Karstiana]

“So what was the initial stasis when you realized Lark was gone?”

Avis frowned. “The initial what? If you mean how did I react when I first heard, I’m not sure I believed it at first. Lark was adventurous. She enjoyed playing games and such. She was occasionally late for curfew.” He sighed. “Mom, though. She was sure something happened. I guess it’s a mom thing or something. Not being one I wouldn’t know.”

He glanced up at her. “Is that what you meant? Or did you mean something else.”

[Stockmon]

“The initial what?” Avis asked, Jessie blinked, focusing on him again, coming back from her thoughtful pause. Stasis. Is that so complex? Oh… maybe it is. She thought with a mental sigh. She got a little too complicated on occasion. Not too often, but sometimes it happened. It didn’t surprise her currently, especially since this was a human interest piece. The humanity was certainly throwing her off.

“If you mean how did I react when I first heard, I’m not sure I beleieved it at first. Larke was adventurous. She enjoyed playing games and such.” Avis continued, guessing fairly close to what Jessie had actually meant by Stasis. “She was occasionally late for curfew. Mom, though. She was sure something happened. I guess it’s a mom thing or something.” Avis said after a sigh. Jessie felt a tinge of something. “Not being one I wouldn’t know.”

“Better than I would I assume.” She said softly with a downward glance. Then she shook her head, smiling brightly again, “Mothers, interesting things I suppose.”

“Is that what you meant? Or did you mean something else?” Avis asked, looking up at her.

Jessie smiled at him, brushing her dark brown bangs out from her eyes, as they’d fallen in front when she’d looked down a moment earlier. Her hair was down, hanging to her shoulders. Yet she was still so different looking than ten years previously. It was to be expected. It was mandatory. So she needed to act like it, “Somewhat. I simply meant what happened after she first disappeared. For example, was the family at home more, out more, who was involved in the search. That sort of thing. What happened with your family directly after Lark went missing? That is all.”

[Karstiana]

“Better than I would I assume,” Jessie told him. Avis wondered about that. Why would he know more about mothers than she would? Obviously neither of them was a mother. Or at least he wasn’t. And if she thought he’d know more about mothers, then obviously she wasn’t one either.

“Mothers, interesting things I suppose.” Now, what did that mean? Probably it had something to do with her previous statement, but he didn’t know if he should ask. And he didn’t know what to ask, if he did.

In response to his last statement, Jessie said, “Somewhat. I simply meant what happened after she first disappeared. For example, was the family at home more, out more, who was involved in the search. That sort of thing. What happened with your family directly after Lark went missing? That is all.”

“I see. Well, at first Dad got more involved in his work. It got to the point where we didn’t see him for weeks at a time, at least not awake. He’d get in late, when we were already asleep. I learned later that it wasn’t just work. He was looking. In fact he was the one who found one her friends, dead. After that he just spiraled into depression. I think he decided that she must be dead.” Avis ran a hand through his dark hair.

“Then, there was Mom. Her response was to deny anything had happened, saying Lark was just staying with a friend for the day or the weekend or however long she claimed it was on a particular day. At the same time she smothered me. I think if she had her way I wouldn’t have gone back to Hogwarts that year. As was I was required to send her an owl every day for months. By the end of the year it was down to once a week, which was a lot easier. The next year it was once a month, which was easy because I already sent her owls more often than that.”

“Me? I was lost. I loved and love my little sister and being without her was like losing a piece of me. I’m told that I started getting more withdrawn and I wasn’t the most outgoing person to start with. I pushed everything into my studies. I was going to find Lark or I was going to find out what happened to her. It wasn’t a question in my mind. It was what I was going to do. And it was what I did.”

“I ran into another student, Casey Christos, when I was in the owlery. Of all things, that day I got message from Lark. She was alive. And he helped me find her.”